US Open- day nine

Day nine at the US open was all about the bagels... 

Novak Djokovic beat Marcel Granollers in straight sets and he bagled Marcel in the second and the third set. Novak completed this match in under two hours and he will now face Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter finals for a place in the semi final. 

Serena bagled Carla Suarez Narravo in both the first and second set. Serena was obviously still pumped up from her previous match and was not taking any prisoners.

Sadly for Carla this humiliation was probably made worst by the fact that was her 25th birthday and Serena knew!

Some in the crowd where demanding Serena give Carla a game. But in a ground slam match you cannot afford to be so charitable things can change very quickly. 

It's good that Serena was able to maintain her focus. As I have watched one or two of Serena's matches where she starts off very focused then loses it. So I was pleased that she was able to maintain her focus.

Andy Murray beat Denis Istomin in four sets. It was a good win for Andy ad he started a little slow and maybe he was not expecting the match between Serena and Carla to finish so quickly.

However he refocused and won the remaining sets quite comfortably. He will now play Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter finals for a place in the semi finals. 

Li Na beat Ekaterina Makarova in three sets and Li Na has been in good form. She played well at Wimbledon and has played well here. 

She now faces Serena Williams and they have met nine times and Li Na has beaten Serena once this was about three years ago.

Victoria Azarenka beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets. This was a hard fought win for Victoria but bearing in mind she has had to play on consecutive days this was a good win for Victoria. 

Victoria will now play Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter finals for a place in the semi finals.

US Open - day eight

Day eight at the US open was very much affected by rain.

Tommy Rebredo beat Roger Federer in straight sets. This was a surprising result and for Roger to lose so early in a slam is unusual.

However at 32 years old it will not get any easier for Roger. Roger is going to have to adapt his game and become super motivated to another grand slam.

Rafael Nadal beat Philip Kohlschreiber in four sets and It is the first time. That he has been really tested at the tournament and so it was good that he was able to come through it.

Daniela Hantuchova beat the American wildcard Alison Riske in three sets and it is the first time in about ten years that Daniela has made it to the quarter finals. 

Flavia Pennetta beat Simona Halep in three sets. This was a very good win for Flavia against the in-form Simona who has already won four titles in this year. 

US Open - day seven

Day seven at US Open and the competition is now hotting up.

Andy Murray beat Florian Mayer in straight sets and in under two hours. Andy is now a two time grand slam champion and now is more confident and even if drops the odd set. He knows how to regroup and win. 

Serena Williams beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets and it was very compelling match. Serena worked very hard for this victory and I can honestly say that if felt like I was watching vintage Serena. It has been a while since I have seen Serena to chasing the ball like that.

Sloane played very well in fact  it's the best I have seen her play. Her movement was excellent and shot was also excellent but Serena with wealth of experience was the better player.

Sloane can take a lot positives out of this game and I am sure against any other she would have won. Sloane needs to be consistently playing like this  week in week out. Which will help to increase her confidence and develop her game.

Ekaterina Markarova beat Aga Radwanska in straight sets. This was a surprising result, however with the non attacking game that Aga plays it was only a matter time before the more attack minded players start beating her. 

Hopefully this loss plus the Wimbledon loss will force Aga  to reevaluate her playing strategy and become more attack minded.

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.

US Open - day five

Day five at the US Open was filled with high drama. 

Andy Murray beat Leonard Mayer in four sets. This was not one of Andy's best matches and seem to switch off in third set but most importantly he won and is through to face Florian Mayer. 

Li Na beat Britain's Laura Robson in straight sets. It was always going to be a tough ask to expect Laura to beat an in-form Li Na. 

However It was disappointing to see Laura go out but Laura's game is still developing and she is still only a teenager with many more US Opens ahead of her.

The shock of the day was Sabine Lisicki losing to Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets.

 Sabine seems to only do well at Wimbledon and struggles at the other grand slams. However for me this was a shock result and I was expecting Sabine to do better.

US Open- day four

Day four at the US Open had two main highlights for me and that was Serena Williams and Dan Evans.

Serena Williams beat Galina Voskoboeva in straight sets and played very well and didn't even give Galina a game in the second set. 

Britain's Dan Evans beat Bernard Tomic in four sets and if I was being honest. I seriously do not expect Dan to win so he totally exceeded my expectations. 

Dan Evans is through to face the Spaniard Tommy Robredo which will be a much tougher match.    

US Open - day three

Day three at the US Open was filled with highs and lows.

The main disappointment was Venus Williams losing in three sets to Jie Zheng.  Venus really played her heart out and could  not have done much more and I think she just run out of energy.

The match was three hours and two minutes which would have been really draining especially with the medical condition Venus has so to me she did very well. 

Andy Murray beat Michel Llodra in straight sets and Andy played well and completed the match in about two hours which good as there will be tougher matches to come.

Laura Robson did well to beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets as her wrist was troubling her. She now plays Na Li in the third round which will be a much tougher match.