Well thats it for the WTA Championships as it has drawn to a close, and in this post I will look at the semi final matches and the final, so let's have a look...
In the first semi final it was between Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska, and it promised to be quite an intruiging one. However unfortunately for Radwanska, who had spent the longest time on court by far out of the top four players (over 8 hours) looked pretty wiped out and exhausted throughout the match, and she could do very little against Serena's firepower, who blasted her way through the first set in 6-2. And in the second, Aga had a very little left in the tank and ended up being broken twice again to let Serena take a comfortable place in the final with a 6-2, 6-1 score. This was a big disappointment for Aga who was obviously so exhausted by the time reached this one, as it was simply a match too far for her, but regardless of that, Aga has done extremely well this year, finishing the World No.4, and getting as high as the world no.2 at one point, her future is looking very bright indeed for next year.
The next semi final was between Sharapova and Azarenka, which turned to be more competitive, however it was surprisingly Sharapova that played the better tennis, as Azarenka looked tired and fatigued just like Radcwanska did. And after a tight first set, with Sharapova winning 6-4, in the 2nd Azarenka sustained a wrist injury, and despite her pain she carried on fighting, but in the end Sharapova took advantage and powered her way to victory and sealed her place in the final with a 6-4, 6-2 win. It was a real surprise this result as I really was expecting Vika to win this one, however fatigue had really set in for the Belarusian, and it wasn't to be on this occassion. Regardless of the loss, Vika will finish the year as the World No.1, which is very impressive, and she has actually only really after winning the Australian Open this year, been two weeks without being No.1! So well done to Victoria for such a great year where she has won her first grand slam in Melboune, reached the final of the US Open and won the bronze singles medal, as well as the gold mixed doubles medal at the Olympics.
So onto the final between Serena and Maria Sharapova, and it promised to be an entertaining encounter, and while I didnt see it, it was of course really only going to be one player that would emerge victorious. And Serena in the first broke Maria's serve, and went on to close it out, and in the 2nd set she secured an early break, and at 5-3 (with Maria serving to make it 5-4), Serena seized the initative and blasted a winner off Sharapova's second serve to close out the championship to end a remarkable season for the American, with a 6-4, 6-3 win to end her 2012.
The result it has to be said here was hardly surprising as Serena came into the match with a 10-2 winning record against Sharapova, and in the end Maria could do little against the Serena serve, which it has to be said is one of the most if not the most consistent serves in the ladies game. And it also sees Serena make an emphatic return to the sport, and even though she showed great promise last year, this year we have seen the real Serena emerge back on the scene. And she has also completed her golden career slam this year also by winning the Olympic gold medal, in both singles and doubles, and by doing that she has finally got it all. Its also staggering and indeed frightening to think that this year alone she has only lost four matches out of the 63 matches she has played in 2012, and that is some statistic, even by Djokovic's amazing standard last year, this is quite something. And it also sends out a strong message to the rest of the ladies locker room that Serena is truly back and I'm sure the rest of them will have their work cut out in trying to topple her off that perch, because no doubt she will become the World No.1 next year again, so its only a matter of time before she does.
So that's it for the WTA 2012 season, which has seen some truly remarkable tennis throughout, all that remains is the WTA International Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions event, which will take place in Sofia. This event will feature top 8 players on the WTA tour who have won International level events on the tour this season, which will include Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Kirilenko, Nadia Petrova and Daniella Huntachova, so that will be a good event I'm sure. And later on I might just post up some of my thoughts on the best matches of the year from the 2012 WTA tour sometime soon. So until then that's it for now.
Bye the now!
Monday 29 October 2012
Saturday 27 October 2012
WTA Championships Part 1: The top four.....
OK I've not really posted much up on the tennis blog for a wee bit so I thought I would finally get around to do something on the WTA Championships, which are on just now from Istanbul (in Turkey apparently). So let's catch up with the matches so far.
Well to start off with the championships has seen the top 8 players in the world play each other, which from top to bottom has been Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani and Li Na. However the first casualty of the event was Petra Kvitova who suffered from a stomach virus, which was shortly revealed after her quick defeat by Radwanska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory, which forced Petra to withdraw from the tournament. This let Sam Stosur, who was the first alternate with a chance to play in the championships. However unfortunately for Stosur she was outplayed by Sara Errani, after even taking the 2nd set in their match, she faded away badly in the 3rd losing the match in 2-6, 6-3, 0-6. And Stosur then went on to get a drubbing from Maria Sharapova who blasted her off the court with a 6-0, 6-3 win. This is a shame for Stosur and its not like she has had a bad year, quite the opposite as she has produced some good consistent results, reaching the semi finals at the French Open and the quarter finals at the US Open, where she narrowly lost to Azarenka. But perhaps coming so close last week in Moscow at the Kremlin cup and losing to Caroline Wozniacki probably put a dent in her confidence again. But anyway let's hope Sam has a better 2013.
In other matches, Serena Williams has made her way through to the semi finals of the tournament with relative ease, and has yet to even drop a set. And along the way Serena has defeated Keber in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, Victoria Azarenka in 6-4, 6-4, and Li Na in 7-6, 6-3. And you would be insane to write off her chances of winning the WTA Championships and I think its safe to say that she will be the champion, because to be honest I can't really see any of the other top players living with her, but we'll see. But with the way Serena's year has gone already, having won 6 titles, two of them being Wimbledon and the US Open, and another being the Olympic Gold medal, I can't not see this championships going her way as well. But her next match will be with Agnieszka Radwanska, who she played in a tricky match in the Wimbledon final earlier this year, so this could be a tough encounter for her, or it could be just a walk in the park, so time will tell.
Victoria Azarenka has had a much tougher passage to get to the semi finals however, as in her first match, she battled against Angelique Kerber, in a superb match that lasted well over 3 hours, which featured some of the highest quality tennis you will see all year, in which Kerber even had two match points against Vika in the 2nd set. But Vika refused to go away and hung in taking the 2nd set into a decider, and after getting a key break, and despite Kerber breaking back, to make 5-4 (with a chance to serve for 5-5), Vika broke once to more to make it past the German with a stunning 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 win. This was easily the best match of the tournament so far, and one of the best matches of 2012, and it shows just how good a player Kerber has become, as well as what a champion mentality Azarenka has developed in 2012. And if it weren't for one woman she would possibly even have won at least three out of the four grand slams this season, but I'm sure she will go on to win more in the future. Victoria however as previously mentioned suffered a defeat to Serena in 6-4, 6-4, as she failed to get anything going on serve, and despite having a 2-0 lead in the second set, she failed to captilised on the break, and before we knew it was 5-4, with Vika serve to make it 5-5, she double faulted to hand over the match to Serena. But Victoria however has managed to hang on to her World No.1 ranking by defeating Li Na and making her way to the semi finals with a 7-6, 6-3 win, she is guaranteed to finish the year with the top spot.
Maria Sharapova so far has also made relatively easy passage into the semis, after beating Sara Errani in 6-3, 6-2 (same score as their French Open final, geeky stat there!) in the first round rubber, but facing a very tough match against Radwanska in 2nd one, as it took her 3 hours to overcome the Pole with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win. But she again made easy headway by thrashing Sam Stosur with an emphatic 6-0, 6-3 score. This will see Maria take on her nemesis Victoria Azarenka in the final, and let's face it I have to say that Vika will be the winner. But its hard to tell if it will be an easy match or not, and too often in the past Maria gets off to a bad start and tends to fade away fast in her matches with Victoria, and despite her one win over Vika this year in Stuttgart on clay, and her tough match against her in the US Open, most of their matches have been pretty one-sided. But let's hope for once this proves not to be the case, but for me there is only one winner here and it ain't Maria, but you never know.
