I have decided to list my favourite players just for the fun of it! (these are only players in the current Top 100 - not in order unless I state)
Mens:
Novak Djokovic - I just don't see how people can dislike him! I don't understand however how people outside of the tennis world don't know about him!
Andy Murray - You have to be patriotic.
Andy Roddick - Still remembering the good old days!
Mikhail Youzhny - Something made me like him a lot before - though I don't remember what it is anymore, I still like him!
Mario Ancic - really liked him when he came on the tour - and beat Federer. Still have high hopes for him.
Dmitry Tursunov - no tournament is complete without him!
Feliciano Lopez - it gets slightly muffled now as I like him for no particular reason! (maybe because you can't not like a single spanish player - there are so many!)
Marat Safin - all worship the king! Love him and will follow his antics until he retires!
Juan Monaco - likewise you can never not like at least one argentinian!
Robby Ginepri - Newly inducted into my Top 10.
Bubbling Under
Lleyton Hewitt - Use to be in my Top 10 but he has been under the radar for too long too sustain a top 10 position.
Tommy Haas - Similaly to Lleyton but he's been coming back up recently.
Richard Gasquet - Too unpredictable for his ranking so I demoted him to bubbling under.
James Blake - I use to have the blake fever but now it has died down
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - If her gets more consistent he'll be a contender for Top 10.
Mardy Fish - Don't know but always had him as one of my likes.
Paul Henri Mathieu - Currently lie him for some unknown reason!
Gael Monfils - A great player but yet again the French only know how to produce one hit wonders.
Tomas Berdych - Get into the Top 10 and he'll be a contender for my Top 10!!!!
Arnaud Clement - he has been much more in the spotlight recently and when I saw him I was like - why has he been under my radar for so long!
In the near future....
Kei Nishikori - Young and asian - just what the tennis world needs!
Fabio Fognini - Just need an Italian in the mix!
Yen Hsun Lu - one word "ASIAN"!!!!!
Fernando Verdasco - Like many other players that are in these two sections I don't know why but I think I'm warming up to his style of play.
Gilles Simon - Soon to be a possible Bubbling Under
Marin Cilic - Just remember when he had his spree of his own.
Michael Llodra - Him and Clement make a hilarious team!
Simone Bolelli - Don't know really but I like him more than some players!
Womens:
Serena Williams - I am all for the good old days!
Dinara Safina - I remember when I cheered her on before and finally she has made it.
Elena Dementieva - Just like her!
Maria Sharapova - Let's actually like the skilled players!
Venus Williams - You can't only like one sister!
Flavia Pennetta - Finally my favourites are making the grade!
Nicole Vaidisova - Loved her since her debut!
Maria Kirilenko - Go grl!
Anne Keothavong - Patriotic!
Na Li - Go China!
Bubbling Under
Ashley Harkleroad - American - you got to have someone to replace the Williams when their gone!
Samantha Stosur - Liked her doubles so yeah.
Yung-Jan Chan - ASIAN! lol
Gisela Dulko - ?!?!?!
Tamarine Tanasugarn - She was so interesting to watch in Wimbledon.
Alona Bondarenko - I just like sisters!
Lindsay Davenport - I like her more now than before for some reason!
Jie Zheng - Good on her beating Ivanovic!
Daniela Hantuchova - Use to be in my top 10 but got demoted
Victoria Azarenka - One of the new players I like more.
Dominika Cibulkova - She's been rising on my charts lately for some reason.
Amelie Mauresmo - Like Lindsay I like her more now than before!
Ten players I'd rather do without:
Ana Ivanovic - I use to hate Jankovic but at least she deserved what she's done unlike Ivanovic!
Svetlana Kuznetsova - I just rather she wasn't there!
Vera Zvonareva - I just don't really care for her to be in any tournament!
Marion Bartoli - the whole world would collapse if she ever made the top 10 again! Can't believe she is still 14th.
Patty Schnyder - She's just like a stalwart blocking people from entering the top 10!
Nadia Petrova - Like her slightly more now that she has a ranking which she deserves.
Roger Federer - I know now I'll receive hate mail! Anyway just don't like him!
Nikolay Davydenko - He's just there!
Stanislas Wawrinka - I don't like people who are placd too highly.
Marcos Baghdatis - The male version of Bartoli - thank goodness he is ranked 42nd!
All of these are just a quick list - I'll probably do a proper one next month. They are pretty vague and to be honest I think I missed a whole lot of players!
Monday 29 September 2008
Stuttgart, Tokyo, Tashkent, Metz and Tokyo again!
