Week 31/1/07 Preview

Ok so these are the names I'm routing for this week
Nicole Vaidisova (Gold Coast)
Na Li (Gold Coast)
Amelie Mauresmo (Gold Coast)
Flavia Pennetta (Gold Coast)
Dinara Safina (Gold Coast)
Agnes Szavay (Gold Coast)

Sadly Zi Yan already lost to Natalie Dechy earlier on.

Ashley Harkleroad (Auckland)
Lindsay Davanport (Auckland)
Michaella Krajicek (Auckland)
Maria Kirilenko (Auckland)
Dmitry Tursunov (Doha)
Andy Murray (Doha)
Mikhail Youzhny (Chennai)
Lleyton Hewitt (Adelaide)
Mario Ancic (Adelaide)
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (Adelaide)

Next Generation Adelaide - INTERNATIONAL SERIES - HARD

This tournament has three names which I would like to see go far this year and they are Lleyton Hewitt, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Mario Ancic. The final I'm routing for is Lleyton Hewitt against Mario Ancic other than that I'm not to interested in this tournament.

Chennai Open - INTERNATIONAL SERIES - HARD

There is only one player in this tournament I'm interested for them to do well in and that is Mikhail Youzhny, the reason why I don't want to be too concerned with this tournament is that Rafael Nadal and Marcos Baghdatis are the top 2 seeds and will probably dominate this.

Qatar Open - INTERNATIONAL SERIES - HARD

My interest in this tournament comes largely from the British participation of Andy Murray who I hope will win this tournament.
The first quarter will either be dominated by Nikolay or be lacking some seeded players. I think people should watch out for Nicolas Kiefer but I'm definitely routing for Dmitry Tursunov.
Andy Murray doesn't have an extremely difficult field to pass through to the semis but Igor Andreev could be tricky.
Except not wanting Janko Tipsaveric from the bottom half to do well I think my interest really ownly lies in the top half. I hop Ivan Ljubicic will do well as he hasn't been recently
I'm routing for
Dmitry Tursunov
Andy Murray

ASB Classic - TIER IV - HARD

To be very honest with you I'm not very interested in this tournament except for Lindsay Davenport expected to play here.
I have to say the top half poses no interest for me really, however the bottom half has three interesting names who I want to see do well this year and they are Michaella Krajicek, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Kirilenko. I ultimately hope that the winner comes from one of them three. I'm routing for:
Ashley Harkleroad (1st Quarter)
Akiko Morigami (2nd Quarter)
Michaella Krajicek & Lindsay Davenport (3rd Quarter)
Maria Kirilenko (4th Quarter)

Mondial Australian Womens' Hardcourts - TIER III - HARD

This is the first and tournament of the WTA season, though only a Tier III event the Gold Coast is packed with great players all vying for the title.
The first group looks interesting, we have Nicole Vaidisova (one of my favourite players) who shouldn't find muh difficulty in the opponents in her first quartet. I'm interested to see whether Na Li is back in form as she is a great player and it was dissapointing to see her injured last year, hopefully she'll give Sybille a difficult time and be able to face Nicole in the Quarters. Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo are on the same quartet. They don't have many strong players in between them but they should watch out for them as they can prove to be difficult when in their groove. As I'm Chinese I'm routing for Zi Yan to be able to do some damage. Shahar Peer and Dinara Safina are in the next quartet and except for a possible Flavia Pennetta I don't see any problem for them. The problem with Flavia is that she has been inconsistent, I'm hoping she is on her good side this week so to begin on a high. Agnes Szavay and Nadia Petrova are in the last Quartet. This quartet has some death traps I think Julia is a very good player to start off against as she is quite tough. Both Victoria and Ai will prove a challenge for Agnes, whilst on Nadia's side we have Virginie who had a good streak of matches near the end of last year so I'm looking out for a potential upset considering Nadia's injury streak last year.
Expected Quarterfinal lineup
Nicole Vaidisova Vs. Na Li
Patty Schnyder Vs. Amelie Mauresmo
Shahar Peer Vs. Dinara Safina
Agnes Szavay Vs. Nadia Petrova
This is my prediction but I think at least two will differ.

What I want
Nicole Vaidisova Vs. Na Li
Meghann Shaughnessy Vs. Zi Yan
Julie Ditty Vs. Flavia Pennetta
Agnes Szavay Vs. Nobody

Start of a New Season

Well I didn't finish my last post about the Year Ending Tournament where Justine reigned supreme so I'll have to just skip that section and get to the beginning of this season.

Semi-Final Line Up Completed

Well only 3 more matches on the WTA Singles Tour until the season ends and it's looking like a final match between Justine and Maria.
First let's go to the Yellow Group.
Justine was sure to place in the top 2 I believed before the tournament and she has shown her strength and depth in the game, personally I believed the last spot would go to Jankovic or Serena but as Serena had to retire from injury Bartoli took her spot. From that retirement Anna Chakvetadze was ahead of the game with one free match on her hands. Looking at the aweful form Jelena Jankovic was in Chakvetadze was deemed to be the second semifinalist and that became true. Therefore letting Justine win the group and Anna come second in an awefully easy line up in the end as main threats Jelena and Serena had fallen from grace.
The match between Justine and Jelena had determined much of the proceedings of the future matches, the easy defeat by Jelena meant that she was not in form and directly contrasting this with the Anna Chakvetadze game who Justine beat 61 , 76(4) meant that Anna looked in a better state as Justine was in great form, as seen with her thrashing of Marion Bartoli 60 60 (to all Bartoli fans I'm sorry to say she deserves what she got.)
With Serena retiring Anna's hopes were elevated higher than ever and it only took a win from Jelena (though tough) to clinch the final spot, whether Jelena beat Marion was not important and I guess by what happened she had felt disheartened and retired, this meant that Jelena has a 0-3 record in the Season Endings which is not something to be proud of, I'm not sure if it was her nerves or her form but I tend to think it was her form as at the last tournament she played she wasn't doing well (a sign of playing too many tournaments).
The draw that I had though would be the dommed group became the easier group to qualify in.
On the Red group I had always thought that Daniela had no chance and depending on what Maria could do it would be Maria and Ana and that was true, from what we saw of Maria this week we can finally say she's coming back. With three wins and an easy thrashing of Ana Ivanovic we have seen Maria progress on her back to form and how good would that be! But one thing I thought was that Svetlana Kuznetsova wasn't in bad form but she was just outclassed by her opponents showing how much she doesn't deserve her No.2 ranking. Well I think it will be easy pickings for Justine and Maria in the semifinals and I am actually prepared to read about the Maria Vs Justine final.

Leading to the Finale

Well another year passes by and this year we see the general dominance from Justine Henin and Roger Federer however flaws in the perfect game of Roger Federer are showing and will he be dominant two years on? But this blog isn't to comment on that rather on the year ending tournament.
Well what a shame Andy Murray couldn't get to the final, the heartbreaking thing was he was only one match away. But he let someone who also deserved it through and that was Richard Gasquet, good luck to Richard as I always knew you'll have your year in tennis. Though Andy Murray may not lift Britain's hopes there are still a lot to watch in the men's Year End and also the Final of the Paris Masters, David Nalbandian Vs. Rafael Nadal, Nalbandian is definitely having the time of his career beating Roger Federer in two Masters and setting a final against Rafael Nadal, will he continue his run next year to get to the Top 10? who knows but I was dissapointed that Novka Djokovic lost so early but I guess it prolonged our hopes for Andy Murray to get to the Year End. On the women's side I was really hoping to see Nicole Vs Lindsay and I'm sure if Nicole didn't retire and was in form like her previous tournament she would have done that but oh-well guess I'll just have to hope for her fitness next time. But Lindsay Davenport is still showing the power she has in the game and if she goes back full-time I'm sure her come-back would be more glittering than Martina Hingis!
But the year ends our looming and on the mens side a blockbuster line-up of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko, Roddick, Ferrer, Gonzalez and Gasquet. Personally I think the top 3 seeds will be dominant and then the other 5 will be left to fight of because I'm guessing Federer and Nadal will be winners in there groups and Djokovic will be second in either of them so the group that doesn't have Federer or Nadal and Djokovic will be the luckier one! But I'm hoping to see Djokovic in the final so hopefully he'll be drawn with Federer and come second play Nadal and beat him!
Well we now know the women's draw and what a lopsided one it is,
Yellow Group
Justine Henin
Jelena Jankovic
Serena Williams
Anna Chakvetadze
Red Group
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Ana Ivanovic
Maria Sharapova
Daniela Hantuchova

Well in the Yellow group I think the three biggest threats are drawn together so personally I think the winner will come from that group. Justine should beat all of them in her group as she has had success against Jelena and Serena this year in important events so Three wins for Justine, then it will be a tussle for Jelena and Serena to win against each other and hopefully both will beat Anna Chakvetadze so i don't think Anna has a chance.
On the Red side which I think is massively uneven Svetlana and Ana look to be the top as Maria has been off for a long time from injury and Daniela Hantuchova I'm just unsure about so to be safe I think Svetlana and Ana should go through unless Maria does anything special. Svetlana will beat Ana, maybe beat Maria and beat Daniela
Ana will lose to Svetlana, maybe beat Maria, tussle with Daniela
Maria will maybe beat all of them
Daniela will maybe lose to all of them
so it means my SF line up
Justine Vs. Ana
Serena Vs. Svetlava

BNP Paribas Masters

The race is on and everyone with a chance to get into the year ending is out there to get there final boost only Ranked 5th Roddick is out of this however he qualified already so he is safe. But lets go back to the tournament. Yet again Federer is sky high at No.1 seed and will probably face Moya with Nalbandian losing in the first round but I have lost faith in trusting on any seeds except for the best so I won't name a possible winner there. Berdych and Ferrer are in the next eighth but Ancic is also in that sections so yet again no name will be named, the next eighth will be dominanted by Djokovic and Murray but Djokovic will be victorious there. Next will be Blake and Gasquets section but remember Gasquet lost to Tsonga recently so I think I can only be sure of Blake winning. Robredo leads the fifth eighth which he should win but I am not going to expect it, then we have Baghdatis and Davydenko (Not counting Ljubicic because I don't think he'll get far) Mikhail Youzhny is in Gonzalez and Haas draw which I expect Gonzalez to win in, then we have Nadal but Kiefer maybe a threat!
There are 3 spots left for the year ending but Ferrer is very likely to take one of those spots so only two remain but yet again Gonzalez also look like he'll be able to take the seventh spot so only 8th really remains. From this weeks tournaments we have only Murray, Youzhny, Baghdatis and Karlovic left still standing, the 6th to 8th are still the same If all the four still standing lose in the next round (impossible) then there would not be a significant change in that mostly the top three will have to do enough to get through but if Baghdatis wins his tournament he'll get 313 points which is only 16 points away from Haas so doing well in Paris will get him far, however a more likely options is that Murray and Youzhny have high chances in getting through. They will both face each other in the semis of St.Petersburg so at least one of them will be finalist, Youzhny will have to hope to win for him to have a chance where he'll get 324 points which is still not enough to get him through so he needs to beat the others in Paris to go through but if Murray beats Youzhny he has a minimum score of 328 which will be enough to get him just one point away from Haas which means a better showing than Haas in Paris will get him through but if he wins he'll get 343 points which should see him safely at eigtht spot and if the others don't do anything massive he should get through to the year ends. I'd expect Murray to get to third round whilst some of his opponents will get to the Quatres getting them 25 points which if Murray should win St. Petersburg he should be able to get to the Year Ends. And Whilst I'm at it in Basel Blake Lost! and now Baghdatis and Federer look to be the finalist hopes, Roddick and Gasquet also lost in Lyon! Now no seeds are left in the Semis. However in St. Peresburg it looks like either Murray or Youzhny will win and if that is true it's a good boost for their Race points!

