Mona Barthel reached her first final of 2014 with a gutsy three set victory over Silvia Soler-Espinosa, 6-2 4-6 7-5 in Bastad. I’ve watched many Mona matches this year and they almost always end in disappointment for Mona fans. This time round, the German world number 61 held her nerves and produced some surprisingly positive…
Alexander Zverev reached his first ATP main draw quarter-fnal with another fabulous win, this time defeating Santiago Giraldo, 6-4 7-6(6). According to the ATP website, Zverev is the first 17 year old to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP 500 event since Rafael Nadal advanced to this stage of the tournament in Dubai in 2004. …
The main draws in Birmingham, Queens and Halle all kicked off today. My first round predictions for Birmingham are following a similar trend to 2013. Looking at my full draw predictions, i’ve never seen such a solid cluster of red. There were a number of surprising results; one of the more eye popping was Victoria…
There have been many surprises at this year’s Roland Garros, but perhaps the greatest of them all is Pauline Parmentier reaching the second week of Roland Garros. The world number 145 has had some reasonable results on the ITF tour this year, winning a title in Grenoble in February. However she had not won a…
I was looking forward to Tuesday’s night session in Stuttgart, but didn’t quite expect what we got. The schedule kicked off at 5.30pm and was still going when I gave up for sleep at the end of the second set of this match. Jelena Jankovic produced a stirring comeback, saving four match points to beat…
Unbelievable news overnight that after losing in three sets to Simona Halep, Marion Bartoli has decided to retire from tennis with immediate effect. A really shocking, but sad storyline. A blog post on Bartoli coming later tonight… 1. Roger Federer v Tommy Haas Tommy Haas For the second time this year, best buds Roger Federer…
1. Victoria Azarenka v Francesca Schiavone (Carlsbad, R2) Victoria Azarenka 2013 has been a bit of a rollercoaster year for Victoria Azarenka. The first few months could not have been much better for Vika as she claimed her second Australian Open title in January and earnt a win over the world number one, Serena Williams…
I have found a bit of spare time to preview the best of the womens 4th rounders as all eight matches will take place tonight in Indian Wells! Sam Stosur 1. Sam Stosur v Mona Barthel The second section remains wide open and the young German, Mona Barthel remains in the hunt for her best…
1. Ana Ivanovic v Mona Barthel Ana Ivanovic The most exciting of the entire list of womens third round matches will see Ana Ivanovic take on Mona Barthel. Ivanovic progressed to the 3rd round with a very comfortable win against the 16-year-old, Taylor Townsend, 6-1 6-2, meanwhile Barthel lost just two more games against Kiki…
Caroline Wozniacki 1. Caroline Wozniacki v Mona Barthel Caroline Wozniacki will face her biggest challenge in Doha yet as she takes on the in-form, Mona Barthel. Wozniacki saved four set points in the first set of her second round match with Sorana Cirstea before strolling through the second to win, 7-6(7) 6-0. It was a…
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