US Open Series

As the US Open Series draws to a close, I'd like to congratulate Mardy Fish and Serena Williams for winning the US Open Series. If either of them wins the US Open, he or she will receive an extra million dollars in prize money. (Total prize money will be 2.8 million US dollars)

Cincy F: Andy Murray def Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-0 Ret.

Sadly, Novak Djokovic had to retire from this match. It wasn't really a surprise though. He had been showing signs of fatigue since his match with Berdych (who should have won but also retired), so it wasn't an actual loss. Djokovic seemed really flat during the match, and he was serving first serves under 100 mph and second serves under 80 mph. It was as if he had hired the 2004 Dementieva to serve for him. Hopefully he'll be fine for the US Open.

New Haven Preview

New Haven is the final event of the US Open Series. The defending champion is Caroline Wozniacki who defeated Nadia Petrova in the finals. The field has been considerably strengthened in the past couple days with the addition of Li Na, Jelena Jankovic and Marion Bartoli. Read on for my preview of the event.

Dallas Preview

The week before the US Open, there will be two tournaments, a premier event in New Haven and an international event in Dallas. The event in Dallas isn't part of the US Open Series. However, it still has a very strong field - especially for an international event. Read on for my predictions.

Kim Clijsters Withdraws from US Open

Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from the US Open.

New Haven Field

It looks like a lot of players are going to New Haven after all. Although Venus Williams declined the Wild Card invite, Li Na, Jelena Jankovic and Marion Bartoli all accepted Wild Cards.

What Serena's doing with her week off.

For those of you who don't know, Serena Williams withdrew from Cincy today citing a toe injury. Before heading over to Kim Kardashian's wedding, she decided to have some fun in Ohio. Here she is at Cedar Point.

Yet another withdrawal...

Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from Cincy because of a hand injury she got in Toronto. She is awaiting MRI results. Lucky Loser Pauline Parmentier will replace Azarenka and will play Shahar Peer tonight. She is currently ranked 59 in the world. The winner of this match will play Peng Shuai.

Serena Williams Withdraws From Cincy

Serena withdrew just a bit ago citing toe pain. She has enough match practice to get her through the US Open though. I think she also wants to go to Kim Kardashian's wedding.

Andrea Petkovic def Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-2

Cincinnati First Round:
Andrea Petkovic def Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-2

This was one of the worst matches I've seen. Luckily, it was comedically bad, so I wasn't un-entertained.

Welcome Back to the Top 2!

Because Kim Clijsters retired from Rogers Cup, Vera Zvonareva is back at number 2 in the world!

Congratulations!!!

Because Clijsters withdrew from Cincinnati, Zvonareva has a good chance at being the number 2 seed at the US Open as well. In order to do this, she will need to get to the round of 16. Basically, she needs to win one match to keep ahead of Clijsters. That doesn't seem very hard. She'll face Ekaterina Makarova in her first match.

Shahar Peer def Sabine Lisicki 6-4 7-6 (4)

Cincy First Round Shocker:
Shahar Peer def Sabine Lisicki 6-4 7-6 (4)

It seems like Shahar Peer is getting back to the form that almost took her into the top 10. Peer will face Victoria Azarenka in the second round. Read on for my analysis of the match.

Announcement:

Because of my lack of blogging time, I have decided that a lot of the stuff I write will be shorter. That way, I'll be able to write more frequently.

Cincy Withdrawals

Short News Tidbit:

Three top players have withdrawn from Cincinnati so far: Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Agniezska Radwanska.

Serena Williams wins her second WTA title in a row!

Earlier today, Serena Williams defeated Sam Stosur 6-4 6-2 to claim the Rogers Cup title. This win will almost guarantee that she will be seeded that the US Open. She also leads the US Open Series standings by 40 points. Read on for my match analysis.

Rogers Cup Wednesday Preview

Wednesday at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada brings us some great second round action. We'll be seeing most of the top seeds, and we'll be seeing certain players for the first time since Wimbledon. Read on for the Wednesday preview!

Kim Clijsters Retires

I've been really busy as of late, so I'll mainly be posting small tidbits when I have an ounce of spare time.

Kim Clijsters was leading Zheng Jie 6-3 1-2 when she retired from her first match since her loss at the UNICEF Open to Romina Oprandi in June. Clijsters cited pain in her abdominal muscle as the reason for her retirement. Sadly, this means that 899 points will drop off her ranking. (She won Cincinnati last year which happened during the same week.) Vera Zvonareva will have a good shot at taking the number 2 ranking back. It also means that we will not be seeing the much anticipated Clijsters-Serena third round match up that we were all anticipating.

However, Serena Williams may not even make it to the next round. She will be facing Julia Goerges who snapped her four match losing streak and defeating Jelena Jankovic in two easy sets, 6-1 6-3.

Other top players have faltered at the Rogers Cup as well. Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Simona Halep yesterday in three sets, and Marion Bartoli was beaten in two sets by Galina Voskoboeva. Dominika Cibulkova was forced to retire from her match earlier today. Although there hasn't been any information on why she retired, my guess is that it has to do with her injury that caused her to pull out of Stanford.

A Guide to WTA Tournament Categories

The WTA used to have a seemingly comprehensive tournament system. There were five tiers of tournaments, and each of those tiers was given a corresponding numeral from one to five. Total prize money determined the tier. Tier I tournaments gave out the most prize money while Tier V tournaments gave out the least. Sounds easy right? In fact, it was pretty complicated. There were multiple categories of each tier, and each was based on two things- total prize money and number of entrants. The WTA decided to change this system, and in 2009, it started to use a new system. The new system is quite confusing for many people, but if you read on, you'll find that it isn't hard to understand at all. It's actually quite like the old tier system.

Ernests Gulbis d. Mardy Fish 5-7 6-4 6-4

Today in the LA final, Ernests Gulbis defeated Mardy Fish in three sets, 5-7 6-4 6-4. This is his second career title. By winning the title, Gulbis will also be jumping up 33 spots in the ATP rankings. Read on for my analysis of the match.

Week In Review II

Throughout the week, we were treated to some great tennis. Because of that, I spent most of my time watching tennis instead of writing about it. That said, I'm still writing this recap of the week. Read on to see what happened this week and to see my thoughts on Serena Williams's comeback.

