2008 Australian Open

Notable stories

Surface change

On 30 May 2007, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley announced that as of the 2008 Australian Open, the Rebound Ace surface that had been used since 1988 would be replaced by a newer, faster Plexicushion surface. The Rebound Ace surface had been criticized for several years, from players including Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis, who claimed that the "stick" of the court was a contributing factor in many players injuring themselves. This "stick" was a result of the thick rubber mat (10 mm) laid beneath the surface, The heat retention of the surface had also been a point of contention between players.

In announcing the change, Tiley said Plexicushion would have a "lower rubber content than Rebound Ace, was firmer under foot and retained less heat through its thinner top layer." Tiley later said that the change of colour, from green to blue, would also benefit players and officials, although this change was quite arbitrary. The manufacturers of Rebound Ace derided the new surface, with director Paul Bull saying that, "We had an Australian icon event with a unique Australian product and now we are just going to become a clone of the US Open." Bull also said that the inconsistencies in pace were down to the organizers' imperative, who kept asking for the pace to be adjusted to pander for certain players, such as Hewitt. Bull, however, conceded that a change was needed; and said that the suggestion of a Rebound Ace court with a rubber mat thickness of around 5 mm was made.

The Plexicushion surface received a relatively mixed reception from players. Lleyton Hewitt, Justine Henin and Serena Williams were all keen to endorse the new courts; with Hewitt's appraisal focused on the greater consistency of the courts.

Implementation of anti-corruption policing

On 21 December 2007, organizers of the event announced that the tournament would be watched under the scrutiny of anti-corruption officials. A partnership was formed with Victoria Police. This announcement came in the wake of a series of scandals to hit the sport, including World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko coming under suspicion of match fixing; with at least a dozen other players coming forward about having been approached to influence matches in an unethical manner. Tennis Australia chief executive Steve Wood commented that, "Match-fixing and illegal gambling are a threat to the integrity of sport. We're putting our policies, procedures and programme in place to protect it."

This was followed by a statement from the wider community of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and organizers of all four Grand Slams that they would review their anti-corruption policies in the future. This announcement came six days prior to the start of the Open, on 8 January 2008.

Crowd trouble

On 15 January, Day 2 of the tournament, Victoria Police had to intervene when Greek Australian supporters, following Greece's Konstantinos Economidis in his match against Chilean Fernando González, became unruly. The match, in progress at the Margaret Court Arena, was suspended for ten minutes as the police attempted stop the "offensive chanting" and eject certain fans. Approximately forty supporters, heavily outnumbered by Chilean fans, were warned of their disorderly conduct prior to the police deploying pepper spray. The police regiment was heavily outnumbered, with a BBC Radio employee commenting that, "[there were] two guys against maybe 70-80, that's not good." Tournament officials said that 3 people had been sprayed and 5 evicted; a small proportion of the Greek fans left the arena, upset at how events were transpiring and fearing for their safety.

Both players said that the trouble was not something they had witnessed before; and Economidis condemned his supporters, saying that, "It was a really nice atmosphere until this moment. I am really unhappy." Some witnesses have implicated Cypriot and Serbian supporters in the trouble.

Australian Open director, Craig Tiley, had announced in the week preceding the event that police and security forces would "impose a 'zero-tolerance' policy on anti-social behaviour". This statement appeared to be a delayed reaction to the trouble that marred the event in 2007, with Australian youths of Greek, Serbian and Croatian origins involved in mutually abusive sparring. However, the problem was much more pronounced in 2007, with violence breaking out and around 150 fans ejected.

Sexual assault

Police were called to investigate a report that a 12-year-old girl was indecently assaulted by a drunk man at the Australian Open.

In a brief statement, Victoria Police said they received a report that the girl was inappropriately touched on the buttocks on Monday.

"The matter was reported to police this morning and the incident is currently being investigated", the statement said. This event mirrors a series of incidents that occurred at last year's event, when several men attending the tournament were arrested for taking upskirt photographs.

Marcos Baghdatis video controversy

During the Open, a video posted on YouTube almost a year earlier made headlines in the Australian media. The video shows the 2008 fifteenth seed, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, at a barbecue hosted by his Greek Australian fans in Melbourne in early 2007. In it, Baghdatis is holding a flare and taking part in chants against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Melbourne's Turkish Cypriot community called for Baghdatis to be expelled from Australia, but in a statement issued through his manager, the Cypriot player said he was "supporting the interest of my country, Cyprus, while protesting against a situation that is not recognized by the United Nations".

