TENNIS in DEPTH.

Flavia Pennetta got her new season off to a fine start by winning the Singapore Women’s Tennis Exhbition event on Sunday. The Italian, ranked 20th in the world, beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 7-5 in the final, coming from 5-2 down in the second set to secure a straight-sets win.

In the third-place play-off, US Open champion Sam Stosur beat China’s Peng Shuai 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Organisers want to turn the exhibition event into a full WTA tournament, possibly as early as next year. However, their hopes of doing so have not been helped by a poor attendance over the past three days.

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Ana Ivanovic suggests that some of her WTA peers need to chill out and interact with each other more. “Maybe we (women) would perform much better if we could relax a little more and let it go,” she told the Telegraph. “The things with men’s tennis is that it’s set up a bit differently and I feel it’s more relaxed. They just don’t seem to stress about the small things. Girls take everything so personally. Everything is more emotional for us. The key is trying to find a balance and men seem to do that better.

“I think the guys do hang out more—they spend more time together than the girls do. It might be hard for us to support each other because the tour can be very competitive…Novak [Djokovic] for example, he hangs out with a lot of the guys. It’s a shame in a way. We spend so much time together on tour throughout the year. We travel and work together. But we don’t get to know each other or spend a lot of time as people or have girls’ talk about fashion or whatever.”

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Novak Djokovic will be determined to defend his title and maintain his world No.1 position, while Roger Federer’s year-end win in London sees him eyeing off a sixth Australian Open title and the honour of becoming the tournament’s 100th men’s singles champion. Rafael Nadal will put his disappointing 2011 season behind him and Andy Murray, twice a finalist in Melbourne, is desperate for a Grand Slam breakthrough.

Australia’s own US Open champion Sam Stosur leads a new generation of Grand Slam winners in contention for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, and French Open winner Li Na will be joined by defending champion Kim Clijsters and five-time AO winner Serena Williams, both returning from injury. World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki is still in the hunt for her maiden Grand Slam, while former champion Maria Sharapova is showing all the signs of returning to winning form. Only world No.13 Robin Soderling and No.69 Alisa Kleybanova, both currently battling illness, are missing from the ranks.

The 104 direct acceptances into the men’s draw include Tommy Haas, Fernando Gonzalez, Benjamin Becker and Paul-Henri Mathieu, all of whom used their injury protected rankings. The women’s draw includes 108 direct acceptances, with Timea Bacsinszky and Anna Chakvetadze both using protected rankings as they return from injury. Venus Williams, currently ranked 105, has also made the cut. Williams hasn’t played since withdrawing from her second-round US Open match after being diagnosed with autoimmune disease Sjögren’s Syndrome.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said he was thrilled with the line-up. “It’s incredible to once again have every available top player in both the men’s and women’s fields heading to play the Australian Open. “These superstars of world sport love coming to Melbourne. They love the Australian Open and the fans, the city, the facilities at Melbourne Park and the way we look after them while they are here.

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Tuesday’s field announcement saw Victoria Azarenka’s name added the the entry list, meaning the world’s top three will all play as they complete their preparations for the following week’s Australian Open. The top two, Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova, had already announced their intention to play. The only member of the top 10 not down to play is number four Maria Sharapova. The Russian, like reigning Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters, will instead complete her preparations in Brisbane the previous week. The quality of the women’s field is summed up by the automatic entry cut-off point which is just 23 for the 30-player draw. Tournament director Craig Watson said: “The women’s event has again attracted the world’s best and with last year’s women’s finalists (Kim Clijsters and Li Na) going on to play in the Australian Open final, the Apia International Sydney is the perfect preparation for the season’s first Grand Slam.”

The men’s field is led by Juan Martin del Potro, with other top-20 stars John Isner, Richard Gasquet and Feliciano Lopez also due to compete. The tournament gets under way on January 8th.

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18-year-old top seed Thiem showed his best tennis, surviving a first set tie-break to defeat Japan’s seventh seed Yoshihito Nishioka 76 63 in a rematch of the Eddie Herr quarterfinals. “I knew it would be a tough encounter. I just met Nishioka last week at the Eddie Herr and this time was a close match too,” said Thiem. “Today I was a bit tired because of playing two finals in the last two weeks. However, this latest result helped me to maintain self-confidence during the semifinal match,” added the world no. 8, who will next face compatriot Patrick Ofner for the title. Seventh seed Ofner also had to work hard to beat unseeded Filip Peliwo of Canada, coming from a set down to secure his final spot in Plantation, eventually winning 36 64 76. “It was a hard and close encounter. I just think I was a little more lucky than he in the tie-break,” said Ofner. “After the first set, things went better and better and now I am happy for having reached this prestigious final. Today it was a long match, I hope to be fit tomorrow. I like very much clay, so I am happy that Orange Bowl organizers changed the surface.”

