The final match of the day in Melbourne saw CoCo Vandeweghe roll into the quarter-finals, ousting the world number one, Angelique Kerber, 6-2 6-3. It was a strange match and it didn’t have that feeling of a number one seed being beaten, perhaps because it was so late in Melbourne.
It was an excellent performance from Vandeweghe who won the last five games of the match. The game she played to break Kerber at 4-3 was especially good but I was more taken by how lacklustre Kerber performed and how quickly things wrapped up at the end. The German player really struggled for any kind of rhythm on her groundstrokes, lacking depth throughout the entire match. I can’t say I really liked CoCo’s celebrations at the end…
Another match that went against the seeding on Sunday was the first of the day on Rod Laver Arena where the number 24 seed, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated the number eight seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-3.
While I had fancied Kuznetsova to win the match, Pavlyuchenkova winning was not a surprise. The 25-year-old had beaten Kuznetsova just last week in Sydney and her talent has never been questioned. With the win, Pavlyuchenkova has now completed a clean sweep of quarter-finals across the Slams. She will be going for a first ever Slam semi-final on Tuesday!
Pavlyuchenkova plays Venus Williams in the quarter-finals after the American ended Mona Barthel’s run with a 6-3 7-5 win. Venus was coy about her arm/elbow injury in press but she’s looked good so far and is yet drop a set through her first four matches.
Congrats to Mona on a great two weeks! You can now follow her on Twitter 🙂
In a muted encounter with a poor crowd attendance on Margaret Court Arena, Garbiñe Muguruza eased past Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 6-3. It was a super solid display from Muguruza who hit 18 winners to just nine (!) unforced errors. The strapping is still on the leg but Muguruza looks in complete control of her game and seems relaxed in press. Can I do my WTA predictions for the top ten again please? 😂
As the number of singles matches wanes, i’m paying more attention to the doubles. Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato upset the number four seeds, Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova. Their celebrations were adorable!
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni is having a tremendous tournament as she is into the quarter-finals of doubles along with Andrea Petkovic after they defeated the number eight seeds, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. The pair are set to play Hozumi and Kato in the quarter-finals.
I’ve loved the Twitter Blue Room features with Nick McCarvel and this one with Andrea Petkovic was an absolute hoot!
Both world number ones exited the AO today with Mischa Zverev producing a stunning upset of Andy Murray. Zverev played an amazing match and he was an absolute demon at the net. To be honest, I think it’s refreshing to see such a wide-open men’s draw and I am genuinely excited to see who will come through.
LOL
Been wondering like me what happened to Margarita Gasparyan? Here’s an update…
4th round previews for Monday’s matches including Serena Williams v Barbora Strycova and Johanna Konta v Ekaterina Makarova are now up on the blog. I’m pissed at the schedule with both these matches up early. I’m tempted to set my alarm for midnight but i’ll be such a grump at work on Monday haha!
For the other two matches, a few thoughts…
Karolina Pliskova v Daria Gavrilova – I watched their last match live in Eastbourne where Pliskova absolutely crushed Gavrilova with her power. The court surface will probably give Gavrilova a little more chance but having survived the match against Jelena Ostapenko, 10-8 in the third set, and now playing against an opponent where she can play her own game, I think that Pliskova will advance in straights.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni v Jennifer Brady – Phwoo, I still can’t believe this is a fourth rounder! New experiences for both at the AO but Brady is deep into uncharted territory. Lucic-Baroni did have an injury concern in her third round win over Sakkari but she was out playing doubles on Sunday so i’m not sure how much of a concern it is. No insight with this match to be honest but i’d take MLB.
And finally, a classy handshake from yesterday between Daria Gavrilova and Timea Bacsinszky.
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Well.. don’t know what to say. I was really convinced Angie would be dealing well with CoCo🙈🙈🙈
However, I don’t mind that much…she still has two majors and a year end no. 1 ranking. 😉
Entirely cheering for a Garbi vs Plishy final now! Also, I do hope Garbi is trashing CoCo, what an arrogant way to celebrate a victory. Credit to Angie for giving a proper handshake though.. 😀
LikeLike
I understand that most people don’t like Coco for her political views and cocky attitude, but her game is so huge! It’s almost unfair that she is judged on her personality and not her game. I feel like her matches are always interesting to watch, mostly due to the fact that she has such a fiery personality.
