Women Tennis News Update – Australian Open (01-23-13)

Written by: Staff on 22nd January 2013

Women Tennis News Update - Australian Open (01-23-13)

epa03549451 Maria Sharapova of Russia serves during her quarter final match against Ekaterina Makarova of Russia during the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2013. EPA/MARK DADSWELL AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Australian Open

Singles – Quarterfinal: (2) Maria Sharapova def. (19) Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-2
There isn’t much to say about this match; the scoreline was indicative. Still, Ekaterina Makarova defended her points and managed to keep herself Top Twenty — and she is still alive in doubles. Maria Sharapova continues to slug it out for #1, although she remains well behind Serena Williams in safe points.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (6) Li Na def. (4) Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3
This gives us a pleasant sort of symmetry. The only player to beat Li Na this year is Agnieszka Radwanska. And the only player to beat Radwanska this year is Li. It really does look as if Radwanska finally paid for all those myriad matches she had already been through; after losing a close first set, she started the second strong — and then collapsed, letting Li dominate the last half dozen games. For Radwanska, that of course means she still won’t win a Slam (it’s hard to believe she ever will, given the way she plays herself to death before the Slams). It also leaves her at #4. Li, with the win, moves up to #5, dropping Angelique Kerber to #6.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Errani/Vinci def. (12) Williams/Williams 3-6 7-6(7-1) 7-5
We already knew that Errani/Vinci would stay on top, but this makes it a lot more convincing somehow. And they now look like overwhelming favorites. Of the three other teams in the semifinals, two are unseeded and one is Makarova/Vesnina, and Vesnina just doesn’t win doubles Slams. Although, to be sure, until this month, she didn’t win singles titles either.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Lepchenko/S Zheng def. (7) Llagostera Vives/J Zheng 6-3 5-7 7-5
Lepchenko/Zheng were up 5-2 in the second set of this, and had match points in the tenth game, and just kept blowing things. Still, they finally came back. This place has been close to murder on doubles seeds — far more so than singles seeds. Nuria Llagostera Vivesloses her Top Ten spot; Ekaterina Makarova is in. It appears Zheng Jie (who, for the first time in her life, finds herself briefly the “other” Zheng) will stay at the low end of the Top Twenty. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:
1..(1) VINCI ............. 9570* 2..(2) ERRANI .............9570* 3..(3) HLAVACKOVA .........7340 4..(4) HRADECKA ...........7340 5..(5) PETROVA ........... 7310 6..(7) KIRILENKO ......... 6430 7..(6) RAYMOND ........... 6405 8..(8) HUBER ............. 6290 9..(9) VESNINA ........... 6110* 10.(11) MAKAROVA ...........5570*

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Barty/Dellacqua def. Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova 6-2 6-3
We are now sure to have a really unlikely pair of finalists, either Lepchenko/Zheng or Barty/Dellacqua. And we know which pair the locals will be cheering….

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: Gajdosova/Ebden def. (2) Vesnina/Paes 6-3 6-2
This is an even bigger upset under Mixed rankings than regular rankings, since Mixed would have made Vesnina/Paes the top seeds. But there seems to be something a little bit off about Paes right now.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: Llagostera Vives/Marrero def. (4) Huber/Mirnyi 6-2 5-7 10-4 (Match TB)
This, by contrast, accords with Mixed rankings, since the Mixed would have demoted Huber/Mirnyi to the #7 seeds.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: (5) Petrova/Bhupathi def. Srebotnik/Zimonjic 3-6 6-2 10-5 (Match TB)
But here again the Mixed seeds were wrong, since they would have demoted Petrova/Bhupathi and promoted Srebotnik/Zimonjic. It hasn’t been a good Australian Open for mixed rankings. Of course, if we look at the men’s and women’s doubles, it hasn’t been a good Australian Open for the regular rankings either.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: Shvedova/Istomin def. Yan/S Gonzalez 6-2 6-1

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Australian Open, Li Na, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News

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nutmeg237 says:

January 22, 2013 at 6:59 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Women Tennis News Update – Australian Open (01-23-13): http://t.co/ruf7OHeV #tennis #Ausopen
nutmeg237 says:

January 22, 2013 at 7:00 pm

@10sBalls_com 2nd set started Serena vs Sloane ….#Ausopen