So welcome to my first post on Wimbledon 2014, its a bit late in the day as we are already five days into the tournament! But I thought I would make a start anyway on first up I'll have a look at the ladies matches over the last five days, which I will summarise as quickly as I can. So let's give it a look....
So Day 1 began with Li Na on centre court who had a bit of resistance from her opponent Paula Kania in the first set, but in the 2nd Li broke twice to close out the win in 7-5, 6-2. Victoria Azarenka, who recently made her return to the tour last week in Eastbourne, also managed to get her first win in a major tournament since her defeat back in Melbourne at the Australian open quartrer finals. In the match however Vika did have some trouble against her opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, as after taking the first set, Vika had to recover from a break down in the second before she went on to break herself and win the match in 6-3, 7-5. Venus Williams, the former five time champion also had a test in her opening match as she took on the Spaniard, Maria Teresa Torro Flor and needed three sets to beat her in 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. And lastly Dominika Cibulkova dismissed the Canadian player, Aleksandria Wozniak in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-2 result. Some of the seeds however bit the dust on the first day, with Sam Stosur the first victim, then there was Sloane Stephens, and a surprise exit for the French open Serena Williams conqueror, Garbine Muguruza as well, although I guess clay is her preferred surface.
So moving onto day 2 play opened up on centre court with Sabine Lisicki, the finalist from last year, who got her campaign off to a fine start as she swept past Julia Glushko 6-2, 6-1. Serena Williams also got off to a winning start (well no change there!) as she brushed aside Anna Tatishvilli with a 6-1, 6-2 rout, which shows Serena is in a no-nonsense frame of mind and she will be determined to make up for her early loss at the French Open. Maria Sharapova wasted even less time and games as she played the British wildcard, Samantha Murray and conceded just one game to hand a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing to the Brit. Eugenie Bouchard, the fast rising young Canadian star, who already has reached the last four of this year's first two majors, made a great start here as she took out the Slovak, Daniella Hantuchova in 7-5, 7-5. Bouchard really is looking like a potential future slam winner and she has proven over the last six months or so she really has got a big match mentality, so I'm sure she can go deep here. And there was Ana Ivanovic who was up against Francesca Schiavone, both former French open champions, who played a very entertaining match on Court No.1, but in the end Ivanovic kept her perfect record over Schiavone as she won a tight match in 7-6, 6-4. And lastly Agnieszka Radwanska breezed her way into the 2nd round as she took down Andreea Mitu in 6-2, 6-1 and Angelique Kerber also got off to a winning start against Aga's younger sister, Ursula Radwanska, with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Moving right onto day 3, Agnieszka Radwanksa opened up play on centre court with another easy win as she beat Casey Dellacqua of Australia in 6-4, 6-0. Petra Kvitova who won her first round match, went on to win her 2nd round one with great ease by dismissing the German player, Mona Barthel in 6-2, 6-0. Caroline Wozniacki, who has suffered a poor run of form in the majors lately, seemed to put that behind her as she got off to a good start, having won her first match she went on to defeat the british player, Naomi Broady in 6-3, 6-2. Li Na continued her run at the championships as well as she beat the Austrian player, Yvonne Meusburger with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline. And lastly the former Wimbledon finalist, Vera Zvonareva announced her return to SW19 and battled it out to secure her first round win against the british player, Tara Moore after a tough three set battle in 6-4, 6-7, 9-7.
So next up is day 4, which saw Angelique Kerber take on Heather Watson, the British No.1 in what turned out to be a tight scrap on centre court. After Kerber dominated the first set, Heather fought back and broke the German to take the 2nd set to level the scores, but in the 3rd, Heather despite some fighting spirit, dropped her serve and made too many errors, which saw Kerber win the match in 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Serena Williams on the other hand wasted no time in her usual way as she crushed the South African player, Chanelle Scheepers with a 6-1, 6-1 rout. Maria Sharapova also steamrolled her way into the 3rd round against Timea Bascinszky as she drubbed her with a 6-2, 6-1 score. And last but not least Eugenie Bouchard continued on course for her first major title as she beat Silvia Soler Espinosa 7-5, 6-1.
And finally now I'll get onto day 5 and play started with two former ladies champions, Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova go at it hammer and tongs on centre court for a place in the 4th round. And right through the match there was very little in it between the two of them, and at a set all, played went by serve in the 3rd and it was Petra that got the break to finally close out an intense two and a half hour battle in 5-7, 7-6, 7-5. This sees Petra win yet another match in three sets as she has had winning record of 13 matches this year alone that she has won in the deciding set. But whether or not Petra can go on to win the title is another question altogther as there are some tough customers ahead for her.
As for other matches we had the first big seed of the tournament fall as Li Na suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova who won a tight straight set match in 7-6, 7-6. Simona Halep, the French open finalist, had to battle her way into the 4th round as she faced Leisa Tsurenko and eventually outlasted her after winning in 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. And lastly Agnieszka Radwanska breezed her way into the 4th round as she defeated Michelle Larcher De Britto with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 score.
Right so that's it for now on the ladies side of the tournament and I'll be back quite soon with the men's tournament.
So see you soon.....
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