In the girls’ event, seventh seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia started very slowly but finally took advantage of the retirement of Canada’s top seed Eugenie Bouchard when leading 0-6, 6-4, 4-2 to enter her first ever Grade A final spot. Kontaveit, who won the Chang LTAT ITF Junior Championships in Thailand last March, will be looking to become the first Estonian player to win the Orange Bowl title. “In the first I did not get my game and I was probably very tired from my previous match against Indy De Vroome. Then, I found confidence in my serve and I played more aggressive,” said Kontaveit who withstood Bouchard’s comeback from 5-0 to 5-4 in the second set to level the match. In the decisive set, Gerdau Cup champion Bouchard was forced to retire at 2-4 due to a stomach injury. 15-year.old Kontaveit will play second seed Yulia Putintseva of Russia in today’s final. The two just met in last week’s Eddie Herr quarterfinals with the aggressive Russian winning a close three set encounter. “I am happy to met Putintseva again and I want to take revenge against her,” added Kontaveit. 2010 US Open runner-up Putintseva took out American tennis promise Sachia Vickery after a tough two set encounter to reach her second Grade A final on the ITF Junior Circuit. Putintseva and Vickery, both training at the Mourataglou Tennis Academy in France, had an exciting and thrilling semifinal match with the American wasting a set point at the 5-3 in the second set. Using a little more experience and keeping her head clear, Putintseva finally managed to down her opponent, 75 75.

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16-year-old wild card Sachia Vickery survived losing the first set to unseeded Varvara Flink of Russia, before closing out a tight match 26 62 76, to book her place in the semifinals. It was a tense and nervous quarterfinal encounter in which the young American player wasted two opportunities to serve for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the decisive set. ”It was a very important match for me, so I felt a bit nervous on the ground” said Vickery. “From the beginning of the second set I decided to changed my strategy and I was able to come back from a set down, just as I did on Thursday against Maciejewska” added the determined teenager. Vickery – who trains at the Mouratoglou Academy and was mentored by Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena – is aiming to follow in the footsteps of her compatriot Lauren Davis, the 2010 Orange Bowl champion. Vickery will face second seed Yulia Putintseva of Russia in the semifinal. Putintseva also had to fight back from a set down in order to defeat American Samantha Crawford, eventually winning 75 46 63. Putintseva has had a successful 2011 campaign, which has included reaching the semifinals of a Grade A championship on no less than three occasions. However, a first Grade A title has eluded her thus far. The pair’s last encounter, at the Grade 1 Canadian Open in August, saw Vickery win in straight-sets.

In the top half of the draw, top seed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada eased past Croatian seventh seed Donna Vekic, 63 62. Bouchard remains on course to claim a second Grade A title on clay, nine months after her first triumph at the Gerdau Cup. Bouchard is clearly in good form, following on from recording her best WTA result to date at the $50.000 Toronto tournament in October, where she defeated American Alexa Glatch, ranked 152 in the WTA rankings. Bouchard’s next opponent will be fifth seed Anett Kontaveit (EST) who recorded a three set win over third seed Indy De Vroome of the Netherlands, 76 26 63.

In the boys’ event, the upset of Day 5 was Filip Peliwo’s 61 64 victory over sixth seed Julien Cagnina (BEL). The 17-year-old unseeded Canadian started brightly, winning the first set, but had to come back from 1-4 down in the second to claim his first semifinal spot in a Grade A tournament. Peliwo now faces second seed Patrick Ofner (AUT), who dominated Latvian Janis Podzus, posting a 62 60 win in their quarterfinal match. Meanwhile, Ofner’s compatriot and top seed, Dominic Thiem, was simply too strong for tenth seed Kimmer Coppejans (BEL), dropping just two games in his 61 61 win. Thiem is in sparkling form and aiming for a third consecutive title on the ITF Junior Circuit, having won the Eddie Herr and Yucatan Cup tournaments in recent weeks. His semifinal opponent is twelfth seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who ended the hopes of Janis Podzus twin brother, Martins, by defeating him, 61 75.

