SHARAPOVA’S U.S. OPEN PREP TAKES A TWIST AS SHE WITHDRAWS FROM THE ROGERS CUP IN CANADA WRITTEN BY ROS SATAR

Written by: on 8th August 2015
unnamed-129
SHARAPOVA'S U.S. OPEN PREP TAKES A TWIST AS SHE WITHDRAWS FROM THE ROGERS CUP IN CANADA WRITTEN BY ROS SATAR

Maria Sharapova of Russia in action against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in their quarter-final match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 27 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs until 01 February 2015. EPA/BARBARA WALTON  |

The World’s best women players will be gathering in Toronto for that all-important preparation for the final Slam of the year but missing will be World No. 2 Maria Sharapova.

 

It has been a topsy-turvy year for the Russian. From the Australian Open final, to struggling with a leg injury in the clay court season, and another bruising encounter with World No. 1 Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semi-final – this would have been her first outing since the grass of SW19.

 

It was a leg injury that prevented her from being ready to bid for a fourth straight Stuttgart title, but she looked in good form in Wimbledon. After the summer where it was announced she had split from fellow tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, it would have been time to set down a marker for the end of the season, but now with just Cincinnati in her schedule – it leaves her precious little time to get solid match play behind her.

 

She said: “I am very disappointed to have to withdraw from next week’s Rogers Cup due to a right leg strain that occurred in training a few days ago. I did everything possible to be ready, but my doctors have advised me that I can’t compete next week. The Rogers Cup is one of the best events on the WTA and I will miss my amazing fans.”

 

Meanwhile interested eyes will be settling on the rest of the top seeds. Williams had withdrawn from Stanford, so will her elbow (another injury niggle over this year) have recovered for her to rule the roost in Canada?

 

With Sharapova out, Simona Halep moves into the No. 2 seed spot, but again has really had a troubled mid-season. After the highs of collecting titles in Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells and fairly decent runs elsewhere, she struggled a little at key defence points on the clay, losing in the first round of Madrid and the second round of the French Open. The once timid player had shown a lot more confidence towards us press-folk this year, and has been quite adept in saying she won’t panic, and will just work harder. This is all well and good, but she has a great chance now after a good break (we’ll just gloss over that first round exit in Wimbledon for now) to take the US hard court series by storm.

 

The deposed Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova surprised many by boldly taking two months out at the start of the season to overcome exhaustion and it paid off to some extent with her title win in Madrid, but where we expected her to shine in Wimbledon, maybe a virus dented that preparation as she was bundled in the third round by Jelena Jankovic. The US hard court swing has, in the past, provide to be tough for the Czech whose asthma is aggravated by the often humid conditions in this swing.

 

With Caroline Wozniacki also chasing the Slam glory that has yet eluded her, the Dane will need to overcome the injury niggles that plagued her on her Stanford debut this week. But her resurgence since around this time last year has been good to see, and good for the women’s game in general. She gave us some very memorable clashes with Williams last year – can she capitalise having at least got one match under her belt, while others will be coming in to their first outing since Wimbledon.

 

Our others to watch:

Ana Ivanovic – she has reunited with former coach (and soon to be grandad!) Nigel Sears. Back with Andy Murray’s father-in-law – this will be an interesting pairing, and hopefully it will bring her the stability she has been craving since her resurgent season last year.

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in action against Sabine Lisicki of Germany during their third round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 29 March 2015 EPA/RHONA WISE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agnieszka Radwanska – she was on the losing end of a great match with Angelique Kerber in Stanford, and maybe the time is right for the tennis ninja to take advantage of other players’ rustiness.

 

It’s time to shake off the grass clippings and hit the hard courts, and the Toronto Rogers Cup main draw will start on Monday 10 August.

 

10sBalls_com Editors Note : Is Ana engaged to the handsome Manchester United player ?

Topics: , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.