US Open - review 2015

So I didn't get to blog daily about the US Open, however I didn't miss a match! The first week of the US Open was eventful in the women draw at least three of the top ten seeds went out very early and I think that really set the tone for the championships. 

The British number one Heather Watson went out on day one and it was a very disappointing tournament for her. I think it was largely down to poor preparation and still lamenting about the loss to Serena at Wimbledon. 

However the British number two Johanna  Konta did very well and she made it to the fourth round before being knocked out by Petra Kivitova.

The men's first week was largerly uneventful the only real shock was the early exit of Rafael Nadal. Rafa is in a real slump and he threw away a two set lead in a match that he should have won comfortably. 

 

The second of US Open became more eventful in the semi-finals as Serena Williams who was expected to beat Roberta Vinci lost in three sets. 

Serena had looked very nervous and unsure of herself in previous rounds and rightly so Roberta pounced on Serena's uncertainty and was able to win the match and end Serena's bid to win four Grand Slams in a calendar year. 

The other semi final Flavia Panetta beat Simona Halep in straight sets and this too was largely unexpected but Flavia just proved too strong for Simona. 

The men's semi finals was more straight forward both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer recorded comfortable wins to reach the finals were it would be number one versus number two. 

The women's final was an all Italian affair and Flavia Panetta beat Roberta Vinci in straight sets and rightly so. Has been reasonably well in the last couple of years  so to me richly derseved this title. 

The Men's final Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer to win his 10th Grand Slam title. I think it's only the disgraceful behaviour of the fans that marred his victory. 

The fans where so desperate to see a Roger win that they were clapping a Novak errors which was not nice to see.. However Novak overcame the hostility from the crowd to claim his 10th Grand slam.

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.  

Indian Wells - Day three

Day three at Indian Wells and Aga Radwanska beat Heather Watson in straight sets. 

Whilst I was disappointed to see Heather lose she was up against Aga who is a top five player.

 

Heather was able to break Aga's serve on numerous occasions but was not able to consolidate any of those breaks. 

 

The shock of the day was Lauren Davis beaten Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. Albeit Victoria was not a 100% but a win is win. 

Roberta Vinci beat Madison Keys in straight sets and I would have expected Madison do a little better but I guess she still on a learning curve. 

 

US Open - day eleven

Day eleven at the US Open certainly had the element of the unexpected and expected results. 

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Andy Murray in straight sets to make it to the semi-finals. Even when Andy went down to two sets to love. I still thought that he was going to come back and win it in five sets.

However it was not meant to be as Andy had a slow start and his serve was not as potent as it normally is and Andy made a lot of unforced errors. 

It was always going to be a tough ask to expect Andy to win both Wimbledon and the US Open. 

Andy did well to reach the quarter finals and would have been nice to see him in the semi- finals but it was not meant to be. 

Now Andy needs to get some rest and come back stronger and more purposeful.

Novak Djokovic beat Mikhail Youzhny in four sets to reach the semi-finals. This result was not unexpected but it was nice that Mikhail managed to get a least a set from Novak. 

However it made Novak step up his game and he bagled Mikhail in the fourth set. Novak now faces Stanislas 

 in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile in the women's doubles Venus and Serena Williams beat Sara Errani  and Roberta Vinci in straight sets.

I was little surprised with the ease in which Venus and Serena managed to beat Sara and Roberta.

 I thought that it was going to be a very tough match for Venus. However Venus played very well which has helped them to reach the semi-finals.