Lauren Davis had to qualify to get into the Rogers Cup main draw. In the second round of qualifying, she beat former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, but then Kuznetsova became the lucky loser, and drew--yes, Lauren Davis--in the first round. But no worries. David beat her again, making the Russian a not-so-lucky loser, after all. Davis's next opponent will be Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli.
Yesterday, I was about to leave my house when the Cibulkova-Kerber match came on. I really wanted to see it, but I figured it would go on for hours and I'd never get anything done. Sure enough, three hours later, I took a break to check the score, and the match was just ending. Cibulkova beat Kerber 6-7 (0), 6-2, 7-5. Cibulkova had to come from 1-4 down in the third set. She's now 4-0 against the German.
Venus Williams won her first set against Kirsten Flipkens 6-0. Flipkens then won the second and third sets (6-4, 6-2) againt an obviously tired Williams. Not to take anything away from Flipkens--she's having a great season.
Play began today with Li Na taking on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and then stopped after they had played one game. The expected showers came; today is supposed to be a pretty rainy one in Toronto. The scheduled night match features world number 1 Serena Williams against Francesca Schiavone. Williams, by the way, is the first player to qualify for the WTA Championships in Istanbul.
Do you have an understanding regarding Kuznetsova? Earlier in the year it seemed like she was playing better-quarters at Sydney-quarters at the AO and Roland Garros. Now she seems to have dropped again.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Kerber-Cibulkova affair. Cibulkova had some wonderful ball-striking and Kerber had some wonderful "gets". Kerber, to me, isn't playing as well as last year. There seems to be some energy lacking in her play and mentality.
I don't know what's going on with Kuznetsova. When she came back from the injury, she seemed so relaxed and positive, and her game was really good again. But you know how she is--inconsistent foe her whole career.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd seen Cibulkova and Kerber but I made the right decision. I did get to watch a little of it and what I saw was impressive. I wonder whether Kerber's chronic back problems have taken their toll.
Yes, I was wondering the same thing about Kerber. If the problems continue it would be sad that her moment in the sun was so short. There seems to be more and more back problems or at least they are being reported more. I think that there are some commentators (one will go unnamed) that don't give enough credence to back problems until the player basically is forced to retire or finally ruptures something. Many play in pain and it is accepted as the correct thing to do. Don't know if I am making much sense here or presenting what I want to communicate very well.
ReplyDeleteYou're making perfect sense to me. Back problems tend to just get worse. Amelie Mauresmo fixed hers by changing her service motion, and then some other players followed suit. The change was dramatic for Amelie.
ReplyDeleteYou have to wonder, too, whether Kerber just played in too many tournaments. I think she did.
Petra played without any lapses again. Nice improvement.
ReplyDeletePetra did play well. She won the Rogers Cup in Montreal last year so maybe she feels comfortable up in Canada or this time of year.
ReplyDeleteAlso the Cirstea-Wozniacki match was great. Some great shots from Cirstea, battling to stay in and finally winning after 3 hours. Wozniacki was right in there but looked tired mentally in the last game where she was broken and thus lost the match. I don't know if she got tired of being pummeled by some of Cirstea's power shots. Not sure what is wrong but she is out first match she played.