Mutua Madrilena Masters (Madrid Masters)

This was such and amazing tournament that I have to comment on it before I storm off into the year ending talks about the mens tour but who would have expected David Nalbandian to pull off such a feat, beating the top three ranks in consecutive matches! Well we all expected Roger Federer to be in the finals here with Novak and Rafael to face in the other semis, Dmitry Tursunov was someone I hoped to do well but he lost in the first round, though it was close he still lost to a qualifier. Many seeds lost early here also e.g. Ljubicic (12), Ferrer (7), Youzhny (16), Haas (11) who were all in the first half and lost before the Quatres. But Kiefer was victorious along with Federer to reach the semis. I think however Federer had a game plan and that was to play easily just enough to get to the next round but when he met Canas he knew he had to play his best and thrash him for him to keep his dignity so he beat him 6-0,6-3 whilst all the other matches he won by only breaking one game or so. The second half looked very much a strong draw. Blake, Ancic, Gasquet and Djokovic were in the same Quatre to my dismay but Ancic did well to play Djokovic in the Quatres but Djokovic wasn't playing fantastically in this tournament. I'm annoyed however that Gasquet lost in the second round like so many others also Robredo and Berdych were also cured in the second round along with Chela however I am happy that Murrat fought a tough game against Nadal but was overhsadowed by Nalbandian who thrashed him 6-1,6-2. In the end Nalbandian was victorious and I remember when I saw this on BBCi I thought they had made a typing error! But Nadal must have been very tired after Murray and expected an easy match against Nalbandian whilst Djokovic wasn't playing his best anyway and Federer was blown off because he wasn't in the right mindset, that is what explains to me why Nalbandian won!

Generali Ladies Linz and beyond...

So the Semi-final line up has been made and we see Schnyder Vs Bartoli and Vaidisova Vs. Hantuchova. Personally I think Schnyder will meet Vaidisova in the final because Schnyder thrashed Anna Chakvetadze 6-0,6-1 and Vaidisova has just been in excellent form. However yet again I'm dissapointed that Maria Kirilenko lost again in the first round, but something to cheer me up is that Flavia Pennetta seems to be back from the bad times and I think next year she be a threat to some of the Tier II titles. Tatiana Golovin also retired which I can understand after playing Justine in two finals I would expect that but if she couldn't play to her best form then don't play and let someone else fill your spot! Congratulations however to Alona Bondarenko who is looking in good form! Well after the Generali Ladies Linz we go to the Bell Challenge and this year looks a breeze for Nicole. If only Nicole was doing this well throughout the year she may have been able to make it to the year ends like Ana and Jelena did. Anyway we would expect Nicole to breeze through and I think she'll see Julia Vakulenko in the semis but she should be fine there. The biggest threat in the draw is Lindsay Davenport, if she is still at her form where she beat Jelena Jankovic then we should see her in the final against Nicole but if she doesn't have that form Vera Zvonareva would be a tough challenge to go against! Well in the year ending we see a lineup of Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic,Serena Williams, Anna Chakvetadze and still to qualify but very likely to do so will be Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova but I think Sharapova will be a shadow of her past and if she cannot play to her best at least let someone else take over (which will probably be Daniela Hantuchova is she does so). I think we would be looking for Justine to win this but Jelena could be a threat if she is playing well because she has had some rest now. Svetlana will probably not do fantastically but she probably will get to the semis. I don't think Ivanovic will do to well nor Anna Chakvetadze. Serena and Venus are difficult options they both won Grand Slams this year but they are so unpredictable, if Serena is fit she'll do well in this field but if not we probably won't see her in the semis whilst Venus has been avoiding the higher tiers so whether she can cope with this tournament is a daze to me. But Sharapova is still there and if she competes I'll expect her to come about last in her group.

Zurich Open

My Internet was down last week so I couldn't post but I'll make up for that by talking about the Zurich Open now.
Well who would have thought that in the finals we would see Tatiana Golovin pitted again against Justine Henin, I think everybody knew the outcome. Justine has just been so strong this year and she is as much a dominance as Federer is to the men's tour. Whenever you see her in a draw you'd expect the winner to be her and she has done that a lot this year, winning two Grand Slams thrashing the opponent in the final and nine titles including Zurich. However Justine did have to fend off a strong opponent, Nicole Vaidisova nearly took Justine by storm in taking her to a 3-6,6-3,7-5 score line, Congratulations to Nicole and I hope she does just as well in her next tournament. But who would have known that she could beat Jelena Jankovic right after such a long time not playing. One of the things I wasn't happy about though was that Maria Kirilenko lost in the first round but I guess she lost to eventual finalist however I have to say except for Ana Ivanovic Tatiana didn't have too many very difficult opponents. I am amazed however that so many seeds left so early and that Bartoli and Kuznetsova borh retired! Amazed that Ana lost in the second round also. But what surprised me the most was Serena Williams retiring from her match because I really wanted her to get to the finals and she could have I think as well. But there were so many retirements in the second half of the draw that Francesca Schiavone only played against Patty Schnyder to get to the Quatres. Also one thing to commisarate about is Amelie Mauresmo who looks in awful form and she'll probably retire after next year, it's such a shame after she found her best form in 2006 and we all thought that she would last at least for another year or so. However Congratulations to Justine for winning her 11th title this year!

Back to Normal

Well in the Kremlin Cup Svetlana was beaten by Serena so Serena joins Elena Dementieva in the final. Gisela Dulko did wekk against Svetlana taking her into three sets. Marion Bartoli yet again lost in the early rounds against Dushevina who lost badly against Sevtlana. On the other side Serena fought a tough match against Nicole whilst Michaella lost early. In the second half Amelie Mauresmo lost in the first round with Maria Kirilenko leaving Dinara Safina and Anna Chakvetadze as the main players there. Dinara beat Anna and Vera to set up a Semi Final match against Elena however losing 6-0,6-1. Elena had also beaten Alicia Molik, Patty Schnyder and Victoria Azarenka to get there. Maria Sharapova lost to Victoria Azarenka. All this leaving Serena and Elena in a blockbuster final.
In Bangkok Jelena Jankovic retired early against Zi Yan to allow her through until the Quatres as Vania King after a tiring match against Dominika Cibulkova decided to withdraw. Virginie Razzano also couldn't make three week wins losing to Urzula Radwanska. The first half eventually pitted two asian players Zi Yan and Yung-Jan Cha against one another. On the other side Flavia Pennetta fought hard to defeat Shahar Peer whilst also defesting Venus Williams in the Semis. This gives Flavia a good chance to win the title against Yung-Jan Chan.
On the Men's side it has been less favourable to be. In the Kremlin cup Marat Safin, Andy Murray, Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny all fell short of their expected finishes. Leaving Nikolay Davydenko not having to play a single seed until the finals. Because my only representative Mikhail lost early it meant that any one else was able to go through to the final and that is Paul-Henri Mathieu. Overall quite dissapointed in the many second round losses.
In Stockholm my favourites Blake, Haas lost in the semis and Mario Ancic lost in the Quatres so overall dissapointed aswell leaving Thomas Johansson against Ivo Karlovic (I'm Ok about these two players but I would have rather watched Blake against Haas).
However one player will always bring a smile to my face and that is Novak Djokovic. He is quickly climbing the heights of being my faourite player after Andy Roddick and Marat Safin. I'm happy that Baghdatis lost early though :-). Overall like the other tournaments many seeds lost early leaving Noak against Stanislas. However the doubles side has been good in quite a strong field I am happy that Safin and Tursunov got into the final,wish them luck against Cibulec and Zovko.
Normally I don't comment on the Doubles side but the singles haven't been drawn yet and the doubles field look quite strong. The Bryan brothers lead the field with a possible opponent of Pavel and Vizner. On the second quartet Hanley amd Ullyett will probably face Aspelin and Knowle but Erlich and Ram are also strong opponents, Damm and Paes will probs face Bjorkman and Mirnyi who are both strong. On the lost quarter Knowles will play with Murray whilst Nestor and Zimonjic are on the other side however look out for Blake and Butorac against Murray and Knowles which would be quite interesting considering Murray played with Butorac earlier in the year.
In the Zurich Open a strong stellar field has assembled.
Justine Henin should find the first rounds to be fine with the most difficult player as Daniela Hantuchova however Daniela has an early scare against Dinara Safina who got into the Semis of the Kremlin Cup. On the second quarter a strong field is drawn against one another. Jankovic will have an early fight against Nicole (boo hoo) whilst Marion will play Amelie in the first round leaving a possible Mauresmo vs Jankovic match. On the third quarter Ivanaovic will probably have Maria Sharapova to face unless she succumbs to inury again where Kirilenko or Golovin will fill her space. Serena will have Patty Schnyder as her first round match and Dementieva her finalist opponent in the Kremlin Cup as her second round opponent. then Svetlana may face her, poor Serena she will be knackered after this. I think that Justine will come out victorious like she always does in these situations and a possible finalist I think will be either Williams or Kuznetsova.