Ok so the most of the WTA is at Stuttgart and finally we get to see Serena since her rise to No.1. Well her draw looks interesting though I think Serena is more than capable of dispatching every one of them. Na Li also posted a victory against Vaidisova (though I like Na Li I love Vaidisova!) Serena's toughest opponent will probably come in the form of Svetlana Kuznetsova but she herself will have to face an enslaught of veterans being Schnyder and then most likely Petrova. Both should be a test for Kuznetsova.
Dementieva heads a much weaker section with a flailing Victoria Azarenka and Agnes Szavay in close proximity. Radwanska the 8th seed and ranked 10th in the world could cause a shock but I doubt it. However the Azarenka/Szavay match should be interesting and the one who wins there will most likely see Radwanska next.
Venus starts off with come back star Anna-Lena Groenefeld who got quite far I think in her last event. Flavia Pennetta is also in this draw. But Venus must have her eyes on Safina the in form player of the season. She'll be probably the toughest opponent if Venus does reach that stage of the draw.
Vera is next and she will face Hantuchova! That seems awfully early! Anyway the winner will probably face Dominika (I hope) as Cibulkova has Bartoli in her 1st round. Jankovic should see off her early opponents easily and aim to pick one of the 4 previously mentioned as her QF opponent. Overall the top 4 seeds look quite strong but is it likely that we'll have all the top 4 seeds in the semis? Look out for Petrova/Kuznetsova in Section 1, Radwanska in section 2, Venus in section 3 and Zvonareva in section 4 to make the possible upsets.
The tier III AIG Japan Open sees Wozniacki lead the pack. She'll face off early against Dulko. Whilst Tanasugarn lurks beneath. Kirilenko winner last week will have Shahar Peer on her side but also the comeback star Kimiko Date Krumm who is looking for an upset here. Kaia Kanepi will be somebody to look out for as she seems to be having a good few weeks whilst Wickmayer could also be a threat but who can discount Jie Zheng who is having a great year. Of course Anabel Medina Garrigures will be a contender in the lower half of the draw. Overall this tournament is interesting considering most top players are at Stuttgart.
Shuai Peng headlines in Tashkent (though she is ranked 41st!) so most players here will be out of my league of knowledge. Sabine Lisicki has been playing well recently though whilst Akgul Amanmuradova is always visible in a draw! Besides that most others are fairly vague to me but lets all support Katie O'Brien! Well what do you expect when the other two tournaments are packed with good players!
On the mens tour however the story is totally different. The AIG Japan Open only sports 2 top 10 players whilst in Stuttgart all 8 seeds are in the top 10. Ferrer yet again headlines but we know not to expect that much now! Notable mentions are that Dudi Sela and Bjorn Phau are playing in round 1 - what a coincidence! Del Potro is also lurking there and could be a tough player for Ferrer to handle if he does reach that stage. Gasquet is around an area with many fellow youngsters - Young, Nishikoi etc. But with Gasquey you never know what is going to happen. Shuettler who has been climbing back up to prominence lately is next to Youzhny who seems to have dissapeared recently. On the other side we have Robredo and Berdych whilst Querrey and Gonzalez are yet again drawn in the same section - wonder whether they'll face each other this time. Tsonga and Roddick are in the same quarter - both winners last week so hopefully they'll make the quaters but Melzer could be a threat. Anyway this draw doesn't seem to interesting besides the induction of Roddick as the seeds go down to rank 62!
To be honest in Metz the draw seems to be much more respectable for a tournament of its size. Karlovic heads the draw with Baghdatis as a 1st round opponent. Moya also is close by whilst the other seed is one of my favourites Dmitry Tursunov. The next section of the draw looks average with Almagro leading the pack whilst Llodra is in their but another of my favourites Feliciano Lopez also features. Ivan Ljubicic also is here (it seems like yesterday when he was in the Top 10!) The highlight of the draw for me is Mario Ancic who hopefully will be making a presence here, he has Tipsaveric to handle whilst Mathieu is the ext seed. The last section features 5 french players out of 8! Clement looks to be a possible threat whilst Simon is obviously someone to look out for.
Dementieva heads a much weaker section with a flailing Victoria Azarenka and Agnes Szavay in close proximity. Radwanska the 8th seed and ranked 10th in the world could cause a shock but I doubt it. However the Azarenka/Szavay match should be interesting and the one who wins there will most likely see Radwanska next.
Venus starts off with come back star Anna-Lena Groenefeld who got quite far I think in her last event. Flavia Pennetta is also in this draw. But Venus must have her eyes on Safina the in form player of the season. She'll be probably the toughest opponent if Venus does reach that stage of the draw.
Vera is next and she will face Hantuchova! That seems awfully early! Anyway the winner will probably face Dominika (I hope) as Cibulkova has Bartoli in her 1st round. Jankovic should see off her early opponents easily and aim to pick one of the 4 previously mentioned as her QF opponent. Overall the top 4 seeds look quite strong but is it likely that we'll have all the top 4 seeds in the semis? Look out for Petrova/Kuznetsova in Section 1, Radwanska in section 2, Venus in section 3 and Zvonareva in section 4 to make the possible upsets.
