Women Tennis Update – Olympics, Washington, Rankings 08/05/12

Written by: Staff on 5th August 2012

Women Tennis Update - Olympics, Washington, Rankings 08/05/12

epa03340111 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in action during the women's bronze medal match against Maria Kirilenko of Russia at the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 04 August 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Olympics

Bronze Medal Match: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. (14) Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4

On Friday, National Public Radio reported on a study that found that, in the short term at least, Olympic bronze medalists appear to be happier about their awards than silver medalists. That makes particular sense in tennis, where the bronze medalist goes to the podium having just won a match, while the silver medalist has just lost. Victoria Azarenka couldn’t do a thing against Serena Williams in the semifinal, but on grass, she easily overwhelmed Maria Kirilenko. So she gets a medal and a few points… but she still had to await the Big Match to see if she could keep the #1 ranking.

Singles – Final: (4) Serena Williams def. (3) Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-1

Guess we know who was hungry for a win here! About the only thing that went wrong for Serena in this entire match came afterward, when the American flag got loose and blew off the court. What can we possibly way about a shellacking like this? — the most lopsided final in Olympic history. Serena finally gets her singles gold medal, plus she picks up her fifth title of the year, following Charleston, Madrid, Wimbledon, and Stanford — quite a list!

She also completes what might be considered the goldenest of career golden Slams: All four Slams in singles and doubles and Olympic singles and doubles golds.

Rankings-wise, it makes no difference; Serena remains #4. And, by losing, Maria Sharapova loses her shot at the #1 ranking; she will be #2 and Victoria Azarenka #1. But the situation is intriguing. From Azarenka to Sharapova is 100 points. Then there is about a 450 point gap to #3 Agnieszka Radwanska, who is about 200 points ahead of #4 Serena. In other words, from #1 to #4 is about 800 points. We will have contests for #1 at both the summer Premier Fives, and probably a four-way contest at the U. S. Open. This may not have been an interesting final, but it could have interesting consequences.

Doubles – Semifinal: Williams/Williams def. (3) Kirilenko/Petrova 7-5 6-4

The Russians seemed to spend this match picking on Venus Williams — understandable, given how well Serena was playing. But they were also sitting in the backcourt, and what are the odds of beating the Williams Sisters from there? Obviously it didn’t work too well; Serena will add at least a silver medal to her singles gold, and probably qualifies for as the favorite for gold as well. As for the Russians, who came here with two strong teams, the best they can hope for is bronze.

Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinal: Robson/Murray def. Stosur/Hewitt 6-3 3-6 10-8 (Match TB)

Andy Murray will be having a very long weekend. But it started well.

Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Azarenka/Mirnyi def. Mirza/Paes 7-5 7-6(7-5)

After a disappointing Friday, it was a pretty good Saturday for Victoria Azarenka.

Mixed Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Azarenka/Mirnyi def. (3) Raymond/Bryan

3-6 6-1 10-7 (Match TB)

And even better for Azarenka. Lisa Raymond will obviously be pretty disappointed, but Mike Bryan already won his medal….

Mixed Doubles – Semifinal: Robson/Murray def. Lisicki/Kas 6-1 6-7(7-9) 10-7 (Match TB)

A very long weekend indeed, but Andy Murray will presumably be going into the singles final feeling pretty confident, having now clinched two medals….

Washington

Singles – Final: Magdalena Rybarikova def. (1) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-1

Anastastia Pavlyuchenkova started the year in a horrid slump. Lately, it has seemed as if she was coming out of it. But, here, it seems as if she has fallen right back in. In the first set, she won only 20% of the points on second serve! The second was worse — Pavlyuchenkova won only 29% of all the points. It went very quickly.

Pavlyuchenkova did at least do well enough to put herself back in the Top 25. But it’s Magdalena Rybarikova who is really moving. She beat the three top seeds here — and, in an interesting symmetry, she earns her third career title, following Birmingham 2009 and Memphis 2011. #102 coming in, she rises to about #65. The one real blemish on her record is that she hasn’t won a match at a Slam this year. If she can do something about that at the U. S. Open, she just might be able to end the year in the Top Fifty.

Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 4, 2012

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) AZARENKA ………..8820

2..(3) SHARAPOVA ……… 8720

3..(2) ARADWANSKA ………8260

4..(4) SWILLIAMS ……… 8045*

5..(5) STOSUR ………….6195

6..(6) KVITOVA ……….. 5275

7..(7) KERBER ………….5225

8..(8) WOZNIACKI ……… 4206