It is very clear that she isn’t in awe of who she’s playing, which was apparent in her celebrations. She probably expects to win these big-name matches, and a little arrogance, in my opinion, really can help in racking up those wins. That’s just my opinion though, please don’t annihilate me for it!
LikeLike
There’s a huge gap between a healthy attitude and an unhealty one. I never said Coco has a bad game though – it’s flashy and when she’s feeling it, it’s great to watch. If she could stop the mental lapses her game has sometimes (see beginning of 2nd set) she’d be a huge threat and not only a giant-killer.
However, I still deeply dislike her because of her tantrums, her behaviour on and off court and her non-tolerable political conviction. Especially because of the latter one I will never cheer for her. Never. Ever. This is my very own personal opinion and I don’t hate people/fans because they support her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do understand where you are coming from, and I can only wish that others were as mature in their approach to Coco’s win(s) as you are! Some of the things I read on twitter were absolutely disgusting. She’s a human being, just like you and me, and those comments would penetrate even the toughest of shells.
Kudos to you for accepting the fact that she was the better player, by a large margin, tonight, without drowning her in a pool of abuse.
LikeLike
of course, Agha. Credit to Coco. I thought Angie would easily win in two but was blasted off court today by Coco. It was a mixture of composed serving and controlled power combined by Angie not beeing her usual fighting self 😉
Although I’ll cheer for Garbi (one of my favourites + above mentioned reasons) I could see Coco winning this *if* she plays like today.
LikeLike
No not at all, Agha! Everyone is entitled to an opinion. For sure, her matches are interesting and she played a great match today. Personally, I just find her arrogant and I don’t warm to her personality.
LikeLike
Oh, James, you really are the sweetest. Thanks for always being so mature about things, and for doing a great job covering the Open! I havent been able to watch as many matches as I wanted to, and your posts have kept me updated. Thanks for being the best tennis blog out there! Really dont know what I’d do without you.
LikeLike
Thanks, Agha! 🙂 I’m so glad the posts have been useful.
LikeLike
Along with players like Maria and Vika, I do readily like that fiery play that Coco brings when she is switched on. But, on a sunday afternoon, I’m an English tea type of person. With some sandwich, or muffin, maybe even some crackers, just depends on my mood. The good thing is she isn’t that pretentious, you get what you see or hear for that matter. I try to keep their personalities away from their play on court. Angelique Kerber couldn’t frustrate her in the first set, I knew she was done for. Cibulkova actually provided the blueprint at YEC on how to take on Kerber.
On hindsight, the women’s section has not really had a great match thus far(imo). I’ve really enjoyed some of the men’s encounters. Just hoping Garbine is also cooking up something good for this encounter. Could be a bruising affair, Coco is on a hunt for scalps. Looking at the draws, it could actually be a fierce-some four left in the semi finals.
LikeLike
I totally agree with you! If we’re lucky, we might get a super heated affair between Garbi and Coco! So excited.
LikeLike
I agree, i’m still waiting for *the match*. I think with the draw there’s a good chance we’ll get some decent ones. I’m particularly intrigued about Serena’s section with Konta and Pliskova lurking and hoping there could be a potential cracker from that section. I’m quite excited about the prospect of Serena-Bara tonight.
LikeLike
Kerber played 22 tournaments just to be No.1. And nobody fear Kerber and she is not a consistent player. So don’t act like Kerber is unbeatable. The best matches I seen Kerber played is when she played Serena, Maria and Vika. Other then that she is OK. She needs to play how she plays these players on a consistency basis.
LikeLike
I’d argue that Kerber’s best matches have actually been against Pliskova.
LikeLike
There are very few players that I dislike on the WTA tour and Coco is one of them. I dislike her style of play and her arrogant brash attitude. That is just my opinion and I have no knowledge of her political views. I will be cheering for Muguruza to beat her. I will also be cheering for Daria Gavrilova ( one of my favs ) to beat Pliskova but I will be surprised if she does. Andrea Petkovic is often fun to listen to and might be an entertaining tennis pundit/commentator when she retires as her english is very good.
LikeLike
Gavrilova’s had a great run, I really thought she’d struggle to get past Konjuh in R2! I’ll be surprised also if she makes it past Pliskova but she’ll have the crowd on her side. That’s a good point about Petkovic, I agree that she’d make for a superb commentator.
LikeLike
Coco is your typical middle class American. She comes from a family of beauty Queens and sport stars, it’s hardly surprising that shes a spoiled princess.
LikeLike