Wimbledon - Semi finals 2015

In the women semi finals Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in straights sets and it was a routine win for Serena against someone she had beaten seventeen time in a row. 

Maria did not have the demanour of someone who believed she could win the match and so it was little straightforward than most people expected. 

In the women's semi finals Garbine Murguruza beat Aga Radwanska in three sets and it was a very good win for Garbine and Aga could simply not cope with the power of Garbine's shots. 

Garbine had a little wobble in the second set which allowed Aga back into the match but she regrouped and was able to win the third set. 

So the women's final will between Serena Wiliiams and Garbine Murguruza and it should be very interesting to say the least. 

In the men's semi final Roger Federer beat Andy Murray in straight sets and to me Andy was way below par and was not very tactical so it was quite a routine win for Roger. 

In the other semi final Novak Djokovic beat Richard Gasquet in straight sets and this Novak easiest and most convincing and to be fair it would have been a surprise if Richard had won. 

So the men's final will be between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and this a repeat of last year finals. With Novak hoping he can retain his title and Roger wanting to win his eighth Wimbledon title. 

Australian Open - Day four

Day four of the Australian Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Johanna Larsson in straight and it was not much of a contest and Aga barely broke sweat to win this match. 

However she has got a tough draw ahead and reastically it will be hard for her  to beat both Venus and Serena to make to the final were could face either Simona or Maria so it could be a tough ask. 

Serena Wiliams beat Vera Zvonareva in straight sets and it was tough first set for Serena who came two sets down to win the set and ultimately the match. 

Venus Williams beat Lauren Davis in straight sets and it was pretty routine win for Venus who did not have to expand much energy to get this win. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets and this was a bit of a surprise result for me as I thought that Caroline was going to win as Victoria is still coming back from injury. But it was a very comfortable win for Victoria. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic beat Andrey Kuznetsov in straight sets and it was another routine win for Novak and I would not bet against him from winning the title. 

Stan Wawrinka beat Marius Copil in straight sets and as the defending champion there must be a lot of pressure on his shoulders which he seems to be handling very well. 

Australian Open - Day Two

Day two of the Australia Open and Tsvetana Pironkova  beat Heather Watson in straight sets. This would have been bitterly disappointing for Heather after winning Hobart at the weekend she was expecting to do well. 

This was sadly not meant to be and Heather looked like she had zero energy or the strength to chase the balls. In her press conference she blamed her loss on "women problems". Hopefully Heather will find a better way to manage these "women problems" or her career will be very short. 

Venus Williams had a good straight sets win and was particularly impressive on serve and Venus never looked like she was going to lose the match. This in stark contrast to last year were she would have scrapped into the second round. 

Serena Williams had a very good straight sets win and in this match Serena showed her grit and ability that were missing at the Hopman Cup. This is really Serena title to lose and it all depends on how motivated she is for 19th title. 

Agnieszka Radwanska had a good straight sets win against Kumi Nara and Agnieszka's ability to chase down those loss balls helped to win her this match. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic had a reasonably comfortable first round win and against Aliz Bedene. 

Stanislas Wawrinka also won his first match reasonably comfortably and as defending champion there would presume to retain the title and losing early would be a disaster for his ranking.

Gael Monfils had a thrilling five set match and came through it make the second round. He was playing against a player that I had never heard off and his name was Lucas Pouille. 

Gael did well to come back and I am hoping the energy he spent on winning this match does not affect him too much in the next round. 

Semi-finals - WTA Finals - Singapore

In the semi finals of the WTA finals Simona Halep beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. 

To be fair Aga was very fortunate to get out of the Round Robin stage with just one win. 

So it was always going to be a tough ask to expect Aga to beat an in form Simona Halep. It was a routine win for Simona where she will face Serena Williams. 

Serena Williams beat her new best friend Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. It was a tops turvy match  and it was the last couple points of the in tiebreak that Serena was able to take control and win the third set and the match. 

I am not sure that being Serena's new best friend is helping Caroline who has a difficult year both personally and professionally. 

But in the latter part of the season Caroline improved and made the final of the US Open where she was beaten by Serena. 

