The quarter-final line-up is all set for the Aegon Classic in Birmingham and it’s looking good! First up on Centre Court on Thursday was the number two seed, Elina Svitolina against Camila Giorgi. The dangerous Italian, who has had some great results on grass, scored her second top ten win of the year with a 6-4 4-6 6-2 victory.
It sounds as if Svitolina has some injury concerns and that Wimbledon may be a doubt.
I’d tagged Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Alison Riske as an upset alert but that was not the case at all as Muguruza dropped just five games in a 6-1 6-4 win over Alison Riske.
Muguruza’s press conference is linked below from the WTA’s Facebook page.
While dropping her focus and aggression at times, Kristina Mladenovic was clutch when it mattered. The Frenchwoman beat Zhang Shuai in a tight two setter, 6-4 7-6(3). Mladenovic saved a break point serving for the first set and sealed it with some clinical serving. In a topsy-turvy second set, Mladenovic simply played the better tennis in the second set tiebreak.
CoCo Vandeweghe made a statement with a 6-1 6-3 win over Johanna Konta. The first set was a sensational display from Vandeweghe – most impressive was her return, which put Konta under so much pressure. Vandeweghe backed off a tad at the start of the second set but her serve kept her on level terms. Konta committed a stream of errors at the end as Vandeweghe comfortably sealed the win.
All four quarter-finals are top notch – most intrigued for Kvitova vs. Mladenovic!
Who you got? I’m going for Safarova, Mladenovic, Vandeweghe and Barty.
Over in Mallorca, Ana Konjuh ended Victoria Azarenka’s first tournament back with a thumping, 6-1 6-3 win. Happy both ways – Azarenka is back and Konjuh seems to be rounding into some form after a shaky few months on tour.
Roberta Vinci and Anastasija Sevastova prevailed in a pair of lengthy three setters over Kirsten Flipkens and Varvara Lepchenko respectively, while Caroline Garcia and Jana Cepelova have still yet to complete their second round match in the third match this week to be halted for darkness in Mallorca.
The qualifying draw for Eastbourne is already out with all 12 first round matches scheduled for Friday – note it’s now up on the live scores app. The pick of the bunch has to be Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Marketa Vondrousova. I’m really hoping to see Vondrousova for the first time, but Pironkova on grass can be lethal.
And finally, one more day of work to get through until holidays and live tennis! My focus will soon be switching to Eastbourne. I’m heading down to the South coast on Friday night for the week and I have media accreditation with the blog. My fingers are crossed for a smoother train journey compared to last year!
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Garcia vs Cepelova has been one cracking match so far! I’ve missed bits due to watching on my phone in work, but there have been some brilliant rallies and astonishing winners from both women. Garcia REALLY unhappy that the match was suspended due to darkness. Bit of a joke that that should even happen really… does Mallorca have only one tennis court that they can use?!
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Scheduling matches so late with no light and on grass seems odd to me. Third time this week they’ve had a match suspended and Cepelova is supposed to be in qualifying in Eastbourne this afternoon!
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Theres a good chance Garcia wont complete her QF match this evening either if it gets competetive… considering that shes the defending champ, youd think theyd try and accomodate her a little more.
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CC Bellis over Kr Pliskova 6-3, 6-2. Bellis, playing well, had only 6 UFE for the match. The key to the match imo was CC forcing the 6′ Kr Plis to move from side to side. I don’t understand short players hitting the ball down the middle of the court where the big players can just stand in one place and knock the fuzz off the ball.
I thought CC would not be able to handle the power of the big lefty Kr Plis, but I was wrong once again.
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Cici is having one hell of a year. I fully expect her to make a quarter final in a Slam fairly soon.
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Saw a photo of Aga Radwanska on the Peter Pan site(above) where she looks much too thin.
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Goerges totally overpowered Bellis in Mallorca(6-1,6-1), serves, service returns, and ground strokes. Who does Bellis play in the first round of Eastbourne?——Georges!!!
(Unless the schedule is changed)
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Knowing Julia, shell lose 60 60…
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Goerges is having an incredible run this week. Hadn’t won a match on grass since 2012 Olympics before this tournament I think?
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