Month Long Post

I haven't posted in ages because I have been so BUSY! It's like I'm in a 100mph hurricane. Anyway I just had to blog after seeing the draws for both ATP and WTA anyway I'll also recap on the events after the US Open.
After the fantastic final between Federer and Djokovic in the US Open tennis still went on strong. In the Beijing hard court event we saw Davydenko hot from US Open SF, Fernando Gonzalez and Tommy Robredo fight it off. My personal favourite in this draw will be Jo-Wilfred Tsonga but anyway Fernando Gonazlez blew Tommy Robredo away in the final after a dissapointing second round defeat from Nikolay. On clay in Bucharest we saw some lesser demons. Gael Monfils being my personal favourite in this draw, however it was frenchmen Gilles Simon the 6th seed who eventually took the title away from wildcard Victor Hanescu.
In the heavily expected Bangkok hard courts we were waiting for the clash between many top seeds however in the end with major withdrawals like Andy Roddick the tournament was a shadow of it's previous draw. However without those majors dominant players we still had a list of good platers like 3rd seed (made top seed) Tomas Berdych and my favourite Tommy Haas and Dmitry Tursunov. In the end Tommy Haas fell short but Dmitry Tursunov backed him up with winning the title away from Benjamin Becker 6-2,6-1. The Mumbai hard courts weren't bad either with top players like Richard Gasquet and Lleyton Hewitt heading the group. In the end Richard Gasquet flew through to take the title losing only 20 games in 5 matches e.g. 6-2, 6-2 in each match.
In a decidedly low rank draw from the AIG Open led to a clash between David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet funnily enough getting the same game scores as each other. Some dissapointments came from Lleyton Hewitt though he did play a tough match as well as an early defeat from Dmitry Tursunov. The Open De Moselle has also sparked of a final between Tommy Robredo and Andy Murray; Hope Murray wins!
On the WTA side we saw the long awaited return of Lindsay Davenport there were also two very strong possible opponents for her to conquer if she was to take a title on her return these were Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova. In the end she beat both to claim the crown and it was much deserved. In the China Open we saw an early withdrawal of Svetlana Kuznetsova but the draw was still fighting on for the title. Agnes Szavay the player who would expect to play Svetlana became the eventual winner. Amelie Mauresmo the third seed was beaten by Shuai Peng who also beat Martina Hingis. Whilst Lindsay Davenport yet again fought through many opponents but was beatn by Jelena Jankovic who she beat last time. Jankovic who was dissapointed last time by Lindsay thought everything was in control when she beat Lindsay but another unexpected player broke her and that was Agnes Szavay.
Marion Bartoli who I have always disliked(sorry to her fans, she justs plays really awkwardly and I don't like her attitude) anyway she was beatn in the first Round, Yeah! Anyway Maria Kirilenko won the title losing only 2 games in the final. Good performances came from Flavia Pennetta who has finally achieved what she can and Anne Keothavong who reached the Semi Finals. Whilst second seed Daniela Hantuchova was beaten by a long time favourite of mine Maria Kirilenko. On the IV tier event of this week Tatiana Golovin took the title with commendable efforts from Gisela Dulko.
In Luxembourg a stream of top players entered to take the title so many pros before them have. First seed Anna Chakvetadze was beaten by 5th Marion Bartoli who was then defeated by Daniela Hantuchova. Both Shahar Peer and Nadia Petrova lost early in the tournament leaving Vera Zvonareva to fill the gap against Ana Ivanovic wo eventually took the title. Whilst in Guangzhou Virginie Razzano won the title. Whilst in Korea an unexpectedly strong field gathered where eventually Venus William took the title. Flavai Pennetta yet again impressed in this tournament whilst Agnes Szavay had to retire from the tournament because of a left thigh injury. In the end Kirilenko yet again looked strong fighting Venus into a 3 set game.
The porshe Tennis grand prix sets up Justine Henin against last years finalist Tatiana Golovin. I thought also that Justine's draw was very difficult and looked like a Grand Slam event. Dinara Safina was her first opponent and then a selection of players between Mauresmo, Dementieva, Safarova and Hantuchova contested for a quatre final position which Elena eventually took. Jankovic lost to Justine in the semis after Nadia retired from the tournament. Ivanovic was defeated by Kateryna who was defeated by Tatiana who defeated Anna Chakvetadze the fourth seed. Tatiana Golovin also beat Svetlana the second seed who beat Serena Williams! Generally I thought this was an amazingly difficult draw with 8 of the top 10 in it and players like Amelie Mauresmo drawn with Dementieva, Lucie Safarova against Hantuchova, Ivanovic against Schnyder in the first round. Marion Bartoli lost in the first round yet again also. This is definitely an amazingly difficult tournament for a tier II. A Difficult AIG Open led to Venus and Virginie both last weeks winners against each other in the final which Virginie won. Flavia yet again played well defeating Sania and fighting strong against Virginie whilst Maria Kirilenko was defeated unexpectedly by Camille Pin. Whilst the Tashkent Open led to Katie O'Brien's succssful third round debut and seemingly Victoria Azarenka will be the winner here.

Next Week we see in the Kremlin Cup a very strong line-up. Nikolay Davydenko faces a tough opener against J Tsonga whilst in that quartet is also one my favourite players Marat Safin, hope he does well! On the second half Andy Murray is also pitted against Dmitry Tursunov with Janko Tipsaveric in between them. Whilst a severely lower class bottom half is seen with a commendable Mikhail Youzhny heading them. Anyway I hope Safin Vs. Youzhny because Safin hasn't been doing well lately, whilst Andy to play Safin because Andy needs to get back on top.
The Stockholm Open also contains James Blake as top seed and another favourite Tommy Haas as 4th seed. Mario Ancic is also in the Verdasco/Robredo quartet. Love to see Blake against Ancic so Mario can jump some ranks and Haas in the final!
Whilst in the BA-CA Tennis Trophy currently the strongest of my favourite players Novak Djokovic will play there. If he puts his all in this I am sure he could win this easily however he does have some opposition, a small hindrance maybe Marcos Baghdatis in the Semi (I'm guessing) whilst Moya, Gasquet, Canas and Gonzalez could be possible final opponents. I hope Gasquet does well as he has Nalbandian on the first round. Gasquet and Djokovic all the way!
The Kremlin Cup on the WTA side looks strong and some long awaited returns have turned up. Svetlana heads the seeds and has a difficult draw. Mirza is a possible first opponent whilst Bartoli could be her second opponent if she doesn't lose in the first round again. Williams has a difficult Krajicek to surpass and then Vaidisova (so annoyed they are drawn in the same quartet). Mauresmo will probably face Kirilenko whilsy Anna is close by. Patty Schnyder will probably meet Elena Dementieva and then Sharapova. Overall this is a strong draw though this is a tier I event.
Hope!
Alona Bondarenko Vs. Vaidisova (she has been out for so long)
Kirilenko Vs. Sharapova
I hope Michaella Krajicek does well aswell
However I think it will be
Svetlana Vs. Williams
(unknown, probably Chakvetadze) Vs. Sharapova (only because she doesn't seem to have a very very difficult draw).
Excited about this event!
Jankovic wierdly goes into the Tier III event with Venus Williams on the other side and a currently doing well Flavia Pennetta here aswell. Hope all goes well!

The Last Grand Slam of the Year

When I looked at the draw for the womens tournamnet the first thing I thought wasthat it was overly top heavy, I have been proven right as the eventual finalist of the bottom half was someone nobody would have expected to take the title nor was the semifinalist Anna Chakvetadze. Justine deserved this win but I would have liked a closer contested final as this year all the finals have been lack luster showing the incompetence of the draw.
Justine played strongly in the first two matches taking her opponent away to pieces whilst some early upsets of Ai Sugiyama and Tatiana Golovin who would have tested both Justine and Dinara more. Both players strolled through the first three rounds however it was Justine who was vitorious demolishing Dinara.
Serena Williams did not look as graceful going into the quatrefinals though she did beat her oponnents in straigt sets. Generally everything went as planned whilst Marion Bartoli was tested by the Mauresmo thrasher Lucie Safarova and Serena yet again took longer than needed to defeat her opponent. Both sisters work better under pressure and it showed when Serena took an easier win against Bartoli 6-3,6-4.
Jelena Jankovic had a relatively easy draw but she laboured through some of her matches showing her lack of energy to the many tournaments she has played. An early upset took the form of Samantha Stosur whilst Elena Dementieva couldn't take the heat and was kicked out by Sybille Bammer 6-1,6-2. Jelena made another 3 set match against Sybille Bammer whilst Jelena took a long time to get through Sybille went through blissfully until the fourth round.
Venus Williams was going to expect an early test by Ana but with her skills Ana would just be a pushover in such a large stadium. Yet again we see from Ana the inexperience and nerves she has. She has potential to be the best and we could see that from her easy wins before Venus but once it gets to the big time she crumbles.
We now begin the bottom half and compared to the top it's nowhere near as difficult. We have a round round upset of Daniela Hantuchova here against Julia Vakulenko whilst Nadia Petrova Loses Agnes Szavay in the third round. Both of these are good players but are not title contencers making this an easy eighth for anyone to go through. But the extent that Nadia lost is quite humiliating for her. In the end this eighth produced three unseeded round three players showing how unpredictable it was.
The next eighth was also a predictable draw with 90% chance that Svetlana would go through to the semis rendering this to be a walkover draw for her, this becomes evident when she gets to the final. Generally she takes little time against her opponents except for Camille Pin. Martina Hingis also showed that she was losing her game when she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka who was easily beaten by Svetlana. The nest eighth was yet another unexciting one with the Anna Chakvetadze probably going through in one of the easiest draws, this could be seen when she went through with ease to the quatrefinals. Patty Schnyder who generally is a round 4 player lost to Tamira Paszek who recently did well in Wimbledon.
The last eighth had the potential to be the best out there but sadly we had a injured Maria who was defeated in the third round in Wimbledon and Nicole who hadn't played in a while, this therefore meant that the other two seeds Peer and Radwanska would have generally a posibilty of getting to the Quatres. When we saw how Maria was disbanding most of her opponents we thought that there was a possibility of her getting to the finals but she was then dispatched by Agnieszka, Nicole also had a tough match with Shahar but I would really have liked to know whether Nicole could have gone further if she beat Shahar.
Overall by this stage it was looking the most top heavy it had ever been, with eight seeds at the top and only 4 at the bottom. Both Justine and Serena had relatively unchallenging fourth round matches therefore yet again they play in the quatrefinals. Whilst both Serbians were tested whilst Ana lost to Venus Jelena prevailed in three sets against Sybille.
The bottom half showed Svetlana only one seed (31) until the semis when Agnes Szavay became her quatrefinal opponent. Whilst Anna Chakvetadze and Shahar Peer went easily through.
Justine then went hardly on the first set and then thrashed Serena in the second. Venus took a tough match against Jelena therefore allowing Justine to play both Williams sisters in the US. Whilst the Russians prevailed in an unchallenging test.
From this point on or even in much earlier stages we knew that the winner would come from the top half and the bottom half finalist was just a lucky winner to get an easy draw, eventually it was Justine against Svetlana. On paper this game would have been quite exciting but anybody who follows tennis would have known how easy this would be for Justine, I bet she was smiling to herself when she was walking to the court knowing that she was going to win her seventh title. Well congrats to Svetlana in getting to the year ending but honestly the field is too strong for her and it would be lucky if she can do her best there!

US Open

Before I talk about the actual US Open I have to say I haven't blogged in an while because I've been so busy with coursework, well anyway this is what I predicted before the Slam.
Henin Vs. Golovin (r1)
Bartoli Vs. S.Williams
Jankovic Vs. Dementieva (r3)
V.Williams Vs. Ivanovic
Petrova Vs. Hantuchova (r1)
Hingis Vs. Kuznetsova
Chakvetadze Vs. Schnyder
Vaidisova Vs Sharapova

Mostly these are the top seeds except for Tatiana Golovin who I thought looked stronger than Dinara this year, but she lost to Ahsha Rolle in the first round!

