Right so now its time for the next part of my look at the US Open from the ladies side of the net and I will look at the quarter final matches from days 9 and 10. So let's get to it...
So beginning with day 9 we first up had Peng Shaui who faced one of the surprises of the tournament, Belinda Bencic who made her way into the last eight and upset a few names along the way. However Peng who was in her first grand slam quarter final was not to be outdone and she showed her experience as she thrashed the 17 year old Bencic and reached her first slam semi final by dropping just three games and winning 6-2, 6-1. Well this was quite an achievement for Peng Shuai who has always been second fiddle to Li Na, the Chinese No.1 who already has won the Australian open earlier this year, but was forced to withdraw due to injury from the US Open. So this gives her an excellent opportunity to reach her first grand slam final and it would be quite an achievement if she can as she is a top player in her own right so we will see how it goes for her.
Next up we had Caroline Wozniacki who took on Sara Errani for a place in the semis aswell and both women have been previous semi finalists in New York but Caroline has previously reached the final once before so alot was riding on this for both players. However the match itself was no more than a warm up for Caroline who trounced the Italian with considerable ease as she dropped only one game on her to the final four with a crushing 6-0, 6-1 rout. I think its safe to say that after her dramatic win over Maria Sharapova that Caroline is getting back to her best and I really think she has an excellent shout of reaching the final, although her next opponent will be Peng Shuai who is also a crafty counterpuncher by nature as a player so it will prove to be alot tougher a proposition for her than Errani was. But Caroline having already reached the final at the US Open five years ago (where she lost to Kim Clijsters in two tight sets) has the edge and Peng Shuai hasn't won a singles title on the WTA tour, whereas Caroline has won 22! So I think their matchup will be an intruiging one but I can see Caroline come through in two tight close sets to reach her 2nd final in New York.
So now onto day 10 which began with Victoria Azarenka, the two time finalist over the past two years, take on the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who has taken some big scalps of late in the game, so would Vika be the next victim??? Well as it turned out she was just that as Makarova outplayed Vika in the match as she broke her once to take the opening set and went on to break the Belarusian twice in the second set which saw the out of sorts Vika fall to a surprise defeat and Makarova reach her first grand slam semi final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Well this one was a real surprise as Makarova has been known for staging upsets but I figured that Vika would have found a way to get this one done in three sets, but then again it just shows you can never tell how things might pan out.
Which brings me onto the last match of the quarter finals which was between Serena Williams, the five time champion and current champ in New York and Flavia Pennetta. Serena has maintained a pretty emphatic head to head over Pennetta so she went into this one as the heavy favourite, although the only question mark hanging over Serena was her fitness as she appeared to have injury her ankle during her doubles match the day before, which potentially could have hamepered her movement. However there was no cause for alarm at all as Serena had the match well under control and she went on to sweep past Pennetta in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the semi finals and set up a match with Ekaterina Makarova.
So this sees Serena Williams in my opinion stay well on course to win the title again as she will take on Makarova, who is a tricky customer and she has even beaten Serena before in the Australian open, but I think in New York on her own home soil, Serena will have a thing or two to prove and will aim to win this one in either two or three sets. And Serena will definitely want to make up for a lacklustre year by her own high standards in the slams as she had failed to go beyond the last 16 in the previous three slams of the season but now she is in the final four, she certainly has a chance to reach the final and go all the way and salvage a bit of her wounded dignity after suffering such early and heavy defeats in Melbourne, Paris and London.
And this could well set up a very intruiging final if it goes according to plan (but these things don't always though!) then we might have Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in the final and that would make for a cracker as their last two meetings have been three set battles which saw Serena edge out Caroline in the decider. So if we get those two in the final it could make for a terrific finale in New York for the ladies event and it would give Caroline a decent shot at winning the title if Serena goes in a little undercooked or if they have a close match like their previous two then it could go either way. Anyway if it transpires over the next day or so I'll get to that.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more once the finalists have been named for the ladies title.
Be back soon with the men's event soon....
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