Caroline is still young I can now see her winning a couple of Grand Slams in the next couple of years. 

Serena has so far had an indifferent tournament and hopefully this win will inspire her to play better tennis in the final. 

US Open - Day three

Day three at the US Open and Venus Williams beat Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets.

 It was a good routine win for Venus and to be fair Timea did not really pose much of the threat. So Venus did what she needed to do to win the match. 

Maria Sharapova struggled to beat Alexandra Dulgheru in three sets and  it was match that I thought Maria would breezed through so I was presently surprised when she dropped the first set. 

The shock of the day in the ladies draw was Shuai Peng beating Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. 

Now I knew Aga was not going to win this title but I expected her to get to at least the quarter finals so this was a surprise defeat. 

However I say that it was a surprise defeat but at the same time the kind of tennis Aga plays makes it more likely that she will get beaten in the earlier rounds. 

Joanna Larsson beat Sloane Stephens in three sets and it  was a match that I expected Sloane to win. However her game is too predictable and she needs to change fast before she drops out of the top thirty. 

In the men's draw Stan Wawrinka beat Thomas Bellucci in four sets and it was a good win for Stan. 

I am surprised he dropped a set against a player that I have never heard of I hope for is sake it was a blip and not a sign of things to come. 

Grigor Dimitrov beat Ryan Harrison in straight sets and it was a good win for Grigor who should at least make it to the quarter finals and beyond. 

US Open - Day one

Day one at the US Open and Venus Williams beat Kimiko Date Krumm in three sets. 

It was a tough match for Venus and if I am totally honest these days I find Venus's games painful to watch because there is little chance of her actually winning the trophy. 

I think if Venus makes it to the quarter finals then would be a very successful tournament for her. 

Maria Sharapova beat Maria Kirilenko in straight sets and this was a routine win for Maria Sharapova against Maria Kirilenko who is a former top twenty player. 

Agnieszka Radwanska got off to a great start and beat Sharon Fichman in straight sets. Aga has not had a great year so the US Open maybe her opportunity to try and win the first Grand Slam. 

Simona Halep beat Danielle Collins in three sets and Simona had to work had to come back from one set down to win the match.

Now Simona has to live up to hype she will find it a real task to win her first Grand Slam will be tough. 

In the men's draw Stan Wawrinka beat Jiri Veslet in straight sets and it was a relatively routine win for Stan. 

Novak Djokovic beat Diego Schwartzman in three sets. It was a good routine win for Novak but tougher challenges lay ahead. 

Andy Murray got off to a great start when he beat Robin Haase in straights and hopefully Andy will string consecutive wins together and at least make the semi-final. 

Southern & Western Open - Cincinnati - Day four

Day four of the Southern & Western Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets.

 This was a good win for Agnieszka but I still don't believe she has the talent to get past Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams. 

Jelena Jankovic beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets and Sloane's summer just gets worse. She has been hardly able to string more than two wins together and if she is not careful she will be dropping out of the top thirty. 

Caroline Wozniacki beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets and this was a good win for Caroline and will be heading back to the top ten very soon. 

Serena Williams beat Flavia Pennetta in straight sets and for Serena she is hoping to win this Southern & Western title for the first time ever. 

Rogers Cup - Montreal - Day seven

Day seven of the Rogers Cup and in the final Agnieszka Radwanska beat Venus Williams in straight sets. Venus looked worn out and made over forty unforced errors. 

But credit where credit is due Agnieszka had a game plan excuted  it to perfection to win the match and the title. 

The positives for Venus are that she made the final which was probably beyond her own expectations and she banked some ranking points and she is now back into the top twenty. 

Rogers Cup - Montreal - Day six

Day six at the Rogers Cup and It's semi-finals day and Venus Williams beat her sister Serena Williams in three sets. 

It was a high quality match and to be fair I did not see how Venus was going to be able to get pass Serena. But some how she kept unforced errors down and was able to win the match. 

It is hard watching Venus and Serena play against each other because I want them both to win. 

So it's nice that they play each other but at the same time it's all rather bittersweet for me. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Ekaterina Makarova in three sets and this was a match that I was expecting Ekaterina to win so I was surprised that Agnieszka was able to win. 

