Heather Watson The first round of the Estoril Open has wrapped up with all eight seeds progressing safely to the second round. Kaia Kanepi produced the most impressive scoreline on day 2 as she defeated the promising American youngster Sloane Stephens, 6-1 6-0 in just 47 minutes. Polona Hercog also scored a bagel in a…
Maria Sharapova capped off a tremendous week as she beat an injury affected Victoria Azarenka, 6-1 6-4 in the Stuttgart final. Azarenka had won their two previous encounters in 2012 in straight sets, but Sharapova turned the tables on the world number one with an excellent display of 31 winners to just 13 unforced errors. …
There are a host of tournaments being played on the WTA and ATP circuits next week but I will be mainly focusing on the women’s event in Estoril. Let’s take a look at the draw: First half Nadia Petrova Roberta Vinci is the number one seed and will play Nina Bratchikova in the first round. …
Maria Sharapova produced another terrific display to snap Petra Kvitova‘s 27 match winning streak on indoor courts with a 6-4 7-6 semi-final victory. Kvitova struggled to deal with the Sharapova serve in a forgettable first set, which saw few rallies. Kvitova came to life in a sensational second set, but was unable to make her…
After three marathon quarter-finals in Stuttgart, the last one was the quickest, but still provided some fine tennis as Petra Kvitova beat Angelique Kerber, 6-4 6-4. Kvitova hit some special winners as she closed both sets out in clinical fashion. Kvitova is my tip for the title although I have to admit, I thought Kerber…
Maria Sharapova The quarter-finals in Stuttgart promised a lot and completely lived up to their billing with a series of thrilling encounters. Victoria Azarenka held off a barrage of winners from Mona Barthel to record a 6-4 6-7 7-5 victory in 2 hours and 48 minutes. Barthel hit a staggering 64 winners but still ended…
Victoria Azarenka Victoria Azarenka and Mona Barthel will square off for the fourth time this year after both progressed to the Stuttgart quarter-finals. Azarenka advanced when Andrea Petkovic had to retire at 6-2 4-4 down after twisting her ankle. It was heartbreaking to see Petkovic pull out after returning from a back injury this week…
You can keep up to date with all my predictions so far this week by clicking on the links below: WTA Stuttgart – Correctly predicted 12 of 14 matches so far including Mona Barthel’s win over Ana Ivanovic. ATP Barcelona – Correctly predicted 14 out of 16 of the second round matches including three wins from…
Ana Ivanovic If you have been reading some of my blog entries, you will no doubt have read me harping on about Mona Barthel! After a few setbacks in recent weeks, she delivered one of her biggest wins to date with a 7-5 7-6 victory over Ana Ivanovic. I was unable to watch the match…
Angelique Kerber won her first ever main draw match in Stuttgart with a superb 6-2 6-3 victory over Roberta Vinci. It was a highly entertaining match and one of the best individual performances I have witnessed in 2012. Vinci ran out of ideas in the end as Kerber dealt beautifully with everything the Italian threw…
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