French Open - day three

Day three of the French Open was eventful and in the women's draw Sloane Stephens beat Shuai Peng in straight sets. 

Sloane has had some real tough losses recently but I am convinced that she is only really motivated for Grand Slam tournaments and hence why she is able to pick up her level and get routine wins. 

Ana Ivanovic beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets and this was a very good win for Ana as Caroline has been playing well on the clay.

The shock result of the day was Ni La losing to Kristina Mladenovic in three sets.   

I thought that Ni La was going to do quite well and I thought she would at least make it to the semi-finals.    

 

So this was a huge surprise and has certainly opened up the bottom half the draw.

In the men's draw Andy Murray beat Andrey Golubev in four sets. Andy was doing well then lost his concentration but regained it quickly enough to win the fourth set and the match.  

Another surprise result was Ivo Karlovic beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. It was a close match but Ivo seemed to have the edge when it came to big the points. 

Rome Open - Quarter finals

Quarter finals day at the Rome Open and this is what I call the business end of the tournaments. In today's matches Ana Ivanovic beat Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets. 

It was a close a match and to be fair it could have gone either way. But Ana in now winning matches that she used to lose and has to be a genuine contender for the French Open. 

Jelena Jankovic beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets and it was good win for Jelena and it will give her valuable ranking points. 

Serena Williams beat Shaui Zhang in straight sets and for Serena this was a routine win. 

The surprise of the day was Sara Errani beating Ni La in three sets. This was  an excellent win for Sara and will also bank valuable ranking points. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day seven

Day seven and quarter finals day at the Madrid Open and Serena Williams pulled out and this means that Petra Kivitova went straight through to the semi-finals. 

Serena's has been struggling with a thigh injury and was quite heavily strapped in her previous matches. So it did not come has too much of a suprise that she was unable to continue.

Agnieszka Radwanka beat Caroline Garcia in three sets and it was a real tough match for Aga who won this match  by the smallest of margins. 

Maria Sharapova beat Ni La in three sets and it was a match of high quality tennis that could have gone either way. However Maria was able to dig deep and win the third set and the match. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day six

Day six at the Madrid Open and Caroline Garcia beat Sara Errani in three sets and this was a good win for Caroline who has had a stelar year so far. 

If Caroline carries on recording wins like these she will be in the top twenty before the end of the year. 

Simona Halep beat Sabine Lisicki in three sets and although Simona is the higher ranked player I thought it was a match that Sabine was going to win. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Roberta Vinci in straight sets and this was good win for Aga who is hoping to win her first WTA title of the year. 

Serena Willliams beat Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets and it was a good win for Serena against Carla who has a good record on the clay. 

Ni La beat Sloane Stephens in three sets and it was always going to be a tough match for Sloane.

Sloane played a lot better than I imagined  especially as she has been really struggling recently.  

Elsewhere both Maria Sharapova and Petra Kivitova recorded wins to move to the quarter finals.  

Mutua Madrid Open - Day four

Day four at the Madrid Open and Maria Sharapova beat Christina Mchale in three tough sets. 

At one point Maria was four games to one down in the third set and managed to come back and win it. 

If Maria is to win this title she is going have to play a lot better or else I don't see her getting past the semi-finals. 

Ni La beat Jie Zheng in straight sets and she had little trouble getting past her Chinese compatriot and is getting better and more tactical with each round. 

Sloane Stephens beat Petra Cetkovska in three tough set and Sloane has had some very tough losses and seem to suffering from a loss of form and confidence so badly needed this win. 

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. 

Miami Open - Day nine and ten

Day nine at the Miami Open and Dominika Cibulkova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets. This was a good result for Dominika and it moves her ranking to inside the top ten. 

For Aga this was a tough match and I think it will be a struggle to beat players like Dominika that go for winners and have few unforced errors. 

Ni La beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets and Caroline has had a very good tournament and with some good wins and she did better than I expected. 

Day ten and in the first semi final Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Maria has not beaten Serena in ten years so it would have been more of a surprise if Maria had won. 

In the second semi - final Ni La beat Dominika Cibulkova in three sets and this was an excellent win for Ni La and this would be her first Miami Open final. 

Indian Wells - Day eight and nine

Day eight at Indian Wells and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Jelena Jankovic in three  sets. 

Aga's game seems to be really coming together and now she has made it to the semi finals she has every chance of winning it. 

Day nine and Ni La beat Dominika Cibulkova in three sets and Dominika played well but in the third set Ni La was able to win the big points and the game. 

Flavia Pennetta beat Sloane Stephens in three sets. Sloane did not look 100% fit and was making some really basic errors. 

Flavia was very consistent and could have won the match in two sets but I guess her persistence and patience paid off in the end. 

Indian Wells - Day seven

Day seven at Indian Wells and Sloane Stephens beat Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets to make it to the quarter finals. 

Sloane is having a great tournament and has had some great wins. Now we are the business of the tournament where she has a every realistic chance of winning the tournament.

Simona Halep beat Eugenie Bouchard in three sets and this match would have been a great learning curve for Eugenie. 

It would give a better idea of where and how she needs to improve her game to become a top ten player. 

Also good win for the Australian finalist Dominika Cibulkova who beat Petra Kivitova in three sets. 

Dominkia has good tournament and I would not be surprised if she makes to the final. 

Indian Wells - Day four

Day four at Indian Wells and Maria Sharapova  beat Julia Goerges in straight sets and this was a good win for the defending champion who also has lots of points to defend. 

 

Sloane Stephens also had a straights win against Ajla Tomljanovic and this was a good win for Sloane. 

She is just coming back from injury and has also slipped in the rankings so she needs to perform well to at least stay top twenty. 

 

Ni La also got a good straight sets win against Jie Zheng and Ni La has just won the Australian Open and is also coming back from injury. 

Winning this tournament would definitely help to cement her second place ranking. 

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. 

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.