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Two more wins would see the 15-year-old Queenslander in the main draw of next month’s Australian Open. Barty defeated Emelyn Starr from New South Wales 6-3 6-2 on Thursday. ”It was tough out there today,” Barty said. “It was a little bit windy and the sun was pretty bad at one end but I was able to put my game together just long enough to get the win.” Barty upset top seed Casey Dellacqua in the first match of the round robin event and is shaping as a strong favourite for the wildcard. ”I just wanted to see how I went. I was just out here to have fun and to play against Casey was great,” she said. Barty admitted she had “definitely” surprised herself with her progress but is unsure about whether she is prepared for an Open main draw spot. ”I’m not really sure, I’m ready when I’m ready. I can’t tell you when that will be but I’ll just keep developing and see if I get there,” she said.

Dellacqua won her second match but due to an earlier loss will have to rely on Tennis Australian providing her with a discretionary wildcard into next month’s grand slam. After winning six straight Pro Tour events in the past three months she is certain to be awarded a place in the draw.

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Alexios Halebian won’t lie. He would rather the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship had stayed on hard courts in Key Biscayne than moved to clay in Plantation. The big-serving Californian won the 16s title at the Crandon Park Tennis Center two years ago, and reached the 18s semis there last year. Switching the tournament to the green clay at the Veltri Tennis Center “slows the points down and equalizes the big serve, which is one of my strengths,’’ he said. The trickier surface probably cost 13th-seeded Halebian a few points in his 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 third-round loss to unseeded Canadian Filip Peliwo on Thursday. It might also be a reason that none of the 41 American boys entered in the 16s and 18s advanced to the quarterfinals.

American girls are faring better with two in the 16s semifinals (Rasheeda McAdoo of Palmetto Bay and Kimberly Yee of Las Vegas) and two in the 18s quarterfinals (Sachia Vickery of Miramar and Samantha Crawford of Tamarac). Halebian said despite his personal surface preference, he understands the reason for the move. USTA officials want young Americans to play more on clay it will force them to learn to construct points, play better defense and get fitter.

Patrick McEnroe, the USTA general manager of Player Development, and Jose Higueras, the USTA Director of Coaching, watched as Halebian became the last American boy to go down. The other third-rounder, 15-year-old wild card Noah Rubin, lost earlier Thursday, 6-2, 6-1 to seventh-seeded Patrick Ofner of Austria. “The move to clay is a long-term plan, and initially, we might not have as good results,’’ McEnroe said. “But that’s fine. Our job as coaches and leaders in the sport is to teach our kids the right way to play and determine what’s better for American tennis. “I’m watching Halebian here, having to figure it out, work through it, and it’s good for him. Clay exposes your game more, especially at this age. We’re not trying to make better clay-court players. We’re trying to make better tennis players. Orange Bowl titles would be nice, too, but at the end of the day, we want to help develop pros. Nobody can tell me it’s not healthy for them to play a lot of tennis on clay.’’

Erin Routliffe, a 6-2 Canadian who will play McAdoo in the girls 16s semis, said she, too, prefers hard court but has benefited from adapting her power game to clay this week. “You can’t just hit big winners here,’’ she said. “And tall people aren’t as good at sliding, so I’ve had to work on that, too.’’ Routliffe beat American Caroline Doyle (San Francisco) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. McAdoo beat Lexi Borr of New Jersey 7-5, 6-2. In the 18s, top seed Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) beat No. 13 Elizaveta Kulichkova (Russia) 6-3, 6-2; No. 3 Indy De Vroome (Netherlands) beat No. 16 Taylor Townsend (Stockbridge, Ga.) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5); wild card Sachia Vickery (Miramar) defeated No. 6 Zuzanna Maciejewska (Poland) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2; and Samantha Crawford (Tamarac) beat wild card Nadia Echeverria Alam (Doral) 6-3, 6-0.

British teenage star Liam Broady bowed out of the Orange Bowl at the last-16 stage on Thursday. The 17-year-old, who reached the final of Junior Wimbledon back in the summer, was beaten 7-6 6-4 by Latvian qualifier Janis Podzus in round three of the prestigious under-18 event in Florida. George Morgan won the title 12 months ago but there will be no similar success for Great Britain as Broady, seeded second, was the the last of eight Britons left in the draw. A change of surface from hard to clay this season hardly helped the British cause. The Orange Bowl is one of the biggest tournaments on the junior circuit. Former winners include Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

mkaufman@MiamiHerald.com

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