Right! So now its time for another update on the 2016 Wimbledon championships which has been a dramatic tournament so far which has seen quite a few upsets on both sides of the net (i.e.mens and ladies).
So with that let's catch up with the action of the 4th round and quarter final matches for the ladies....
4TH ROUND MATCHES
Right so the 4th round matches started off with Serena Williams who played the Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova who had made a good run into the last 16. And the Russian made a good start against Serena as she went a break up in the 1st set, however in typical fashion, Serena broke back and went on to break Kuznetsova and take the first set and from here she didn't drop a single game to win the match 7-5, 6-0. Simona Halep up next had a tough battle against the American player, Madison Keys who pushed the dimunitive Romanian (i.e. Halep) all the way to a third set. However, Keys started to feel the effects of a leg injury and her challenge faded in the 3rd set when Halep went on to break and win the match 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
As for the other 4th round matches, Angelique Kerber made easy work of her opponent, Misaki Doi of Japan and she drubbed her 6-3, 6-1 to reach the last eight without dropping a set, which sees Kerber look in very good form again after her lull at the French open which saw her lose in the 1st round. Venus Williams also made it through to the last eight as she took on the tenacious Spaniard, Carla Suarez Navarro who pushed the American in a tight straight match that Venus won 7-6, 6-4. Anatasia Pavlyuchenkova next up had an easier match against the rising American player, Coco Vendeweghe as she beat Coco in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Yaroslava Shvedova who made a good run at the French open a couple of years ago, also found her form again in the singles as she beat the Czeck, Luce Safarova to reach the last eight with 6-2, 6-4 victory.
And the last two matches I will mention for the 4th round are two epic battles, first off there was one between Elena Vesnina and her fellow female Russian, Ekaterina Makarova as the match a set all and then deep into a decider which eventually saw Vesnina claim the win with a 5-7, 6-1, 9-7 scoreline.
And last of all was what is probably the match of the ladies tournament so far between Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska, which was a match that had absolutely everything in it and was not short on drama. The match itself started with Cibulkova taking the first set and a break in the 2nd that appeared to see her in control of the match. However Radwanska fought back and she eventually levelled the match and in the 3rd set both players traded breaks of serve as the match wore on. But in the end it was Radwanska that blinked first and at 8-7 with a break, Cibulkova served out the match and it ended with an incredible rally that saw Cibulkova collapse to the ground in delight as she battled through to an amazing 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 win.
So that's it for the 4th round matches now for the quarter finals...
QUARTER FINAL MATCHES
Right so to start off we had Serena Williams take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a match that expected a pretty straight forward result for the American. And right enough the match itself proved to be just that as despite some decent play from Anastasia it wasn't enough to prevent Serena winning the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. This match showed that Serena is really starting to hit her stride and that 7th Wimbledon title shouldn't be far away as long as she holds her nerve in the final should she get there.
After this we had Elena Vesnina take on Dominika Cibulkova in a match which was short on expectations as Vesnina took a drained and tired Cibulkova to the cleaners after Cibulkova's exhausting three hour epic in the 4th round. And in the end Vesnina was simply too good for the dimunitive Cibulkova (quite like that word!) as she broke her twice in sets 1 and 2 to reach her first ever grand slam single semi final.
Next up was a match between Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep that promised to be quite a close encounter (so to speak!) and the match itself turned out to be just that. And in the match both players traded breaks of serve in the first set but in the end Kerber took the initiative and sealed it with a break. In the 2nd set it was more of the same, breaks of serve aplenty but eventually a tiebreak was forced by Halep. But it was Kerber that came out ontop yet again she won the breaker and her place in the semi finals of Wimbledon with it after a tough 7-5, 7-6 win.
And lastly Venus Williams took on Yaroslava Shvedova in a match that saw Venus win the first set on a tiebreak but in the 2nd set, she asserted her authority and broke Kazak player twice to seal her first slam semi final in quite some time with a 7-6, 6-2 win. This is quite a feat for Venus as it has been quite a while since she has been that deep in a slam but its a credit to her that she was able to get this far at the ripe old age of 36. And with her sister on the opposite side of the draw from Venus, we might just get the Williams sisters final yet.
SEMI FINAL PREDICTIONS
As for the semi final predictions well the first match up between Serena Williams and Elena Vesnina is one that should really favour Serena as she dominates their head to head 4-0 and unfortunately for Elena she has not won a single set in any of those matches. So I can't see anything but a simple easy encounter for Serena who will simply have too much for her and most likely with her power game will hit Vesnina off the court. So my prediction is simple: straight sets to Serena.
As for the second semi final between Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber well this match should be a different animal and it could very well be a very competitive one and their head to head is close as Kerber leads it 3-2. Venus however won the last match they played in Cincinnati so it would hard to pick an outright favourite given that their matches have been pretty tight. However if I was to make a pick then I would this time have to go for Kerber as the form she has shown in the tournament so far has been very impressive plus she has won her first major title already this year and she looks set on winning a second at SW19. So my prediction is: Kerber in three sets.
Right so that's it for the ladies and I will be back soon with an update on the men's.....
See you soon!
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