The tier III AIG Japan Open sees Wozniacki lead the pack. She'll face off early against Dulko. Whilst Tanasugarn lurks beneath. Kirilenko winner last week will have Shahar Peer on her side but also the comeback star Kimiko Date Krumm who is looking for an upset here. Kaia Kanepi will be somebody to look out for as she seems to be having a good few weeks whilst Wickmayer could also be a threat but who can discount Jie Zheng who is having a great year. Of course Anabel Medina Garrigures will be a contender in the lower half of the draw. Overall this tournament is interesting considering most top players are at Stuttgart.
Shuai Peng headlines in Tashkent (though she is ranked 41st!) so most players here will be out of my league of knowledge. Sabine Lisicki has been playing well recently though whilst Akgul Amanmuradova is always visible in a draw! Besides that most others are fairly vague to me but lets all support Katie O'Brien! Well what do you expect when the other two tournaments are packed with good players!
On the mens tour however the story is totally different. The AIG Japan Open only sports 2 top 10 players whilst in Stuttgart all 8 seeds are in the top 10. Ferrer yet again headlines but we know not to expect that much now! Notable mentions are that Dudi Sela and Bjorn Phau are playing in round 1 - what a coincidence! Del Potro is also lurking there and could be a tough player for Ferrer to handle if he does reach that stage. Gasquet is around an area with many fellow youngsters - Young, Nishikoi etc. But with Gasquey you never know what is going to happen. Shuettler who has been climbing back up to prominence lately is next to Youzhny who seems to have dissapeared recently. On the other side we have Robredo and Berdych whilst Querrey and Gonzalez are yet again drawn in the same section - wonder whether they'll face each other this time. Tsonga and Roddick are in the same quarter - both winners last week so hopefully they'll make the quaters but Melzer could be a threat. Anyway this draw doesn't seem to interesting besides the induction of Roddick as the seeds go down to rank 62!
To be honest in Metz the draw seems to be much more respectable for a tournament of its size. Karlovic heads the draw with Baghdatis as a 1st round opponent. Moya also is close by whilst the other seed is one of my favourites Dmitry Tursunov. The next section of the draw looks average with Almagro leading the pack whilst Llodra is in their but another of my favourites Feliciano Lopez also features. Ivan Ljubicic also is here (it seems like yesterday when he was in the Top 10!) The highlight of the draw for me is Mario Ancic who hopefully will be making a presence here, he has Tipsaveric to handle whilst Mathieu is the ext seed. The last section features 5 french players out of 8! Clement looks to be a possible threat whilst Simon is obviously someone to look out for.
Update 21-28th September
Don't have much time and have a lot to post so this will be quick. The China Open was won by Jelena Jankovic in a repeat of the match up between her and Svetlana Kuznetsova last week, however this time Jankovic thrashed Kuznetsova. Na Li sadly lost to Schiavone in Round 1 whilst Anabel Medina Garrigues caused a few shocks before succumbing to Vera Zvonareva who pushed Jankovic to three sets in her semis.
Dominika Cibulkova showing herself to be a force to be recognised beat Mauresmo twice in two weeks and was only supressed by Kuznetsova. Whilst yet again Ivanovic showed herself badly and lost again to Jie Zheng though this time there was a glimmer of hope for Ivanovic.
In the Hansol Korea Open one of my favourites Maria Kirilenko won (and deservedly so). Melani South a lucky loser however was unable to fly the flag for Britain in Round 2 as she retired 6-1, 3-0 down. Kaia Kanepi was a force that looked to be en route to a tough match up between her and Kirilenko but Kirilenko prevailed. Samantha Stosur however was the talk of the town as she got to the finals - however she evaded quite a few seeds whilst getting to the final. Shahar Peer another player who has succumbed to the "San Henin" fever which has caused quite a few players to suddenly drop in their rankings bid, lost out to Craybas in the QF. Well the Thailand Open was a slight upset for me as Djokovic lost in the final but nonetheless he is still my favourite player - it's sad to see though tat Djokovic has been much more variable this year compared to previous ones where he won his first grand slam but has also lost to some obscure players on the tour.
