CINCINNATI TENNIS SIZZLES WITH SHARAPOVA , SERENA , ANA & CARO WOZNIACKI , READ ALL ABOUT IT

Written by: Staff on 16th August 2014

CINCINNATI TENNIS SIZZLES WITH SHARAPOVA , SERENA , ANA & CARO WOZNIACKI , READ ALL ABOUT IT

epa04357232 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia hits a return shot to Maria Sharapova of Russia in their semi-final match of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 16 August 2014. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

* Serena to face Ivanovic in Cincinnati final, hoping to finally win title

Cincinnati

Singles – Semifinal: (1) Serena Williams def. (12) Caroline Wozniacki 2-6 6-2 6-4

This was a match of rather wild momentum swings. The first two swings are obvious, but in the third set, Serena Williams built a 5-2 lead, then almost let it slip away. That leaves Caroline Wozniacki at #11, and with no chance to rise above that at New Haven. Serena remains #1, and builds her lead in the contest for #1; she now looks very likely to stay on top after the U. S. Open, although she is still in some trouble in the WTA Race.

Still, if she can win just one more match, she will win Cincinnati, the biggest American event she has never won. And she has already won the crown in the U. S. Open series, so she will be playing for even more money than usual at the Open.

Singles – Semifinal: (9) Ana Ivanovic def. (5) Maria Sharapova 6-2 5-7 7-5

Ana Ivanovic had already clinched the #8 U. S. Open seed, but she didn’t show any signs of letting up. She dominated this match pretty thoroughly until about halfway through the second set — so thoroughly that we went ahead and started rewriting our Feature. Then — all the air seemed to come out of her. Probably she was unwell; she looked dizzy early in the third set, and they called the doctor out. Maria Sharapova went up a break early in the third — and then lost it as Ivanovic made it to 4-4, and it was time to start thinking about another rewrite! Sharapova broke to make it to 5-4, then threw away the chance to serve it out, double-faulting twice in a row. Ivanovic then held, and Sharapova had to serve to stay in the match. And failed.

Ivanovic is already up to #9, which is as high as she can go this week, and she will be the #8 U. S. Open seed. But she has a real chance to go higher at the U. S. Open. Assuming she plays the way she did in the first set and a half, anyway, and not the way she did in the second half of the match.

Maria Sharapova had a shot at the #5 ranking, and the #4 U. S. Open seed, but that won’t happen now. She’ll be ranked #6, seeded #5, and will have to remember a truly ugly failure to finish a match.

Doubles – Semifinal: (6) Babos/Mladenovic def. Date-Krumm/Hlavackova 6-4 1-6 10-7

Doubles – Semifinal: (7) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (8) Kudryavtseva/Rodionova 7-5 7-5

It’s hard to guess which team has better chances in the final; Babos/Mladenovic are probably more explosive at their best, but Kops-Jones/Spears are steadier. Of course, this whole tournament has been hard to predict, or we wouldn’t be seeing the #6 and #7 seeds in the final!

U. S. Open Seed Update

Barring additional withdrawals, the list is now set. And, as far as we know, everyone on the seed list is healthy (except for Li Na, who was already out), so this will probably be the real seed list.

#1: Serena Williams

#2: Simona Halep

#3-#4: Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska.

#5-#8: Maria Sharapova, Angelique Kerber, Eugenie Bouchard, and Ana Ivanovic.

#9-#12: Jelena Jankovic, Flavia Pennetta, Caroline Wozniacki, and Dominika Cibulkova.

#13-#16: Sara Errani, Carla Suarez Navarro, Lucie Safarova, and Victoria Azarenka.

#17-#24: Ekaterina Makarova, Andrea Petkovic, Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sloane Stephens, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Alize Cornet and Samantha Stosur.

#25-#32: Garbine Muguruza, Madison Keys, Sabine Lisicki, Roberta Vinci, Casey Dellacqua, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Zhang Shuai, and Kurumi Nara.

Alternates: Elina Svitolina, Bojana Jovanovski, Daniela Hantuchova, Klara Koukalova.

