US Open - Day five

Day five at the US Open Jelena Jankovic beat Johanna Larsson in straight sets that included a bagel. 

Maria Sharapova beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets and it was pretty much a routine and an expected win for Maria. 

But there were many shocks today, firstly Sara Errani beat Venus Williams in three sets. Sara played well when it mattered but for Venus these days winning a three set match is a real challenge and again I wonder how long she can carry on.

Mirjana Luicic Baroni beat Simona Halep in straight sets and this was an embarrassing defeat for Simona. 

As I have said in my previous blog, there seem to be a lot of hype around Simona and she does not seem to be living up to the hype.

She is a good player but she is well over ranked is more of a top twenty player than a top five player. 

Belinda Bencic beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets and this was another surprise result. Angelique has had a good summer so I was expecting her to make to at least the quarter finals. 

In the men's draw Roger Federer beat Sam Groth in straight sets and it was a pretty routine win for Roger. Roger should at the very least make to the final his side of draw of full of guys he has routinely beaten. 

Grigor Dimitrov beat Dudi Sela in straight sets and this was a good solid win and Grigor could have a very good run at this years US Open. 

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. 

Swedish Open -Final

So I got half of my predictions right:) as the final was between Serena Williams and the surprise package of Johanna Larsson and that is where the surprises end. It was a comfortable straight sets win for Serena which as I alluded to in a previous post is what she probably needs at the moment following her surprise early exit from Wimbledon.

As Serena is not defending her Stanford title and she is not scheduled to play again until mid August which would be shortly before she starts her defence of  the US open title. I'm hoping she will be little more focused than she was at Wimbledon, where I personally believe that those outside non-tennis related distractions cost her the defence of her title.

For Johanna Larsson it has been a win/win situation most of us had probably not heard of her and few would have expected her to beat Serena. I think the match of her life was probably beating Flavia Pannetta. She did well against Serena and was by no means embarrassed so it has been a tennis learning curve for in terms of where her game is and what she needs to do become a good top 10 player.

 

Swedish Open Semi-Finals

The first semi finals of the Swedish Open will take place between Serena Williams and Klara Zakopalova. So far Serena has had a relatively straightforward passage to the semi finals. 

After the disappointment of losing to Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round at Wimbledon. Serena has got back to her winning ways. Although this tournament is a tier two I guess you could say that a win is a win. 

Klara is a better player than Serena's previous opponents. However I expect Serena to win but in two tighter straight sets.

The second semi-final is between Flavia Pennetta and Johanna Larsson. I would expect that Flavia being the more experienced and the higher ranked player to win comfortably. 

Therefore the final would be between Serena Williams and Flavia Pennetta.