Petra Kvitova – Page 4 – TennisReporters.net

Wozniacki: ‘Clay isn’t my favorite but … I’m hitting the ball well’

June 1, 2017 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

At ROLAND GARROS, DAY 4 – The former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki crushed the Canadian Francoise Abanda 6-0, 6-0 in the second round. While she has never loved clay, she has learned to mix up her shots. She has never gone deep in Paris, but the veteran wants to shake the stigma of being No. 1 without a Grand Slam trophy in her case.

She’s 26 years old, and she has reached the final at the US Open. What has held her back? Her forehand is so-so, and her second serve is pretty weak. Beyond that, her backhand is tremendous and she is incredibly fast — still.

But can she win a major here? I doubt it, but at least she is changing her strokes. At least today.

“I played consistent, aggressive when I needed to and mixed it up,” she said.

In the past three weeks, Wozniaki’s body almost disappeared. But she has recovered so now, she could actually reach the semis for the first time.

“At the end of the day I feel good, came in here feeling comfortable and confident,” she said. “Clay isn’t my favorite surface, but at the same time, I feel like I’m hitting the ball well.”

MORE OF THE WTA WOMEN
Two days ago, Kristina Mladenovic was exhausted after she came through her first match in three hours. Today, she blew out Sara Errani 6-2 6-3. Now the Frenchwoman has a real chance to go very deep but … she has to face American Shelby Rogers, who beat Cagla Buyukakcay. Rogers has been around for a while, but without a doubt, her fine-tuned game is there and she was a shot to upended Mladenovic.

How about the 18-year-old CiCi Bellis who beat Kiki Bertens 6-3 7-6(5)? Bertens had just won a title a few days ago and she thought she could reach in the second week. Uh, uh. The American Bellis is getting better daily and she has already cracked the top 50. The top 40 is coming soon.

Before the start of the tournament, many people thought the 2016 Roland Garros champion Garbine Muguruza was going to lose early. In the past year, she has not won any tournaments at all. But when she arrived in RG, she became very excited again and on court, she ran as fast as she can and ripped the ball. She overcame Anett Kontaveit in three tough sets and now, she is finally confident again.

Is she the favorite? She is very close, but first she has to beat Yulia Putintseva in the third round, which won’t be easy.

The vetrean Bethanie Mattek-Sands upset Petra Kvitova 7-6(5) 7-6(5). This ends the fairy tale comeback of Kvitova, who won her first match here after recovering from the in-home attack that seriously injured her playing hand.

The Arizonan was very aggressive off both sides, as was Sam Stosur, who beat Kirsten Flipkens. Both the 30-years-olds will go up against each other on Friday. They know each other very well. Massive forehands will be teed up …

THE GUYS
The Canadian Milos Raonic thinks he has a chance to win RG. But, even though he has a number of big wins on the hard courts and grass, he has struggled on clay. Maybe it’s time. Raonic beat Rogerio Dutra Silva 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4. Roanic is quite confident now, even as he could face Grigor Dimitrov, who upended Tommy Robredo 6-3 6-4 7-5. He is pretty confortable.

Rafa Nadal trounced Robin Haase 6-1 6-4 6-3. The nine-time RG champ is favored to win the event, but there are plenty of challenges ahead.

Novak Djokovic looked very steady, blasting Joao Sousa 6-1 6-4 6-3. I would be stunned if he doesn’t reach the semis again. We all know that Djokovic crushed Dominic Thiem two weeks ago, but maybe the Belgian will change everything. Perhaps.

A great win by Steve Johnson over Borna Coric 6-2 7-6(8) 3-6 7-6(6), and a bad loss by the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who fell in four sets vs. Renzo Olivo. Tsonga should have made a statement here.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: Caroline Wozniacki, Kristina Mladenovic, Matthew Cronin, Petra Kvitova, roland garros

The women: Who can actually win the women’s RG trophy?

May 28, 2017 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

NOTE: Before we printed here, we decided to hold off until Sunday night, assuming most of them top players will win anyway. Some did not. The No. 1 Angie Kerber lost, as did Roberta Vinci. Within seconds, everything change.

1st quarter
How about Petra Kvitova? She has won two Slams, but at the end of last year, two crazy people came into her house, attacked her and ran way. It has taken a long time to recover, but now she is back because she just wants to play tennis. Even if her body isn’t healthy, at least she can walk on the court and hit the heck out of the ball. That makes her happy.

On Sunday here, she took out Julia Boserup in straight sets. And she cried again — happy.

Can she win it? I doubt it, although a few years ago, she reached the semis at RG But, she is so enthusiastic that she could reach the second week. And then?

Caro Wozniacki has never liked clay over the past decade. At RG, the former No. 1 can get extremely upset when she cannot hit the lines and slide all over the place. She could reach the third round, but then she will likely have to play against Kiki Bertens, who just won Nuremberg. The Netherlander will out-run the frustrated Wozniacki.

