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WTA Finals: Wozniacki is risking again, while Halep could sink

October 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Garcia wins a marathon versus Svitolina

Years ago, Caroline Wozniacki was dominant, taking out pretty much everyone, except against her good friend, Serena Williams, the best player, ever. Wozniacki was No. 1 for a couple of years. The one missing component was the lack of a major title. So, so eventually, she faded out of the Top 10.

The Dane has always played frequently, week after week, hour after hour, and rarely gives up. Clearly, she can be stubborn, which is why it has taken her a long, long time to change and improve her so-so forehand. Other holes in her game: rarely coming to the net and not leaping on the second serves. 

On Wednesday, at the WTA Finals in Singapore, Wozniacki played nearly perfect, blowing out the No. 1 Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2. The Romanian can play as well as Caro can. Right now, the Romanian need more mental strength. It seems that she thinks she is going to lose, inside. That is why she has yet to win a major — yet.

“I must give her (Wozniacki) credit for the victory. She played well, but I missed too much,” Halep said. “I think if I just could keep the ball in, I could have been much better. But I played into her hands, and that was too much.” 

Yes it was. Wozniacki has been very healthy and happy this season. She bowed out in six finals this year. Then, it took her nine month to win an important tournament, finally prevailing in Tokyo in September. She was ticked off her abysmal final record, but kept pushing herself. On Wednesday, she was super consistent — as always — and she attached the ball. 

“I didn’t expect to be leading by that much in the first set and I started to think’ ‘What’s happening? Am I really playing that well?,’ ” Wozniacki said.

The Dane has won 58 matches this season. Perhaps she will end the year with 60 victories. Without a doubt, Wozniacki has a decent shot to capture the WTA Final.

There have been a few boring matches in Singapore, contrasting with a couple fantastic contests. In the third set, the Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia was down, but then she rose and upended Elina Svitolina 6-7(7) 6-3 7-5. Garcia was shaky two days ago, but this time, she wasn’t nervous and when she needed to, she went for the lines. She is muscular and she has been around for the past five years, up and down on court. In the past six months, she began to build point, and move better inside the court.

On Friday, Wozniacki and Garcia will play their final match. Wozniacki is 2-0 and has qualified for the semis. This will be a fun match, because Garcia is in the year-end tournament for the first time and still can advance.

Halep knows that,in order to stay at No. 1 at the end of this year, she has to reach the semis. She got a bump in the contest to be year-end No. 1 when Garbine Muguruza lost to Venus Williams. No. 3 Karolina Pliskova is 2-1 after losing to Jelena Ostapeno but will move into the semis. 

Good fun, no?

 

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WTA Finals, Day 2: Wozniacki & Halep win; the fight is on

October 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Simona Halep is in the best spot to be the year-end No. 1. Photo: Jimmy48

Without a doubt, there will be a couple tremendous match-ups in Singapore at the WTA Finals, but on Sunday and Monday, in four matches, it was so-so at best.

Caroline Wozniacki crushed Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-0 in less than an hour. Wozniacki was enjoying a wide variety of tactics and going from very patient to very aggressive. Ukrainian Svitolina was mentally gone, from the first point. 

Simona Halep can slip into states of being very nervous, causing her to lose focus. But not against Caroline Garcia. Halep controlled the match, winning  6-4 6-2 . Halep yanked her from side to side, hitting the lines and moving forward whenever she could. Halep rarely gets tired, running fast and long. When she was into it, she can swing hard with her both of her strokes. 

Garcia has been on fire during the past three weeks and is very happy that she reached the WTA Finals for the first time. But, the letdown is taking effect as she knows that much of the world is watching her for the first time. The Frenchwoman needs to calm down and mix it up, here and there.

Halep wants to keep her newly found No. 1 ranking, which means she has to at least reach the semis.  It is possible that she will face Garbine Muguruza, the No. 2 (who won yesterday) who also badly wants to become the topdog. There will be an incredible battle coming up.

