Right onto the third part of my posts on the Sony Open Tennis tournament (although why they don't call it the Sony Tennis Open is a bit beyond me as it sounds better!) which will cover the quarter finals matches on the men and ladies side, so let's have a look!
Starting with the ladies first up we had Maria Sharapova who took on the plucky Italian and pint sized Sara Errani, who despite her size gave Maria something to think about in their quarter final match. The match itself was a real war of attrition as Errani managed to succeed where quite a few have failed in driving Sharapova up the wall, with her court coverage, speed and defence making Maria's life hell throughout. And in the 1st set both women traded breaks of serve, but after a very long and tense set it was Sharapova that made the final move and closed it out breaking Errani once more. In the 2nd set it was more of the same with breaks aplenty, and Errani came agonisingly close to nabbing her first ever set off Sharapova, as she had 3 set points against the Russian-American(!). But Sharapova dug deep and saved all 3 to hold to make it 5-5 and Sharapova once again manufactured a break of her own and sealed the deal, with a very hard fought 7-5, 7-5 victory.
While it wasn't always the highest quality match, with plenty of errors on both sides, mostly from Sharapova who served up 14 double faults and 57 unforced errors, it remained a really entertaining and intruiging one throughout and Errani is shaping up to being a real thorn in Sharapova's side, as she slowly and surely is becoming a bigger threat to the Russian every time they play. And as far as rivalries go I think this is one to watch out for, as the contrast in styles is also great to watch, with Sharapova being the out and out aggressor and Errani being the counterpuncher. And let's hope they have plenty more tough matches like this one in the future, because the ladies game really needs good rivalries just now, and it will be reat to see this one continue to develop.
Serena Williams also had a tough encounter against Li Na, who is quite a big hitter herself, so after a solid start from Serena in the 1st set taking it, Li Na went on to impose her game on the American. In the 2nd set both players traded breaks, and Li went 5-3 up, however she was unable to close out the set as Serena broke back there could be only one winner. But despite that the remainder of the set remained very tight and competitve and we were treated to an excellent tiebreak, which Serena won 7-5 to seal her place in the semi finals with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win. Serena who has already won the title in Miami five times, looked to be in fine battling form despite one or two dips you knew she would always come back into it, and if she isn't the favourite to win the title her again, then no one is.
Agnieszka Radwanska also had a tough match against her opponent, the Belgium player, Kirsten Flipkens, who she battled against and went on to eventually win in 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. This match was notable for an amazing shot that Radwanska played as she played a winner by swivelling behind herself and hitting a volley over the net, which amazed the crowd and left her opponent totally befuddled. And in the remaining quarter final match Roberta Vinci played an in form again Jelena Jankovic, as the two of them battled it out with Jelena eventually coming out on top with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 victory.
As for the ladies semi finals, well they were both pretty short affairs, starting with Maria Sharapova who played Jelena Jankovic, the Serb had no answer whatsoever for the mighty Pova and she went down in 6-2, 6-1. This also was in a way an unfair bit of scheduling on the part of the organisers, as Jankovic had to play a late night match the night before, and played at just after noon the very next day, so naturally having played such a long match before that, Jelena wouldn't be in the form, but in the end I don't think it would have made a difference to the outcome, as it was always going to be Maria that would come though. And in the other semi final, Serena Williams took on Agnieszka Radwanska and the defending champion had no answer at all for Serena, who blasted winner after winner against Aga, who looked totally fed up and lost on the court, especially as she was handed a bagel set in the 1st. In the 2nd set Radwanska got into the match a little more but it was too little too late in the end as Serena sealed the deal to reach her sixth final in Miami with a 6-0, 6-3 gubbing.
So this sets up quite a promising final between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, and for me there is really only one winner in this match, and that is Maria.... whoops, sorry I meant Serena! ;-) Given the stat that Maria has only beaten Serena once in her career, it will be tough to bet against the American, but then you never know, whichever way it goes, it could be quite a good final, although if I were to guess, I think Serena will win comfortably in straight sets.
Anyway moving quickly onto the men's ATP tour at Miami, where starting with David Ferrer who faced Jurgen Melzer. Ferrer got off to a slow start however as the Austrian broke Ferrer to take the opening set. In the 2nd set however Ferrer started his comeback and broke Melzer to level the match, and in the 3rd set Ferrer hit top gear and blitzed past his opponent handing him a bagel set and sealing win in 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. In the next match Tommy Haas faced the Frenchman, Gilles Simon, and given Haas's great form against Djokovic it would be hard to best against him. And right enough Haas continued his impressive form against Simon, as he hammered in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-1 win.
Moving onto the 2nd bout of men's quarter final matches we first off had Andy Murray who faced Marin Cilic, the big Croatian player, who in the past has posed a bit of a threat to Andy, but the Scot always has had the lead over him as the head to head was 7-1 in his favour. The match itself promised to be quite a tough one, and it sure turned out to be that, as Andy got off to a ropey start, going down a break straight away, before breaking back, and eventually going on to break Cilic to nab the first set. In the 2nd set Andy broke Cilic straight off, but he had a tough time holding onto his own serve, but eventually coming through to go 5-2 up to serve for the match. However Andy suffered a wobble to let Cilic break back to make it 5-3, but in a tight last game Andy eventually broke Cilic's serve for the last time and sealed his place in the semis after a tough 6-4, 6-3 win.
Despite a ropey start this was an impressive performance from Andy and with each match he plays in Miami, he's looking more comfortable out there, and I think he has a really good chance of winning the title, and if he does we all know what that means (i.e. he will become the World No.2). And I think the Andy looked like a champion out there in that match in terms of his movement, speed, defence and his tenacity to chase everything down. However whether or not he can go on to win the lovely glass trophy or not remains to be seen and there is still a fair bit of work ahead of him.
Which brings me onto the last men's quarter final match which was between Richard Gasquet, the French No.2, and Tomas Berdych, the world no.6. Out of the two I expected Berdych to be the favourite, however it was Gasquet made the better start as he broke Berdych in the 1st set and closed it out, and he did the same in the 2nd as the ailing Czeck gave little answer to Gasquet's performance, which saw the Frenchman secure his place in the semi final with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
So this sets the men's semis, which will be between David Ferrer vs Tommy Haas, and Andy Murray vs Richard Gasquet. So who will win em???? Well it would be hard to bet against the top seeds, but anything can happen, and for all we know it could Haas and Gasquet in that final, which would make for an interesting set up as neither player has reached the final there. But my personal preference would be to see Andy and Ferrer reach the final, which I think could make for a very good final, but we will just have to wait and see, and its hard to predict what can happen. And naturally I would really like to see Andy win the title and claim the No.2 spot, but first things first. But for all I know Andy might just falter and blow it, but we will just have to wait and see, but hopefully not! :-)
And I shall leave it there for now. More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment