AUS OPEN 2012: Venus Withdraws; Seeds Announced

7-time major champion Venus Williams announced today via Twitter that she is withdrawing from the 2012 Australian Open. Venus is now ranked #100 on the WTA Tour.

Also, today the seedings on the Men's and Women's singles were released, generally following the current world rankings:

1. Djokovic, Novak (SRB); 2. Nadal, Rafael (ESP); 3. Federer, Roger (SUI); 4. Murray, Andy (GBR); 5. Ferrer, David (ESP); 6. Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA); 7. Berdych, Tomas (CZE); 8. Fish, Mardy (USA); 9. Tipsarevic, Janko (SRB); 10. Almagro, Nicolas (ESP); 11. Del Potro, Juan Martin(ARG);12. Simon, Gilles (FRA); 13. Dolgopolov, Alexandr (UKR); 14. Monfils, Gael (FRA); 15. Roddick, Andy (USA); 16. Isner, John (USA); 17. Gasquet, Richard (FRA); 18. Lopez, Feliciano (ESP); 19. Troicki, Viktor (SRB); 20. Mayer, Florian (GER); 21. Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI); 22. Verdasco, Fernando (ESP); 23. Raonic, Milos (CAN); 24. Nishikori, Kei (JPN); 25. Monaco, Juan (ARG); 26. Granollers, Marcel (ESP); 27. Chela, Juan Ignacio (ARG); 28. Ljubicic, Ivan (CRO); 29. Stepanek, Radek (CZE); 30. Anderson, Kevin (RSA); 31. Melzer, Jurgen (AUT); 32. Bogomolov Jr., Alex (RUS).


1. Wozniacki, Caroline (DEN); 2. Kvitova, Petra (CZE); 3. Azarenka, Victoria (BLR); 4. Sharapova, Maria (RUS); 5. Li, Na (CHN); 6. Stosur, Samantha (AUS); 7. Zvonareva, Vera (RUS); 8. Radwanska, Agnieszka (POL); 9. Bartoli, Marion (FRA); 10. Petkovic, Andrea (GER); 11. Schiavone, Francesca (ITA); 12. Clijsters, Kim (BEL); 13. Williams, Serena (USA); 14. Jankovic, Jelena (SRB); 15. Lisicki, Sabine (GER); 16. Pavlyuchenkova, Anastasia (RUS); 17. Peng, Shuai (CHN); 18. Cibulkova, Dominika (SVK); 19. Kuznetsova, Svetlana (RUS); 20. Pennetta, Flavia (ITA); 21. Hantuchova, Daniela (SVK); 22. Ivanovic, Ana (SRB); 23. Goerges, Julia (GER); 24. Vinci, Roberta (ITA); 25. Safarova, Lucie (CZE); 26. Kanepi, Kaia (EST); 27. Medina Garrigues, Anabel (ESP); 28. Kirilenko, Maria (RUS); 29. Wickmayer, Yanina (BEL); 30. Petrova, Nadezda (RUS); 31. Kerber, Angelique (GER); 32. Niculescu, Monica (ROU).

Federer-Nadal XXVI: Federer Demolishes Nadal 63 60

AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK

World #4 Roger Federer played his arch-rival World #2 Rafael Nadal for the 26th time on Wednesday, and as I predicted, he won his first match against the Spaniard in 2011. However, no one could have predicted the 30-year-old Swiss maestro would pull off his most comprehensive defeat of Nadal in their long rivalry.

Federer won 6-3 6-0 in just over 1 hour. The result was never in doubt after the 5th game of the match. Nadal did not play badly (he had a Wozniacki-like 4 winners and 7 unforced errors) but Federer was dominant in every category, blasting 28 winners to only 8 unforced errors. Federer broke Nadal 4 times in 6 chances, one of his highest breakpoint conversions ever. Nadal was able to win only 9 points in the second set (to Federer's 28). This was the third time that Federer had won a 6-0 set against Nadal (the others being the 2006 Wimbledon final and 2007 Hamburg Masters final). Nadal still leads their career head-to-head with 18 wins to 8 losses.

By winning so easily (dropping only 1 set and winning 4) Federer became the first player to qualify for the semifinal elimination round. The winner of the match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nadal will decided the other semifinalist from Group B. Federer is the defending champion and is on a quest to become the first player to win the tour's year-ending championship for the 6th time.

In Group A, Andy Murray withdrew from the tournament due to the groin injury he was nursing in his loss to David Ferrer, which means that either Novak Djokovic, Ferrer or Tomas Berdych will be the 2 semifinalists. Janko Tipsarevic will replace Murray but since the tournament is a round-robin which has already commenced he has no chance to advance but he could get some serious cash. On Wednesday, Tipsarevic will face Berdych and Djokovic will face Ferrer.