As for Agnieszka Radwanska, well she has had the toughest passage out of the top four players to the semi finals, as despite an easy first round victory over an ailing Petra Kvitova in 6-3, 6-2, she then went on to face Maria Sharapova as already mentioned, and she battled it out over three hours before losing in 3 sets. And its tough to beat the ultimate warrior in tennis, once Maria gets into a match from a set down, she usually tends to be the winner. Regardless despite the loss, Radwanska went on to play Sara Errani in another brutal contest, where the two players hammered it out for nearly 3 hours and 30 minutes on court, and after dropping the opening set and going a break down in the 2nd, Aga somehow managed to turn it around, taking the 2nd set, and in the 3rd she got the break and closed it out in 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. And next up for Aga will be Serena, and as she has surely been the player who has spent the most time on court, it will be very tough for her come through against one of the greatest players to have played the game. And as she has spent what must be over 8 hours on court over the last few days, it could be most likely that she won't be able to give Serena a match, but you never can tell, so let's hope it will be another good match, but I can't see her come through it regardless.
Right so that's it for now, with Li Na, Petra Kvitova (the defending champion), Sam Stosur, Angelique Kerber and Sara Errani all out of the championships its down to the last four, and its great to see that it is the top four that is left in the tournament, and deservedly so. Similar to the top four guys in the men's game, its a great line up, and while it might not be quite in the same league overall as Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal (well Nadal is out for now with injury), its still more than good enough for now.
So I will leave it there and report back with more once the semi final matches are over with.
Till then, bye for now.
Well to start off with the championships has seen the top 8 players in the world play each other, which from top to bottom has been Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani and Li Na. However the first casualty of the event was Petra Kvitova who suffered from a stomach virus, which was shortly revealed after her quick defeat by Radwanska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory, which forced Petra to withdraw from the tournament. This let Sam Stosur, who was the first alternate with a chance to play in the championships. However unfortunately for Stosur she was outplayed by Sara Errani, after even taking the 2nd set in their match, she faded away badly in the 3rd losing the match in 2-6, 6-3, 0-6. And Stosur then went on to get a drubbing from Maria Sharapova who blasted her off the court with a 6-0, 6-3 win. This is a shame for Stosur and its not like she has had a bad year, quite the opposite as she has produced some good consistent results, reaching the semi finals at the French Open and the quarter finals at the US Open, where she narrowly lost to Azarenka. But perhaps coming so close last week in Moscow at the Kremlin cup and losing to Caroline Wozniacki probably put a dent in her confidence again. But anyway let's hope Sam has a better 2013.
In other matches, Serena Williams has made her way through to the semi finals of the tournament with relative ease, and has yet to even drop a set. And along the way Serena has defeated Keber in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, Victoria Azarenka in 6-4, 6-4, and Li Na in 7-6, 6-3. And you would be insane to write off her chances of winning the WTA Championships and I think its safe to say that she will be the champion, because to be honest I can't really see any of the other top players living with her, but we'll see. But with the way Serena's year has gone already, having won 6 titles, two of them being Wimbledon and the US Open, and another being the Olympic Gold medal, I can't not see this championships going her way as well. But her next match will be with Agnieszka Radwanska, who she played in a tricky match in the Wimbledon final earlier this year, so this could be a tough encounter for her, or it could be just a walk in the park, so time will tell.
Victoria Azarenka has had a much tougher passage to get to the semi finals however, as in her first match, she battled against Angelique Kerber, in a superb match that lasted well over 3 hours, which featured some of the highest quality tennis you will see all year, in which Kerber even had two match points against Vika in the 2nd set. But Vika refused to go away and hung in taking the 2nd set into a decider, and after getting a key break, and despite Kerber breaking back, to make 5-4 (with a chance to serve for 5-5), Vika broke once to more to make it past the German with a stunning 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 win. This was easily the best match of the tournament so far, and one of the best matches of 2012, and it shows just how good a player Kerber has become, as well as what a champion mentality Azarenka has developed in 2012. And if it weren't for one woman she would possibly even have won at least three out of the four grand slams this season, but I'm sure she will go on to win more in the future. Victoria however as previously mentioned suffered a defeat to Serena in 6-4, 6-4, as she failed to get anything going on serve, and despite having a 2-0 lead in the second set, she failed to captilised on the break, and before we knew it was 5-4, with Vika serve to make it 5-5, she double faulted to hand over the match to Serena. But Victoria however has managed to hang on to her World No.1 ranking by defeating Li Na and making her way to the semi finals with a 7-6, 6-3 win, she is guaranteed to finish the year with the top spot.
Maria Sharapova so far has also made relatively easy passage into the semis, after beating Sara Errani in 6-3, 6-2 (same score as their French Open final, geeky stat there!) in the first round rubber, but facing a very tough match against Radwanska in 2nd one, as it took her 3 hours to overcome the Pole with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win. But she again made easy headway by thrashing Sam Stosur with an emphatic 6-0, 6-3 score. This will see Maria take on her nemesis Victoria Azarenka in the final, and let's face it I have to say that Vika will be the winner. But its hard to tell if it will be an easy match or not, and too often in the past Maria gets off to a bad start and tends to fade away fast in her matches with Victoria, and despite her one win over Vika this year in Stuttgart on clay, and her tough match against her in the US Open, most of their matches have been pretty one-sided. But let's hope for once this proves not to be the case, but for me there is only one winner here and it ain't Maria, but you never know.
As for Agnieszka Radwanska, well she has had the toughest passage out of the top four players to the semi finals, as despite an easy first round victory over an ailing Petra Kvitova in 6-3, 6-2, she then went on to face Maria Sharapova as already mentioned, and she battled it out over three hours before losing in 3 sets. And its tough to beat the ultimate warrior in tennis, once Maria gets into a match from a set down, she usually tends to be the winner. Regardless despite the loss, Radwanska went on to play Sara Errani in another brutal contest, where the two players hammered it out for nearly 3 hours and 30 minutes on court, and after dropping the opening set and going a break down in the 2nd, Aga somehow managed to turn it around, taking the 2nd set, and in the 3rd she got the break and closed it out in 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. And next up for Aga will be Serena, and as she has surely been the player who has spent the most time on court, it will be very tough for her come through against one of the greatest players to have played the game. And as she has spent what must be over 8 hours on court over the last few days, it could be most likely that she won't be able to give Serena a match, but you never can tell, so let's hope it will be another good match, but I can't see her come through it regardless.
Right so that's it for now, with Li Na, Petra Kvitova (the defending champion), Sam Stosur, Angelique Kerber and Sara Errani all out of the championships its down to the last four, and its great to see that it is the top four that is left in the tournament, and deservedly so. Similar to the top four guys in the men's game, its a great line up, and while it might not be quite in the same league overall as Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal (well Nadal is out for now with injury), its still more than good enough for now.
So I will leave it there and report back with more once the semi final matches are over with.
Till then, bye for now.
