- Title: AUSTRALIA: TENNIS - Tennis stars meet before Australian Open
- Date: 18th January 2011
- Summary: BEVERAGES SERVED AT PARTY
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Australia, Australia
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVADLIY156D1K4E7G16MO5YLRACM
- Story Text: Some of the stars of the Australian Open gathered in Melbourne on Sunday (January 16), the eve of the tournament.
World number one Rafael Nadal said it was always great to be back in the coty and he was not thinking about winning a grand slam, just focussing on his first match on Tuesday.
The 27th seed, David Nalbandian of Argentina, missed last year's event, but said he had been practising a lot lately and last week played in Auckland which gave him some confidence.
Australian veteran Ken Rosewall favoured Roger Federer for the men's title "because I think he's pretty fit and very keen to win" and Kim Clijsters in the women's contest.
Women's world number 17 Marion Bartoli said she was focussing on her first match.
Monday's order of play on the showcourts on the first day of the Australian Open tennis (prefix denotes seeding, times GMT):
Rod Laver Arena - play starts at 2400:
Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) v 14-Maria Sharapova (Russia)
1-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) v Gisela Dulko (Argentina)
Lukas Lacko (Slovakia) v 2-Roger Federer (Switzerland)
From 0800:
21-Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) v Jarmila Groth (Australia)
Marcel Granollers (Spain) v 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Hisense Arena - play starts at 2400:
Thiemo de Bakker (Netherlands) v 12-Gael Monfils (France)
8-Andy Roddick (U.S.) v Jan Hajek (Czech Republic)
4-Venus Williams (U.S.) v Sara Errani (Italy)
11-Justine Henin (Belgium) v Qualifier
Margaret Court Arena - play starts at 2400
Arantxa Parra Santonja (Spain) v 6-Francesca Schiavone (Italy)
28-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) v Regina Kulikova (Russia)
Zuzana Ondraskova (Czech Republic) v Jelena Dokic (Australia)
Peter Luczak (Australia)v 17-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia)
From 0800:
Rainer Schuettler (Germany) v 9-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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