tennis gut

Aus 2014 Semis Clearly, all the semifinalists are in good form to make it this far... Cibulkova can blast ANYone off the court.  Will she stay in the zone to do so?  If she's not in the zone, we can get love and love, like in Sydney 2013.  Aggie Radwanska will probably make it close... with her creativity and problem-solving I don't see her getting blown out.  How will Cibulkova react to a close match?  I'll guess she'll be nervous.  Cibulkova can win this if she keeps her head down and blasts away.  But I'm guessing Aggie will get into her head.  Aggie in 3 Bouchard has looked mentally strong, aggressive, and her game has looked efficient and weakness-free.  She's won the final set going away in each of her last 3 matches (62, 60, 62) - like she needed to problem solve her way through and then, once figured, put the hammer down. Li has looked invincible in her last 2 matches, surrendering only 6 games in 4 sets.  Bouchard's lack of weakness cou

Australian Open 2014 Preview: Women First Quarter A win by 17-year old Ashleigh Barty over Serena Williams in the first round is not inconceivable if Barty plays out of her head and Serena has a bad day.  But Barty has not yet refined her game in the fierce crucible of competition and experience.  Stosur (seed 17) and Ivanovic (14) could have a fascinating third rounder.  Stosur has a huge game, capable of taking down an in-form Serena, but struggles at her home slam, whereas Ivanovic continues to post solid results, but seems afraid of attaining the fearlessness of her 2008, world #1 incarnation.  I doubt Stosur will melt down as badly as last year, but even if she beats Ivanovic, Serena will prevail in 4R.  Vinci (12) is a solid performer who should live up to her seeding.  Her 3R opponent is scheduled for Wimbledon SFist Flipkens (18), or more likely Robson or Vera Zvonareva who could play 2R.  In the fourth, Vinci could face Errani (7) or first-time-grand-slam-seed Ca

2013 Women’s Tennis and 2014 Predictions 2013 was a very good year for a lot of women on the tour.  Marion Bartoli won Wimbledon.  Li Na achieved a new career ranking high.  Victoria Azarenka proved she is not a one-hit-wonder with defense of her Australian title.  Jelena Jankovic found her way back to the top 10.  Simona Halep racked up 6 titles at the WTA level – second best for any woman.  And several rising stars achieved new heights like Sloane Stephens, Eugenie Bouchard, Madison Keys, and Victoria Duval.  But standing over all, with one foot firmly among the greats of history, was the age-defying performance of Serena Williams. Serena Williams Is Serena in a weak era, or is she just better than everyone else?  Logically, this would seem like the era the WTA is the strongest.  The sport has only grown progressively since its inception in the 1870’s.  There is more money than ever on the tour to attract top talent.  There are more players ranked on the computer than