(Rank/Seed)
18/17 Nadia Petrova upset the odds to defeat (3/3) Agniezska Radwanska 60 16 63 and take the 12th and biggest title of her career. The match was certainly bizarre, with neither player capable of finding any real consistency, but Petrova's greater power on the serve and return seemed to make the decisive difference
1st Set
Petrova played almost flawlessly, hitting 16 winners to just 3 unforced errors as she destroyed Radwanska's second serve. She even closed it out on an ace!
2nd Set
After recovering from 0-40 in the opening game, Radwanska won 5 games in a row as Petrova began to miss and grow negative, hitting just 7 winners to 14 unforced errors. Better serving from the Pole i.e. 3 successive aces and Petrova's growing lethargy helped Radwanska take the set
3rd Set
After 3 relatively easy holds of serve each, 2 double faults proved costly for Radwanska in the 8th game as she was broken for the 1st time in the 3rd set. Petrova served out the match, converting on a drive volley
Petrova became the 1st non top 10 player this year to win a Premier 5 level event or higher and will go as high as number 14 next week! Her career seems back on track as she's beaten 3 top 10 players in the same event for the 1st time in her career!
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Friday, 28 September 2012
Radwanska And Petrova To Play Tokyo Final
The semifinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open saw a masterclass and an upset, as Radwanska and Petrova progressed
(Rank/Seed)
3/3 A. Radwanska played a spectacular match to beat the most prolific match player this year, (6/5) Kerber 61 61. Radwanska hit 20 winners to just 4 unforced errors as she mixed up the play and made Kerber increasingly prone to error. The scoreline doesn't reflect the quality of play on display as both players wowed the crowd with phenomenal defence and their ability to adapt, but Radwanska was way more solid
18/17 Petrova upset (9/8) Stosur 64 62, going unbroken all match. Petrova won 85% of her 1st serve points and took advantage of a below par Stosur, who seemed affected by an abdominal injury on her backhand side
Radwanska is the defending champion and has won 3 of the 4 previous meetings against Petrova, but these all came in 2008. Petrova has only beaten 2 top 10 players in one tournament before, Tokyo in 2008 and one of those happened to be over Radwanska! She's never beaten 3 top 10 players in a tournament before. This is her biggest final since Moscow 2006! I predict Radwanska will become the 1st to defend this title since Davenport in 2004 in straight sets
(Rank/Seed)
3/3 A. Radwanska played a spectacular match to beat the most prolific match player this year, (6/5) Kerber 61 61. Radwanska hit 20 winners to just 4 unforced errors as she mixed up the play and made Kerber increasingly prone to error. The scoreline doesn't reflect the quality of play on display as both players wowed the crowd with phenomenal defence and their ability to adapt, but Radwanska was way more solid
18/17 Petrova upset (9/8) Stosur 64 62, going unbroken all match. Petrova won 85% of her 1st serve points and took advantage of a below par Stosur, who seemed affected by an abdominal injury on her backhand side
Radwanska is the defending champion and has won 3 of the 4 previous meetings against Petrova, but these all came in 2008. Petrova has only beaten 2 top 10 players in one tournament before, Tokyo in 2008 and one of those happened to be over Radwanska! She's never beaten 3 top 10 players in a tournament before. This is her biggest final since Moscow 2006! I predict Radwanska will become the 1st to defend this title since Davenport in 2004 in straight sets
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Stosur Stuns Sharapova
The quarterfinal's saw the 1st batch of top 10 talent leave the tournament
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Azarenka withdrew citing fatigue that caused her dizziness yesterday. This gives Kerber free passage into the semifinals
