Roddick blasts his way to the Quarters

Big serving American Andy Roddick has clinched his place in the Quarter finals of the Australian Open following an epic 5 set battle against Fernando Gonzalez.

The match at the Rod Laver arena finished 6-3 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-2 and saw some top quality play from both men.

Speaking after the victory Roddick said "I was lucky to get out of that, sometimes if you fight and stick around you give yourself a shot."

"When Fernando gets hot you know a lot of the match is out of your control... if i didn't have my first serve and winning points on that i'd be booking plane tickets home."

After dropping the opening set Gonzalez started playing some fantastic cavalier tennis to take a two sets to one lead, but it was the fourth set that decided the match.

With opportunities to break early on not taken momentum began to swing away from the Chilean.

Utilising his powerful serve and aggressive forehand return Roddick generated six break points during the set before finally clinching it 7-5 after a successful Hawk eye challenge.

Gonzalez chance had passed and his frustration started to show after getting a warning from the umpire for raquet abuse.

Roddick was now fully in control and quickly went 3-0 up and although Gonzalez continue to hit some excellent shots it was the American who sealed it 6-2.

So far it has been a cracking start to the year for the American who has won all nine of his matches on tour winning the title at Brisbane.

Roddick faces Marin Cilic who also took five sets to upset world no.4 Juan Martin Del Potro in the next round.

Federer Announces Haiti Fundraiser

Top players from the men's and women's tour will be hosting a special fundraising exhibition tomorrow to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Announcing the plans on his facebook page Federer said: "Tomorrow at 2pm, with other top players, we are going to have a fun exo at Melbourne Park to help raise monies for relief efforts in Haiti from the devastating Earthquake."

"Entry fee is a minimum donation of $10. Should be fun and its for a great cause. Hope to see some of you there!" Federer added.

Federer will be joined by Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters in the 'Hit for Haiti' exhibition with other top names expected to be added to the line up.

The earthquake, which measured at 7.2 on the Richter scale, devastated large parts of Haiti last Tuesday and is believed to have caused up 200,000 casualties.

The town of Port-au-Prince situated 25km from the epicentre of the quake sustained heavy damage with the Cathedral, Presidential palace and National Assembly building all being severely damaged or destroyed.

To donate to the Red Cross Haiti appeal please click here.

Murray gets Tough draw

Andy Murray will have to overcome stiff opposition if he is to claim his maiden grand slam title in Melbourne next week.

The world no.5 has been placed in the same side of the draw as defending champion Rafeal Nadal and US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro.

Murray who will begin his campaign against qualifier Kevin Anderson could also face American Andy Roddick or Frenchman Gail Monfils before the final.

On the women's side British no.1 Elena Baltacha has a very winnable opener against world no.104 Pauline Parmentier with a possible match up against world no.2 Dinara Safina waiting in round 3.

Meanwhile fellow Brit Katie O'brien will also has cause to optimistic as she faces Austrian Patricia Mayr with Jelena Jankovic a possible 2nd round opponent.

To view the draws in full you can visit the Australian Open website with first round matches scheduled to start this coming Monday.

Murray's prospective draw by ranking:

Rnd 1: Kevin Anderson

Rnd 2: Marc Gicquel

Rnd 3: Jurgen Melzer (28)

Rnd 4: Gael Monfils (12)

QF: Rafeal Nadal (2)

SF: Juan Martin Del Potro (4)

F: Roger Federer (1)

Brits on Tour Week 2

Women's No.1 Elena Baltacha has qualified for her second tour event in a row this week at the Hobart international in Australia.

The world no.85 will face Jelena Dokic in the first round having lost against her opponent in there only previous meeting at Wimbledon back in 2003.

Baltacha will be delighted with her victory over Anna Chakvetadze a player who won the Hobart cup only 2 years ago.

On the men's side Dan Evans is one match away from Qualifying for the Heineken Open in Auckland and faces Tsung-Hua Yang for a place in the main draw.

The 18 year old player from Chinese Tapai is currently ranked at 341 although could prove a tough test for Evans after an impresssive victory over world no.244 Jan Minar.

Meanwhile following a successful run at the Hopman Cup world no.4 Andy Murray is resting ahead of an assault on the Australian Open title, while many other Brits are gearing up for the Qualifiers which start mid week.

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Update 11/10/2010:

Evans beats Yang in 3 sets to reach the main draw at Auckland. The 19 year old will face fellow qualifier and world no.209 Michael Lammer in the first round.

Brits miss out on Hopman Trophy

Although Team GB failed to lift the Hopman Cup earlier today both Andy Murray and Laura Robson can take some big positives from the event.

Over the past week it has been a pleasure to see the pair team up together on court. Robson has had the benefit of playing alongside the world no.4 in doubles and against some top players on the WTA circuit.

Her victory in the final against the world no.24 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 7-6 will provide a massive confidence boost and came ahead of the news she had been given a wildcard into the Aussie Open qualifiers.

