Day seven - US Open

Day seven at the US Open and Caroline Wozniacki beat Maria Sharapova in three sets.

 This was a really good result for Caroline as I did not think she would have fire power to beat Maria.

It was a shocking result for Maria and a certainly a result that I did not see coming but Caroline has been playing for quite well for some time. 

Belinda Bencic beats Jelena Jankovic in straight sets and that this was a great win for Belinda and very much unexpected. 

Before this tournament I had not really heard of Belinda and I think it's good that she is having a strong tournament. 

But I am always little wary of players who have done nothing for the whole tennis year turn up at one a Grand Slam and all of a sudden are able to get amazing wins. 

It will be interesting to see if Belinda can go all the way in this tournament and these days with the women's draw never say never. 

In the men's draw Roger Federer beat Marcel Granollers in four sets and I really think Roger has had a good draw and surprised he dropped against Marcel. 

The surprise of the day was Giles Simon beating David Ferrer in four sets and I was not expecting David to win the title but was expecting him to get past Giles. 

French Open - Day eleven

Day eleven at the French Open and Simona Halep beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. 

This was a good win for Simona as Svetlana is a former Roland Garros champion. However Svetlana was carrying an injury so that probably helped Simona to get a more straight forward victory. 

Andrea Petkovic beat Sara Errani in straight sets and this was a good win for Andrea as Sara was definitely a contender for this year title. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat David Ferrer in four sets and this was an emphatic win for Rafa. 

He even managed to bagel David in the third set and David played well but simply could not deal with skill that Rafa presented to him. 

Andy Murray beat Gael Monfils in five sets and this was a strange match. Andy was crusing at two sets to love up and then took his foot of the pedal and was mighty fortunate to be able to complete the match today as the light was fading. 

Australian Open - Day Nine

Day nine at the Australian Open and Ni La beat Flavia Pennetta in straight sets. This result was not a surprise as Ni La has been playing very well and did not really give Flavia the opportunity to really get into the match. 

Eugenie Bouchard beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets. Bearing in mind that Ana beat Serena Williams in the previous round. I would have thought Ana would have beat Eugenie. 

However Eugenie battled through to victory after losing the first set and she will now play Li Na for a place in the final. 

In the men's draw Tomas Berdych beat the number three seed David Ferrer in four sets. This was a surprise result for me as David has been playing well so I thought he was going to win the match. 

The shock result of the day was Stanislas Wawrinka beating Novak Djokovic in five sets.It was a pulsating match that had twists and turns.

 Stanislas just seem to play the bigger points better and had the marginal advantage of serving first in the fifth set. Novak made to very costly errors which cost him the game and the match. 

Australian Open - Day Five

Day five of the Australian Open and Serena Williams beat Daniela Hantuchova  in straight sets. To be honest it was quite a boring match and Serena did not need to get out of second gear to win. 

I think if Serena had been super motivated the scoreline would have been a little more embarrassing for Daniela. 

Ni La beat Lucie Safarova in three sets and after losing the first set badly Ni La regrouped and was able to win the remaining sets. 

However if Ni La struggled to beat Lucie then winning the Australian Open has just become an even bigger challenge.

Eugene Bouchard beat Lauren Davis in straight sets to make it to the fourth round. 

Eugene is doing really well at the moment only time will tell how well she is doing when she meets tougher opponents.  

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic beat Denis Istomin in straight sets. So far in this tournament Novak has not really been stretched and that can sometimes work against a player in the later stages of the slam. 

David Ferrer also recorded a straight sets win against Jeremy Chardy to make to the third round. 

He is making is way through the draw largely unnoticed and has a great chance to win his first grand slam. 

Australian Open - Day Three

Day three at the Australian Open and Serena Williams beat Vesna Dolonc in straight sets. Serena played well and will now play Daniela Hantuchova in the next round. 

Jie Zheng beat the talented American Madison Keys in three sets. For Madison this will be a learning curve and as she was leading by four games to one the third set. 

These are kind of losses that Madison will learn from and will hopefully come back stronger. 

Sam Stosur hammered Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets which included a six love second set. It was a suprise result considering that Tsvetana won the Sydney tournament over the weekend. 

Another surprise result was Monica Niculescu beating Sabine Liscki in three sets. I still feel that Sabine saves all her best tennis for Wimbledon and is not that motivated for the other slams. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer both recorded straight sets wins to progress to the third round. 