Serbian performance

This tournament saw strong performances from Serbian players. The men's side saw Janko Tipsarević, winner of the boys' tournament in 2001, almost cause an upset when he pushed Roger Federer to five sets in the third round, with the final score being 6–7 (5–7), 7–6 (7–1), 5–7, 6–1, 10–8 in Federer's favour. The match, which overlapped into the night session due to rain earlier in the day, took almost four-and-a-half hours to complete. Third-seed Novak Djokovic became Serbia's first Grand Slam singles title winner (Ana Ivanovic would later become that country's first Grand Slam women's singles title winner, at the 2008 French Open), and the youngest ever winner of the Australian Open, at 20 years and 250 days of age, when he defeated surprise finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, having defeated the defending champion Federer in the semi-finals, and Australian hopeful Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets in the fourth round. Coincidentally, Djokovic would also defeat Federer in straight sets en route to his second Australian Open title, in 2011.

The women's draw saw Jelena Janković, the 2001 girls' champion, and Ana Ivanovic produce notable performances to reach the semi-finals and the final, respectively. Janković saved three match points against Tamira Paszek in the first round, before defeating rising Australian player Casey Dellacqua in the fourth round. Janković then ended the title defence of Serena Williams in the quarter-finals, before losing her semi-final to Maria Sharapova. Twenty-four hours after Janković's victory over Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic recorded her first career victory against Venus Williams in her quarter-final, and went on to reach her second Grand Slam final by defeating Daniela Hantuchová in the semi-finals, having to recover from a 0–6, 0–2 deficit to do so. Ivanovic was then defeated in the final by Maria Sharapova, in a match dubbed as the "Glam Slam" final.

Day-by-day summaries

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Day-by-day summaries

Seniors

Men's singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Men's singles

SRB Novak Djokovic defeated FRA Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2)

• It was Djokovic's 1st title of the year, and his 8th overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title.

Women's singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Women's singles

RUS Maria Sharapova defeated SRB Ana Ivanovic, 7–5, 6–3

Men's doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Men's doubles

ISR Jonathan Erlich / ISR Andy Ram defeated FRA Arnaud Clément / FRA Michaël Llodra, 7–5, 7–6(7–4)

• The duo's first Grand Slam win after numerous ATP titles
• The first ever Grand Slam trophy in Men's Doubles for Israeli players.

Women's doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Women's doubles

UKR Alona Bondarenko / UKR Kateryna Bondarenko defeated BLR Victoria Azarenka / ISR Shahar Pe'er, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4

• It was Alona and Kateryna's 1st career Grand Slam doubles title.

Mixed doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Mixed doubles

CHN Sun Tiantian / SRB Nenad Zimonjić defeated IND Sania Mirza / IND Mahesh Bhupathi, 7–6(7–4), 6–4

• It was Sun's 1st career Grand Slam mixed doubles title.
• It was Zimonjić's 3rd career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and his 2nd at the Australian Open.

Juniors

Boys' singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Boys' singles

AUS Bernard Tomic def TPE Yang Tsung-hua, 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–0

Girls' singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Girls' singles

NED Arantxa Rus defeated AUS Jessica Moore, 6–3, 6–4

Boys' doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Boys' doubles

TPE Hsieh Cheng-peng / TPE Yang Tsung-hua defeated CAN Vasek Pospisil / MEX César Ramírez, 3–6, 7–5, [10]–[5]

Girls' doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Girls' doubles

RUS Ksenia Lykina / RUS Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated ROU Elena Bogdan / JPN Misaki Doi, 6–0, 6–4

Wheelchair

Wheelchair men's singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Wheelchair men's singles

JPN Shingo Kunieda defeated FRA Michaël Jérémiasz, 6–1, 6–4

Wheelchair women's singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Wheelchair women's singles

NED Esther Vergeer defeated NED Korie Homan, 6–3, 6–3

Wheelchair men's doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Wheelchair men's doubles

JPN Shingo Kunieda / JPN Satoshi Saida defeated NED Robin Ammerlaan / NED Ronald Vink, 6–4, 6–3

Wheelchair women's doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Wheelchair women's doubles

NED Jiske Griffioen / NED Esther Vergeer defeated NED Korie Homan / NED Sharon Walraven, 6–3, 6–1

Wheelchair quad singles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Wheelchair quad singles

GBR Peter Norfolk defeated USA David Wagner, 6–2, 6–3

Wheelchair quad doubles

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Wheelchair quad doubles

USA Nicholas Taylor / USA David Wagner defeated CAN Sarah Hunter / GBR Peter Norfolk, 5–7, 6–0, [10]–[3]

Seeds

These were the seeds for the 2008 Australian Open.

On the women's side of the draw, all of the world's top thirty-two players were present; whereas in the men's draw Tommy Haas and Guillermo Cañas were both forced to withdraw due to injury. On the date that the seeds were announced, 11 January 2008, Haas was No. 12 in the world and Cañas No. 17.