Also sadly Marat Safin lost in Round 1 to a guy I have never heard of! Whilst Monfils did well but it was sad to see him lose like that to Tsonga who seems to be getting back into rhythm. In the ATP China open Andy Roddick won - yeah! If only Djokovic and Safin were in the final of the other and then it would have been a near perfect week! Anyway Ferrer was shocked in the second round by Dudi Sela - yeah I don't know what he's been doing recently! He also beat Robredo and Schuettler enroute to the finals! Sadly Gasquet wasn't capable of playing this see sweeper. Sam Querrey also succumed to an early defeat to my shock but Bjorn Phau (his succesor) also beat Fernando Gonzalez meaning Phau was another seed sweeper (don't like giant killer because Querrey and Gonzalez aren't giants in every term of the word!) of the week though most don't rememeber Phau! Anyway that meant that Roddick didn't have to play a single seed to win the title.However he did have to face former No.1 Ferrero (who seems to be out of it now) and two tough unseeded players being Sela and Phau.
Dominika Cibulkova showing herself to be a force to be recognised beat Mauresmo twice in two weeks and was only supressed by Kuznetsova. Whilst yet again Ivanovic showed herself badly and lost again to Jie Zheng though this time there was a glimmer of hope for Ivanovic.
In the Hansol Korea Open one of my favourites Maria Kirilenko won (and deservedly so). Melani South a lucky loser however was unable to fly the flag for Britain in Round 2 as she retired 6-1, 3-0 down. Kaia Kanepi was a force that looked to be en route to a tough match up between her and Kirilenko but Kirilenko prevailed. Samantha Stosur however was the talk of the town as she got to the finals - however she evaded quite a few seeds whilst getting to the final. Shahar Peer another player who has succumbed to the "San Henin" fever which has caused quite a few players to suddenly drop in their rankings bid, lost out to Craybas in the QF. Well the Thailand Open was a slight upset for me as Djokovic lost in the final but nonetheless he is still my favourite player - it's sad to see though tat Djokovic has been much more variable this year compared to previous ones where he won his first grand slam but has also lost to some obscure players on the tour.
Also sadly Marat Safin lost in Round 1 to a guy I have never heard of! Whilst Monfils did well but it was sad to see him lose like that to Tsonga who seems to be getting back into rhythm. In the ATP China open Andy Roddick won - yeah! If only Djokovic and Safin were in the final of the other and then it would have been a near perfect week! Anyway Ferrer was shocked in the second round by Dudi Sela - yeah I don't know what he's been doing recently! He also beat Robredo and Schuettler enroute to the finals! Sadly Gasquet wasn't capable of playing this see sweeper. Sam Querrey also succumed to an early defeat to my shock but Bjorn Phau (his succesor) also beat Fernando Gonzalez meaning Phau was another seed sweeper (don't like giant killer because Querrey and Gonzalez aren't giants in every term of the word!) of the week though most don't rememeber Phau! Anyway that meant that Roddick didn't have to play a single seed to win the title.However he did have to face former No.1 Ferrero (who seems to be out of it now) and two tough unseeded players being Sela and Phau.
Sunday 21 September 2008
ATP next week
Well the Thailand Open and the China open are next for the mens.
Djokovic leads the seeds in the Thailand Open, he'll be looking for a win here as his next strongest opponent is Tsonga (do we remember the shock he made in the Aussie 2008 - it seems like it was years ago!) Though the The other 3 top seeds are out of their top form they could be dangerous if they were playing at their best. Well Djokovic should find getting to the final an easy feat considering that most of his opponents will rank below 40. Tomas Berydych would have been a threat a year ago but his recent performances show he way below his best.
Though I would love Marko Djokovic (yes Novak's younger brother) to play against Novak but I think it's too early for him to be able to get into the Quaterfinals even with an average score of players in his group.
But all my eyes (well two) would be on Marat Safin, hopefully he'll be able to play Monfisl as his group isn't too difficult, if he does get past these early round maybe he'll be able to reach the finals! That would be great my old favourite player playing against my current favourite player! Anyway Monfils will be a huge hurdle to jump across.
With Tsonga I don't know what to think as besides in the Australian Open I barely remember him playing in any other tournament (of course he has but I just don't remember). So it will be confusing down there but it just looks Djokovic will sweep away this field!
In China it will be a more difficult contest. Ferrer leads the seeds with Roddick as second. Ferrer will probably have to pass Tommy Robredo to reach the Semis as I don't see any of te other players in that group making a threat. The unpredictable Gasquet will be the 4th seed (I just really hope he was steadier instead of the first round loss for two weeks and then suddenly a win in the other type game he has. Rainer Schuettler could cause some problems but Gasquet shouldbe safe in this group.
Gonzalez is the next seed but he'll probably have to play an in form Sam Querrey to reach the semis. Personally I think if they play each other Sam Querrey may have the upper hand.
Finally we have Roddick and to be honest if he doesn't get past this group I will be crying for the next day!
Djokovic leads the seeds in the Thailand Open, he'll be looking for a win here as his next strongest opponent is Tsonga (do we remember the shock he made in the Aussie 2008 - it seems like it was years ago!) Though the The other 3 top seeds are out of their top form they could be dangerous if they were playing at their best. Well Djokovic should find getting to the final an easy feat considering that most of his opponents will rank below 40. Tomas Berydych would have been a threat a year ago but his recent performances show he way below his best.
