2007 Australian Open

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2007 Australian Open
Date15 January – 28 January 2007
Edition95th
Category Grand Slam (ITF)
SurfaceHardcourt (Rebound Ace)
Location Melbourne, Australia
Venue Melbourne Park
Champions
Men's singles
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Roger Federer
Women's singles
Flag of the United States.svg Serena Williams
Men's doubles
Flag of the United States.svg Bob Bryan / Flag of the United States.svg Mike Bryan
Women's doubles
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Cara Black / Flag of South Africa.svg Liezel Huber
Mixed doubles
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Daniel Nestor / Flag of Russia.svg Elena Likhovtseva
Wheelchair men's singles
Flag of Japan.svg Shingo Kunieda
Wheelchair women's singles
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Esther Vergeer
Wheelchair men's doubles
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robin Ammerlaan / Flag of Japan.svg Shingo Kunieda
Wheelchair women's doubles
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jiske Griffioen / Flag of the Netherlands.svg Esther Vergeer
Boys' singles
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brydan Klein
Girls' singles
Flag of Russia.svg Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Boys' doubles
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graeme Dyce / Flag of Finland.svg Harri Heliövaara
Girls' doubles
Flag of Russia.svg Evgeniya Rodina / Flag of Russia.svg Arina Rodionova
←  2006  · Australian Open ·  2008  →

The 2007 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.

Contents

The total prize pool was set at exactly A$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000. [1] Over 500 players competed in 2007. [1] The main draw for singles and doubles was released on Friday 12 January 2007.

In Mixed Doubles, the scoring system was changed. Should both teams in a match become one set apiece, a match tie break will take part in the final set where the first team to score ten points wins the match. If the score for the match tie break becomes 9–9, a difference by two is required to win the game (e.g. 11–9, 12–10, etc.).

Notable stories

New technology used in line-calling

Women's singles fourth round match at Melbourne Arena on day six of the 2007 Australian Open. Australian Open 2007. Elena Dementieva playing Nicole Vaidisova.jpg
Women's singles fourth round match at Melbourne Arena on day six of the 2007 Australian Open.

This was the first time that the tournament used the Hawk-Eye system in an official line-calling capacity, as an auxiliary to the human line judges. Players were given the opportunity to challenge a human line call if they believed it to be incorrect, by having Hawk-Eye confirm or overrule the original call. The system was installed on only one court being used for the tournament, in the Rod Laver Arena.

At the beginning of a set, the players were each given the opportunity to incorrectly challenge a maximum of two line calls during the set. A player who still had some incorrect challenges remaining was allowed to make an unlimited number of correct challenges, but when a player had no incorrect challenges remaining, his or her opportunity to challenge line calls was lost. Players received an extra incorrect challenge during a tiebreak. The players regained both challenges at the beginning of each set and also after every 12 games in the final deciding set. Unused challenges did not carry over when this happened. [2]

An additional aspect to the new system was that a video replay screen was installed inside the arena for the first time, to display the results of the challenges. The screen also allowed the spectators (and players themselves) to view instant replays that could previously only be seen by the television audience and those viewing the match on screens outside the stadium. This implementation caused noticeable drama in a match between No. 2 Amélie Mauresmo and Olga Puchkova in which Mauresmo challenged the in call on Poutchkova's shot and the replay showed the ball out graphically but still called the ball in.

Factional fighting on day 1

On 15 January 2007, around one hundred and fifty Australian youths of Serbian, Croatian and Greek origins were ejected from the Open after brawling with one another in Garden Square at Melbourne Park. The brawl reportedly developed after fans taunted each other with nationalist slogans. According to The Age newspaper, twenty police tried to quell the disturbance, which allegedly developed after an informal understanding between some Serb and Croat fans — that the two groups would not attend on the same day — was broken. The two opposing groups were ejected out separate exits and escorted away from the venue in opposite directions by police. No arrests were made, and no charges were laid against any of the participants.

The Greek supporters protested that they had not been involved in the taunts exchanged between the Serb and Croat contingents, though The Age reported that some Greek supporters had sided with some Serbs and chanted, "Greece, Serbia! Greece, Serbia!" and "We must support our Orthodox brothers". Serb fans claimed that the violence had been provoked by Croat use of the Croatian national flag, which in their eyes carried connotations of Second World War fascism, while Croats claimed that the violence was provoked by Serbs shouting anti-Croat, pro-Serb chants. [3]

A Croatian supporter suffered minor injuries in the ethnic brawl after being hit with a Serbian flagpole. People wearing Croatian or Serbian national colours were subsequently refused entry and the next day featured heightened security. Police in Victoria said that this sort of behaviour was never seen in the tournament before. [4]

Weather conditions

Heat in excess of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Day 2 caused the Extreme Heat Policy to be implemented. Most daytime matches were delayed, and matches continued on outside courts till 3.30am the following morning. Janko Tipsarević chose to forfeit his match against David Nalbandian because of the heat. On Rod Laver Arena with the roof open, top-seeded Maria Sharapova nearly succumbed to the heat, losing a 5–0 lead in the final set, but managed to defeat Camille Pin 6–3. 4–6, 9–7.

