TENNIS in DEPTH.

Australian Open 2011 will feature one of the strongest fields in the tournament’s history, with all of the world’s top 100 men and 98 of the top 100 women entered into the year’s first Grand Slam event. World No.1 Rafael Nadal is focused on winning his fourth consecutive major to complete a ‘Rafa Slam’, while world No.2 Roger Federer’s mission will be to hoist the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup for a fifth time. Caroline Wozniacki is on the hunt for a maiden Grand Slam title to go with her No.1 ranking, and Australia’s very own Sam Stosur, world No.6, has the game and the belief to take the next step.

The first entry lists have been released with injured Serena Williams the only omission from the top 100 women. The 104 direct acceptances into the men’s draw include Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) and Dmitry Tursunov (RUS), both of whom used their injury protected rankings. The women’s draw includes 107 direct acceptances, with notable exceptions Elena Dementieva (RUS) who retired at the end of the season and world No.37 Agnes Szavay (HUN), also out with injury.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said he was thrilled with the line-up. “To have the top 104 players in the world in the men’s main draw is incredible and shows the high esteem with which the Australian Open is held in world tennis. “The women’s field also has every available top player in the world. The players vote with their feet and they are doing it again. I think it is a credit to the Australian public, the staff at the event and the facilities both at Melbourne Park and in the city of Melbourne that the players have such high regard for the Australian Open.

“We are in for some incredible tennis in January.” The men’s field will be completed by 16 qualifiers and eight wildcards, while the women’s field has 12 qualifiers and eight wildcard to be added.

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Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin are considering joining forces to play doubles at the London 2012 Olympics. The Belgian pair have both come out of retirement over the last 18 months and, despite once having a frosty relationship, could team up for 2012. To qualify for the Olympics they must play Fed Cup, which is one of the reasons that Sharapova is playing Fed Cup for Russia in 2011, and to date Henin has not signed on to participate against the US in the first round.

Both players will be 30+ in 2012, Henin’s condition is highly suspect and Clijsters will most likely be pregnant, so the chances of them playing together are at best slim to none! It will be a sad day if the WTA tour has this pair and the aging decrepit Williams sisters as their finalists at the 2012 Olympics.

“We have to get together to discuss this, see what the possibilities are and assess how far we want to go in this,” said the 27-year-old Clijsters. Henin, 28, added: “There is a real willingness to be there [the Games].” The compatriots have only once played doubles together at the highest level, when Belgium lost to Russia in the 2006 Fed Cup quarter-finals.

“I have stopped telling myself the last weeks that I am getting old, I prefer to think that I am getting more mature”. Both women have targeted the 2012 Olympic Games event at Wimbledon as a priority and Clijsters, who gave birth to daughter Jada during her two-year spell in retirement, has suggested 2012 could be her final year of tour.

And with the new season only just over three weeks away, seven-time Grand Slam champion Henin admitted she has struggled to regain full fitness.

“I have had to limit myself enormously when it comes to serve,” she said. “My goal is to progress little by little, step by step. “I take minimum risks. Each time that I stepped up the rhythm there was a backlash of inflammation in my elbow, as a result I had to slow down the last few weeks so that my elbow can adapt itself to this. “So my preparation didn’t progress that far, but that didn’t prevent me from working on a lot of things. I am not at all panicked or stressed with that in mind, there is still a couple of weeks left.

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 Rafael Nadal is set to join the Beckhams, Ronaldo and Megan Fox in promoting Armani underwear. What is it about sportsmen and underpants? From David Beckham wrapped in a rope in black Emporio Armani briefs, to Freddie Ljungberg posing with a cheeky thumb tucked in the waistband of his Calvin’s, to Linford’s lunch box, the two go together like meat and two veg.

The latest sporting legend to strip off to sell pants is world number one tennis player Rafael Nadal, who will appear as the face and, more importantly, six-pack of Giorgio Armani underwear and Armani Jeans for spring/summer 2011. Nadal has already been shot by top fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, but we won’t get to see the results until February next year. Going on Armani’s previous campaigns starring footballers David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, we can expect to see a lot of muscle flexing, moody lighting, lashings of baby oil and pants so tight they look like they’ve been sprayed on (so to speak).

Ball players have become big business for the underpants market with British retailers reporting sales increases of up to 10% when Beckham’s ads launched. Oily ‘winker’ Ronaldo’s campaign proved less popular in the UK, launching just as he left Manchester United and sashayed off to Real Madrid, but went down well abroad, scoring him a Vanity Fair cover, again in underpants, during the 2010 World Cup.

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The 2011 Heineken Open looks set to be another blockbuster tournament with plenty of new talent, experience and crowd pleasers. There are two former champions and the defending champion in the 19-player field. Four players who have been ranked in the world’s top five, including former No1 Juan Carlos Ferrero as well as a number of new players to the tournament.

World No7 David Ferrer of Spain, the 2007 champion will be the top seed and has just completed playing at the ATP World Tour finals in London. Ferrer along with countrymen Albert Montanes won two ATP singles titles each in 2010. Another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero took away three titles this year. The second seed is the defending champion, world No19 and the man who won the longest professional tennis match in history, John Isner. The 2.06m (6’9”) American won the 2010 Heineken Open in dramatic fashion over Frenchman, Arnaud Clement for his first and only career title. He has been a beaten finalist in three other tournaments this year – Memphis, Belgrade and Atlanta as well as playing the historic 11 hour five minute match at Wimbledon.