San Diego Preview

The Mercury Insurance Open at San Diego is a 56 entrant premier level event. The winner of the tournament will receive 111,000 dollars and 470 ranking points. The draw came out last night, and it didn't disappoint. Although Kim Clijsters, Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew, there are still some big names coming to the Mercury Insurance Open. The top seed at San Diego will be Vera Zvonareva, the third ranked player in the world.

Read on for my analysis of the contenders for the title and for some possible matchups.

Week in Review I

This week had the first hardcourt tournament of the summer. The tournament was at Baku and is also the last tournament before the US Open series starts. Read on to see what happened this week.

The Absence of the Slice in the WTA

In the past, the slice backhand used to be a shot that nearly every player had in their arsenal. Steffi Graf used to slice 99% of her backhands. However, nowadays, there are very few players who the use slice unless they are at full stretch trying to retrieve a ball. This article will explain the slice and try to figure out why the slice is going the way of the Dodo in the women's game.

Elena Dementieva Wedding Photos Part V

Yep, that's right! Even more wedding photos! Elena, you'll be missed by all of us.

It's a common Russian tradition for the newlyweds to release a pair of white doves.

More photos after the jump!

Midweek Update- Baku

This week, the only WTA tournament is an international tournament held in Baku. The field was highlighted by Vera Zvonareva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. So far, there have been some interesting stories.

Elena Dementieva Wedding Photos Part IV

Yes, that's right! There are even more pictures that I have just acquired! Also, there's a short video of the vows and stuff. It's not HD, but it's still nice to see.

Washington DC- Citi Open Preview

The Citi Open at Washington DC is an international event happening next week. It is not part of the US Open series. Although the tournament may seem pretty lackluster with no players in the top 20, there are still some interesting stories to be told here. I hope you take the chance and read on.

Stanford Preview

The Bank of the West Classic at Stanford is the first event of the US Open Series for the WTA. It is a premier event that will feature four members of the top ten as well as six more players in the top 32. Serena Williams will also be competing in Stanford. Last year at Stanford, Victoria Azarenka beat Maria Sharapova in the finals, 6-4 6-1. Will Azarenka be able to defend her championship and capture her third singles title of the year?

US Open Series Preview

The US Open Series is a series of five premier events for both genders. The WTA US Open series begins next week with Stanford and ends with New Haven. The two biggest events of the US Open Series are at Cincinnati and Toronto. Although the US Open Series is a great way to warm up for the US Open in late August, there is another bonus to doing well here- the top three finishers in the US Open series will win an extra million dollars in prize money if they win the US Open.

Andrea Petkovic

She is the current German number 1. Although she wasn't really known by the tennis community until her fourth round appearance at the US Open in 2010, she has sped up the rankings and has a good chance of reaching the Year End Championships this year in Istanbul. On top of being a huge personality, she is known for her post-match celebration- the Petko Dance. This is Andrea Petkovic!

Petra Kvitova

With her victory at Wimbledon, Petra Kvitova is the only member of Generation Suck who has won a major. Although she only started to make a name for herself at Wimbledon 2010, in a year, she's risen from being 62nd in the world to being ranked 7th in the world and 2nd in the race to the YEC.

Elena Dementieva Wedding Photos Part III

I have two high quality pictures from Elena Dementieva and Maxim Afinogenov's wedding! Feast your eyes on these!

Doesn't she look beautiful?

Technology Update

This post does not have to do with tennis. I'm just writing to you all to say that I have beefed up on my knowledge of blogger, and I've figured out how to do jump breaks. This will allow my main page to have faster loading times- especially since I'm going to start posting more photos in my posts. Some of the jumps will be a little clunky since a lot of the stuff that I wrote in the past wasn't written with breaks in mind, but rest assured that in the future, the breaks won't seem that bad.

Elena Dementieva Wedding Photos Part II

Russian tennis player Elena Dementieva (my favorite player) got married to hockey player Maxim Afinogenov last week. As promised, here are some more photos from the Royal Wedding!

Awww

More photos after the jump!

Spain Triumphs in Final Week of Clay

Today, two Spanish veterans triumphed in the final two clay tournaments of the year. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won Bad Gastein and Anabel Medina Garrigues won Palermo. I really don't care about either of them, so lets talk about what else happened in this past week.

This Week in Tennis Tones

Every Sunday, I will be posting a new "This Week in Tennis Tones" which will be a list of some of the stuff I'll be writing about during the upcoming week.

Some time during this coming week starting July 18, I will be writing about:

Andrea Petkovic
A US Open Series preview
A preview for the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford
A preview for the Citi Open in Washington DC
An article about the absence of the slice in the women's game...
And more!

Baku Preview

The international tournament at Baku signals the start of the second hard court season which will last until the end of the year. This is the only WTA event going on next week, and it is the last tournament before the US Open Series starts.

Elena Dementieva Wedding Photos

Today, Elena Dementieva and Maxim Afinogenov got married. Some notable names at the wedding were tennis stars, Dinara Safina, Maria Kirilenko, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva. Although one would expect Maria Kirilenko and her boyfriend Igor Andreev to be the next tennis stars to get married, Vera Dushevina caught the bouquet. Alla Kudryavtseva was kind enough to post pics from the wedding on her twitter so that us fans could see what the wedding was like. Pictures after the jump!

Victoria Azarenka

Next, I will be analyzing Victoria Azarenka, the shrieking Belarussian.

Caroline Wozniacki

I decided that the first player I should analyze in my mini series on newer generation of players (not newest) would be Caroline Wozniacki, the current world number one.

An Introduction to "Generation Suck"

Generation Suck is the name many tennis fans have given to the new generation of tennis players. Why is the new generation called Generation Suck? Well, the biggest reason is that they have failed to achieve the success that they were expected to have. And they haven't been able to push out the older players despite growing older themselves. Furthermore, Generation Suck currently only owns one Grand Slam- Wimbledon 2011. However, as more and more of the Old Guard are playing less and less or even retiring, these women are becoming the future of the WTA. The members of Generation Suck are:

Caroline Wozniacki

Victoria Azarenka
Petra Kvitova

Andrea Petkovic

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Yanina Wickmayer

Sabine Lisicki

Alisa Kleybanova (Adida Kelybanova)

Compare those players with some of the Old Guard like Elena Dementieva, Justine Henin and the Williams sisters. Now you see why we call this new crop of players Generation Suck right?

