I love the grass court season so there will be plenty of updates over the next few months whether you like it or not! Sabine Lisicki was the first name to be officially confirmed  for the 2014 AEGON Classic in Birmingham.  It has also been suggested on the Women’s Tennis Forums that Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic have committed to play too.  Tickets for the AEGON Classic are now on general sale and can be bought here.  I’m hoping to go for a day but I am waiting for the full line-up, which should be announced in six weeks time.  Anyway majorly off-topic… back to a dazzling duo of quarter-finals in Miami. 

1. Maria Sharapova v Petra Kvitova (WTA Miami, QF)

Petra Kvitova wasn’t even a consideration for making the quarters in my draw, but she has done just that.  Kvitova had one of those “on” days as she produced some tremendous tennis to beat Ana Ivanovic, 3-6 6-0 6-0.  It is worth noting that Ivanovic was terrific in the first set and served so well.  It is also worth noting that her game disintegrated in the second and third sets, but this was partly due to Kvitova hitting everything in and forcing Ivanovic to lose it a bit as anyone would playing peak-Petra.  I keep going on about the heat and humidity for Petra’s asthma, but won’t mention it again this week!

Maria Sharapova also needed three sets to get past Kirsten Flipkens.  She turned it around, but it wasn’t a great match for Maria having absolutely rolled past Flipkens in their past three match-ups.  The thought of a Sharapova-Kvitova match hadn’t even crossed my mind despite it being the seeded match.  It’s a real bonus for Miami because they haven’t played since the 2012 French Open and it’s always an intriguing match-up even if there is the possibility it could be an error-strewn mess.  If Petra can deliver today’s form against Ivanovic then she will win.  The likelihood though is that she won’t.  If you focus generally on their seasons so far, neither have been impressive; however the winner of this match will be guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals and their best result of the year so far.

Prediction: Sharapova d. Kvitova in 3 sets

2. Serena Williams v Angelique Kerber (WTA Miami, QF)

Serena Williams has emerged unscathed after a series of shaky performances in Miami.  There have wobbles and sets lost along the way, but there is no doubt she remains the favourite for the tournament and will be all the more stronger by passing three tricky challenges.  Serena dropped a set in her third round match against a very resilient, Caroline Garcia, who surprisingly wouldn’t let up in the third set.  In the fourth round, she returned after a rain break with her best form of the week as she ousted Coco Vandeweghe, 6-3 6-1.

Serena’s quarter-final opponent is Angelique Kerber, who has done really well this week.  In the fourth round, she held her nerve to improve her record in three set matches this year with a 6-4 1-6 6-3 win over Ekaterina Makarova.  I followed some of the match on the live scoreboard and got the sense it was a good match.  There were plenty of drawn out games, but only four breaks of serve in the two hour and 10 minute contest.  Kerber has earnt a win over Serena in Cincy in 2012.  Serena has since, won their last two matches in straight sets, losing no more than four games in a set.  Kerber’s form has been impressive this week, but she will need to rely on another Serena shocker to progress.

Prediction: Serena d. Kerber in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)