Right OK time for the next part of my look at the 2014 US Open ladies tournament and this post will cover days 7 and 8. So without further ado let's get on with it....
So starting with day 7 (might as well do this chronologically!) first up on court we had Sara Errani take on one of the surprises of the tournament the Croatian, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni who had caused a huge upset on her way into this 4th round match as she defeated Simona Halep, the World No.2 in straight sets in the 3rd round. Baroni however this time around wasn't quite able to pull off the same against the dimunitive Italian, Errani who fought her way past the Croat player in three sets to reach the quarter finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 win. Belinda Bencic who is aged only 17 and a fast rising young player also made her mark as she stunned the 9th seed, Jelena Jankovic in a tight straigth set victory in 7-6, 6-3. This shows once again the rise of the young guns and it is great to see some new faces arrive on the ladies scene as well as on the men's game just now also.
And lastly we had Caroline Wozniacki who reannounced herself back into the big time as she took on the formidable Maria Sharapova in their 4th round clash and going into this match, Sharapova was the big favourite as she had defeated Caroline in their last three matches. However Caroline has been in good form this season and she showed her own grit and fighting qualities as she took the 1st set, but in the second Maria started her expected fightback and took the 2nd set with a double break. But in the 3rd it was Caroline that rose to the challenge and she did the almost unthinkable in stunning the big Russian/American by defeating the former champion in three sets with some superb defensive and attacking play to reach her first grand slam quarter final in over two years with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory. Well this was a terrific victory for Caroline Wozniacki who has struggled and had her ups and downs over the last two years or so and it sees her go into the quarter finals as a favourite against Sara Errani, which should prove to be a tough match but I think in the end Caroline will have enough to get by her and reach the semi finals. I might be wrong but we'll wait and see and it would be great to see her possibly reach her 2nd US Open final as Caroline hasn't reached a major final since this event back in 2009.
Now onto day 8 which started off with Flavia Pennetta, who has played some of her best tennis at the US Open and she also capped her biggest title at Indian Wells earlier this year. And Flavia took on the Aussie player, Casey Dellacqua in their 4th round encounter and Pennetta showed her class after a tight first set, she went on to prove too good for the Aussie and beat her to reach her 3rd US Open quarter final with a 7-5, 6-2 win. Next up Serena Williams continued her serene (ha ha!) progress to the quarter finals as she dismissed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-3 victory, which sees her confidently remain on course to try and win her sixth US Open crown. Then we had Victoria Azarenka who continued her progress through the rounds and she had to battle from a set down to overcome the young Serbian, Aleksandra Krunic to reach the last eight with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline. After spending some time struggling to come back from injury, Vika really showed she means business in New York with this match and she could yet face Serena Williams in the semi finals, which would be a rematch of their incredible final last year.
And lastly there was another big upset in the ladies 4th round matches as we had Eugenie Bouchard who has been so consistent in the majors this year as she had reached the first three major semi finals of the season and she was looking to best that result here in New York. However Bouchard didn't have it her way in the end as she faced off the giant killer, Ekaterina Makarova, who has had a habit of causing big upsets in the big events. Bouchard also struggled with the extreme heat and humidity on court and play was halted in the first set where she received a medical timeout to check her blood pressure, but she managed to resume play but came up short in the first set tiebreak. In the 2nd set Bouchard battled on but the Russian had the better of her and as Bouchard served to go 5-5, Makarova sealed a couple of match points and hit a backhand winner down the line to end Bouchard's hopes of a first slam in 2014 with a 7-6, 6-4 win.
Well Bouchard's exit from the tournament it has to be said while it was a bit of a surprise in a way it was to be expected given that she has had her struggles after losing the Wimbledon final so emphatically. Makarova is also quite a singles player and she has taken a few big scalps in her time as well as she has already taken down players such as Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova and she has repeatedly made the last eight of the slams in the last couple of years. However next up for Makarova will be Victoria Azarenka, who has made a positive return and no doubt she will be the favourite in that match so I'd expect to see Vika go through in maybe three sets.
Anyway so that's it for now with the ladies matches and I'll be back soon with the action from the men's tournament.
Bye the now.
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