Though I would love Marko Djokovic (yes Novak's younger brother) to play against Novak but I think it's too early for him to be able to get into the Quaterfinals even with an average score of players in his group.
But all my eyes (well two) would be on Marat Safin, hopefully he'll be able to play Monfisl as his group isn't too difficult, if he does get past these early round maybe he'll be able to reach the finals! That would be great my old favourite player playing against my current favourite player! Anyway Monfils will be a huge hurdle to jump across.
With Tsonga I don't know what to think as besides in the Australian Open I barely remember him playing in any other tournament (of course he has but I just don't remember). So it will be confusing down there but it just looks Djokovic will sweep away this field!
In China it will be a more difficult contest. Ferrer leads the seeds with Roddick as second. Ferrer will probably have to pass Tommy Robredo to reach the Semis as I don't see any of te other players in that group making a threat. The unpredictable Gasquet will be the 4th seed (I just really hope he was steadier instead of the first round loss for two weeks and then suddenly a win in the other type game he has. Rainer Schuettler could cause some problems but Gasquet shouldbe safe in this group.
Gonzalez is the next seed but he'll probably have to play an in form Sam Querrey to reach the semis. Personally I think if they play each other Sam Querrey may have the upper hand.
Finally we have Roddick and to be honest if he doesn't get past this group I will be crying for the next day!
WTA next week
The next two tournaments continue in Asia with the Tier 2 China Open and the Tier 4 Hansol Korea Open. In China (this time Beijing) we will see Jankovic and Ivanovic lead the lines. (In actualy fact the players in this tournament look largely like the players in the Toray Pan Pacific!)
Anyway this time Jankovic will have a much much easier job as she has Daniela Hantuchova on her side! (she's not been doing well lately has she). A favourite of mine Gisela Dulko will be playing her (another favourite of mine) in the first round.
Vera Zvonareva who has already succeeded in China will hope to make it her second title but she has Jankovic to look out for as well as an early possibility of Na Li and an underdog Caroline Wozniacki.
The next group seems to be the most interesting, there is the strong favourite Svetlana Kuznetsova whilst the unsteady Anna Chakvetadze takes the other side, a rematch of last week between Dominika Cibulkova and Amelie Mauresmo will also occur whilst last weeks Guangzhou International finalist Shuai Peng will also be in the mix.
Therefore with such strong adversary for Shuai Peng and possibly Na Li all hopes for China lies on Jie Zheng as she takes on Agieszka Radwanska who is strong but beatable then it will probably go down to the fragile Ivanovic to wrap the loose ends - if she's in form she may get through but if she's not we may see her loose to Alize Cornet. Overall it looks like Jankovic is the favourite here whilst I wouldn't count out Kuznetsova either.
In Korea Maria Kirilenko heads the charge, hopefully with a week tournament she'll be able to get a victory. They do have Kaia Kanepi in the mix which could be a threat to Kirilenko making the final. Besides that Shahar Peer may also pose a challenge if they both get to the final but largely if Maria plays well this should be an easy picking.
Anyway this time Jankovic will have a much much easier job as she has Daniela Hantuchova on her side! (she's not been doing well lately has she). A favourite of mine Gisela Dulko will be playing her (another favourite of mine) in the first round.
Vera Zvonareva who has already succeeded in China will hope to make it her second title but she has Jankovic to look out for as well as an early possibility of Na Li and an underdog Caroline Wozniacki.
The next group seems to be the most interesting, there is the strong favourite Svetlana Kuznetsova whilst the unsteady Anna Chakvetadze takes the other side, a rematch of last week between Dominika Cibulkova and Amelie Mauresmo will also occur whilst last weeks Guangzhou International finalist Shuai Peng will also be in the mix.
Therefore with such strong adversary for Shuai Peng and possibly Na Li all hopes for China lies on Jie Zheng as she takes on Agieszka Radwanska who is strong but beatable then it will probably go down to the fragile Ivanovic to wrap the loose ends - if she's in form she may get through but if she's not we may see her loose to Alize Cornet. Overall it looks like Jankovic is the favourite here whilst I wouldn't count out Kuznetsova either.
In Korea Maria Kirilenko heads the charge, hopefully with a week tournament she'll be able to get a victory. They do have Kaia Kanepi in the mix which could be a threat to Kirilenko making the final. Besides that Shahar Peer may also pose a challenge if they both get to the final but largely if Maria plays well this should be an easy picking.
Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Guangzhou International Open
Well the Toray Pan Pacific has finished, congratuations to the winner Dinara Safina who has done so well this year.