Sunday 21 October 2012
WTA Moscow and Istanbul preview
OK a quick update on the WTA tour, as this post will be about the Kremlin cup, which took place funnily enough in Moscow.
So to start with the semi finals in the ladies tournament (as there was an ATP 250 men's event there too, which I won't go into) the first semi final saw Caroline Wozniacki take on the Swede, Sofia Arvidsson. Good friends off the court, but on the court it was all business as Caroline had a real tussle with the talented player Arvidsson. After levelling the match at one set all, and with Caroline serving at 5-3 in the 3rd, Arvidsson broke back to make it 5-4, but in the end Caroline's determination shone through as she secured her fourth final of the year winning in 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. In the other semi final match, Sam Stosur took on the world no.12, Ana Ivanovic, who came out firing in the first set, but Sam turned it around in the 2nd to level the match, and in the 3rd Ivanovic unfortuantely suffered an injury, which lead to Stosur eventually close out the match with fair ease after a tough 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
This took us into the final, which promised to be a real cracker between Wozniacki and Stosur, and it proved to be just that, as both players put on a great display for the Russian crowd (and it was a bit of a disgrace that the audience was only about two thirds full!) with some dazzling shot making from both players. Caroline dominated the first set to take it, and in the 2nd set there were breaks aplenty, but it was Stosur who eventually closed it out to push the match into a decider, and yet again more breaks of serve followed in the 3rd, which Sam breaking straight away to take a 2-0 lead. However Caroline was not to be outdone as she broke back to level the scoreline, and it went by serve until 6-5, when Stosur served to take it into a tiebreak, where Stosur finally capitualted on serve to hand the championship over to Caroline, who won her 2nd title of the season (and 20th of her career) with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory.
After a tough and disappointing season, this was the perfect end to the year for Caroline Wozniacki, as she played some of her best tennis throughout the week, and she has also shown since the beginning of the Asian swing of the season that she has become a more aggressive player, who is willing to take more chances. And the great thing is this shows her form is gradually starting to improve again, and in 2013 she could well go on to getting back into the top 10 again, where she rightfully belongs. And if she is to win a major then she will need to continue this form and maintain her aggressive play, and if she does then surely she will one day win a grand slam, and I personally think she can still do it. But for now its great to see Caroline get back on form, especially after enduring so many tough losses this year, particularly in her first round exits at Wimbledon and the US Open. Caroline did not qualify for the WTA Championships unfortunately (unless two of the top seeds pull out!) so Moscow was her last tournament of the year, but it was great to see her end 2012 on a high. So let's hope the best for her in 2013 and that she continues to get even better.
As for Sam Stosur, well I have to say I did feel a bit sorry for her, as she has been in two finals this year, and she struggled badly earlier this year in Doha against a dominant Victoria Azarenka, and today she had her chances but just wasn't quite able to close it out. And that is something that appears to happen to Sam is that she tightens up in the big matches and the finals, which is a pity as she more than good enough to win titles on the WTA, and she also proved last year by winning the US Open that its not beyond her to go and win another. But for now Stosur despite her loss still has a chance to play at the WTA Championships in Istanbul this week, as she is directly next in line as an alternate if one of the top pulls out injured, so we might yet see Sam play another match in 2012.
And that brings me onto the WTA Championships which starts this week on 23 October, and it will see the top 8 players battle it out to win the championship trophy (worth 1500 ranking points). The format is a bit confusing but its basically two groups, one red and the other white (I think!) with four players in each group, who play each other within the group until the player that wins the most matches, or the player that wins enough games might go through to the next stage. But in the end the final will be played between the overall winner from each group who have won the most outright matches or games and sets.
And who will the winner be????? Well for me I would have to say Serena Williams is the favourite, but unfortunately I was rather disappointed to see that Azarenka and Serena are drawn in the same group, which means they would have to play each other in the semis, rather than meet in the final, which is a bit of a letdown. But it has to be said they are without a doubt the two best players in the world just now, so when they do meet it will be great to watch. Below her I think that Maria Sharapova has a chance, and even Agnieszka Radwanska has her chances too, but both of them do struggle against Serena and Vika so it will be tough for them to win. As for Petra Kvitova, the defending champion from last year, well she has had an up and down year, and even though it was predicted she would become the world No.1 after her great success last year, it just didn't quite happen for her this year. However Petra will be tough to knock off and she will be prepared to fight to defend her title Istanbul. But whichever way it goes, I think we will be in for a real treat this week as the creme da la creme of ladies tennis go at it.
Right so that's it for now, more to follow on the WTA Championships next week.
Till then bye for now!
So to start with the semi finals in the ladies tournament (as there was an ATP 250 men's event there too, which I won't go into) the first semi final saw Caroline Wozniacki take on the Swede, Sofia Arvidsson. Good friends off the court, but on the court it was all business as Caroline had a real tussle with the talented player Arvidsson. After levelling the match at one set all, and with Caroline serving at 5-3 in the 3rd, Arvidsson broke back to make it 5-4, but in the end Caroline's determination shone through as she secured her fourth final of the year winning in 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. In the other semi final match, Sam Stosur took on the world no.12, Ana Ivanovic, who came out firing in the first set, but Sam turned it around in the 2nd to level the match, and in the 3rd Ivanovic unfortuantely suffered an injury, which lead to Stosur eventually close out the match with fair ease after a tough 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
This took us into the final, which promised to be a real cracker between Wozniacki and Stosur, and it proved to be just that, as both players put on a great display for the Russian crowd (and it was a bit of a disgrace that the audience was only about two thirds full!) with some dazzling shot making from both players. Caroline dominated the first set to take it, and in the 2nd set there were breaks aplenty, but it was Stosur who eventually closed it out to push the match into a decider, and yet again more breaks of serve followed in the 3rd, which Sam breaking straight away to take a 2-0 lead. However Caroline was not to be outdone as she broke back to level the scoreline, and it went by serve until 6-5, when Stosur served to take it into a tiebreak, where Stosur finally capitualted on serve to hand the championship over to Caroline, who won her 2nd title of the season (and 20th of her career) with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory.
After a tough and disappointing season, this was the perfect end to the year for Caroline Wozniacki, as she played some of her best tennis throughout the week, and she has also shown since the beginning of the Asian swing of the season that she has become a more aggressive player, who is willing to take more chances. And the great thing is this shows her form is gradually starting to improve again, and in 2013 she could well go on to getting back into the top 10 again, where she rightfully belongs. And if she is to win a major then she will need to continue this form and maintain her aggressive play, and if she does then surely she will one day win a grand slam, and I personally think she can still do it. But for now its great to see Caroline get back on form, especially after enduring so many tough losses this year, particularly in her first round exits at Wimbledon and the US Open. Caroline did not qualify for the WTA Championships unfortunately (unless two of the top seeds pull out!) so Moscow was her last tournament of the year, but it was great to see her end 2012 on a high. So let's hope the best for her in 2013 and that she continues to get even better.
As for Sam Stosur, well I have to say I did feel a bit sorry for her, as she has been in two finals this year, and she struggled badly earlier this year in Doha against a dominant Victoria Azarenka, and today she had her chances but just wasn't quite able to close it out. And that is something that appears to happen to Sam is that she tightens up in the big matches and the finals, which is a pity as she more than good enough to win titles on the WTA, and she also proved last year by winning the US Open that its not beyond her to go and win another. But for now Stosur despite her loss still has a chance to play at the WTA Championships in Istanbul this week, as she is directly next in line as an alternate if one of the top pulls out injured, so we might yet see Sam play another match in 2012.
