We're at our next stop on the US Open Series: Cincinnati!
Already some interesting stuff happened on the road to the quarterfinals. We've always known hardcourt isn't Schiavone's best, but she lost already in the first round against Giorgi, an Italian youngster 11 years her junior: 6-1, 6-3. I like her style, quite offensive and not at all nervous for closing out the match. This is how she looks like (by the way, if you add an 'o' to Giorgi, you get a 15th century artist named Giorgio Schiavone!):
With the number one and two out for the US Open Series, Radwanska has a shot to take a lot of points away from them. However, the Pole arrived in Cincinnati with a taped right shoulder and this interfered greatly with her performance. She needed three sets against Stephens: 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 before falling to Na Li: 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Venus and Pavlyuchenkova (Pavly for short) had a great tournament! The Russian outplayed Wozniacki to reach the quarterfinals: 6-4, 6-4 to just fall short against Kvitova: 3-6, (4)6-7 next.
Venus looked fabulous, both her game and her dress! She probably had the most hours on these courts, playing four tight threesetters against Kirilenko, Scheepers, Stosur and Na Li. Only the Chinese could knock her out of the tournament: 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 in the semifinal when Venus was also experiencing back problems. That's how much it takes, folks!
So you got that Na Li is our first finalist at Cincinnati. She faced Kerber, who won against Serena Williams: 6-4, 6-4 before defeating Kvitova: 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. The German looked on a roll, leading 6-1, 3-1 against Na Li before the Chinese turned around the match completely! The eight game in the second set (at 4-3 for Na Li) was decisive for the entire match. Na Li got five break points but Kerber kept wiping them off the score board. But nine deuces proved too much for the German and she lost the second set: 3-6. Na Li kept playing with a lot of determination while Kerber looked tired and discouraged (especially against her coach, saying she couldn't win anymore). It was 6-1 in no time!
So Na Li leads the standings of the US Open Series with just New Haven to go. This time not only Wozniacki plays there, but also Radwanska, Bartoli, Errani and Kvitova so stay posted!
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