It's quite a tough draw for Daniela as Robson's one of the best young players on tour, she's also a lefty with big shots and she raises her game for big occasions. She gave Daniela quite a few problems when they played at Wimbledon in 2009.

There are some pretty average players there so Daniela could have had an easier draw but she could also have had a harder draw. It'll be a good win for Daniela but it doesn't get much easier afterwards as it would then be Kirilenko, Errani and Azarenka if the seedings go to plan.

Daniela's playing doubles with Medina Garrigues again. I can't say that it seemed a good team at the Australian Open or in New Haven but it seems like Medina Garrigues is Daniela's new doubles partner for the time being at least. They start against Huber & Hsieh who are fifth seeds.

So here's Mr. Glass Half Empty actually finding a silver lining. Obviously, Daniela knows way more about rough flights and their after effects than me. However, I see this as a notably different circumstance than the last 2 years. It's a 2 hour time difference between Serbia and Doha, whereas Thailand to Doha/Dubai is 4 hours. Her match tomorrow comes after a week with 2 matches played that lasted a total of 2 1/2 hours, while the last 2 years, she played all 5 possible matches, with last year's final with Kirilenko being a dogfight that lasted longer than this year's Fed Cup matches combined did. Dani comes here on a high from winning for Slovakia, which appears to mean as much or more to her than an individual title, and knowing that her play was excellent and her best form might be within her grasp. And, I think she can sense that, after Liptak figured it out and put her in the lineup (I'm still having trouble swallowing that he actually wrestled with the thought of not using her), the perception among many observers, including her countrypeople who have ripped her in the past, is that while Jana was the heroine, she was the rock of the team. I have seen one story after the other saying "Daniela Hantuchova led Slovakia to the win over Serbia". Deep down, that has to make our gal feel pretty darned good. Added to the good point eddy made about Robson's style being so different to the last 2 years' 1st round opponents, and I would believe that weariness/dizziness should not be what costs her. The problem is how well Robson has played over a significant period of time. But, after what we have seen for months now, I'll take a higher ranked known commodity as Dani's 1st round opponent than one of those friggin' qualifiers! Hoping for the best!

Match starts in a few minutes, great to see her playing

Robson starts to serve. Daniela has 2 BP's, GP,GP, GP and game for Robson , 0-1

1-1. First 2 serves and 2 Aces for Daniela ^^ holds to 15

2-1. Daniela breaks Robson to 15
2-2. Daniela got broken to 30
2-3. Robson holds with the 3rd GP, too many forehands from Daniela are long...
3-3. Daniela holds to 15, ace#3
4-3. Daniela wasted 4 BP's... Finally with the 5th
5-3. Daniela holds to 0, good serve
5-4. Robson holds to 15
6-4. Daniela holds to 0, ace#4

0-1. Robson holds to 0
1-1. Daniela holds with the 2nd GP with ace#5
2-1. Daniela breaks to 30
3-1. Daniela holds to 15
4-1. Daniela breaks to 30
5-1. Daniela saves 4 BP's, ace#6, GP, df, GP and daniela holds
6-1. GAME SET MATCH!!!!

She played great tennis congrats

Good win. Looks like she's got her mojo back!

I love reading your comments Alex

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Wow!.. I know Dani has a lot of momentum and mental toughness after the Fed Cup but I never thought the score would be like that!...Good job Dani...Just like you said I also dont care who she face the next round as long as she plays like this....hoping to see a video of this...thanks Dani for the win!

Bychkova is next for Daniela as Kirilenko retired 0-3 down, not getting my hopes up at all as Bychkova is a good player but to avoid an in form Kirilenko is nice. Getting to round 3 here would num the disappointment of Melbourne a little.

Court 2 FFS so no stream grrrr, double duty tomo on the same court too, I really couldn't care about doubles here.

How many wins is that for Daniela now Alex?