Hey, guys. No play by play of the first set tonight. When your wife says you've going out shopping with me, well, "But Daniela's playing" loses out.

I did keep track on my smartphone. Daniela wins first set 6-3. She jumped out to 3-0 lead just like yesterday. In the next game she was up 40-0. Davis ended fending off 6 BP's and holding, then broke Dani to get things on serve. But our gal let Lauren know that there's two fighters on the court, breaking right back and taking the set home from there. Oh yeah, she served out the set without difficulty.

That said...Away we go.

1-0 Daniela breaks to 30. (Not wanting to repeat history, Dani went up 40-0 and only missed on 2 BP's before getting the break.)
2-0 Daniela holds at love.
2-1 Davis holds to 15.
3-1 Daniela holds after one deuce.
4-1 Daniela fights off 2 game points and breaks on her first opportunity.
4-2 Daniela broken to 15.
5-2 Daniela breaks back to 15.
6-2 Daniela holds to 30, winning on second match point.



What Is Going On Here!? Whatever it is, I hope it lasts for a loooooonnnnnng time!

62% on first serve, winning 64% of those, plus 60% on second serve. Again, Dani was excellent jumping on second serve by the opponent (14-22). Outside of the one wacky game, Daniela converted 5 of 7 BP's.

#545 into the books. Happy days just might be back!

This is becoming a wild ride, guys. Daniela got Aga, the #2 seed, in the main draw. Aga tore apart Riske to win at Shenzhen. Apparently satisfied that she's ready for Melbourne and highly likely not wanting to fly from China to Sydney and play with little rest, she cited a left leg injury and withdrew. Ergo, Daniela gets her draw, which begins with a first round bye!
She got 25 points for getting through the qualies and now bags 55 for reaching the second round. She also gets a day off after playing 3 days in a row for the first time in who knows how long. Dani will then play either Vinci or Stosur. If she can pull that off, it's 100 points and a draw opening up, since #3 seed Petra has also withdrawn.
All of us have lamented many times here about how Daniela never catches a break and how the tournaments seem out to get her with her draws and scheduling. Often with very good reason. But you know, sometimes dedication and hard work actually gets rewarded. Good gosh, has Daniela caught a break this time! Guess what....She earned it.

Absolutely fantastic stuff by Daniela to dominate Davis and get into the main draw. She was in control for most of the match and whenever Davis looked like she could be getting back into the match, Daniela was able to step up, break Davis and put herself back in charge and dominating the rest of the set.

Stosur or Vinci will be a big step up from anyone that Daniela's played in qualifying but Daniela will have confidence and momentum and she's into the second round. It's her best run in months and a great opportunity for her to do well.

Once again, thanks for the livescores, Alex.

"The more I practise,the harder I train,the luckier I get." Gary Player,3-time winner of the British Open.

Daniela was due to receive a break.

Stosur beat Vinci in 3 sets, lasting 2 hr. 33 min. Maybe another break for Daniela. They're the second match at Ken Rosewall Stadium, with play beginning shortly after noontime in Sydney.

Daniela's match against Stosur is second On Ken Rosewall Arena with play starting at noon.

Her doubles match is fourth on Court 3 after a doubles and two singles matches with play starting at 11 am.

It took Errani over 2 1/2 hours to subdue Jankovic, who had 2 set points in the 2nd tiebreaker, or else they'd still be going at it. (Actually it's kind of nice to deal again with these kinds of aggrivations waiting to get Dani on the court.)

That said...Away we go.

0-1 Daniela broken after an 11 min. 16 pt. game, 3 game points missed, 2 BP'S saved, one ill-timed DF.
0-2 Sam holds after 2 deuces, 1 uncoverted BP.
1-2 Daniela holds at love.
1-3 Sam holds at love (2 aces already).
2-3 Daniela holds another marathon (about 8 min.), saving 3 BP'S (2 of them caused by DF' 3 & 4, one saved with her 1st ace).
2-4 Sam holds to 30.
3-4 Daniela holds to 30 (from 0-30 down).
3-5 Sam holds at love.
4-5 Daniela holds to 30, finishing with her 2nd ace.
4-6 Sam holds to 15, including ace #4.
(Sam is 12-15 on 1st serve. The killer is that she's only got 52% in, but is 10-14 on 2nd.)

0-1 Daniela broken to 15.
0-2 Sam holds to 30, finishing with ace #5. (Sam has won the first point in every service game.)
1-2 Daniela holds to 15, finishing with aces #3 & 4.
1-3 Sam holds at love, adding ace #6.
1-4 Daniela broken to 30. (Bad DF at 30 all, her 6th.)
1-5 Sam holds after one deuce, finishing with her 7th ace.
2-5 Daniela holds after one deuce; saved a match point.
(I just love it when she does that in these kind of situations.)
2-6 Sam holds to 15. (Added ace #8)

Can't win 'em all. If I was to lament, it would be over the very first game when so many chances were missed. If you can only get one break point chance, it's almost impossible to win. Overall, I got the feeling that Daniela showed she can still fight and compete with a top player, but her margin for error in order to pull off an upset is even slimmer than she is.
Somewhere along the way Daniela picked up another ace, ending up with 5.
At least she gave us cheer with some wins.