On Tuesday, Venus Williams will face Jelena Ostapenko, and Muguruza is set to battle Karolina Pliskova. Two former No. 1 players will clash. Hopefully, they can smack at each other for three fun hours.

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Singapore: Ambitious Muguruza and Pliskova, both win easily

October 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Del Potro is coming up, wins Stockholm

Right fromthe start, it looked like Garbine Muguruza was ready to roll. She wants to end the season being ranked No. 1, as that has been her goal all year long.

On Sunday, she cracked the young player Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4 at the WTA Finals in Singapore. Muguruza jumped on the ball immediately and was pretty consistent. She is fast, she hits two big strokes – her forehand and backhand – and now, she actually is planning her next shot, rather than getting angry. Ostapenko always goes for her shots, but at times, the Roland Garros champ is very erratic. She will learn in time, but not yet. 

For Muguruza, she knows that she is a the cusp of the title. She will battle this week until she can’t fight any more. As the Spaniard says about being No. 1:  “It is important. I’m not going to lie, of course, but I know I have to play well.”

In a sense, the same goes with Karolina Pliskova, who has struggled since the end of August when she lost too early at the US Open. She was so upset that she and her coach waved goodbye. She has been OK in Asia over the past six weeks, but not great. 

On Sunday, though, she was locked in and totally crushed the 7-time Grand Slam champ Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2. That was a blowout. Even though Pliskova said that it was close at  times, Venus realizes that she isn’t ready to compete right now. “I just have to put the ball in the court, is what it boils down to. I’ve been in this position before so I’ll be back on Tuesday,” Venus said.

We hope so. If Venus does not, the 37-year-old will go home, back to Florida. She is still extremely good, but without a doubt, she is aging. We all do. 

On Monday … No. 1 Simona Halep will play  Caroline Garcia, and then Elina Svitolina will face Caroline Wozniacki. According to Ostapenko, the ball is very slow, so both Halep and Wozniacki will have the edge, grinding it away.

Del Potro sweeps aside Dimitrov
With the guys, props to Juan Martin del Potro, who wins Stockholm by defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2.  DelPo has a chance to reach the ATP Finals, but that means he is going to have to go seriously deep at the ATP Masters Series in Paris. DelPo wants to do it but, as he says, he has to be very careful. He gets injured too often. However, if he stays healthy, then maybe he can win the ATP Finals for the first time, In 2018, he has a very good chance to win his second major as his backhand is slowly healing.

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Picking the US Open Women’s Draw

August 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment

The First Quarter

No.1 Karolina Pliskova almost won the 2016 US Open, but Angie Kerber took her down, 6-4 in the third set. The Czech has played pretty well recently. She has improved a lot over the past two years. She is a little bit faster, she crushes the ball and she is very good at the net. Here, she is one of the favorites to win her first Grand Slam. But, at times, she can get angry and be off her game.

Pliskova might have to face against Shuai Zhang in the third round, which could be difficult, but she should get through. In the fourth round, then she will have to play ball. Assuming that Kristina Mladenovic gets through, then the Frenchwoman will be set to attack Pliskova. Mladenovic loves to come into the net, and while she isn’t very fast, she can create angles.

In the quarters, there are five players who can challenge the Czech: the good veterans – Svetlana Kuznetsova, CoCo Vandeweghe and Lucie Safarova – and the two very young players, CiCi Bellis and Anett Kontaveit. Pick the teenager Bellis, who is rising super fast, to move through the early rounds. But, by the time she hits the quarters against Pliskova, she will tap out.

The Second Quarter

There are lots of possibilities.

Elina Svitolina has played extremely well this season. She recently won Toronto, smoking her backhand and forehand. She is very determined. However, she has yet to go deep at the majors.

She might have to face Daria Gavilova in the third round, who has reached the final in Connecticut. She is small, but she loves to play and she is super fast. But Svitolina will move on, and then she will go up against Madison Keys, who is finally happy again. The American is ready to go on the court and stay there for hours. Both Keys and Svitolina want it bad, and in the end, Keys will hit harder and she will reach the quarters.