Men's singles

1. SUI Roger Federer, (semifinals, lost to Novak Djokovic)
2. ESP Rafael Nadal, (semifinals, lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga)
3. SRB Novak Djokovic, (champion)
4. RUS Nikolay Davydenko, (4th Round, lost to Mikhail Youzhny)
5. ESP David Ferrer, (quarterfinals, lost to Novak Djokovic)
6. USA Andy Roddick, (3rd Round, lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber)
7. CHI Fernando González, (3rd Round, lost to Marin Čilić)
8. FRA Richard Gasquet, (4th Round, lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga)
9. GBR Andy Murray, (1st Round, lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga)
10. ARG David Nalbandian, (3rd Round, lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero)
11. ESP Tommy Robredo, (2nd Round, lost to Mardy Fish)
12. USA James Blake, (quarterfinals, lost to Roger Federer)
13. CZE Tomáš Berdych, (4th Round, lost to Roger Federer)
14. RUS Mikhail Youzhny, (quarterfinals, lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga)
15. CYP Marcos Baghdatis, (3rd Round, lost to Lleyton Hewitt)
16. ESP Carlos Moyá, (1st Round, lost to Stefan Koubek)
17. HRV Ivan Ljubičić, (1st Round, lost to Robin Haase)
18. ARG Juan Ignacio Chela, (1st Round, lost to Guillermo García López)
19. AUS Lleyton Hewitt, (4th Round, lost to Novak Djokovic)
20. HRV Ivo Karlović, (3rd Round, lost to Mikhail Youzhny)
21. ARG Juan Mónaco, (3rd Round, lost to Tomáš Berdych)
22. ESP Juan Carlos Ferrero, (4th Round, lost to David Ferrer)
23. FRA Paul-Henri Mathieu, (4th Round, lost to Rafael Nadal)
24. FIN Jarkko Nieminen, (quarterfinals, lost to Rafael Nadal)
25. ESP Fernando Verdasco, (2nd Round, lost to Janko Tipsarević)
26. SUI Stanislas Wawrinka, (2nd Round, lost to Marc Gicquel)
27. ESP Nicolás Almagro, (1st Round, lost to Marin Čilić)
28. FRA Gilles Simon, (3rd Round, lost to Rafael Nadal)
29. GER Philipp Kohlschreiber, (4th Round, lost to Jarkko Nieminen)
30. CZE Radek Štěpánek, (1st Round, lost to Vincent Spadea)
31. RUS Igor Andreev, (3rd Round, lost to Richard Gasquet)
32. RUS Dmitry Tursunov, (2nd Round, lost to Sam Querrey)

Women's singles

1. BEL Justine Henin, (quarterfinals, lost to Maria Sharapova)
2. RUS Svetlana Kuznetsova, (3rd Round, lost to Agnieszka Radwańska)
3. SRB Jelena Janković, (semifinals, lost to Maria Sharapova)
4. SRB Ana Ivanovic, (final, lost to Maria Sharapova)
5. RUS Maria Sharapova, (champion)
6. RUS Anna Chakvetadze, (3rd Round, lost to Maria Kirilenko)
7. USA Serena Williams, *(quarterfinals, lost to Jelena Janković) *
8. USA Venus Williams, (quarterfinals, lost to Ana Ivanovic)
9. SVK Daniela Hantuchová, (semifinals, lost to Ana Ivanovic)
10. FRA Marion Bartoli, (1st Round, lost to Sofia Arvidsson)
11. RUS Elena Dementieva, (4th Round, lost to Maria Sharapova)
12. CZE Nicole Vaidišová, (4th Round, lost to Serena Williams)
13. FRA Tatiana Golovin, (2nd Round, lost to Aravane Rezaï)
14. RUS Nadia Petrova, (4th Round, lost to Agnieszka Radwańska)
15. SUI Patty Schnyder, (2nd Round, lost to Casey Dellacqua)
16. RUS Dinara Safina, (1st Round, lost to Sabine Lisicki)
17. ISR Shahar Pe'er, (3rd Round, lost to Elena Dementieva)
18. FRA Amélie Mauresmo, (3rd Round, lost to Casey Dellacqua)
19. AUT Sybille Bammer, (2nd Round, lost to Hsieh Su-wei)
20. HUN Ágnes Szávay, (1st Round, lost to Ekaterina Makarova)
21. UKR Alona Bondarenko, (2nd Round, lost to Caroline Wozniacki)
22. CZE Lucie Šafářová, (1st Round, lost to Catalina Castaño)
23. RUS Vera Zvonareva, (1st Round, retired due to injury)
24. CHN Li Na, (3rd Round, lost to Marta Domachowska)
25. ITA Francesca Schiavone, (3rd Round, lost to Justine Henin)
26. BLR Victoria Azarenka, (3rd Round, lost to Serena Williams)
27. RUS Maria Kirilenko, (4th Round, lost to Daniela Hantuchová)
28. SLO Katarina Srebotnik, (3rd Round, lost to Ana Ivanovic)
29. POL Agnieszka Radwańska, (quarterfinals, lost to Daniela Hantuchová)
30. FRA Virginie Razzano, (3rd Round, lost to Jelena Janković)
31. IND Sania Mirza, (3rd Round, lost to Venus Williams)
32. UKR Julia Vakulenko, (1st Round, lost to Elena Vesnina)