How are the members of Generation Suck determined? As you can see, the deciding factor for entry into Generation Suck is not age. Notable young tennis players who aren't in Generation Suck include Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic who enjoyed success prior to the beginnings of Generation Suck (which is a name, a group, a period of time and so much more.) Generation Suck belongs to the players who are young and who really started to experience their success starting in mid-2009. These players have just started to become household names (in a select few households I might add.)

Over the next week and a half to two weeks, I will analyze each of these players. Enjoy.

From Bad Gastein to Worse

Yeah... I went there...

Today, Simona Halep lost in three sets to Sybille Bammer. The sixth seed, she was the highest seed left in the Bad Gastein Draw, but her loss was expected. After all, the only seed to advance past the first round was Ksenia Pervak of Russia, the eighth seed. Simona Halep is probably known most for getting breast reduction surgery a couple years ago. Since then, she's risen more than 400 spots in the rankings, and she is close to cracking the top 50. Sybille Bammer is a mother who will be retiring from tennis after Bad Gastein. She reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2008, and she peaked at number 19 in the rankings. However, despite these accomplishments, she will probably be remembered most for having a 2:0 head to head record against Serena Williams. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario is the only other woman in the world with a positive head to head ratio against Serena.

In other news, Flavia Pennetta was brought back from the brink of defeat by Mathilde Johansson. Johansson led 6-4 5-3 before choking away the second set. She also led by 6-4 5-7 5-3 before choking the match away. Johansson is known for choking. In her match against Vitalia Diatchenko at the 2009 French Open, Johansson wasted eight match points before losing 10-8 in the third. She double faulted four of them away.

Bad Tennis in Bad Gastein

I think I'm cursed. Whoever I give my resounding vote of confidence to always forgets how to play tennis. Last week, I said that no one would be able to stop Wozniacki from picking up yet another tournament, but she retired after winning a match. Now, in Bad Gastein, Goerges proved that my predictions hold little water.

Earlier today, Julia Goerges, the defending champion, top seed and clear favorite for the title, lost in three sets to Laura Pous-Tio, a player ranked 75 spots below her, 6-1 2-6 6-1. Pous-Tio still has not won a single match at a grand slam and had only ended the year in the top 100 twice. (2006 and 2005)

Although one could say that Goerges simply tanked the match so that she could get some rest before the US Open series, said person would have trouble explaining what had happened to the rest of the top players at Bad Gastein. At Bad Gastein, the top eight ranked players were given seeds. Out of those eight seeds, only one seed, the relatively unknown 61st ranked eighth seeded Ksenia Pervak, advanced past the first round. Although the sixth seed, Simona Halep has yet to play, those results are pretty embarrassing.

So who's my new pick for the title? Normally, I'd give my pick to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez as she's a fabulous clay court player who cracked the top 20 when she won Rome in 2010, but because all the favorites are dropping like flies, I'll give my pick to Dia Evtimova who I didn't even know existed until I scanned the Bad Gastein Draw.

In Palermo, however, things look to be going better for the seeds with all eight of them advancing. One notable victory happened yesterday when 2010 Wimbledon Semifinalist and 2011 Wimbledon Quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova beat Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-2 7-5. What was so notable about this win? It was one of Pironkova's only wins outside of Wimbledon this year. Maybe she has finally learned how to play tennis outside SW19. One can only hope that she can turn the rest of the year around and live up to her potential so that she won't be forever remembered as the girl who beat Venus Williams three times.

The Marriage of Elena Dementieva

When she retired in 2010, Elena Dementieva said that she wanted to start a family. On Saturday, July 16, 2011, Dementieva will be getting married to Maxim Afinogenov, a hockey player. Rumors of their engagement surfaced in 2007, so it's nice to see them finally tying the knot.

Although she has said that this retirement is permanent, we all know how that turned out for Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, so don't lose hope tennis fans. Maybe she'll realize that she can play tennis and have a family. But if she doesn't, we'll always have amazing memories of her triumphs, the greatest of which being her Olympic Gold Medal in 2008. Lena, we tennis fans love you, and we'll never stop missing you even if you stop missing us.

Palermo Preview

One of two final clay tournaments of the year is at Palermo. Last year, Kaia Kanepi defeated crowd favorite Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3 in the Palermo final to win her first title. However, Kanepi will not be returning to Palermo to defend her title.

The three top seeds at Palermo are Italian. The top seed, Flavia Pennetta, won Palermo in 2009. She broke into the top 10 in 2009 as well. The second seed, Roberta Vinci is enjoying a great season and is fighting for her fourth title of the year. She is coming off a win at Budapest, another clay tournament. She is quite close to cracking the top 20 for the first time in her career. The third seed is Sara Errani who won Palermo in 2008. She was the runner up at Palermo in 2009. Other contenders for the title include Anabel Medina Garrigues who won a clay court title earlier this year at Estoril and Polona Hercog who just won Bastad.

My pick for the title is Roberta Vinci who has really blossomed this year. She is a clay court specialist, and she will have the home court advantage.

Happy Birthday Caroline Wozniacki

Happy Birthday Caro!

Bad Gastein Preview

There are two clay tournaments left in the year, and they are both international tournaments played on red clay. Neither tournament has a top ten player.

One of those two tournaments is at Bad Gastein in Austria. Not to be confused with Bastad, Bad Gastein is a skiing town near Salzburg. The top seed and favorite for the title is Julia Goerges. (Remember not to call her Georges or Gorgeous as you may not live to regret it- just ask Graeme Jones.) Goerges has really blossomed this year; she won Stuttgart beating French Open finalist Samantha Stosur and world number one Caroline Wozniacki along the way. She also achieved a career high world ranking of 16. She has a great flat serve and a great kick serve as well as a strong forehand. Her play style really suits the clay because she has very long strokes, and she has extra time to generate power off of both wings. It doesn't hurt her prospects that she's the defending champion here.

