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. 

US Open- day nine

Day nine at the US open was all about the bagels... 

Novak Djokovic beat Marcel Granollers in straight sets and he bagled Marcel in the second and the third set. Novak completed this match in under two hours and he will now face Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter finals for a place in the semi final. 

Serena bagled Carla Suarez Narravo in both the first and second set. Serena was obviously still pumped up from her previous match and was not taking any prisoners.

Sadly for Carla this humiliation was probably made worst by the fact that was her 25th birthday and Serena knew!

Some in the crowd where demanding Serena give Carla a game. But in a ground slam match you cannot afford to be so charitable things can change very quickly. 

It's good that Serena was able to maintain her focus. As I have watched one or two of Serena's matches where she starts off very focused then loses it. So I was pleased that she was able to maintain her focus.

Andy Murray beat Denis Istomin in four sets. It was a good win for Andy ad he started a little slow and maybe he was not expecting the match between Serena and Carla to finish so quickly.

However he refocused and won the remaining sets quite comfortably. He will now play Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter finals for a place in the semi finals. 

Li Na beat Ekaterina Makarova in three sets and Li Na has been in good form. She played well at Wimbledon and has played well here. 

She now faces Serena Williams and they have met nine times and Li Na has beaten Serena once this was about three years ago.

Victoria Azarenka beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets. This was a hard fought win for Victoria but bearing in mind she has had to play on consecutive days this was a good win for Victoria. 

Victoria will now play Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter finals for a place in the semi finals.