Guess who will play against Keys? How about the RG champion Jelena Ostapenko? The young big swinger hasn’t played great on the hard courts, but she knows what to do: powder the ball and hope it goes in. Without a doubt, if she faces against Angie Kerber, she will win in the fourth round, because the German is mentally gone.

Can Keys beat Ostapenko? Toss-up, as both of them are aggressive all the time. Give it to Keys, in a great marathon.

 

The Third Quarter

Ms. Garbiñe Muguruza is the favorite, hands down. She won Wimbledon, and she just won Cincy. She is on fire, and while she can get mad and pout, her first serve, forehand and backhand are very, very good.

Who can upset Muguruza? Maybe Petra Kvitova, if she is really back. But the two-time Slam champion hasn’t played well at all during the last five weeks and she has a tremendous amount of work to do. Possibly Venus Williams, but the former No. 1 is up and down on hard courts. Caroline Garcia has gotten better, but is not yet a real threat to top players. And then there is Caroline Wozniacki, who has played very, very well this season, but once she reaches the final, she really backs off.

It has to be Muguruza, hands down.

The Fourth Quarter

Well, well, what a great contest coming up in the first round with the five-time major champion Maria Sharapova versus the No. 2 Simona Halep. Sharapova is just coming back, and if she can be healthy, maybe then she can win another major. But until she is 100 percent physically, she will struggle.

But she is better than Halep. The Romanian is 0-3 in matches this year when one win would have given her the top ranking. She has frozen and played very badly, going down very quickly. Just last week, Muguruza destroyed her in the Cincy final, dashing her third shot at No. 1.

Remember in the 2014 final at Roland Garros? Sharapova beat Halep 6-4 in the third. Maria rose up at the end, and Halep pushed the ball. At the USO, both of them will be nervous, but Sharapova – if she isn’t hurt – will continue to attack. Halep will back off. Sharapova will win.

Who will reach the quarters? Look to Jo Konta, Ana Konjuh,or Sloane Stephens. Pick Stephens, who is lights out right now.

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Venus out-hits Ostapenko, to face Konta in semis

July 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Wimbledon, Day 9 – Who would have thought that Venus Williams would keep her cool and dominate with her forehand? We all know that Venus has won five Grand Slams at Wimbledon, but she hasn’t won since 2008, which is a long time.

However, Venus never gives up, and I mean never, ever gives up, because in the past 20 years, even when she wasn’t playing well at all, she continues to try. It is so, so true. Others bail, but not Venus, who figures that once in a while, when her form returns, and she can crack it deep, touch the lines, crush a first serve, then she can beat anyone, which she did on Tuesday.

Williams defeated the Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in two sets. Ostapenko is super young, and she still needs to learn the nuances of grass. Eventually, she will win Wimbledon someday. But not yet.

Venus has to face Britain’s Jo Konta, who overcame Simona Halep in three fantastic sets. There is a good amount of pressure from Konta, but when she is playing, she doesn’t listen to the fans yelling when she is hitting the ball; she locks in and she focuses. That is why she has reached the semis, the first time for her in ages.

Can she beat Venus? Possibly, as she is much younger than the 36-year-old Williams, and we all know that the British fans will be jumping up and down for Konta. They will be celebrating Konta reaching Wimbledon’s second week — for the first time ever. The fans are learning who she is. Is Konta fast, super aggressive, happy, smart, erratic, super nervous, in trouble? We will find out on Thursday.

We have been watching Garbine Muguruza pretty closely over the past eight weeks. Yes, for a year, her brain was all over the place. But eventually, at Roland Garros, she rose, she didn’t get angry. Now, she is more patient and has begun to she believe in herself again. She bested two-time Grand Slam winners Angie Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and now, she is in the semis.

Muguruza is favored to reach the final, but you never know. Not with her. She can rip her forehand and backhand, but there are days when she doesn’t like her racket and could snap it. If the Spaniard is calm, she will win. She is that good.

