Sorry to keep you in the dark for the past few weeks but I can't help it, tennis keeps on going while I'm on (a very deserved) vacation!
First of all: Open GDF Suez in Paris.
That has to be the single most boring advertisement, I have ever seen. But the fact that the tournament is played in the city of romance, makes up for a lot! A pity it already ended February 12th and didn't last until Valentine!
Back to tennis! Na Li had to retire from her match against Pironkova in the first round due to a back injury which will keep her from playing in Qatar as well. She had lost the first set in a tiebreak (5)6-7 and was trailing 2-3 in the second.
Wickmayer played a superb tournament but encountered an even better Kerber and lost in three close sets: 7-6, 3-6, 4-6. Next up, Kerber demolished Sharapova with 6-4, 6-4 to set up a match against Bartoli, who had a quite straight forward path to reach the final.
And it was Kerber who came out victorious with 7-6, 5-7, 6-3. Since that wonderful run in the US open of last year (she reached the semifinal by defeating Radwanska and Pennetta but eventually fell to later champion Stosur), she's getting more and more wins in other tournaments as well.
Notable was the second round win of Wickmayer against Schiavone with 7-6(4), 6-4 and Wozniacki's loss against Safarova 6-4, 4-6, (3)6-7. It seems losing her number one spot, left her without much confidence. And I want to see battles been fought for that highest ranking, so come on Wozniacki! Win like a Grandslam, just to give the critics a heartattack!
Four seeded players eventually withstood the test and battled it out in the semi's. Azarenka smashed Radwanska aside with 6-2, 6-4. Bartoli, who is having a good start of the season, had to retire against Stosur after losing the first set 6-3.
I saw the final between Azarenka and Stosur and Sammy wasn't playing her best. Just too much unforced errors and never having a chance on the Azarenka serve. On the other hand the Belarussian broke Stosur's serve three times in the first set to take it 6-1. Stosur didn't really get in the match when facing an early break in the second set as well. When heading 40-15 in her own service game, she still let Azarenka break her to win the match with 6-2 and the tournament was hers!
It's been all Azarenka this past month! And while doing a little dance when winning, she seals her 17th consecutive win. The question now is: who is going to defeat her? I have to admit, she's a good number one but I still have to get used to it.
Last, but nog least, let's check the rankings where Sharapova jumps over Kvitova to take the number two spot. Kerber heads into the top 20 with her win in Paris. Kuznetsova drops a shocking 9 places from 18 to 27. More dropping is happening for Kim Clijsters, now down to 35 (the seeded players spot is in jeopardy at the Grandslams!). Hopefully, she'll make up for it in Miami which starts March 21th. First up is Indian Wells coming up, March 3th so keep posted!
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