Williams-beaters Ivanovic, Jankovic fit to be joined

Ana Ivanovic (above) sent Venus Williams packing from the Aussie Open Wednesday, while fellow Serb ousted Serena on Tuesday. AP

MAILBAG Jon Wertheim will answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag every Wednesday. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Yesterday you were asked whether Jelena Jankovic was underrated or overrated. Today I want to ask you about the other Serb, Ana Ivanovic. Your thoughts?
-- Clark, Stockholm, Sweden

Ask, your timing is exquisite. How could we possibly call Ivanovic overrated on the day she wins a tough match against Venus Williams?

Like Jankovic on Tuesday, A.I. played perhaps the match of her life Wednesday. She's been talking about her improved fitness since she arrived here and it was really apparent against Venus. She scrambled to a lot of balls, moved gracefully and put Venus on the defensive plenty of times.

Like Jankovic on Tuesday -- warning: These two are destined to be bracketed together as often as the Williams sisters -- Ivanovic played a few tight points deep in the second set, but got it together and won perhaps the biggest match of her career. You really have to like her chances of getting to another final.

The season is long and you hate to proclaim a "trend" in a sport with such a precarious balance of powers. But the two Serbs and Maria Sharapova ushering out the Williams sisters and Justine Henin in the span of 24 hours sure has the whiff of a "changing of the guard."

Some Australian Open thoughts: 1) If the seeding system is set up differently so that theoretically there would be different matchups, then how would you explain Serena having to play Henin in the quarters of every darn Slam last year? (A few years ago, Serena kept playing Jennifer Capriati every time in the quarters.) 2) Roger Federer has never made it a secret what he thinks of the challenge system, but has he ever complained about it as much as he has the last few matches? You can't give him the benefit of the doubt this time, Jon -- his opponents frequently challenged correctly, while his own challenge history is very poor. Perhaps a weakness of the Fed: calling lines? 3) So maybe after seeing Henin's drubbing, Lindsay Davenport doesn't feel so bad about coming back?
-- Joe, Madison, Wisc.

1) Agreed. To me, the current system is also unfavorable to the top seeds. Federer and Henin have earned their top spots and part of the spoils ought to include playing the No. 8 seed in the quarters and the No. 4 in the semis. When Henin has to play, say, Sharapova in the quarters, it's unfortunate for her.

2) I've seen so many challenges issued late in the set when the player has nothing to lose, I think it skews the stats. Still, you're right to note that Federer's eyesight has failed him this event.

3) Lot of people shared that sentiment about Davenport. How many games did she win against Sharapova? Four. How many did Henin, the player on the 28-match win streak win? Four.

How did the Williams sisters get into the main draw of the women's dubs? They are currently unranked, weren't given a wild card and did not play in qualifying. Not to imply that there isn't a compelling reason to have them in the draw, but what rule was used to grant the Sisters Sledgehammer direct entry?
-- Chris W., Pacifica, Calif.

They used their singles rankings. That explains why they got in so easily but were not seeded.

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