She will play Magdalena Rybarikova, who upended the American Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets. Rybarikova has never reached the semis before, but the veteran plugged on. Against Vandeweghe, she hit it deep and she mixed it up all over the place. It took her eight years to reach the semis at the Slams, and finally, she understood that she needs to be patient, and also, swing away when the opportunity rises. She better do all these things, or Muguruza will crush her.

For the second time in two Slams, Halep had one match to win to ascend to No. 1. But, with the loss to Konta, following the slip in Roland Garros’ final to Ostepenko, Karolina Pliskova will be ranked No. 1 next week. She will be the 23rd top player in WTA history.

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The champion: Nadal wins Paris again, crushed Wawrinka

June 11, 2017 by Leave a Comment

ROLAND GARROS, DAY 15 – 

THE MEN
During the past three years, Rafa Nadal was struggling. His body was messed up, he lost a lot of confidence, and frequently, he pushed the ball around.

But, this year, he began to feel substantially better. He started to believe that when he had the opportunity, he could belt the ball.

And he did, crushing Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 6-1 to win Roland Garros for the 10th time.

How good was he during the past 15 days in Paris? How about amazing, as he only lost 35 games in seven matches. 

“It’s the most important event in my career without a doubt so to win again here is something I cannot describe,” said Nadal.
 
This season, his backhand has improved tremendously. It used to be land in the middle of the court, but now it is substantially deeper, with more action. We all know that his forehand if so heavy, so strong and lands with so much depth.

But his backhand was, well, it was very decent over the past 13 years. However, it wasn’t hard enough and many times, it was too short. Just fading away.
 
In 2015, Nadal’s body was breaking down. He couldn’t run as fast as he used to on the clay. 

He lost in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and, at RG, going down against Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the quarters.

In 2016, at RG, Nadal retired in the third round. Obviously, he was pretty hurt. At the US Open, he was knocking out in the fourth round in five sets against Lucas Pouille. In the fall, he barely played. 

But this year, he was finally healthy. His doctors helped him a tremendous amount. It took a few months, but in April, he was ready to rock ’n’ roll.

He crushed everyone, including Wawrinka. After the first set, the Swiss had no idea what to do. He couldn’t out-hit Nadal’s forehand, backhand, his serve, his movement, basically everything. The three-time Grand Slame champ Wawrinka was desponded.

“When you play against him, he’s amazing fighter. On clay he’s just tough to play,” Wawrinka said. “There is always one ball coming back. There is always spin on the ball. There is always a different bounce that’s what the other player make on that surface. He creates a doubt that you cannot have if you want to beat him. And on clay especially, because the way he’s moving, it’s even more difficult.”

Nadal was extremely happy. He is now ranked No. 2 again, and in the next few months, he could snare the top spot. 

The great positive is that Nadal isn’t tired and he can actually go to England and seriously compete at Queens and Wimbledon.
 
But right now, he is only thinking about RG. He was thrilled.

“It’s about the work of every day. Yeah, happened 10 times here already,” Nadal said. “Have been magical all the things that happened in this tournament for me. So very happy. Today was a very important day for me. Have been some tough moments last times, injuries, so it’s great to have big success like this again. Happy because I have been working a lot to be where I am today.”

THE WOMEN
Very few people knew who was Jelena Ostapenko when she came into Roland Garros on the first day. But, at the end, the entire world saw she can crush the ball.

Latvian Ostapenko was never very nervous, and even when she was down in the second set, she had to keep pushing, harder and harder, and camping out inside the line. She was down 3-0 in the second, and she was very close, but she couldn’t keep the ball inside the courts. Within seconds, Ostapenko changed the dynamic, and Simona Halep couldn’t do a darn thing.

Ostapenko won the tournament 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, grabbing the title. Now she is ranked No. 12. It is possible the 20-year-old can sneak into the top 5 — or higher?

The key to her progression is she is so driven. 

“I was losing 6-4, 3-0, and then in my mind I was just, I’m just going to enjoy the match, andI will try to fight until the last point. And then I stayed aggressive and the match turned my way,” she said. 