Kvitova Wins WTA Championship, Clinches #2 Rank

Petra Kvitova put an exclamation point to her 2011 season by winning the WTA Tour Championship final match 7-5 4-6 6-3 against Victoria Azarenka in Istanbul and clinching the year end #2 spot in the WTA Tour rankings.

Kvitova won $1.75 million by winning every match she played against the world's top 8 players who qualified for the year-end championships, becoming the third player to win the title in her debut appearance (after Serena Williams in 2001 and Maria Sharapova in 2004). Last year at this time Kvitova was ranked #34 but that was before she went undefeated 18-0 in indoor match play and won the 2011 Wimbledon title. Kim Clijsters won last year's title over World #1 Caroline Wozniacki.

Azarenka won $775,000 and will end the year at a career high #3 but continues her elusive search for a major breakthrough title, never having reached a major final. She reached the final by defeating 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur and 2011 French Open champion Li Na but losing a dead-rubber 3-set battle with Marion Bartoli (who replaced Sharapova when she withdrew after losing her first two matches).

The championship match was one of the best of the year, with Kvitova starting by playing near-flawless, powerful tennis and rushing to a 5-0 lead in the first set, which she then squandered by losing the next 5 games through spraying errors and tough-minded playing by Azarenka. Kvitova was able to stop the errors and held the 11th game and was able to finally win the first set (on her 5th opportunity) 7-5. The second set was mainly not shown by ESPN, but clearly Azarenka stepped up her play and was able to squeeze out the set 6-4 on her first set point by with a backhand line-clipper winner. The first game of the third set was crucial. Kvitova served by went down 15-40, acing two breakpoints but was able to hold serve with some clutch serving and excellent movement. In the second game, Azarenka was ahead but managed to lose her serve and fell back 2-0. She never was in the position to take a lead for the rest of the match.

Wozniacki's fragile hold on the top spot should come to an end during the first quarter of 2012 as either Kvitova or Azarenka prove the superiority of "big babe" tennis.

Kvitova, Stosur, Zvonareva, Azarenka Make WTA Tour Finals

Caroline Wozniacki, #1 player in the world, failed
to make the semifinals of the WTA Tour Championships

The final tournament of the 2011 WTA season is underway in Istanbul, the WTA Tour Championships. Although Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams did not even qualify, and World #2 Maria Sharapova showed up not fully recovered from an ankle injury and withdrew (from a round-robin tournament!) after losing two matches in a row.

The once and future World #1, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark clinkched the year-end #1 spot for the second consecutive year despite never having won a major title, and this year she did not even reach the final of a major.

Despite being #1, Wozniacki was dispatched relatively easily by Petra Kvitova after splitting two hard-fought 3-set matches with Agnieska Radwanska and Vera Zvonareva. The hard-hitting Kvitova came through the round-robin rounds undefeated and Zvonareva squeaked into the last semifinal spot ahead of Wozniacki when Radwanska failed to win a set against Kvitova depite being up 5-1.

In the other half of the draw Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur, Li Na and Maria Sharapova (replaced by Marion Bartoli) fought it out for two spots with Stosur and Azarenka coming through to reach the semifinals.

2011 Wimbledon champ Kvitova will face 2011 US Open champ Stosur in one semifinal while Zvonareva faces Azarenka in the other.

MadProfessah predicts: Kvitova vs Azarenka in the final.

US OPEN 2011: Stosur Outplays Serena To Win 1st Major

Defying nearly universal predictions of defeat Samantha Stosur of Australia, 27, played the match of her life to defeat a listless, unusually slow Serena Williams and win her first major title at the 2011 U.S. Open 6-2 6-3.

Although Serena started the match with an ace it became clear very soon that she was not moving well and not serving well. If she was playing at 80% to win against Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday night, Sunday afternoon she was at around 50%. I don't know if it was something physical or not, but she as clearly the same player who had shown up for the first 5 rounds of the tournament.

Regardless, Samantha Stosur took a page out of Francesca Schiavone's book and played the smartest match of her life, maximizing her chances and optimizing her talent. She served well, volleyed well and was aggressive with her best shot, the forehand, especially in the return of service. Since Serena's serve was surprisingly slow, Stosur repeatedly hit it back for a clean winner, something Serena usually does to her opponents.

