I am thrilled that these two have been paired together!

Who is with me?

I'm here

TBH as long as i see Matt i'm happy

I think their pairing is going to be very interesting to watch and a totally different partner dynamic than he's had for the last two years.......i wonder if we will see a slightly different side to him

I am really excited to see how they match up personality wise Martina was my favourite tennis player and Matthew is lovely as well so I think they will match up well!

I just want to see him dance!

Matt and Martina are one of my favourite pairings for this year, fingers crossed they do well

This is a good pairing. I'm excited about these two...I love Matthew so I'm glad he's got a good chance again this year.

I'm looking forward to seeing these two together. I think they're going to be a really interesting partnership and I've got my fingers crossed they're going to go far.

picture of the couple

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...dancing-lineup

I love tennis and Matthew is my favourite pro so this is far and away my favourite pairing ahead of the first show. Fingers crossed that they get on well, that this radiates out in the VTs and of course that she dances better than Monica Seles

Did anyone see Martina on "Beat The Star"?

She was bad, very bad. She was pretty useless throughout, had absolutely no confidence and as such little charisma.

She's my favourite tennis player too and came across pleasant enough but just wasn't a 'television star' at all, I fear if she's anything like what she was on that show she'll be first out.

She might do well at dancing... although looking at that pic... Matthew is going to have to do something about those shoulders and elongating her neck... (now I remember from taking pictures of her for years.. she does have a tendancy to slouch her neck forwards...) - but she was quite a nice person when I looked after her when on "puppy patrol" at a tennis tournament once.

Hmmmmm her lack of charisma won't make people pick up the phone and vote, no matter how well she may dance.

I've great confidence in Matt getting anything he can out of a partner dance wise........if its there he will find it and make the best of it but that pic dosen't look as close as his normal partner pics....

This could be a really good pairing.

I'm so pleased about this parnership and they look great in the photos. I don't think she has a lack of charisma either. I've freelanced at a few tennis tournaments and she was always very smiley and bubbley with everybody on the practise courts. Looking forward to seeing Matt with a sportsperson and I think it was a great move by strictly to match one of their star celebrities with the best dancer possible!

Love Matthew so I'll always be willing his partner to do well. Don't know much about Martina, so I'm hoping she'll come across well on tv.

Lets hope she has got over the urge to use cocaine then. that will spoil her image for a lot of people.

Really hope one of them joins twitter as quite a few of the other couples are on there.

She firmly denied ever using it and tests showed less in her system than a current player who has just been found not guilty of drug use, as the amount was so small it couldn't be proved he had taken it himself. She also provided a hair sample that came back as negative.

Unfortunately the recent history of positive drug tests in tennis that have been fought and showed up as inaccurate aren't quite as captivating as the "positive" headlines.

I'm hoping people will judge her on the dancing and her partnership with Matt rather than the controversy.

Hoping this pairing does really well, definitely in my top two favourites

I hope she is better than Monica was in DWTS but Martina was always the touch player (who could think her way through points) rather than a power player so I have hopes for her ability.

i am looking forward to martina

Oh dear, I just read in another place that Martina had joined SCD and came on here to confirm it. I was all excited thinking this was a major coup for SCD and thought this pair could be the winners.
Now after reading your post brumilad, I'm not so sure. Well I hope she sparkles on the dance floor and does very well.

This is one of the pairings I'll definitely be rooting for. Martina is just the sort of top name that Strictly should always be looking for. And for those who say she lacks charisma, I know a few chaps who would disagree!

I genuinly do too.

Just in that show she was so 'deer in the headlights' it was really hard to watch, they may as well have given the girl she was up against the money upfront, she totally thrashed Martina (except for a game where they were required to hang).

I'm not saying she doesn't have charisma but the lack of confidence in that tv studio enviroment totally stripped it from her and if she's like that on Strictly in the early episodes then unless her dancing is anything but brilliant I can see her being an early leaver. Matthew will really have to work hard on her confidence to make her stand out amidst the bigger personalities.