Sorry for the rushed previews tonight as Thursday is my tennis night! I was playing reasonably well tonight and i’ve finally started to time my backhand so it actually goes over the net and into the court. Go me. The attention is turning to Wimbledon (YAY) and it was the WTA party tonight. The Wimbledon draw is released on Friday morning at 10am. As always, Moo’s Tennis Blog will be with you every step of the way to cover the most prestigious tennis tournament of the year. The flagship Wimby previews will go up this weekend. I’ll try and get the women’s out on Friday but no promises. Finally I will have some time to really concentrate fully on the blog and I am so excited! Anyway, quick thoughts about the Eastbourne semi-finals and a chance for you to have your say…
1. Caroline Wozniacki v Belinda Bencic
In a third career match-up, Caroline Wozniacki and Belinda Bencic will meet in Eastbourne on Friday. Wozniacki scored a double bagel win in Istanbul last year and Bencic won in straight sets in Indian Wells earlier this year… who knows what will happen this time. Bencic has had a superb grass court season and I just hope she hasn’t overdone it before Wimbledon where with the right draw, I could see her making the second week. Bencic came from a set down to beat Johanna Konta on Thursday. Wozniacki played well against Svetlana Kuznetsova and came through a break-happy opening set against Andrea Petkovic before flying through the second set in the quarters. Bencic is a real threat but as i’ve said before, I feel like this is Caro’s title. Also, Caro was passive in their match at Indian Wells (Bencic played a superb match though) and I feel she can really improve from that match. If she is positive and precise, I think Caro takes this. I’m happy either way to be honest.
Prediction: Wozniacki d. Bencic in 3 sets
2. Agnieszka Radwanska v Sloane Stephens
Sloane Stephens got a day off on Thursday as Daria Gavrilova (poor Dasha!) was forced to withdraw due to injury. Her semi-final opponent, Agnieszka Radwanska is enjoying one of her best weeks of the year. She backed up routs over Irina Falconi and Karolina Pliskova with another straight sets win, this time over Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2 6-2. Pironkova finished with positive stats (27 winners to 19 unforced errors) but Radwanska was superb, posting 24 winners (!) to just 6 unforced errors. It seems things are clicking on the grass, but i’m still slightly wary as that appeared the case in Nottingham where she won three matches and then got third set bagelled by Monica Niculescu. The quality of the competition in Eastbourne though has been far greater than Nottingham and her performances have been much more impressive.
Aga leads the head-to-head over Sloane, 3-0 but two of those matches did go the distance. I’m pro Sloane at the moment and she seems to finally be realising her potential… however, I think the match-up suits Aga. She has lost first round in Eastbourne for three consecutive years, but everything’s different this year! Now that she’s here (the WTA party is over!), she might as well give it her all and go for the title as more wins will likely help to keep building confidence before Wimby. Aga for the win.
Prediction: Radwanska d. Stephens in 2 tight sets
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I’d love a Bencic Radwanska final purely because of the Hingis factor- Aga was dubbed the mini Martina years ago, but now Hingis is firmly hacking Bencic as her successor.
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Out of all the possible finals, Radwanska v Bencic is my favourite. They’ve never played before also!
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I will turn off my tivo if the final is between these two.
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Lol Sudut. There you go. Woz reitres. I’ll have to watch it at least once-hoping for Bencic to win although I’m a big Radwanska fan. She can afford to lose this one.
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I must say I was never a fan of Hingis,I admired her tennis skills,though to me she was a bad sport,moving on I have been a fan of Sloane,which has been very frustrating over the years,her problem to me is between her ears,she has the skills,I have been delighted watching her at Eastbourne this week,she has to skills to defeat Aga,hopefully she won’t let me down and I will pick her to win
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I’m too young to have followed during Hingis’ reign. But she comes across quite spoiled/entitled. She made quite a lot of cringe worthy comments about her fellow players being “passed it” and “old”. It was sort of karma that her body failed her when she was still really young. You get the sense that even had it not been for injury, she’d have had serious difficulties against the Williams sisters.