And that brings me onto the WTA Championships which starts this week on 23 October, and it will see the top 8 players battle it out to win the championship trophy (worth 1500 ranking points). The format is a bit confusing but its basically two groups, one red and the other white (I think!) with four players in each group, who play each other within the group until the player that wins the most matches, or the player that wins enough games might go through to the next stage. But in the end the final will be played between the overall winner from each group who have won the most outright matches or games and sets.
And who will the winner be????? Well for me I would have to say Serena Williams is the favourite, but unfortunately I was rather disappointed to see that Azarenka and Serena are drawn in the same group, which means they would have to play each other in the semis, rather than meet in the final, which is a bit of a letdown. But it has to be said they are without a doubt the two best players in the world just now, so when they do meet it will be great to watch. Below her I think that Maria Sharapova has a chance, and even Agnieszka Radwanska has her chances too, but both of them do struggle against Serena and Vika so it will be tough for them to win. As for Petra Kvitova, the defending champion from last year, well she has had an up and down year, and even though it was predicted she would become the world No.1 after her great success last year, it just didn't quite happen for her this year. However Petra will be tough to knock off and she will be prepared to fight to defend her title Istanbul. But whichever way it goes, I think we will be in for a real treat this week as the creme da la creme of ladies tennis go at it.
Right so that's it for now, more to follow on the WTA Championships next week.
Till then bye for now!
Monday 15 October 2012
The Far East Part 3: British history and Chinese torture
Right so as a quick catch up on the ATP/WTA tour I thought I would round off the Asian swing of the men and ladies tours, which has seen some great results, and some not quite as great ones.
So let's start with the lasses, and the good news is that Heather Watson who this year already made a breakthrough on the WTA tour by winning 2 doubles titles went onto break new ground in winning her first ever singles title at the Japan Open in Osaka. Heather in the final battled against Chan Kai Cheng on China, in a match that lasted well over three hours which saw breaks aplenty, and the match ended in a deciding tiebreak, where it was Heather that made the final push and took British ladies singles tennis to a place where it hasn't been since Sarah Gomer took it back in 1988, by winning the first WTA tour title for GB in 24 years! The final scoreline reading an exhaustive 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 victory which naturally saw a beaming Heather Watson at the end of the match.
This was a terrific achievment for the young British player, and I always thought that Heather would be the first one to make the breakthrough on the WTA tour. Laura Robson also had her chances and she too has shown incredible promise this year by reaching the final in China, despite losing, and being awarded the Olympic silver medal. It also shows that British ladies tennis is in assured hands just now and with Heather and Laura confidently taking over the mantle that Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha will leave behind once they are done. And they have already achieved alot with their short careers in making history this year alone with their wins on the WTA and the Olympics, so it promises to get even better for them, and it sees ladies British tennis in an exciting place at last, after the previous disappointments in recent years. So a big well done to Heather, who has now broken into the top 50 for the first time in her career and I'm sure next year she will go even further.
Onto other ladies events, well in Linz, Austria, Victoria Azarenka did her usual demolition job to the final where she played the German player, Julia Goerges, whom gave her little resistance before closing out the match to lift her 6th title of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Next up this week we also have the Kremlin cup from Moscow, which is the last Premier event of the year on the WTA tour, which promises to be really good as all the top seeds below the top 8 are playing (well pretty much). As for the top 8 well they are prepping themselves the WTA Championships which takes place from next week on 23-28 October, which promises to be a real cracker, and I'm sure there will be plenty of great matches on display, so really look forward to that.
Right so onto the men's tennis, which last week came from the Shanghai Masters, of which Andy Murray has been the defending the champion for the last two years. Along the way there has been some excellent matches, and Novak Djokovic was on top form throughout the event, and reached the final without even dropping a set, and dismissing Tomas Berdych in 6-4, 6-3. Andy Murray had a slightly tougher time to the final, but he too managed to put in a very impressive performance against Roger Federer in the semis, as the Fedster uncharacteristically struggled on serve, and even served 3 doubles in one game! Regardless the two of them played a very entertaining match, which Andy won after a few rain delays in 6-4, 6-4. Which brings us to the final which was a rematch of the US Open final between Andy and Nole, which promised to be quite a match.
And it turned out to be just that as the two players dazzled the crowd with some incredible tennis, as the two of them produced some unbelievable shot making which left the Shanghai crowd gasping and cheering for more. Andy despite however taking the first set and securing a key break in the 2nd was unable to serve out the match for the championship, as he even had 40-30 on his serve at 5-4, but Nole just hung in there, and before we knew it we were into a 2nd set tiebreak, which saw 4 more match points come and go, and then Djoko went on to clinch the set. In the 3rd Andy took his foot off the gas and the mistakes started to creep in as he faltered on serve, and Djokovic ended up getting the curcial break, despite a spirited fight from Andy, it was all too much in the end, as he finally capitulated on serve, and he was dethroned by the Serb who won out the match with a 5-7, 7-6(11), 6-3 win.
This really was quite a match from Andy and Nole and it once again has seen their growing rivalry become more exciting, and it has to be said it was a better match than the US Open, as it had far more variety and entertaining shot making, which the New York final lacked (albeit mainly due to tricky windy conditions). I was rather disappointed though that Andy just wasn't able to close the door on the match as he had ample opportunities, but I guess Novak was just that bit better at hanging in on the big points, and you can't win them all. It also sees Novak with a 10-0 record in Asia, and it makes me think that we could see him put on another winning streak for the rest of the season, as there are only two events left on the calendar for Nole in Paris and at the o2 in London. But whether or not he can maintain that level for the rest of the season its tough to say, especially as Federer might resurge on the indoor hard court season, which he most likely could. But in the meantime Djokovic deserves his victory in Shanghai and I'm sure he will continue to do well for the rest of the season.
As for Andy well next up he will be playing at the Swiss indoors in Basel, where none other than Roger Federer will be playing also, who won the title last year. So Andy I'm sure will be looking to dethrone Roger there and get a chance at bumping up his ranking points, but whether or not he can beat Roger on his home ground, on indoor hard court is another matter altogether but its going to be fun finding out. And despite his losses on the ATP tour since his victory at the US Open, Andy has shown signs of improving his consistency in the tour events since then, in reaching the semis at Tokyo and the final at Shanghai, it shows that he is now comitting more to putting in good performances on the main tour now. As in the past Andy probably didnt always commit his best in the ATP tour events, as he was probably always pre-occupied with trying to win a major, but now that he has finally put that one to bed he can move on and focus on being consistent on the tour, which so far he has done a good job.
Rightttttttt so that's it for now, more to follow on the WTA championships when it kicks off, and probably a bit more on the Swiss indoors once it gets under way.
Till then bye!!!
So let's start with the lasses, and the good news is that Heather Watson who this year already made a breakthrough on the WTA tour by winning 2 doubles titles went onto break new ground in winning her first ever singles title at the Japan Open in Osaka. Heather in the final battled against Chan Kai Cheng on China, in a match that lasted well over three hours which saw breaks aplenty, and the match ended in a deciding tiebreak, where it was Heather that made the final push and took British ladies singles tennis to a place where it hasn't been since Sarah Gomer took it back in 1988, by winning the first WTA tour title for GB in 24 years! The final scoreline reading an exhaustive 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 victory which naturally saw a beaming Heather Watson at the end of the match.