The oddest moment of the match came in the first game of the second set, when Serena was serving at 30-40. She served, got a weak return and hit a blistering forehand into Stosur's backhand corner and screamed  "Come on!" a split second before Stosur, scrambling to her left, managed to get her racquet on the ball. Immediately, the commentator John McEnroe said "Well, they have to play a let now." Instead, bizarrely, the umpire claimed that instead of winning the points she was awarding it to Stosur, due to the "verbal hindrance." Since it was a breakpoint, this meant that Serena not only lost the point, she lost the game. Serena was obviously displeased by this turn of events and asked the umpire "Aren't you the one who screwed me no this court a few years ago? That's not cool." The incident managed to completely turn the crowd in Serena's favor (and against Stosur) and they cheered vociferously until Serena won the next 3 points on Stosur's serve to get triple breakpoint, eventually breaking back on her 3rd chance. After a few games the crowd settled down and Serena's game returned to her listless level, unable ot move her feet to get tothe ball, while Stosur continued to hit the ball sharply and cleanly into the corners.Eventually Serena was broken and Stosur consolidated the break and on the next service game, down 2-6, 3-5 Serena faced double breakpoint which was also double championship point. She was able to save one of them, but on the second one Stosur hit a clean inside-out cross-court forehand winner, winning the point, set and match.

Overall, it was an excellent result for Stosur, who became the first Australian player since Patrick Rafter in 1998 to win a major championship (also the U.S. Open). Regardless of the "hindrance incident" Stosur was the better player on the day and deserved to win the match. It also brings to a close an interesting year for the slams on the women's side where three of the four winners were brand new: Li Na in Paris, Petra Kvitova in London and Samantha Stosur in New York.It should be interesting to see which of these three wins another one first. I would put my money on the Czech lefty.

US OPEN 2011: Women's Final Preview

Serena Williams USA (28) v. Samantha Stosur AUS (9). 

The 2011 US Open finalists are the two women in the draw with the two best serves in women's tennis. Serena demonstrated the importance of having an effective serve in her 6-2 6-4 drubbing of the now and future World #1 Caroline Wozniacki in a routine semifinal whose result was never in doubt. Serena served 11 aces and hit another 23 winners from all over the court--and she was probably playing at about 80% of her ability. Her "B" game. Wozniacki simply had (and has) no weapons with which to bother Serena and almost no offensive intent or capacity so Serena simply bided her time, broke the 21-year-old Dane at will and was content to serve out the match. When suddenly she played a loose match game at 6-2, 5-3 she calmly broke back easily to reach the final.

Stosur's route to the final was more complicated. She played the unheralded (some would say unknown) Angelique Kerber from Germany, at 6pm on the Grandstand court (capacity 6,000) when the second men's semifinal was still going on on the main stage at Ashe which holds 23,000+. Instead of winning easily, Stosur won a relatively tight 6-3 2-6 6-2 victory. Stosur has had a pretty dramatic tournament overall, playing the longest tiebreak in Grand Slam history in the 4th round (losing it 17-15) against Maria Kirilenko and playing the longest U.S. Open women's match (in terms of games played) against Nadia Petrova in the 3rd round, eventually winning7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5 in 3 hours, 16 minutes.

Stosur is the probably the only other player in the draw who is not overwhelmed by Serena's physicality. She has won 2 of the 8 matches the two have played on the tour, including one at Roland Garros where she saved a match point! The Australian 27-year-old has very broad shoulders herself and probably an even better kick-serve than Serena's. However, Stosur has one distinct weakness: her backhand. She can either slice it (not very effectively) or she can hit it with two hands, often not very cleanly or powerfully. Sitting in the stands, literally 15 feet from her in the now-famous tiebreak with Kirilenko I was very surprised how softly the ball came off her racquet on the backhand side. Serena can just pin her into the backhand corner with forehands down the line and it will be a very short day. However, Stosur does possess an excellent topspin inside-out forehand so if her footwork is good she may be able to run around her backhand and hit her powerful forehand but unless she hits a winner against a very fit and fast Serena, Stosur will be off the court and unable to reach the reply. Mentally, since Stosur has been in a major final before (losing badly to Francesa Schiavone in the 2010 French Open final) she should not be overwhelmed today, but she simply does not play finals well, having won only twice in 11 attempts. Serena is playing in her 5th U.S. Open final in 12 appearances, with wins in 1999, 2002 and 2008. We all know what Serena's mental toughness is like.

In the 2011 U.S. Open I have correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 2 women's semifinals. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals. This year I have also correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, and 1 of 2 men's semifinals. My prediction for the women's final is that Serena Williams will win her 14th major title, putting her a scan 4 titles away from the all-time greats: Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert (but still behind Steffi Graf's 22).