Ostapenko is so incredible powerful that, while she can miss it here and there, she will continue to go for it, on her forehand, backhand, first serve, at the net — almost anything. Of course, she has been poor at times, but this year overall, she has become very consistent. It’s not all about crushing the ball, but winning.

Ostapenko had hit 54 winners on Saturday against Halep. Talk about aggression.

“I hit quite a lot of winners from that ad court down the line, so I was trying to put it in, of course,” she said.

Of course.

The sad thing is that the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is out for the rest of 2071 because she is pregnant. The five-time champ Maria Sharapova just pulled out at Wimbledon because she wrecked her back and she won’t be to play until late July, or longer.

The No. 1 Angie Kerber isn’t playing well at all this year, and the No. 3 Pliskova is inconsistent to tell. 

So maybe by the end of the year, Ostapenko can become No. 1. Who would have thunk that?

 

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Halep vs Ostapenko in final: ’It’s very fast court, so it really fits me’

June 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment


At ROLAND GARROS, DAY 13 — How good is Simona Halep? Is she great? Fantastic? Nearly great? Over hyped? Up and down?

We will find out tomorrow as she returns to a final in Paris.

The same questions can be posed about the 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko, even though her career is ahead of her.

We all know that Ostapenko is incredibly aggressive, that she can crack the ball from both sides, and she can come into the net when needed. But even though she has had a very good year overall, she is still learning. She can nail the corners for a few minutes, and then, all of a sudden, slap it way wide. But as she said yesterday, she needs to be a calm, composed, driven.

On the clay, she reached the final at Charleston, upsetting Caro Wozniacki and Mirjana Lucic. In the final, she quickly lost against Daria Kasakina. So, so many errors, but at least she got there.

She qualified in Stuttgart and Rome. In Paris, she was ready go play ball.    

“I’m playing pretty well on clay. But here I think it’s very special, said Ostapenko. “It’s very fast court so it really fits me. … Since I probably
started to play tennis, I had a possibility to play aggressive. So, I was always trying to play aggressive and that’s my game style.”

Halep says that everyone knows that she is right there to grab No. 1 for the first time. But she has never played against Ostapenko, and she’s a little worried. She has to decide: Can she just stand and wait for the ball, or does she need to attack the Latvian immediately?

“It’s tough to know what to expect against Ostapenko. She’s hitting very strong the balls,” Halep said. “It’s going to be the same plan. But I will focus more on myself. I’m not focusing on herself too much. I just want to do my game, to be there, focused, to move well.  It’s going to be a big match, tough match. I know that she can play her best tennis. She has nothing to lose. So, I’m going there and I will be ready.”

The guys

What an amazing match by Stan Wawrinka, who overcomes Andy Murray 6-7(6) 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 6-1 in the semis.  The Swiss won the tournament two years ago. He believes that if he plays great, he could stun Rafa Nadal.

Wawrinka and Murray ran side-to-side, up and down, back and forth. It was all about the backhands, and Wawrinka won, going very deep and super heavy. He rarely looked tired.

“There are two ways of seeing things and I chose to be positive, knowing that I was dominating,” said Wawrinka.

The No. 1 Murray looked a little bit better over the past two weeks, but he has struggled this year, at least for a No. 1. Will it go away this year? It’s hard to say, but we do know that he will always push himself. Very hard, or too hard.

“Maybe the lack of matches has hurt me a little bit in the end today. That was a very high intensity match,” Murray said. “A lot of long points. When you haven’t been playing loads, over four, four and a-half hours, that can catch up a little bit. … Physically I didn’t feel my best at the end.”

Wawrinka has won the three major finals he has played. Here is the most important thing: If Wawrinka wins, he will own four Grand Slams titles. Murray has three majors. If the Swiss passes the Scot, does that mean that Wawrinka is better than Murray? Day to day, over the past 10 years, Murray has been better than Wawrinka, more consistent, but over the past three years, Wawrinka has risen.

When they retire, then we can find out exactly who was better.