The third seed, with a ranking of 25, Montanes had a remarkable year, starting by reaching the semifinals at the Heineken Open he won the tournament at Estoril, beating Roger Federer in the semis and also claimed the title at Stuttgart as well as making the semis at three other events and the quarters at two tournaments. Fourth seed is Heineken Open regular visitor, Juan Monaco of Argentina. The world No26 reached one ATP final (Santiago) three semifinals – Buenos Aires, Acapulco and Shanghai and the quarters at the Indian Wells Masters Series. It will be his sixth visit to Auckland. Also seeded will be No27th ranked David Nalbandian. The former No3 and Wimbledon runner up from 2002 has 11 career singles titles to his credit, including winning at Washington this year.

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 Martina Navratilova had to turn back while climbing Africa’s highest peak after feeling unwell, the sports charity she was climbing for said Friday.

The 54-year-old tennis legend was assisted down Mount Kilimanjaro by porters and driven to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre for assessment. The 27-person climbing team Navratilova was in has faced heavy snows and mist since beginning the climb up the 19,340-foot (5,895-meter) mountain Monday. Navratilova was “in good spirits” but disappointed to leave the mountain, the sports charity said. “The weather is a little better, but the going is getting tougher and tougher,” Navratilova wrote in a blog posting on Thursday. “It seems to be constantly steep and as we started to approach the highest point yet, 4,500 meters (14,765 feet) above sea level, sheer exhaustion sets in for much of the group, and with heavy legs and chests pounding due to a lack of oxygen, every step becomes an effort,” she wrote.

Navratilova, who won 18 singles Grand Slams, told The Associated Press last weekend that she has never climbed higher than 12,000 feet. The Aspen, Colorado resident told AP she was “petrified” of failing to reach the summit “because then the whole world will know.” Navratilova was climbing the mountain to raise money and awareness for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The rest of the team will continue the climb and should reach the summit Saturday.

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At the GDF SUEZ Diamond Games in Antwerp, Kim Clijsters beat Justine Henin after an exciting three sets. At first the match between Kim and Henin did not promise such a thrilling ending. In the first set Kim outplayed Justine completely. It was Justine’s first match after months of recovering from an injury. Kim only needed 25 minutes to get hold of the first set, 6-1. In the second set as well Kim immediately took a break, but then had to slow things down somewhat. Henin started playing better and rebroke. At 3-4, she broke through Kim’s service again: with her world famous backhand she opened the field and then she finished it off with a forehand. After exactly one hour Justine equalled in sets, 1-1. Henin won the second set with 3-6. The third set was a short but powerful tiebreak set, aiming at ten points won. Kim treated the fans with a ‘tweener’, but the ball from between her legs was out, only just. Still, the fans didn’t have to feel sad, as Kim had four match points at 9-5. And Kim finished it off at the first opportunity: 6-1, 3-6 and 10-5 after 1 hour and 11 minutes.

“Justine is a class act,” Kim praised her opponent afterwards. “I enjoy watching her play, but not when she is in front of me,” she joked. “This match was very intense”, Justine said. “I could feel the adrenaline flow through my entire body. Things did not go as I wanted, but it was a delight to be playing here. An awesome audience!”

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Day two of the Mount Kilimanjaro climb, and the team and I are enjoying a well deserved rest at camp after an intense day of trekking.

We were woken this morning at 6.30am for breakfast, before departing camp at 8am. Today’s route was quite steep from the outset, but as we crossed the heather moorland, we had the chance to take in breathtaking views of the summit, and with it the realisation of how far we have got to climb! We can also see that there is LOADS of snow on the summit. We were warned about this, but now we can see the reality. It means it’s going to be very, very cold at the top. After a break for lunch, the walk became increasingly difficult, as we trekked towards the jagged peaks of Mawezi, Kilimanjaro’s second peak. We were warned that we may start feeling the effects of altitude at this point, as we climb beyond 3,000 metres. The porters are right, most of us are beginning to get out of breath and finding the walking more difficult. The porters are keeping us going by singing lots. We’re trying to pick up the words to join in, but we don’t have the lung capacity that they do. They are used to the altitude.

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Andy Roddick has opted to return to the United States Davis Cup team next season after missing the 2010 event. The world number eight said: “I have always said that Davis Cup is something you should commit to for the entire season and not when it is convenient.” The United States and new coach Jim Courier will play at Chile in the first round on 4-6 March on clay in Santiago.

Courier, who replaced Patrick McEnroe, added: “Having Andy commit to the 2011 campaign is huge for our team.” Roddick has an impressive record in Davis Cup singles matches – winning 31 and losing 11 – and has the second best record of all American players behind John McEnroe (41). The 2003 US Open champion, 28, added: “Trying to win the Davis Cup again is a top priority for me in 2011. Nothing compares to the atmosphere of playing a Davis Cup match and representing your country.”

He will be playing under new coach Courier after the former world number one overcame the likes of Todd Martin to get the post left vacant when McEnroe stood down in September.

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