Sam Stosur also just won a small tournament at Strasbourg, beating another Aussie, Daria Gavrilova, in three tight sets. Stosur has reached the final at RG before, and the veteran believes that she can dominate with her heavy forehand. She might have to play against Kvitova in the third round. They know each other well and without a doubt, it should be a classic.
The No. 8 Sveta Kuznetova has won RG before and even though she is up and down, she knows how to grind her opponents down. If she reaches the second week, watch out.

Second quarter
The defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza can be destructive on clay. But, in the past year, she has been upset much too often, gets hurt all the time and doesn’t understand why she isn’t perfect. That’s why she hasn’t won a tournament since then. Will she get on a roll? Well, at least she reached the semis at Rome, beating Venus Williams in the quarters. Against Elina Svitolina, she retired, hurt, believe it or not. Can she rise in rebellion? Perhaps, but she has to stop thinking that her legs will fail her.

Kristina Mladenovic has advanced this year, but the Frenchwoman has to deal with RG, which is difficult because the entire world will be watching her. She is a tremendous hitter, and she is quicker than she used to be, but on court on Paris, you have to lock it in and don’t listen to the crowds who are yelling for you. If she does, she can actually reach the semis — or even the final. And then … exactly what?

The super veteran Venus Williams has never won Roland Garros, but she has come close, and this time, while she is aging, she is very smart. However, she is a little slow now; so the only way she can go super deep is going to the net once in a while and attack at the net. She won her first round on Sunday, and she might have to face a true grinder in Daria Gavrilova in the third round. She might also have to face Dominika Cibulkova in the fourth round, assuming the Slovak gets her game back on track.

Third quarter
After winning Rome, Svitolina now she has a real chance to go far at RG. The No. 5 has never gone deep at the Grand Slams, but it is time. There will be pressure, but she has the tools. She might have to face the tough Croatian Ana Konjuh in the third round, and maybe Madison Keys in the fourth … if the struggling American manages to best No. 17 Ana Sevastova. Tossup.

After Simona Halep won Madrid, it looked like the Romanian was ready to roll. Then she reached the final at Rome, and ka-boom, she got hurt, pretty seriously, and now it’s impossible to tell whether she will retire this week. So, if Halep gets better quickly, then she could actually win it all. But, if she can’t, she could lose in the third round, against another young player, the Russian Daria Kasatkina.

Fourth quarter
I have always thought that Karolina Pliskova is going to win a major. The Czech just crushes the ball on her forehand and her backhand, plus her first serve is gigantic. But she is so up and down, and on clay, the No. 3 slips a lot and she can’t recover. Without a doubt, though, she is smarter and faster that she used to be.
There is only one other player in this quarter who has played on very well clay this year: not Aga Radwanska, not CoCo Vandeweghe, not Lauren Davis, not Johanna Konta and not Carolina Garcia.

It’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who has played much better than last year. She won Monterrey over Garcia and Kerber; and then, she won Rabat. She lost two three-setters early in Madrid and Rome, but once she gets there, the 25-year-old will push as hard as she can. The Russian isn’t fast, but she can find the lines with her forehand and backhands. She could actually reach the semis. Imagine that.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: angelique kerber, Elina Svitolina, Kristina Mladenovic, Matthew Cronin, Petra Kvitova, roland garros, venus willilams

Bad day: Serena, Sharapova, Halep & Kvitova pull out with injury

January 5, 2016 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

BRISBANE, Jan 5, 2016 – Just before the first tournaments began in 2016, everyone was ready to rock. They seemed to felt healthy and they couldn’t wait to begin. Three days later on Tuesday, No. 4 Maria Sharapova and No. 2 Simona Halep pulled out with injuries. A couple of days before in the Hopman Cup, No. 1 Serena Williams said that she was still sore and she wasn’t ready to get on court yet. On Tuesday night, she played for a set and a few games before she retired against Aussie Jarmila Wolfe. Serena could barely move.

Over in New Zealand, Venus Williams lost against the 18-year-old Darya Kasatkina, and Ana Ivanovic went down against Naomi Broady. And let’s not forget that No. 6 Petra Kvitova retired against Saisai Zheng at Shenzhen due to illness. Of the top 6, only Garbine Muguruza and Aga Radwanska remain.

Bloody Sunday. Or is it?

Whatever the case, it’s anybody’s ball game at the Australian Open.

All of a sudden, there are huge questions. Serena hasn’t played in a tournament since early September, when she was stunned in the semifinal against Roberta Vinci. She pulled out of the rest of the year, saying that she needed to heal, physically and mentally. She did manage to play a couple of exos in November and December, with her friend Caro Wozniacki and with the IPTL. It looked like she looked OK, more or less, but apparently her leg hasn’t fully healed. Serena is the defending champion and given that she won three majors in 2015, she will be the favorite everywhere she goes. But, if she can’t run at all, the rest of the healthy players will attempt to yank her around until she gives in.

