(Rank/Seed)
13/5 (wild card) Stosur overcame significant odds to beat (3/1) Azarenka for the 1st time in 9, 62 63 to win her 1st title since the 2011 US Open! It was a scrappy match with plenty of unforced errors from both players, but Stosur won the majority of the mini battles. She targeted Azarenka's forehand and played behind her which worked well, whilst Azarenka played her worst match of the week, hitting too many easy unforced errors, probably due to her recent lack of match practice.
1st Set
Azarenka was broken in the 2nd game off the back of 2 double faults; a problem for both players throughout as Azarenka hit 7 and Stosur hit 8. Though Azarenka broke back immediately, she was quickly re broken and missed out on 5 crucial break points in the 5th game as each time Stosur served bombs which even Azarenka couldn't return. Stosur won the 1st set from Azarenka for the 1st time.
2nd Set
Stosur began to look confident, hitting many of her 20 winners during the match from her forehand in this set. Once again, she came up with huge serves under pressure, saving 3 more break points in the 1st game. Azarenka finished with an abysmal 1/12 conversion ratio on break points throughout, whilst Stosur was a much cleaner 4/5 and broke for the only time in the 2nd set in the 5th game behind plenty more Azarenka unforced errors. Azarenka so often missed from the midcourt; something she almost never does. Though she seemed a little nervous, Stosur didn't have to dig deep to win her 4th career title as Azarenka signed her own fate off yet more misses, snapping her 28 outdoor hard court win streak since last years US Open final loss!
Monday, 5 August 2013
Sunday, 4 August 2013
Azarenka to face Stosur
The semi finals were both relatively difficult matches, but the two favoured players progressed.
(Rank/Seed)
3/1 Azarenka will move back to number 2 in the world after her 60 46 63 win over (17/7) Ivanovic. The 1st set score line was deceptive as many of the games were close, often seeing Ivanovic waste several game points. The entire match was really one long scrap, with neither playing demonstrating consistency but showing plenty of heart. Ivanovic at times was too demonstrative whilst Azarenka was calmer under pressure; winning all the important points and surviving the Ivanovic storm.
13/5 (w/c) Stosur ended fellow wild card Razzano's brilliant run through to her 1st semi since Hobart 2009 with a 76(2) 63 victory. After trailing 0-4 with Virginie hitting only winners, Stosur began to dictate the points on her terms earlier and ultimately turned the match around to beat her opponent for the 5th time in as many attempts.
Azarenka goes into the final as a big favourite, looking for her 3rd title this year, leading the head to head 8-0 and having won her last 28 matches on hard court. Stosur looks for only her 4th career title and her 1st since the US Open 2011, but appears to be playing much better than Azarenka. Plus, in recent years the final at this tournament has seen the underdog triumph and as Stosur accepted a late wild card into this field, she seems somehow destined to win this event. She has also got her 1st wins over equally tough opponents for her in recent years, beating Sharapova and Venus Williams so why not Azarenka too considering their last 2 meetings were close three setters? As the final's being played as I write this, it isn't fair for me to guess a winner but it looked like Azarenka on paper.
(Rank/Seed)
3/1 Azarenka will move back to number 2 in the world after her 60 46 63 win over (17/7) Ivanovic. The 1st set score line was deceptive as many of the games were close, often seeing Ivanovic waste several game points. The entire match was really one long scrap, with neither playing demonstrating consistency but showing plenty of heart. Ivanovic at times was too demonstrative whilst Azarenka was calmer under pressure; winning all the important points and surviving the Ivanovic storm.
13/5 (w/c) Stosur ended fellow wild card Razzano's brilliant run through to her 1st semi since Hobart 2009 with a 76(2) 63 victory. After trailing 0-4 with Virginie hitting only winners, Stosur began to dictate the points on her terms earlier and ultimately turned the match around to beat her opponent for the 5th time in as many attempts.
Azarenka goes into the final as a big favourite, looking for her 3rd title this year, leading the head to head 8-0 and having won her last 28 matches on hard court. Stosur looks for only her 4th career title and her 1st since the US Open 2011, but appears to be playing much better than Azarenka. Plus, in recent years the final at this tournament has seen the underdog triumph and as Stosur accepted a late wild card into this field, she seems somehow destined to win this event. She has also got her 1st wins over equally tough opponents for her in recent years, beating Sharapova and Venus Williams so why not Azarenka too considering their last 2 meetings were close three setters? As the final's being played as I write this, it isn't fair for me to guess a winner but it looked like Azarenka on paper.
Saturday, 3 August 2013
Radwanska and Kvitova miss out
The quarter finals saw a slew of unexpected upsets.
(Rank/Seed)
3/1 Azarenka restored order last off, thrashing U.Radwanska 61 62.
