Haha teckert

Her press conference wasn't bad actually. Still seems to have a lingering disdain for Eva. Eva is one of the best umpires though!

~~~~~
(Part of press conference transcript: http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2012-05-29/9689.php)
Q. Everyone has his own nightmares. I’d like to know if Eva Asderaki is one of your nightmares.
SERENA WILLIAMS: If what?
Q. Eva Asderaki, the umpire, because you met her other times.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh.
Q. When see her, is it a nightmare?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you know, she’s not a favorite amongst the tour, but, you know, I was like ­­ I don’t know. Was she the one that did my US Open last match last year?
Q. Yes.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I just really had a flashback there. (Laughter.) Interference, replay the point, and I said, (demonstrating with hands up). Same thing what happened to me in New York. I mean, hello, you know. She didn’t give me that opportunity, though. She was just like, Interference, point penalty.
So I don’t know.
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Razzano was given a warning the first time she yelped in pain during the rally because it was an involuntary response to a cramp. She was then correctly given a point penalty the next two times she yelped in pain during the rally.
Serena was given a point penalty in the US Open final (without a prior warning) because she bellowed 'COME ON!' and Stosur was able to get her racket on the ball. There was nothing involuntary about Serena's interference, she probably did not intend to cause hinderence to Stosur when she said it (thinking it was going to be a clear winner), but regardless it was a deliberate action to yell out in celebration (though prematurely).

I agree teckert, you'd expect Sharapova to win the tournament, or at least make a deep run into the semis. In contrast to Serena, she got through her first round match, 6-0 6-0.

Stosur plays her second round match today against Falconi, ranked #114.

Stosur through to the fourth round. She defeated Petrova in straight sets: 6-3 6-3. A much more straight forward match than their US Open match.
Stosur will face Sloane Stephens (ranked #70) in the 4th round, definately a winnable match for Stosur to progress to the quarter finals. Hopefully, Cibulkova can knock out Azarenka in their 4th round match (assuming Azarenka wins her 3rd round match which is yet to be played today). But I'm probably asking for too much from the tennis gods, haha.

A mini-upset today with Radwanska losing in the 3rd round to Kuznetsova. Considering Kuznetsova is a former champion at Roland Garros, I suppose it isn't too surprising. The scoreline was probably the most surprising thing I guess: 6-1 6-2. Looks like it was an off-day for Aga.

No fairytale run to the finals for Schiavone this year, knocked out in the 3rd round by Lepchenko (ranked #63). She fought through the final set, but ultimately lost 6-3 3-6 6-8. Schiavone's ranking should drop down to the mid to high 20s as a result of her loss today. A ranking that would better reflect the level she's been playing this year. Is it wrong that I still resent her for beating Sam in French Open final two years ago? lol

Defending champion Li Na is currently tied at a set all by McHale (#36). Kvitova needed three sets to get past Bratchikova (#109).
Will be interesting to see how Sharapova deals with Peng Shuai (28th seed) today.

World #1, Azarenka, has been knocked out in the fourth round of the French Open in straight sets by Cibulkova (15th seed). I don't like Azarenka, so this is good news for me.
Cibulkova won the match: 6-2 7-6(7-4). She led 6-2 4-2, but choked for a period and I thought it was going to be Miami all over again (where Cibulkova lead the match 6-1 5-2 against Azarenka, but choked big time and lost the match). But she was able to win it in two.
Cibulkova reached the semi finals of the French Open in 2009 (losing to Safina). The same year Stosur made her run to the semi finals in the other half of the draw (losing to eventual champion Kuznetsova).
In the quarter finals, Cibulkova will face the winner of the Stosur/Stephens match.

No doubt, Maria is currently smiling like a Cheshire Cat with Azarenka's departure. In Maria's first three matches, she's only dropped 5 games! (6-0 6-0, 6-1 6-1, then 6-2 6-1 yesterday)

The other quarter final for the top half of the draw has been determined. It'll be Errani (21st seed) versus Kerber (10th seed).

Stosur through to the quarter finals, with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Stephens. Stosur had to work some to win the match, coming back from 4-5 in the first set, and finally wrapping up the match despite leading in the second set 5-1.
Stosur victory today means she reclaims the #5 ranking.

