Nastia Pavlyuchenkova Underperformers in 2012 – With the promising talent emerging in 2012, there have been several disappointments as well. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who I tipped for the top 10 at the start of the year has really stalled and become a wasted talent. I really wish that she would get a permanent coach and rigid…
Andy Murray made a fine start to his clay court season with a 6-0 6-3 thumping of Viktor Troicki. Murray recorded his fifth straight victory over Troicki, who has had an uninspiring year so far. Murray will play the winner of Julien Benneteau and Jurgen Melzer in the third round. Juan Monaco, who was coming…
It now seems a good time with no WTA tournaments next week to take stock and review the progress of how the women are faring in 2012 so far. We are now into the clay court season with all systems go for the second Grand Slam at Roland Garros at the end of the May. …
You can now view my full predictions for this week’s tournament in Monte-Carlo here. I have gone for the top eight seeds to all reach the quarter-finals, but fancy Tipsarevic to spring a surprise by reaching the semi-finals.
The men’s clay court season well and truly kicks off this week in the most luxurious of settings in Monte-Carlo. Here is my preview to the draw…. First projected quarter-final – Novak Djokovic (1) v David Ferrer (5) Novak Djokovic returns to Monte-Carlo having skipped the tournament last year and will open his title bid…
This week sees the beginning of the European clay court season in Barcelona and the hard court tournament in Denmark, which continues to somersault around the calendar each year… WTA Copenhagen Caroline Wozniacki Copenhagen boasts a much stronger line-up than previous years although Caroline Wozniacki looks a dead cert to reach the final with much…
Serena Williams was utterly dominant in the Charleston final as she won her first title since the Premier event in Toronto last August with a 6-0 6-1 victory over Lucie Safarova. Like Stosur in the semi-finals, Safarova did not do a lot wrong as she was thoroughly outplayed by the rampant American. There will be…
Polona Hercog (14) v Lucie Safarova (9) Lucie Safarova The top half of the Charleston draw always looked a little ropey compared to the bottom half and things have panned out that way with two unexpected faces making the semi-finals; however lets not write them off just yet as both have sparkled on the green…
Serena Williams has reached her first semi-final of the year at the expense of Sabine Lisicki, who had to retire from their quarter-final match down 1-4 due to an ankle injury. Lisicki has had a history of ankle problems so it must have a very worrying situation for her. There was a nice moment at…
Nadia Petrova Polona Hercog (14) v Nadia Petrova (13) Hercog caused the upset of the tournament in the third round as she took out the number three seed, Marion Bartoli, 6-4 1-6 6-4. The Slovenian showed great fight to recover from a 4-2 deficit in the third set and has flourished on the green clay…
