Women Tennis Update – Olympics, Washington and Rankings

Written by: Staff on 3rd August 2012

Women Tennis Update - Olympics, Washington and Rankings

epa03338336 Serena Williams of the USA in action against Victoria Azarenka during their women's semi final match at the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 03 August 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Olympics

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. (7) Angelique Kerber 6-4 7-5

Not yet.

That’s about all we can tell Angelique Kerber about when, or if, she will rise above #7. She had a chance for #6 here, but this means she cannot overtake Petra Kvitova.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) Maria Sharapova def. Kim Clijsters 6-2 7-5

Grass just doesn’t seem to do it for Kim Clijsters; she will retire without ever having won a big grass title. At least she put herself in the Top Thirty. Maria Sharapova keeps her #1 hopes alive, although she needs Victoria Azarenka to go down soon….

Singles – Quarterfinal: (4) Serena Williams def. (8) Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 6-3

This gives us a truly intriguing situation: Victoria Azarenka, the world #1, against Serena, the Wimbledon multi-champion who is probably the best active grass player right now. Caroline Wozniacki will stay at #8.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (14) Maria Kirilenko def. (6) Petra Kvitova 7-6(7-3) 6-3

Lucky for Petra Kvitova that Angelique Kerber was already out. Kvitova will stay #6 — for now. It probably won’t last much longer if she can’t pick things up. But the real surprise is Maria Kirilenko. She emphatically puts her weak grass history behind her; this takes her to #14. And she faces Sharapova next, so the Russians are now the one nation guaranteed at least one medal in tennis.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Williams/Williams def. (2) Errani/Vinci 6-1 6-1

Wish this match could have taken place on clay, where it would likely have been much more interesting. Still, the Williams Sisters are looking very good for another medal. Since Huber/Raymond are also in the semifinal, we’re now guaranteed at least one medal for the Americans.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) Kirilenko/Petrova def. Peng/Zheng 7-5 6-7(4-7) 6-4

The Russians join the Americans as the only nation to put players in both the singles and doubles semifinals. Maria Kirilenko joins Serena Williams as the only players to make both singles and doubles semifinals.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (4) Hlavackova/Hradecka def. Chuang/Hsieh 6-3 6-4

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Lisicki/Kas def. (2) Huber/Bryan 7-6(7-5) 6-7(5-7) 10-5 (Match TB)

Our Mixed rankings say that Huber and Bryan aren’t as strong as their doubles rankings would imply, but this is still just plain shocking.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Robson/Murray def. Hradecka/Stepanek 7-5 6-6(7-9) 10-7 (Match TB)

This is pretty stunning, too. Evidently Andy Murray knew what he was up to when he decided to play with Laura Robson.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Mirza/Paes def. Ivanovic/Zimonjic 6-2 6-4

Washington

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Chang Kai-Chen 6-4 6-4

It appears this does it: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is back in the Top 25.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) Sloane Stephens def. (WC) Eugenie Bouchard 6-4 6-4

Sloane Stephens has now defended her points, with a little to spare, so she should stay Top Fifty. And she is in the weaker half of the draw, so a final looks quite possible.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (4) Vania King def. (7) Coco Vandeweghe (WC) 6-1 3-6 6-4

It appears there will be no new career high for Coco Vandeweghe this week; she will remain just below the Top Seventy. Vania King will hit the Top Fifty if she wins her next match.

Singles – Quarterfinal: Magdalena Rybarikova def. (Q) Jana Cepelova 6-2 6-4

Magdalena Rybarikova’s unexpected hot streak continues; she will probably rise above #80.

Doubles – Semifinal: Falconi/Scheepers def. (1) Govortsova/Kudryavtseva 5-7 6-3 10-5 (Match TB)

Doubles – Semifinal: Aoyama/Chang def. (2) Pliskova/Pliskova 6-4 6-3

As is often the case at weak tournaments like this, this was truly a terrible event at which to be a seed. And it is a very weak event; top seeds Govortsova/Kudryavtseva had a combined ranking of 119, the Pliskovas were at 191, and just about everyone else below 200.

Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 2, 2012

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) AZARENKA ………..8800*

2..(3) SHARAPOVA ……… 8510*

3..(2) ARADWANSKA ………8260

4..(4) SWILLIAMS ……… 7620*

5..(5) STOSUR ………….6195

6..(6) KVITOVA ……….. 5275

7..(7) KERBER ………….5225

8..(8) WOZNIACKI ……… 4206