Australian Open - Day Five

Day five of the Australian Open and Serena Williams beat Daniela Hantuchova  in straight sets. To be honest it was quite a boring match and Serena did not need to get out of second gear to win. 

I think if Serena had been super motivated the scoreline would have been a little more embarrassing for Daniela. 

Ni La beat Lucie Safarova in three sets and after losing the first set badly Ni La regrouped and was able to win the remaining sets. 

However if Ni La struggled to beat Lucie then winning the Australian Open has just become an even bigger challenge.

Eugene Bouchard beat Lauren Davis in straight sets to make it to the fourth round. 

Eugene is doing really well at the moment only time will tell how well she is doing when she meets tougher opponents.  

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic beat Denis Istomin in straight sets. So far in this tournament Novak has not really been stretched and that can sometimes work against a player in the later stages of the slam. 

David Ferrer also recorded a straight sets win against Jeremy Chardy to make to the third round. 

He is making is way through the draw largely unnoticed and has a great chance to win his first grand slam. 

Australian Open - Day Four

Day four of the Australian Open and Sloane Stephens beat Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets. Sloane has not be firing on all cylinders and has been fortunate to make it this far.  

Maria Sharapova beat Karin Knapp in three sets and she really struggled with her serve and was fortunate to win in tight third set. 

In the men's draw Andy Murray beat Vincent Millot in straight sets. However the scoreline does not tell the story of this match. 

As Andy was five games to one down in the third set but somehow managed to regroup win the set and the match.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also won in straight sets and with a little less drama than Andy's match. 

 

Australian Open - Day Three

Day three at the Australian Open and Serena Williams beat Vesna Dolonc in straight sets. Serena played well and will now play Daniela Hantuchova in the next round. 

Jie Zheng beat the talented American Madison Keys in three sets. For Madison this will be a learning curve and as she was leading by four games to one the third set. 

These are kind of losses that Madison will learn from and will hopefully come back stronger. 

Sam Stosur hammered Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets which included a six love second set. It was a suprise result considering that Tsvetana won the Sydney tournament over the weekend. 

Another surprise result was Monica Niculescu beating Sabine Liscki in three sets. I still feel that Sabine saves all her best tennis for Wimbledon and is not that motivated for the other slams. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer both recorded straight sets wins to progress to the third round. 

Australian Open Day Two - A very hot day!

Day two at the Australian Open was all about the hot weather. It got has hot as forty two degrees and yet the tournament Doctor thought it was safe to carry on playing. 

Sloane Stephens beat Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets. However it was no ordinary straight sets victory and in the first Sloane got off to a very slow start and had to come back from being five games to one down to win the set.

Sloane was able to win the match but it was not a very convincing win and she really need to step it up in the next round. 

Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova both recorded straight sets victories to put them in the next round. 

In the men's draw both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal recorded wins. Rafael was up against Bernard Tomic and some pundits where hyping this match up. 

However it never really an exciting match as Bernard retired with an injury after the first set. 

Premiership review -11th to 13th January 2014

Now that the Xmas and New Year games are completed. There is literally a point or two between the top five teams. 

So with the pressure very much on for the top five teams there where more points up for grabs. 

Man United beat Swansea City by two goals to nil and this win has taken the pressure of David Moyes for the time being. 

Tottenham Hotspurs also recorded a two nil win and this win was vital and helps to keep them top six. 

Elsewhere Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City all recorded wins. Arsenal played there game on Monday evening and this heaped the pressure on Arsenal's shoulders. 

Arsenal beat Aston Villa by two goals two one. In this game Theo Walcott took no part in as he was injured in the previous game and is now out for six months!

It was an important win for Arsenal and this win put them back to being top of the league and there literally a hairs breath between Arsenal and Man City. 

Australian Open - Day One - Men's Draw

Day one at the Australian and Novak Djokovic beat Lukas Lacko in straight sets. 

 It was a nice first round match for Novak who is the defending champion. 

He worked had but did not have to really stretch himself to win the match. 

The shock result for me was Ivan Dodig beating Ivo Karlovic straight sets.

 It was match that I thought was going to be at least four sets. 

 

So I was surprised by the comprehensive manner in which Ivan beat his fellow country man Ivo. 

Australian Open - Day One - Women's Draw

The Australian Open started today and it is the first grand slam of the tennis season.

Daniela Hantuchova beat Heather Watson in three close sets. Heather played well in most parts but her unforced error counts where the most telling. 

Daniela was able to use her fourteen years of tennis experience to win this match. Using tactics like the moon balls which I have not seen for a while. 

Heather will drop even lower in the rankings but she can use this performance in a positive way and the good results will soon come. 

Kirsten Flipkens beat Laura Robson in straight sets. It was a poor match from Laura's perspective and she simply did not look match fit. 

I always thought it was going to be a tough match for Laura but this was not helped by her lack of match fitness. 

Ekaterina Makarova beat Venus Williams in three close sets and in what was a very high quality match.

Serena Williams beat seventeen year old Ashley Barty in straight sets. However played well and she is definitely one to watch for the future. 

The shock of the day was Petra Kivitova losing to Luksika Kumkhum in three close sets. 

Luksika has never played a top ten player but she was able to match Petra's power and win the match.