by Karen
Simona
HALEP (ROU) [6] vs Agnieszka RADWANSKA (POL) [2]
Today is the semi-finals of the Premier
Mandatory BNP Paribas Open. Opening
proceedings will be Simona Halep (6) going up against No. 2 seed, Agnieska
Radwanska. Of the 2 women, Halep has
played the better tennis. She has been
extremely aggressive off the ground and has remained mentally tough in the hard
parts of her matches, especially in her match against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada. This will be a real test of Halep’s rise to
the top 10 in the WTA rankings. Does she
have what it takes to figure out the wily game of Radwanska. I believe she does and I think she will reach
her first Premier Mandatory final.
Radwanska if she hopes to win this match
cannot have a moment like she did in her match against Alize Cornet when she
went on a 16 point losing streak after being up 4-1 in the first set. Granted she did come back and take that set
7-5 in the first, but that will not work against Halep who seems to be much
more focused and determined than Cornet.
Na
LI (CHN) [1] vs Flavia PENNETTA (ITA) [20]
In the other semifinal, this puts the
current Australian Open champion and No.1 seed, Na Li up against No. 20 Flavia
Pennetta. Pennetta has been playing some
no holds barred tennis, apart from the debacle that was her match against
Sloane Stephens yesterday. I am looking
for her to come out a bit more focused and steady and improve her first serve
stats from the woeful average 42% of first serve that she hit against Sloane
Stephens yesterday. In the first set her
serve stats were a paltry 36%.Against Li she will have to improve as Li has
been quite dominant on her return of serve, standing up on the baseline to
receive second serves and ripping winners off the return.
For Li, if she wants to add a Premier
Mandatory title to her cache of titles, she will have to improve on taking
advantage of her opportunities on break points.
In her match yesterday against Cibulkova, her return of serve points on
second serves were 36% but what was even worse was the fact that she allowed so
many break points to go begging. She was
6/20 on break points which is a 30% conversion rate. Cibulkova did not fare much better, going
4/12 (33%).
This is a real pick em but I think that Li
will take this one, if only because as the tournament progresses she has grown
more confident in her game.
Odds
and Ends
Is Sloane afraid of winning? On the day that I wrote about the
improvements in her footwork, movement and backhand, it is as if she decided
that she was going to revert to old Sloane, and she went from immaculate
footwork and good decision making on court to just hitting the ball everywhere
but where it was supposed to go. Her
footwork was non-existent during her match and it seemed as if she could not
figure out why that was the case. It was
an embarrassing display of tennis. I got
absolutely frustrated and left the match after she won the third set. I had hoped that I would return to see a
victory, but it was not to be. The fact
that her opponent did not even wish to see highlights of the match says it
all.
Fifth
Slam
I am a tennis traditionalist. I don’t like change. Maybe that is the reason
why I still root for Venus and Federer to continue winning Wimbledon. I hate on court coaching. I like that when the tennis season starts, I
can look forward to the 4 Majors (Grand Slams) and the anticipation and
excitement that each Slam brings to the table.
To start the season there is the Australian Open. It gives tennis fans who have been waiting in
cold climes something to look forward to.
It announces the start of the tennis season and tries to answer all the
questions that arise during the tennis “off season”. By the time the Australian Open is finished,
we start asking questions about the French Open. Will there be a new champion. All of a sudden we want to see players who
have never won a Slam actually win one, and where better than at the French
Open.
The run up to the French Open always brings
a change of pace to our tennis watching.
Maybe it is the slow clay, the laid back attitude, the fact that tennis
is on early in the morning so those of us on the East Coast can enjoy some
tennis before we head out for work or maybe it is just seeing red clay, but
there is a transition and it not only happens on the court but in your mind as
well.
Once the French Open is over and champions
crowned, the talk inevitably turns to the green grass of Wimbledon. People become overnight weather experts and
the discussion starts about who will win and the conditions of players entering
the Championships and by the time the Championships are over, we are ready for
the blue clay and discussions of hurricanes, rain and the roof over Arthur Ashe
Stadium. This heralds the start of the
US Open. By the time that is over and
players take a break, we have to look at Davis Cup and Fed Cup, then the year
end championships.
I don’t know about you guys, but by the
time the Year End Championships for both tours roll around, I can’t even find
the strength to blog much more pay attention to tennis. I am tired and from
social media, many fans are tired as well.
At what point does tennis find time to
insert a so-called Fifth Slam? The
calendar is full as it is. Why is there
a need to insert some rich man’s event into the tennis calendar and call it something
that it is not. I like the 4 Grand
Slams. I like that there is order to my tennis season. I like that I know what I need to look for
and when. I say keep the calendar the
way it is. Tennis is overloaded now as
it is, we really don’t need or want a Fifth Slam.
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