Sharapova injured again

The defending champion Sharapova at Brisbane was scheduled to play Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova was injured a lot during last summer and during September, but in October, she began to feel better and she played fairly well at the WTA Finals and the Fed Cup final. The five-time champion wanted to continue. Instead, she played a few exos and practiced at home on California.

But today, she tried to practice and her left forearm was sore. She didn’t want to risk further injury. Last year in January, she was very healthy, winning Brisbane (beating Ivanovic) and reaching the final at the Aussie Open, losing against Serena in a tight match.

That is exactly what she wanted to do once again. But all of a sudden, she couldn’t crack her two-handed backhand because her left arm was painful. Will she accept a wildcard at Sydney next week if she is feeling better so she can get in some matches? It’s possible, but doubtful because the 28-year-old doesn’t want to take any risk.

The same goes with Halep, who has yet to win a major. A few days ago, Halep said that she felt stronger, her first serve was bigger and she was more in control. But, she says that for the past five months, she has a sore Achilles heal. She hopes to play Sydney and the Australian Open, but she isn’t sure what will occur and she can barely sprint.

“I hope and I want to play [at the Australian Open],” Halep said. “I have couple of weeks already again with the pain. I did an MRI and it’s nothing dangerous, but it’s still an inflammation. … I don’t want force it because it’s a tough injury.”

Halep is thrilled that her coach, Darren Cahill, will be in her camp full-time this year. He can help her calm down. That is true and, if she is fully healthy, she will have a legitimate shot to win a Grand Slam in 2016. But if she’s can’t run at full speed, she won’t be able to win the Australian Open. She isn’t very tall or extremely powerful, so when she is winning, it’s because she can run all day long and she is super steady. If she can’t, then she has no answer against the top competitors.

Kvitova is almost always hurt, but like the Czech played pretty well in the WTA Finals and the Fed Cup final. But today, she was ill once again. Hopefully, the two-time Wimbledon champion will feel better super fast. She is the defending champion at Sydney. Last year she really thought she could win the Australian Open for the first time and rise to No. 1. She wasn’t even close. She is extremely talented, but so hard to predict.

On Venus and Ivanovic: at least the American and the Serbian were healthy, even though they lost in New Zealand. Can they turn it around and catch fire at the Aussie Open? It’s hard to say. Both have reached the final before (Venus lost to Serena in 2003 and Ivanovic lost to Sharapova in 2008) and both have been around for a very long time, so they know exactly how they are feeling. But really, it’s about quality and the only way they can win again is to take tremendous risks.

Very soon, the young kids will be coming up very fast. In Brisbane, the No. 3 Muguruza is still there, as is the excellent 18-year-old Belinda Bencic.

With these nagging injuries and illnesses, we’re on to the Australian Open, where it’s wide open.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Ana Ivanovic, maria sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Serena williams, Simona Halep, Venus Williams

Top 32: Radwanska came alive, Kvitova was OK, Venus never gives up

December 22, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

Flavia Pennetta wants to stick around a little bit longer. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

The top 32, WTA, Nos. 8-5

No. 8

Flavia Pennetta

The Italian has already retired, which is too bad, because just a few months ago she played better than she ever had, knocking off Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and her close friend, Roberta Vinci, for the US Open title. In fact, everyone says that she is one of their good friends, which is because Pennetta is one of the nicest people out there – on court and off. The 33-year-old had played for a long time, and perhaps she should have won a major a few years ago, but she could not because she was always fast enough, fairly powerful and solid at the net, but she wouldn’t always go for it. This time though she kissed the lines day after day and now she was able to walk away, into the sunset, with a wild smile for many years to come.

No. 7

Venus Williams

Perhaps that the American Venus will never be able to win another major, but at the very least, for the first time since 2011 when she was seriously ill, she was much more under control. The 35-year-old has slowed down a bit, but her phenomenal backhand and her gigantic first serve became lethal month after month. Yes, her forehand is up and down, and her second serve can be extremely weak, but her net game is substantially better than 10 years ago. We do know that she always battles, and when she isn’t tired, she can take down anyone. This year by winning Wuhan, she bested Aga Radwanska, Carla Suarez, Vinci and Garbine Muguruza. That is about as good as it gets.

Venus has won seven Grand Slams, but she hasn’t won a title since 2008. Does she have a legitimate chance? Perhaps not, but you can’t totally ignore her.

No. 6

Petra Kvitova

The lefty Czech had a decent year, but not a great one overall. When you have won two Wimbledon crowns, you cannot say that she has improved in a year without an appearance in a Grand Slam final. Often she played amazing well one day, but then she disappeared on the next day when she isn’t all right.