4/2 A.Radwanska lost to the wildcard (13/5) Stosur 75 26 63, despite holding an early break lead in the third. Stosur eventually won a tiring battle due to her dedication to go for broke, despite often hitting unforced errors due to Radwanska's typical tenacity. This is Sam's 1st semi of the year, whilst for Aga it is yet another loss to a non top tenner; albeit a very good non top tenner!
8/3 Kvitova was ousted in an epic scrap with another wildcard, (131) Razzano 67(6) 75 76(8) in 3 hours 35 minutes; the 2nd longest match of the year. Razzano had plenty of chances to finish the match earlier, serving for it at 5-3 and missing her first 4 match points. Kvitova though would be left to rue her missed chances; she was broken to lose the 2nd set despite leading 40-0 in the 12th game, she served for the match at 6-5, missed 2 match points of her own on errors in the tiebreak at 6-5 and 8-7 and double faulted down match point having saved 4. However, Razzano is a very talented former top 20 player who now has 13 top 10 wins to her name (one of those of course being the infamous victory over Serena at the French Open 2012) and seems to be heading back towards her unconventional best on the court. For Kvitova however, the string of poor form in tournament seems to continue.
Elsewhere, (17/7) Ivanovic outhit (11/4) Vinci 61 67(1) 62 having lost their last meeting 60 60 to reach her 2nd semi final of the year.
At Washington DC, defending champion (43/7) Rybarikova upset (9/1) Kerber 76(0) 36 63, earning the only break in the third set. Kerber hasn't made a semi since Stuttgart.
(Rank/Seed)
3/1 Azarenka restored order last off, thrashing U.Radwanska 61 62.
4/2 A.Radwanska lost to the wildcard (13/5) Stosur 75 26 63, despite holding an early break lead in the third. Stosur eventually won a tiring battle due to her dedication to go for broke, despite often hitting unforced errors due to Radwanska's typical tenacity. This is Sam's 1st semi of the year, whilst for Aga it is yet another loss to a non top tenner; albeit a very good non top tenner!
8/3 Kvitova was ousted in an epic scrap with another wildcard, (131) Razzano 67(6) 75 76(8) in 3 hours 35 minutes; the 2nd longest match of the year. Razzano had plenty of chances to finish the match earlier, serving for it at 5-3 and missing her first 4 match points. Kvitova though would be left to rue her missed chances; she was broken to lose the 2nd set despite leading 40-0 in the 12th game, she served for the match at 6-5, missed 2 match points of her own on errors in the tiebreak at 6-5 and 8-7 and double faulted down match point having saved 4. However, Razzano is a very talented former top 20 player who now has 13 top 10 wins to her name (one of those of course being the infamous victory over Serena at the French Open 2012) and seems to be heading back towards her unconventional best on the court. For Kvitova however, the string of poor form in tournament seems to continue.
Elsewhere, (17/7) Ivanovic outhit (11/4) Vinci 61 67(1) 62 having lost their last meeting 60 60 to reach her 2nd semi final of the year.
At Washington DC, defending champion (43/7) Rybarikova upset (9/1) Kerber 76(0) 36 63, earning the only break in the third set. Kerber hasn't made a semi since Stuttgart.
Thursday, 1 August 2013
Azarenka makes winning return
As the second round wraps up, the top players who have thus far been in action were successful having received first round byes.
(Rank/Seed)
3/1 Azarenka returned to the court for the first time since her horrific injury in the first round of Wimbledon that forced her later withdrawal. She looked fresh here though, never dropping serve against Schiavone to maintain her unbeaten record on hard courts this year with a 62 63 win. It was also her 24th birthday.
4/2 Radwanska got over last weeks loss to the top Slovak by beating the second highest ranked Slovak, edging experienced Hantuchova 63 63 for the third time here.
7/3 Kvitova, last year's US Open series winner picked up where she left off, serving well in thrashing Robson 61 62 to avenge her loss to the Brit at the Australian Open.
Elsewhere at Washington DC, (9/1) Kerber is already through to the quarter finals with straight sets wins over Americans Falconi (62 63) and Oudin (75 60).
(Rank/Seed)
3/1 Azarenka returned to the court for the first time since her horrific injury in the first round of Wimbledon that forced her later withdrawal. She looked fresh here though, never dropping serve against Schiavone to maintain her unbeaten record on hard courts this year with a 62 63 win. It was also her 24th birthday.
4/2 Radwanska got over last weeks loss to the top Slovak by beating the second highest ranked Slovak, edging experienced Hantuchova 63 63 for the third time here.
7/3 Kvitova, last year's US Open series winner picked up where she left off, serving well in thrashing Robson 61 62 to avenge her loss to the Brit at the Australian Open.
Elsewhere at Washington DC, (9/1) Kerber is already through to the quarter finals with straight sets wins over Americans Falconi (62 63) and Oudin (75 60).
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