Anyway the first quarter was led by Jelena Jankovic who swept confortably past Flavia Pennetta (boo). Anyway Na Li also sadly lost out here to Svetlana Kuznetsova. So it was Jankovic against Kuznetsova in the Quaterfinals. But this time it was Kuznetsova who survived a three set onslaught from Jankovic 2-6,7-5,7-5. On the other side with Daniela Hantuchova yet again posing little threat we all were guessing that Dementieva would be Kuznetsova's next opponent, but Srebotnik served an upset to make the Semifinals. Anna Chakvetadze also continued her unimpressive year by losing to Kaia Kanepi. Wildcard Amelie Mauresmo started strongly but was overwhelmed by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova (definitely a rising star). Anyway it was yet again Dinara Safina who came through here but she had a tough match against Chakvetadze conqueror Kaia Kanepi - good job Kaia!
The last section saw Maria Kirilenko fall to Marion Bartoli (I still don't like her) however it was Nadia Petrova who was looking to return to her former Top 10 position who beat the odds of Ivanovic (officially the worst No.1 of all time) and Radwanska. So 4 muscle clad players fought in Tokyo to win the Tier 1 title, though you could not be definite it was quite clear that the final would be a Russian affair.
In the end it was Svetlana against Dinara but it was Dinara who overwhelmed Svetlana winning 6-1,6-3! Another title for a star of 2008 Dinara Safina.
It was another Russian who won in neighbouring China beating three of the countries finest players, it was non other than Vera Zvonareva. Vera who has been having a good year was the lone Top 30 player in this draw. There was a score of Chinese players but by the Quaterfinals there were only 2 left - they were Jie Zheng and Shuai Peng. Though I was routing for Dulko I also wanted the chinese contigent to get somewhere so when Dulko lost out to Arantxa Rus (!) I decided to put my full efforts in cheering on the Chinese Pair. Jie Zheng played well and comfortably went passed the likes of Tamira Paszek whilst Shuai Peng had veteran Jill Craybas to ward off.
The next match for Jie Zheng was Vera Zvonareva - definitely the one to beat. But it was Vera who succeeded, however in the final Shuai Peng was hoping to capture her home title but her too did not succeed in this feat losing to Zvonareva in a topsy turvy 3 sets.
Anyway the first quarter was led by Jelena Jankovic who swept confortably past Flavia Pennetta (boo). Anyway Na Li also sadly lost out here to Svetlana Kuznetsova. So it was Jankovic against Kuznetsova in the Quaterfinals. But this time it was Kuznetsova who survived a three set onslaught from Jankovic 2-6,7-5,7-5. On the other side with Daniela Hantuchova yet again posing little threat we all were guessing that Dementieva would be Kuznetsova's next opponent, but Srebotnik served an upset to make the Semifinals. Anna Chakvetadze also continued her unimpressive year by losing to Kaia Kanepi. Wildcard Amelie Mauresmo started strongly but was overwhelmed by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova (definitely a rising star). Anyway it was yet again Dinara Safina who came through here but she had a tough match against Chakvetadze conqueror Kaia Kanepi - good job Kaia!
The last section saw Maria Kirilenko fall to Marion Bartoli (I still don't like her) however it was Nadia Petrova who was looking to return to her former Top 10 position who beat the odds of Ivanovic (officially the worst No.1 of all time) and Radwanska. So 4 muscle clad players fought in Tokyo to win the Tier 1 title, though you could not be definite it was quite clear that the final would be a Russian affair.
In the end it was Svetlana against Dinara but it was Dinara who overwhelmed Svetlana winning 6-1,6-3! Another title for a star of 2008 Dinara Safina.
It was another Russian who won in neighbouring China beating three of the countries finest players, it was non other than Vera Zvonareva. Vera who has been having a good year was the lone Top 30 player in this draw. There was a score of Chinese players but by the Quaterfinals there were only 2 left - they were Jie Zheng and Shuai Peng. Though I was routing for Dulko I also wanted the chinese contigent to get somewhere so when Dulko lost out to Arantxa Rus (!) I decided to put my full efforts in cheering on the Chinese Pair. Jie Zheng played well and comfortably went passed the likes of Tamira Paszek whilst Shuai Peng had veteran Jill Craybas to ward off.
The next match for Jie Zheng was Vera Zvonareva - definitely the one to beat. But it was Vera who succeeded, however in the final Shuai Peng was hoping to capture her home title but her too did not succeed in this feat losing to Zvonareva in a topsy turvy 3 sets.
Wednesday 10 September 2008
US Open
A bit late on this but better late than never! Well what an interesting two weeks of tennis it was, sadly I didn't get to watch any of it as I didn't know where I would be able to get it live - and by the time it was aired I would have probably been asleep, well knowing what happens is enough for me.