This was a terrific achievment for the young British player, and I always thought that Heather would be the first one to make the breakthrough on the WTA tour. Laura Robson also had her chances and she too has shown incredible promise this year by reaching the final in China, despite losing, and being awarded the Olympic silver medal. It also shows that British ladies tennis is in assured hands just now and with Heather and Laura confidently taking over the mantle that Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha will leave behind once they are done. And they have already achieved alot with their short careers in making history this year alone with their wins on the WTA and the Olympics, so it promises to get even better for them, and it sees ladies British tennis in an exciting place at last, after the previous disappointments in recent years. So a big well done to Heather, who has now broken into the top 50 for the first time in her career and I'm sure next year she will go even further.
Onto other ladies events, well in Linz, Austria, Victoria Azarenka did her usual demolition job to the final where she played the German player, Julia Goerges, whom gave her little resistance before closing out the match to lift her 6th title of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Next up this week we also have the Kremlin cup from Moscow, which is the last Premier event of the year on the WTA tour, which promises to be really good as all the top seeds below the top 8 are playing (well pretty much). As for the top 8 well they are prepping themselves the WTA Championships which takes place from next week on 23-28 October, which promises to be a real cracker, and I'm sure there will be plenty of great matches on display, so really look forward to that.
Right so onto the men's tennis, which last week came from the Shanghai Masters, of which Andy Murray has been the defending the champion for the last two years. Along the way there has been some excellent matches, and Novak Djokovic was on top form throughout the event, and reached the final without even dropping a set, and dismissing Tomas Berdych in 6-4, 6-3. Andy Murray had a slightly tougher time to the final, but he too managed to put in a very impressive performance against Roger Federer in the semis, as the Fedster uncharacteristically struggled on serve, and even served 3 doubles in one game! Regardless the two of them played a very entertaining match, which Andy won after a few rain delays in 6-4, 6-4. Which brings us to the final which was a rematch of the US Open final between Andy and Nole, which promised to be quite a match.
And it turned out to be just that as the two players dazzled the crowd with some incredible tennis, as the two of them produced some unbelievable shot making which left the Shanghai crowd gasping and cheering for more. Andy despite however taking the first set and securing a key break in the 2nd was unable to serve out the match for the championship, as he even had 40-30 on his serve at 5-4, but Nole just hung in there, and before we knew it we were into a 2nd set tiebreak, which saw 4 more match points come and go, and then Djoko went on to clinch the set. In the 3rd Andy took his foot off the gas and the mistakes started to creep in as he faltered on serve, and Djokovic ended up getting the curcial break, despite a spirited fight from Andy, it was all too much in the end, as he finally capitulated on serve, and he was dethroned by the Serb who won out the match with a 5-7, 7-6(11), 6-3 win.
This really was quite a match from Andy and Nole and it once again has seen their growing rivalry become more exciting, and it has to be said it was a better match than the US Open, as it had far more variety and entertaining shot making, which the New York final lacked (albeit mainly due to tricky windy conditions). I was rather disappointed though that Andy just wasn't able to close the door on the match as he had ample opportunities, but I guess Novak was just that bit better at hanging in on the big points, and you can't win them all. It also sees Novak with a 10-0 record in Asia, and it makes me think that we could see him put on another winning streak for the rest of the season, as there are only two events left on the calendar for Nole in Paris and at the o2 in London. But whether or not he can maintain that level for the rest of the season its tough to say, especially as Federer might resurge on the indoor hard court season, which he most likely could. But in the meantime Djokovic deserves his victory in Shanghai and I'm sure he will continue to do well for the rest of the season.
As for Andy well next up he will be playing at the Swiss indoors in Basel, where none other than Roger Federer will be playing also, who won the title last year. So Andy I'm sure will be looking to dethrone Roger there and get a chance at bumping up his ranking points, but whether or not he can beat Roger on his home ground, on indoor hard court is another matter altogether but its going to be fun finding out. And despite his losses on the ATP tour since his victory at the US Open, Andy has shown signs of improving his consistency in the tour events since then, in reaching the semis at Tokyo and the final at Shanghai, it shows that he is now comitting more to putting in good performances on the main tour now. As in the past Andy probably didnt always commit his best in the ATP tour events, as he was probably always pre-occupied with trying to win a major, but now that he has finally put that one to bed he can move on and focus on being consistent on the tour, which so far he has done a good job.
Rightttttttt so that's it for now, more to follow on the WTA championships when it kicks off, and probably a bit more on the Swiss indoors once it gets under way.
Till then bye!!!
Sunday 7 October 2012
The Far East Part 2: Coming up short and reigning in Beijing
OK so here's my second part of the posts on the Asian swing on the WTA/ATP tour, as this week saw the conclusion of the China Open (both the men's and ladies), and the Rakuten Toyko Open championship. So let's have a closer look...
So ladies first, with the China Open, which is the last Premier mandatory event of the season (the equivalent of the men's ATP 1000 Masters series events) here is an update on some of the results. In the 3rd round taking off from last time, Caroline Wozniacki faced the current world no.6, Angelique Kerber, for a place in the quarter finals. However unfortunately for Caroline, she wasn't quite able to win the match, despite pushing the German to a decider, Caroline forced a return error just wide, which saw Kerber seal her quarter final place with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory. This was a bit of a disappointment for Caroline as for the most part, she played a pretty good match, with some more aggressive play, the Asian swing of the tour has seen her get back some form that took her to the No.1 spot, but in the end she came up a bit short. In other matches, Angelique Kerber went on to suffer a defeat at the hands of Maria Sharapova, who drubbed an injured Kerber, who was forced to retire with the Pova winning in 6-0, 3-0 ret. Li Ma made an impressive run of form in Beijing as she defeated the defending champion, Angieszka Radwanska in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, but she went on to lose to Maria Sharapova in 6-4, 6-0. Victoria Azarenka on the other hand managed to breeze her way past her opponents until she met Marion Bartoli in the semi finals, where the two of them had a high quality tussle, and despite the scoreline it was a pretty tough match for the Belarusian, who came through in 6-4, 6-2.
And this set up a final between Sharapova and Azarenkna, which I'm sure no doubt was a real shriek fest, as the opera singer and the screecher went at it to win the title. The match itself, while I didn't see it, turned out to be unfortunately just another straight forward victory for Vika, who blasted Maria off the court in straight sets winning the title in 6-3, 6-1. I can't really say I'm surprised by the result, although after their excellent US Open match, I was hoping this would have been a tighter match, but unfortunately it proved not to be the case. Regardless of that though, Vika deserves the title and she has proven again that she really is the world's best player, well next to Serena that is, but this also secures her place at the top of the rankings for a while yet. It also sees the completion of the line up for the WTA Championships in Istanbul with Li Na who was the last to qualify for the year end finale, which sees Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvtiova, Angelique Kerber, Sara Errani and Li Na, all go head to head to play for the title. Its going to be quite a finale I'm sure!
In meantime however there are still a few WTA tournaments on the go, with two this week in Osaka and Linz, and the following will see the last Premier event of the year, in the Kremlin Cup, which is funnily enough in Moscow of all places! But this will see most of the other top seeds outwith the top 8 play, particularly Sam Stosur, Marion Bartoli and Caroline Wozniacki, all whom missed out on the WTA Championships. So that promises to be a good one as well.