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 16, 2014

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 9115*

2..(2) HALEP …………. 6750

3..(3) Li ……………..6170

4..(4) KVITOVA ……….. 5806

5..(5) ARADWANSKA ………5590

6..(6) SHARAPOVA ……… 5335

7..(7) KERBER ………….4550

8..(8) BOUCHARD ………..4368

9.(11) IVANOVIC ………..4045*

10..(9) JANKOVIC ………..3695

11.(12) WOZNIACKI ……… 3255

12.(14) PENNETTA ………..3074

13.(13) CIBULKOVA ……… 3002

14.(15) ERRANI ………….2885

15.(17) SAFAROVA ………..2825

16.(16) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2790

17.(10) Azarenka ………..2783

18.(18) MAKAROVA ………..2630

19.(19) PETKOVIC ………..2400

20.(20) VWILLIAMS ……… 2340

21.(24) KUZNETSOVA ………2010

22.(21) STEPHENS ………..1965

23.(23) CORNET ………….1930

24.(25) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1930

25.(22) STOSUR ………….1920

26.(27) MUGURUZA ………..1694

27.(29) LISICKI ……….. 1606

28.(28) KEYS ……………1605

29.(26) VINCI …………. 1492

30.(30) DELLACQUA ……… 1441

Draws

Cincinnati — Week of August 11, 2014

……………….3R……………..QF……….SF……….F

1 S Williams…….(1)S.Williams……Williams….Williams….Williams

13 Pennetta……..(13)Pennetta

[Barthel(LL)]……Stephens

8 Jankovic………(8)Jankovic……..Jankovic

4 A Radwanska……(4)A.Radwanska…..Radwanska

14 Errani……….Lisicki

12 Wozniacki…….(12)Wozniacki……Wozniacki…Wozniacki

6 Kerber………..(6)Kerber

7 Bouchard………Kuznetsova

9 Ivanovic………(9)Ivanovic……..Ivanovic….Ivanovic…Ivanovic

15 Suarez Navarro..(15)Suarez Navarro

3 Kvitova……….Svitolina……….Svitolina

5 Sharapova……..(5)Sharapova…….Sharapova…Sharapova

11 Cibulkova…….Pavlyuchenkova

16 Safarova……..(16)Safarova

2 Halep…………(2)Halep………..Halep

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 S Williams

2 Halep…………lost QF (Sharapova)

3 Kvitova……….lost 2R (Svitolina)

4 A Radwanska……lost QF (Wozniacki)

5 Sharapova……..lost SF (Ivanovic)

6 Kerber………..lost 3R (Wozniacki)

7 Bouchard………lost 2R (Kuznetsova)

8 Jankovic………lost QF (S. Williams)

9 Ivanovic

10 Azarenka……..WITHDREW (replaced by Barthel)

11 Cibulkova…….lost 1R (Pavlyuchenkova)

12 Wozniacki…….lost SF (S. Williams)

13 Pennetta……..lost 3R (S. Williams)

14 Errani……….lost 2R (Lisicki)

15 Suarez Navarro..lost 3R (Svitolina)

16 Safarova……..lost 3R (Halep)

New Haven — Week of August 18, 2014

1 Halep

–bye

Rybarikova

Qualifier

Riske

Dellacqua

Koukalova

6 Pennetta

4 Wozniacki

Qualifier

Giorgi

Vandeweghe

Qualifier

Svitolina

Muguruza

7 Errani

5 Cibulkova (WC)

Petkovic (WC)

Flipkens (WC)

Qualifier

Stosur (WC)

Nara

Jovanovski

3 Bouchard

8 Suarez Navarro

Qualifier

Zahlavova Strycova

Qualifier

Makarova

Vinci

–bye

2 Kvitova

******** SCORES ********

SATURDAY

Cincinnati

Singles – Semifinal

(1) Serena Williams def. (12) Caroline Wozniacki 2-6 6-2 6-4

(9) Ana Ivanovic def. (5) Maria Sharapova 6-2 5-7 7-5

Doubles – Semifinal

(6) Babos/Mladenovic def. Date-Krumm/Hlavackova 6-4 1-6 10-7

(7) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (8) Kudryavtseva/Rodionova 7-5 7-5

Topics: Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Cincinnati, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Tennis, Western & Southern Open, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

August 16, 2014 at 8:17 pm

CINCINNATI TENNIS SIZZLES WITH SHARAPOVA, @serenawilliams, @AnaIvanovic & @CaroWozniacki, READ ALL ABOUT IT- http://t.co/yp0dxIuZek #tennis
BrianSHester says:

August 16, 2014 at 8:18 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: CINCINNATI TENNIS SIZZLES WITH SHARAPOVA, @serenawilliams, @AnaIvanovic & @CaroWozniacki, READ ALL ABOUT IT- http://t.co/…
markalannixon says:

August 17, 2014 at 10:22 am

Cincinnati tennis sizzles with Sharapova, Serena, Ana and Caro Wozniacki http://t.co/navjWbTted