ATP Men's finals, London - day five

Day five of the men's final and Stanislas Wawrinka beat David Ferrer in three sets.  

Stanislas has worked had and very much deserves his place in the semi finals where he will play Novak Djokovic.  

 

This will be a big match because if he can beat Novak then anything could happen. 

Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych in three sets and Rafa had already qualified for the semi finals. But this win knocked Tomas out of the tour finals.

 To be fair it always going to be a tough match for Tomas but he he pushed Rafa all the way. 

ATP Men's Finals, London - day three

Day three at the ATP Men's finals and Rafael Nadal beat Stanislas Wawrinka in two close sets. This win meant that Rafa will now finish the year as the world number one.

Rafa is my pick to win this tournament and he seems to be getting better with each match. 

It was always going to be a tough ask to Stanislas who has worked hard to reach this final. He needs to develop his game so he can become a grand slam winner.

Tomas Berdych beat David Ferrer in straight sets and this was a good win for Tomas. 

But to have any chance of realistically winning this title he needs to beat either Juan Martin Del Potro, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. 

Whilst this is not impossible it will take monumental effort from Tomas to do this. If he does win this tournament it would be big confidence boost for 2014. 

, 

ATP Men's Final, London - day two

Day two of the ATP men's finals and Rafael Nadal beat a David Ferrer in straight sets. 

Rafa has had a great year since coming back from injury and a good result like this makes me think that he is more likely to reach the final. 

David Ferrer has always struggled when up against Rafa and I would be surprised if he makes it to the final of this tournament. 

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in three sets. This was a good win for Novak and I can also see him making it to the final of this tournament. 

Roger dominated the men's tour for about six years and I feel now that it is going to be difficult for him compete at the highest level. 

Roger has an outside chance of claiming this title but ultimately, he will have to beat Novak or Rafa to have any realistic chance winning this title. 

US Open - day ten

Day ten at the US Open and the men's draw still has it's top three seeds and the women's draw still has it's top two seeds.

Rafael Nadal beat Tommy Robredo in straight sets. This was a clinical match from Rafael who did not allow Tommy to get into the match at all. Rafa will now face Richard Gasquet in the semi-finals.

Richard Gasquet beat the fourth seed David Ferrer in five sets. Richard won the first two sets then had to come back to win in the fifth set for his place in the semi finals.

In the women's draw the unseeded Flavia Pennetta  beat the tenth seed and her compatriot Roberta Vinci in straight sets. To reach the semi-finals where she will face Victoria Azarenka. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to make it to the semi-finals against the unseeded Flavia Pennetta.

Meanwhile in the women's doubles Venus and Serena Williams beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova in straight sets to reach the doubles quarter finals.

 However in the second set Venus Williams ran out of energy and both Venus and Serena did well to close it out in straight sets. As I suspect that if the match had gone to a third set it would have been a real challenge for Venus to finish. 

They now face the number one seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci this match is going to be a real challenge for Venus especially and hopefully they will win it and make it to the semi-finals.

Wimbledon Day 9

The last four places for the men's semi finals  have been decided and the matches yesterday were enthralling. 

Novak Djokovic made it to the semi-finals without dropping a set and he played Tomas Berdych . Djokovic is the man to beat and he is playing well.

Juan Martin Del Potro also made it to the semi-finals beating David Ferrer in straight sets. What made Del Potro's victory even more remarkable was the fact that he he fell badly in the first game. 

He had an injury time out whilst the Doctor taped his leg and he was still able to defeat Ferrer in straight sets.

Jerzy Janowicz beat his country man Lucasz  Kubot to make it to the semi-finals. To be honest that before Wimbledon I had never heard of either player. 

Jerzy Janowicz will now play Andy Murray and Murray will have to be at his best to beat Janowicz as Janowicz is playing his first Wimbledon semi-final and has nothing to lose.

Andy Murray's match against Fernando Verdasco was thrilling. Andy came from two sets down to win in five sets. Once it got to three all in the fifth set I could barely watch. 

I felt for Fernando Verdasco as he had thrown away two sets to love and then to lose in five sets must have been very painful for him.

Predictions!!!

I think or I am hoping that Andy Murray will beat Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets.

I think that Djokovic will beat Del Potro in straight sets as well and this means it would be an Andy v Novak final. 

Which would mean a repeat of the US Open 2012 final where Andy was victorious.