MadProfessah's pick: Serena Williams.

US OPEN 2011: Women's Semifinals Preview

After a rain delay cancelled the scheduled women's quarterfinals matches last night, all four matches were able to be completed today, the women's semifinals are now set.

This year, I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

These are my predictions for the 2011 women's semifinals, which for the first time will be played Saturday night in prime time, with the women's final on Sunday, and the men's final moved to Monday's day session.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v. Serena Williams USA (28). This is the match on the women's side everyone has been waiting for. Can the putative #1 player in the world prove her dominance against the fan's #1? Serena and Caroline have only met on court twice (both in 2009), with Serena winning both times.Wozniacki has only been to one major final, while Serena has won 13 finals and appeared in 3 others, losing to her sister Venus Williams twice (2001 US Open and 2008 Wimbledon) and Maria Sharapova once (2004 Wimbledon). The problem that Wozniacki has is that many people feel that she can be hit off the court. Her game is built around counter-punching, and she (often) plays her best tennis when she is behind in the score. But getting behind on the score against someone as mentally tough as Serena Williams is not the same thing as getting behind the score against 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. It does show that Wozniacki likes pace and can feed off her opponent's power and use it against them. There is no more powerful a female player than Serena, and she will demonstrate the danger of Wozniacki's strategy to blast past her and reach her fifth US Open final. PREDICTION: Serena.


Angelique Kerber GER v. Samantha Stosur AUS (9). Although I didn't pick either one of these players to reach this point in the tournament, I am delighted to see that Samantha Stosur is in her second major semifinal, with an excellent opportunity to reach her second major final, where hopefully she can acquit herself better than she did in the 2010 Roland Garros final.

Kerber is the only unseeded player among the semifinalists and since she's ranked around 92 in the world will make more money from this tournament than she made in the last year (or two) on the tour. In other words, Kerber is just happy to be here and will not put up much resistance if the match gets tough. The rap against Stosur is that she's mentally fragile, and the fact that she has played 11 tournament finals and only won 2 of them is evidence of that. However, she impressed a lot of people with her mental fortitude in her match against Maria Kirilenko when she lost the second set 15-17 in the longest women's tiebreaker in grand slam history (blowing 5 match points in the process). Stosur was able to survive the emotional rollercoaster of playing such an intense tiebreaker (where twice she was denied match point wins due to Kirilenko's successful electronic line challenges) to win the deciding set relatively easily 6-3. This new toughness should serve her well in the final on Sunday night. PREDICTION: Stosur.

US OPEN 2011: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Andrew Ong/usopen.org

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v. Andrea Petkovic GER (10). Wozniacki was hand delivered a get-out-of-jail free card from Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was leading 7-6(6) 4-2 40-15 when suddenly the Russian had (another) one of her epic collapses, losing 11 of the next 13 games in a draining 3-hour-plus match. This was something of a repeat of their 2009 US Open 4th round encounter which Wozniacki had won 2-6 7-6 7-6 on her way to only major final. Her opponent Petkovic played a much less dramatic match against talented Spaniard Carlos Suarez Navarro, winning in straight sets 6-1 6-4. If  2-time major champion Sveta couldn't blast "Sunshine" off the court, what chance does Petkorazzi have of winning? Regardless of who wins this match to reach the semifinal, they have almost no chance getting to the final since they are in Serena Williams half of the draw. PREDICTION: Wozniacki.


Serena Williams USA (28) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS (17). The young, talented Russian was finally able to outlast the Iron Woman herself, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, in a 5-7 6-3 6-4 win to reach her second major quarterfinal of the year, claiming revenge for the come-from-behind win Schiavone had eked out during her historic journey to the 2011 French Open final. Unsurprisingly, Serena is the lowest seeded player to be in the final 8, following her straight sets dismissal of #4 seed Victoria Azarenka and #16 seed Ana Ivanovic. It is extremely doubtful the hard-hitting Pavlyuchenkova playing in her 2nd career quarterfinal will be able to make much impact on the hardest-hitting player of her generation playing in her 32nd quarterfinal.The only thing that could stop Serena winning the tournament on Saturday is being hit by a bus. PREDICTION: Williams.