In Australia, she won Sydney and declared that she had a real chance to win the AO, but then she was erratic and lost against Madison Keys. In Madrid, she played spectacular by beating Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova to win the title. She thought she could win Roland Garros; then she was stunned by Timea Bacsinszky.

After that, she got sick again (mono) and after that, she was a little slow. Fortunately, her body recovered and she played excellent ball at the WTA Finals, where she beat Maria Sharapova and then fell against Radwanska. In the Fed Cup final, she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but lost against Sharapova in one of the best matches of the year. However, the Czechs ended up winning the crown. That made her happy, which is good, but in 2016, she has to be healthy and not back off at all.

No. 5

Aga Radwanska

After losing in the first round of Roland Garros, the Polish player was very upset. For the first four months, she wasn’t played well at all, she was pushing the ball around and she was indecisive. But once she came on grass, she mentally eased it up, she moved forward, and she became to be more creative. All of a sudden, she was back. She was by no means perfect, but she saw what she needed to do. She reached the Wimbledon semis when she beat Keys before she lost against Muguruza. At the US Open, Keys got her back, but in Asia, she won Tokyo by beating Belinda Bencic. In Beijing, she bested Keys once again, took out Angie Kerber and then fell against the aggressive Muguruza. Then in the WTA Finals, she was driven and directed, finally overcoming Muguruza 7-5 in the third set (finally) and besting Petra Kvitova in three sets to win it all.

Admittedly, the 26-year-old said that now, she is really ready to win a major for the first time. Can the small person actually finally do it? I bet she can, in 2016.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: Aga Radwanksa, Flavia Pennetta, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams

Shocker? Radwanska d. Murguruza, Kvitova d. Sharapova to reach final in WTA Finals

October 31, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

SINGAPORE – For the first time at the WTA Finals, two players who went 1-2 in the groups have now reached the finals: Aga Radwanska surprised the up-and-coming Garbine Muguruza 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5, while Petra Kvitova out-hit Maria Sharapova 6-3 7-6(3).

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The 22-year-old Muguruza, who is ranked No. 3, was worn down in the season’s final tournament. Even

though she was tired after a tough week as she was competing in singles and doubles, she nearly came though.

“I just wanted to give everything I had, and doesn’t matter how long I was going to be able to keep it. I just went out there, and if I die on the court, I die, but at least I go out from there happy,” the Spaniard said.

Like Muguruza, Sharapova was 3-0 entering the semifinal. She had beaten Kvitova five of the last six times, but the Czech couldn’t let her breath. She came right at her and didn’t stop. Sharapova knows that when Kvitova is on fire, it’s hard to handle her.

“She’s a very aggressive player. She has a lot of depth and power. She goes for her shots. I think when she commits to her game and she executes, it’s a very powerful game,” Sharapova said.

Somewhat amazingly, Kvitova and Radwanska have played eight times, with the Czech owning with a 6-2 edge. However, the 25 year olds have played four WTA Finals, in 2011, when Kvitova won the title, beating the Pole in straights in the Round Robin in Istanbul; in 2012, when Radwanska won in straight sets in a Round Robin; in 2013, with the Czech winning in straight sets and in 2014, when ‘Aga’ won easily last year in the Round Robin at Singapore.

They are tied up in the WTA Finals. While Kvitova has been a better player overall, Radwanska is on a roll. The contest should be very close.

“It’s difficult opponent, for sure,” Kvitova said. “She’s very smart. I think she has a lot the variety on the court. She getting so many balls, so sometimes it feels that she’s never‑ending story on the court.

So it’s really about the patient and still be kind of sharp, but playing a lot of shots and rallies. It’s difficult. So both of us will leave everything.”

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Aga Radwanka, Garbine Muguruza, maria sharapova, Petra Kvitova, singapore, wta finals

Little sad: Kvitova d Safarova; Muguruza clips Kerber at WTA Final

October 28, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

Kvitova reacts during WTA Finals match. Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

SINGAPORE – Petra Kvitova has had a difficult season. At the beginning of the year, it looked like she has a serious shot to become No. 1 for the first time. But once again, she dealt with injuries and she has been up and down ever since.

But on Wednesday at the WTA Finals, she took down her very good friend, Lucie Safarova, 7-5 7-5. She was not perfect by any means, but she was forceful and she never became angry when she missed a few shots. The stronger lefty out-hit Safarova at the end, going hard at the white lines.

Kvitova will have to watch some tape in the next two days, as she will have to face Garbine Muguruza on Friday, who out-muscled Angie Kerber 6-4 6-4. The two have never met before, and Kvitova doesn’t want the 22-year-old to push her out of the event. The vets can cheer for them, but they don’t want them to beat them anytime soon.

