Commentators call it "the best tennis day of the year." Really? I can handle watching two matches at a time, even though I don't like it, but when it comes to watching three or four, I hardly see the point. I kept up as best as I could, and found myself almost totally drawn to one match--Radwanska vs. Jankovic. I've never seen them play a match against each other that I haven't found compelling.
The only result that surprised me to today was CoCo Vandeweghe's upset of Lucie Safarova; I really didn't see that coming. Vandeweghe played with such conviction that even the clever and precise Safarova couldn't do anything about it. Safarova was close to breaking Vandeweghe on nine occasions, but succeeded only twice.
Coco Vandeweghe has upset the odds on Court 3.
She's knocked out the number six seed Lucie Safarova.
#Wimbledon
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BBC Tennis (@bbctennis) July
6, 2015
The 23-year-old from the USA has now knocked off Anna Schmiedlova, 11th seed Karolina Pliskova, 22nd seed Sam Stosur, and now 6th seed (and 2014 semifinalist) Safarova. Her next challenge will be to play 4th seed Maria Sharapova, and let's just say that Sharapova had better not mess around with her own serve.
Pova, by the way, defeated Zarina Diyas in straight sets.
Also having a pretty easy time of it was 23rd seed Vika Azarenka, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-3. Her next task will be to face Serena Williams. It boggles the mind to think about it--Serena getting Venus and Azarenka, right in a row. The world number 1 won the much-anticipated sister match 6-4, 6-3, and is now three matches away from attaining a second "Serena Slam." But more of note: Should she win the tournament, she would be three-quarters into winning the Grand Slam.
Radwanska won that entertaining match against Jankovic, and Madison Keys needed three sets to beat Olga Govortsova. Timea Bacsinszky needed three sets, too--it took her an entire set of bafflement to adjust to Monica Niculescu. Bacsinszky won the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Finally, Garbine Muguruza upset 5th seed Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. Toward the end, Muguruza had one of her Kvitova-like meltdowns, but she put herself back together in good form to defeat the Dane (or the Belgian, as one commentator call her). Muguruza played "big" (again, like Kvitova), hitting 29 winners and making 33 unforced errors. It was "big," however, that got the job done.
Here is the quarterfinal draw:
Serena Williams (1) vs. Victoria Azarenka (23)
Maria Sharapova (4) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe
Garbine Muguruza (20) vs. Timea Bacsinszky (15)
Madison Keys (21) vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (13)
If I could watch only one of those matches, I'd watch Muguruza vs. Bacsinszky. Fortunately, however, I'll be able to keep up a bit better tomorrow.
In doubles, top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza have advanced to the quarterfinals, as have 2nd seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, and 3rd seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova. Timea Babos and Kiki Mladenovic, seeded fourth, also advanced.
I'm really looking forward to the Mugu - Bacs match. Rematch of AO R3. Since it's grass, I give the edge to Mugu (more power). But Bacs is mentally stronger, I feel.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's hard to call, but I think it will be fun. nd I agree with your assessment.
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