Hey im the author. Daniela Hantuchova and Jelena Jankovic were beaten semi-finalists. :)

Justine was not “outclassed” by Maria any more than Fed was outclassed by the DJoker. Both #1’s did not come into Melbourne playing their best tennis. Neither looked sharp and did not have their best stuff. If you look at Justine and Fed, you will notice one of the key components to their success is mastery of all shots, variety and precision, whether a drop-shot or a wicked, lean-angle, cross-court backhand winner that just touches the line. Neither were hitting these shots. Maria by contrast came in looking very fresh and with her best stuff. This is not being outclassed, but a “monster” as Roger put it, of being so highly revered that you are expected to win 100% of your matches. Justine and Fed won about 60 matches last year and lost about 5. That is not exactly a changing-of-the-guard. This was also an ideal surface for Maria’s game. The clay court season is up next, and this will favor Justine (the most unbeatable woman on clay) who can basically phone in her Roland Garros win, and Nadal, a

and Nadal, as this is the only slam he wins. Maria moves like a donkey on clay and will be eliminated early. Grass is a different story, this will favor Maria, but Justine can use her height against her as the grass surface bounces low and this is tiring for tall girls over 2 hours. The US hard court will neutralize this and make it anybody’s game. It is also inaccurate to assume Justine is static and will not come up with a play to deal with Maria. As she was not on the radar last year, the focus was being able to beat the “Sisters”, which she successfully did. Maria is one of the worst movers in woman’s tennis and is easy to hit behind. Ana did it last night, but not enough. Justine and Carlos can craft a game plan that will use Maria’s height and lack of movement against her. As her serve is very, very good and her groundstrokes are very powerful and accurate, they need to leverage this much like the way Fed does with Blake and Gonzo and other big baseliners.

It is obvious that the Justine Henin who showed up for the quarters was not the woman from last season. Zero aggression, poor serving, sluggish movement, no motivation at all against a player on fire. Maybe a tournament before a Slam impairs her performance, but she was just not sharp, like Fed, as lefty serve pointed out. She is sure to bounce back and capture 2 Slams this year, just wait and watch.

About Sharapova's dominant performance, where she had 4 6-0 sets, remember Justine Henin had 4 6-0 sets enroute to her US Open victory last year, all in straight sets, and defeating both Williams sisters. Sharapova managed to avoid both sisters, and we all know how she crumbles against them these days. She was even beaten by Venus in straights the week before the AO, at an exhibition in Hong Kong. Her serve was clicking, yes, but when the top women are back to serving solid, she'll have a tough time, since her ground game is pretty much the same. Also everyone is starting to overrate her movement already; that should end pretty soon. She deserved this win, but she'll have sterner competition henceforth.

Hate the fact that some of the newer, younger players like Ana and Maria are putting their game on the table? Then STFU! This is real life. Out with the old, in with the new. Remember when Steffi Graf first came in the mid-80s and Evert and Navratilova were slowing fading in the singles? We're seeing a change of guard here. Moron.

here comes again----last year when justine won us --all say she is great and now again they say maria is the greatest..wat happened when they told last year abt maria that she is not gonna win again..and now u say when justine has been beaten 4 and 0 u say justine is not in top form.haha so if anyone says venus or serena was not in top form last year against justine then u say that its excuses,but now justine has an excuse? i am not a fan of anyone .. but just want to say that everyone has her moment..when they win..serena won in 02 and 03,maria has her time ..justine had it last year.. please stop commenting on other players strenghths when one wins

good article, and yes it was obvious that the sisters had injuries, especially venus, she didn't even have 1 backhand winner and that's her best shot! she only had 4 winners off the ground, all which came from her weaker side, the forehand. serena, on the other hand, it was a total mystery as no one could figure out what was wrong, it was almost as if she didn't wanna win, idk! but kudos to sharapova, she really held it together!!

obviously you're the moron here if you can't take something with a grain of salt, none of the top three were in their best form, funny thing is once maria wins ONE tournament after losing many, people think she's going to win everything get real and no i don't hate on younger players if you're going to ask, ana is actually my second favorite with jankovic in third