Flavia Pennetta ITA (26) v. Angelique Kerber GER. The mystery quarterfinalists. It's not surprising that two of the quarterfinalists are from Germany, but that one of those German quarterfinalists is Angelique Kerber is stunning. After going through a notable lull after the great Steffi Graf, Germany has had a recent resurgence with Julia Georges, Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic all having reached the Top 20 in the rankings. However, it is the #4 German player who is in her first major quarterfinal against Italy's #2, Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta relishes her reputation as a giant killer, and eliminated Maria Sharapova from the draw 2 rounds ago. It is an incredible opportunity for the Italian to reach her first major semifinal and perhaps become the second woman from her country ever to reach a major final, and shockingly, the second Italian player this year. PREDICTION: Pennetta.


Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) v. Samantha Stosur AUS (9). This should be the popcorn match of the round. Zvonareva has been in 2 major finals and is now an established hard-court force to be reckoned with, but no-one who has ever had the mental collapses Vera has exhibited can ever really be counted on to play up to their potential level when it counts. In Samantha Stosur she faces an opponent who has beaten her 6 times in a row, but who is also known to wilt under the pressure of an important moment. Stosur has been improving in this category, and battling back to win the third set convincingly after losing the longest women's tie-break in Grand Slam history (15-17) against Maria Kirilenko shows her strengthening mental fortitude. Zvonareva has tasted success on these courts before and that might be the difference in a 3rd set tiebreak. PREDICTION: Zvonareva.

List Of Top 10 Highest Paid Tennis Players

Forbes magazine has published the new list of the hghest paid tennis players, headed by Roger  Federer. Yahoo Sports goes into some detail of how the Top 5 players on the list make their money.

1. Roger Federer, $47 million
2. Rafael Nadal, $31 million
3. Maria Sharapova, $25 million
4. Novak Djokovic, $18 million
5. Andy Murray, $13.5 million
6. Andy Roddick, $13 million
7. Caroline Wozniacki, $12.5 million
8. Venus Williams, $11.5 million
9. Kim Clijsters, $11 million
10. Serena Wiliams, $10.5 million

This is a very curious list, because it seems surprising to me that Venus would be making more in endorsements than Serena. It's also interesting, that more than half of Djokovic's $18 million comes in prize money ($11 million) while a very small fraction of Federer's comes from prize money. ($10 million of it per year comes from Nike.)

Also, recently I blogged that Li Na had overtaken Sharapova as the world's highest paid female athlete. I understand most of the numbers used in the Forbes report are for 2010. It will be interesting to see where Li Na ends up on the list in future years, and also how much Djokovic can capitalize on his incredible, historic season.

US OPEN 2011: The Draw Is Released!

Earlier in the week the seedings for the 2011 US Open were released, shockingly placing Serena Williams at #28, and unsurprisingly placing Novak Djokovic at #1. On Thursday the draw was released, on the men's side and the women's side.

If seedings play true through 5 rounds the quarterfinals will be:

Novak Djokovic SRB (1) vs. Gael Monfils FRA (7) 
Roger Federer SUI (3)  vs. Mardy Fish USA (8) 
Robin Soderling SWE (6) vs. Andy Murray GBR (4)
David Ferrer ESP (5) vs.  Rafael Nadal ESP (2)


and on the women's side:

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) vs. Na Li CHN (6) 
Victoria Azarenka BLR (4) vs. Francesca Schiavone ITA (7) 
Petra Kvitova CZE (5) vs. Maria Sharapova RUS (3)
Marion Bartoli FRA (8)  vs. Vera Zvonareva RUS (2)

I think it is very unlikely the four women's quarterfinals will look like this on the women's side. For example, in stead of Azarenka, Serena Williams (28) should replace her. On the men's side, it is more likely that the 8 quarterfinalists will reflect the seedings. However, I do predict that one of the Top 4 (on both sides) will mot make it into the final 8.

US OPEN 2011: Serena Seeded #28!

Serena Williams has won all 12 of the matches she has played on hard courts this year, and has won the US Open 3 times (1999, 2002 and 2008) and the Australian Open (which is also played on a hard court) 5 times (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010). But somehow the USTA seeding committee decided to seed her at #28, commensurate with her world ranking (at  #29). This is truly bizarre because she entered the tournament using her protected ranking of #1, which she had at the time she left the tour for 49 weeks in July 2010 after winning Wimbledon. She should have been seeded "Co-#1" similar to how Monica Seles was seeded when she came back from injury in 1995 after a 2 year hiatus. After all, Serena suffered a life-threatening malady which prevented her from playing for months.

The top seed at the final major for the year for the second year in a row is Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who despite being ensconced at the top of the WTA rankings for over a year has yet to win a major title and in fact has only reached one final, two years ago in 2009. The #2 seed is Vera Zvonareva of Russia who was in two major finals last year, while the #3 seed is the 2006 US Open champion, Maria Sharapova, who also made it to this year's Wimbledon final.

