2008 Australian Open

Surface change

On 30 May 2007, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley announced that as of the 2008 Australian Open, the Rebound Ace surface that had been used since 1988 would be replaced by a newer, faster Plexicushion surface. The Rebound Ace surface had been criticized for several years, from players including Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis, who claimed that the "stick" of the court was a contributing factor in many players injuring themselves. This "stick" was a result of the thick rubber mat (10 mm) laid beneath the surface, the high heat retention because of this, and the high temperatures present during the Australian summer, which intermittently resulted in the extreme heat policy being invoked. Conversely, players such as Pete Sampras and Marat Safin put the high number of injuries down to lack of preparation from players; partly due to the fact that the tournament is held so early in the year, but also because there were so few tournaments preceding it. Rebound Ace was also chastised by Lleyton Hewitt for having an inconsistent bounce, in terms of height and pace (shock absorption); and claimed that these factors varied depending on the weather. The heat retention of the surface had also been a point of contention between players.

In announcing the change, Tiley said Plexicushion would have a "lower rubber content than Rebound Ace, was firmer under foot and retained less heat through its thinner top layer." Tiley later said that the change of colour, from green to blue, would also benefit players and officials, although this change was quite arbitrary. The manufacturers of Rebound Ace derided the new surface, with director Paul Bull saying that, "We had an Australian icon event with a unique Australian product and now we are just going to become a clone of the U.S. Open." Bull also said that the inconsistencies in pace were down to the organizers' imperative, who kept asking for the pace to be adjusted to pander for certain players, such as Hewitt. Bull, however, conceded that a change was needed; and said that the suggestion of a Rebound Ace court with a rubber mat thickness of around 5 mm was made.

The Plexicushion surface received a relatively mixed reception from players. Lleyton Hewitt, Justine Henin and Serena Williams were all keen to endorse the new courts; with Hewitt's appraisal focused on the greater consistency of the courts. Henin called it a "good surface" but said she did not find it markedly distinguishable from Rebound Ace, saying the biggest difference was the change of colour. Williams claimed that the court was not as "bouncy" and was causing less physical strain on her feet and ankles. One source of criticism from players was the slower than expected pace, although many of these comments came prior to the event's commencement. Players were exposed to the new courts through other tournaments, played in advance of the Open; and practise on the new surface. Roger Federer described it as slow, with Novak Djokovic, Jelena Janković and James Blake all corroborating this opinion, albeit from experience in preliminary tournaments. Pundit and former World No. 1 Pat Rafter said it was possible that the courts would speed up in time.

Implementation of anti-corruption policing

On 21 December 2007, organizers of the event announced that the tournament would be watched under the scrutiny of anti-corruption officials. A partnership was formed with Victoria Police. This announcement came in the wake of a series of scandals to hit the sport, including World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko coming under suspicion of match fixing; with at least a dozen other players coming forward about having been approached to influence matches in an unethical manner. Tennis Australia chief executive Steve Wood commented that, "Match-fixing and illegal gambling are a threat to the integrity of sport. We're putting our policies, procedures and programme in place to protect it."

This was followed by a statement from the wider community of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and organizers of all four Grand Slams that they would review their anti-corruption policies in the future. This announcement came six days prior to the start of the Open, on 8 January 2008.

Crowd trouble

On 15 January, Day 2 of the tournament, Victoria Police had to intervene when Greek Australian supporters, following Greece's Konstantinos Economidis in his match against Chilean Fernando González, became unruly. The match, in progress at the Margaret Court Arena, was suspended for ten minutes as the police attempted stop the "offensive chanting" and eject certain fans. Approximately forty supporters, heavily outnumbered by Chilean fans, were warned of their disorderly conduct prior to the police deploying pepper spray. The police regiment was heavily outnumbered, with a BBC Radio employee commenting that, "[there were] two guys against maybe 70-80, that's not good." Tournament officials said that 3 people had been sprayed and 5 evicted; a small proportion of the Greek fans left the arena, upset at how events were transpiring and fearing for their safety.

Both players said that the trouble was not something they had witnessed before; and Economidis condemned his supporters, saying that, "It was a really nice atmosphere until this moment. I am really unhappy." Some witnesses have implicated Cypriot and Serbian supporters in the trouble.

Australian Open director, Craig Tiley, had announced in the week preceding the event that police and security forces would "impose a 'zero-tolerance' policy on anti-social behaviour". This statement appeared to be a delayed reaction to the trouble that marred the event in 2007, with Australian youths of Greek, Serbian and Croatian origins involved in mutually abusive sparring. However, the problem was much more pronounced in 2007, with violence breaking out and around 150 fans ejected.

