Rogers Cup - Montreal - Day two

Day two of the Rogers Cup and Venus Williams beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets. To be honest it was a match that could have gone either way and in the end Venus was able to break at the right time to win the set and the match. 

However Venus looked very tired so I am not sure how much she has got left in the tank to realistically even make the semi-finals but I am hoping that she will surprise me. 

Casey Dellacqua beat Kirsten Flipkens in three sets and this was a surprise result as Kirsten has been playing well so surprised to see her lose so early. 

But the big shock of the day was Shelby Rogers beat Eugenie Bouchard in three sets and that included two bagels.

This would have been extremely embarrassing for Eugenie as this is her home tournament so fans where expecting her to do well. 

To be fair she has not played match since Wimbledon so was probably a little rusty still no excuse for getting bageld twice in front of her home crowd. 

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. 

WTA - Citi Open - Washington

Day two of the Citi Open and Taylor Townsend beat Julia Georges in three sets. This was a fantastic win for Taylor who is certainly inform and at this rate she will be top one hundred before the end of the year. 

Kiki Mladenovic beat Lucie Safarova in three sets and Kiki is also inform and has been have a reasonable summer and seems have put the Wimbledon disappointment behind her. 

Kirsten Flipkens beat Heather Watson in three sets and I was disappointed that Heather didn't win this match. It was a match I feel she should have won. 

At this stage in Heather's career the reality is she needs to be getting wins like this or before she knows it she will go from a potential Grand Slam winner to a journey women. 

I hope she can get some decent wins before the US Open starts as this the time when she can pick up some points and at least make into the top fifty. 

WTA Mutual Madrid Open - Day three

Day three of the Madrid Open and Agnieszka Radwanka beat Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets. 

This was a good win for Aga against Eugenie a player I see winning a Grand Slam in the not too distant future. 

Ni La beat Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets and this was a good solid win for Ni La who hoping to at least make it to the final. 

The surprise is of the day was Sam Stosur beating Dominika Cibulkova in straight  sets. Dominika had a fairly good hard court season so was expecting her to do reasonably well, maybe she has not adjusted to the clay yet. 

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. 

Australian Open - Preview

The Australian Open starts tonight and it is the first grand slam of the tennis calendar. 

In the women's draw Serena Williams is the hot favourite to take the title. As was the case last year but Victoria Azarenka ended up winning it. 

This year barring injury I can't imagine Serena not winning this title. Outside of Serena, Victoria Azarenka could still retain her title.  

Elsewhere Heather Watson made it to the main draw after winning three qualifying matches. 

Her first round is against the former top five player Daniela Hantuchova. This will be a tough match for Heather but if she keeps her unforced errors down she will prevail.

Laura Robson faces 18th and Wimbledon semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens in the first round. 

This will be tough match for Laura especially as she is recovering from a wrist injury. 

 

The men's draw is a little more open than the women. As there is a number of men that can realistically win the title. 

Last years champion Novak Djokovic has the ability to retain his title. US Open champion Rafael Nadal has a big shot at this title but he has a very tough draw. 

Roger Federer probably as an outside chance of winning but personally I think it is an outside shot. 

Lastly the current Wimbledon champion Andy Murray as a chance at this title. However he did spend the latter part of the year injured so I am not sure if he is match fit. 

My prediction is that Serena Williams will win the women's title and Novak Djokovic will win the men's title. 

What are your predictions? 

WTA Generali Ladies Linz -Second round

The second round of the Generali Ladies Linz tournament took place yesterday. Sloane Stephens beat Andrea Petkovic in three sets and this was a good win for Sloane.

As Sloane has not been playing her best tennis, so this tournament gives Sloane an opportunity to win her first WTA title. 

I do think Sloane is one of the few teengers on the WTA tour that can win big. But that the moment she lacks that hunger and even come accross as someone who sees tennis a hobby and not a profession.

If Sloane wants to win this tournament she is going have to up her game. As Anglique Kerber, Ana Ivanovic and Kirsten Flipkens all had good second round wins.

There is still one spot left for the end of year tournament and I am hoping that if Sloane wins this tournament she will get the last spot.

                                                   (sportsillustrated.com)

Wimbledon Semi-Finals

The semi-finals of both the men and women's lived up to expectations.

Men

Novak Djokovic beat Juan Martin Del Potro in five sets. It was the longest ever Wimbledon semi-final and it lasted nearly five hours. 

Andy Murray beat Jerzy Janowicz in four sets. Andy had to play very good tennis to beat Janowicz and rose to the challenge. It will be interesting to see if he can rise to challenge again and beat Djokovic in the final.

Women

Marion Bartoli hammered Kirsten Flipkens (who appeared to have  an injury) in straight sets. It was a very one sided semi-final and was finished in just over an hour.

Sabine Lisicki beat (the sulky) Aga Radwanska in three sets. Aga gave all she had but Sabine's serve definitely helped power her to a good win and a place in the Wimbledon final .

Predictions!!!

Men

Andy Murray's serve has really impressed me and his court craft gets better and better. 

What will also help Andy against Novak is the crowd. If the crowd really supports him that could help carry him to the title.

I really believe that Andy can win if he goes into this match confidently.

Women

Believe it or not this is a difficult match to predict. I really hope Sabine does well but Sabine will need to start very quickly and keep those unforced errors down to win the title!!!

Wimbledon Day Eight

Today was the women's quarter finals day and as the tournament favourite Serena Williams had exited the tournament the previous day so the draw was now very open.

After beating Serena Williams the previous day, Sabine Lisicki managed to regain her focus to comprehensively beat Kaia Kanpei who was outplayed on every front. Sabine has now become the tournament favourite and I hope she does win as I like her style of tennis.

Aga Radwanska managed to get past Na Li in her typical "I refuse to make winners" fashion. I for one have never understood how Radwanska expects to become a grand slam champion based on other people's errors.  Lindsay Davenport pointed out  that at the end of the match was the first time she had seen Aga happy.

 During the course of the match Radwanska always looked to me like she was about to cry. Maybe this is her game plan but she comes across as negative and not having much believe in herself.

I also don't understand why Radwanska waste so much energy chasing down very single ball. Yes she is 90% successful with this tactic but personally I don't believe that this is strategy that she can maintain long term.

 The most worrying part about Radwanksa's game is the way she goes down on her knees to hit a low ball. if she is not careful she is going to end up with a serious knee injury she already  has bandages around her thighs and I can't imagine those bandages are going to help her win a tough semi final and final should she get there.

Marion Bartoli beat the last American Sloane Stephens and Sloane played a very very poor match. Maybe the nerves of the big occasion and being on a show court got to her. But when you are losing fourteen straight points on your serve that is not grand slam winning ability.

She needs to learn how to capitalize on those opportunities when they come. But I guess that as it is her first Wimbledon quarter final  she was nervous and I hope that she has learnt from this experience.

Kirsten Flipkens saw off Petra Kivtova and Kirsten played a very intelligent match and was rewarded. She broke when it was necessary and stuck to her game and was not overwhelmed by Kivtova or being on Centre Court.

Predictions !!!!

I think that in the semi-finals Sabine Lisicki should beat the "partly injured" Aga Radwanska however I would say that if Sabine makes lost of errors then Aga will win as Aga rarely makes any errors.

I can see Kirsten Flipkens beating Marion Bartoli if plays the way she  did against Kivovta by sticking to her game plan and not going for too much. As Marion can be very erratic so for Marion to beat Flipkens she going to have to play a more consistent game and not go for too much too soon.

 So what are your predictions for the semi-finals?