Other potential threats include Jarmila Gajdosova, the hard hitting Aussie and Lourdes Domingues Lino who won Bogota this year, another outdoor red clay event. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez is another contender for the title as she is an excellent clay court player. She is excellent at net, and she won Rome in 2010. The top five seeds also include two players from the Czech Republic, Lucie Hradecka and Iveta Benesova, two very accomplished doubles players. Lucie Hradecka won the doubles title at Roland Garros 2011, and she has won 18 ITF singles titles. However, she has yet to make a dent in the WTA singles circuit. Iveta Benesova, another Czech lefty, has won two clay titles on the WTA tour. She hits quite flat off both sides. Although she's a good player, I see her going out early seeing as she is still celebrating her recent victory in mixed doubles at Wimbledon.

Stay tuned for my preview of Palermo, the other WTA tournament next week.

Caroline Wozniacki Retires

... from Bastad.
She was leading Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 0-1 when she retired from a shoulder injury. Apparently, it is just preventative; it's just a pulled muscle, so her serve won't be affected. However, she was in pain during the match, and she was having trouble hitting forehands. Here's to hoping she gets better in time for the US Open series and can do well at the US Open.

NBC Loses Wimbledon

NBC lost its rights to Wimbledon! That's good news considering that they showed numerous matches on tape delay. Most likely, Wimbledon will be shown mainly on ESPN with tape delayed coverage on the Tennis Channel. I for one am ecstatic because that means that I won't have to switch back and forth between ESPN and NBC. Also, I won't have to look for streams online.

What do you guys think?

The Week After Wimbledon

Although Wimbledon is over, there is still a lot of tennis until the US Open. Immediately following Wimbledon, there are two weeks of clay tournaments. During the week beginning July fourth, there will be two WTA tournaments, Budapest and Bastad. Although the only top 20 player who will be playing next week is Caroline Wozniacki, there will still be some great matches.

Lets start with Budapest. Budapest is an international tournament, the new equivalent of a Tier III or Tier IV tournament.  There is only one player who will be competing at Budapest who is in the top 32- the 25th ranked Roberta Vinci. Vinci comes into Budapest as the favorite since she has already won two international events on clay this year. I'd say she leaves Budapest with her third.

The other tournament is at Bastad. It's also an international tournament. There are three players in the top 32 who are participating in Bastad- Lucie Safarova, Flavia Pennetta and Caroline Wozniacki. Safarova is a dangerous lefty who has a great forehand but who has always been hindered by her lack of mental toughness. Flavia Pennetta is a former top 10 player who is also the top ranked player in doubles. Caroline Wozniacki is the top ranked player in singles. Although she favors hard courts, Caroline Wozniacki will be hard to beat here. She has already won two clay titles this year, and has a combined 6-1 head to head against Pennetta and Safarova.

Congratulations to Petra Kvitova

Congratulations to Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova!!!

Wimbledon Final Pick- WTA

[5] Maria Sharapova vs [8] Petra Kvitova

I really don't know who is going to win this. I'm going to go with Kvitova in three just because I've been rooting for her the whole tournament.

Let's compare the two shot by shot:

Serve:
Sharapova's first serve isn't bad by any means. She's gone back to her old service motion, and she is serving in the 100's which is fine. However, she isn't really getting a high percentage of first serves in which will hurt her in this marriage because it will force her to go to her second serve which is what will really hurt her in this match. Sharapova's second serve is slower than her first serve, but it doesn't have much spin, so it is still a low margin shot. She had thirteen double faults during her match against Lisicki, and Kvitova has a better ROS than Lisicki, so Sharapova may feel like she needs to go for more on her second serve which will give her even more double faults.

Kvitova's serve is considered one of the best in the women's game. It isn't the fastest serve in the game, (her fastest serve at Wimbledon this year clocked in at 113 MPH) but it has variety. She has a great flat serve and a great slice serve, and both have great placement. She hits a lot of aces, and she can open up the court on the ad side with her slice serve out wide. Her second serve isn't bad either. Because she usually slices it, she can still start a point well off of her second serve.

Forehand:
Sharapova's forehand is a great shot. It is hit hard and deep, and she can hit it well on the run as well.

Kvitova's forehand is both her better side and her weaker side. She hits her forehand harder than her backhand, but her forehand often breaks down when she runs into rough spots. Although she normally hits pretty flat, she can add top spin at times.

Backhand:
Sharapova has a stronger backhand than Kvitova. She hits it harder and deeper. However, Kvitova has more variety on her backhand than Sharapova does. Kvitova has a good slice backhand that stays very low on the grass. She will want to use it to get Sharapova to make mistakes.

Return of Serve:
Both Sharapova and Kvitova will be aggressive when returning serve. Kvitova will likely have more success with her ROS because of Sharapova's weaker serve.

Netplay:
Since Sharapova almost never comes to net and Kvitova isn't terrible at net, Kvitova has the edge here. However, she needs to make sure that she hits better approach shots than she did in her semifinal match against Azarenka. Otherwise, she'll get passed every time she tries to come in.

Movement:
Neither player is a great mover, but Sharapova hits harder ground strokes on the run.

Mental Game:
Sharapova definitely has the edge here. Not only has she already won three slams, but she is a great competitor. She has the ability to induce short term memory loss on herself when she is down, and she won't give up even when her serve has completely deserted her.

Kvitova, on the other hand, doesn't have a great mental game. She often starts out great. However, in her two most recent matches, her level of play dropped significantly for a few games after the first set. She started to spray forehands, and she stopped moving her feet. Although she was able to recover in both of those matches, she cannot allow herself to gift Sharapova a single game in the final if she wants to win. Also, because she has never reached a major final before, it is unknown whether she'll be able to handle the pressure of playing such a huge match.

Wimbledon Semifinal Picks- Part II

[4] Victoria Azarenka vs [8] Petra Kvitova

Victoria Azarenka can now tell her haters to shut up. Many of them were complaining that she didn't deserve to be number four in the world without reaching a grand slam semifinal. Now she's done just that, and she has a great opportunity to get even farther. She's the highest ranked player left in the draw. She showed some excellent tennis against Paszek in the quarterfinals. She was creaming the ball and kept her error count low. She hits solidly off both sides and isn't a terrible mover compared to Kvitova. She isn't amazing at net, but then again, who is these days? She has an okay first serve, but her second serve is attackable. Her mental game is what seems suspect. Although she has improved significantly in that regard, she has never been to a grand slam semifinal, so no one knows how she'll handle the moment.

