ROBSON TAKES ON KVITOVA

Andy Murray’s countrywoman, Laura Robson, will take on the Czech player Petra Kvitova in the second round of the ongoing Southern California Open.

Robson entered the second round with a tough win over the Japanese player Ayumi Morita. She was down by a set in that match, but, she showed great fighting spirit and eventually, managed to come on top.

This has been a great season for Robson so far. She has defeated some very good players off late and as a result, her world ranking has improved significantly. She wasn’t even in top 50 at the start of the season and at the moment she is at no. 32.

Even in the most recently played Grand Slam i.e. Wimbledon Championships, Robson had managed to make her way into the pre quarter final round where she got beaten by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.

Kvitova, on the other hand, is way ahead of Robson as far as the ranking is concerned. She is currently ranked 7th in the world. She got a bye in the opening round. So, it’s going to be her first match in the event.

This hasn’t been a fruitful season so far for Kvitova. She has made a couple of quarter final appearances, but, she hasn’t played up to her potential at all and she herself would be aware of that.

In the Wimbledon Championships also, Kvitova’s performance was below par as she lost to a lower ranked Belgian player in the quarter finals.

Kvitova has played a total of 46 matches this season out of which she has won 31 and has lost 15.

Robson and Kvitova have played against each other once before and that match was surprisingly won by Robson. It was in the second round of the Australian Open this year. Kvitova would surely be looking to avenge that loss.

RADWANSKA MAKES FINAL 8

Agnieszka Radwanska has made it to the final 8 of the ongoing Korea Open by securing win over Estrella Cabeza of Spain. Radwanska won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-1.

Radwanska is the top seeded player in this tournament and she was supposed to pull off this game easily. The Polish player did live up to the expectations and knocked out her opponent by playing some fabulous tennis. The match was over in just about an hour. Continue reading RADWANSKA MAKES FINAL 8

CRUISING

Lleyton Hewitt has cruised into the final 4 of the ongoing BB&T Atlanta Open by defeating Ivan Dodig of Croatia. Hewitt won the match in three sets by 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Hewitt was not looking in good touch at the start and he was completely outclassed in the opening set. But, the Aussie star fought back after that and clinched the next two sets in style to win the contest.

In the post match interview, Hewitt said, “It was tough for me at the start. He was serving really well and was also spot on with his return shots. He had certainly got me under pressure.”

“However, I am glad that I managed to battle it out. It feels good to be in the semi finals. Hopefully, I will keep going well in the next match as well.”

In the opening set, Dodig began with a bang. With breakthroughs in the 2nd and the 4th game, he won the first 5 games in a row. Hewitt held his serve for the first time in the set in the 6th game to make the score 5-1, but, that was too little, too late. Another serve hold by the Croatian player in the 7th game sealed the set in his favour.

In the second set, both the players held their serve in the first 7 games and Hewitt was leading by 4-3 when the 7th game ended.

The Australian player sneaked a breakthrough in the 8th game and then, by winning his next service game, he clinched the set.

In the decider, Hewitt was at his peak. With some high quality shots, he made his opponent look ordinary. He secured a bagel and won the contest.

In the semi final round, Hewitt will take on the winner of the match between James Blake and John Isner.

STOSUR DROPS OUT

Lleyton Hewitt’s countrywoman, Samantha Stosur, has been defeated by Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the third round of the French Open. Jankovic won the match in three sets by 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Stosur was looking in top form at the start of the match and she managed to get ahead by a set.  But, from the second set onwards, she lost her rhythm and ended up getting knocked out of the tournament.

In the post match interview, Stosur said, “I am gutted to end up on the losing side. Frankly speaking, my performance was decent for most parts of the match, but, I committed some mistakes at crucial times and that made the difference.”

In the first set, the first 7 games went with the serve and Stosur was leading by 4-3 when the 7th game ended.

Jankovic dropped her serve in the 8th game which increased Stosur’s lead to 5-3. After that, the Australian player served out the 9th game to grab the opener.

In the second set, Jankovic looked in better rhythm. With a breakthrough in the second game, she was off to a lead of 2-0. However, she was broken back in the very next game and her lead got diminished to 2-1.

The next 4 games went with the serve and at the end of the 7th game; the score was 4-3 in the favour of Jankovic.

Jankovic managed to sneak another breakthrough in the 8th game to extend her lead to 5-3. Now, all she required to win the set was a serve hold in the next game and she did that smoothly.

In the decider, both players lost their serve twice in the first 6 games and the scores were equalized at 3-3. The next 2 games went with the serve and the scores were still levelled.

In the 9th game, Stosur’s serve was broken again which gave Jankovic a vital lead of 5-4. The Serbian player just held her serve in the 10th game and finished off the match to move into the pre quarter finals.