Top half of draw quarterfinals:
Cibulkova vs Stosur (Head-to-head: Stosur leads 1-0)
Errani vs Kerber (Head-to-head: Kerber leads 1-0)

Btw, if Stosur were to win her quarter final, it is worth mentioning that she has not lost to either of her potential semi final opponents before: Errani (H2H: Stosur leads 5-0) or Kerber (H2H: Stosur leads 2-0).

Sharapova will take the #1 ranking from Azarenka if she can reach the final.

We will have new women's French Open champion this year, with Li Na being knocked out in three sets by world number #142 (former Top 30 player), Yaroslava Shvedova. Shvedova won the match: 3-6 6-2 6-0. Shvedova was a quarter finalist in 2010 (beaten by Jankovic in the QF). Shvedova is the first main draw qualifer since Kanepi at Wimbledon 2010 to reach the quarter finals, or the first French Open main draw qualifer since Suarez-Navarro in 2008 to reach the quarters.

Bottom half of the draw quarterfinals were all determined overnight:
Shvedova vs Kvitova (H2H: First career meeting)
Kanepi vs Sharapova (H2H: First career meeting)

Kvitova was the only quarter finalist last night to get through in straight sets, the other three needed three sets. Sharapova was probably pushed the most, but was able to get things back on track in the third set. She also had 12 double faults and 53 unforced errors (compared to 38 winners).


As for tonight's quarter finals:
Stosur will need to be on guard against Cibulkova. Stosur and Cibulkova are the only two players not to drop a set reaching the quarter final (and Stosur has not had a tiebreak set). Cibulkova can win against Stosur. However, I would back Stosur to win, even if it turns into a rather scrappy three-set affair. Cibulkova tends not to close out matches well.
Kerber should be solid enough to deal with Errani. I expect Errani will probably try and get fairly crafty to un-nerve Kerber. Unfortunately for Errani, she has a 0W-28L record against Top 10 players.

Stosur through in straight sets to the semi final, defeating Cibulkova 6-4 6-1 in a mature, composed performance.
Errani has defeated Kerber in straight sets, 6-3 7-6(7-2). Kerber was not playing well today. On her 29th attempt, Errani has finally scored a win against a Top 10 player. What a time to do so as well, reaching her first Grand Slam semi final.
Top half of draw semi final:
Stosur (6th seed) vs Errani (21st seed)
Stosur has a 5W-0L record against Errani (including a win as recent as Rome last month on the clay, 6-3 7-5). This will be a fairly different encounter to previous times they've met. Errani is clearly on her game. Errani tends to play an all-court game, similar to Schiavone. She's a fiesty thing, and will not give up. On paper, it probably looks like it should be a straightforward match, but this will be a test for Stosur. Stosur should be able to win this match though... please, lol.

The semi final for the bottom half of the draw will be determined tomorrow.

Nadal will romp it in and I think Stosur will also.

I'm hoping Stosur wins the tournament as well Big T, she's certainly in with a shot.

Kvitova and Sharapova are through to the bottom-half semi final. Kvitova struggled, but managed to win against Shvedova in three sets. Sharapova put on a good performance to deal with Kanepi in straight sets.

I would have to back Sharapova to win the semi final. Sharapova has been the more consistent player of the two through the tournament.
Sharapova has a 3W-2L record over Kvitova.

The women's semi finals will be played tomorrow. First up is Stosur vs Errani, followed by Kvitova vs Sharapova.

Errani has beat Stosur in the semi final in three sets, 7-5 1-6 6-3. Errani (21st seed) is in her first Grand Slam final.
Disappointing loss for Stosur, she had her opportunities but couldn't capitalise on them. Stosur should be pleased though, reaching the semi final of a Grand Slam is not easy to achieve. How 'Stosur-sque' is this, it's her in a nutshell, lol:
Wimbledon '11: 1st round
US Open '11: Champion
Aussie Open '12: 1st round
French Open '12: Semi final

Congratulations to Errani though, many doubted (myself included) she could make a real dint at Paris despite winning 3 clay court titles (all International-level) this season. She improves to a 24W-3L record on clay this year. By defeating Stosur, she's had her second consecutive win over a Top 10 player (after failing to do so in 28 previous attempts). By reaching the final, her ranking will rise to #10. What an amazing 2012 she has had so far.

Sharapova and Kvitova have just started their semi final match. If Sharapova wins this match, she moves up to #1.

