Australian Open - Day Five

Day five of the Austrialian Open and Maria Sharapova beat Zarina Diyas in straight sets. This was much easier match for Maria and needs to wins like this if she has any hope of winning the title.  

Eugenie Bouchard beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets. This was a straight forward win for Eugenie and the first set was competitive but after that Eugenie totally controlled the match. 

Yanina Wickmayer beat Sara Errani in three sets. This was a bit of surprise result but as Sara is the higher ranked player most people would have expected her to win. 

However Yanina is good player and can get these types of results but she doesn't do it consistently that's she is not ranked higher.

In the men's draw Andy Murray beat Joao Sousa in straight sets. This was a nice routine win for Andy and it to be honest it would have been more of surprise if he had lost. 

Rafa beat Dudi Sela in straight sets and this was routine win for Rafa and it would have been more of a surprise if he had lost.  

The surprise of the day Andreas Seppi beating Roger Federer in four sets. Roger won the Brisbane tournament so many thought this title was his. But with his advancing age I think winning a Grand Slam title is looking more remote. 

Day nine - US Open

Day nine at the US Open Shuai Peng beat Belinda Bencic in straight sets and this ended the good run that Belina had made. 

However this run that Belinda has been excellent for career and I am sure it will motivate her to work harder to get the top of the game. 

Caroline Wozniacki beat Sara Errani in straight sets and it was a very  uncomfortable for Sara and quite an embarrassing scoreline. 

In the men's draw Roger Federer beat Roberto Baustista Agut in straight sets and it was a fairly routine win for Roger against player that I have never heard off.

Like I said in my previous blog I think Roger has been a beneficiary of favourable draw and this may help him make it to at least the final. 

The surprise result of the day was Gael Monfils beating tournament favourite Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. It was three very close sets with Gael winning the key points and the match. 

US Open - Day five

Day five at the US Open Jelena Jankovic beat Johanna Larsson in straight sets that included a bagel. 

Maria Sharapova beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets and it was pretty much a routine and an expected win for Maria. 

But there were many shocks today, firstly Sara Errani beat Venus Williams in three sets. Sara played well when it mattered but for Venus these days winning a three set match is a real challenge and again I wonder how long she can carry on.

Mirjana Luicic Baroni beat Simona Halep in straight sets and this was an embarrassing defeat for Simona. 

As I have said in my previous blog, there seem to be a lot of hype around Simona and she does not seem to be living up to the hype.

She is a good player but she is well over ranked is more of a top twenty player than a top five player. 

Belinda Bencic beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets and this was another surprise result. Angelique has had a good summer so I was expecting her to make to at least the quarter finals. 

In the men's draw Roger Federer beat Sam Groth in straight sets and it was a pretty routine win for Roger. Roger should at the very least make to the final his side of draw of full of guys he has routinely beaten. 

Grigor Dimitrov beat Dudi Sela in straight sets and this was a good solid win and Grigor could have a very good run at this years US Open. 

French Open - Day eleven

Day eleven at the French Open and Simona Halep beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. 

This was a good win for Simona as Svetlana is a former Roland Garros champion. However Svetlana was carrying an injury so that probably helped Simona to get a more straight forward victory. 

Andrea Petkovic beat Sara Errani in straight sets and this was a good win for Andrea as Sara was definitely a contender for this year title. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat David Ferrer in four sets and this was an emphatic win for Rafa. 

He even managed to bagel David in the third set and David played well but simply could not deal with skill that Rafa presented to him. 

Andy Murray beat Gael Monfils in five sets and this was a strange match. Andy was crusing at two sets to love up and then took his foot of the pedal and was mighty fortunate to be able to complete the match today as the light was fading. 

French Open - Day nine

Day nine of the French Open and Sara Errani beat Jelena Jankovic in straight sets and this was a big win for Sara and she must be one of the favourites for the title. 

Simona Halep beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets and Sloane played pretty poorly and committed too many unforced errors. 

Simona Halep played reasonably well and was able to win the big points and ultimately the match. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat Dusan Lajovic in straight sets and this was another comfortable win for Rafa and I am hoping he will be able to keep this form up. 

Andy Murray beat Fernando Verdasco in straight sets and this was an excellent win for Andy especially when you think how he struggled in the previous round. 

Rome Open - Final

In the final of the Rome Open, Serena Williams beat Sara Errani in straight sets to win her third title of the year. 

Serena was completely dominant in this match and it was towards the end of the first set that Sara had an injury time out. 

This did not help Sara but credit her for finishing match when so many others would have given up. 

For Sara this has been a great tournament and she was the first Italian women to reach the final since 1985 and that in a sense is a massive achievement. 

For Serena she has been able to defend the title that she won last year and it excellent preparation for the French Open. As every time she has won this tournament she has gone on to win the French Open. 

Rome Open - Semi Finals

In today's semi-finals Sara Errani beat Jelena Jankovic in straight sets and this a fantastic win for Sara. 

She is the first Italian women to make it to the final since 1985, so she has banked some valuable points and has chance to win this title.

Serena Williams beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets and this was a good win for Serena. 

Serena is now one match way from retaining the title. Serena is on course to win this title for the third time and it would also be her 60th title overall. 

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 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 Five

Day five at Indian Wells and Aga Radwanska beat Annika Beck in straight sets. This was a very good win for Aga who looked largely unimpressive in the previous round. 

Lauren Davis followed up her impressive win against Victoria Azarenka with a straights sets win over Vavara Lepchenko. 

But the big upset of the day was Eugenie Bouchard beating the ninth seed Sara Errani in straight sets. 

This was a very good win Eugenie and she is marching closer to being a top twenty player and I am sure by the end of the year she will be top ten.

APIA International, Sydney, - Quarter - Finals

The quarter finals for the APIA International took place yesterday and Madison Keys played Bethanie Mattek Sands.

Sadly Bethanie was unable to complete this match due to an injury. I felt bad for Bethanie who had come through some tough qualifying matches and beat the defending champion Aganieska Radwanska in the first round. 

Bethanie retirement from the match meant that Madison progressed to the semi-finals.

 For Madison it has been a great start to the tennis year and at this stage she has nothing to lose so she can really go for it in semi-finals. 

Elsewhere Tsevtana Pironkova beat Sara Errani in straight sets. This was good win for Tsevtana who tends to shine at Wimbledon so it's good to see she has playing so well and early in the season.

Angelique Kerber and Petra Kivitova are made it to the Semi-Finals and both won their quarter final matches in straight set. 

WTA end of year tour championships - Podcast

Please click on the link below to listen to my preview of the end of year championship.

VR Online Service: 2013-10-21 15_00_32

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. 

Canadian Open

The Canadian Open is hotting up nicely! Yesterday Serena Williams beat Magdalena Rybarikova in straight sets to move to the semi-finals where she will play Agnieska Radwanska who beat Sara  Errani in straight sets.

Na Li beat Dominika Cibulkova also in straight sets. But so far the surprise has been Petra Kivitova losing in three sets to Sorana Cirstea. 

Petra has had a bit of an up and down season however I would have expected her to beat Sorana quite comfortably. So the second semi-final  will be between Sorana Cirstea and Na Li.

The women's game is really throwing up some surprises and without likes of Azarenka and Sharapova in the last four it gives a chance to likes of Cirstea  to get to the final and winning the tournament!