BNP Paribas Open-Indian Wells WTA Draw Breakdown

Kvitova has rarely played well on U.S. soil.

Who can stop No. 1 Victoria Azarenka

Wozniacki revives a little; Radwanska gets her claws out

Julia will go for 3 straight over Caro.

 

On Friday, Caroline Wozniacki will see whether or not she can get revenge from the two beatdowns that Julia Goerges threw at her last season clay when they face off in sparsely attended Dubai. A match up against current No. 1 Victoria Azarenka would have been a bit more spicy, but the Belarusian pulled out with an ankle injury before her second match, so the chips fell where they did with Wozniacki taking out an erratic Ana Ivanovic 6-3 7-5?, and Goerges hitting through Daniela Hantuchova late 4-6 6-3 6-4, Goerges, who was pretty much a disaster on hard courts last year, seems to have found away to get her big forehand working on faster courts. Wozniacki played steady enough to best Ivanovic, who looked so unsettled once again in what was a winnable match. Even with coach Nigel Sears around, she still panics too much. Wozniacki cannot back off against the German and let her get confident. If “Caro” happens to win the tournament it will be her first real burst since New haven late last summer. She badly needs a title run.

The suddenly very outspoken Agnieszka Radwanska clubbed a sick Sabine Lisicki 6-2 6-1? and will face Jelena Jankovic, who ran past Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2?. After the match, Radwanska criticized Azarenka for over exaggerating her ankle injury when they faced off in the Doha semis last week, which was pretty quick win for the new No. 1. I was a bit taken aback by Radwanska

Sharapova refuses to push (her serve)

Maria won't back off on her second serves.

FROM THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC – Maria Sharapova had admittedly had trouble finding consistency with her serve, which is one of the primary reasons that she hasn

Azarenka’s angst

Vika cannot seem to stay healthy.

If Victoria Azarenka is going to win a Slam, she has to find a way to get healthy because her retirement count is now off the charts. On Thursday at Eastbourne, she retired for the fourth time in eight tournaments and twelfth time since the start of 2010 when down 62 20 to Marion Bartoli, she quit with a right groin injury. Whether its mental or just purely physical is hard to know, but what can be said is that it highly unusual and is happening right around every Slam. Someone in her camp better discover why or she never going to be consistent, serious threat.

Daniela Hantuchova finally found a way to best Venus Williams and took her out for the first time in 11 tries, 6-2 5-7 6-2. Give credit to Hantuchova who has had a fine month, but let’s not forget that Venus was playing just her third match since missing four and a half months of action due to hip and abdominal injuries

“The wind didn’t make it very predictable, but I give her credit for hanging in there. On a day like today, you have to just hang in there,” Williams said. “I think Daniela had a lot of motivation – we’ve been playing I don’t know how many years, and I am sure she has wanted to get a win against me for a long, long time…It wasn’t the best luck today, but I feel good about my preparation. More than anything I was able to get a lot of great competition. This has been ideal.”

Hantuchova will face Petra Kvitova, who came back to defeat the confounding Aga Radwanska 1-6 6-2 7-6(2). The lefty Kvitova certainly has a shot at Wimbledon and while Radwanska is a very smart player, she’s having trouble closing again and does not have a powerful enough game to do huge damage on grass.

No grass court lover, Sam Stosur came back from 6-4 4-2 down to best Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, the second marathon match in a row for the Russian who had edged Serena Williams the day prior.

In Den Bosch, Roberta Vinci took out Yanina Wickmayer and Romina Oprandi upended Kimiko Date, Oprandi will face Jelena Dokic, who could be very dangerous at Wimbledon.

How about Kei Nishikori in rainy Eastbourne, first besting Rainer Schuettler 6-4 4-6 6-2 and then Radek Stepanek 6-2 6-3 in the quarters? Other semifinalists are Igor Kunitsyn, Janko Tipsarevic and Andreas Seppi…Irina Falconi qualified for Wimbledon, but Ryan Harrison was down two sets when the rain struck.

A positive return for Venus Williams

Venus is the best grass court player of her generation

We are just a week away from the start of Wimbledon and thankfully given how few excellent grass court players there on the WTA Tour, Venus Williams showed up in a big way and took a 7-5 5-7 6-3 victory over Andrea Petkovic at Eastbourne. That does not mean that the five-times Wimbledon champ will win another crown, not when she

Splendid on the grass

Murray will face Roddick who once knocked him out at Wimbledon

The tours have been back on grass for five days now and it took that long for Rafael Nadal to almost redline in Queens when he went down to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 6-4 6-1 in the quarters. Give credit to Nadal for honoring his commitment by contesting Queens after an exhaustive title run to the RG final but really, was it a wise idea to play.

“Probably after losing the second set mentally I lost my concentration,” he said. “The negative thing is I lost; the positive thing is I have few days off and can stop a little bit mentally. I can be a little bit more relaxed, because every day I play with pressure. “That’s what happened for me the last four months every day.”

Tsonga will face British wildcard James Ward who took down defending champion Sam Querrey 3-6 6-3 6-4 and then France

Danish Disaster: Hantuchova Demolishes Wozniacki

Piotr: Caro needs another weapon. Mal Taam/MALTphoto

PARIS – Caroline Wozniacki did not have to win Roland Garros to prove that she

Gagging against Wozniacki

Roddick could fall as low as 15

Daniela hantuchova
WireImage
Hantuchova fell apart vs. Wozniacki
THURSDAY, MARCH 24 – Caroline Wozniacki and Daniela Hantuchova contested a brilliant second set late Saturday night