Sharapova has won the French Open in straight sets, beating Errani 6-3 6-2 in 1 hour 29 minutes. Sharapova was too powerful for Errani, and Errani's serve was quite attackable for Sharapova. Errani showed more fight than the scoreline would suggest though (hence why it took 90 mins for a score that would otherwise suggest everything was straightforward).
It's Sharapova's fourth Grand Slam title and she has completed a Career Grand Slam (winning all 4 Grand Slams once). She's only the 10th women to achieve a Career Grand Slam.
I saw Navratilova, Seles and Sanchez-Vicario in the crowd as well.

David Nalbandian was defaulted (disqualified) today in the final of the AEGON Championships (London) after injuring a line judge.
Video of him kicking the advertising board which injured the line judge:

Longer version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBnNDdR_n3k

A surprise win on the grass for Haas in the final at Halle against Federer.

Stosur is playing on the grass in 's-Hertogenbosch this week as the top seed. Clijsters has made her return back at this tournament (her last tournament was on the hardcourts in March at Miami).

Wimbledon starts next week (on the 25th).

Venus Williams already out of Wimbledon I'd say her days are numbered now with two early exits in a row, and really struggling to get her ranking back up.

Two Aussie girls already through to second round, with Stosur and Gajdasova through easily.

oops... must have read Gajdasova's score wrong... she lost in straight sets...

Ebden & Tomic both out now.... Wasn't totally surprised at Tomic losing, He has been struggling recently and didn't look right out there at all. Also means a significant loss of ranking points after making the qtrs here last year...
Hewitt just on now against Tsonga, but really cant see him winning a set even...

Could be just Stosur left in the tournament lol...

Tomic looked impatient and angry from the word go. The courts look a little slower this year, which took a bit of punch out of his ground strokes as they seemed to pop more than slide.

Outside of his obvious temprament issues, if he wants to win on grass he will need to work on coming to the net. With his powerful ground strokes I am amazed that this hasn't been sorted before now.

I see a lot of kids coming through atm who have great ground strokes but little else other than bad attitude. Rather Russian style really.

And there goes Stosur, knocked out in the second round by Rus (who seems to be gradually getting better and better). Rus won the match, 6-2 0-6 6-4. Oh well, I guess that's an improvement on last year for Stosur. Stosur + Grass = Total mess

No more Aussies left in the singles draw at Wimbledon. I feel lost, lol.

Last year's semifinalist, Lisicki, survived her second round match winning 8-6 in the third set.

Boils down to our players just aren't good enough and are becoming a laughing stock in world tennis circles, not that I care onen hoot about tennis in any form any way but as an outside observer I can see what a lot of people in the media can't. Australia sucks at International Level Tennis and it is about time the media stopped beating up every story about them and started speaking what everyone knows. We don't have any talent when it comes to tennis.

That's a bit over the top.
Yes we're certainly not the 'powerhouse' we were decades ago. In brief, most of that change can be attributed to increased competition, rather than a steep decline in our own talent. A lot of Eurasian countries now have easy access to, and can afford, top quality tennis training and equipment. It's not just Australia, the USA, and a couple of the richer European countries these days. It takes a whole lot more to reach the top echelon now. While Stosur can be erratic, her ranking of #5 (and she's been in the Top 10 for sometime now) clearly shows the talent that she does have. To get into the Top 100, or even the Top 200, is a huge achievement.
Though an outside observer to the sport may not be able to appreciate this.
It is true though that the media like to 'beat up' a heap of stories about our players with unrealistic expectations. But that's the media, they're not tennis experts, so we can't do much about that.

BTW, Wozniacki was knocked out overnight in three sets during the first round by Paszek (quarterfinalist last year, and winner at Eastbourne last week). The last time Wozniacki was knocked out in the first round was when she made her main draw debut back in 2007 at the French Open (losing in three sets in Dechy)

I would think that for someone who admittedly cares nothing for tennis that you are perhaps a little too ignorant about the sport, its depth, management, and current strageties to bring forward our junior talents (of which there are many who simply lack the financial backing afforded to junior league/afl talents to make it to the top) to be saying that you can see what the media fails too!

Unfortunately because this sport does not have the bucket loads of money thrown at it that some other high profile sports do - does not mean that that our players are not worthy of playing at international level, and regardless of whether they win or lose on the international arena they deserve our respect and applause for attaining the ranking they have achieved.


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