2013 US OPEN Day 3: Murray Wins, Venus Loses, Blake Ends Career

By the end of Day 3 of the US Open, the entirety of Round 1 of the men's draw is finally completed. Although 10 of the Top 32 seeds were eliminated, none of them were in the top 10. However some big names (and players I like to watch) departed the last major of the year early: Kei Nishikori, Jerzy Janowicz, Fabio Fognini, Nicolas Almagro, Grigor Dimitrov and Fernando Verdasco. Andy Murray playing his first match at a major tournament where he is the defending champion, looked very sharp with only 5 unforced errors in his dismissal of Michael Llodra in straight sets.
The highlight of Day 3 was James Blake's heartbreaking loss in a 5th set tiebreaker after being up 2-sets against Ivo Karlovic. It was the 33-year-old American's last professional match, since Blake had announced earlier that the US Open would be his last tournament.

On the women's side of the draw, the seeds are not falling as rapidly, with the biggest names to exit being 2-time champion Venus Williams and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur. Stosur lost a 3-set match to unheralded American Victoria Duval while Venus lost a 3rd set tiebreak to Zheng Jie after a marathon match that lasted three hours and three minutes. Sloane Stephens has reached the third round and will face fellow American Jamie Hampton. The winner could face defending champion Serena Williams who will play her rain-delayed 2nd round match today.

AUS OPEN 2012: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (11).  "Don't call it a Kimback, she's been here for years!" Defending champion Clijsters survived 4 consecutive match points against 2011 Australian open finalist Li Na and somehow, miraculously was able to gut out the middle set and (mostly) ran away with the third and deciding set to complete one of the most amazing comebacks of recent years. Wozniacki has had a pretty uneventful run to the quarterfinals and dispatched the only other former #1 player to not win a major title (#11 seed Jelena Jankovic) surprisingly easily. However, against the Big Babes of tennis The Golden Retriever has been on the losing end of frequent beat downs during her "reign" at the top of the WTA rankings and I suspect this will just be another one. Losing to Clijsters in the quarterfinal (one round earlier than she was bounced from the tournament last year) will probably result in Wozniacki's demise as World #1, which would probably be relief for her and fan of women's tennis. PREDICTION: Clijsters in 2 sets.

Victoria Azarenka BLR (3) vs. Agnieska Radwanska POL (8).  Azarenka has been cutting through the draw like a hot knife through butter, dropping a mere dozen games through four rounds of Grand Slam tournament play. (Only World #1 Novak Djokovic has been more dominating, losing a gawdy 10 games through 4 rounds of best-of-5-set matches.)  Radwanska is a wily player (some would call her a poor man's Martina Hingis) but Azarenka enjoys a healthy 6-3 career head-to-head advantage over the Pole, including a 5-2 lead in hard court matches. Surprisingly, Azarenka has only won one major quarterfinal in her career (despite playing in 5), while  Radwanska hasn't won any of the four major quarterfinals she has appeared in. Azarenka will make it zero out of five as she reaches her second major quarterfinal, as she starts to finally live up to to her Top 4 seeding. PREDICTION: Azarenka in 2 sets.

Maria Sharapova RUS (4) vs. Serena Williams USA (12) Ekaterina Makarova RUS. One of the most surprising results of the  last five years was Makarova's dismissal of 5-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams  in straight sets the round before. Makarova is clearly confident and loves pace. Serena was not playing her best tennis (3 double faults in one game? Service percentage well below 50%? An average of 2 unforced errors per game?) but Makarova did well to remain calm on the court while her opponent self-destructed. She demonstrated that her thrilling 3-6 6-4 10-8 win over Ana Ivanovic last year was not a fluke. Sharapova is the recipient of the gaping hole Serena's early exit leaves in the draw, and will almost certainly take advantage of her opportunity to produce a rematch of the 2011 Wimbledon final with Kvitova in the bottom half semifinal. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.

Zheng Jie CHN Sara Errani ITA vs. Petra Kvitova CZE (2). Future World #1 Kvitova has not been playing her best tennis but has been able to ride out her hot and cold streaks by coasting to wins after building up near insurmountable leads during the hot streaks and minimizing the damage caused by the cold streaks. Surprisingly, this is only Kvitova's 4th major quarterfinal appearance but will almost definitely lead to her 3rd major semifinal appearance. PREDICTION: Kvitova in 2 sets.

WIMBLEDON 2010: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2010.

