Kvitova halts Kerber in Stuttgart

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…

ATP Barcelona Predictions and more…

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…

Angelique Kerber shines in Stuttgart opener

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…

Monte-Carlo review: Nadal reigns supreme

Rafael Nadal finally turned the tables on Novak Djokovic as he continued his marvellous winning streak in Monte-Carlo and inflicted a defeat on the Serb, his first since the 2010 World Tour Finals in London.  Although it was a crucial win for Nadal, Djokovic was emotionally exhausted having suffered the loss of his grandfather earlier…

WTA Stuttgart: Preview and Predictions

This week’s headline tournament on the WTA tour comes from Stuttgart and is set to be a cracker with all of the top 8 players taking part.  This tournament was voted by the players as the best Premier event on tour last year so it comes as no surprise to see such an exciting line-up…

Simon defeats lacklustre Tsonga in Monte-Carlo

Gilles Simon Gilles Simon, who had lost his last four encounter to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, turned the table on his fellow compatriot with a solid 7-5 6-4 victory.  Simon took advantage of some wayward hitting from Tsonga and the slow conditions to reach the semi-finals.  I was impressed with Simon today who played a very good…