Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from Cincy because of a hand injury she got in Toronto.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.
Showing posts with label Azarenka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Azarenka. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
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!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
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.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
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:
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.
Caroline Wozniacki
Victoria Azarenka
Petra Kvitova
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.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
[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.
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.
Monday, June 27, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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.
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