In the end it doesn't really matter where Serena is seeded, but she could end up hitting one of the Top 8 seeds in the 3rd round instead of the second week of the tournament. Bad luck for whomever she gets; the draw comes out on Thursday.

Celebrity Friday: Clijsters Withdraws From US Open

2-time defending US Open champion Kim Clijsters today withdrew from the 2012 US Open with an abdominal strain. Clijsters had won the title in New York the last three times she played in the tournament, in 2005 (d. Mary Pierce), 2009 (d. Caroline Wozniacki) and 2010 (d. Vera Zvonareva) maintaining a winning streak which dates back to her final loss to Justine Henin in 2003.

Clijsters also won the Australian Open this year but Serena Williams did not defend her 2010 title. Since her return, Serena has won 12 hard-court matches in a row which netted her two titles and must now be considered the favorite to win her 14th major title in New York this year.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Petra Kvitova                                © AELTC/J.Buckle

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) Dominika Cibulkova SVK (24) vs Maria Sharapova RUS (5). For the first time since 2006 Maria Sharapova is in a Wimbledon quarterfinal when there is no possibility of a facing a Williams sister in order to win the title. Her immediate challenge is to defeat a woman who is almost a full foot shorter but who has beaten her the one time they played in a major. Cibulkova embarrassed Sharapova 6-0 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open. Amazingly, all four of their career meetings have been on clay, and  the two are locked at 2-all, with the shorter player having won the last 2 matches, including one this year. However, Sharapova is much more comfortable on grass than clay. Cibulkova is also coming off one of the best wins of her career by basically blasting the World #1 Caroline Wozniacki off the court with nearly 20 forehand winners in a 1-6 7-6(5) 7-5 victory. The match-up on paper looks like a clear win for Sharapova, but Cibulkova has beaten her before and believes in her game. The question will be if Sharapova believes in her game, especially her (second) serve. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.

Sabine Lisicki GER  vs. Serena Williams USA (7) Marion Bartoli FRA (9). Sabine Lisicki had one of the most outstanding performances by a female tennis player this year when she saved 2 match points against #3 seed Li Na (the most successful player at the Grand Slam tournaments this year) to win 3-6 6-4 8-6 in the second round. Lisicki has yet to lose a match on grass this year, having won in Birmingham right before Wimbledon, but she had to write the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in order to get a wildcard to enter the tournament, which was granted. 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli  put on an incredible performance in the 4th round of Wimbledon to dismiss the 2-time defending champion Serena Williams by out-hitting and out-serving the 13-time major champion in two sets 6-3 7-6(6). Bartoli had more aces (10 to 8) than Serena and in most of the rallies was hitting the ball harder and more aggressively. Serena did not play her best, true, but Bartoli won the match more than Serena lost it. Head-to-head Lisicki leads Bartoli 2-1 including a win over the Frenchwoman this year but Bartoli's lone win was on grass at Wimbledon in 2008. Bartoli had 11 aces in the first 3 rounds and 10 in the fourth. I seriously doubt she can play as well two rounds in a row. The German wild-card is a real contender to win the entire tournament. PREDICTION: Lisicki in 2 sets.

Tamira Paszek AUT  vs. Victoria Azarenka BLR (4). The highest remaining seed is the hard-hitting (and ear-splitting) Belarussian who has reached her 5th career grand Slam quarterfinal at this year's Wimbledon but who has never reached a major semifinal. I expect that streak to end on Tuesday. Her opponent, Paszek had an impressive win over 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the 3rd round 3-6 6-4 11-9 after nearly four hours of play. Paszek had been long touted as a player to watch about 3 or 4 years ago but injuries got in the way and the 20-year-old is the furthest she has reached in a major since her breakthrough debut year in 2007. Azarenka has the power and mentality to dismiss most players outside of the Top 10. Paszek is not an exception.PREDICTION: Azarenka in 2 sets. 

Petra Kvitova CZE (8) vs. Venus Williams USA (23) Tsvetana Pironkova BUL (32). Pironkova must be Bulgarian for "kryptonite" because there is no other explanation for why the greatest women's grass court player of her generation would lose in two consecutive years to the same player, by the same exact score (6-2 6-3)! Last year Pironkova's stunning win was one round later and she followed it by losing a hideous match against Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals. The player in the other semifinal last year was Petra Kvitova who lost a high-quality affair to eventual champion Serena Williams. This year, Pironkova has to face the hard-hitting, fearless lefty who has the game to defeat anyone on the tour but didn't quite believe in herself enough. This year she has the belief that she can do it, and she can. PREDICTION: Kvitova in 2 sets.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Disaster! Serena and Venus Lose!