9/8 Stosur defied the odds to take out (2/2) Sharapova 64 76(10). Stosur had won only 1 match in 11 previous meetings against Sharapova, so entered as an underdog. Despite leading by a break in both sets, Sharapova was guilty of too many unforced errors. Stosur almost let the match slip, choking on her 1st 4 match points in the tiebreak. However, she saved a set point and got her 2nd win in the last 3 meetings against Maria
3/3 Radwanska was too solid for her close friend (11/10) Wozniacki 64 63, snapping her 8 match winning streak
18/17 Petrova recovered from no where to beat (7/6) Errani. Trailing 63 41, all looked lost for the Russian. Yet, after breaking the Italian's serve for the 1st time to get back on serve at 4-3, Petrova turned it up a notch, pulling through 26 75 63 to make her biggest semifinal since Beijing 2009
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Azarenka withdrew citing fatigue that caused her dizziness yesterday. This gives Kerber free passage into the semifinals
9/8 Stosur defied the odds to take out (2/2) Sharapova 64 76(10). Stosur had won only 1 match in 11 previous meetings against Sharapova, so entered as an underdog. Despite leading by a break in both sets, Sharapova was guilty of too many unforced errors. Stosur almost let the match slip, choking on her 1st 4 match points in the tiebreak. However, she saved a set point and got her 2nd win in the last 3 meetings against Maria
3/3 Radwanska was too solid for her close friend (11/10) Wozniacki 64 63, snapping her 8 match winning streak
18/17 Petrova recovered from no where to beat (7/6) Errani. Trailing 63 41, all looked lost for the Russian. Yet, after breaking the Italian's serve for the 1st time to get back on serve at 4-3, Petrova turned it up a notch, pulling through 26 75 63 to make her biggest semifinal since Beijing 2009
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Wozniacki Topples Li In Tokyo
All 3rd round matches were completed today and there was only one upset as the seeds battled through some tough tests
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Azarenka battled constant dizzy spells to pull through against (16/14) Vinci 64 62
2/2 Sharapova made hard work of her match against (17/16) Safarova, initially leading 62 30, before trailing 5-6 in the 2nd set. Despite 6 double faults, she won 62 76(5)
3/3 A. Radwanska put qualifier Hampton out 64 63
6/5 Kerber crushed close friend and younger U. Radwanska 61 61
7/6 Errani battled past (10/9) Bartoli in the only match between 2 top 10 players 36 62 62
11/10 Wozniacki came from behind to extend her winning streak to 8 matches in claiming her 1st top 10 win of the year over (8/7) Li 46 63 64. After being overpowered in a poor 1st set, Wozniacki dug deep and made the most of Li's 74 unforced errors to beat Li for the 1st time since 2008
9/8 Stosur edged (13/12) Cibulkova 64 75
18/17 Petrova hit 15 aces to take out Kvitova's conqueror Martic 76(2) 67(1) 64
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Azarenka battled constant dizzy spells to pull through against (16/14) Vinci 64 62
2/2 Sharapova made hard work of her match against (17/16) Safarova, initially leading 62 30, before trailing 5-6 in the 2nd set. Despite 6 double faults, she won 62 76(5)
3/3 A. Radwanska put qualifier Hampton out 64 63
6/5 Kerber crushed close friend and younger U. Radwanska 61 61
7/6 Errani battled past (10/9) Bartoli in the only match between 2 top 10 players 36 62 62
11/10 Wozniacki came from behind to extend her winning streak to 8 matches in claiming her 1st top 10 win of the year over (8/7) Li 46 63 64. After being overpowered in a poor 1st set, Wozniacki dug deep and made the most of Li's 74 unforced errors to beat Li for the 1st time since 2008
9/8 Stosur edged (13/12) Cibulkova 64 75
18/17 Petrova hit 15 aces to take out Kvitova's conqueror Martic 76(2) 67(1) 64
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
As One Petra Beats Another, The Seeds Struggle On
The 2nd round was completed today and the top 10 players were out in force, with all but one of them moving into the 3rd round
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Azarenka was sublime against a below par Paszek, winning 61 61
2/2 Sharapova was pushed to the limit against Watson for 3 hours 10 minutes, ultimately winning 67(7) 63 64. Sharapova served 14 double faults and hit 67 unforced errors!