OK now onto the men's from China aswell and Tokyo, starting with Novak Djokovic who had breezed his way to the final there, and he faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the title. And after a tight first set, it was all Djokovic as Tsonga crumbled in the second, being broken twice as Nole raced to victory with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win. This sees Djokovic win his third title in Beijing, and the 4th of the year, which neatly brings up another 500 points on his ranking, which should help him a little further to getting back to the World No.1 spot. After this we go to Tokyo where Andy Murray was the defending champion at the Rakuten Tokyo Open championships. Unfortunately for Andy he was unable to defend his title there as he faced Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian, who got revenge for his defeat at the US Open. The match however was far from easy as the two of them had a real battle, with Raonic taking the first set, but Andy levelled the match in the 2nd, taking the tiebreaker. In the 3rd however, despite being a break up, Andy squandered two match points and let Raonic back in again, taking the set to another tiebreak, where the Canadian took advantage and sealed the win in 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
After the US Open, it would probably be a bit much to expect that Andy could go on a big winning streak, and once again he seemed to struggle with Raonic's serve, and in the best of 3 on the ATP tour, he is beatable. But despite that it was a pretty close match, and it could have gone either way, but in the end Raonic played better in the big points. Nevertheless, his loss in Tokyo, while disapponting, its not really much to worry about, as bigger tournaments lie ahead, with the Shanghai Masters coming up next week. And no doubt Andy will want to perform his best at the ATP World Tour Finals next month, and hopefully with the home crowd behind, he will do will there.
In the Tokyo final however for the first time in quite a while it saw none of the top 10 seeds there, and instead we saw the Japanese No.1, and world No.17, Kei Nishikori go at it against Milos Raonic, the world no.15. This was Raonic's 3rd ATP 500 final, but it was Nishikori who played the better tennis as he secured a 3 set victory against the Canadian, with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 scoreline, and it was Kei's 2nd career title, and the biggest of his career. It was also great to see Kei win on his own home soil and it must have been the first time in many a year that a Japanese player won this title, so well done to him.
Right well that's it for now, more tennis will follow soon, as there will be more from Asia as the Shanghai Masters starts this week, and Andy Murray is the defending champion, but can he hang on to it this time???? We'll have to wait and see.
So I will leave there the now.
So ladies first, with the China Open, which is the last Premier mandatory event of the season (the equivalent of the men's ATP 1000 Masters series events) here is an update on some of the results. In the 3rd round taking off from last time, Caroline Wozniacki faced the current world no.6, Angelique Kerber, for a place in the quarter finals. However unfortunately for Caroline, she wasn't quite able to win the match, despite pushing the German to a decider, Caroline forced a return error just wide, which saw Kerber seal her quarter final place with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory. This was a bit of a disappointment for Caroline as for the most part, she played a pretty good match, with some more aggressive play, the Asian swing of the tour has seen her get back some form that took her to the No.1 spot, but in the end she came up a bit short. In other matches, Angelique Kerber went on to suffer a defeat at the hands of Maria Sharapova, who drubbed an injured Kerber, who was forced to retire with the Pova winning in 6-0, 3-0 ret. Li Ma made an impressive run of form in Beijing as she defeated the defending champion, Angieszka Radwanska in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, but she went on to lose to Maria Sharapova in 6-4, 6-0. Victoria Azarenka on the other hand managed to breeze her way past her opponents until she met Marion Bartoli in the semi finals, where the two of them had a high quality tussle, and despite the scoreline it was a pretty tough match for the Belarusian, who came through in 6-4, 6-2.
And this set up a final between Sharapova and Azarenkna, which I'm sure no doubt was a real shriek fest, as the opera singer and the screecher went at it to win the title. The match itself, while I didn't see it, turned out to be unfortunately just another straight forward victory for Vika, who blasted Maria off the court in straight sets winning the title in 6-3, 6-1. I can't really say I'm surprised by the result, although after their excellent US Open match, I was hoping this would have been a tighter match, but unfortunately it proved not to be the case. Regardless of that though, Vika deserves the title and she has proven again that she really is the world's best player, well next to Serena that is, but this also secures her place at the top of the rankings for a while yet. It also sees the completion of the line up for the WTA Championships in Istanbul with Li Na who was the last to qualify for the year end finale, which sees Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvtiova, Angelique Kerber, Sara Errani and Li Na, all go head to head to play for the title. Its going to be quite a finale I'm sure!
In meantime however there are still a few WTA tournaments on the go, with two this week in Osaka and Linz, and the following will see the last Premier event of the year, in the Kremlin Cup, which is funnily enough in Moscow of all places! But this will see most of the other top seeds outwith the top 8 play, particularly Sam Stosur, Marion Bartoli and Caroline Wozniacki, all whom missed out on the WTA Championships. So that promises to be a good one as well.
OK now onto the men's from China aswell and Tokyo, starting with Novak Djokovic who had breezed his way to the final there, and he faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the title. And after a tight first set, it was all Djokovic as Tsonga crumbled in the second, being broken twice as Nole raced to victory with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win. This sees Djokovic win his third title in Beijing, and the 4th of the year, which neatly brings up another 500 points on his ranking, which should help him a little further to getting back to the World No.1 spot. After this we go to Tokyo where Andy Murray was the defending champion at the Rakuten Tokyo Open championships. Unfortunately for Andy he was unable to defend his title there as he faced Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian, who got revenge for his defeat at the US Open. The match however was far from easy as the two of them had a real battle, with Raonic taking the first set, but Andy levelled the match in the 2nd, taking the tiebreaker. In the 3rd however, despite being a break up, Andy squandered two match points and let Raonic back in again, taking the set to another tiebreak, where the Canadian took advantage and sealed the win in 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
After the US Open, it would probably be a bit much to expect that Andy could go on a big winning streak, and once again he seemed to struggle with Raonic's serve, and in the best of 3 on the ATP tour, he is beatable. But despite that it was a pretty close match, and it could have gone either way, but in the end Raonic played better in the big points. Nevertheless, his loss in Tokyo, while disapponting, its not really much to worry about, as bigger tournaments lie ahead, with the Shanghai Masters coming up next week. And no doubt Andy will want to perform his best at the ATP World Tour Finals next month, and hopefully with the home crowd behind, he will do will there.
In the Tokyo final however for the first time in quite a while it saw none of the top 10 seeds there, and instead we saw the Japanese No.1, and world No.17, Kei Nishikori go at it against Milos Raonic, the world no.15. This was Raonic's 3rd ATP 500 final, but it was Nishikori who played the better tennis as he secured a 3 set victory against the Canadian, with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 scoreline, and it was Kei's 2nd career title, and the biggest of his career. It was also great to see Kei win on his own home soil and it must have been the first time in many a year that a Japanese player won this title, so well done to him.
Right well that's it for now, more tennis will follow soon, as there will be more from Asia as the Shanghai Masters starts this week, and Andy Murray is the defending champion, but can he hang on to it this time???? We'll have to wait and see.
So I will leave there the now.
Wednesday 3 October 2012
The Far East Part 1: Catching up with the WTA/ATP
Right ok its been quite a while since I've last posted on my tennis blog, and this is in part due to the break of the men's atp tour for the big guns, but also in part because there have been quite a few dinky tournaments on the ladies tour, which I've not been too fussed about it. But its time to as the title of the post suggests, to catch up with what's been going in the world of tennis......