Sexual assault

Police were called to investigate a report that a 12-year-old girl was indecently assaulted by a drunk man at the Australian Open.

In a brief statement, Victoria Police said they received a report that the girl was inappropriately touched on the buttocks on Monday.

"The matter was reported to police this morning and the incident is currently being investigated", the statement said. This event mirrors a series of incidents that occurred at last year's event, when several men attending the tournament were arrested for taking upskirt photographs.

Marcos Baghdatis video controversy

During the Open, a video posted on YouTube almost a year earlier made headlines in the Australian media. The video shows the 2008 fifteenth seed, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, at a barbecue hosted by his Greek Australian fans in Melbourne in early 2007. In it, Baghdatis is holding a flare and taking part in chants against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Melbourne's Turkish Cypriot community called for Baghdatis to be expelled from Australia, but in a statement issued through his manager, the Cypriot player said he was "supporting the interest of my country, Cyprus, while protesting against a situation that is not recognized by the United Nations".

Serbian performance

This tournament saw strong performances from Serbian players. The men's side saw Janko Tipsarević, winner of the boys' tournament in 2001, almost cause an upset when he pushed Roger Federer to five sets in the third round, with the final score being 6–7 (5–7), 7–6 (7–1), 5–7, 6–1, 10–8 in Federer's favour. The match, which overlapped into the night session due to rain earlier in the day, took almost four-and-a-half hours to complete. Third-seed Novak Djokovic became Serbia's first Grand Slam singles title winner (Ana Ivanovic would later become that country's first Grand Slam women's singles title winner, at the 2008 French Open), and the youngest ever winner of the Australian Open, at 20 years and 250 days of age, when he defeated surprise finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, having defeated the defending champion Federer in the semi-finals, and Australian hopeful Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets in the fourth round. Coincidentally, Djokovic would also defeat Federer in straight sets en route to his second Australian Open title, in 2011.

The women's draw saw Jelena Janković, the 2001 girls' champion, and Ana Ivanovic produce notable performances to reach the semi-finals and the final, respectively. Janković saved three match points against Tamira Paszek in the first round, before defeating rising Australian player Casey Dellacqua in the fourth round. Janković then ended the title defence of Serena Williams in the quarter-finals, before losing her semi-final to Maria Sharapova. Twenty-four hours after Janković's victory over Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic recorded her first career victory against Venus Williams in her quarter-final, and went on to reach her second Grand Slam final by defeating Daniela Hantuchová in the semi-finals, having to recover from a 0–6, 0–2 deficit to do so. Ivanovic was then defeated in the final by Maria Sharapova, in a match dubbed as the "Glam Slam" final.

Day 1

Day 1 saw few upsets, as favourites Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Tatiana Golovin, Maria Sharapova, Shahar Pe'er, Amélie Mauresmo, Nicole Vaidišová, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko, Richard Gasquet, and Mikhail Youzhny all advanced. Jelena Janković, world #3, also advanced but was heavily tested by Tamira Paszek, having to win 2–6, 6–2, 12–10 in three hours, saving three match points; the match featured an exceptional 15 breaks of serve. Finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga scored his best victory to that point in a four set win over number 9 seed Andy Murray, 7–5, 6–4, 0–6, 7–6. Home favourite Alicia Molik also advanced into the second round.

Day 2

Favourites Roger Federer, Tomáš Berdych, James Blake, Novak Djokovic, Fernando González, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, David Nalbandian, David Ferrer, Marat Safin, Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Anna Chakvetadze, Daniela Hantuchová, and Svetlana Kuznetsova all advanced. Other seeded players such as Li Na, Nadia Petrova, Sania Mirza, Agnieszka Radwańska, Dmitry Tursunov, and Juan Carlos Ferrero also advanced. Sofia Arvidsson caused the upset on the women's side, as she defeated #10 Marion Bartoli 6–7, 6–4, 6–3, and Dinara Safina went down to qualifier Sabine Lisicki. On the men's side, the upset of the day came when Dutch qualifier Robin Haase defeated #17 Ivan Ljubičić 6–7, 6–3, 6–0, 7–6. Day 2 saw the completion of all the remaining first round matches.

