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Sharapova

Will A New Women’s Champion Break Through at Roland Garros?

June 4, 2018 by TennisGrandstand

Will a new champion emerge from the pack of women’s contenders at Roland Garros?

That is the major theme in the final week of the women’s singles tournament that was highlighted in the first week by the Grand Slam return of Serena Williams.

Maria Sharapova was the beneficiary of the withdrawal of Williams, who could not post against her Russian rival in the fourth round due to a pectoral muscle problem. Sharapova is the most experienced of the women in the quarterfinals with five major titles, including two at Roland Garros. Sharapova was not known for her clay court skills early in her career , describing herself as a “cow on ice” once about her moving ability on the French red clay. However, she has adjusted well to say the least, winning title in Paris in 2012 and 2014.

Like Williams, Sharapova is on the comeback trail, after serving a suspension of 15 months for testing for an illegal substance. She is seeded No. 28 and appears to be playing her best tennis – and is in the best condition – since she came back to tennis last Spring. She famously was denied a wild card entry into the French Open last year by the French Tennis Federation, so the 31-year-old Sharapova may also be playing with an axe to grind in Paris, providing further motivation that could take her all the way to the title.

Her quarterfinal opponent, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, is also a former French singles champion, having won the title in 2016 with an upset of Serena Williams in the final. Two years earlier, she upset Serena in the second round in Paris, so the French clay is certainly where she is most comfortable, like most Spanish players area.

Sharapova and Muguruza are the only former French champions left in the draw and they are joined by former Australian and US Open champion Angie Kerber and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens as the only major champions left in the draw.

Stephens, seeded No. 10, was the early pick to win the event of ESPN commentator and former U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe and she appears to be peaking and has a clear path to the final. Her good friend and fellow American Madison Keys, seeded No. 14, appears to be her only threat to reaching the final, although the tricky Russian clay-court Daria Kasatkina, the No. 14 seed, could cause a headache. Stephens, surprisingly to 888sport fans, is the second-to-last betting favorite among the quarterfinalists.

Simona Halep is without question the best woman tennis player without a major singles title. She and Keys are the two players left in the draw with the best pedigree among the non-Slam winners. Halep, the No. 1 seed, has lost two two French Open finals, including last year’s painful loss to Jelena Ostapenko. She also lost a heart-breaker Australian Open final to Caroline Wozniacki. Halep has to deal with her mental demons if she is to break through and win her first major singles title. Despite her failures on the biggest stages of the sport, she is the favorite to win the title in Roland Garros betting circles.

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova

Filed Under: Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: French Open, halep, Muguruza, Sharapova

Many WTA Candidates In Line to Conquer the Blue Clay

May 7, 2012 by TennisGrandstand

The blue courts are stealing the show in Madrid

While all the talk has been about the colour of the clay in Madrid ahead of this week’s combined Mutua Madrid Open, there is an important tournament to be played on the new surface and there is a long list of title contenders in the women’s draw.
The top half of the draw features World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka who overcame a tough first round hurdle this weekend with a straight sets win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. Despite a flawless start to her season, the Belarussian could use a strong showing at a major clay court event leading into Roland-Garros. Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams and Na Li are all in Azarenka’s quarter and her arch rival, new world no. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska is once again a potential semifinal opponent. Azarenka is the only player to beat the Pole so far in 2012. Radwanska’s section is already void of three seeds, Marion Bartoli, Dominika Cibulkova and a slumping Francesca Schiavone. Despite some of the favourites bowing out early, Radwanska could meet Sara Errani, the hottest clay court player in the world, in the second round. Errani has won 15 straight matches and three consecutive tournaments on the red dirt, including a title win last week in Budapest.
On paper, the bottom half of the Madrid women’s draw is definitely the tougher and deeper side. Leading the way is Stuttgart champion and world no. 2 Maria Sharapova. The rejuvanted Russian continues to make strides on clay and she rolled through her opening match. Fans are looking ahead to a potential blockbuster quarter-final  between Sharapova and Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, or even the emerging Mona Barthel. Sharapova and Williams have not played eachother since Stanford last summer and with many labeling them French Open favourites, both would likely relish the opportunity to go head-to-head before Paris. Defending Madrid champion Petra Kvitova and the clay savvy Samantha Stosur could also meet in the quarter-finals. Both could use a big showing on the blue clay courts. As she proved last year with her title run, the Madrid altitude and quicker surface are certainly favourable conditions for Kvitova’s big game.
In keeping with a prevalent WTA trend in 2012, expect the top four players to be still standing in the latter stages of the tournament, but not without being tested along the way. At the same time, upsets will not be uncommon given the uncertainties and concerns about the new clay surface. It will be interesting to see what kind of champion the blue courts will crown.