Federer Vs. Gasquet (r2)
Berdych Vs. Roddick
Davydenko Vs. Murray
Haas Vs. Blake
Robredo Vs. Youzhny (r2)
Hewitt (r2) Vs. Djokovic
Gonzalez (r1) Vs. Ljubicic
Nalbandian Vs. Nadal

Well Justine was always the favourite to take the title with Maria doing badly in Wimbledon her first Grand Slam so I guess all eyes are on her. Well I'm amazed that Ai sugiyama was beaten by Ekaterina Makarova, I always thought Ai Sugiyama was the player that coul not be obstructed by unseeded players, well I guessed wrong. On the other side I didn't expect Tatiana Golovin to go out in the first round but now Dinara will go through so I'm happy!
On Jelena's side I didn't expect Elena to lose to Sybille so badly but now I hope Sybille does well. I also really wanted to see Zi Yan play Ana Ivanovic and see what would happen! With the fifth section I am so shocked that Daniela went out in the first rounf because I thought she would fight on and very shocked by Michaella's defeat which I'm really annoyed about but at least it's Agnes who is in my fantasy tennis.
Nicole has also got a very difficult draw for her ranking, Alla who is a good youngster, Flavia who though isn't doing so well this season has been very good and now Shahar who is always a threat to the top 16 seeds and if she gets through she will be greeted by Maria Sharapova!
In the mens the seeds that have gone out which I liked include Tursunov, Gasquet, Safin, Youzhny and Hewitt. I'm so unhappy and Djokovic made a scare yesterday that I'll never forget! I hope the quaters will be
Isner Vs. Young (Go down Federer, Go on youths)
Berdych Vs. Roddick
Davydenko Vs. Murray
Haas Vs. Blake
Robredo Vs. Moya
Monaco Vs. Djokovic (Calleri beat Hewitt)
Ginepri Vs. Ljubicic
Nalbandian Vs. Tsonga (Go down Nadal)
Then
Young Vs. Roddick (Americans!)
Murray Vs. Haas (Not doing so well players so would be nice for them to play each other after injury)
Djokovic to have a walkover match!
Ljubicic Vs. Tsonga

Roddick Vs. Murray
Djokovic to have another walkover match!
That would be my favourite draw!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Back

Haven't blogged in ages because I'm currently in Hong Kong and didn't have the internet.
So about last week in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic I'm very happy thatAndy Roddick won but I can't imagine how Isner beat Tommy Haas and Gael Monfils which are both some of my favourite players and I really wanted Marat Safin to do well. Isner may become one of my favourites in the future who knows.
About this week I am exceptionally happy that Murray is back but he is drawn wih Federer so that can be bad. Also Blake and Hewitt are drawn together so early and they aren't that far aart in rankings. That quartet is definitely one of the biggest upsets for me. I'm also happy that Fernando Gonzalez is out and Youzhny and Haas are drawn against some easy opponents.
Roddick is also drawn in with easy opponents but funnily Marcos Baghdatis isn't seeded giving him a difficult draw, Nalbandian also. I'm so dissapointed that Dmitry Tursunov was beaten but at least Novak is through. Gasquet is drawn in with Rafael which is really bad and Rchard is also in his quartet.
I would like Murray to face blake in the Quarters. Haas and Youzhny are also closeso I want them to play in the quarters. then Andy vs Djokovic and Richard vs Safin. That would be my dream lineout but of course Roger and Nadal would break that dream those evil people. But Ancic would also be a good comeback so that would be nice as he is one of my favourite players. Overall for those still in I want
Murray
Blake
Hewitt
Youzhny
Haas
Roddick
Djokovic
Gasquet
Safin
Ancic
to do well because they are one of my few favourite players. Whilst Comissaries to Turusnov.
Anyway these posts won't be as long as I'm using someone elses internet. Whilst I'll talk more about the ATP later But I wish
Sharapova
Krajicek
Shuai
Kirilenko to do well but actually I'm also getting to be Ok with Jankovic so as long as she doesn't knock out other of my favourite players I will like her. Anyway talk later about the WTA.

Haven't blogged in a while

Just here to wish Mikhail, Andy, Novak, Dmitry and James Blake the best of luck in their next tournaments.

Wimbledon The Two Weeks (Women)

Well with Roger winning his 5th Grand Slam and Venus winning her fourth you would expect that not many upsets occurred but a rollercoaster of upsets happened in the two weeks of Wimbledon. Firstly Wimbledon wouldn't be Wimbledon with the rain delays, this time being one of the worst downpours in years. Many like Nadal and Djokovic complained whilst Federer sat watching happily as his contenders grew angrier by the day. Well let me now depict what happened in the WTA.
Justine the favourite to win effortlessly strode through to the Quatrefinals only losing 15 games along the way, thrashing Patty Schnyder 6-2,6-2. However if you look at Patty's matches all of them went to three sets (except for against Justine)!
Interesting Matches in this Section: Alona Vs. Patty 4-6,6-3,6-8
Serena was the victor in her section but not without drama, falling to the ground against Daniela Hantuchova yet still beating her in the last set in 2-6. I was so worried for her and she looked so unhappy afterwards, for once the rain saved the day! Though not the most interesting to watch the match between Milagros Sequera and Serena Williams was definitely unusual. Milagros was dominated throughout the match losing 6-1,6-0 yet she beat 27th seed Samantha Stosur!
Interesting Matches in this Section: Daniela Vs Serena 2-6,7-6,2-6
Jelena Jankovic was expected to stroll through this relatively unexperienced grand slam draw, with none havong achieved grand slam success previously. However the unlikely 18th seed proved to be best of them all beating out Jelena Jankovic to get to the Quatres. Lucie's match against Jankovic was very interesting but none can beat the exceptional upset of Marion Bartoli against Jelena Jankovic. With Safarova there was a chance she would push Jankovic into three sets as she has beaten many top 10 players on came close but Marion was totally unexpected.
Interesting Matches in this Section: Jelena Vs. Marion 6-3,5-7,3-6
The next group was very interesting with the 31st seed prevailing through the 8th, 9th and 20th to get to the Quatres. Definitely every tennis fan in Britain would have cheered on Naomi Cavaday when she was playing Martina, though she caused a huge upset in the third set losing a love set she still came unbelievably close so we must commend her. Who would have guessed that Martina was then to be beaten by Laura Granville in the third round after a complete thrashing of Aiko Nakamura. Sybille Bammer who was recently on good form also was ousted by Laura Granville. Katie O'Brien British number one was also in this section but was demolished by Krajicek 6-0,6-1.
Interesting Matches in this Section: Michaella Vs. Anna 7-6,6-7,6-2
The next section was a predictable group with the top two seeds battling in the end. Ana prevailed in a three set match but generally nothing too interesting occured.
Interesting Matches in this Section: Ana Vs Nadia 6-1,2-6,6-4
Amelie Mauresmo was expected to be a strong contender for the title, but after what seemed like a great start she lossed to Nicole Vaidisova (One of my favourite players)! Generally nothing to extraordinary in this group except for Nicole's win against Amelie.
Interesting Matches in this Section: Nicole Vs Amelie 7-6,4-6,6-1
Though Svetlana was the winner in this section it was Tamira who was the most interesting of all. Though she beat Tatiana Golovin who seemed to be flailing when playing Su-Wei Hsieh, it was still an achievement and then to beat Elena was definitely a confident boost.
Interesting Matches in this Section: Tamira Vs Elena 2-6,6-3,7-5
Lastly we have the Venus/Maria section. After seeing Venus nearly lose to Alla and Akiko it was definitely refreshing to see her thrash Maria Sharapova when all odds were backed against her, but to be honest I do not know what happened to Maria, she was just not the players she normally was. Maybe because of the injury but she was still one of the favourites!
Interesting Matches in this Section: Akiko Vs Venus: 2-6,6-3,5-7 (however Ai against Maria and Venus against Maria were also very interesting)
So then in the Quatrefinals:
Justine against Serena was a dissapointment in my viewpoint. Serena was never really on the winning side and it looked a struggle to be honest. She should have put more into it.
Marion against Michaella's match was so agitating. I was thinking both are unlikely to beat Justine but who will be more interesting. I really like Krajicek and when she was leading 2-0 in the last set I thought she had taken it away but Marion fired of 6 games to make it another close game for her! Who would have thought that Marion was in the Semi Finals!
On the other side we had Ana vs Nicole. I like both of them but I wanted Nicole to do well and it was possible for her to beat Ana, however she lossed in a close three sets! I would have liked Nicole to do better though and it's so annoying she doesn't rise in rankings!
And finally Svetlana vs Venus was rather another dissapointing match but definitely great for Venus! The finals were definitely unexpected with the no.1, 6, 18 and 23 and who would believe it, the lower two seeds went through to the final. Justine's match against Marion was unbearable and rather a massive shock. Nobody expected Justine to be trailing 5-0 down in the third set. It was her biggest chance to win and she let herself down in ways by letting go of her dominance.
On the other hand Ana vs Venus was quite expected with what Ana normally does, buckles under the very greats, I'd rather say that her draw was generally luck to get to Venus and only Nicole was a worthy competitor.
I was so relieved in the final that Venus won, she utterly deserves her win though only facing a select few of favourites she showed why she had won three Wimbledon's already and that was gut determination and strive!

Wimbledon Last Few

Nothing in the world can explain my happiness now, Vaidisova beats Mauresmo, Jankovic is knocked out. I am lost for words, I am so happy!
Well now we are in the Quatres with the women I will analyse the matches.
Justine Henin is playing Serena Williams.
Though Justine hasn't played any fantastic players she has definitely been thrashing the lot, losing only 15 games in the first four rounds. Though Serena thrashed Milagros Sequera I thought Milagros wasn't playing at all well. She played Hantuchova and went to three sets, Even though having cramp she got through the match against someone who is on good form, which shows her determination. But I would bet on Justine to win instead of Serena, though she will have vengeance to beat her and have the gut strength, I believe Justine is just on her greatest form!
The unexpecting win from Marion has allowed me great joy as Jelena is out now. However she did cause upsets with Shahar so I was quite foolish to rule her out and Jelena spent a long time against Lucie Safarova. Now she will face an unlikely Michaella, I really want her to get far and after beating Tzipora she looks like she is on a role beating Anna Chakvetadze and Laura Granville who conquered Martina Hingis. Though looking at the statistics it seems Marion Bartoli has a greater edge so it will be her first semifinal against Henin.
Ana and Vaidisova's match will be very interesting, the match of the youngsters. Who would you bet on, Ana who was Roland Garros Finalist or Vaidisova who beat Amelie Mauresmo the defending champion. Personally I like Vaidisova more but Ana looks on better form. So at the moment I'm not betting on anyone.
Ten we have Svetlana who's sneaked into the Quatres without much headlines who will face either Venus or Maria. Will Venus ousted Sharapova or will Maria break Venus's fight I am not sure but I will go for Sharapova because she is looking really strong.
Semis
Justine Vs. Marion
Unknown Vs. Maria

Wimbledon Up to Now

Justine is fighting strong in the First Round only dropping 11 games in 3 matches. She will face Patty Schnyder who fouth off a difficult Alona (Congrats to Alona). This will be an easy match for Justine as Schnyder has never been further than 4th round in a Grand Slam. Dissapointments for Tiantian Sun and Ashley Harkleroad to leave in the first Round.
Daniela Hantuchova and Katarina Srebotnik's match should be interesting as they both don't look great whilst the winner will have to face the onslaught of Serena Williams who should wipe off Milagros Sequera.
Jelena Jankovic isn't looking invinceable though with easy matches against Keothavong and Gajdosova she had a taxing match against Lucie Safarova. She will then face another possible upseter Marion or Shahar both capable of doing damage to the draw. Sadly Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta had to leave us in the first round.
I was so excited about Naomi and Martina's match that at one stage I thought Naomi could win it but she just let it run down the drain in the third set. Well she looks like she will face Michaell Krajicek once she defeats Laura who took out my Fantasy Tennis player Sybille Bammer!
Ana Ivanovic will probably face Nadia Petrova who is looking good here. Then we have Vaidisova/Mauresmo group. Both of them should play in the fourth round which is worrying as Mauresmo is looking good for at the moment and could be a semi finalist here.
Svetlana will face the young Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and then probably play Elena here.
and Finally Venus will face Maria most likely in the fourth round with both looking strong at the moment. Sadly Dinara, Kateryna, Shuai and Melanie South went out before the third round.
Predictions (4th Round)
Justine (Confirmed)
Patty (Confirmed)
Daniela (3 Sets)
Serena (2 Sets)
Jelena (Confirmed)
Shahar (3 Sets)
Martina (2 Sets)
Michaella (Confirmed)
Ana (2 Sets)
Nadia (2 Sets)
Nicole (2 Sets)
Amelie (2 Sets)
Svetlana (2 Sets)
Elena (3 Sets)
Venus (2 Sets)
Maria (2 Sets)