Nadal destroyed Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-4 6-0 in the semis. Clearly, Nadal is the favorite. His lefty forehand is phenomenal, and he has actually improved his backhand, finally hitting it deep. If Nadal wins, he will have 15 Grand Slams. Then, possibly, Roger Federer’s 18 will be in his sights.

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Murray: ’It’s about finding a way to get the win.’ to battle Wawrinka

June 8, 2017 by Leave a Comment

At ROLAND GARROS, DAY 12 — Andy Murray has won three Grand Slams, twice at Wimbledon and once at the US Open. He has won a ton of titles, at the ATP 1000s, the 500s and then 250s.

He reached the final at Roland Garros last year, and he tried very hard, but Novak Djokovic was much more consistent and his forehand was harder and deeper.

However, at least Murray was enthusiastic, knocking off Stan Wawrinka in four sets in the semis. Now they will clash again, on Friday, in Paris.

Both have played extremely well in the past 11 days. Wawrinka has been locked in, but Murray has been a little off. However, the 30-year-old Scot exactly knows when it’s time to run, and change it up, and hit it as hard as you can.

Over the years, Murray has changed his movement and strokes. His forehand has improved greatly, his first serve is tremendous and he almost never gets tired, going left and right, hour after hour.

These two have played each other 17 times, with Murray ahead 10-7. Their head-to-head shows they have had on-and-off streaks, with Murray taking the last two meetings in 2016 while Wawrinka gad three in a row from 2013-15. They are both veterans, so the nerves aren’t an issue, but it is possible to get angry, or very happy. One way or another, it will be extremely close.

“I don’t know how Stan is going to play on Friday. I don’t know how I’m going to play,” Murray said. “Last year, I feel like I played some really good tennis and managed to win the match, but you have no idea. You don’t know what the conditions will be. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to win the match. It’s not always about how well that you play or, the level that you play at. It’s about finding a way to get the win, and that’s what I will try to do. In an ideal world you play great tennis, and play a really good match. That unfortunately can’t be the case always. Don’t know how either of us are going to play, but with the right attitude, right game plan, right tactics, you can still win matches.”

Nadal/Thiem faceoff in semis
Will Rafa Nadal cruise against Dominic Thiem? Nadal is playing as well as he can now, blitzing the opponents. However, Thiem did beat him in Rome, but the Spaniard was pretty tired after winning Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

No excuses, however. It’s all about Nadal’s massive forehand, and Thiem’s impressive one-handed backhand. Plus, the serves matter a lot, as do their ability to come to the net and put it away some volies. It should be a blast — we hope.

Halep sneaks past Pliskova
Karolina Pliskova was as aggressive as she could be, but Simona Halep was so consistent, so fast, totally locked in, winning 6-4 3-6 6-3 to reach the final. Pliskova was close, but she made a few too many errors at the end, which really caused her.

Now Halep has a legitimate shot to become No. 1, if she manages to take down 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko, who just moved from a teen to a 20-year-old today. The Latvian is so aggressive, off both sides, forehand, backhand and her big serve. In beating Timea Bacsinszky 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 she hit 50 winners. Totally on the ball. Ostapenko, still a relative newcomer, has never reached the final at a Grand Slam, and maybe she will be super nervous. If she can focus, she definitely has an opportunity. She believes that someday, she will become No. 1. It will take time, but she’s pretty close all ready.

Halep has been No. 2 before, but she has not been able to snag No. 1, which she can if she takes the title. Over the past two months, she has refocused and has found a way to smack the ball deeper, and make her serve game smarter.

The two haven’t played before. Halep said that she hasn’t seen Ostapenko much, so she will have to look at tape. She will attempt to grind her, but if she cannot, then she must push her very early.

“My first Grand Slam and No. 1 in the world. It’s a big challenge. I think I have the game. I have the mentality to win, but it’s gonna be tough,” Halep said. “I expect her to give everything she has, to hit all the balls, to play with confidence. But I’m confident, as well. It’s a big thing. If it’s
gonna happen, it’s gonna happen, two things in the same time.”

