Bank of West Classic - Stanford - Day three

Day three at The Bank of West Classic and Andrea Petkovic beat Naomi Osaka in straight sets. As Naomi best Samantha Stosur in the first round I was expecting this match to be a little more competive. 

But it was not meant to be, Naomi is only sixteen years old and will hopefully have many more years on the tour to get the big wins. 

Sachia Vickery beat Monica Puig in three sets and this was a big win for Sachia who had to play three tough qualifiers to make it to the main draw. 

Sachia is still only a teenager so is gaining valuable experience with every round. 

The shock of the day was Vavara Lepchenko beating Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets. Before this match Vavara had only recorded one win against Agnieszka in there six meetings.

This was a bad loss for Agnieszka who has had a bad year and I don't think the year will get any better for her unless she changes her game strategy and plays a more attacking game. 

Serena Williams beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets and this was Serena first match back since Wimbledon and it was a good solid win. 

I hoping that she can retain the title she won last year and this would be excellent preparation for the defence of her US Open title.  

Miami Open - Day four

Day four at the Miami Open and Venus Williams beat Anna Schmiedlova in straight sets. This was a very good second round victory as she continues to gain momentum. 

Elsewhere Agnieszka Radwanska beat  Romina Oprandi in straights to move the third round. This should mean that the injury that hampered her in the final of the Indian Wells is behind her.

Sloane Stephens beat Zarina Dyas in straight sets and this was quite a routine win for Sloane but tougher opponents await her. 

Caroline Wozniacki beat Monica Puig in three sets and a good run in this tournament and Caroline will be back in the top ten.

Toray Pan Pacific Open- day one

The Toray Open started yesterday and Venus Williams beat Mona Barthel in straight sets. 

I was surprised by the ease  in which Venus beat Mona. However in the next second round she faces world number two Victoria Azarenka and that will be a lot tougher. 

Laura Robson lost in straight sets to Ayumi Morita. I think Laura is now going through a mini slump, hopefully she will get out of this mini slump soon. 

The young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard beat Monica Puig in straight set. Eugenie is already top thirty so a good run in this tournament could see climb further up the rankings.

Wimbledon Day Seven

 

Now that we are down to the last sixteen players this is what I see has the business end of the tournament, were players feel better about playing on the grass court.

Men

Novak Djokovic played well against Tommy Hass and Tommy is only player that has managed to break Novak serve in this Wimbledon. Novak seems really focused and I would be very surprised if he did not make the final.

Andy Murray did enough to win the match and at one point was trailing in the second set but managed to come back and win in straight sets. He also is coming across as very focused and I hope from a UK perspective he makes it to his second Wimbledon final.

Women

Very disappointed to see Serena exit the tournament but if I am honest she has not had the complete focus that she normally has at grand slams and although the has been moving around the court really well. I thought her return of serve really let  her down today and she also seemed a little intimidated by Sabine Lisicki. However I am confident that Serena will bounce back and win the US open.

Sloane Stephens did will to beat Monica Puig but now she face Marion Bartoli and she is going to need to step it up a couple more gears to beat Marion.

Laura Robson did very well against Kaia Kanpei and  it was always going to be a tall ask to expect her to beat Kanepi. Laura will have gained from valuable experience and ranking points which definitely help to make her life easier coming into the hard court season.