This is why you don't smash your racquet on the court after a bad point.

While returning a serve from Kimiko Date-Krumm in a first-round match Tuesday at the Australian Open, Agnieszka Radwanska saw her racquet split in two and break off at the neck. The head flew to the side of the court, the ball sailed long and the 21-year-old was left holding the grip with a bemused, deadpan look on her face.

Radwanska had been hitting the racquet onto the court in anger for much of the third set.

Martina Navratilova, broadcasting the match for The Tennis Channel, said it was the first time she had ever seen that happen in all her years around the sport.

[Related: Tennis star apologizes for victory]

Though Radwanska was left with the short end of her equipment, it proved to be a good luck charm. With a new racquet in hand, the No. 12 seed won the match three points later and advanced to the second round in Melbourne.

Meanwhile,

Every morning during the Australian Open, Busted Racquet will recap the previous day of tennis and preview the matches to come:

Lackluster start on Laver -- The five matches (three women's, two men's) at Rod Laver Arena went a total of 13 sets, just one over the minimum. Only Yanina Wickmayer's three-set victory over hometown favorite Jarmila Groth went longer than straights, providing for a yawn-inducing first day on the main show court in Melbourne.

Maria Sharapova quickly righted the ship after opening the match with two double-faults, Caroline Wozniacki emphatically quieted all the doubters that predicted she'd be a first-round upset victim, Roger Federer played as crisp a first-round match as he's played in years (the six games he lost was the fewest in a first round since the 2008 Aussie Open), and Novak Djokovic was equally efficient in dispatching Marcel Granollers.

Middling day for Americans -- Andy Roddick and Venus Williams cruised to straight-set victories, but Sam Querrey

The length of Venus Williams' hemline is inversely proportional to the tennis star's age: as she gets older, the dresses get shorter.

Sporting her most mini-tennis dress yet, the seven-time Grand Slam champion opened play at the 2011 Australian Open on Monday, winning decisively in straight sets. The quick 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sara Errani was especially nice because it allowed us to focus on the most important part of the match; that short blue dress.

Though not as campy as her can-can number from last spring nor as flashy as the dress she wore in New York at the U.S. Open, the new self-designed garment sets a new mark in tininess. Even when pulled down all the way, it still barely came down to her thighs:

And, to think, if not for a last-minute change by Venus, the dress may have even been more revealing. After the match Williams told reporters she almost wore skin-colored (or nude) shorts underneath rather than black

Busted Racuqet analyzes the women's draw at the upcoming Australian Open.

First quarter

This isn't what top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki needed. Already struggling early this year, she could have used an easy match against a low-ranked opponent to get settled in Melbourne. Instead she gets a veteran in Gisela Dulko. If the 20-year-old survives, maybe defeating Dulko will give her a jolt of confidence. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't get much easier from there, with Dominika Cibulkova, Jarmila Groth, Yanina Wickmayer and Marion Bartoli rounding out the field.

The bottom half has so many question marks the matches should be played at The Riddler's tennis court. Can Justine Henin get back on track? Can Francesca Schiavone defend her seed? Will we see the Svetlana Kuznetsova who made it to at least the quarters in six of nine Grand Slams from 2007-2009 or the one who failed to make it past the fourth round in any of last year's majors? And can Bethanie Mattek-Sands make some noise in her

Busted Racquet analyzes the men's draw at the upcoming Australian Open.

First quarter

Flip on the cruise control, Rafa. The path for Rafael Nadal to the semis is the best he could have hoped for, littered with fellow Spaniards he owns (Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer, the highest seed in Rafa's bracket) and achievers both under (Marin Cilic) and over (Mikhail Youzhny). A possible third-round battle with Cilic or John Isner could be trouble, but it's hard to see Nadal tripping up before the final four.

Semifinalist: Nadal

Second quarter

The fact that Robin Soderling passed Andy Murray to become the No. 4 seed in Melbourne could have been a huge deal. As the No. 5 seed, Murray may have been placed on a side with Nadal, Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic and been forced to face one of those top seeds in the quarterfinals. But by the luck of the draw, he got placed in Soderling's quarter. No harm, no foul for the drop in rankings.

Murray's route to the quarters shouldn't pose too much

Rafael Nadal has won the past three majors -- the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. If he wins the Australian Open on Jan. 30, Rafa would be the reigning champion at each of the four majors, a non-calendar Grand Slam last achieved in the sport by Serena Williams in 2002-2003. Should that feat be considered an achievement equal with winning the real, calendar Slam?

No, and it won't be by anyone except the most fervent Nadal fans.

The Grand Slam is winning all four majors in a calendar year. This is a fact that's not open to interpretation. To tweak the definition is to change its entire meaning. Nobody talks about winning the Grand Slam by winning the majors over two years. We all know what it means. It would begin in Melbourne and end in New York.

If Rafa were to win the Aussie, it would be a grand tennis achievement, one of the best in modern times. Nobody has held all four trophies since Rod Laver did in 1969 (when he accomplished the true Grand Slam). My fear is that if

Thirty, it's an age at which other athletes are entering their primes, but for tennis players has historically marked the beginning of the end. Pete Sampras only won one Grand Slam after hitting the big 3-0. Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg had none. Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi managed to add two Slams each after entering their fourth decades, but they're the outliers in the modern era.

So when Roger Federer turns 30 on Aug. 8, history dictates that his days of winning Grand Slams will largely be finished. The past tells us he will still contend, and perhaps even win one or two, but that he won't be a consistent threat to win every time he steps onto the court.

Don't bury him yet, though. History also said that no one could win more than 14 Grand Slams and that 10 major semifinals in a row was the pinnacle of consistency in the majors. Federer extended those marks to 16 and 23, respectively. If Federer doesn't win many more Slams,

Four days ago, Patrick Rafter Arena hosted the final of the Brisbane International. Now it's underwater.

The massive flood that has ravaged the state of Queensland this week left the year-old arena submerged, with water seeping into the indoor stadium and covering the court so that the top of the net barely peeks through:

The Queensland Tennis Center, with 23 courts of all surfaces, opened in 2009 at a cost of $82 million. Its Centre Court was named after local hero and two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter.

Some damage to a new tennis facility is the least of Queensland's worries, though. The floods have led to 22 deaths and scores of missing people. Footage of the powerful waters overturning cars like toys shows the power and destruction of the floods. Damages from the flood are expected to top $5 billion.

Tennis players are already beginning relief efforts, with Roger Federer planning to organize a charity event on Sunday, prior to the start of the Australian Open. He made a