US Open - day six

Day six at the US Open was eventful to say the least. 

Dan Evans lost in four sets to Tommy Robredo and to be fair it was not too much of a surprise. However I think Dan should think about all the positives. 

This time last year Dan was playing on the challenger tour so to be playing tennis at the highest level shows how much his game has developed his game.

 If he keeps working had there is no reason why he is not a top fifty player by this time next year.

American wildcard Alison Riske beat Petra Kivtova in straight sets. I have not watched Alison play and yes Petra was carrying an injury but it was still an excellent result for Alison. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Alize Cornet in three sets and it's  the first time that Victoria has been tested in this competition and she was able to regroup and win. 

It actually helps Victoria to have tough match now because if she does meet Serena Williams in the final she will better prepared for this potential encounter.

Mini round up of the various tennis tournaments taking place this week

I am disappointed that both Laura Robson and Heather Watson lost there second matches. Laura was playing in the Mercury Insurance Open and lost in straight sets to Petra Kivtova. Heather was playing in the Citi Open and lost in straight sets to Alize Cornet.

Heather is currently number 76 in the world so this will not help her ranking and on top of that she has just split from her long term coach and is now working with Jeremy Bates until the end of the hard court season. I am not sure this a good strategy and it could set her back least a year and the chances of winning any kind of silverware become slimmer and slimmer with every passing day.

Agnieska Radwanska is playing her second match at the Citi Open tournament against Daniela Hantuchova. After Agnieska shock loss to Dominika Cibulková  in the Stanford final she will want to bounce back with this title. So it will be interesting to see if she is able to succeed but I think that with the defensive type of tennis that she plays  it will always be challenge to win tennis tournaments.

I am looking forward to the Canadian Open as Serena Williams is scheduled to play there and unfortunately Maria Sharapova has pulled out  of this tournament with an injury but I am confident that it will still be a competitive tournament.

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?