With her victory over Pironkova, Petra Kvitova has proven that she is no one slam wonder. She has one of the best forehands in women's tennis, and her backhand is quite strong as well. Although her serve won't be setting any speed records, it is a force to be reckoned with. She has a great flat serve, and her slice serve gets her a lot of aces too. In her quarterfinal match against Pironkova, Kvitova served nine aces, only one less ace than the ten aces that Azarenka has served during the whole tournament. Her return of serve is excellent as well, and she will be looking to attack the Azarenka second serve.

In order for Azarenka to win this match, she has to come in with multiple game plans. She knows that she won't be able to out-muscle Kvitova, so she will need to add variety to her game and try to make Kvitova move. If she resorts to hitting the ball as hard she can, she fall to Kvitova in a Wickmayer-esque fashion. However, if she can make Kvitova uncomfortable, her reward will be numerous errors from Kvitova and a spot in the finals.

Kvitova has a different route to the finals. She can overpower Azarenka and punish her second serve. She can hit penetrating shots and work the net. However, she needs to keep herself from choking. If she can do that, she will get to her first major final.

Although this is a tough decision, I think that Kvitova will tough it out in either two or three very close sets.

Wimbledon Semifinal Picks- Part I

[5] Maria Sharapova vs [WC] Sabine Lisicki

It will be the oddsmakers' favorite against the girl who defied all odds to get this far. Although on paper, Sharapova goes in the overwhelming favorite, I feel it could go either way.

Sharapova has been playing with authority for the whole tournament. She routed Cibulkova in the quarterfinals 6-1 6-1. She will be looking to punish Lisicki's second serve which is often in the 70-80 MPH range. Sharapova will go into this match with confidence knowing that she won their only match 6-2 6-0. However, she knows that Lisicki was just coming back to the game in March of 2011 when Sharapova routed her. In order to win, Sharapova will need to get a high percentage of first serves in as she has a very low-margin second serve that is prone to breaking down. Sharapova has been doing a great job of keeping her double faults down.

Much has been said about how Sabine Lisicki needed to write a letter to the AELTC begging for a wild card. There has also been a lot said about her first serve. Lisicki's first serve is one of the best in the women's game. She has clocked the fastest serve at Wimbledon on the women's at 124 MPH. She is able to hit aces during high-pressure moments which was apparent when she served four un-returnable serves when she was down double match point to the Roland Garros champion, Li Na. However, her second serve will be a sitting duck. However, besides her serve, Lisicki has a lot going for her. She has penetrating shots, and her forehand will get her many winners. She has excellent drop shots and top spin lobs off both sides, so she will be able to move Sharapova around the court. Also, she doesn't need to face as much pressure as Sharapova, so she can swing freely.

Although this match is hard to call, I'll go with the upset. I think that Sabine has showed a great deal of mental toughness in her matches so far, and she has shown that she can serve herself out of danger. If she doesn't let the moment get to her, she will advance in three tough sets to her first major final.

[8] Petra Kvitova vs [32] Tsvetana Pironkova

Petra Kvitova def Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2

The Kvitova-Pironkova match should have been on center court. It was a battle between Wimbledon 2010's two losing semifinalists. However, the AELTC decided to put this match on Court 1 so that Maria Sharapova could defeat Dominika Cibulkova with a double breadstick.

The match started out like I thought it would. Kvitova raced ahead breaking Pironkova's serve and holding her own. She got to a 5-1 lead before Pironkova staged a mini comeback broke Kvitova's serve before Kvitova closed out the set 6-3.
Then it all started to go wrong for Kvitova. She lost the next set 6-7 getting broken along the way. However, she regrouped and won the third set 6-2.

Pironkova didn't really do anything wrong in the match. She was able to stretch Kvitova to three sets using her varied play. Pironkova got a lot of balls back, and her slice stayed low and got her a lot of errors from Kvitova's racket. So she can tell herself that she still had an amazing Wimbledon reaching her second consecutive quarterfinal and going out in style.
Kvitova can take some positives from the match as well. Although she didn't win the second set, she was able to improve her game slightly before the third set. However, she does need to work on a plan B. When things weren't going her way in the second set, she continued to make silly error after silly error. She also needs to work on her net play some more as she gave away some silly points at net. Other than that, she can go into her next match knowing that she plays Azarenka. Azarenka doesn't have the weapons to overpower Kvitova like Serena did in 2010, and she doesn't have the variety to annoy Kvitova like Pironkova did. Hopefully Kvitova doesn't choke since she has a great chance to get to the finals of a major and win it.

Wimbledon Quarterfinal Predictions- Part II

Don't worry ATP, I haven't forgotten about you. I was just watching some amazing WTA matches!

[12] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs [3] Roger Federer
Tsonga already took out Mini-Fed in the second round. Can he take out the real thing? I don't think so. Federer is nearly unbeatable on grass. He's serving well and playing aggressively. I'll give it to him in 4 sets.

[4] Andy Murray vs Feliciano Lopez
Murray is playing excellent tennis here at Wimbledon, and he's only lost two lets on his way to the quarterfinals. He's known for his movement, and he can often chase down seemingly impossible to reach shots and hit winners off them.
Lopez has had one of the tournaments of his reaching his third quarterfinal at a major and at Wimbledon. He showed great fight when coming back from match point and two sets to love down to win his Round of 16 match against Kubot.
I think that Lopez has the ability to pull off the upset. His first serve is great, and his aggressive game suits the grass. He has a strong forehand and good netplay. However, I think that Murray will pull it out in four or five because of his consistency.

[10] Mardy Fish vs [1] Rafael Nadal
Mardy Fish played well against Berdych to make his first quarterfinal at a major since 2008. However, Nadal is a very different opponent than Berdych. For one, Nadal won't choke. Also, Nadal can track down many more balls than Berdych can. Fish had a great tournament here at Wimbledon, but it will be over in three sets.