Day 3

The Australian crowd were treated to an upset from one of their own as Casey Dellacqua sent #15 seed Patty Schnyder crashing out in the women's draw, while #13 Tatiana Golovin and #19 Sybille Bammer also struggled, losing to Aravane Rezaï and Hsieh Su-wei respectively. Maria Sharapova defeated comeback queen Lindsay Davenport in somewhat easy fashion 6–1, 6–3, and Justine Henin, Serena Williams, and Jelena Janković also advanced with wins. Joining them were numerous lower seeds including Elena Dementieva, Nicole Vaidišová and Amélie Mauresmo. In the men's draw, Mardy Fish dominated #11 seed Tommy Robredo to send him crashing out 6–1, 6–2, 6–3, while Stanislas Wawrinka retired against Marc Gicquel down two sets to one. Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and Richard Gasquet all progressed in straight sets, whilst Mikhail Youzhny was tested before eventually winning 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–6. The doubles competition also began on Day 3.

Day 4

In the pick of the second round matches, former finalist Marcos Baghdatis dispatched former champion Marat Safin in five sets; 6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–2. Seeds Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Fernando González, David Nalbandian, Tomáš Berdych and James Blake all came through unscathed; with Federer dropping only 3 games against Fabrice Santoro. Nineteenth seed and home favorite Lleyton Hewitt came through in typically gritty fashion, defeating Denis Istomin 7–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–1. On the women's side, Ana Ivanovic defeated Tathiana Garbin 6–0, 6–3 in the night match preceding Baghdatis vs. Safin. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anna Chakvetadze, Venus Williams, Daniela Hantuchová, Nadia Petrova and form player Li Na all navigated their way into the third round too.

The total attendance figure for Day 4 was 62,885, setting a new world record for a combined day/night attendance at a Grand Slam event. The previous record was 61,083, set during the 2007 U.S. Open.

Day 5

The first match of the night session on the Rod Laver Arena saw local player Casey Dellacqua, who had previously never progressed beyond the first round at the Australian Open, defeat former champion Amélie Mauresmo 3–6, 6–4, 6–4. Justine Henin struggled to get to grips with Francesca Schiavone before winning; and Nicole Vaidišová and Serena Williams set up an intriguing fourth round match, a re-match of the previous year's semi-final.

In the last match of the day, Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 29th seed of Germany, defeated the 6th seeded Andy Roddick in 232 minutes: 6–4, 3–6, 7–6, 6–7, 8–6; with the match reaching its conclusion past 02:00. Roddick was visibly perturbed during the match, which resulted in his earliest exit at the Australian Open since 2002. During the match, Roddick called umpire Emmanuel Joseph an "idiot" and received a retrospective fine of $500 for racquet abuse. Kohlschreiber entered the tournament in good form, having won the 2008 Heineken Open. Rafael Nadal faced world number 33 Gilles Simon, and had to save six set points in the first set. Simon squandered the first three to unforced errors, but it was Nadal who produced two aces and a drop shot to save himself at 4-5, 0-40. Paul-Henri Mathieu, under the stewardship of Mats Wilander, progressed after surviving a five-set thriller versus Stefan Koubek. Nikolay Davydenko, Richard Gasquet, Mikhail Youzhny, Jarkko Nieminen and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also advanced.

Day 6

Day 6 in Melbourne was plagued by rain and consequently matches could only take place on the indoor courts. In the women's competition, Ana Ivanovic made light work of Katarina Srebotnik whilst Venus Williams was more sternly tested by Sania Mirza. However, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze both saw their tournaments ended in the third round by Agnieszka Radwańska and Maria Kirilenko respectively.

The men's competition featured two prolonged five-set matches. In the first, #1 seed Roger Federer was pushed to the limit by Janko Tipsarević before triumphing; 6–7, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1, 10–8 in 267 minutes. The second featured Australian hopeful Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated Marcos Baghdatis 4–6, 7–5, 7–5, 6–7, 6–3 in a match that provoked discussion about the validity of night matches; the players did not finish play until 04:34, 282 minutes since it started at 11:52. Significantly, the match extended further into the evening than any other in the history of the Australian Open. The Federer-Tipsarević match, which lasted 267 minutes, overlapped into the night session and this delayed the commencement of the women's singles match between Venus Williams and Sania Mirza until 10:00. Rules had previously been put in place so that a men's singles match would not start if other matches had played past 11:00; however, with the home crowd growing anxious, the organizers decided to go ahead with the Hewitt vs. Baghdatis match.

In other matches, the 2007 finalist Fernando González made an early exit to Marin Čilić; Novak Djokovic, James Blake and Tomáš Berdych all progressed as well.

