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Nick Lindahl (AUS)
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 27 Jan 2006
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 27 Jan 2006
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) & Sharon Fichman (CAN)
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Blazej Koniusz & Grzegorz Panfil (POL)
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Nathaniel Schnugg & Kellen Damico (USA)
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 27 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 26 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 24 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 25 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
Photographer: Ron Angle
Date: 28 Jan 2006
28 Jan 2006 - Melbourne Park - Eleanor Preston
Lindahl And Sidorenko Go For Glory In Melbourne
Alexandre Sidorenko is aiming to follow in a long line of French junior Australian Open champions when he takes on Australia’s Nick Lindahl at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

Sidorenko, who ended the winning streak of 16th seed Pavel Chekhov by beating the Russian 64 61 in the semifinals, is well aware of a recent roll of honour that includes French names like Gael Monfils, Clement Morel and Paris-trained 2006 men’s finalist Marcos Baghdatis.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will take on Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the girls’ final.

“It’s a bit of a tradition for French players to play well in Australia and I want to keep it going,” said Sidorenko. “I feel very proud to have a chance to join them. I played a final last week at the warm-up tournament at Nottinghill and I was a little nervous, so I hope to learn from that. I have to take the final like it’s a first or a second round match. I have to try to play my game and see what happens.”

For the second day in succession Melbourne Park was hit by a deluge which forced junior singles matches onto the indoor courts but Sidorenko didn’t seem to mind, in fact he said he was delighted to find himself back inside. “Once again I’m very happy about the rain helping me again. I wasn’t playing well in the first set, I was losing in my match and then it rained and we stopped, then we went indoors and I played better,” said Sidorenko. “I will be watching the weather forecast tonight because I hope it rains tomorrow. It’s become like a talisman for me. Maybe I’ll do a rain dance like a Red Indian! If it rains again I might think it’s my destiny to win.”

Lindahl and Sidorenko are both unseeded, though the Australian said he wasn’t surprised to see himself in the final. “I was playing in the qualifying for the seniors when I was offered a wildcard into juniors,” said the Australian. “I have been playing really well the last six months or so and I figured if I could play like that in juniors then I’d easily make the final. I’m just going to play my own game against Sidorenko and figure him out in the match and pick it up.”

Wozniacki may be top seed in the girls’ competition but she knows she will have her work cut out for her when she takes on Pavlyuchenkova, who won two warm-up events coming into the Australian Open and shows no sign of letting up. Pavlyuchenkova beat second seed Raluca-Ioana Olaru of Romania 64 63. Wozniacki battled past Ayumi Morita of Japan 76 63.

“I thought I would be tired after all my matches and maybe I couldn’t play well here but I did it,” said Pavlyuchenkova.

“I still can't believe that I'm in the finals. It seems unreal,” said Wozniacki, who lost in the first round at the Nottinghill tune-up event. “I was practicing hard and I was hoping to, like, go far in this tournament. But the finals… it's great.”

Wozniacki, like all the other players in action on Saturday, also spent much of the day waiting for the rain to stop before being moved indoors.

“Being indoors maybe helped her but I can’t complain because I won,” said Wozniacki. “I really hate waiting. I was just sitting around with other players, talking and playing cards. I won at cards to so maybe it was my day to win everything.”

In a very late girls' doubles final Sharon Fichman (CAN) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) defeated Alize Cornet (FRA) and Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 62 62 to lift the trophy late on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Polish duo of Blazej Koniusz and Grzegorz Panfil squeezed past Americans Kellen Damico and Nathaniel Schnugg 76(5) 63 to take the boys' doubles trophy back to Poland.

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