DAY 3 REVIEW AND ACE'S DAY 4 PICKS

by Karen 

I was surprised when so many tennis fans were shocked when Monica Nicolescu took out Sabine Lisicki in 3 tough sets last night. Lisicki's tweet, which was later deleted, about being beaten by the heat just shows the over inflated ego of Ms. Lisicki.  

Serena Williams continued her march towards the next round by taking out Vesna Dolonc in what I can only describe as a half hearted match.  I mentioned on  Twitter that the top 4 women seem to be playing with much ennui.  There is no spring in their step or even any emotion on the court through the first 2 rounds.  I am hopeful that as all 4 women progress through the rounds, we will see a lot more fire, rather than ice not only flowing through their games but in their on court demeanour as well.  It could very well be that they are tempering their emotions as a result of playing in what has been described as hellish heat. 

Overnight results certainly seem to have gone to plan with Stosur and Dellaqua flying the home flag high in their respective matches.  Genie Bouchard overcame a very dangerous opponent in Razzano and Keys fell flat to Zheng Jie, a semifinalist here a few years ago. 

Day 4 OOP sees the return of Sharapova and Jankovic and dark horses Stephens, Halep and Wozniacki. Ace's picks are below 

Jankovic vs Morita - Jankovic

Nara vs Rybarikova - Rybarikova

Erakovic vs Diyas - Erakovic

Lepchenko vs Halep - Halep

Suarez Navarro vs Voskoboeva - Suarez Navarro

Voegele vs Cibulkova - Voegele

Cornet vs Giorgi - Cornet (match of the day)

Knapp vs Sharapova - Sharapova

Radwanska vs Govortsova - Radwanska

Minella vs Pavlyuchenkova - Pavlyuchenkova

Muguruza vs Schmiedlova - Muguruza

McHale vs Wozniacki - Wozniacki

Stephens vs Tomljanovic - Stephens

Rogowska vs Svitolina - Svitolina

Jovanovski vs Meusburger - Jovanovski

Zahlavova Strycova vs Azarenka - Azarenka

Sharapova starts proceeding on Day 4 and I am reminded of her match in 2007 against Camille Pin when Sharapova almost melted in the heat of Melbourne.   It has been 6 years since that match.  Pin has since retired and Sharapova is a lot fitter.  Temperatures are forecast to be in the 100+ F range again today. 

This and That

I read a recent interview where Sloane Stephens indicated that she was checking her phone during her match and knew what the temperature was.  Call me cynical and correct me if I am wrong but I thought bringing electronic devices on court during a match was forbidden.  I seem to recall Bethanie Mattek-Sands was prevented from using Google Glass during matches.  I can't see why a player should not also be prevented from bringing a phone, especially a smart phone on court. The possibilities of said player receiving coaching advice is to my mind very apparent.  I am surprised that none of the journalists on site pointed out that fact in their reports.