3/3 A. Radwanska repeated the US Open 3rd round result, beating Jankovic 62 75
Martic caused the 1st major upset of the tournament, beating (5/4) Kvitova 64 64. Martic forced Kvitova to move and used her big serve and varied game to unsettle the Czech, who couldn't utilise her serve effectively enough
6/5 Kerber breezed against Morita 63 64
7/6 Errani edged Larsson 63 76(1)
8/7 Li overcame a cough to survive Pavlyuchenkova 75 46 62
9/8 Stosur survived nemesis Schiavone 46 62 75, from 1-4 down in the 3rd set
10/9 Bartoli beat Goerges 62 75
Top 20 players Wozniacki, Cibulkova, Vinci, Safarova and Petrova also advanced, whilst U.Radwanska stunned (12/11) Ivanovic 36 64 62 and qualifier Hampton beat (15/15) Seoul finalist Kanepi 57 62 63
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Azarenka was sublime against a below par Paszek, winning 61 61
2/2 Sharapova was pushed to the limit against Watson for 3 hours 10 minutes, ultimately winning 67(7) 63 64. Sharapova served 14 double faults and hit 67 unforced errors!
3/3 A. Radwanska repeated the US Open 3rd round result, beating Jankovic 62 75
Martic caused the 1st major upset of the tournament, beating (5/4) Kvitova 64 64. Martic forced Kvitova to move and used her big serve and varied game to unsettle the Czech, who couldn't utilise her serve effectively enough
6/5 Kerber breezed against Morita 63 64
7/6 Errani edged Larsson 63 76(1)
8/7 Li overcame a cough to survive Pavlyuchenkova 75 46 62
9/8 Stosur survived nemesis Schiavone 46 62 75, from 1-4 down in the 3rd set
10/9 Bartoli beat Goerges 62 75
Top 20 players Wozniacki, Cibulkova, Vinci, Safarova and Petrova also advanced, whilst U.Radwanska stunned (12/11) Ivanovic 36 64 62 and qualifier Hampton beat (15/15) Seoul finalist Kanepi 57 62 63
Monday, 24 September 2012
All Seeds Win In Tokyo
The 1st Premier 5 tournament after the US Open got underway today and all the seeds in action were successful in the 1st round
(Rank/Seed)
10/9 Bartoli beat the hometown favourite Date Krumm 61 64, despite interruption from a drunken fan
11/10 Seoul champion Wozniacki avoided an upset to beat Jovanovski 60 36 64. With the game poised at 3-3 in the 3rd, a brief rain delay allowed Wozniacki to rest and compose herself to win the match
12/11 Ivanovic admitted she still had aspirations of winning more Grand Slams as she beat Hlavackova when the Czech retired with a thigh injury down 63 20
13/12 Cibulkova edged Medina Garrigues 63 76(3)
15/15 Seoul finalist Kanepi beat Espinosa 61 64
16/14 Vinci clawed past Zahlavova Strycova 64 46 75
17/16 Safarova beat Pironkova 64 76(3)
18/17 Petrova took out Peng 61 64
Lastly, from a British perspective, Heather Watson appears to have also been inspired by Murray's and Robson's recent form in taking out number 30, Lisicki 64 76(3)! However, the next one will be tougher; Maria Sharapova :(
(Rank/Seed)
10/9 Bartoli beat the hometown favourite Date Krumm 61 64, despite interruption from a drunken fan
11/10 Seoul champion Wozniacki avoided an upset to beat Jovanovski 60 36 64. With the game poised at 3-3 in the 3rd, a brief rain delay allowed Wozniacki to rest and compose herself to win the match
12/11 Ivanovic admitted she still had aspirations of winning more Grand Slams as she beat Hlavackova when the Czech retired with a thigh injury down 63 20
13/12 Cibulkova edged Medina Garrigues 63 76(3)
15/15 Seoul finalist Kanepi beat Espinosa 61 64
16/14 Vinci clawed past Zahlavova Strycova 64 46 75
17/16 Safarova beat Pironkova 64 76(3)
18/17 Petrova took out Peng 61 64
Lastly, from a British perspective, Heather Watson appears to have also been inspired by Murray's and Robson's recent form in taking out number 30, Lisicki 64 76(3)! However, the next one will be tougher; Maria Sharapova :(
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