Quater Finals
Justine Vs Patty (Justine to win in 2 Sets)
Daniela Vs. Serena (Serena to win in 2 Sets)
Jankovic Vs. Peer (Jankovic to win in 3 Sets)
Martina Vs. Michaella (Difficult to say) Martina because she has more experience
Ana Vs. Nadia (Difficult to say) Nadia because she is playing better
Nicole Vs. Amelie (Amelie to win in 3 Sets)
Svetlana Vs. Elena (Svetlana to win in 3 Sets)
Venus Vs. Maria (Maria to win in 3 Sets)

Justine Vs Serena
Jankovic Vs Martina
Nadia Vs Amelie
Svetlana Vs Maria

In the mens Federer will play either Tursunov or Haas who are in a dead heat at the moment, though I would like Marat to win (slim chance)
James Blake will play Fernando Gonzalez, Whilst Roddick will probably be playing Mathieu. Gasquet should go through to play Tsonga, whilst Monfils looks to play Baghdatis.
Hewitt will have a good challenge from Canas before facing Djokovic whilst Berdych will play Bjorkman and to rap up Youzhny against Nadal.
Federer Vs. Blake (If Gonzalez plays like he did in last two matches)
Roddick Vs. Gasquet (Could be a fright from Tsonga or even Vasselin)
Baghdatis Vs. Hewitt (There could be a lot of changes in this match e.g. Monfils, Nalbandian or Djokovic)
Bjorkman Vs. Nadal (should be finalized but Tomas may be a threat or Youzhny)

Wimbledon

Federer yet again first seed will have to face some of my favourite players early on. Hopefully Marat will face him in 3rd Round whilst then we have Turusnov and Haas probably facing him in the fourth round though I think Dmitry will win. Juan Martin Del Potrp will be a good second round match for Federer. Although I don't know who Lee Childs is I hope him the best as he's British. Blake has a difficult start against Igor Andreev but as long as he beats him I think the next matches will be OK. He should be fine with Juan Carlos Ferrero but the difficulty will lie with Fernando Gonzalez the 5th seed. James hasn't had the best results in Wimbledon so I hope he will do well. Andy will have an easy draw with Dominik Hrbaty on the other side. He will probably have little difficulty with what seems to be Ivan on the other side. Gasquet another favourite hasn't had the best results on Grass but it is possible for him to get to face what seems to be Andy Murray who if fit should find his draw very easy indeed except for maybe Jo-Wilfred Tsonga but if he is fit he'll be fine. The next draw is my worst as I know Marcos Baghdatis has a high chance of going through with Davydenko who hasn't been further than the third round here. I'm expecting Gael Monfils to be Marcos's opponent, Nalbandian will be the most difficult for him but Nalbandian hasn't been on his best form. Hewitt will have a difficult draw at start with Djokovic one of my favourite players as well on the other side. I don't know what to think.
We then have Tomas Berdych who seems to be facing Jonas Bjorkman in the Fourth Round. and Finally Mikhail Youzhny whould play Rafael Nadal in their fourth round.
Predictions
Federer Vs. Tursunov
Blake Vs. Gonzalez
Roddick Vs. Ljubicic
Gasquet Vs. Murray
Monfils Vs. Baghdatis
Hewitt Vs. Djokovic
Berdych Vs. Bjorkmann
Youzhny Vs. Nadal
I think at least 10 of these 16 will be in the fourth round.

On the WTA I am so upset that Serena is drawn to play Justine in the QF, they were my favourites to get to the final! and Na Li has withdrawn, she was a strong contender for QF spot.
Anyway Justine should storm through to the QF's with her current form as Patty has never been past Fourth Round before in any Grand slam. I also hope Alond Bondarenko to do well. Serena will also have an easy draw on her side with only Daniela has the other top seeds. I think it will be difficult for Daniela to do well here as she isn't on top form like earlier in the year. Jankovic also has a relatively normal draw but the possibilties in her draw are varied. She has Lucie Safarova who has been doing well lately and then Marion or Shahar. Though she isn't facing any fantastic players she is facing some difficult rising stars. Hingis will face a difficult Sybille Bammer but afterwards only face Anna. I hope Sybille and Michaela do well as they are on my Fantasy Tennis team. Honestly Ana getting to Roland Garros final was luck mixed with skill so I don't think she will be much of a threat here, but she will only face Nadia who I am unsure what to think of her currently, it is possible for Ana to get to the QF's therefore. I think the next draw is simple, Vaidisova Vs. Mauresmo but who will come out victorious is very difficult to guess. Amelie is the defending Champion but is no way as good as last year whilst Vaidisova is increasingly getting better at a relatively young age. Then Svetlana will find it easy to take down Elena Dementieva if she gets there I would believe. However Venus will have a difficult draw with Dinara who is looking strong and Sharapova.
Predictions
Henin Vs. Schnyder
Hantuchova Vs. S.Williams
Jankovic Vs. Peer
Hingis Vs. Chakvetadze
Ivanovic Vs. Petrova
Vaidisova Vs. Mauresmo
Kuznetsova Vs. Dementieva
V.Williams Vs. Sharapova
I have strong belief in this draw so I think at least 12 should get to the fourth round unless anything major happens.

Nearing Wimbledon

Just before Wimbledon I would like to urge on Dmitry Tursunov and Richard Gasquet in Nottingham, Justine, Nicole and the British in Eastbourne and Alona and Flavia in the Ordina Open, beware Jankovic is there!!!

International Women's Open

The draw is strong in Eastbourne WTA this year with Justine headlining the seeds. Anne will be faced with a difficult challenge if she can get through the first round with what seems to be Nicole Vaidisova. I am hoping Justine the best of luck but Nicole really needs a boosting in her ranking, Good luck also to Melanie South, Na Li will also be there with a difficult Maria Kirilenko at start.
What I hope
Henin Vs. Vaidisova
Dementieva Vs. South
Li Vs. Morigami
Bammer Vs Mauresmo
Good luck to all of the first Quartet aswell as Molik and Kirilenko

After Roland Garros

Well an eventfall two weeks comes to an end and yet again Justine wins the Women's without dropping a set and thrashing finalist Ana Ivanovic. Also yet again we have Federer and Nadal fighting in the final, who will win (I am watching it now).
Well we are now plunging into Wimbledon where we will see the likes of the Williams sisters on there best surface to date, Henin on great form and Sharapova who always does well on the grass court as well as youngsters like Ana Ivanovic and Nicole Vaidisova trying to put their names on the hall of fame.
Well the DFS classic headlines a good draw with Maria Sharapova as first seed.
She will dominate the first eighth unless her earlier injury says otherwise. However I hope Keothavong will do well as she is British and I want Britain to win.
Radwanska will probably play the gutsy Ai Sugiyama also without much opposition. Hantuchova leads the second quarte with Marion Bartoli on the other side, there doesn't look to be much competition there but I hope Zi Yan will win.
Na Li looks to have a difficult draw for a Tier III event. She will probably face Santangelo ot Vakulenko but before that will face an onslaught from Michaella Krajicek and Kateryna Bondarenko. I hope she will do Ok as well as Kateryna, Yuliana, Michaella, Elena and Tiantian.
Jelena Jankovic will have to go through Maria Kirilenko and Alona Bondarenko to get into the latter stages of the tournament, but she seems on form so it looks like she will prevail.
4th Round (what i want to happen)
Sharapova Vs. Keothavong (possible but difficult)
Radwanska Vs. Morita (let the obscure players have a chance)
Hantuchova Vs. Yan (Go China)
Abigail Spears Vs. Naomi Cavaday (vote the underdogs)
Santangelo Vs. Sun (Go China)
Krajicek Vs. Li (or Baltacha Vs Bondarenko I wouldn't mind)
Bondarenko Vs. King
Kirilenko Vs. Wozniak (boo to Jankovic)
of course the possibilties of this line up will be 1000-1
Looks like Jankovic will face Sharapova in the final unless Na Li can muster the strength to beat Jankovic.

My Predictions

This is what I think will happen now:
4r
Federer Vs Ferrero (40% Youzhny)
Robredo Vs Ljubicic (40% chance Volandri)
Davydenko Vs Nalbandian
Canas Vs Monaco
Djokovic Vs Ferrer
Baghdatis Vs Andreev (40% other)
Hernandez Vs Moya
Hewitt Vs Nadal

The changes are
Monaco for Gonzalez (1r)
Baghdatis for Hrbaty (1r)
Andreev for Roddick (1r)
Hernandez for Blake (1r)
Moya for Berdych (1r)
five changes all who lossed in the first round. 4 as well are in the top 10 seeds!

Quatres
Federer Vs. Robredo
Davydenko Vs. Canas
Djokovic Vs. Baghdatis
Moya Vs. Nadal

Semis
Federer Vs. Davydenko
Djokovic (40% Baghdatis) Vs. Nadal
so nothing yet has changed in the Semis

In the WTA:
4r
Henin Vs Li
Safina Vs. Williams
Jankovic Vs. Dementieva
Garbin Vs. Vaidisova
Ivanaovic Vs. Hantuchova
Peer Vs. Kuznetsova
Mauresmo Vs. Sugiyama (40% Chakvetadze)
Schnyder Vs. Sharapova

Jankovic for V.Williams
Garbin for Petrova (1r)
only two changes at the moment.
meaning the only change will be that Nicole will play Jelena (what I think)

Roland Garros 1st Week

This year Roland Garros has been struck with rain in the early stages meaning that they were behind schedule for a few days however the thing that struck me was already in the first two rounds 16 seeds in the men's section have gone including Roddick, Gonzalez, Blake and Berdych all in the top 10 seeds! It has been quite bad for the Americans as well going all out in Round 1. Hope Wimbledon will bode better. There has also been quite a few retirements in the Men's section as well.
In the first eighth everything has gone well for the seeds except for Julien Benneteau who went out in the first round. But we all must know by now that Federer looks poised to get into the Semis. The second eighth is an upset for me as Marat Safin went out. I am really dissapointed because now that I think of it only Lleyton Hewitt and Novak Djokovic (my favourites list) are still in the running. It would have been much better if Murray and Haas was in it.
Gael Monfils is doing really well but in the third eighth I think it was common knowledge that the most likely match up was Davydenko against Nalbandian. It would take much difficulty to stop that occurence. The fourth eighth is one of my most hated eighth. Only one seed is left and that is Canas, why! Richard Gasquet left I am so annoyed that evil Kristof Vliegen.
The fifth eighth consists of one of my only hopes and that is Novak. I started taking a liking to him at the beginning of the year and he is definitely the one with the best contention to get far who is also in my favourites list. Sadly Dmitry also lost! Novak will probably have to face David Ferrer who could be a problem. The sixth eighth annoys me as Andy lost in the first round and now the only seed is Marcos Baghdatis meaning he is most probably going to face Novak in the Quatres.
Yet again in the seventh eighth there is only one seed left after both Blake and Berdych left in the first round. That means a mediocre quatrefinalist will come out from here which seems to be Carlos Moya. Three seeds are left in the last eighth and it looks like Lleyton will go against Nadal. Though Nadal will not be stopped in such an early stage meaning Novak will be my only hope I commend Lleyton for beating two veteran players.
The WTA has looked more pleasing however with only six seeds out and one of them Nadia Petrova, at one point it also seemed as though Svetlana would lose to Meghann Shaughnessy.
Well the seeds are all safe in the first eighth and this is the difference between WTA and ATP. In the WTA there are a bunch of good players in there and some very good ones but after the 32 seeds you get less and less of a potential winner who would upset a potential winner. In the ATP however you have Federer and Nadal then a bunch of good players and the rest are unpredictable. Well I really hope Justine will play Na Li but Sybille would be Ok as she is on my fantasy tennis group, as well as Justine!
Serena looks to be in a struggle here playing two very difficult matches. I hope she will do fine against Michaella Krajicek and then probably Dinara but if she plays to her usual standard she'll find these two matches a breeze. Sadly Jie Zheng lost in the first round.
The third eigtht looks to be the most dangerous of all. Jelena the suddenly in form player, Venus the returning queen, Marion the always there and Elena who had a great run to Roland Garros. I am hoping to see Venus play Elena but Jelena is a difficult match especially when she is in form. I am starting to worry about Venus! The fourth eigth looks to be Nicole's kingdom. She shoulod have little difficulty in getting to the the Quatres. Then she will have to face a really difficult opponent. I wish her luck!
The fifth eigth looks to be a clash between Ana and Daniela as I said in my earlier post though amazingly Ioana Raluca Olaru has been doing great for her first time so she may make an upset. The worst group comes out in the sixth eigth where Peer and Kuznetsova are in seemingly they will be in the fourth round and Svetlana will have an easy road to the Semis facing what seems to be Sharapova.
The seeds are all there in the seventh eigth though sadly Flavia lost so early. Amelie seems to be the winner in this eigth as nobody seems to be able to stop her even though she hasn't had a perfect Roland Garros streak. Maria Sharapova looks to be the winner in the eigth group unless Patty makes an amazing streak but to my knowledge she has never got to a Qutrefinal in a Grand Slam. Saldy though the Bondarenko sisters and Gisela Dulko were ousted. Just a few of the girls in my favourites list.

