Day twelve - US Open

Day twelve at the US Open and it was ladies semi finals day. In the first semi-final Caroline Wozniacki beat Shuai Peng after Shaui retired in the second set. 

It was rather tragic way to get to the finals for Caroline but she played well and sized her opportunity. 

Second semi finals Serena Williams beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets and a Serena played a near perfect game of tennis to secure the win and move to the finals. 

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. 

Citi Open - Washington - Day four

Day three of the Citi Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets. To be honest after Kirsten tough first round match with Heather Watson I wondered how much she would have left in the tank to compete in this competition. 

So I was not overly suprised that Kirsten lost in straight sets plus Svetlana is a Grand Slam winner and can beat anyone on a good day. 

Ekaterina Makarova beat Lauren Davis in straight sets and this was a good win for her as she is seeded second is somewhat favourite to in the title. 

French Open - Day seven

Day seven at the French Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Petra Kivitova in three sets. The third set could have gone either but a few lose balls from Petra and it handed the game and the match to Svetlana. 

Sloane Stephens beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets and this was a good win for Sloane as Ekaterina strikes the ball well and it's hard to break her game down. 

The surprise result in the women draw was Lucie Safarova beating Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. I thought that Ana had a real chance of winning this title so it was  a surprise see her ousted so easily. 

Rafael Nadal beat Lenardo Mayer in straight sets and it was a straight forward win for Rafa. But to be fair I would have been surprised if Lenardo had been Rafa. 

David Ferrer beat Andreas Seppi in straight sets and it was straight forward win and David is quietly going through the draw he could be surprising winner of  this year French Open.  

Guillermo Garcia Lopez beat Donald Young in give sets and Guillermo won the first two sets then gave away set three and four then just about beat Donald in the fifth set. 

Dubai Open - Day two

Day two of the Dubai Open and Serena Williams beat Ekaterina Makarova straight sets. 

Serena looked a little weary in the first set and but by the second set she was able to build a commanding lead and won the set and the match. 

 

Ekaterina played very well and Serena had to play well to beat her. Serena speed round court the was probably the key difference between them . 

Elsewhere Caroline Wozniacki beat Sabine Liscki in three sets. This was a very competitive match and I thought Sabine was going to win bit Caroline just seem to have a little more in the tank. 

Australian Open - Day Seven

Day seven at the Australian Open and Ana Ivanovic beat the favourite and World Number One Serena Williams in three sets. 

It was certainly a shock for me and I was disappointed to see Serena tamely returning the balls and not really going for winners. Apparently she had a back injury  which explains the tameness in her game. 

However Ana served and returned the ball well and she could do very well at this tournament if she keeps playing with this level of consistency. 

Eugenie Bouchard beat Casey Dellacqua in three sets. Eugenie started off a little slow but by the third set the momentum she had all the momentum. Eugenie now plays Ana Ivanovic for a place in the semi- finals. 

Flavia Penetta beat Angelique Kerber in three sets it was a surprise result as Angelique has been playing well. 

Ni La beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight set and it was a very solid win for Ni La who now faces Flavia Penetta in the quarter finals. 

In the men's draw, Novak Djokovic beat Fabio Fognini in straight sets. It was a very comfortable match for Novak who was never really danger of losing the match. 

Australian Open - Day One - Women's Draw

The Australian Open started today and it is the first grand slam of the tennis season.

Daniela Hantuchova beat Heather Watson in three close sets. Heather played well in most parts but her unforced error counts where the most telling. 

Daniela was able to use her fourteen years of tennis experience to win this match. Using tactics like the moon balls which I have not seen for a while. 

Heather will drop even lower in the rankings but she can use this performance in a positive way and the good results will soon come. 

Kirsten Flipkens beat Laura Robson in straight sets. It was a poor match from Laura's perspective and she simply did not look match fit. 

I always thought it was going to be a tough match for Laura but this was not helped by her lack of match fitness. 

Ekaterina Makarova beat Venus Williams in three close sets and in what was a very high quality match.

Serena Williams beat seventeen year old Ashley Barty in straight sets. However played well and she is definitely one to watch for the future. 

The shock of the day was Petra Kivitova losing to Luksika Kumkhum in three close sets. 

Luksika has never played a top ten player but she was able to match Petra's power and win the match. 

US Open - day five

Day five at the US Open was filled with high drama. 

Andy Murray beat Leonard Mayer in four sets. This was not one of Andy's best matches and seem to switch off in third set but most importantly he won and is through to face Florian Mayer. 

Li Na beat Britain's Laura Robson in straight sets. It was always going to be a tough ask to expect Laura to beat an in-form Li Na. 

However It was disappointing to see Laura go out but Laura's game is still developing and she is still only a teenager with many more US Opens ahead of her.

The shock of the day was Sabine Lisicki losing to Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets.

 Sabine seems to only do well at Wimbledon and struggles at the other grand slams. However for me this was a shock result and I was expecting Sabine to do better.