Venus Beats Wozniacki for 49th Career Title; Aga Beats Serena In Hopman Cup Final

Wow! Venus Williams, now 34, has started off her 2015 season with a bang, winning her 49th career title  at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand by beating 2014 US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki in three sets 2-6 6-3 6-3.  Williams is ranked in the Top 20 and looks fit and ready to make an impact at the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne, the Australian Open, which starts on Monday January 19. Last year Venus lost in the ASB Classic final to Ana Ivanovic in 3-sets.

Serena Williams was denied her chance to hold the Hopman Cup for the third time when she lost to  Aga Radwanska in 3-sets 6-4 6-7(3) 6-1 and together with John Isner lost their mixed-doubles match against Radwanska and Jerzy Janowicz.

2013 WIMBLEDON: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2013. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals and correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals. This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

Sabine Lisicki (GER) [23] vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4]. This is the third meeting between these two players, but the first time this year and their first ever meeting on grass. The two have split their previous matches and there's no clear favorite. Lisicki has already achieved the rare feat of defeating the World #1 and defending champion in Serena Williams. But even more impressive is that she followed up that momentous upset with another win to reach her 2nd Wimbledon semifinal in 3 years. The woman she is playing reached the final here last year and is the World #4 player. Radwanska is known as The Swiss Army Knife because of the variety of shots she is able to play. This was shown to great effect in her quarterfinal win over Li Na. Despite being overmatched by the powerful Chinese player, she used her superior defense to cause Li to lose the match (despite needing 8 match points to do so). Generally in a battle between power and control I usually take the side of power. Lisicki will be the player dictating play and the result of the match will be under her control. If she plays at the level she played in her two previous rounds then I expect her to win this match. PREDICTION: Lisicki.

Marion Bartoli (FRA) [15] v. Petra Kvitova (CZE) [8] Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) [20]. This is the first time these two have played on the WTA Tour. However, this result is most definitely not as hard to predict as the other semifinal. In fact, a friend of mine (and reader of this blog!) picked Bartoli to reach the semifinals (against Kvitova) from before the tournament started. I tend not to make predictions before the tournament begins, preferring to see how play is proceeding before prognosticating. The Belgian must be ecstatic just to be in her first career major semifinal, especially two days after defeating a former Wimbledon champion who happened to be struggling with some kind of virus. Flipkens just one year ago was ranked so low (#262) that she was low to even enter the Wimbledon qualifying tournament, and now she has a chance to make the final. True, it is not much of a chance, since she is playing a powerful, wily veteran. However, Flipkens was given almost no chance to win against the powerful Kvitova and managed to use her good hands and comfort on grass to  do so despite her short stature. It's possible some off -the-court assistance from her best friend Kim Clijsters may have been helpful producing this tournament's breakthrough result. On the other hand, Bartoli truly feels like she should be a Grand Slam champion already while Flipkens almost certainly feels like she is just lucky to be there. And, honestly, she is. PREDICTION: Bartoli.