Roland Garros

Roland Garros is drawing near and finally the draws have been decided for Men's and Women's single. Though British no.1 Andy Murray isn't able to make Britain proud there still is an action packed line up for the Britains and hopefully Tim Henman won't leave in Round 1.
In the first eigtht of the draw we have Roger Federer, who we all know is no.1. Though Rafael Nadal is hotly considered to be the winner we must recognize that Federer did beat him on clay a week or so ago so there is chance for him to win. I am guessing by now everyone would believe that the potential finalists are Federer and Nadal.
Federer would have an easy start with only Julien Benneteau as the seed there. He will then face a probablity of Ferrero or Youzhny which he should be able to defeat. I would rather Mikhail goes through though!
In the second eigtht I see the probability of Tommy Robredo being the Quatre Finalist as quite high, though I would like to Marat Safin will I think the chances for Marat Safin to win depends on his fitness and currently it hasn't been that well. Ivan Ljubicic should be the eventual opponent for him or a possible upset from the other 7 is possible.
The third eighth includes Nikolay Davydenko who I believe has quite an easy draw. Though he will have the possibilty of playing Nalbandian who could cause an upset. Though my favourite here is Gael Monfils.
Gasquet has potentially a very difficult draw as he has some common strong unseeded players in his draw as well as Guillermo Canas who beat Roger Federer twice in a fortnight. Kristof Vliegen and Nicolas Mahut could also cause problems whilst the probablity of Fernando Gonzalez through to the Quarters is high.
Novak Djokovic one of my favourite players now is in the fifth eigtht. He may face another favourite player of mine Dmitry Tursunov or face an onslaught from David Ferrer. Though is he is on form I believe he will make easy pickings of them.
Marcos Baghdatis one of my most hated players in in the sixth eighth with Andy Roddick. Hopefully Roddick will be the Quarter finalist but he has tough competition from Nicolas Massu, Gilles Simon or the posibilty of Dominik Hrbaty or Marcos Baghdatis.
In the seventh eighth we have James Blake who currently isn't on his best form. He should be able to get through the first few stahes but the possible Fourth round opponent could be a difficult clay court player which I am not sure that James may be able to cope with.
In the final eigtht it is impossible to say Nadal would not be Quatre Finalist though there could be an upset from previous winner Gaston Gaudio or former no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt who pushed Nadal to three sets on clay. Tim Henman also features in this dangerous eighth.

Fourth Round (What I want to happen):
Roger Federer Vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero
Tommy Robredo Vs. Ivan Ljubicic
Nikolay Davydenko Vs. David Nalbandian
Guillermo Canas Vs. Fernando Gonzalez
Novak Djokovic Vs. David Ferrer
Dominik Hrbaty Vs. Andy Roddick
James Blake Vs. Tomas Berdych
Lleyton Hewitt Vs. Rafael Nadal

Quatre Finals:
Roger Federer Vs. Tommy Robredo
Nikolay Davydenko Vs. Fernando Gonzalez
Novak Djokovic Vs. Dominik Hrbaty
Tomas Berdych Vs. Rafael Nadal

Semi Finals:
Roger Federer Vs. Nikolay Davydenko
Novak Djokovic Vs. Rafael Nadal

On the WTA Roland Garros we have Justine Henin as the no.1 seed
Justine should be able to breeze through to the Fourth Round with little to no competition. She should then have little effort in trying to dispatch Sybille or Li as they are both unfamiliar with Roland Garros fourth Round.
In the second eigtht Serena and Dinara should face each toher off in the Fourth Round with no significant drawback though Serena hasn't played in Roland Garros for a few years so this maybe the drawback for her though her form is good.
Though without much success before Jelena Jankovic is in form this year so will be one to watch though Venus Williams is also in this group. Though with recent early departures as well as varying success in the Roland Garros she should be able to stop Jankovic's onslaught. Elena Dementieva should be on the other side waiting for them.
On the fourth eighth Nadia Petrova and Nicole Vaidisova are definitely the ones to look out for but Nadia Petrova has had varying success in Roland Garros and seems to be at the bottom of her form it seems to be safer to go with last years Semifinalist Nicole Vaidisova instead.
The fifth eighth is the easiest group to go through in because only one of the seeds have been to he Quatres which was Ivanovic in 2005. Also the top seeds are not really clay court players so the Quater finalist here must go to seventh seed Ana Ivanovic.
In the sixth eighth Shahar Peer and Svetlana Kuznetsova look the dominant candidates, both hated players of mine. Though it does seem that Svetlana Kuznetsova last years finalist will achieve success here.
Though Amelie Mauresmo's top form has well gone she does seem to have the upper edge in her eighth with only Ai Sugiyama and Flavia Pennetta being a threat, she should therefore make the Quatre's with ease.
In the last eighth Patty Schnyder and Maria Sharapova will take the lead though both not having much success in Roland garros as the other tournaments. Though Gisela Dulko maybe a threat if Maria isn't on top form a she hasn't played in a while

Fourth Round:
Justine Henin Vs. Na Li
Dinara Safina Vs. Serena Williams
Venus Williams Vs. Elena Dementieva
Nadia Petrova Vs. Nicole Vaidisova
Ana Ivanovic Vs. Daniela Hantuchova
Shahar Peer Vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Amelie Mauresmo Vs. Ai Sugiyama
Patty Schnyder Vs. Maria Sharapova

Quatre Finalist
Justine Henin Vs. Serena Williams
Venus Williams Vs. Nicole Vaidisova
Ana Ivanovic Vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Amelie Mauresmo Vs. Maria Sharapova

Semi Finalist
Justine Henin Vs. Nicole Vaidisova
Svetlana Kuznetsova Vs. Amelie Mauresmo

Nearing Roland Garros

Both in WTA and ATP there are going to be Tier I events so it's really exciting. In the WTA we have the BNL d'Italia and ATP Masters Series Hamburg.
In The WTA Amelie Mauresmo is the highest rank (no.3). In her quartet she will probably face Patty Schnyder and Serena Williams, with her current status I don't think she'll have enough to beat Serena if they meet. However Serena will have to fight against some strong players or rising stars, so it'll be difficult for her.
We then have my most dislike player Jelena Jankovic at no.3 seed. She will play from Alona, Flavia or Tathiana early on and may have to fight against Nadia Petrova for the Semi final spot.
Anna Chakvetadze is the 7th seed with Daniela Hantuchova on her eighth as well. They also have Gisela and Sybille in there eigtht so it will be interesting as there about the same level at the moment.
Nicole should have an easy draw up to the semis so if everything goes to plan she will do fine as on her eighth the most difficult is Katarina.
The Last quartet is filled with Safina, Ivanovic,Li and Kuznetsova besides them I don't see much competition for semi final spots. It looks difficult as Ivanovic will be on a high but will she be out of gas and Na Li against Svetlana will be difficult too.
My Quaterfinal line up
Samantha Stosur Vs. Serena Williams
Alona Bondarenko Vs. Elena Dementieva
Daniela Hantuchova Vs. Nicole Vaidisova
Ana Ivanovic Vs. Na Li
Semifinal
Serena Vs. Alona
Nicole Vs. Li
and the final is...
Serena Vs. Nicole (yeah, go girls)
...What may happen is
Amelie Mauresmo Vs. Serena Williams
Jelena Jankovic Vs. Nadia Petrova
Daniela Hantuchova Vs. Nicole Vaidisova
Dinara Safina Vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Semis...
Serena Williams Vs. Jelena Jankovic
Nicole Vaidisova Vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
then i don't know???
On the ATP
we have Roger Federer as No.1 seed though at this rate Nadal will quickly catch up. I believe by next year Federer would only be a few hundred points above Nadal.
Well as you know by now I really like Marat Safin so I hope he will get through, though recently he hasn't been doing so well but I hope he can get to play Federer.
Then we have a score of players like Djokovic, Youzhny and Blake who I like in the second quartet.
We then have Murray and Hewitt on the third quartet which I like.
and the final quartet we have Richard Gasquet and Dmitry Tursunov.
What I want to happen:
Marat Safin Vs. Robby Ginepri
Novak Djokovic Vs. James Blake
Andy Murray Vs. Lleyton Hewitt
Richard Gasquet Vs. Dmitry Tursunov
though the chances are slim
then in the semis
Marat Vs. Blake (needs a boost)
Hewitt (needs a boost) Vs. Gasquet
Marat Vs. Hewitt (will never happen on clay)
What may happen:
Federer Vs. Ljubicic
Djokovic Vs. Berdych
Robredo Vs. Davydenko
Gonzalez Vs. Nadal
Nadal will win and Federer will not be the finalist I think.

Dissapointment

I am so dissapointed with the ATP as my favourite players are basically gone. I can't believe that only like 2 have lasted till Round 16. Though upset of the day (but not for me) is definitely Roger Federer who was beaten in straight sets 6-4,6-2 against wildcard Volandri. I think Federer is decreasing slowly now on clay and the probability is that next year Nadal will be in contention of No.1 spot. He will not get to the Roland Garros Final though. But I despise Volandri for beating Gasquet even if he defeated Roger I still dislike him for doing so. Also I hate Chela for beating Roddick, he was like my only hope for the final and he got brushed away by Chela. Also Massu for defeating Blake but not Gonzalez. Also Hernandez for beating Lleyton, Simon for beating Murray and Davydenko for beating Safin. Now there is only Djokovic and Youzhny left and they can face Nadal the clay king. I want to cry. All gone before the Semis boo hoo.
detestees for the week
Fillipo Volandri
Juan Ignacio Chela
Nicolas Massu
Oscar Hernandez
Gilles Simon
Nikolay Davydenko
The WTA also as Jankovic, Kuznetsova and Petrova are all in the Quatres, My worst nightmare! Also Vaidisova had to retire because of injury. I feel like crying, hopefully next week will be better.

