OK now (yep this about tennis once again!) we are getting closer to the US Open as it starts a week on Monday in New York, and this week the ATP/WTA comes from Cincinnati with the Western and Southern Open. This is a ATP 1000 Masters and WTA Premier 5 title, so it is a biggie for both the men and ladies, all the top seeds are in doing their stuff, so I'll have a look at some of the matches.
On the men's side first, Andy Murray was back in action after his shock loss last week to Kevin Anderson in Montreal, this time he took on David Nalbandian. In the first set, Andy got off to a really shaky start, as he struggled to hold his serve, but fortunately for him Nalbandian wasn't much better, in fact there were times were it was hard to work out who was worse! But thankfully toward the end of the first set Andy picked up the pace and sealed it in 6-4, after which he found his rhythym and broke the former World No.3 early on and then he run away with the match winning in 6-4, 6-1. This in a way was a crucial win for Andy as he has lost every match he has played on the ATP hard court season up until now, so he really needed this. However next up is one of his nemesis from earlier in the year, Alex Bogomolov, who defeated him in straight sets in Miami back in March, so this is a chance for Andy to get revenge. Earlier this year Andy had hit a real slump so I'm hoping he will have sorted out his game today and show Boglymov why he is the World No.4, but there is that danger he could go out again, Bogomolov already has put out Tsonga, which in itself was a surprise (although Tsonga had an arm injury from last week). It was also good to see that Andy has continued to maintain his composure more during matches, he has been doing this of late ever since the French Open semi final match against Rafa this year, so it definitely shows a growing maturity in the Muzza, which is a good thing for sure.
Other matches in the ATP tour saw Rafa also make a strong comeback as he took on Julien Beneteau, and survived a slight scare towards the end of the second set where Beneteau broke Rafa's serve, but Rafa broke straight back and won the match in 6-4, 7-5. So Rafa next will face fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, who a couple of years ago took him all the way in the Australian Open 2009 semi final, but Verdasco hasn't been playing so well since, so it might be an easier match for Rafa this time, but we'll see. World No.1 Novak Djokovic also made a fairly strong start after he struggled with his serve initially on the lightning fast courts but ended up strong as he comfortably beat Ryan Harrison in 6-2, 6-3. Next up for Djoky is the current in form Radek Stepanek, who might prove troublesome for the Serb, but again he might not trouble him too much but we'll see, but it should be an intruiging one. David Ferrer also progressed through to the 3rd round as he defeated Grigor Dimitriov from Bulgari in a pretty tough 3 set match.
On the WTA side, we saw another early exit for the World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki who went out again in her first match, this time against US qualifier Christine McHale, who defeated her in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 (same score as last week!). This doesn't bode well at all for Caroline, as that's two early exits, and after such a strong first leg hard court season, the 2nd has gotten off to a really bad start, and with the US Open not far off, the Dane will really have to regroup for the next Grand Slam. I was also interested to see she is going out with the top golfer from Nothern Ireland, Rory McIlroy, but if you forgive the awful pun, Caroline was well under par today (and not in a good way like it is in golf!). Serena Williams also made an early exit, but this time it was due to injury as she pulled out of the tournament due to a injury to her toe, which deprived us of a rematch with Sam Stosur from last week. Instead Sam Stosur will face French Open champion Li Na, so it will be a tough one to call, because it remains to be seen what form Li Na is in, lately she hasn't been playing so great, but she had a good win against Lucie Safarova there on Tuesday, so it might be a good one today. Andrea Petkovic also made it through against Sofia Arviddson from Sweden, but I must say I wasn't so impressed with Petko's behaviour on Monday when she played Jamila Goudasova, as she was really rude to the towel girls yelling for a towel "TOWEL! TOWELL!!!". I guess in pressure situations players can get snappy, as it was a tough match for Petkovic, but she came out on top in the end. It was also good to Jelena Jankovic progress through as that's her won her first two matches in Cincinnati after a bad first round loss in Toronto last week. Also Francesca Schiavone had to really battle past the Russian Maria Kirilenko as she toughed it out to win in 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. And finally Maria Sharapova breezed past her opponent on Tuesday but today she faces Svetlana Kuznetsova, so that may prove a tougher test.
Right that's enough o that, more to follow soon.
P.S. I need more posts that aren't about tennis! Ha ha, will think of something.
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