Davydenko's sights on Grand Slams

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHENNAI, India -- Russian Nikolay Davydenko's New Year's resolution is to prove his mettle in Grand Slam events by recasting the script of 2008, which saw him fail to reach the quarter-finals of any of the four major championships for the first time in four years. World No. 5 Davydenko, a two-time semifinalist at the French and U.S. Opens, won three titles in five finals appearances last year and featured among the top five for the fourth successive year. But the 27-year-old says his 2008 performance was rendered inadequate without success at the Grand Slam events. "I want better results in the Grand Slam tournaments," said Davydenko, who is the top seed at this week's $450,000 Chennai Open, one of three season-opening events of the ATP Tour. "I want to prove something and not just stay among the top five. It's the big ones that count and they're going to be my top priority this year," he added. "It's nice to figure among the top five, but it's more important to do well in the Grand Slams." A semifinalist at Roland Garros in the 2005 and 2007, and at the U.S. Open in 2006 and 2007, Davydenko's best Grand Slam finishes in 2008 were fourth-round exits at the Australian and U.S. Opens. His best performance in 2008 came during the title-winning week at the Miami Masters, where he posted back-to-back wins over American Andy Roddick and current No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain. The Russian's other titles came at Portschach, Austria, and Warsaw, Poland. Davydenko advanced to the final of November's season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, where he lost to Serbian Novak Djokovic. "I'll continue to chase wins on the circuit and boost my point tally, but am hoping to make a bigger impact in the Grand Slam tournaments," said Davydenko, who has this year changed his itinerary ahead of the Australian Open by starting the season at Chennai, where he last played in 2001. For the past six years, Davydenko began the year at Doha, Qatar, which offers bigger prize money. "I wanted to change something. Maybe, I'll win in Chennai and go better prepared to Australia," said Davydenko, whose compatriot Mikhail Youzhny defeated Nadal to win last year's Chennai Open. Neither Youzhny nor Nadal are playing in Chennai this year.

Mirza credits cricketer for recovery

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HONG KONG -- Indian tennis player Sania Mirza is on the comeback trail after a doctor suggested by cricketer Yuvraj Singh helped heal the right wrist injury that cut her season short last year. The 22-year-old Mirza, who became a star in India after reaching the U.S. Open fourth round in 2005, pulled out of the first round of the Beijing Olympics in August and missed the rest of the season because of the injury. Her ranking dropped to No. 100. She said she wasn't sure what was wrong with her wrist after returning to India from the Olympics -- until Singh called with the recommendation. "I went to see the doctor and after about five days, my pain in my wrist -- I was not able to hold a spoon properly -- it had suddenly gone. I had complete range of movement back and everything. About two weeks later, I was playing tennis again," Mirza said Monday, adding that her wrist has felt healthy for the past several months. She said the doctor practised Korean-style physical therapy. Mirza was speaking ahead of the Jan. 7-10 team-format exhibition tournament in Hong Kong, which also includes No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva, Anna Chakvetadze, Agnes Szavay and Zheng Jie.