Day 7

Nikolay Davydenko became the highest-seeded male player out so far, losing to fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny, setting up a quarter-final tie with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who dumped out No.8-seeded compatriot Richard Gasquet 6–2, 6–7, 7–6, 6–3 in just over three hours. Jarkko Nieminen also advanced to the last eight. Maria Sharapova easily beat Elena Dementieva and she joined Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Janković, who eliminated home favourite Casey Dellacqua, in the quarter finals. Li Na said goodbye to the tournament, losing to qualifier Marta Domachowska. Rafael Nadal advanced to the quarter finals as opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu retired with an injured left calf muscle; the second-ranked Spaniard was ahead 6–4, 3–0. David Nalbandian, the number 10 seed also suffered a straight-sets defeat at the hands of former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero.

World number 4 Jelena Janković was handed a US$2,000 fine after allegedly receiving coaching from her mother, Snežana, during her third round match with Virginie Razzano of France. The game took place on Day 3 of the event. Umpire Maria Alves spotted the infringement during the match, and although unable to understand what had been communicated, dealt Janković a code violation for illegal coaching.

Janković denied the allegation, saying that she simply shouted 'C'mon' in Serbian. The practice of coaching during a match is banned at all WTA and Grand Slam events.

Maria Sharapova was fined the same amount at the 2007 Australian Open, also for receiving illegal coaching, with the same umpire, Maria Alves, in the chair.

Day 8

Novak Djokovic powered his way into the quarter-finals, defeating Lleyton Hewitt 7–5, 6–3, 6–3 in a fourth-round clash. Roger Federer finished Tomáš Berdych's tournament in 1 hour and 59 minutes, 6–4, 7–6, 6–3. He faces James Blake next, who scored a 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 win over 19-year-old Croat Marin Čilić; a victory which saw him advance past the fourth round here for the first time. Venus Williams fought back twice from service breaks in the first set to secure a place in the quarter-finals; with a 6–4, 6–4 win over Marta Domachowska. She next faces #4 seed Ana Ivanovic, who put together a 6–1, 7–6 win over Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki. No. 9 seed Daniela Hantuchová beat No. 27 Maria Kirilenko 1–6, 6–4, 6–4 and will next play Poland's Agnieszka Radwańska, who upset No. 14 Nadia Petrova 1–6, 7–5, 6–0.

Day 9

Jelena Janković survived a straight set win over defending champion Serena Williams, making the semifinals of her 3rd different major. Rafael Nadal won his quarter final match against Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets, putting him into his first semi-final at the Australian Open. Maria Sharapova defeated No. 1 seed Justine Henin in a repeat of the 2007 WTA Tour Championships final. On this occasion, Henin was unable to win even a set as Sharapova eased to victory; 6–4, 6–0. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his match against 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny and booked his spot in the semi-finals.

In a day that was relatively free of controversy on the court, several media outlets focused on allegedly unsavoury aspects off it. Sharapova's father, Yuri Sharapov, came under intense scrutiny from Australian media after he made a throat-slashing gesture shortly after his daughter's match against the world No. 1 Justine Henin. Sharapova had earlier joked that her father's camouflage hoodie made him look like "an assassin". The WTA claimed that the gesture was simply a joke between the pair, pertaining to this comment.

Day 10

Novak Djokovic defeated David Ferrer 6–0, 6–3, 7–5 in a closely fought third set, which advanced him to his fourth consecutive Grand Slam semi-final. Ana Ivanovic progressed to her first Australian Open semi-final after defeating Venus Williams 7–6, 6–4, a result which marked Ivanovic's first triumph over either of the Williams sisters. She set up a tie with Daniela Hantuchová, who advanced to her first Grand Slam semi-final after dispatching Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2, 6–2. Roger Federer defeated James Blake 7–5, 7–6, 6–4 in just over 2 hours. Federer's progression marked his 15th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final, a record.