OMG! Venus and Serena William, who have won 9 of the last 11 Wimbledon singles titles between them, both lost in their fourth round matches on Monday June 27th ( a day that will live in infamy).

Venus lost 6-2 6-3 to Tsevetana Pironkova, the Bulgarian player who beat her in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals (by the same exact score) and in the 2006 Australian Open 1st round.

Serena lost to 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 6-3 7-6(6).

There are no words. Both played pretty horrendously. Clearly "Pironkova" is Kryptonite in Bulgarian because there is really no explanation for why Venus plays so horrendously against her.

Oh, in other "upset news" Dominque Cibulkova eliminated the #1 player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki.

The only player who has still won a major on the women's side is Maria Sharapova, who won the 2004 Wimbledon title over Serena.

WIMBLEDON 2011:Williamses, Top 4 Men, Delpo In To R16

Novak Djokovic won a tension-filled 3rd round
4-set match against Marcos Baghdatis

Wimbledon is the only major which does not generally have play on the "middle" Sunday. So, after Saturday's play on Day 6, here is an update.

The Top 4 players in the world, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are all through to the round of 16 at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. World #5 Robin Soderling  and World #8 Andy Roddick have been upset. #6 seed Tomas Berdych and #7 seed David Ferrer are still in the tournament, as is 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.


World #1 Caroline Wozniacki, #4 seed Victoria Azarenka, #5 Maria Sharapova, #7 Serena Williams, #8 Petra Kvitova and #9 Marion Bartoli are all in the round of 16. 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva and 2011 French Open finalist Francesca Schiavone both lost on Day 6.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Raja, Serena, Roddick, Woz Win 1st Round

Defending Champion Serena Williams cried after
 winning her first Grand Slam match in a year

Day 2 of play at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships has ended with 2-time defending champion Serena Williams winning her first round match over Aravane Rezai, "the Pocket Rocket," 6-3 3-6 6-1 and then bursting into tears afterwards. Serena improved to 44-0 in 1st round Grand Slam matches, and showed more emotion in this win than she has in winning several of her 13 major finals.

From The Daily Mail:

'I didn't expect that,' she said. 'It just hit me at the end. I'm not a crier, but it felt so emotional. I think when I won my first US Open back in 1999 I had a little cry, but not like this. It's the most emotional I've been after a win and to be a first round, well, I usually never get super-excited. But it wasn't about winning today, it was about just being out there. Everyone has their troubles and you must have faith that you can get through it. 

'I've been through a lot in the last 12 months, a lot of things that are not normal, things you guys don't even know about. It's been an arduous, long run and just to be standing up feels pretty awesome.

'I always preach to other people, "never give up", but this was my test. I could have given up, I could have sat at home and thought, "I've had a fabulous career, I don't need to work extra hard now." Instead, I proved I could. No more than that, really: I could. '

I've learned you can never take any moment for granted, I learned to try to appreciate it all. Each and every point, each and every momentI enjoy and relish. This was my struggle, my battle, something I have to overcome and still must overcome every day. This is the beginning of the road, not the end.'

Other winners in the first round were 6-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer, 3-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, World #1 Carolina Wozniacki and World #5 Robin Soderling. The only major seeds to go out were 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur and former World #1 Jelena Jankovic. Fernando Verdasco avoided 1st round disaster by coming back from 2-sets down to win 2-6 4-6 6-3 7-6(6) 9-7.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Seeds Released (Serena #7, Clijsters Out)

Wimbledon starts on Monday, so the seedings have been released today, with the draw happening on Friday. The grass-court tournament is the only major to often drastically differ from the world rankings, and they have done so again.

Here are the men's singles seeds:

Gentlemen's Singles

1 Rafael NADAL (ESP) [1]
2 Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) [2]
3 Roger FEDERER (SUI) [3]
4 Andy MURRAY (GBR) [4]
5 Robin SODERLING (SWE) [5]
6 Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) [6]
7 David FERRER (ESP) [7]
8 Andy RODDICK (USA) [8]
9 Gael MONFILS (FRA) [9]
10 Mardy FISH (USA) [10]
11 Jurgen MELZER (AUT) [11]
12 Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (FRA) [12]
13 Viktor TROICKI (SRB) [13]
14 Stanislas WAWRINKA (SUI) [14]
15 Gilles SIMON (FRA) [15]
16 Nicolas ALMAGRO (ESP) [16]
17 Richard GASQUET (FRA) [17]
18 Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS) [18]
19 Michael LLODRA (FRA) [19]
20 Florian MAYER (GER) [20]
21 Fernando VERDASCO (ESP) [21]
22 Alexandr DOLGOPOLOV (UKR) [22]
23 Janko TIPSAREVIC (SRB) [23]
24 Juan Martin DEL POTRO (ARG) [24]
25 Juan Ignacio CHELA (ARG) [25]
26 Guillermo GARCIA-LOPEZ (ESP) [26]
27 Marin CILIC (CRO) [27]
28 David NALBANDIAN (ARG) [28]
29 Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS) [29]
30 Thomaz BELLUCCI (BRA) [30]
31 Milos RAONIC (CAN) [31]
32 Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP) [32]