Jankovic ties Grand plans to fitness

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HONG KONG -- Jelena Jankovic had a stellar 2008, earning the world No. 1 ranking and reaching the semifinals or better at three of the four Grand Slams. But the 23-year-old Serbian says she has never before tried hard to stay in good physical shape. "I have never paid so much attention to being fit. Many people thought I was very fit because I look fit. But in general, I was never really fit and I always had problems when I had to play tough matches," Jankovic said Monday in Hong Kong ahead of a warmup tournament for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. Jankovic's focus on fitness changed during her break after the 2008 season and she hopes her improved stamina will pave the way for her first major win this year. She said she started off-season training earlier than usual in mid-November with a new emphasis on fitness that included altitude training in Mexico. The season-ending WTA Championships at Doha, Qatar, where Jankovic reached the semifinals, ended on Nov. 9. Now she said she has even attempted her first 10,000-metre run. "In my life, I have never run that long. When my fitness trainer told me I had to run that much, I thought I was going to stop in the middle after 20 minutes," Jankovic said. "Some of the things I have done I never thought I could do. I really was giving my best. I was reaching my limit. I think all of that gives me a lot more confidence. I feel I'm ready to compete. I have never been as fit as I'm now." Jankovic is playing in Hong Kong as her only preparation for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 19. She will captain the European squad in the Jan. 7-10 team format competition, whose field also includes seven-time Grand Slam champion American Venus Williams, Russians Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze, Hungarian Agnes Szavay, China's Zheng Jie and India's Sania Mirza. Jankovic also said she welcomes new WTA Tour rules that kick in this year allowing on-court coaching, although she doesn't expect herself to take advantage of the rule change often. "I think it's a great new thing for our game. I think tennis will be at a higher level because from the side view when the coach is watching, he can see much better. He has a better view of what the player is doing wrong. And he can give you advice, especially on certain points when you're quite lost," she said. But the Serbian added, "to be honest, I don't really use it," saying she asked for her coach only once when the new rule was being tested.

Murray beats Nadal for Abu Dhabi

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- In a strong statement leading to the Australian Open, Andy Murray has beaten Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on consecutive days.

The Scotsman defeated the top-ranked Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 Saturday to capture the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition and US$250,000 winner-take-all prize. A day earlier in the semifinals, he topped the No. 2-ranked Federer 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6).

The tournament, not part of the ATP Tour, included six of the world's top 10 players.

Murray, who put on more muscle during the off-season, is ranked No. 4 and has yet to win a Grand Slam. He has a chance to change that at the Australian Open, which starts starts Jan. 19.

"This victory was good before I go to Australia," said Murray, who will first defend his Qatar Open title in Doha. "I have never been past the fourth round there. I trained hard over the break and the victories over the past three days have given me confidence."

In the final set, Murray broke after a long seventh game and then held serve to go up 5-3. Murray covered the court well, running down every shot and breaking serve one more time.

"He has carried his form over the last four months and he has a good chance to win in Australia," Nadal said.

Murray's only previous victory over Nadal in six matches was at the U.S. Open semifinals in September. The Spaniard played 111 matches in 2008 and pulled out of the Davis Cup final against Argentina in November because of an injured knee.

.Nadal called this an "amazing three days" and insisted he played well despite the loss.

"For me it was a very good test," he said. "Playing two hours 45 minutes at the best level is good. I forgot about my knee and my injury. I am looking forward to the year."

Davydenko advances in Abu Dhabi

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Andy Murray defeated James Blake 6-2, 6-2 Thursday to set up a semifinal meeting with Roger Federer at the inaugural Capitala World Tennis Championship. In the other first-round match, Nikolay Davydenko ousted Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-4 and will face Rafael Nadal in Friday's other semifinal. Nadal and Federer received first-round byes in the exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour but features six of the world's top 10 players and offers a winner-take-all prize of US$250,000. Murray broke Blake in the third game and then took a 5-2 lead after using two forehand winners for another break. The struggling Blake was then broken twice in a row in the second set as Murray raced out to a 4-0 lead to take control of the match. Roddick started by hitting three aces in his opening service game but was broken in the next after missing a forehand, which was enough to give Davydenko the set. Roddick then made two unforced errors in the fourth game of the second set to give Davydenko another break, and the Russian held his serve the rest of the way. Capitala is the first major tennis tournament to be played at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, and Roddick said he was bothered by the shade covering half the court for the mid-afternoon match. "It was tough playing out of the shadows and made it difficult to spot the ball," he said. "It was always going to be difficult coming from six weeks over the break. But regardless of this match, I have worked hard in the off-season and I am happy." The top-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Federer will both begin their 2009 ATP season by playing in the Qatar Open in Doha starting Monday. Murray, the defending champion, and Roddick are also playing in the tournament.

Sharapova to skip exhibition tourney

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HONG KONG -- Defending Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from a Hong Kong exhibition tournament saying she is still recovering from a shoulder injury just weeks ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.