During the night sessions on Day 3, the Australian Open was affected by rain delaying play. Three men's matches were postponed in progress. The matches on Rod Laver Arena and Melbourne Arena were delayed for only 15 minutes while the retractable roofs closed. Marat Safin wisely requested that play be suspended while noticeably out of the match against Dudi Sela with Sela up two sets to one, six games to five, and 30-30. After the delay, Safin returned to win the fourth set and then the final set 6–0 to advance. This was reminiscent of the match in the 2006 Australian Open in which Marcos Baghdatis advanced after appearing rejuvenated against David Nalbandian. The match on Rod Laver featuring women's number two Amélie Mauresmo and Olga Puchkova was barely underway when the rains came.

Rain on day six caused play to only proceed on the covered courts of Rod Laver Arena and Melbourne Arena, for the duration of the day. Thus, only high seeds Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko, Kim Clijsters, James Blake, and Martina Hingis were able to play their matches, as well as Australians Alicia Molik and Lleyton Hewitt. Players scheduled for play on the outer courts had to wait until Day 7, and faced the possibility of playing on consecutive days for the winners. Initially only 10 matches were scheduled for play in Laver and Vodafone, but the match between Andy Murray and Juan Ignacio Chela was moved indoors, to leave only five delayed matches in men's and women's singles.

Seniors

Men's singles

Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Roger Federer defeated Flag of Chile.svg Fernando González, 7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4

Women's singles

Flag of the United States.svg Serena Williams defeated Flag of Russia.svg Maria Sharapova, 6–1, 6–2

Men's doubles

Flag of the United States.svg Bob Bryan / Flag of the United States.svg Mike Bryan defeated Flag of Sweden.svg Jonas Björkman / Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg Max Mirnyi, 7–5, 7–5

Women's doubles

Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Cara Black / Flag of South Africa.svg Liezel Huber defeated Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Chan Yung-jan / Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Chuang Chia-jung, 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–1

Mixed doubles

Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Daniel Nestor / Flag of Russia.svg Elena Likhovtseva [5] defeated Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg Max Mirnyi / Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg Victoria Azarenka, 6–4, 6–4

Juniors

Boys' singles

Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brydan Klein defeated Flag of France.svg Jonathan Eysseric, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1

Girls' singles

Flag of Russia.svg Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Flag of the United States.svg Madison Brengle, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–3)

Boys' doubles

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graeme Dyce / Flag of Finland.svg Harri Heliövaara defeated Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stephen Donald / Flag of India.svg Rupesh Roy, 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 6–3

Girls' doubles

Flag of Russia.svg Evgeniya Rodina / Flag of Russia.svg Arina Rodionova defeated Flag of the United States.svg Julia Cohen / Flag of Poland.svg Urszula Radwańska, 2–6, 6–3, 6-1

Wheelchair

Men's wheelchair singles

Flag of Japan.svg Shingo Kunieda defeated Flag of France.svg Michaël Jérémiasz, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4

Women's wheelchair singles

Flag of the Netherlands.svg Esther Vergeer defeated Flag of France.svg Florence Gravellier, 6–1, 6–0

Men's wheelchair doubles

Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robin Ammerlaan / Flag of Japan.svg Shingo Kunieda defeated Flag of the Netherlands.svg Maikel Scheffers/ Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ronald Vink, 6–2, 6–0

Women's wheelchair doubles

Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jiske Griffioen / Flag of the Netherlands.svg Esther Vergeer defeated Flag of France.svg Florence Gravellier/ Flag of the Netherlands.svg Korie Homan, 6–0, 3–6, [10–6]

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below with the round in which they exited.

Main draw wildcard entries

Qualifier entries

Protected ranking

The following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:

Withdrawn players

Attendance

DayDay SessionNight SessionTotal
141,25414,28855,542
233,02415,57448,598
331,10916,67747,786
438,62217,58056,202
532,25317,55749,810
635,55514,93250,487
735,95714,80150,758
828,99815,17844,176
919,61615,09134,707
1018,67414,97133,645
1116,82614,95731,783
1217,868–17,868
1315,833–15,833
1417,663–17,663
Total383,252171,606554,858

[6]

Media coverage

Coverage of the 2007 Australian Open was as follows:

Controversies and scandals

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Australian Open Showcases the Wonderful World of Tennis". Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2006.
  2. ↑ http://www.australianopen.com.au/pages/article.aspx?id=15&articleid=ArticleID2006112172449&pageId=140&HandlerId=1%5B%5D
  3. ↑ Serbs, Croats clash at Open - Tennis - Sport - smh.com.au
  4. ↑ 2GB.com - Swans in strife
  5. ↑ Nestor and Likhovtseva came back from the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles final to win the title.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. 1 2 "Third up-skirt incident mars Australian Open – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Archived from the original on 26 January 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2007.
  8. ↑ "Maria Sharapova Fined for Illegal Coaching – Maria Sharapova was fined at Australian after her father allegedly used hand signals to coach her during the match". Toronto Daily News. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
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