Bernard Tomic vs [2] Novak Djokovic
Although I've heard a lot of hype about Tomic, I haven't actually seen him play yet. I know he beat Soderling, but I don't know how he did it. However, I do know that Djokovic was a semifinalist here last year where he lost to an inspired Berdych. With his improved serve and forehand, Djokovic has only lost a single match this year, and I have trouble seeing him go out to anyone but Federer or Nadal. Djokovic in three.

Wimbledon Quarterfinal Predictions- Part I

[24] Dominika Cibulkova vs [5] Maria Sharapova
Cibulkova came back from a terrible first set against Wozniacki today to win in three- 1-6 7-6 (5) 7-5. She hits the ball quite hard. But so does Maria Sharapova who demolished Peng Shuai in straight sets 6-4 6-2 to advance to her first Wimbledon quarterfinal in five years. Although Cibulkova has gotten the better in their two most recent matches, the two have never played on grass where Sharapova is the superior player. Sharapova will advance in three well contested sets.

Sabine Lisicki vs [9] Marion Bartoli
This match is a tossup. I don't know who will win. Both hit the ball hard and have effective serves. I'll give it to Lisicki in three on the grounds that she can serve her way out of trouble more effectively than Bartoli can. However, if Pierce Brosnan shows up, Lisicki will lose in two sets.

Tamira Paszek vs [4] Victoria Azarenka
I should be honest. Until she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the third round, I had forgotten who Tamira Paszek was. I still haven't seen her play very much. But from what I have seen, I've noticed that she has improved her fitness and has solid strokes. Victoria Azarenka has blossomed this year winning two titles and rising to a career high rank of four. Known for her shrieking and her tendency to retire during matches, Azarenka will want to continue her success in 2011 by reaching her first major semifinal. She knows that this is as good an opportunity as any seeing as she faces an unseeded player who had never reached a quarterfinal of a major before.

[8] Petra Kvitova vs [32] Tsvetana Pironkova
Today, Tsvetana Pironkova proved two things to the world. She can play on grass, and she can beat Venus Williams. Her forehand has improved from last year, and her slice forehand stayed low and drew errors from Venus. Her backhand is quite solid, and her first serve was fast and well placed.
However, Kvitova played an amazing match as well demolishing the 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-0 6-2. One stat about this match that really stood out was the percent of points that Kvitova won on her first serve- 94%. It's no wonder she didn't face a single break point during the match.
Kvitova can definitely overpower Pironkova. Kvitova serves better and hits harder off both wings. She is also no slouch at net. Because of her hard groundstrokes, she can often come into net to finish off points. However, if Pironkova can take Kvitova out of her groove by mixing things up with slices and moonballs, she might be able to pull off the upset. However the match lies on Kvitova's racket.
Now that Serena and Venus are out, Petra Kvitova must be regarded as one of the favorites to win the title. She will definitely be favored to win this match and get to the semifinals of Wimbledon for the second time in a row. I'll give Pironkova eight games max.

The Men's quarterfinal predictions will be coming soon.

Wimbledon- The First Week

Let's look back at some of the best... and worst of the first week of Wimbledon 2011.

The Best: Match Quality of the WTA

So far, there have been no shortage of great matches with one amazing match being between Kimiko Date-Krumm and Venus Williams. This second round match was put on center court and didn't disappoint. For those of you who don't know Kimiko Date-Krumm, she was a player from the Graf era who reached the Semifinals of three of the four majors. She took a 12 year break from tennis starting in 1996, and in 2008, she returned to the much-changed game of tennis. She takes the ball early on both sides and loves coming to net.
Before the match, many expected Venus Williams to coast through the match. Although she hadn't had very much match play going into Wimbledon (Prior to Eastbourne, she hadn't played since being forced to retire in the third round of the Australian Open) she still entered Wimbledon as one of the favorites to win the title. She has a great game for grass. She has the fastest serve in the WTA and her slice serve is also quite effective.
Date-Krumm probably could have won it, but she choked in the third set, especially in the last game. However, her true grass-court game and willingness to come to net were nice to see. Against the odds, she took Venus to the limit in one of the most exciting matches of Wimbledon.

The Worst: Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has bad taste in clothing. I'm pretty sure that the leopard print outfit she wore at the 2007 US Open proves that.

However, she took ugly clothing to a whole new level at Wimbledon 2011. She started off by wearing a tennis ball yellow dress to the pre-Wimbledon party studded with tennis balls. Her playing attire was no less atrocious. She wore a one sleeved dress, white knee socks and black face paint. When she walked on court, she also wore a white jacket studded with white tennis balls.
If only her tennis could justify her fashion faux pas. Mattek-Sands came to Wimbledon seeded for the first time. Because of this seed, she was also expected to get past the first round. Misaki Doi of Japan had other ideas though. Doi beat Mattek-Sands in three sets and caused one of the first upsets of the tournament. On match point, Mattek-Sands hit a lob clearly wide. Sadly her sportsmanship and her fashion sense could both be described with one word- terrible. After losing the match, she complained to the line judge for a a while before giving a short, cold handshake to Doi and refusing to shake hands with the chair umpire.

There will be more analysis of the first week of Wimbledon to come.

Wimbledon Day 7 Previews Part II- WTA

Shuai Peng [20] vs Maria Sharapova [5]

Maria Sharapova is the odds makers' favorite to win Wimbledon. She won her first title here in 2004. She leads Peng in their head to head 2:1. They have never played on grass.

Sharapova's tactics almost always involve two things. Creaming the ball and walloping the ball. She hits the ball as hard as she can on almost every shot. She has been serving relatively well so far with her first serve percentage hovering in the 60's. She has served a total of fourteen double faults so far which averages slightly more than four double faults every match. However, she still hasn't lost a set, so it doesn't seem like those double faults are hurting her much.

Peng has seen a significant increase in her rank from last year. She's reached her third fourth round in the past four grand slams (She was forced to retire against Francesca Schiavone in the third round of Roland Garros because she had the flu) and has reached a career high rank of 20. She hits flat off both sides and uses two hands on both wings. However, when she is stretched, she can hit a one-handed forehand. She isn't very good at net.

Although the last match they played was close, (2011 Indian Wells, 6-2 5-7 6-3) I can't see Peng beating Sharapova on grass. Sharapova has too many weapons and can move Peng around. Peng's effectiveness is reduced significantly when she is forced to use her one-handed forehand. The fast and low bouncing grass courts will hamper Peng's game, and Sharapova will advance to her first Wimbledon Quarterfinal since 2006.