When Kvitova was asked how difficult it was on court against Safarova, her eyes began to grow dark. Those two have known each other since 2007, when Kvitova was only 17 years old and Safarova was 20. Both had a tremendous amount of talent, but both had a long way to go. Now, they are much mature, which helps them on court, but it’s not easy to see her friend go down. On Wednesday, Kvitova and Safarova hugged each other, but it was hard to smile.

“Before the match we have the same locker room and we were just chatting normally, not like we go to play each other soon,” Kvitova said. “She’s good person and it’s just kind of sad that we have to play each other in the group already. We actually are good friend from the Fed Cup, so I’m really glad the Fed Cup is coming soon and we going to be colleagues and not opponents. It’s tough to play her for sure, not because she’s only like very good player right now, she’s in good form, but also playing friend it’s a little bit tougher with emotional and everything. So it’s not easy to handle all these kind of stuff.”

Kvitova is now 1-1 at the WTA Finals, falling against Kerber on Monday and beating Safarova. She has won the title before and although she is unsure if her body will feel A-Okay the rest of the fortnight, if she gets on the run, she has a legitimate chance.

“I feel tired right now. I think in the first match I was kind of probably nervous from the beginning of the match and I couldn’t really play what I wanted,” she said. “Today from the beginning I really was trying to be there and be focused on each point. Lucie know me well, so that’s why probably it was in my mind somewhere to be ready from the beginning. I know it’s like the final, this match. If I lost I’m probably going home soon. So I was really trying to, what I can.”

Muguruza is on a roll now. As the story goes, after she reached the final at Wimbledon, she began confused, as the fans were swarming at her for the first time as they had finally knew whom she was. She let go her coach and for about two months, she fell apart.

But in Asia, she had brought in a new coach, Sam Sumyk, was calm and composed and ready to rip it. A couple of weeks ago, she won Beijing, her first Premier 5. Any time she has a decent shot, she leaps. The 6-foot Muguruza is a very big hitter and given that she also plays doubles, she is pretty efficient at the net.

Kvitova is already impressed. If the Spaniard plays extremely well, she has a decent shot of taking down the two-time champion Kvitova.

“I think that she’s going to play very aggressively; going for the shots; have a good serve,” Kvitova said.“So I think I am going to play the same what I should play. It’s going to be about the returns and the serves. I know how she’s playing well right now. She had a great success in Asia as well. It’s going to be difficult match for sure. I’m looking forward. I never played her, so we see.”

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Angie Kerber, Garbine Muguruza, Lcie Safarova, Petra Kvitova

In Canada: Tomic raises his head, Azarenka thumps Kvitova easily

August 13, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

In Montreal, August 12

Given that Bernard Tomic has been struggling mentally with the Aussie Open bosses, but he did concentrate a great deal and he upended Marin Cilic 6-3 6-4. Interestingly, not only has the former two-time champ Lleyton Hewitt is now helping Nick Kyrgios, but he has hit with Tomic this year. Tomic has said that he really respects Hewitt, so perhaps he will be helping with both of them? Tomic could really use his council. The US Open champ Cilic looked pretty decent in Washington, but in order to have a chance in NYC, he is going to have to be much more consistent.

How about the Belgian David Goffin blew out Steve Johnson and then he was comfortable when he beat Sam Querrey 6-4 6-4? Does Goffin really have the goods on hard courts? It’s time.

Gael Monfils was saying that he was very happy to be back on North America, but then he went down against Gilles Muller, losing 6-3 3-6 7-6(4). Monfils believes he can really go far at the USO and maybe he can, but he needs to push hard at the Cincy so he is feeling very comfortable.

Jack Sock grabbed a marathon in the first round, and then he out lasts Grigor Dimitrov 5-7 7-6(5) 7-5. The 22 year old has improved a lot this year, but while he has shown that he can reach the top 10 next year, is he ready to shock No. 1 Novak Djokovic? He will have to play his best match ever.

Here is a surprise of the day: the so-called “veteran” Donald Young upset Tomas Berdych 7-6(5) 6-3. The newly wed Berdych is still on his honeymoon, or has Young realized that if he does not play aggressive all the time that he won’t ever reach the top-20.

In Toronto, August 12

Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova hadn’t played since 2011, when Azarenka had grabbed their first two contests. The Czech won four wins in a row, their last meeting in October in Istanbul at the WTA Final, with Kvitova out-hitting Azarenka in a tremendous contest.

For whatever reason, they kept missing each other. They are around the same age, and both have won two majors (two Aussies for Azarenka and two Wimbledon for Kvitova). They have changed quite a bit since then, but on Wednesday night, it was hard to tell who was doing what. Azarenka, who has been struggling with her serve during the past year and half, looked terrific, while Kvitova looked pretty slow and erratic. Azarenka won the match 6-3 6-2.