Main draw wildcard entries

Men's singles

• UZB Denis Istomin
• AUS Alun Jones
• AUS Brydan Klein
• USA Jesse Levine
• AUS Nick Lindahl
• FRA Mathieu Montcourt
• AUS Joseph Sirianni
• AUS Robert Smeets

Women's singles

• AUS Monique Adamczak
• USA Madison Brengle
• AUS Sophie Ferguson
• SVK Jarmila Gajdošová
• FRA Mathilde Johansson
• AUS Jessica Moore
• UZB Iroda Tulyaganova
• AUS Christina Wheeler

Men's doubles

• AUS Carsten Ball / AUS Adam Feeney
• AUS Andrew Coelho / AUS Brydan Klein
• AUS Colin Ebelthite / AUS Nick Lindahl
• AUS Samuel Groth / AUS Joseph Sirianni
• AUS Chris Guccione / AUS Peter Luczak
• AUS Nathan Healey / AUS Robert Smeets
• AUS Alun Jones / AUS Greg Jones

Women's doubles

• AUS Monique Adamczak / AUS Christina Wheeler
• AUS Alison Bai / AUS Nicole Kriz
• AUS Tyra Calderwood / AUS Alenka Hubacek
• AUS Casey Dellacqua / AUS Jessica Moore
• AUS Daniella Dominikovic / AUS Emily Hewson
• AUS Sophie Ferguson / AUS Trudi Musgrave
• AUS Marija Mirkovic / AUS Karolina Wlodarczak

Mixed doubles

• AUS Monique Adamczak / AUS Stephen Huss
• AUS Sophie Ferguson / AUS Adam Feeney
• SVK Jarmila Gajdošová / AUS Samuel Groth
• AUS Isabella Holland / AUS Brydan Klein
• AUS Alicia Molik / AUS Nathan Healey
• AUS Jessica Moore / AUS Greg Jones

Qualifier entries

Men's qualifiers entries

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying

1. NED Robin Haase
2. CZE Lukáš Dlouhý
3. CRO Roko Karanušić
4. RSA Kevin Anderson
5. USA Amer Delić
6. USA Sam Warburg
7. GER Denis Gremelmayr
8. SVK Lukáš Lacko
9. GBR Jamie Baker
10. ISR Harel Levy
11. USA Wayne Odesnik
12. AUT Martin Slanar
13. SRB Viktor Troicki
14. ESP Marcel Granollers
15. USA Rajeev Ram
16. GRE Konstantinos Economidis

Women's qualifiers entries

Main article: 2008 Australian Open – Women's singles qualifying

1. ROU Monica Niculescu
2. GER Angelika Bachmann
3. RUS Ekaterina Ivanova
4. GER Julia Schruff
5. RUS Alisa Kleybanova
6. THA Tamarine Tanasugarn
7. TPE Hsieh Su-wei
8. POL Marta Domachowska
9. SUI Timea Bacsinszky
10. GER Sandra Klösel
11. CHN Yuan Meng
12. GER Sabine Lisicki

Withdrawals

;Men's Singles

• CRO Mario Ančić → replaced by USA Bobby Reynolds
• SWE Jonas Björkman → replaced by FRA Olivier Patience
• ARG Guillermo Cañas → replaced by ARG Mariano Zabaleta
• GER Tommy Haas → replaced by TPE Lu Yen-hsun
• FRA Gaël Monfils → replaced by ARG Juan Pablo Brzezicki
• SWE Robin Söderling → replaced by USA John Isner
• ITA Potito Starace → replaced by USA Robert Kendrick ;Women's Singles
• RUS Vera Dushevina → replaced by ROU Sorana Cîrstea
• RUS Elena Likhovtseva → replaced by COL Catalina Castaño
• ITA Mara Santangelo → replaced by RUS Ekaterina Makarova
• VEN Milagros Sequera → replaced by ARG Clarisa Fernández
• USA Meghann Shaughnessy → replaced by FRA Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
• AUS Samantha Stosur → replaced by USA Vania King

References

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