Firstly it's great to see Federer off his No.1 seed spot as he has been there for the last however many Slams (though personally I would like Djokovic up top!) Sadly Berdych (someone who I was starting to like by the end of last year) went out in the 1st round, he must be suffering the czech fever! I feel that Berdych may have lost his chances to ever get into the Top 5 (which I thought was possible at one stage of his career, instead of booming this year he suffered the same fate as many other tennis players have). Though his successor Sam Querry battled on to take a set from Nadal in the 4th round - definitely a good achievement even if it is on hard courts. Ivo Karlovic also produced some good matches to get to the third round - losing to Querrey.
In section 2 Blake sadly lost to Fish and amazingly Monfils also lost to Fish, but well done to Monfils for making it to the 4th round (better than one hit wonder Tsonga!)
The next section saw a guy who is quickly jumping up my own league table of favourites; beating Ferrer, and that was Nishikori, sadly it was in the expense of Juan Monaco losing in the first round.
In Section 4 all my hopes were on Murray after Lopez suffered a Round 1 lost, he really didn't let me down making mincemeat of Wawrinka.
In section 5 Roddick also reigned supreme evn though he was very much under the radar for me throughout the tournament.
In Section 6 Djokovic was for sure going to win from here, but it was great to see Safin at least get to the second round as a lot of my favourite players seemed to have dwindled.
Sadly Tursunov failed to beat Davydenko but Third Round is a good result for him and of course this group was going to cause one of my major upsets as Haas and Gasquet were playing each other in Round 1. Thinking at least one of them would get to the third round made me feel better but from nowhere Gilles Muller defeated all his opponents en-route to the Quarterfinals!
Finally there was of course Federer which I have to say seemed rather shaky against Andreev, of course he still won but I do think that his days are dwindling.
Of course the highlight of the whole tournament would have been Murray making the final, finally we see some potential of a grand slam winner! But it would be much better to have seen Djokovic in there too as it would be the first grand slam final in ages which wouln't feature either Nadal or Federer.
Well now for the womens game. Isn't it amazing how Ivanovic has done so badly recently and she still was No.1 in the game coming to the US Open! Well for most people who have read this blog you'll know how much I think Ivanovic's No.1 spot is utter bullocks, she doesn't deserve it and instead it may actually kill her career in my opinion.
Well Julie Coin (which I think is her name) shocked us by defeating Ivanovic, well however I knew she wasn't going to reach the QF but for Miss Coin, ranked 188 in the world, at 25 years old and making her debut appearance in a WTA main draw to beat the No.1 in the world - it shows how Ivanovic should be 20 rankings below what she is now! However Amelie Mauresmo would have none of this (she still has a reasonable career to uphold!) But what made me spring up with joy (literally) was Pennetta making it to her first Slam QF.
Hantuchova yet again suffered an early loss (capping a bad year for her; not including the Australian Open success) to eventual 4th rounder Anna Lena Groenefeld - marking a solid comeback to form. Melanie Oudin (a successful junior player) tried her luck in the main draw but was unable to beat fellow wildcard Jessica Moore. Kudryavtseva however failed to improve on her Wimbledon performance by losing in the 1st round.
Section 3 saw Serena Williams lead the pack, with Nicole Vaidisova basically having the worst year of her career it was all for Serena Williams, she only lost 14 games to her 1st 4 opponents!
I would however love to see Vaidisova come back to form as she would be able to capitalize on such a weak WTA at the moment.
Whilst Section 4 also saw sister Venus dominate the matches, only losing 15 games before the QF's.
Section 5 saw Anne Keothavong make a splash by making it to the 3rd round (she is definitely showing some promise to reach the Top 50!) anyway Elena Dementieva continued her good form to win in this section but a special mention goes to Na Li as she is really looking to get back into her top game.
Sadly Dulko and Kirilenko both lost in the 1st round of Section 6 but what interested me the most was that Kuznetsova dropped out in the third round - making another favourite to go far into the tournament loose early on. Section 7 saw Bartoli do better than I wanted, sadly Lindsay Davenport was unable to stop her but at least Bammer wasn't going to let her win! Finally we had Jankovic take Section 8 (though much more difficultly than she would have wanted it to be!) She also played the Junior Champion in the 1st round I think.
Besides Schnyder and Jankovic's induction into the Quaterfinals I mainly liked the draws except for Venus and Serena having to play so early in the draw (ok Quarterfinals but both are potential finalists!) Anyway Flavia sadly lost easily to Safina but she'll have her time I'm sure. Dementieva also continued her recent success by making it to the semis. In the end I think it was predictable that Serena would win - despite everyone saying it was going to be difficult to pick I believed from the start that Serena was the favourite and now that she is No.1 it makes me even happier - to think that finally someone more stable would take No.1.