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Andrew,to me Hingis was never the same player when she had her ankle issues,sad to say,yes she did have a acid tongue on her,especially in the press regarding other players.I will never forget the time when she refused to come on court for the trophy presentation at Roland Garos where she lost to Graf,her mother had to escort her on court,she was in tears mind you,I was a huge admirer of Graf.Serena and Venus in my mind would have blown her off court.
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Well I do think that the Paris crowd were BRUTAL to her in that match against Graff. She was only a kid really and bratty as she was, she didn’t deserve to be booed so vehemently.
Her worst moment for me was when she said Serena and Venus we’re lucky to be black because it meant they could use the race card whenever they wanted. Only someone with a sheltered upbringing would think in such a manner…
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Martina Hingis had failed the concaine drug test in 2007 when she tried returning to the sports. I don’t respect such personality. TBH, I do not like Bencic either for her attitude on court. She was lucky to win in the QF because Konta has exhausted herself playing all the tough matches.
I would prefer a Sloan and Caro final.
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Again, I’m not defending Hingis, but the reports stated that the amount of cocaine found in her system was so small that it was likely ingested without her even knowing.
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Even a small amount is unacceptable since she is a public figure. She is considered a role model for young players. I am surprised you can accept this kind of low morale athletic. My two bits.
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I don’t condone anything of the sort, but 42ngs of cocaine, which is what they found, is NOTHING. You’d find more on a £20 note. To put things in perspective, they changed the way they tested after this happened and now you have to have a reading of over 150 ngs to prove positive.
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My sentiments about Stephens are the same. Think she dwells too much on each and every lost point. But she’s gotte much better in this regard! Also a preferred fan of hers-admittedly cuz she can roast anything you put on the pan. I know its not the easiest thing in tennis but id like to see her be more consistent w her better tennis for 2 straight sets-at least in mental intensity to be able to be almost as competitive when the longer momentum swings aren’t going her way and grab points from will alone. Like AHEM…COUGHING…Serena. jesus excuse me…be back tomorrow.
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And the only ones blowing the Williams sisters of the court were my fellow Belgian girls Kim and Justine. They retired to quickly 😦
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Clijsters only blew Serena off the court twice in eleven attempts. And Henin only really dominated Serena on clay. It is a shame they never met more though.
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I’m going to be horrified if it’s an Aga Caro final and both of them run each other into the ground before Wimbledon.
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I think it may just be so.
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With “naked” mind Aga and Caro seems to go through and play the finals but when I wear my traders cap on I feel both matches can be very intriguing and can go to the distance. Caro can be a bit slow and take time to get into groove and if her back is good which she was complaining of yesterday she will take it in three sets.Sloane-Aga is a near 50-50, even if Aga takes the first set its better to take a chance to lay her for Sloane to take charge of second set.In any case both matches can give ample opportunities and won’t be a ONE-WAY TRAFFIC. Cheerzzzzzzzzzz
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I don’t think both matches will be one way traffic too. Petko basically is not very fit to play in Eastbourne after French Open. I think Bencic will give Caro some troubles. Furthermore, Bencic has improved so much since Indian Well. Even Caro wins this one, it will not settle in two.
Sloane has improved a lots lately. She hits the ball very clean and she managed to trouble Serena in Roland Garros therefore I don’t think it will be a cakewalk for Aga. In fact, it may be an upset in making. People just think highly about Aga because of the past.
I guess both matches may have to decide in three sets.
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Nice of you to finally admit Bencic is worth some of her hype.
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She is talented but I don’t think she can win grand slam at this stage. She wins because other players are not consistent. JoKo is one good example. It is not she is capable of beating them anytime. She is very similar to Martina Hingis with a little more powers.
Martina Hingis managed to win some grand slams because other players were inconsistent and Graft took a long break before returning to sports. In addition, Seles got stabbed by an idiot to disrupt her momentum.
Frankly speaking, I don’t care who wins so long as they play three sets and I take my money.
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