Women Tennis Update – Australian Open

Written by: Staff on 23rd January 2013

Women Tennis Update - Australian Open

epa03552858 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hits a forehand during her semi final match against Sloane Stephens of the US at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2013. EPA/DENNIS SABANGAN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Australian Open

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5 6-1

started so strong that we were getting ready to rewrite today’s rankings feature; she was on the brink of winning the first set. Then she did one of her Jana Novotna impressions. And, once Victoria Azarenka was in the match, she didn’t let up. And Kuznetsova hurt her ankle early in the second set. That keeps Azarenka in the hunt for the #1 ranking; Kuznetsova, although she clearly is getting her form back, will remain a little below #50.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (29) Sloane Stephens def. (3) Serena Williams 3-6 7-5 6-4

Let’s face it: Serena Williams was hurting. A lot. She described the whole event as being one of the most painful times she has ever had at a Slam. Her back was particularly troublesome — apparently she aggravated it in her doubles loss. Sloane Stephens took charge in the second set, got nervous, but then managed to hold things together just enough. Serena loses the chance to directly earn the top spot (although she is still #1 in safe points and has an outside chance); Sloane Stephens is up to #18 and is, of course, in her first Slam semifinal.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Errani/Vinci def. (4) Makarova/Vesnina 6-2 6-4

At least Elena Vesnina didn’t suffer another of those horrid Slam final losses…. She will be #9, with Ekaterina Makarova #10. Errani and Vinci are now the overwhelming favorites to win their second Slams — and they have long since clinched the top rankings. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) VINCI …………. 10070*

2..(2) ERRANI ………….10070*

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 – Semifinal: Barty/Dellacqua def. Lepchenko/S Zheng 6-2 6-4

There seems to be some sort of new rule about locals making big surprises at Slams in doubles when everyone expects big things in singles. At Wimbledon, it was Marray/Nielsen instead of Andy Murray who made a splash. And here we have Barty/Dellacqua instead of Samantha Stosur. It’s hard to believe Barty/Dellacqua can do much in the final. But Ashleigh Barty clearly has established herself as Australia’s next big hope.

Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinal: Peschke/Matkowski def. Hsieh/Bopanna 6-2 6-3

Mixed rankings would have seeded Peschke/Matkowski, so no surprise here.

Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinal: Shvedova/Istomin def. Llagostera Vives/Marrero 6-4 7-5

These two teams were right next to each other in the Mixed rankings; little surprise it was close.

Topics: Elena Vesnina, Serena Williams, Sports, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Tennis, Tennis News