Day 11

In the first women's semi-final match, fifth seeded Russian Maria Sharapova defeated third seeded Serbian Jelena Janković in a two sets, 6–3, 6–1 to clinch the first spot in the finals. Janković later conceded that she "wanted to withdraw", but played on for the crowd's benefit. Fourth seeded Ana Ivanovic also progressed to the final after defeating Daniela Hantuchová in three sets, 0–6, 6–3, 6–4. Ivanovic had lost the first eight games of the match before rectifying her game. However, Hantuchová was critical of Ivanovic's tactics during the latter stages of the match. Hantuchová claimed that Ivanovic resorted to gamesmanship by shuffling her feet prior to her serve, thereby causing a distraction. Ivanovic said that any possible noise was a result of the new court surface; and tried to offer an explanation of Hantuchová's motives, saying, "Maybe she was just trying to pick on something, to get upset." Unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated second seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the first men's semifinal, in straight sets, 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 in less than 2 hours. Journalists expressed shock, not only at the victory, but at the comprehensive manner in which the nascent Tsonga won it. Tsonga hit a total of 49 winners to Nadal's 13 and served imperiously: Nadal was unable to force a break point until the third set.

Day 12

In the second men's semi-final, between #1 Roger Federer and #3 Novak Djokovic, Djokovic won in just over 2 hours; completing the victory in straight sets, 7–5, 6–3, 7–6 to reach the second grand slam final of his career. This broke Federer's record run of appearing in 10 consecutive grand slam finals. In the women's doubles final, Alyona and Kateryna Bondarenko beat Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Pe'er 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 to win their first Grand Slam title.

Day 13

In what was dubbed the "Glam Slam" final, Maria Sharapova of Russia won the Women's 2008 Australian Open over Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in straight sets; 7–5, 6–3. It was Sharapova's third Grand Slam title. Sharapova also achieved the feat of not dropping a set or playing a tiebreak the entire tournament, after she was heavily defeated by Serena Williams in the 2007 final. In the men's doubles final, the Israeli pair, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram beat Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra of France 7–5, 7–6 to win their first Grand Slam title.

The juniors competition also reached its conclusion on Day 13. Australian Bernard Tomic defeated Taiwanese player Yang Tsung-Hua; 4–6, 7–6, 6–0 to win the boys' event. Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands defeated the other Australian hopeful, Jessica Moore, 6–3, 6–4 to claim the girls' singles crown. In the women's wheelchair event, Esther Vergeer won her third consecutive title, beating fellow Dutchwoman Korie Homan 6–4, 6–3. Shingo Kunieda won his fourth slam in a row in the men's wheelchair competition, defeating former champion Michael Jeremiasz 6–1, 6–4.

Day 14

Third seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in four sets; 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6, becoming the first Serbian player to win a Grand-Slam singles title.

Sun Tiantian of China and Nenad Zimonjić of Serbia were crowned the 2008 Mixed Doubles champions after defeating Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi of India in straight sets; 7–6, 6–4.

Men's Singles

Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(2)

Women's Singles

Maria Sharapova defeated Ana Ivanovic, 7–5, 6–3

Men's Doubles

Jonathan Erlich / Andy Ram defeated Arnaud Clément / Michaël Llodra, 7–5, 7–6(4)

Women's Doubles

Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko defeated Victoria Azarenka / Shahar Pe'er, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4

Mixed Doubles

Sun Tiantian / Nenad Zimonjić defeated Sania Mirza / Mahesh Bhupathi, 7–6(4), 6–4

Boys' Singles

Bernard Tomic def Yang Tsung-hua, 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–0

Girls' Singles

Arantxa Rus defeated Jessica Moore, 6–3, 6–4

Boys' Doubles

Hsieh Cheng-peng / Yang Tsung-hua defeated Vasek Pospisil / César Ramírez, 3–6, 7–5, [10]–[5]

Girls' Doubles

Ksenia Lykina / Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Elena Bogdan / Misaki Doi, 6–0, 6–4

Wheelchair Men's Singles

Shingo Kunieda defeated Michael Jeremiasz, 6–1, 6–4

Wheelchair Women's Singles

Esther Vergeer defeated Korie Homan, 6–3, 6–3

Wheelchair Men's Doubles

Shingo Kunieda / Satoshi Saida defeated Robin Ammerlaan / Ronald Vink, 6–4, 6–3

Wheelchair Women's Doubles

Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer defeated Korie Homan / Sharon Walraven, 6–3, 6–1

Wheelchair Quad Singles

Peter Norfolk defeated David Wagner, 6–2, 6–3

Wheelchair Quad Doubles

Nicholas Taylor / David Wagner defeated Sarah Hunter / Peter Norfolk, 5–7, 6–0, [10]–[3]

Seeds

These were the seeds for the 2008 Australian Open.

On the women's side of the draw, all of the world's top thirty-two players were present; whereas in the men's draw Tommy Haas and Guillermo Cañas were both forced to withdraw due to injury. On the date that the seeds were announced, 11 January 2008, Haas was No. 12 in the world and Cañas No. 17.