Shocking!

I am really unhappy that three of my favourite players are out in the firsr t round being Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt and Tommy Haas, Ok Tommy Haas retired because he was injured whilst Andy Murray was out for a while because of injury but Lleyton Hewitt was perfectly fine and he had to loose to a qualifier. I am upset that both british players are out as well as Robby Ginepri who was my only hope in the bottom quartet!

A New Week Begins

The J&S Cup is nearing it's end and there have been many upsets throughout Firstly Mara Santanglo beat Nadia Petrova in straight sets and then Kim Clijsters losing to Julia Vakulenko, both were expected to reach the latter stages. Most amazing of all is that Alona Bondarenko reaches the final against Justine Henin. Though not as much of a shock I was dissapointed that Venus Williams could not get to the final. But I am estactic that Henin is to play Bondarenko as I like them both, though I hope Henin wins in straight sets!
In the ATP Kohlschreiber won the BMW Open. Though I would have liked Youzhny to win I am happy he got to the final. Also I am greatful that Baghdatis did not get to the final, thank God!
And then we have the Estoril Open and the best possible final has occured where Richard gasquet is against Novak Djokovic. I am so pleased! I hope Gasquet wins so he can rise up the rankings as Djokovic is already 5th.
It's going to be action packed this week with most of the top 10 in both ATP and WTA coming out to the Tier I opens. First of these are The Qatar Telecom German Open on Clay. The First Quartet we have Justine Henin, Na Li, Daniela Hantuchova & Jelena Jankovic as the seeds. I really hope Na Li will get to play Justine Henin and I know she is capable of getting there as well. Then we have Shuai Peng. I think it is impossible for Jelena Jankovic not to get to play Justine Henin so I hope Shuai Peng will be able to play Jelena.
First Quartet:
Justine Henin Vs. Na Li
Shuai Peng Vs. Aravane Rezai
The second quartet doesn't have as much favourites in it. I am only routing for Anna Lena Groenefeld and Elena Dementieva, but it'sm very slim that they will get to the Quarters. Also Sybille Bammer because she is on my fantasy tennis team. Though Svetlana will dominate this group
Second Quartet:
Sybille Bammer Vs. Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Elena Dementieva Vs. Severine Bremond
The Third Quartet is another favourite with Nicole , Alona, Ana and Martina in there. I hope Nicole will get to the semis and she is capable of that to and Martina has a very easy group as Patty is not doing so well currently so the possibilty is Nicole will play Martina.
Third Quartet:
Nicole Vaidisova Vs. Ana Ivanovic
Roberta Vinci Vs. Martina Hingis
the last quartet yet again isn't as pleasing with most of my faviourites not seeded.I hope Meilen Tu and Flavia Pennetta will do well as well as Dinara Safina.
Fourth Quartet:
Dinara Safina Vs. Samantha Stosur
Flavia Pennetta Vs. Amelie Mauresmo

What I want
Justine Henin Vs. Na Li
Shuai Peng Vs. Aravane Rezai
Sybille Bammer Vs. Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Elena Dementieva Vs. Severine Bremond
Nicole Vaidisova Vs. Ana Ivanovic
Roberta Vinci Vs. Martina Hingis
Dinara Safina Vs. Samantha Stosur
Flavia Pennetta Vs. Amelie Mauresmo
Others: Meilen Tu (4) Alona Bondarenko (3) Daniela Hantuchova (1) Jie Zheng (1)
Quarters
Justine Vs. Shuai
Sybille Vs. Elena
Nicole Vs. Martina
Dinara Vs. Flavia
Semis
Justine Vs. Elena
Nicole Vs. Flavia
Finals
Justine Vs. Nicole
Sadly the Williams sisters aren't playing or it would be much more exciting. However I don't see why the top 8 seeds will not get to the Quarters so I'd expect 5 out of 8 top 8 seeds will get to the Quarters.
In the ECM Prague I am routing for (possible quater final line up)
Sandra Kloesel
Tiantian Sun
Michaella Krajicek (especially)
Gisela Dulko
On the Male side of things IBD hosts one of the strongest line up of male players. First quartet we have Roger Federer yet again but to spice things up Richard Gasquet is yet again in his quartet. Whilst Tim Henman also (have to cheer him on he is British)
First Quartet:
Tim Henman(!!!!!!!!!!) Vs. Richard Gasquet
Anyone Vs. Ivan Ljubicic
In the second quartet we have Andy Roddick, James Blake, Gael Monfils and Dmitry Tursunov who I like and as long as Fernando Gonzalez is nowhere near me I am happy.
Second Quartet
Andy Roddick Vs. Marc Giquel
James Blake Vs. Dmitry Tursunov
Another nice quartet is the third one where Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin lies. This is a great time for Marat to find his game back as recently he's not been doing so well. He has the possiblity of playing Nikolay Davydenko in the second round if he can beat the Qualifier but I have a lot of confidence for him and Nikolay isn't on the best of seasons currently.
Third Quartet:
Lleyton Hewitt Vs. Andy Murray
Dominik Hrbaty Vs. Marat Safin
The final quartet is also nicely spaces out with Novak Djokovic, Tommy Haas, Mikhail Youzhny there though there is also the killer Rafael Nadal who has his eyes on the title though he will have to face some strong opposition before doing so. Also the menace Marcos baghdatis is here but Tommy Haas should be Ok with him.
Fourth Quartet:
Novak Djokovic Vs. Tommy Haas
Mikhail Youzhny Vs. Robby Ginepri
I am so excited this is what I want to happen
Tim Henman(!!!!!!!!!!) Vs. Richard Gasquet
Anyone Vs. Ivan Ljubicic
Andy Roddick Vs. Marc Giquel
James Blake Vs. Dmitry Tursunov
Lleyton Hewitt Vs. Andy Murray
Dominik Hrbaty Vs. Marat Safin
Novak Djokovic Vs. Tommy Haas
Mikhail Youzhny Vs. Robby Ginepri
Quarters
Gasquet Vs. Ljubicic (if only Haas was here then this would be my perfect line up)
Roddick Vs. Blake
Murray Vs. Safin
Djokovic Vs. Youzhny
Semis
(so difficult all my favourites)
Gasquet Vs. Roddick
Safin Vs. Djokovic
Finals
Roddick Vs. Safin
As long as 4 out of the eight i have chosen are in the Quarters I will be happy. Most possibly Novak, Andy M, Andy R and James Blake will be the four as Richard will face roger, Marat isn't a seed,Tommy will be against Novak and Mikhail has Rafael there.
I can't wait for what's to happen

J & S Cup, Estoril and BMW Open

Currently there is not much for me to look forward to in the BMW Open. Tommy Haas my favourite is out so now I just hope Mikhail Youzkhny wins and Marcos Baghdatis doesn't. In the Estoril Open mens there is the usual people I support e.g. Novak Djokivc, Dmitry Tursunov etc. I hope they go far. Sadly there in the same part of the draw, Richard Gasquet etc. I want to do well also.
In the women's WTA J&S Cup congrats to Mara Santangelo for beating Nadia Petrova, now you will probably have to face Justine Henin, poor Mara! Though my nemesis Jelena Jankovic is still in and I don't see her getting out before the Semi's. In the bottom half The first quartet i looking interesting with two top 10 players, former no. 1 Venus and one of my favourite newcomers Kateryna Bondarenko. I wonder who will come out victorious in that quartet. Then at the bottom of the first half we have Kateryna's sister Alona and Julia or Kim. Though the winner there is quite obvious I hope Alona bodes well against Kim. In the Women's Estoril Open I am routing for 8th seed Flavia Pennetta!

The next week

I haven't been blogging recently as there has been any tournaments of interest but this week there will be an action packed field consisting of three events excluding the women's estoril open.
In the J&S cup the one to look out for will definitely be Justine Henin but of course there is a score of good clay court players as well. In the first Quartet I hope Justine will safely get through as I consider her the best there and Nadia Petrova hasn't been playing to her full potential lately which is good for me. Though the first quartet looks OK anyway.
Justine Henin Vs. Mara Santangelo please
Jankovic is making an unwelcomed return from me. She is seeded fourth so she has a BYE so i'm upset. I hope Urzula Radwanska will defeat her however unlikely. The bottom I don't mind Anna Chakvetadze will be fine.
Urzula Radwanska Vs. Anna Chakvetadze please
I dislike the fact Svetlana Kuznetsova will be playing a Qualifier at the start meaning she will most probably get to the next stage. Well hopefully Venus Williams is there to greet her but I wouldn't mind any other in her group, though Venus has the biggest chance of beating her.
Qualifier Vs. Venus Williams please
How the heck did Katarina Srebotnik get to seed 8! Anyway hope Alona Bondarenko will get to Clijsters.
Kim Clijsters Vs. Alona Bondarenko please
I have a strong feeling that Clijsters won't win (embarassing if she does) I just think she'll get to the Semis and lose. So I think Justine will play Svetlana or Venus just my thoughts.
In the Estoril Open men's I want Richard Gasquet to play Gael Monfils however inlikely that ,ay seem with Nikolay Davydenk and Fernando Gonzalez. the I want Novak Djokovic to get to the finals as the fourth quartet possesses noone I like.
Richard Gasquet Vs Gael Monfils
Novak Djokovic Vs. Anyone
Though the probablity is the top seeds will go through with maybe a hiccup by Fernando Gonzalez or Nikolay Davydenko.
In the BMW open I'm only routing for Tommy Haas and Mikhail Youzhny and aslong as Marcos Baghdatis gets nowhere near the finals I am happy.

Days up to now

I am really dissapointed with the win of Jelena Jankovic in the Family Circle Cup however good job to Michaella Krajicek and to a lesser extent Dinara Safina as both her opponents retired. I really wished for Venus to get to the final, Good job also to Shuai Peng who beat Patty Schnyder.
On the ATP I am dissapointed that neither Tommy Haas or James Blake got to the final. I am really dissapointed that Ivo Karlovic won. Well I hope the Masters Series, Monte Carlo will be better.
In the Masters Series Federer will face one of my more favoured players Mikhail Youzhny I hope Federer will lose early again like his last few matches and hope Mikhail can beat Federer if he gets to play him. Novak Djokovic is in that Quartet also so Federer will have a nice aray of opponents to defeat. On the bottom quartet I am looking to see Tim Henman, Richard Gasquet or Gael Monfils come out Victorious but the chances are slim. In the third Quartet I don't really like anyone but good job to Max Mirnyi who beat Marcos Baghdatis. I think most readers will be able to guess who I want to get to the Quatre's in the fourth Quartet and that is Andy Murray and Marat Safin. Andy I think has a better chance but Marat has Rafael to surpass so I don't know. Sadly Canas isn't here to beat Federer!!!
What I hope for Quatre Finals
Mikhail Youzhny Vs. Novak Djokovic
Tim Henman Vs. Richard Gasquet
Anyone except for Tommy Robredo Vs. Anyone
Andy Murray Vs. Marat Safin
Semis
Novak Djokovic Vs. Richard Gasquet
Anyone Vs. Marat Safin
Final
Richard Gasquet Vs. Marat Safin (as they aren't as high ranked so need the boost
What will happen
Federer Vs. Djokovic
Gonzalez Vs. ?
Robredo Vs. Davydenko
Murray Vs. Nadal
generally the seeds