Firstly it's great to see Federer off his No.1 seed spot as he has been there for the last however many Slams (though personally I would like Djokovic up top!) Sadly Berdych (someone who I was starting to like by the end of last year) went out in the 1st round, he must be suffering the czech fever! I feel that Berdych may have lost his chances to ever get into the Top 5 (which I thought was possible at one stage of his career, instead of booming this year he suffered the same fate as many other tennis players have). Though his successor Sam Querry battled on to take a set from Nadal in the 4th round - definitely a good achievement even if it is on hard courts. Ivo Karlovic also produced some good matches to get to the third round - losing to Querrey.
In section 2 Blake sadly lost to Fish and amazingly Monfils also lost to Fish, but well done to Monfils for making it to the 4th round (better than one hit wonder Tsonga!)
The next section saw a guy who is quickly jumping up my own league table of favourites; beating Ferrer, and that was Nishikori, sadly it was in the expense of Juan Monaco losing in the first round.
In Section 4 all my hopes were on Murray after Lopez suffered a Round 1 lost, he really didn't let me down making mincemeat of Wawrinka.
In section 5 Roddick also reigned supreme evn though he was very much under the radar for me throughout the tournament.
In Section 6 Djokovic was for sure going to win from here, but it was great to see Safin at least get to the second round as a lot of my favourite players seemed to have dwindled.
Sadly Tursunov failed to beat Davydenko but Third Round is a good result for him and of course this group was going to cause one of my major upsets as Haas and Gasquet were playing each other in Round 1. Thinking at least one of them would get to the third round made me feel better but from nowhere Gilles Muller defeated all his opponents en-route to the Quarterfinals!
Finally there was of course Federer which I have to say seemed rather shaky against Andreev, of course he still won but I do think that his days are dwindling.
Of course the highlight of the whole tournament would have been Murray making the final, finally we see some potential of a grand slam winner! But it would be much better to have seen Djokovic in there too as it would be the first grand slam final in ages which wouln't feature either Nadal or Federer.
Well now for the womens game. Isn't it amazing how Ivanovic has done so badly recently and she still was No.1 in the game coming to the US Open! Well for most people who have read this blog you'll know how much I think Ivanovic's No.1 spot is utter bullocks, she doesn't deserve it and instead it may actually kill her career in my opinion.
Well Julie Coin (which I think is her name) shocked us by defeating Ivanovic, well however I knew she wasn't going to reach the QF but for Miss Coin, ranked 188 in the world, at 25 years old and making her debut appearance in a WTA main draw to beat the No.1 in the world - it shows how Ivanovic should be 20 rankings below what she is now! However Amelie Mauresmo would have none of this (she still has a reasonable career to uphold!) But what made me spring up with joy (literally) was Pennetta making it to her first Slam QF.
Hantuchova yet again suffered an early loss (capping a bad year for her; not including the Australian Open success) to eventual 4th rounder Anna Lena Groenefeld - marking a solid comeback to form. Melanie Oudin (a successful junior player) tried her luck in the main draw but was unable to beat fellow wildcard Jessica Moore. Kudryavtseva however failed to improve on her Wimbledon performance by losing in the 1st round.
Section 3 saw Serena Williams lead the pack, with Nicole Vaidisova basically having the worst year of her career it was all for Serena Williams, she only lost 14 games to her 1st 4 opponents!
I would however love to see Vaidisova come back to form as she would be able to capitalize on such a weak WTA at the moment.
Whilst Section 4 also saw sister Venus dominate the matches, only losing 15 games before the QF's.
Section 5 saw Anne Keothavong make a splash by making it to the 3rd round (she is definitely showing some promise to reach the Top 50!) anyway Elena Dementieva continued her good form to win in this section but a special mention goes to Na Li as she is really looking to get back into her top game.
Sadly Dulko and Kirilenko both lost in the 1st round of Section 6 but what interested me the most was that Kuznetsova dropped out in the third round - making another favourite to go far into the tournament loose early on. Section 7 saw Bartoli do better than I wanted, sadly Lindsay Davenport was unable to stop her but at least Bammer wasn't going to let her win! Finally we had Jankovic take Section 8 (though much more difficultly than she would have wanted it to be!) She also played the Junior Champion in the 1st round I think.
Besides Schnyder and Jankovic's induction into the Quaterfinals I mainly liked the draws except for Venus and Serena having to play so early in the draw (ok Quarterfinals but both are potential finalists!) Anyway Flavia sadly lost easily to Safina but she'll have her time I'm sure. Dementieva also continued her recent success by making it to the semis. In the end I think it was predictable that Serena would win - despite everyone saying it was going to be difficult to pick I believed from the start that Serena was the favourite and now that she is No.1 it makes me even happier - to think that finally someone more stable would take No.1.
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