Kvitova had mono starting in the spring and she just found out after Wimbledon, which is very good that she now what she is dealing with, and bad

that she isn’t close to 100 percent. If Kvitova won the US Open, it would be a miracle.

Azarenka has played fairly well at times this year, but she has not been consistent. Maybe her door will soon come open.

Credit to Belinda Bencic, who beat Genie Bouchard in three sets on Tuesday night and then late in the afternoon on Wednesday, she knocked Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 7-5. The 18-year-old Bencic is improving day after day and without a doubt, if she keeps her head on straight, she could reach the top 8 by the end of the year and be able to play at the WTA Finals in Singapore. She would be thrilled.

Wozniacki is slightly hurt, she lost in her first match in Stanford and now she did the same thing in Rogers Cup. She said last week that she has a chance to win the US Open. Really? Well if she has any chance she has to turn it around very quickly.

A number of the young players went out immediately, such as Sloane Stephens and Elina Svitolina on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, the Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza lost to Lesia Tsurenko 7-5, 6-1. Maybe the Spaniard will wake up immediately and compete in Cincy. If she wants to be a great player, she has to lock in every single time.

Sabine Lisicki looked extremely forceful in beating Venus Williams on Monday, and then she overcame Barbora Strycova 7-6(3) 6-4. The big-server Lisicki will face Bencic, who attacks every moment.

Angie Kerber has won seven matches in a row and now she will face Simona Halep, who is back after a long rest. Halep hasn’t played very well in the past couple months, but she is happy to be back on the hard courts. Plus, Kerber has to be tired. However, the German is more confident now and she will fight her to the end.

Here was a good one when Daria Gavrilova stunned Lucie Safarova 4-6 7-5 7-5. The 5-foot-5 Russian-Australian hustles around all the time.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Angie Kerber, Belinda Bencic, bernard tomic, Gael Monfils, Jack Sock, Noval Djokovoc, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep, victoria azarenka

Defending champions Kvitova and Djokovic were great at Wimbledon, but now?

June 28, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

WIMBLEDON – Last year in the 2014 Wimbledon final, Petra Kvitova didn’t look like nervous at all, or did she? The Czech crushed Genie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 to win the title, and she was the champion of the world.

She will let her teeth chatter, but not every week and once she manages to go deep at the major, she is much more comfortable. When she is ill and tired, she is gone, pretty quickly, just like the 2015 Australian Open, where she lost to the massive server Madison Keys in the third round, and at the 2015 Roland Garros, she ran into Timea Bacsinszky in three cold sets. The Swiss was enthusiastic, while Kvitova was fairly negative.

Kvitova is happy off the court for the most part, but on court, she can get down on herself.

However, the reason why she has won two majors at the All-England Club is because on the grass she touches her toes and she feel very light. She loosens up, cranks her serve and swings away. That is exactly what she did in Wimbledon, when she overcame Venus Williams 7-5 in the third set in the third round. She did not give away another set the rest of the way. She was playfull and simply brilliant.

“Of course, I was nervous,” she told me. “I remember last year before the match I was really nervous and I couldn’t really even eat. The stomach was so small, I didn’t really put food through. But when I step on the court, was totally different. I had experience from 2011 [when she won the title for the first time], and I knew if I going to step on the court, it will be much more nicer for me and feeling better. Of course, then all of first set, which I really played well, can come back and play really strong. After the first set, I think the nerves was a little bit better for me. I was feeling better. In the second still was still thinking about every point.”

Then Kvitova smiles and laughed: “In the end of the match, I got nervous again.”

The men’s champion Novak Djokovic came into the press on Sunday, three weeks after when he lost in the final at Roland Garros against Stan Wawrinka. He decided not to play on grass at the tournaments before Wimbledon, but he did play an exhibition at Boodles this week. The No. 1 has been practicing on grass over the past 10 days and he says that he is refreshed after a long stretch on clay.

But given that Djokovic was unable to win Paris once again was a crusher, given that all year he said that was his main goal. He has won every other major, but not on the red clay. This time, the nine-time Rafael Nadal went down in the quarters when Djokovic out-hit him. He beat Nadal for the first time at the French Open. Surely, he was going to win the title. But when Wawrinka knocked him way behind the court with some huge blasts he couldn’t move forward. Djokovic was shaky.

So now is he ready to dance at Wimbledon again or will he fold? It’s a hard to say.

“It was the finals, and that the most important match of the tournament for me. That’s the match that I wanted to win, but it didn’t happen, mostly because I lost to a better player that day,” Djokovic said. “I had to admit, no question about it, I could only just congratulate him because he was the one that was taking his chances, stepping into the court, being brave, coming up with some incredible shots. He deserved to win.