The main beneficiaries are Tsonga who moves from ATP #19 ranking to Seed #12 and Llodra who moves from ATP #25 ranking to Seed #19.

The women's singles seeds are even more interesting 

1 Caroline WOZNIACKI (DEN) [1]
2. Vera ZVONAREVA (RUS) [2]

3. Na LI (CHN) [3]
4. Victoria AZARENKA (BLR) [4]
5. Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS) [5]
6. Francesca SCHIAVONE (ITA) [6]
7. Serena WILLIAMS (USA) [7]
8. Petra KVITOVA (CZE) [8]
9. Marion BARTOLI (FRA) [9]
10. Samantha STOSUR (AUS) [10]
11. Andrea PETKOVIC (GER) [11]
12. Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS) [12]
13. Agnieszka RADWANSKA (POL) [13]
14. Anastasia PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS) [14]
15. Jelena JANKOVIC (SRB) [15]
16. Julia GOERGES (GER) [16]
17. Kaia KANEPI (EST) [17]
18. Ana IVANOVIC (SRB) [18]
19. Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) [19]
20. Shuai PENG (CHN) [20]
21. Flavia PENNETTA (ITA) [21]
22. Shahar PEER (ISR) [22]
23. Venus WILLIAMS (USA) [23]
24. Dominika CIBULKOVA (SVK) [24]
25. Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK) [25]
26. Maria KIRILENKO (RUS) [26]
27. Jarmila GAJDOSOVA (AUS) [27]
28. Ekaterina MAKAROVA (RUS) [28]
29. Roberta VINCI (ITA) [29]
30. Bethanie MATTEK-SANDS (USA) [30]
31. Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE) [31]
32. Tsvetana PIRONKOVA (BUL) [32]

The shocker is the removal of Kim Clijsters, who withdrew from the tournament with a re-injured ankle this morning. The 2010 defending champion Serena was seeded #8 but moved up to #7, despite her WTA #26 ranking. Venus, who is a 5-time champion was seeded #23 despite her WTA #33 ranking. This is an absolute travesty of a seeding for Venus. One year ago Serena was ranked #1 in the world and Venus was ranked #2 but the two have played only a handful of tournaments combined since then (Serena hasn't played at all).

2011 FRENCH OPEN: Woz, Stosur Upset! Raja, Gael, Gasquet In R16

Daniela Hantuchova celebrates her defeat of World #1 Caroline Wozniacki at the 2011 French Open

For the first time since 1971 in the era of Open tennis, the two top seeds on the women side have been eliminated in a major tournament before the 4th round. World #1 Caroline Wozniacki followed World #2 Kim Clijsters exit yesterday by being swept off the court 6-1 6-3 by hard-hitting, mentally fragile Daniela Hantuchova. Wozniacki has been #1 despite being in only one major final (which she lost to Clijsters). Hantuchova will face 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova for a quarterfinal berth. Another stunning upset on the women's side was the disappearance of 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur who got outplayed by Gisela Dulko 6-4 1-6 6-3. Vera Zvonareva, Jelea Jankovic and defending champion Francesca Schiavone all advanced to the round of 16.

On the men's side the marquee match of the tournament between the only players besides Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to have won a major title in the last 5 years was scheduled last on for the day and thus had to be stopped completely even with Novak Djokovic winning the first set 6-3 and Juan Martín del Potro returning the favor. They will play a best of 3-sets tomorrow after a women's match. Djokovic has a 39-match winning streak on the line against someone who everyone acknowledges is a Top 5-level player even though he is currently seeded #25. Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils are in the final 16 at their hometown tournament but unfortunately their third musketeer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was unable to join them despite winning the first two sets against Stanislas Wawrinka, who will play Federer in the fourth round. Monfils will face David Ferrer who has not dropped a set all tournament for a potential quarterfinal berth against Federer. Gasquet has the unenviable task of playing the winner of the Del Potro-Djokovic encounter.