David stamps authority on Australian Open

CANBERRA: Malaysian squash queen Nicol David wasted little time in stamping her authority on the Australian Open in Canberra when she blitzed Australia's Samantha Davies in straight games on Tuesday.

David raced to an easy 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 first round win over her unheralded opponent to set up a clash with 17-year-old Emily Whitlock of England, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-3 winner over 15th seeded New Zea lander Kylie Lindsay.

World number one David has never played in an Australian Open before but she is the overwhelming favourite to claim the title this year.

David had a rare loss at last week's Singapore Open to England's Laura Massaro but said she had already put that out of her mind.

Massaro is not playing in Canberra, but her countrywoman Jenny Duncalf was just as impressive as David as she cruised to an 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 win over Australian qualifier Vanessa Pickerd.

The remainder of the top women's seeds all progressed with dominant displays.

Third seed Rachael Grinham beat Lucie Fialova of the Czech Republic 11-6, 11-5, 11-2, Ireland's Madeline Perry (4) downed Malaysia's Siti Munirah Jusoh 11-5, 11-2, 11-3 and Kasey Brown (5) was too good for New Zealand's Amanda Cranston 11-2, 11-7, 11-3.

Ashour downed Malaysian qualifier Ivan Yuen 11-3, 11-7, 11-3, and Gaultier and Barker both overcame Australian challengers.

Barker was too steady for Aaron Frankcomb, winning 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 while Gaultier was in blistering form as he downed world number 14 Cameron Pilley 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

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Federer arrives in Australia for Davis Cup tie

Canberra, Sep 14  The winner of a record 16 grand slam singles titles, Federer arrived down under following his emotional five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in a US Open semi-final Sunday.
He now only has two days to adjust to the grass courts at Royal Sydney Golf Club in Australia, before the World Group playoff tie.
Federer looked relaxed in a practice session at the tie's venue, the 30-year-old training in both singles and doubles against practice partners in a possible preview of his participation over the weekend.
"Well, usually we never have that much time to get used to the grass anyway, so that is kind of how we have to do it every year for the grass season, anyway, so I am kind of used to it," Federer told ABC Sports Wednesday. "The grass (here) is pretty good. It wasn't center court now, so I don't know how that plays, but we will see how it goes tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Australian tennis star and former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt said the limited preparation time will not hold up Federer.
"For a freak like Roger, it doesn't matter," Hewitt said. "I haven't seen a lot that Roger hasn't been able to do, so he is as close to Superman as it comes."
Federer is expected to play two singles rubbers and could also team up with Swiss No. 2 ranked singles player Stanislas Wawrinka for Saturday's doubles. However, Wawrinka Tuesday revealed he was still getting over a leg injury he suffered at the US Open.
Swiss captain Severin Luthi backed his star player to handle the short preparation time.
"He is a great champion, we know that, and for sure it is always better if you have more days but I am sure that he can handle this," Luthi said.
He was also confident Wawrinka would be fit for the tie despite a niggling leg injury the world No. 19 brought over from America.
"They are used to playing with small injuries, for sure it is not a big thing, so I am not concerned about that," Luthi said.  Swiss tennis superstar Roger Federer arrived in Australia and had
his first practice Wednesday for the Davis Cup starting Friday.

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Australian PM congratulates Stosur for US Open win

Canberra, Sep 12 : Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Monday congratulated tennis player Samantha Stosur for claiming the women's crown at the US Open.
The 27-year-old Stosur became the first Australian female to win a Grand Slam in 31 years, when she defeated three-time champion Serena Williams 6-2 6-3 in one hour and 13 minutes in front of 23,000 people on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The previous female Australian winner of the U. S. Open was Margaret Court in 1973.
In a joint statement with Sports Minister Mark Arbib, Gillard said Stosur displayed great skill and poise to overcome obvious nerves to beat the crowd favorite, Xinhua reported.
"She has shown great determination and skill to win the U. S. Open and everyone involved with tennis in Australia will be celebrating with her today," she said in a statement released Monday.
Gillard said Stosur's win would encourage the next generation of Australian tennis players.
"Her win will encourage the next generation of young Australian players to take to the court," she said.
"This is a great achievement and shows the future of Australian tennis is on the rise following other Grand Slam successes earlier this year, with Ashleigh Barty and Luke Saville winning the junior titles at Wimbledon."

Continue Reading... Tags: Australia, Canberra, Julia Gillard, Samantha Stosur