Filed Under: Lead Story, Melissa Boyd Tagged With: Azarenka, blue clay, Caroline Wozniacki, Madrid, Premier, Serena Williams, Sharapova, Tennis, tournament preview, Venus Williams, women, WTA

The Ladies Hit the Dirt Hoping for Feats on Clay

April 23, 2012 by TennisGrandstand

Can Na Li repeat in Paris?

What promises to be a thrilling spring and summer of tennis for the WTA begins this week for the ladies in Stuttgart for the start of the clay court season.
This much-anticipated segment of the calendar begins with a bang as 17 of the Top 20 players in the world are entered in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Madrid and Rome will also host Premier events during the month of May as preparation for the second Grand Slam event of the year at Roland-Garros.
Over the past few years, the expectations and results on the red dirt for the women have been highly unpredictable and 2012 will be no different. Gone are the days of dominant clay court specialists on the WTA like Justine Henin or Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. Instead, today’s Tour is all about parity making it anyone’s game, especially on clay. Case and point, the French Open has crowned a different champion each of the last four years. It will be interesting to see if World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka can continue her dominance this season on a different surface or whether Maria Sharapova will finally breakthrough with some titles after finishing as the runner-up at the three biggest tournaments of the year so far. Can Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova kick-start her season after a slow start? Will Caroline Wozniacki claim that elusive Grand Slam crown? Can Na Li repeat in Paris? Will a resurgent Ana Ivanovic be a threat again on a surface that brought her Grand Slam glory in 2008? All of these questions will be answered over the next few weeks with a few unexpected twists thrown in for good measure.
Don’t be surprised if a player outside of the Top 10 makes some noise at the big tournaments and look for Agnieszka Radwanska to make a serious run at her first Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros. Her all court game is well-suited for clay. Not to mention, she is enjoying the best season of her career.
It’s impossible to discuss a pending Major without throwing the name of Serena Williams into the mix. She played the Australian Open on one ankle, but comes into the clay court season in much better shape especially after rolling through the draw in Charleston a few weeks ago to win her 40th career title. Williams is driven to continually overcome health obstacles for another opportunity to add to her Grand Slam tally. The expectations may be low heading into Roland-Garros considering her recent results at the Majors and the fact clay is her worst surface. However, tennis fans have learned over the years to never discount Serena and it would be very much her style to triumph in Paris when everyone least expects her to.

Filed Under: Lead Story, Melissa Boyd Tagged With: Azarenka, Clay court season, French Open, ivanovic, Madrid, Na Li, Radwanska, Roland Garros, rome, Serena Williams, Sharapova, stuttgart, womens tennis, wozniacki, WTA

ECM Prague Open Photos – The Spotlight on Shahar Peer

May 2, 2008 by Manfred Wenas

Rollin’ Ralf Reinecke , our funky photographer in precious Prague, has sent a bunch of flashy photos of none other than the sensational Shahar Peer!
But first off a bunch of lucious links linking to your favorite articles!
Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, who fans could lick as the subjects of official Serbian postage stamps, are complaining about not having the same values on their stamps. (Women’s Tennis Blog)
Sesil Karantcheva is trying to revive her career and is right on course I think. (Yahoo!)
The first pull outs but ones with valid reasons. Hantuchova and Sharapova pull out of this year’s Qatar Open in Berlin. Hantuchova has a stress fracture in her foot while Sharapova never cited a reason for the pull out. (AFP on Google)
Jelena Dokic loses in the first round and is struggling to make a comeback. Perhaps she should take an example of Sesil Karantcheva. (Sporting News)
Ok now this is the weirdest reason ever to endanger people’s lives! A pilot decided to take the plane to take his son to tennis class because of the possibility that his son might actually be late for class. (Chicago Tribune)
The Arthur Ashe Foundation does it again: They raised a lot of funds for the children in need (The Bulletin)
Awww Anastasia Myskina gives birth to a baby boy Zhenya. Good luck to mother and son (Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)
Michaella Krajicek , yes sister of Wimbledon legend Richard Krajicek, keeps crashing out in the first rounds (Women who serve)
Now for the flashy photos of the sensational Shahar Peer, as I promised before.
Shahar Peer photo 1 Shahar Peer photo 2 Shahar Peer photo 3 Shahar Peer photo 4
Extra added bonus:
Photos of the BMW Open ATP Tournament Player’s Night. (Photos by the ATPtour.com)
BMW Open 1 BMW Open 2 BMW Open 3 BMW Open 4 BMW Open 5 BMW Open 6 BMW Open 8
BMW Open 9 BMW 10 BMW Open 17

Filed Under: Archives Tagged With: Ana Ivanovic, Anastasia Myskina, Arthur Ashe Foundation, ATP Tour News, BMW Open, Daniela Hantuchova, Jelena Dokic, Jelena Jankovic, Michaella Krajicek, Qatar Open, Sesil Karantcheva, Shahar Peer, Sharapova

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