Southern & Western - Cincinnati - Day Two

Day two of the Southern and Western Open and Maria Sharapova beat Madison Keys in three sets.

 I thought this match was going to be difficult for Maria but in the third set Maria showed her true championship quality. 

Lucie Safarova beat Venus Williams in three sets and whilst Lucie has improved her game. 

Venus simply ran out of energy and this would have been her third consecutive tournament which is probably too much when factor in the medical condition that she has got 

I hoping she will get lots of rest from now until the US Open and show some of the form that got her to the Montreal final. 

Sloane Stephens beat Andrea Petkovic in straight sets and this was a very good win for Sloane. 

Who has had a very indifferent summer and is hoping for a good run in this tournament. 

Rogers Cup - Montreal - day four

Day four at the Rogers Cup and Venus Williams beat Angelique Kerber in three sets. It was pulsating match that could have gone either. 

Venus gave her everything in the match and it was just a few points that won her this match and put beyond doubt that Venus is back. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Heather Watson in straight sets and Heather was distinctly flat and looked completely overwhelmed by the occasion. 

Victoria is just returning from injury and it would have been good time for Heather to beat her. 

But Heather did not take her chance and proceeded to lose the match in straight sets. To be fair Heather did well to reach the third round and is still on a steep learning curve.

Serena Williams beat Lucie Safarova in straight sets and to be honest never looked like she was in danger of losing this match and stays on course for retaining her title. 

The shock result of the day was Carla Suarez Narravo beating Maria Sharapova in three sets. 

I did not see this result coming and I thought Maria would make it to at least the final so it was surprise result just go show that these days anything can happen in women's tennis. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Sabine Lisicki in three sets and this was a good for Agnieszka who has had quite a poor year winning no titles. 

Beating an in-form player like Sabine should give her much needed confidence  to progress in this tournament.  

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. 

Wimbledon - Day ten

Day ten at Wimbledon and it is Women 's semi-finals day and Petra Kivitova beat Lucie Safarova in straight sets. 

To be fair on paper it always looked like a routine win for Petra and with the strong serve that she has it always going to be a real challenge for Lucie. 

In the second semi final Eugenie Bouchard beat Simona Halep in straight sets and this was a surprise result. However Simona get and ankle injury in the fourth game made it Eugenie's challenge a lot easier. 

I would say that the standard of tennis for both semi-finals was low in the first semi -final it was all about the serve and in the second semi final Eugenie and Simona slugged it out from the baseline and it certainly did not showcase women's tennis. 

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 One

Day one of the Dubai Open and Lucie Safarova beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets.

 Sloane is just coming back from injury but at the same time she is not  playing the kind of tennis that got her to the top fifteen.

I am also not sure how motivated Sloane is for these smaller tournaments or to even win a Grand Slam. Only time will tell if she is good enough to crack the top ten and win Grand Slams.

Venus Williams beat Elena Vesnina in straight sets and it was really a good win for Venus against a player she has never beaten. 

For me that it was the best I have seen Venus play in about three years. She was putting winners away and looked energetic. 

But I was surprised by Elena's performance as she looked like she was low in confidence and never really looked like she was going to beat Venus. 

WTA Beijing Open- Quarter finals

Yesterday was quarter finals day and Serena Williams beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. 

To be fair it was always going to be a challenge for Caroline. The second set was more more competitive, but that was because Serena started to relax after racing into a four love lead. 

I would say that in this tournament I have seen Caroline play some good tennis. If she can keep this up then she might start going a little further in the Grand Slams.

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets. However this was a strange match where in the first set Agnieszka raced into a five to one lead. 

Then Angelique worked hard and clawed it back and brought it to a tie break. Angelique then had three set points and could not take any of them. 

She never got over losing the first set and the second set came went quickly too. 

So Agniezka Radwanska will play Serena Williams the semi- finals. Agnieska  likes to get every ball back into play and Serena likes to blast winners from anywhere. Therefore it should be an interesting match. 

In the other quarter finals Jelena Jankovic     

beat Lucie Safarova in three sets. Petra Kivitova beat Ni La in three sets, so Petra and Jelena will play against in each other the semi-finals. 

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.