The start of the ATP season

There are three ATP tournaments that kick off the 2011 tennis calendar… ATP Doha Doha has the strongest draw with Nadal and Federer as the two top seeds. Nadal opens up against Karol Beck and is likely to face his first test in the QF where his projected opponent is the talented Ernests Gulbis. Davydenko…

WTA Auckland

This years women’s tournament in Auckland sees a number of Russian stars taking to the court. Maria Sharapova is the number 1 seed and will be joined by fellow Russians, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina and the number 2 seed, Yanina Wickmayer. Sharapova will take on the talented Spaniard, Carla Suarez Navarro in round 1…

WTA Brisbane

Brisbane is headlined by number 1 seed Samantha Stosur, Shahar Peer, Nadia Petrova and Marion Bartoli. Stosur is currently ranked at number 6 in the world after a stellar 2010 season and will look to build in this stage of the season where she is defending relatively few points. She faces a qualifier in Round…

2011 Tennis begins – The Hopman Cup

We are finally back to business in the tennis world as the new season kicks off! One of the many tournaments this week is the Hopman Cup as we begin our preparation for the Australian Open. Last year saw the fascinating partnership between Laura Robson and Andy Murray which made this one of my favourite…

ATP World Tour Finals Preview

After a long season for the Men, it will come to a climax in the World Tour Finals at the O2 in London. The groups look pretty even on paper with Group A containing Nadal, Djokovic, Berdych and Roddick and Group B being contested with Federer, Soderling, Murray and Ferrer. In Group A, Nadal will…

Kim Reigns in Doha

Kim Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the WTA season ending championships in Doha with a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory as the tournament ended in style. After two disappointing semi-finals with second set collapses from both Sam Stosur and Vera Zvonareva, Clijsters and Wozniacki met in a high quality encounter, only their second following the US…

WTA Beijing – Wozniacki reaches number 1

The talking point this week in Beijing has been Caroline Wozniacki’s rise to World Number 1. Wozniacki had to reach the Quarter-finals to knock Serena off the top and she did that with a convincing win over Petra Kvitova. Several months ago Kvitova had demolished Wozniacki in the 4th round at Wimbledon in what seems…