So starting with ladies first, as a quick update, there was some good news for British tennis as Laura Robson, made her first ever WTA singles final, in Guangzhou in China, and was the first British player to do since Jo Durie back in 1990! The match itself was a bit of an epic tussle between Laura and the Taiwanese player, Hsieh Su-Wei, who took the first set, and was also a break up in the 2nd before Laura broke back and soon went on to break Su-Wei's serve to take the match to a decider. In the last set there were more breaks, but it was ultimately the Taiwanese who came out on top with her experience eventually shining through, to win her 2nd WTA singles title with an exhaustive 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory. This was an excellent match from what I seen of it, and Laura's determination to fight back in the 2nd set was particularly impressive, but Su-Wei did play some terrific tennis to edge past Laura in the end. And I felt sorry for poor Laura at the end of the match when she sat down and sobbed into her towel as you can imagine how disappointed she was in her loss, and having a chance in making a bit of history, but I'm sure she will have plenty more chances in the future and will win many WTA titles.
So onto other ladies tournaments we had Caroline Wozniacki, who after a very disappointing season, has finally started to show signs of her form that took her to the top again, as after a string of losses and failing to win a title so far in 2012, she finally turned things around at the Korea open in Seoul. Caroline at this tournament made an impressive to the final where she drubbed Kaia Kanepi in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Caroline also went on to do quite well at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo as she reached the quarter finals there before losing to Agnieszka Radwanska with a 6-4, 6-3 scoreline, which was not bad considering the thrashings Aga handed out to other players enroute to her final, where she ultimately lost to Nadia Petrova. Caroline also at the Pan Pacific Open finally defeated a top 10 player for the first time this year(!), yup that's right, as she beat Li Na in 3 sets. This shows more encouraging signs that Caroline is starting to move in the right direction, and she said herself that she trained hard after her first round loss at the US Open. So let's hope this is the start of something good again for the Wozzer, but it won't be easy as I'm sure will have plenty of opposition ahead of her in future tournaments.
This week of course has also seen the last big Premier mandatory WTA event take place at the China open in Beijing, where all the top seeds are playing, with the exception of Serena Williams, who withdrew due to illness. But so far there has been some interesting results and already some of the top seeds have fallen by the wayside with Petra Kvitova going out in the 2nd round to the giant killer, Carla Suarez Navarro in a shock straight set 6-3, 6-2 loss. Sam Stosur also was beaten by Julia Goerges, also something of a giant killer, who edged the Aussie in a much tougher contest, with a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 win. However some of the other top seeds have sailed through so far, particularly Victoria Azarenka, who dismissed Alice Cornet, conceding only one game, and beating Sabine Lisicki in 6-4, 6-2 to set up a 3rd round match with Elena Vesnina of Russia. Maria Sharapova also made a relatively easy path into the 3rd round after a tricky first round against the talented and dimunitive player, Simona Halep in 7-5, 7-5, and an easy 6-2, 6-2 against Sorana Cirstea. Caroline Wozniacki however has had to battle her way so far to make it to the 3rd round, where she will face Angelique Kerber, who has been one of her nemesises, and you would have to favour Kerber to win this one, but we shall see, upsets can happen. And finally Agnieszka Radwanska, the defending champion had to tough it out against Lourdes Dominguez Lino to set up her quarter final place with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win. So more to follow on the ladies!
Right quickly onto the men, the ATP tour has been back in action the last couple of weeks, with smaller tournaments in Kuala Lumpar and Bangkok (where Andy Murray last year, but chose not to play this year). And now the big seeds are back again this week, with Djokovic at the China open in Beijing, and Andy Murray at the Rakuten Japan Open tennis championships in Tokyo. Both events are ATP 500 ones, so not all the top seeds are playing quite a few of them are still. Djokovic for starters however had a tough first match against the German player, Michael Berrer, who pushed Djoko to a 3rd set after winning the 2nd on a tiebreak (again Djokovic's weakness!). But Nole came through well in the last set, winning in a 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 victory, and went on to defeat Carlos Berloq with a much easier 6-1, 6-3 win, to set a 3rd round clash with Jurgen Melzer. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the other hand had a tough test in his opener against Denis Istomin, the talented Uzbekistanian player, but the Frenchman finally came through with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 win, and received a walkover after Nikolai Davydenko withdrew, and he awaits either Mikhail Youzhny or Kevin Anderson in his quarter final match. And other players still in action in Beijing also include Richard Gasquet, who is to play Zhang Ze of China, and the big US fella, Sam Querrey who will play Andreis Seppi in his 2nd round match, and Feliciano Lopez who plays Lu-Yen-Hsun in the 2nd round.
So onto Andy Murray, the US Open champion, who made his return to tennis this week in Tokyo, and he made a good start with a tricky victory over the Croat giant, Ivo Karlovich in 7-6(9), 6-4. Andy then went on to face the Slovak player, Lukas Lacko, who he dismissed easily in 6-1, 6-2, in just under an hour! This really sees Andy Murray in a very interesting place, after winning his first major, no doubt we were all curious to see what form his tennis might be in, and based on these results so far, it has been very impressive. However it gets tougher from here as Andy will next face Stan Wawrinka, and they have had their share of tough matches in the past, but Andy does lead their head to head 7-4, so that will go in his favour. Andy also admitted in the past, that on the ATP tour he hasn't always played his best, as he was more obssessed with winning a grand slam and that took priority over the tour events, which may also have been a factor in some of his performances in matches in previous years being not so good. But from hereoin for the rest of the year, Andy has a good chance to prove that he can play consistently well on the tour, and hopefully win a few more titles before the year ends, and maybe even put together a great winning streak like Nole did last year, although to be honest I don't quite see that happening, but you never know! Last year Andy did manage an impressive swing in Asia as he won 3 titles in Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai, and had a 17 match winning streak before it ended in Paris. So we shall see whit happens with Mr Murray!
Anyway of the other top seeds in Tokyo we also have Janko Tipsarevic make it through to the 2nd round, and Milos Raonic also has made into the 2nd round where he will play the Serb No.3, Viktor Troicki. The other top seeds also include Tomas Berdych who is to play Alejandro Falla of Colombia in his 2nd round match, and Juan Monaco, has set up a very intruiging match with the Cypriot and former Aussie open finalist, Marcos Baghdatis. And home favourite, Kei Nishikori will play Tommy Robredo of Spain in his 2nd round encounter.
And quickly as for Rafa, well unfortunately there is still no sign yet of his return to the courts, as he will most likely be out for the rest of the 2012 season, but he has said in the press that he hopes his knee will be fit and well for the 2013 Australian open. Rafa's knee injury has been something that has troubled him off and on throughout his career, and there is a the concern that if its bad enough, it could be career ending for him, but let's hope that's not the case, as he is one of the all time greats in the sport, and it needs him. Its great to still have the other top 3 guys (who are now the top 3 literally!) in action, but without Rafa something special feels missing from the tour, and it will be a great pity if he were to retire, but I'm sure that won't happen just yet. As for Roger Federer well he will make a return to the tour for the Shanghai Rolex Masters later in the month.
So that's it for now, more to follow soon, as that was just a quite catch up on events recently from the ATP/WTA tours.