After coming so close at the US open British fans have been given more cause to be hopeful ahead of this years Australian Open.

It would be fantastic if Robson could join Baltacha and O'Brien in the main draw down under and would highlight the real progress that is being made in the women's game at present.

As for Mr Murray the tournament gave him a chance to prepare ahead of the Australian Open in singles and the rare opportunity to relax somewhat on court in his mixed doubles.


There can be no doubt that he represented the senior party in the pairing but this is a role that Murray has thrived in before. His performances in the Davis Cup last year were excellent and lifted a team that is suffering from an alarming lack of depth.


No one doubts that Murray represents the immediate future of British tennis but perhaps he already recognises that Robson is in the same position that he found himself in 3 or 4 years ago.

It is perhaps a little surprising that it was Murray who suffered a singles defeat against Robredo in the final but he is unlikely to be overly concerned.

The Hopman cup a tournament that has been off the British radar since the days of Jo Durie and Jeremy Bates, provided everything the pair were looking for (except the trophy)!

Here's hoping that we can see the two pairing up together in the near future, perhaps not to win major titles but to foster the sort of camaraderie that has been somewhat lacking in the past.

Comeback Queen?

Earlier this week former world no.1 Justine Henin won her first match of her much anticipated comeback. As the Belgian looks to add to her grand slam tally in 2010 Tennislane takes a look at other comebacks on the women's tour.

Kim Clijsters:

Another Belgian following a series of frustrating injuries the widely popular Clijsters retired from tennis to start a family back in May 2007. Upon her retirement the 2005 US Open champion and former world no.1 had enjoyed a hugely successful career. Yet some were left feeling that Clijsters retired with some unfinished business, 1 victory from 5 grand slam finals perhaps one of her most frustrating statistics.

So when Clijsters announced her return to the tour ahead of the 2009 US open it was expected she was gearing up for an assault on the game's elite in 2010. Few could have predicted the fairytale tournament which saw her become the first unranked women in history to win a grand slam title. Clijsters has undoubtedly returned with a bang now we wait to see how her comeback continues in 2010.

Jennifer Capriati:

A teenage sensation becoming the youngest ever semi finalist at Rolland Garros, Capriati seemed destined for the top. But by the end of 1993 it seemed that her time in the game was coming to an end. Despite winning gold at 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Capriati was struggling with the pressure of life on tour. Arrested for shoplifting and later cannabis possession Capriati decided to take a break.

Capriati's return in 1996 was more low key than others and it took time for her to climb her way back up the tennis ladder. Her ranking slowly improved and in May 1999 she won her first WTA tournament since her return in Strasbourg. Perhaps it was this victory that gave her the belief and impetuous that had been lacking as 2001 was to prove to be the most successful year on tour. Winning her first grand slam at the Australian Open, Capriati added the 2001 French Open title, rose to no.1 in the rankings before successfully defending her maiden grandslam in 2002. Although injury may have cut short her time on tour Capriati's comeback must be regarded as one of the most successful in modern times.

Monica Seles:

Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies in tennis history is the stabbing of Monica Seles in 1993 by an obsessed fan of her rival Steffi Graf. At the time Seles was undoubtedly the best player on the planet. World no.1 and already a 8 time grand slam champion the world may have been robbed of her peak years.

However the comeback that Seles made from 1995 onwards was not only brave but very successful. After winning her first tournament back, Seles reached the final of the 1995 US Open losing out narrowly to Graf in three sets. However 1996 was the year which saw her return to the top. Triumph at the Australian Open was her ninth and final grand slam title and although she did not return to the dominance she had enjoyed in the early 90s Seles became a hugely popular player and a ever present top 10 player through to 2003.

Brits gear up for 2010

As the 2010 tennis season kicks off there are positive signs for British tennis in 2010.

Elena Baltacha, the British number one and James Ward have both qualified for the main event at Auckland and Channai respectively.

Baltacha, who is currently sitting at a career high ranking of 84 cruised past Canada's Stephanie Dubois 6-3 6-1 and will feel confident going into her first round match against Ioana Raluca.

If she can overcome that hurdle then a possible match up against no.3 seed Yania Wickmayer will certainly show Baltacha how far she has come ahead of the Aussie Open.

Meanwhile the 22 year old Ward defeated two higher ranked players including a convincing win over Israel's Naom Okun at Channai.

However Ward who is beginning to like the best choice for Britain's second Davis cup slot will now face a sterner test against world no.91 Marcel Grannolers.

Grannolers although primarily a doubles specialist is ranked over 170 places above Ward and certainly knows his way around a tennis court.

New Season - New look

Welcome to a revitalised Tennislane!

To co-incide with the launch of the new tennis season tennislane has re-launched with a brand new look.

Over the course of the season we will be following all the major tennis stories across the globe as well as keeping you up to date with Britain's homegrown stars so come back soon!