Family Circle Cup

This is definitely not the best outing for some of the seeds. Already 4 of the top 8 seeds are out and only 9 seeds are left in total in the last sixteen and possibly a few more upsets might occur.
With the loss of Nicole I think Sybille will beat Michaella because she has the experience, I think Nicole only lost because she wasn't experienced enough. She will possibly play Vera Zvonareva who I believe is the stronger out of her and Ana though I like Ana better. My favourite line up is totally opposite to what I think will happen, (My hope Michaella Vs Ana, What probably will happen Sybille Vs. Vera). Not the bottom quatre looks good for me as Dinara Vs Shuai would be a good match but I think Tatiana will play Dinara instead.
Na Li should be able to cruise through Anabel until meeting a brick wall called Venus. I think Venus has been playing well so will beat Na Li. The upset of the tournament but something that I hoped for was the loss of Shahar Peer. Now Jie Zheng should be able to play well against Katarina Srebotnik and play Jelena Jankovic.
What I wish for:
Michaella Vs. Ana
Dinara Vs. Shuai
Na Vs. Venus
Jie Vs. Mara
:-) three chinese!!!
Semis
Michaella Krajicek Vs. Shuai Peng
Venus Williams Vs. Jie Zheng
Finals
Shuai Peng Vs. Venus Williams
What will probably happen
Sybille Vs. Vera
Dinara Vs. Tatiana
Na Vs. Venus
Jie Vs. Jelena
Semis
Vera Vs. Golovin
Venus Vs. Jelena
Finals
Vera Vs Venus

My Favourite Players

For those of you who do not know my favourite players of the ATP and WTA who are in the top 100 here's a list of them:
ATP (does not mean they are the best players now)
1st Marat Safin
2nd Andy Roddick
3rd Tommy Haas
4th James Blake
5th Lleyton Hewitt
6th Novak Djokovic
7th Andy Murray
8th Richard Gasquet
9th Mikhail Youzhny
10th Mario Ancic
special mention - Most other American players

WTA (does not mean they are the best players now)
1st Serena Williams
2nd Justine Henin
3rd Venus Williams
4th Nicole Vaidisova
5th Na Li
6th Maria Sharapova
7th Maria Kirilenko
8th Michaella Krajicek
9th Flavia Pennetta
10th Dinara Safina
special mention - I like a lot of other players but these seem to top the list at the moment.

DISLIKES (all players in top 100)
I dislike the following players because I just do for whatever reason except for race or religion.

WTA
1st Jelena Jankovic
2nd Nadia Petrova
3rd Svetlana Kuznetsova
4th Vera Zvonareva
5th Shahar Peer
(there are more I dislike or don't have a strong opinion but these are mainly the ones I do not want to see in a WTA draw funnily enough there all in the top 20, Players not mentioned here does not mean I like you if you beat one of my favourite I will hate you for it)

ATP - (Some may come as a shock)
1st Marcos Baghdatis
2nd Roger Federer
3rd Fernando Gonazlez
4th Tommy Robredo
5th David Nalbandian
special mention - most other Spanish players not because of their country but I for some reason do not like them
Many will say why Roger Federer well the fact is he wins to much and he always has this smug face on I'm not sure if he was born that way but it irritates me when I see him win, sorry to all those fans of his out there but the King and Queen Marat Safin and Serena Williams and boo to Jelena Jankovic and Marcos Baghdatis.

The Worst Post Ever

This is one of my most regretful posts of all as the details inside are not to my liking but I will unleash all that misery that has happened in the tennis world.
We will start with the ATP. Though mostly everything has turned out OK at the moment with James Blake in the second round and Tommy Haas still there the most unfortunate events have happened and that is the injury of Andy Roddick. I was looking forward to seeing him in the latter stages but now with his departure the first quartet seems a walk over as both the seeds are gone now. I hope now that Tommy Haas and James Blake will meet at the final.
The most depressing news however comes from the WTA. Yet another No. 1 Seed has left in the early stages and the main thing is it is the Family Circle Cup a prestigious tournament. I really wanted to see Nicole in the final that I was waiting for but that could not happen now. Also another injury of one of my favourite players went to Serena Williams I am really unhappy about that as she has been winning everything she's been in until now. Those two injuries must be the most devastating for me and in such an early stage. If you do not know Andy Roddick is my second favourite player whilst Marat Safin is No. 1 now all is left to Tommy Haas at 3rd or James Blake at 4th. My favourite female players have been quite consisitent this year but this has been a shock to my system, but the good thing is the ones that beat them I do like though not as much. Other news on the WTA now. Sybille Bammer is looking to win her eighth and play against Ana or Vera though I think Vera looks stronger. At the bottom all seeds are safe so I'm unsure but Dinara should get to the Quatres. Na Li looks very strong in the third quartet and it will take Venus Williams to dethrone her from that spot. I hope Venus will play Chan and then Li to get to the Finals. Two of my favoured players Jie Zheng and Ashley Harkleroad are safely through the first round though Jie Zheng will have to play a tough Shahar Peer. I wish her luck!

The American Clay Tournaments

I am really happy this week that the Family Circle Cup is beginning, though I would have liked a much stronger field with the likes of Justine Henin I think this field will quench my appetite. Leading the seeds is one of my favourite players, Nicole Vaidisova. I am really happy for her and Serena is close behind at No.3, Na Li isn't all that shabby either at No.8. The only dissapointment for me in this draw is that Jelena Jankovic places No. 2 and I just have to say I don't like her, no hard feelings.
Well Nicole will probably face of Michaella Krajicek in the first round though I like Michaella Vaidisova has to win that. The strongest opponent she's got in her Eighth is Sybille Bammer though with some of her usual skill she should be able to surpass her. Ana Ivanovic will be a good quatrefinal opponent but we still need to look out for Vera Zvonareva and don't forget one of my favourite Flavia Pennetta is here (haha). On the second Quartet we begin with Dinara Safina who I don't see will have any difficulty getting to the Quatrefinals. The only player that may give an early upset is Eleni Danilidou but that shouldn't be the case here. She will probably face of Patty Schnyder or even Bausch and Lomb champion Tatiana Golovin. I'm not sure on that one considering the stamina of Tatiana and the game of Schnyders. But hopefully Shuai Peng will give them a good game.
On the other HAlf although I am slightly dissapointed about the draws I am happy they are in the tournament this includes Na Li and the Williams sisters who will all be able to face each other before the Semi Finals. Na Li should be safe to play against one of the Williams. Whilst both the Williams should be afe enough for them to play each other, no tough competition except an early upset for Venus could be caused by Stosur. Well I hope Venus will play Na Li instead this tour because Serena is doing awesome at the moment but Venus needs an extra boost. I really want to see her in the top 20's before Roland Garros and Serena in the top 5 before that too.
The last Quartet is a less pleasing draw for me. Shahar Peer will probably for definite play Jelena Jankovic though I don't really like either. I'd rather have Shahar win though to play Venus. I really hope though that Jie Zheng and Ashley Harkleroad make it difficult for them as I like both of them better.
Well Round 3 (What I wish for)
Nicole Vaidisova Vs. Sybille Bammer
Flavia Pennetta Vs. Ana Ivanovic
Dinara Safina Vs. Vania King
Tatiana Golovin Vs. Shuai Peng
Na Li Vs. Martina Muller
Venus Williams Vs. Serena Williams
Jie Zheng Vs. Julia Vakulenko
Ashley Harkleroad Vs. Anyone but Jelena
Quatre finals
Nicole Vs. Flavia
Dinara Vs. Shuai
Na Vs. Venus
Jie Vs. Ashley
Semis
Nicole Vs. Shuai
Venus Vs. Jie
and Nicole Vas Venus in final
I know not everything will go my way but dreaming is good.
What may haoppen in the Quatres is that all the seeds play each other but there is bound to be at least one upset.
The Doubles is looking unexpectedly strong.
I hope Shuai and Sun can get to play Lisa and Samantha that would be interesting. Ashley and Bethanie as well please. I also wish the Taipei and Chinese duo to do well hopefully final to be Lisa and Samantha Vs. Yan and Zheng.
Well after such a lengthy WTA we go on to ATP
Andy Roddick is first seed in the US and will face an onslaught of American and Spanish players until he gets to the Semis.
Quatre Final wish
Andy Roddick Vs. Robby Ginepri
Tommy Haas Vs. Anyone will do
Anyone will do Vs. Mardy Fish
Robert Kendrick Vs. James Blake
can you see I'm a American fan
well anyway James Blake, Tommy Haas and Andy Roddick are the one I want to get far so Andy to play Tommy and then one of them to play Blake in the finals. though Blake hasn't been doing well currently I have full support for him to get to the Quatres at least. Same with the others they don't have very strong Quatres so should get to the Semis.

Bausch and Lomb Championships

Great Britain has beaten Netherlands in the Davis Cup. Saw it on BBC, they should have however won a little easier than how they won. Can't wait for the Family Circle Cup, though the Bausch and Lomb is still in action. Though I am dissapointed that Nadia Petrova won I thought it was inevitable for her to beat Dinara Safina. I'm amazed that Sybille Bammer is in the Quatre's, I thought her previous success was a fluke. Well I am happy as she is one my fantasy Tennis team. Really dissapointed that venus lost 62 63 she should of given Tatiana a better game. She's getting there. I am extremely happy that Ana beat Jelena. It seems Jelena's form is dipping now and she wount be a threat for to long. Hope that Ana goes to the final against bammer though.

Sony Ericsson Open and Bausch and Lombe Championships

I am so dissapointed with Murray. How could he lose so badly and not even be injured. If he doesn't find a way to beat Djokovic he will never be able to get to greater heights. From now on I believe that besides Nadal, Djokovic is the best young player on the atp and one that I like. Hope he can beat Canas in the finals.
On the WTA I am estactic that the final was Serena and Justine. Out of the two I rather have Serena win and she did because she is ranked 18 so this win will get her to higher ranks. I am so pleased.
In the Bausch and Lombe Open I think the competition seems weak by the fact Nadia Petrova is the Number One seed and I dislike her. Well anyway she will for sure get to her Quatres as only Alicia Molik or Jie Zheng are a threat and they are playing each other in the first round. Then we have Dinara Safina Who I hope will get to the Semis but the chances are slim. In the bottom half of this half I don't see anyone who can replace the Quatre Final of Hantuchova and Na Li which Na Li will win and play Nadia Petrova. Hopefully She will win.
On the other side I hope Samantha Stosur will get to the Quatres instead of Tatiana Golovin. Except for Victoria Azarenka there isn't much competition. Then we have my favourite eighth of the draw. Hopefully Venus will win out of the competition. I wouldn't mind Flavia or Ashley however but that would not happen. Hope Venus can beat Schynder as I think she will beat Aravane anyway. Ana Ivanovic should have little problem in her eighth though i hope Shuai Peng can give her a match. Then we have Jelena Jankovic's eighth. It's sad to say but I think no one will challenge her. Hopefully Alona Bondarenko will get ther.
Predicted Quatre Finals:
Nadia Petrova Vs. Dinara Safina
Daniela Hantuchova Vs Na Li
Tatiana Golovin Vs. Venus Williams
Ana Ivanovic Vs. Jelena Jankovic
pratically all the top seeds except for Venus as Patty isn't doing to well lately.
Wanted Quatre Finals:
Jie Zheng Vs Dinara Safina
Daniela Hantuchova Vs Na Li
Samantha Stosur Vs. Venus Williams
Ana Ivanovic Vs Alona Bondarenko