Rogers Cup - Montreal - Day five

Day five at the Rogers Cup and Serena Wiliiams beat Caroline Wozniacki in three sets and it was tough match for Serena who scrapped through by the skin of her teeth against an in-form Caroline. 

Venus Williams beat Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets and this was an incredibly tough match for Venus who had to go up several levels to beat Carla. 

By the third set it more less looked like Venus was going to win and hopefully Venus will have enough energy left for a tough semi-final match against her sister Serena Williams. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Victoria Azarenka in straight sets and this was going to be a very tough match for Victoria so I was not surprised that Agnieszka won. 

Ekaterina Makarova beat Coco Vandeweghe in three sets and I thought this was going to be an easy win for Ekaterina but Coco is in great form and pushed Ekaterina all the way. 

Rogers Cup - Montreal - day four

Day four at the Rogers Cup and Venus Williams beat Angelique Kerber in three sets. It was pulsating match that could have gone either. 

Venus gave her everything in the match and it was just a few points that won her this match and put beyond doubt that Venus is back. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Heather Watson in straight sets and Heather was distinctly flat and looked completely overwhelmed by the occasion. 

Victoria is just returning from injury and it would have been good time for Heather to beat her. 

But Heather did not take her chance and proceeded to lose the match in straight sets. To be fair Heather did well to reach the third round and is still on a steep learning curve.

Serena Williams beat Lucie Safarova in straight sets and to be honest never looked like she was in danger of losing this match and stays on course for retaining her title. 

The shock result of the day was Carla Suarez Narravo beating Maria Sharapova in three sets. 

I did not see this result coming and I thought Maria would make it to at least the final so it was surprise result just go show that these days anything can happen in women's tennis. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Sabine Lisicki in three sets and this was a good for Agnieszka who has had quite a poor year winning no titles. 

Beating an in-form player like Sabine should give her much needed confidence  to progress in this tournament.  

Bank of West Classic - Stanford - Day three

Day three at The Bank of West Classic and Andrea Petkovic beat Naomi Osaka in straight sets. As Naomi best Samantha Stosur in the first round I was expecting this match to be a little more competive. 

But it was not meant to be, Naomi is only sixteen years old and will hopefully have many more years on the tour to get the big wins. 

Sachia Vickery beat Monica Puig in three sets and this was a big win for Sachia who had to play three tough qualifiers to make it to the main draw. 

Sachia is still only a teenager so is gaining valuable experience with every round. 

The shock of the day was Vavara Lepchenko beating Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets. Before this match Vavara had only recorded one win against Agnieszka in there six meetings.

This was a bad loss for Agnieszka who has had a bad year and I don't think the year will get any better for her unless she changes her game strategy and plays a more attacking game. 

Serena Williams beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets and this was Serena first match back since Wimbledon and it was a good solid win. 

I hoping that she can retain the title she won last year and this would be excellent preparation for the defence of her US Open title.  

Wimbledon - Day three

Day three at Wimbledon and Venus Williams beat Kurumi Dara in straight sets    and this the best I have seen Venus play in quite while. 

Venus's serve was dominant but she backed it up with some powerful groundstrokes and she was a real joy to watch. 

Li Na beat Yvonne Meusburger in straight sets and this was a routine win for Li Na who quietly making her way through the draw. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Casey Dellacqua in straight sets and this a routine win for Aga who is also quietly making her way through the draw. 

In the men's draw Andy Murray beat Blaz Rola in straights and Andy wrapped up the win very quickly as he aims to retain the title he win last year. 

Novak Djokovic beat Radek Stepanek in four tough sets and this Novak had to dig deep to win this match which hopefully help him in the later rounds. 

French Open - Day six

Day six of the French Open and Maria Sharapova double bagled Paula Ormaechea and as you can imagine it was totally a one-sided match. 

Maria was able to show superiority and totally embarrassed Paula who had to be done very well to reach the third round. 

Carla Suarez Narravo beat Taylor Towsend in straight sets and to be fair it was probably the right result. 

Carla is fantastic on the clay court and very difficult to beat whilst this is Taylor first senior grand slam so to make to the third round was a remarkable achievement. 