Wimbledon Day 7 Previews Part I- WTA

I wasn't able to watch Wimbledon today as I had a busy day, but since there are no match analyses, I'll do extra predictions.

Venus Williams [23] vs Tsvetana Pironkova [32]
Last year, in a shocking upset, the unseeded Pironkova beat the second seeded Venus in the Quarterfinals 6-2 6-3. She has a good serve and a good backhand. This year, her forehand seems a little stronger, but it still isn't a weapon by any means. She isn't terrible at net either.

The reason why she beat Venus last year was because Venus was a wreck. Venus had 7 more unforced errors than winners. She didn't capitalize on her amazing first serve; she won less than 60 percent of points where she got her first serve in. She also won only 53 percent of the points where she went up to net. However, this is a new year. Even though she hasn't played much, she showed great mental strength in her defeat of Date-Krumm and showed that she hasn't lost her game when she routed Martinez-Sanchez. I still think that she will get her revenge in two hard fought sets. However, I wouldn't be upset if I were wrong.

Marion Bartoli [9] vs Serena Williams [9]
Personally, I think that this match should also be on Center Court. It has much more potential than the Nadal Del-Potro match. Obviously Serena Williams is the favorite going into this match. However, she is struggling with her fitness. Although it wasn't as apparent in her match today with Kirilenko, she has been huffing and puffing her way through the first week. One person who gave Serena a lot of trouble was Rezai, an inconsistent but hard hitting player. Rezai, when she was on, was able to move Serena around the court. However, Rezai wasn't able to keep up the pressure and take advantage of Serena's lack of fitness.

However, Bartoli can definitely push Serena to the limit. She takes the ball early and hits it hard and flat off both sides. Because she hits with two hands off both sides, she can get great angles on her shots. Her game works well on grass; her 2007 run to the Wimbledon Final is evidence of that. I think that she can definitely take a set off of Serena. But I think that eventually, in spite of her fitness issues, Serena will come out on top.

Saturday Highlight Reel

I've decided to post highlights from one of my favorite matches- the 2005 US Open Quarterfinal between Elena Dementieva (who is my favorite player on both sides) and Lindsay Davenport.

Andy Roddick [8] vs Feliciano Lopez

Lopez defeats Roddick in straight sets 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2) 6-4.

Lopez played an amazing match against the number 8 seed. Discounting serve speed, (where he was only slightly behind Roddick) Lopez beat Roddick in every stat. He had more aces, fewer double faults, a higher first serve percentage, a higher winning percent on both serves, more winners, fewer unforced errors, a better percentage of receiving points won, a better break point conversion ratio and a better percentage of points won at net. He also had a 57:7 winners to unforced errors ratio. Lopez hit some amazing passing shots as well as some great forehands and volleys. With that kind of tennis, we could see Lopez into the quarterfinals and possibly into the semifinals. If that possible quarterfinal match between Lopez and Murray happens, I wonder who Judy Murray would be voting for.

Sadly for Roddick, this loss came with a barrage of questions from the media about his possible retirement. Seriously? He's still ranked in the top ten, and he is still fit. It's almost as bad as the question addressed to Rafael Nadal about his decline as a tennis player which was asked after Nadal's victory over Ryan Sweeting. If Roddick can find any consolation though, he can tell himself that he was thoroughly outplayed by a superior player on that day.But Roddick really needs to be more aggressive. He can't be content with pushing forehands and slicing backhands. He can't continue to rely on his first serve. Otherwise, he will continue to lose third round matches at the majors.

Wimbledon Day 6 Previews

Caroline Wozniacki [1] vs Jarmila Gajdosova [27]
I'm not sure why they put this match on CC over the Serena-Kirilenko match, but I guess they think it has some potential. Caroline Wozniacki is the WTA number one, and she had a very convincing defeat over Virginie Razzano where she only committed one unforced error. However, during her first match against against      Parra-Santonja, Wozniacki showed us why she doesn't play aggressive and come to net more. She can't. Her netplay is pretty awkward, and she can't volley for shit. However, her consistent high-percentage game will be more than enough to overcome Gajdosova, a player known for her power and her inconsistency.

Wimbledon Day 5 Previews

Feliciano Lopez vs Andy Roddick [8]
Roddick will really need his serve to be on. He has been relying on it to get through matches. (But then again, why should we be surprised?) His backhand is still kind of crappy since he doesn't always make the best decisions with it. (Namely slicing when he's on the offensive)
Lopez is a lefty which means that his serve will be going to the Roddick backhand. He is also good at net. Like Roddick, he prefers his forehand to his backhand. He often slices his backhand, and even when he doesn't, it isn't that great.
Although I'd say that both have a chance at winning, Roddick will come out the victor in three or four sets.

Victoria Azarenka [4] vs Daniela Hantuchova [25]
The much awaited match between Azarenka and Hantuchova-both retired last week at Eastbourne, but I think that they both retired for preventative reasons and to get more rest.
It's definitely a winnable match for both women. They are both pretty good ballstrikers. I'm not really sure who will win though. It all depends on who shows up. If Hantuchova comes to Center Court tomorrow, then Azarenka will go on to the fourth round. However, if Danielle Anotoxfa comes to play, then I'd say Vika is doomed.

Tsevetana Pironkova [32] vs Vera Zvonareva [2]
This is a rematch of last year's semifinal where Zvonareva took the match 3-6 6-3 6-2. Both have good serves in terms of placement, and both have good backhands. However, Pironkova's forehand is quite weak. She hasn't been doing well this year, but she does tend to bring it all at Wimbledon. I'm going to go with Zvonareva on this one though.

The Challenge System

The Hawkeye system was put in place so that players could challenge calls that they felt were incorrect. It came partially as a response to the US Open quarterfinal match between Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati. During that match, Serena had a series of blatantly incorrect line calls made against her.

I think that the challenge system is great. Players get three incorrect challenges per set and an extra challenge in the tiebreak. In matches where tiebreaks aren't played in the final set, players get their incorrect challenge tally reset. However, there are some problems with the challenge system that should be addressed.

