OK here's another update on the latest tennis stuff.
Starting with the WTA tour, the ladies this week have a biggie (that's what she said! OK shut up Michael Scott mode!) as its the China Open in Beijing, which is a Premier Mandatory title. And the current world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki was the defending champion from last year, however once again she has failed to hold onto her title defence as Caz fell in the quarter finals today at the hands of the Italian Flavia Penetta, who defeated her in 3 sets, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(2). This marks the 3rd title that Caroline has failed to defend this year, and yeah ok she did better in getting to the quarter finals, but with every match she loses, Caroline is starting to look less than convincing as the current World No.1. I'm not sure what is wrong with Caroline, maybe things aren't going so smoothly on the Rory front, or maybe they are going too smoothly, or maybe she has an injury of some kind. But Caroline's serve let her down once again which is usually one of the stronger parts of her game, but not on this occassion. And despite a brave fightback from 5-3 down, Caroline levelled the match at 5-5 and it went to a tiebreak but there it all went wrong. Its a shame for Caroline but let's hope her best isn't already behind her as its a worrying trend that keeps showing up, but then again every player goes through a bad patch. Despite her loss, Caroline in the third set did really well to level things to a tiebreak, so even though she lost she showed great tenacity at the same time. I hope come the year end WTA Championships in Dubai that Caroline can finish off the year better.
On other WTA matches from Beijing, Agnieszka Radwanska continued her fine form as she won over Ana Ivanovic, who trailed a set down and in the 2nd she retired due to her a back injury, this could well see Radwanska winning another title this week, as she really has been in incredible form, and this would mark the biggest win of her career so far if she does. But first things first as Radwanska still has to play Flavia Pennetta in the semi finals, and will most likely be a tough match but I can still the Pole coming through it. The other match of the day saw Andrea Petkovic take on the Russian Anatasia Pavlyuchenkova, who put up an impressive struggle, pushing Petko to a 2nd tiebreak, which the German won, winning overall 6-3, 7-6. So Andrea will go on to face the wildcard Monica Niculescu, whom has beaten Petko the last two times they have met which was a few years back, but both of them are different players now, especially Petko, should be a good one anyway. And a quick update as Petko managed to show her pedigree and breezed past Niculescu in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 to make it into her first Premier Mandatory final. And Agnieszka Radwanska fired past Flavia Pennetta in straight sets, as the Italian had no answer to the Pole, who floundered toward the end and saw Radwanska win in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. So its a Petkovic vs Radwanska final on Sunday and I would have to place my money on Radwanska winning, however lets not underestimate Petko who has also been playing some terrific stuff, but for me the Pole is the favourite.
So onto the men's tour, as this week we have the China Open as well, where Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the top seed, and will face Tomas Berdych in the semis, which should make for a very good match, as they are both tough players, but my money is still on Tsonga. Also Ivan Ljubicic takes on Marin Cilic for a place in the final as well, so it should make for anothe really match. I might be wrong but I would put good money on Tsonga winning this one as he's really come back on form of late especially after winning in Metz in France last month.
And onto the Tokyo where the men's semi finals have finished and I'm happy to say that its the final we all wanted as Rafa and Andy breezed past the opposition in their respective matches. Rafa as I knew he would, after a tight first set, closed out his match against Fish quite impressively in 7-5, 6-1, and Andy closed out against Ferrer that bit more impressively in 6-3, 6-2. This marks their 5th meeting this year (as the title refers to) and I can almost see Andy winning this title as well, although he faces Rafa in the final, but I think his form of late has been highly impressive, as he won the title in Bangkok last week, made it past a really tough Marcos Baghdatis en route to the semis, and his last three matches have been of a very good calibre. It would also be great to see Andy beat Rafa in a final for a change as he really does need to improve win loss ratio which stands at 13-4 in Rafa's favour. If he does win the title, it will also mean he is halfway closer to his goal of becoming World No.3, and Federer and Djokovic have both confirmed they are out of play for Shanghai, which leaves another door of opportunity open.
But there is no doubt about that Andy has played to his ranking this year, despite some inconsistent play here and there, his results have spoken for themselves, and here's to him that they continue to do so. Who knows? We could be looking at a new ATP World Finals champion this year, but we will see, as the way I see it, Andy's biggest barrier just now isn't Djokovic, its Rafa. Rafa certainly has got the edge on Andy just now and has done for quite a while, but it would be great to see Andy get the better of him this time and in Shanghai, its probably a bit much to ask for, but all the best to him and I hope he reaches his goal.
So more to follow once the mens and ladies semi finals are over.
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