The three-time Grand Slam winner started playing tennis again just over two weeks ago and isn't match fit, organizers of the Jan. 7-10 Hong Kong event said in a statement on their website Wednesday

"I'm just not ready to play against the top-class competition in Hong Kong, although I remain hopeful for Australia where I'm the defending champion," the statement quoted Sharapova as saying.

The Australian Open runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1.

"Maria needs to get 'tennis fit' now and she's working hard," Sharapova's agent, Max Eisenbud, was quoted as saying.

Sharapova has not played competitively since pulling out of the Rogers Cup at Montreal in late July after beating Poland's Marta Domachowska in a nearly three-hour match in which she double-faulted 17 times. The Russian was examined by a trainer midway through the three-set victory and withdrew from the event before her next match..

Medical tests later found a torn rotator cuff tendon in the 21-year-old's right shoulder.

Sharapova missed the rest of the just-concluded season, including the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. Open, ending her streak of 23 consecutive major tournaments.

She hadn't missed a major since her Grand Slam debut at the 2003 Australian Open. Sharapova also won the singles titles at Wimbledon in 2004 and the U.S. Open in 2006.

While she briefly held the No. 1 spot this year, her time off the court led her to slide down before ending the season at No. 9.

Sharapova went 32-4 with three titles in 2008, earning nearly US$2 million in tour prize money.

Organizers in Hong Kong have replaced Sharapova with fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

The field at the team-format event also includes top-ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, American Venus Williams, Russia's Vera Zvonareva, Zheng Jie of China and India's Sania Mirza.

Jankovic sets sights on GS title

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- After finishing the season as the world's top-ranked tennis player, Jelena Jankovic is ready to concentrate on winning her first Grand Slam title in 2009.

The 23-year-old Serb, who reached the U.S. Open final this year and also made the semifinals at the Australian and French Opens, first took over the No. 1 ranking on Aug. 11 and then again ascended to that height on Oct. 6. She has held the top ranking for a total of 12 weeks.

"My priorities will be on the big tournaments, Grand Slams and Tier 1s," Jankovic said Thursday on a conference call. "When you prepare 100 per cent, when you put all the hard work in, then you can really have higher expectations and you can expect yourself to achieve great things."

Last season, Jankovic won more matches (65) than any other woman on the WTA Tour, claiming titles in Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow in the 22 tournaments she played. But she said injuries bothered her for much of the season, and that's why she has already started working out to prepare for next season.

"I'm really training hard," said Jankovic, who started training in November and is currently practicing in Florida. "Before I came here I was in Mexico in high altitude ... trying to get stronger and fitter."

On Wednesday, Jankovic and top-ranked Rafael Nadal were honoured as the International Tennis Federation's world champions of 2008. But for 2009, Jankovic expects to go about her season differently, easing her schedule in order to stay healthy.

"What matters is how fit you are, how well you prepare," said Jankovic, who admitted she was only injury-free for a major tournament this year at the U.S. Open, where she lost to Serena Williams in the final. "Last year in December, I didn't have a good preparation before the new season. I only trained two weeks before the Australian Open.

"When you're not ready, when you're not prepared, when you're not fit and playing at a high level ... you're going to have a high risk of getting injured."

As the top-ranked player, Jankovic is also going to have to deal with others trying to prove themselves by beating her.

"I want the girls to play their best tennis against me and I want to win in those circumstances. I'm up for the challenge," Jankovic said. "I want to compete in those best tournaments with the best players out there."

As for simply being on top of women's tennis, Jankovic is relishing that, too.

"I love being in that role, being in the role of the No. 1 player in the world. I like that position and I want to stay there as long as it is possible," Jankovic said. "I haven't trained in my whole career as hard as I'm training now, and I hope and I believe that all this hard work will pay off."

Jankovic also hinted that she would continue playing in the Fed Cup for Serbia, which hosts Japan in the first round of World Group II in February.

"I am a huge patriot," said Jankovic, who helped Serbia advance from the zonal group in 2008. "I love playing for my country and defending the colors of my flag."