“Maybe I could have done a few things differently. But it’s all behind me now. I’m experienced, and something that tennis has taught me over the years, to move on, and to be able to do that very quickly. You have two out of four most important events in the sport just within three weeks’ time. You need to be able to reset very rapidly and get yourself a new motivation and inspire yourself to keep on going. This motivation and faith has to be even stronger than it was three weeks ago.

“I’ve been in this particular situations before. It’s brought me a lot of mental, emotional strength. Because of the matches like against Stan, I have become stronger and I’ve learned how to grow in the process. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that again.”

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Left, Lead Story Tagged With: Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova

Serena vs Sloane: The Picks, Roland Garros. Does Stephens has a real chance?

May 31, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

Monday, June 1

Serena Williams vs. Sloane Stephens

Obviously Victoria Azarenka was very upset at a line call at 5-4 in the second set, when she hit a heavy ball on the line but Serena argued that it was a late call of out. The umpire inspected the mark and saw that the shot was good, but the point would be replayed. Vika was very angry.

Yes, maybe Azarenka could have woken up again or feel confident, believing that she can finally beat Serena at a Grand Slam, but she did not.

Because really, Williams was down 2-4 in the second set and then she knew she had to step on the gas and she did, grabbing 10 of 12 games and winning 3-6 6-4 6-2. She was down 0-2 in the third set, and then she found the lines quickly and the upset Azarenka was erratic. She seemed to be dreaming and she lost six straight games. She was out-hit, pure and simple and, if Azarenka can ever beat Williams, she will have to stay there every second, because at the Slams – in fact at every tournament – you can never give in. To a degree in Paris on Saturday, she did not.

Williams will play Stephens, who played the best match all year by blowing out Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 6-1. Stephens says that she loves the red clay, and she shined here, having reached Roland Garros at the fourth round, four years in a row. She is only 22 years old, and she still has a long way to go, but she has reached into the second week at Paris once again and she can really play. Without question, she is super fast, she can crack off both wings and she can mix up her first serves. But at times, she will push the balls, waiting for mistakes, which is why she almost disappeared during the past year. Stephens likes to start slow during the points and when her foe pushes the balls into the center and short she can attack, but against Williams she has to try and dictate from word go. Williams not only can dominate with her giant serves, but if she is feeling good she can attack immediately off Stephens’ second serve. She won’t give her room. If she has any real chance, she has to be comfortable and lock it in, because after Stephens shocked Serena in the quarterfinals at the 2013 Australian Open, they battled off the court and since then, Sloane has become very shy. She has to get in her face. But she won’t again as Serena will win in straight sets.

Sara Errani vs. Julia Goerges

The Italian has been one of the most consistent on clay over the past five years or so and she really took it against Andrea Petkovic, winning 6-3 6-3. She is pretty small so she cannot over power her opponents, but she can grind it against almost anyone. That will occur against Julia Goerges, who beat Irina Falconi 6-4 6-1. Goerges can smack her forehands, but she can disappear during key moments. She will at RG and Errani will reach it into the quarters once again.

Petra Kvitova vs. Timea Bacsinszky

Once the Czech gets into the match, then she is just fine. She was very clean in besting Irina Begu 6-3 6-2, and now she was to figure out the Swiss, Timea Bacsinszky, who was very accurate in beating Madison Keys 6-4 6-2. Bacsinszky will try to mix up her attacks, but the big lefty Kvitova can go every which way but loose. The two-time Wimbledon champion will win in three sets, but there will be some long rallies.

Alison Van Uytvanck vs. Andreea Mitu

How, who and why? The unknown Van Uytvanck of Belgium beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-1, and the totally unknown Andreea Mitu of Romania overcame Francesca Schiavone 7-5 6-4. Van Uytvanck has played well during the qualifies, while Mitu seems to love clay as she has played a ton of tournament. A true pick’em here, but Mitu is more comfortable on the clay and will win in three sets.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: julia goerges, Petra Kvitova, sara errani, Serena williams, sloane stephens, Timea Bacsinszky

Notes on a a Draw Sheet: Djokokic, Sharapova win Rome, but are they now ready for Roland Garros?

May 18, 2015 by Matthew Cronin Leave a Comment

MAY 17- Novak Djokovic won another huge tournament, beating Roger Federer 6-4, 6-3 to win Rome. It was close in the first set, but the Serbian was almost perfect again, virtually not making errors, moving his service all around the box, out-hitting his backhand crosscourt and cracking his forehand.

The 33-year-old Federer looked pretty good too, but even though he mixed it up, he could tell that Djokovic was not going to make any serious errors and he would have to be near-perfect. He could not and in the second set, you could tell that Federer was not confident enough and he couldn’t not raise his level and sore way up high into the sky and out last him. The Swiss knows that Djokovic is better than anyone now and the rest of the field have to wait until he falls down.