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Djokovic folds, rising Thiem to face Nadal

June 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment

At ROLAND GARROS, DAY 11 — Without a doubt, Dominic Thiem played incredibly well to stun Novak Djokovic 7-6(5) 6-3 6-0 in the quarters. The most amazing thing was two and half weeks ago, the Serb blew him out 6-1 6-0 in Rome. Last year in the semis in Paris, Djokovic easily beat Thiem in three sets.

It’s one thing to lose, but why the heck did Djokovic look so awful in the third set? Over the past four years, the former No. 1 has been so consistent, so smart, so on the ball — all the time. But not anymore, as his head is spinning around. In the third set, he didn’t want to play anymore. He was done.

Can the 12-time Grand Slam champion recover soon? I doubt it. But, by the end of the year, Djokovic have calmed down. It’s very hard to say. That is exactly what he is thinking.

“In the last couple of tournaments, I have had some great matches. It’s unfortunate to finish Roland Garros the way I have done today,” Djokovic said. “I obviously always expect a lot from myself, but it’s a fact that I’m not playing close to my best, and I know that. I’m trying, as everyone else, to work on the game, and work on things. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a whole new situation that I’m facing, especially in the last seven, eight months, not winning any tournaments, which hasn’t happened in many years. All the top players have been through that. So, I guess you’ve got to go through it, try to learn your lessons and figure out the way, how to get out of it stronger. It’s a big challenge, but I’m up for it.”

Instead of facing Rafa Nadal in the semis, it will be Thiem going against the Spaniard. Nadal got through when Pablo Carreno Busta retired in the second set. Nadal has sailed through the tournament with very little time spent on court.

Nadal and Thiem have played a bunch of times, with Nadal blasting him in Barcelona, and then Thiem out-lasting him in Rome. It should be fairly close, but the 14-time champion Nadal is the favorite for sure. Nadal will try to crush Thiem’s one-handed backhand by applying his heavy spin. If he does, Nadal will waltz into the final.

We saw a fine win by Stan Wawrinka, who destroyed Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3 6-1. The Swiss is so good right now that he has a legitimate chance to reach the final, if he manages to upend Andy Murray.

Last year in the semis, Murray out-though Wawrinka 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-2. This time, Wawrinka has to be patient, and wait for his opportunities.

New women’s No. 1 could be crowned

What a comeback by Simona Halep, who was down 6-3, 5-1 to Elina Svitolina before she recovered, and Svitolina became super nervous. Halep won 3-6 7-6(6) 6-0. The Romanian stood tall, while Svitolina cracked under pressure.

On Thursday, there will be a gigantic match with Halep facing Karolina Pliskova. If Pliskova prevails and moves on to the final, she will become No. 1. If Halep wins the semifinal, then the Romanian needs to win the tournament to become No. 1. If neither of those things happen, Angelique Kerber stays on top.

Imagine that. Maybe a new No. 1.

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Mladenovic v. Halep set for Indian Wells

March 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment

INDIAN WELLS. March 12 — A couple years ago, Simona Halep became No. 2. She reached the final of Roland Garros. There she was very close to her first Slam win, but Maria Sharapova stepped on the gas, winning to 6-4 in the third.

Halep had lost, and cried, but she believed that she could win at the Grand Slam.

She hasn’t yet. 

In 2016, she was on fire, racing around, hitting hard and crushing balls. She won Madrid, Bucharest and Montreal. But guess what? At the Slams, her head wasn’t into it.

She lost early at the Aussie and Roland Garros. At Wimbledon, she managed to go into the second week, beating Madison Keys, but she fell against Angie Kerber in two tight sets.

At the US Open, she reached the quarters again, losing another very tight match, going down to Serena Williams, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

She wasn’t quiet there.

Now she will face KiKi Mladenovic at Indian Wells.

As Halep said, “I’m here, and she’s here.”

Mladenovic beat her in Paris and Birmingham, but Halep topped her in three long sets at 2015 Cincinnati.

Mladenovic is rising, while Halep is struggling.

One way or another, at Indian Wells, it should be a classic.

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