Southern & Western Open - Cincinnati -Day three

Day three at the Southern & Western Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Eugenie Bouchard in three sets.

 This was a good win for Svetlana whilst Eugenie is now realising that she has to live up to the hype that has formed around her and it will not be easy. 

Flavia Penetta beat Taylor Townsend in straight sets and this would have been a disappointing loss for Taylor. But at the same time she is young and building some valuable on-court experience. 

Serena Williams beat Samantha Stosur in straight sets but these sets were very close and Serena had to play very well to win both tie breaks to win. 

This was the first real test that Serena has had to face in this tournament and she came out of it with flying colours. 

Citi Open - Washington - final

Day seven of the Citi Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Kurumi Nara in three sets and it was an enthralling final which saw Svetlana win her first WTA tour title in four years! 

For Kurumi getting to the final was some achievement in itself and it was always going to be a big ask to beat someone like Svetlana but she did well and most importantly bagged some valuable ranking points. 

For Svetlana this win might give her the confidence to believe she can win the US Open title. 

She will be a contender for the title but I suspect once she is playing at a Grand Slam she challenge is great and I am not sure is she still has the fitness to win seven rounds. 

But she has done well to win this title I for one would not have imagined before this tournament that she would have been the winner. 

So Svetlana wins the Citi Open title and valuable ranking points. 

Citi Open - Washington - Day four

Day three of the Citi Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets. To be honest after Kirsten tough first round match with Heather Watson I wondered how much she would have left in the tank to compete in this competition. 

So I was not overly suprised that Kirsten lost in straight sets plus Svetlana is a Grand Slam winner and can beat anyone on a good day. 

Ekaterina Makarova beat Lauren Davis in straight sets and this was a good win for her as she is seeded second is somewhat favourite to in the title. 

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 seven

Day seven at the French Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Petra Kivitova in three sets. The third set could have gone either but a few lose balls from Petra and it handed the game and the match to Svetlana. 

Sloane Stephens beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets and this was a good win for Sloane as Ekaterina strikes the ball well and it's hard to break her game down. 

The surprise result in the women draw was Lucie Safarova beating Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. I thought that Ana had a real chance of winning this title so it was  a surprise see her ousted so easily. 

Rafael Nadal beat Lenardo Mayer in straight sets and it was a straight forward win for Rafa. But to be fair I would have been surprised if Lenardo had been Rafa. 

David Ferrer beat Andreas Seppi in straight sets and it was straight forward win and David is quietly going through the draw he could be surprising winner of  this year French Open.  

Guillermo Garcia Lopez beat Donald Young in give sets and Guillermo won the first two sets then gave away set three and four then just about beat Donald in the fifth set. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day Five

Day five at the Madrid Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. 

This was a a very good win for Aga as it's the first time beaten Svetlana in about six years so she needed this win. 

Serena Williams beat Shuai Peng in straight sets and Serena was in imperious form and served eleven aces.

This was a good second round for Serena as the later rounds she will play tougher and more experienced clay court players. 

Sabine Lisciki beat Irina Camelia Begu in straight sets and this was the kind of solid win that Sabine needed. 

 So far Sabine has spent most part of the early season injured so this is the tournament that she could pick up some valuable points.  

Preview of Wimbledon 2013

Wimbledon is nearly here! And it is the tournament that as a child got me hooked on tennis. It is the most important tournament in the UK tennis calendar and it is really the only time in the UK when people are really focused on tennis. This year’s tournament will hopefully showcase some of the emerging tennis talent and however I do feel that experience of grand slams will help win the tournament!

Men’s draw

I’m writing at the time when the men’s draw has not been released so I am basing this review on my knowledge of the men’s game. If it was obvious already the men to watch are Roger Federer, Rafal Nadal Andy Murray and the world number one Novak Djokovic. The outsiders to the title would Jon Wilfred Tsonga Juan Martin Del Petro. Time and time again the men’s draw proves to be predictable and the top seed seem to move to each round quite comfortably and on occasions they might be tested to five sets but experience has tended to win the day.

 

 

 

My prediction

Okay as much I want Andy Murray to do well I truly believe that his success will depend on his mental toughness and not worrying about the public. I think if he worries less and his game comes together then he has got every chance of winning this.

 I think Roger Federer will do well depending on the draw I suspect he will at least make it to the quarter finals.  After that it will all depend on the shape that he is in and Roger did win a grass court tournament last week so I suspect he is more than ready for the challenge.

Rafal Nadal didn’t do particularly well last year and he lost fairly early it was probably because he had been carrying the injury. But as a previous Wimbledon winner and my personal favourite I hope he does well. Rafal makes tennis exciting and he doesn’t play text book tennis....and to me his shot making is unique.

Tsonga is my outside bet for the title but after his below par performance at French Open I saw him in different light. I hope he is now put that shambolic performance behind him and is able to play well at Wimbledon.

Women’s draw

Again this is being written before the draw is out so it based entirely based entirely on my previous knowledge of the players. The players to watch are Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. The women’s draw historically is a little less predictable the three women I have previously mentioned are the ones I think have a real realistic chance to win.

 There are probably two outsiders in Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Petra won the tournament two years ago but has since failed to live up to expectations. Kuznetsova is a good grass court player so depending on the draw she could do quite well.  

Heather Watson is battling back to full fitness and I think her goal should be realistically to make to third round now if she does get to the third round maybe just maybe she could make it to the quarter finals but that is a long shot.

I watched Laura Robson’s game on TV yesterday and she was playing a qualifier at Eastbourne and she did seem herself and seemed very nervous. Most of time she looked like she had a scowl on her face and I think that now she playing in the women’s main draw the pressure of having to succeed is probably getting to her and to be fair at Wimbledon it will only get worse for her she needs to develop coping mechanism and quickly too.

 

 

My prediction

I suspect that Serena Williams (my personal favourite) will retain her title but Maria and Victoria will both be tough challenges for her. Maria beat Serena at Wimbledon for her very first title about nine years ago so anything could happen....

Now please tell me what your predictions are....or if agree or disagree with my predictions..

Looking forward to reading them J