Will that occur next week when Roland Garros begins? No one really knows, but that we do know is that Djokovic has never won Paris and at some point he will become nervous. Can he take a deep breath and feel good about himself and play outstanding? Perhaps, but if he plays Federer again when ‘Rog’ beat Novak in 2011 in the semis, we all knew that it’s 3 out of 5 sets, not 2 out of 3 sets, and everyone can be shaky, just like Djokovic did.

Last year, the same thing happened when Djokovic faced Rafa Nadal in the final and the Spaniard had much more depth and variety. Djokovic has looked substantially better up until right now, but in Paris, it’s a new tournament, new stories and new questions. Will he be asked whether he won’t be nervous when the heat is on? We will hear Djokovic’s answer very soon.

Maria Sharapova took a deep breath after she won the tournament in Italy, besting Carla Suarez-Navarro 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the final. She was up and down during the first two sets, and Suarez was quite confident with her heavy topspin, but at 5-5, Sharapova gritted her teeth, swung super hard and won eight straight points to win the second set. Then she was on-fire and won the third set quickly. Remember when Sharapova played Simona Halep at 4-4 in the third set at 2014 Roland Garros? She smoked eight points and won the title. Same thing. Deep inside she was ready to raise up and she did.

Now Sharapova is confident again, which means that outside of Serena Williams, who has owned her for many years, she is the favorite. Sharapova is now ranked No. 2, so she and Serena cannot meet until the final. The Russian/American will be pleased that she and Serena won’t be playing on the same days and stare at each other when they are walking past the locker room.

Sharapova is happy after winning Rome, after she was unable to grab another title since the beginning of the start of the year in Brisbane. Then, Maria thought she could have a great season. Perhaps after winning Italy, she will punch out everyone again, if she did last week, when she was moving inside the court and blasting winners time and time again. However, the 5-time Grand Slam champion has never won a major back to back. Maybe she can pull it off at Roland Garros, but she will have to start quickly so she doesn’t doubt her confidence.

The other women

Suarez had another fine tournament and now she is ranked No. 8. By all rights, she should reach the quarterfinals and hopefully she won’t have to play Williams and Sharapova, but she will be very happy taking on No. 3 Halep or No. 4 Petra Kvitova, whom she beat both in Rome.

Outside of the top 4 as well as Suarez, it’s so hard to figure out who has been playing very well on clay. Almost no one. You have to think that a few of the kids can go deep in Paris such as Madison Keys, Elina Svitolina, Garbine Muguruza and Caroline Garcia. Perhaps Karolina Pliskova, Timea Bacsinszky and Zarina Diyas, but who else? …Amongst the veterans, there are a few who have looked well over the past couple months, even if they were sporadic like Andrea Petkovic, Angie Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Victoria Azarenka, who has looked tremendous at times, but she did not look confident when she lost to Sharapova…Three US women were close to be seeded in the top 32, but they couldn’t get there. CoCo Vandeweghe is ranked No. 33, Varvara Lepchenko is No. 34 and Madison Brengle is No. 36. Hopefully they will have decent seeds on the first round.

The other men

There will be volumes of Nadal next week, trying as to why the 14-time Grand Slam champion has been struggling all year. Obviously, he is not stroking the ball correctly, which is why for the first time ever, he is making errors from both his forehand and backhand. Perhaps he will shake it off soon, or his coach and uncle Toni will figure why he is flying long or he is too short. As Rafa Nadal said, he isn’t sure when he will be 100% during the next couple of months, but that may not happen in Paris. If he cannot, then all he can do is to grind against the lesser players, but when he goes up against the major competitors then he will have to take risks because one thing is for sure, the rest of the players know he is vulnerable and they are licking their chops.

A couple months ago, who would have thought that No. 3 Andy Murray would win a major tournament on clay for the first time (he won Madrid) and Tomas Berdych is ranked No. 4 for the first time? Murray has an outside chance to win Roland Garros, but while Berdych has been solid against the men outside of the top 10, he hasn’t been able to knock out the Big 4, except upsetting Nadal. Outside of the Big 4 (Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray) are the favorites once again, but who else has a real chance to reach the final? Ok, fine, Berdych can, but not if he faces Djokovic or Federer. Kei Nishikori, but this year he has been a little short against the top players. David Ferrer never gets tired and he is very steady, but he is not powerful enough. Here are some other men, veterans or youngsters, who could reach in the semis, as long as they start hit early: Stan Wawrinka, Gael Monfils, John Isner, David Goffin, Fabio Fognini and Nick Kyrgios…Two US guys were close to reaching the top 32: Jack Sock who is No. 36, and Sam Querrey, who is ranked No. 38.

Filed Under: Featured Bottom Right, Lead Story Tagged With: Andy Murray, Carla Suarez Navarro, Kei Nishikori, maria sharapova, Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Simona Halep, victoria azarenka