Serena Williams USA (1) vs Na Li CHN (9). The only year this century that there has not been a Williams sister in the Wimbledon final was 2006 (Mauresmo beat Henin) and that fluke will not be repeated in 2010. Li Na is one of my favorite players (my dog is named after her!) and is an excellent grass-court tennis player. She won the warm-up tournament in Birmingham this year (defeating Maria Sharapova) and is the first Chinese player in the world's top 10. These two players met in the Australian Open semifinals this year, after Li had beaten Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Serena beat Li in a very tight match (in two tiebreak sets) despite not playing her best tennis and experiencing movement difficulties. Serena looks 100% at Wimbledon right now and is serving like a woman on a mission. She has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament and is unlikely to do so on her way to the final. PREDICTION: Serena in 2 sets.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (3) Petra Kvitova CZE vs. Kaia Kanepi EST. This is the "anonymous" quarterfinal which will probably not get any television coverage. However, it should be a barn burner. Kvitova has ended her last two matches by bagelling her opponents, World #3 Caroline Wozniacki and former Top 10 Victoria Azarenka. The only person she has lost a set to is last year's semifinalist Zheng Jie. Kaia Kanepi is no joke either, and has long been regarded as a player to watch. Both players simply crush the ball on both wings. However, they are both in uncharted territory playing in their first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a chance to reach a major semifinal for the first time (where they are likely to face defending champion Serena Williams). I believe Kvitova is ready to reach that level. PREDICTION: Kvitova in 3 sets.

Kim Clijsters BEL (8) vs. Vera Zvonareva RUS (21) Jelena Jankovic SRB (4). Many, many commentators were salivating over the 4th round clash between the "Belgian sisters"--their first meeting in a major since they both un-retired. Before that sabbatical, Clijsters had a very unremarkable 2-5 record against Henin and only had won one major (and did not face her nemesis) t her rival's seven. Since their return Clijsters has won another major and has beaten Justine all three times they met. It appears as if the 18-month gap of parenthood and maturity have done wonders for Clijsters' mental toughness. Mental toughness are NOT two words one associates with Vera Zvonareva. She was in the process of demolishing World #4 Jelena Jankovic when the Serbian fell on the court and retired from their 4th round match soon after. Zvonareva has great weapons, but as Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina have repeatedly demonstrated, the most important weapon in a player's arsenal is not one that can be developed in the gym or the practice court. PREDICTION: Clijsters in 2 sets.

Venus Williams USA (2) vs. Tsvetana Pironkova BUL Marion Bartoli FRA (11). Mademoiselle Marion Bartoli did not hold up her half of the bargain to have this quarterfinal be a repeat of the 2007 Women's final by losing in two tight sets to Pironkova. Venus was relatively lucky herself to slip past hard-hitting Aussie Jarmila Groth in two very close sets. Pironkova and Venus have played before, most notably at the 2006 Australian Open where the Bulgarian bounced the American out of the tournament in the 2nd round, winning 9-7 in the third set. I'd be shocked if Venus allows Pironkova to win 9 games in the entire match this time. PREDICTION: Venus in 2 sets.

AUSSIE OPEN 2010: Women's Semifinals Preview

Serena Williams USA (1) vs. Na Li CHN (16) Venus Williams USA (6). Yesterday was a pretty rough day for fans of the Williams sisters. Older sister Venus somehow managed to lose a match despite being up a set and a break. She served for the match (in the sun) at 6-2, 5-4! In the deciding third set there were 9 breaks of serve through 12 games. I mildly disagree with people who are saying it is destined to be "the ugliest match of the year" although it must be said it was hard to watch. It was doubly disappointing because if Venus had won the match she could have been ranked as high as World #3 on Monday. Anyway, congratulations to Li Na for winning her first major quarterfinal 2-6, 7-6(4) 7-5. The Chinese player has now beaten the 7-time major champion twice on huge stages (the first victory was at the Beijing Olympics). After the drama of Venus' loss it was doubly distressing to see Serena down 4-6, 0-4 before she finally started serving properly. The World #1 player had not been broken in 4 matches in Melbourne and was broken 5 times in her 5th. It was a truly remarkable achievement because Serena made her opponent irrelevant. After winning 5 games in a row it was crystal clear that the winner of the match would be decided by what Serena Williams did with her racquet, not what Azarenka did. Serena started serving well and in response to the Belorussian's increasingly piercing shrieks quietly pulverized the ball into the corners of the court to seal a 4-6, 7-6(4) 6-2 win. I set up my preview of the women's semifinal with a review of what the two combatants experienced the round before in order to place this semifinal in context. It will be contested between two players who have stared defeat in the face and come through with a victory. This should free up both players to play their best tennis, but if Serena plays her best tennis, there's no one who is going to beat her, even if her mobility is limited. She desperately wants to defend her Australian title and match the Grand Slam singles total of one her idols, Billie Jean King, at twelve. This match will take her one step closer to that goal.
MadProfessah's pick: Serena in 2 sets.

Justine Henin BEL vs. Jie Zheng CHN. Two semifinalists at the same Grand Slam from one country is a significant achievement for any nation and the fact that the Williams sisters have achieved it so many times (8, at my count) should be acknowledge. However, today the future of tennis is here with two Chinese players in the semifinals of a major. Sadly, they are on opposite sides of the draw so it is not a certainty that a Chinese player will compete for tennis's highest prize, in fact it is highly improbable. The Belgian 7-time major champion will dismiss the 2-time major semifinalist without much drama or complication. MadProfessah's pick: Henin in 2 sets.