The shock of the day was Ajla Tomljanovic beating Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. Ajla has had a great French Open whilst Aga has been grinding out results. 

So although on paper it is shock result the way that Ajla has been playing in this tournament makes it less surprising. 

In the men's draw Roger Federer beat Dmitry Tursunov in four sets. This was a tough match for Roger but he was able to use his experience to win the match. 

Novak Djokovic beat Marian Cilic in four sets and this was the first tough match that Novak had to dig deep and win the match.  

Rome Open - Quarter finals

Quarter finals day at the Rome Open and this is what I call the business end of the tournaments. In today's matches Ana Ivanovic beat Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets. 

It was a close a match and to be fair it could have gone either way. But Ana in now winning matches that she used to lose and has to be a genuine contender for the French Open. 

Jelena Jankovic beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets and it was good win for Jelena and it will give her valuable ranking points. 

Serena Williams beat Shaui Zhang in straight sets and for Serena this was a routine win. 

The surprise of the day was Sara Errani beating Ni La in three sets. This was  an excellent win for Sara and will also bank valuable ranking points. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day eight

Day eight and semi- finals day and Simona Halep beat Petra Kivitova in three sets. 

Petra won the first set on a tie break but after that Simona won the next two sets comfortably. 

This was a big win for Simona and now she is in the final she has to believe that she can take this title. 

In the second semi-final Maria Sharapova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. To be honest I would have been more surprised if Aga had won the match. 

Maria has defended her points from lasts year so if she wins the final she will back into the top eight. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day seven

Day seven and quarter finals day at the Madrid Open and Serena Williams pulled out and this means that Petra Kivitova went straight through to the semi-finals. 

Serena's has been struggling with a thigh injury and was quite heavily strapped in her previous matches. So it did not come has too much of a suprise that she was unable to continue.

Agnieszka Radwanka beat Caroline Garcia in three sets and it was a real tough match for Aga who won this match  by the smallest of margins. 

Maria Sharapova beat Ni La in three sets and it was a match of high quality tennis that could have gone either way. However Maria was able to dig deep and win the third set and the match. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day Five

Day five at the Madrid Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. 

This was a a very good win for Aga as it's the first time beaten Svetlana in about six years so she needed this win. 

Serena Williams beat Shuai Peng in straight sets and Serena was in imperious form and served eleven aces.

This was a good second round for Serena as the later rounds she will play tougher and more experienced clay court players. 

Sabine Lisciki beat Irina Camelia Begu in straight sets and this was the kind of solid win that Sabine needed. 

 So far Sabine has spent most part of the early season injured so this is the tournament that she could pick up some valuable points.  

Miami Open - Day nine and ten

Day nine at the Miami Open and Dominika Cibulkova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets. This was a good result for Dominika and it moves her ranking to inside the top ten. 

For Aga this was a tough match and I think it will be a struggle to beat players like Dominika that go for winners and have few unforced errors. 

Ni La beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets and Caroline has had a very good tournament and with some good wins and she did better than I expected. 

Day ten and in the first semi final Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Maria has not beaten Serena in ten years so it would have been more of a surprise if Maria had won. 

In the second semi - final Ni La beat Dominika Cibulkova in three sets and this was an excellent win for Ni La and this would be her first Miami Open final. 

Miami Open - Day seven

Day seven at the Miami Open and Maria Sharapova beat Kirsten Flipkens in three sets. 

This match should have been a little more comfortable for Maria than it was. It was only in the third set that Maria began to look a little more convincing and won the set and the match.

Dominika Cibulkova beat Venus Williams in three sets. Dominika has had a great start to 2014 and was a finalist at the Australian Open. Therefore she was the favourite to win the tie going into this match. 

Venus made a real match of it and fought tooth and nail for every point and in the end she was probably beaten by her own unforced errors. 

Serena Williams had a much more comfortable match and she beat Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets. 

The first set was competitive but in the second set Serena was able to get into grove and win the set and the match. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Elina Svitolina in three sets and in this match Aga struggled. Both the first and second set where very close.

 

 It was only in the third set that Aga was able to pull away and win the set and the match.