Until next time, tarrrrrrraaaaaaaaa!
So starting with ladies first, as a quick update, there was some good news for British tennis as Laura Robson, made her first ever WTA singles final, in Guangzhou in China, and was the first British player to do since Jo Durie back in 1990! The match itself was a bit of an epic tussle between Laura and the Taiwanese player, Hsieh Su-Wei, who took the first set, and was also a break up in the 2nd before Laura broke back and soon went on to break Su-Wei's serve to take the match to a decider. In the last set there were more breaks, but it was ultimately the Taiwanese who came out on top with her experience eventually shining through, to win her 2nd WTA singles title with an exhaustive 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory. This was an excellent match from what I seen of it, and Laura's determination to fight back in the 2nd set was particularly impressive, but Su-Wei did play some terrific tennis to edge past Laura in the end. And I felt sorry for poor Laura at the end of the match when she sat down and sobbed into her towel as you can imagine how disappointed she was in her loss, and having a chance in making a bit of history, but I'm sure she will have plenty more chances in the future and will win many WTA titles.
So onto other ladies tournaments we had Caroline Wozniacki, who after a very disappointing season, has finally started to show signs of her form that took her to the top again, as after a string of losses and failing to win a title so far in 2012, she finally turned things around at the Korea open in Seoul. Caroline at this tournament made an impressive to the final where she drubbed Kaia Kanepi in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Caroline also went on to do quite well at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo as she reached the quarter finals there before losing to Agnieszka Radwanska with a 6-4, 6-3 scoreline, which was not bad considering the thrashings Aga handed out to other players enroute to her final, where she ultimately lost to Nadia Petrova. Caroline also at the Pan Pacific Open finally defeated a top 10 player for the first time this year(!), yup that's right, as she beat Li Na in 3 sets. This shows more encouraging signs that Caroline is starting to move in the right direction, and she said herself that she trained hard after her first round loss at the US Open. So let's hope this is the start of something good again for the Wozzer, but it won't be easy as I'm sure will have plenty of opposition ahead of her in future tournaments.
This week of course has also seen the last big Premier mandatory WTA event take place at the China open in Beijing, where all the top seeds are playing, with the exception of Serena Williams, who withdrew due to illness. But so far there has been some interesting results and already some of the top seeds have fallen by the wayside with Petra Kvitova going out in the 2nd round to the giant killer, Carla Suarez Navarro in a shock straight set 6-3, 6-2 loss. Sam Stosur also was beaten by Julia Goerges, also something of a giant killer, who edged the Aussie in a much tougher contest, with a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 win. However some of the other top seeds have sailed through so far, particularly Victoria Azarenka, who dismissed Alice Cornet, conceding only one game, and beating Sabine Lisicki in 6-4, 6-2 to set up a 3rd round match with Elena Vesnina of Russia. Maria Sharapova also made a relatively easy path into the 3rd round after a tricky first round against the talented and dimunitive player, Simona Halep in 7-5, 7-5, and an easy 6-2, 6-2 against Sorana Cirstea. Caroline Wozniacki however has had to battle her way so far to make it to the 3rd round, where she will face Angelique Kerber, who has been one of her nemesises, and you would have to favour Kerber to win this one, but we shall see, upsets can happen. And finally Agnieszka Radwanska, the defending champion had to tough it out against Lourdes Dominguez Lino to set up her quarter final place with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win. So more to follow on the ladies!
Right quickly onto the men, the ATP tour has been back in action the last couple of weeks, with smaller tournaments in Kuala Lumpar and Bangkok (where Andy Murray last year, but chose not to play this year). And now the big seeds are back again this week, with Djokovic at the China open in Beijing, and Andy Murray at the Rakuten Japan Open tennis championships in Tokyo. Both events are ATP 500 ones, so not all the top seeds are playing quite a few of them are still. Djokovic for starters however had a tough first match against the German player, Michael Berrer, who pushed Djoko to a 3rd set after winning the 2nd on a tiebreak (again Djokovic's weakness!). But Nole came through well in the last set, winning in a 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 victory, and went on to defeat Carlos Berloq with a much easier 6-1, 6-3 win, to set a 3rd round clash with Jurgen Melzer. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the other hand had a tough test in his opener against Denis Istomin, the talented Uzbekistanian player, but the Frenchman finally came through with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 win, and received a walkover after Nikolai Davydenko withdrew, and he awaits either Mikhail Youzhny or Kevin Anderson in his quarter final match. And other players still in action in Beijing also include Richard Gasquet, who is to play Zhang Ze of China, and the big US fella, Sam Querrey who will play Andreis Seppi in his 2nd round match, and Feliciano Lopez who plays Lu-Yen-Hsun in the 2nd round.
So onto Andy Murray, the US Open champion, who made his return to tennis this week in Tokyo, and he made a good start with a tricky victory over the Croat giant, Ivo Karlovich in 7-6(9), 6-4. Andy then went on to face the Slovak player, Lukas Lacko, who he dismissed easily in 6-1, 6-2, in just under an hour! This really sees Andy Murray in a very interesting place, after winning his first major, no doubt we were all curious to see what form his tennis might be in, and based on these results so far, it has been very impressive. However it gets tougher from here as Andy will next face Stan Wawrinka, and they have had their share of tough matches in the past, but Andy does lead their head to head 7-4, so that will go in his favour. Andy also admitted in the past, that on the ATP tour he hasn't always played his best, as he was more obssessed with winning a grand slam and that took priority over the tour events, which may also have been a factor in some of his performances in matches in previous years being not so good. But from hereoin for the rest of the year, Andy has a good chance to prove that he can play consistently well on the tour, and hopefully win a few more titles before the year ends, and maybe even put together a great winning streak like Nole did last year, although to be honest I don't quite see that happening, but you never know! Last year Andy did manage an impressive swing in Asia as he won 3 titles in Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai, and had a 17 match winning streak before it ended in Paris. So we shall see whit happens with Mr Murray!
Anyway of the other top seeds in Tokyo we also have Janko Tipsarevic make it through to the 2nd round, and Milos Raonic also has made into the 2nd round where he will play the Serb No.3, Viktor Troicki. The other top seeds also include Tomas Berdych who is to play Alejandro Falla of Colombia in his 2nd round match, and Juan Monaco, has set up a very intruiging match with the Cypriot and former Aussie open finalist, Marcos Baghdatis. And home favourite, Kei Nishikori will play Tommy Robredo of Spain in his 2nd round encounter.
And quickly as for Rafa, well unfortunately there is still no sign yet of his return to the courts, as he will most likely be out for the rest of the 2012 season, but he has said in the press that he hopes his knee will be fit and well for the 2013 Australian open. Rafa's knee injury has been something that has troubled him off and on throughout his career, and there is a the concern that if its bad enough, it could be career ending for him, but let's hope that's not the case, as he is one of the all time greats in the sport, and it needs him. Its great to still have the other top 3 guys (who are now the top 3 literally!) in action, but without Rafa something special feels missing from the tour, and it will be a great pity if he were to retire, but I'm sure that won't happen just yet. As for Roger Federer well he will make a return to the tour for the Shanghai Rolex Masters later in the month.
So that's it for now, more to follow soon, as that was just a quite catch up on events recently from the ATP/WTA tours.
Until next time, tarrrrrrraaaaaaaaa!
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