Month of January , 2007

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic saw in the New Year with a comfortable first-round victory over qualifier Roberta Vinci in the Australian women's hardcourt championships on the Gold Coast on Monday.

Spain's Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues outclassed their Croatian opposition in the Hopman Cup by completing a 3-0 sweep of Mario and Sanja Ancic at the Burswood Dome on Monday.

Russian second seed Anastasia Myskina made a disappointing start to her 2007 campaign on Monday, falling at the first hurdle in the Auckland Classic to Argentina's Gisela Dulko.

Australian wildcard Peter Luczak continued his fine run of form with a straight-sets upset victory of fifth-seeded Slovak Dominik Hrbaty at the Adelaide International on Monday.

Three years after his first round exit in singles as a rookie at the Chennai Open, Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal returns to the southern Indian city to kick-start his 2007 campaign as the world number two.

For the first time in its 22-year history as a stop on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Auckland will play host to a quartet of Top 20 stars, at this week's ASB Classic. Leading the packed field at the $145,000, Tier IV event will be one of the hottest players during the second half of 2006, Serbian Top 10 hopeful Jelena Jankovic.

Tatiana Golovin last night scored a straight-sets win over Alicia Molik that gave France a 1-0 lead in its Hopman Cup tie against the host nation.Golovin, who turns 19 this month, defied a partisan crowd and a 3-1 deficit in the opening set to see off Molik 7-5 6-2.

ALL work and no play makes life dull for the Russian female players dominating the world tour.So Russian teenagers Maria Kirilenko and Olga Poutchkova took to Gold Coast tourist haunts yesterday on their day off before their second matches today in the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourt championships at Royal Pines resort.

Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal began the new season with a 6-4 6-2 first round victory over German Rainer Schuettler in the Chennai Open on Tuesday.

Ivan Ljubicic made a confident start to 2007 with a resounding victory over Denis Gremelmayr at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday.

Australia's Mark Philippoussis retired with a knee injury in his Hopman Cup match against Jerome Haehnel to hand France victory in their Group A encounter in Perth on Tuesday.

Lleyton Hewitt, playing singles for the first time since losing in the Davis Cup last September, beat Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic at the Adelaide International on Tuesday after Tipsarevic retired late with a thigh injury.

Martina Hingis needed only 46 minutes to complete a 6-0 6-1 second round win over Australian Nicole Pratt at the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championship at Gold Coast on Tuesday.

Top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and third-ranked Slovak Daniela Hantuchova enjoyed contrasting opening-round victories in the Auckland Classic on Tuesday.

Top seeds Russia kept alive their chances of a Hopman Cup triumph by clinching the decisive mixed doubles for a 2-1 victory in their Group A encounter against the United States.

Third-seeded Belgian Xavier Malisse overcame Asian Games gold medallist Danai Udomchoke 6-2 6-2 in the first round of the Chennai Open on Monday.

With one exception, it was a strong day for the seeds on Monday at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts, with Ana Ivanovic, Shahar Peer, Li Na and Katarina Srebotnik all advancing into the second round. Anna-Lena Groenefeld was not so fortunate, falling in three marathon sets to resurgent Italian veteran Tathiana Garbin.

Andy Murray will face Christophe Rochus in the second round of the Qatar Open at Doha after beating Filippo Volandri despite struggling with a cold.

Serbian third seed Ana Ivanovic swept aside Venezuelan Milagros Sequera 6-1 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian women's hardcourt championships on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.

Three seeds and Australia's top player all won their second round matches Thursday, completing the final eight roster at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts. All four quarterfinal matches will take the court on Thursday.