The first one is the amount of time taken before a challenge is made. Oftentimes, players spend a large chunk of time deciding whether they should challenge or not. Sometimes, players even look towards their box to see whether they should challenge or not. Other times they spend close to thirty seconds debating with the umpire before challenging. This should not be allowed. A player should have less than three seconds to signal that they want to challenge. Otherwise, the challenge system becomes a form of legal time delay.

During Wimbledon, I've noticed that many players are challenging close balls after they make errors. I don't know why umpires allow the players to challenge. A player should not be given two opportunities to win a point. I understand that a player might be in the middle of their stroke when they notice that the shot they are returning is out. However, when a player hits a shot, realizes that their shot is out, then challenges, they should not be allowed to challenge.

That brings me to the recent tennis scandal known by tennis fans as "Kadergate."

During Doha 2011, Agnieszka Radwanska was playing a match against Lucie Safarova. Safarova hit a ball that was called out but then overruled. Radwanska decided to challenge and was incorrect. Kader Nouni, the umpire, gave the point to Safarova. Radwanska was quite upset because she felt that the point should have been replayed. She definitely had a play on the ball, and, if the umpire thinks that the player had a play on the ball and play is interrupted by a non-player, the point should be replayed.
However, Nouni gave the point to Safarova because Radwanska had challenged and was wrong. When a player interrupts play to challenge and the challenge is incorrect, the player is supposed to lose the point. This sort of point happens often, and most of the time, the umpire allows the point to be replayed. However, I agree with Nouni that, when a player challenges, he or she is interrupting play again and should lose the point.
Thoughts?

But besides those issues that I have with Hawkeye, I think it is a great system and should be implemented on as many courts as possible- even clay courts.

Li Na [3] vs Sabine Lisicki

Lisicki defeats Li in three sets. 3-6 6-4 8-6
It really came down to Na self destructing. Her forehand completely deserted her in the last few games, and Lisicki realized it and started directing the majority of her shots to Li's forehand. Li had two match points, and that's where it became apparent how important a great serve is. Lisicki has such a great first serve, and in a typical Serena fashion, she served her way out of trouble. Lisicki has a great shot at reaching the quarterfinals again as she faces Misaki Doi in the third round and most likely Ivanovic in the Round of 16.

A Call for Help

Hey all, I'm really new to this blogging stuff, so if anyone can help me format my blog, I'd really appreciate it. I'm trying to change the background picture as well as add one of those things on the side that has a list of tags that come up in my posts. (The kind where the tags increase in font size the more I use them)

Wimbledon Mens Predictions for the tournament

Because of the stability of the men's tour compared to the women's tour, it's not really as much fun making predictions since there aren't really as many upsets. However, so as not to appear sexist, I'll give you my predictions.

One of the top three men will win Wimbledon. Murray won't even make the final. Possible outside threats include Berdych and Soderling, but they have the luck of getting Nadal and Djokovic in the quarterfinals, so they're screwed.

Wimbledon Womens Predictions for the tournament

Although Wimbledon is already well underway, I'm going to post my predictions for the WTA.

Quarterfinalists:
Wozniacki-Although she isn't the greatest player on grass (or at all, but that's for another post all together) she has a good draw with her two biggest threats coming in the fourth round with Cibulkova and Goerges, two women who hit the ball quite hard and have both beaten her this year.

Sharapova-Since the only threat that she has in her draw is Peng, she should get to the quarterfinals with ease.

Li-Although she has a tough second round match with Lisicki, she is still an amazing ball striker. However, Roland Garros champions tend not to fare well at Wimbledon a few weeks later.

Serena-Even though she's been out for eleven months, she is still Serena. She has a tough customer in Bartoli in the fourth round, but if she can shake the rust in her game, she should be fine.

Petkovic-I gotta be honest. I had Makarova getting to the quarters in this relatively weak eighth of the draw on the grounds that she won Eastbourne in 2010 and has a good game for grass. But she lost to McHale in the first round, so I'm going with Andrea Petkovic who has been in the quarterfinals of both majors this year.

Azarenka-Azarenka has a good shot at reaching the quarterfinals in a major if she can stay healthy. The one person who can stop her is Daniella Hantuchova, otherwise known as Danielle Anotoxfa. She got to the finals of Birmingham defeating Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams before losing to Sabine Lisicki. If she doesn't choke, she can definitely beat Azarenka in the third round.

Kvitova-Kvitova is a great player who hits the ball very hard and very deep. She got to the semifinals of Wimbledon last year before falling to Serena. There isn't really anyone who can beat her in this eighth than herself.

Zvonareva-This final eighth of the draw is probably one of the strongest with Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Tsvetana Pironkova. Interesting matches will be a rematch of last year's Wimbledon semifinal coming in the third round and a match between the winner of that one and Venus Williams. I'd say that Zvonareva has the edge to get to the quarters on the grounds of Venus's lack of match play.

Semifinalists:

Sharapova-If she can minimize her double faults and her unforced errors, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. She has defeated Wozniacki in the past, and on grass, she'll have an even bigger advantage.

Serena-This was a really tough one to predict, but I think that Serena will have shaken off her rust by the quarterfinals and will prove to be too tough a challenge for Li. However, I think that the winner of this match has a great shot at winning the whole thing.

Azarenka-If she can get past her third round match against Hantuchova, she has a great shot at reaching her maiden semifinal.

Kvitova-She is such a great ballstriker that whoever she faces will have quite a lot of trouble dealing with her.

Finalists:

Serena-It's Serena... on grass... She has such mental toughness and can even overpower Sharapova. She beat her last year at Wimbledon as well.

Kvitova-She can beat anyone in the third quarter of the draw with ease.

Winner:

Serena-Although Kvitova can definitely challenge Serena in almost every aspect of her game, Serena is a 13 time grand slam champion and knows how deal with that pressure. However, as seen in last year's semifinal, Kvitova can put pressure on Serena, and if she can deal with the pressure, she might be the next winner of the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Welcome

I'm opening a tennis blog so that I can share my opinions on tennis. I tend to watch WTA events more than ATP events, so this blog will have more WTA coverage than ATP coverage.

This blog will have regularly weekly previews of tournaments as well as analyses and rants.