ROS SATAR GIVES US HER POINT OF VIEW FROM THE TENNIS AT THE 2015 U.S. OPEN

Written by: Staff on 7th September 2015

ROS SATAR GIVES US HER POINT OF VIEW FROM THE TENNIS AT THE 2015 U.S. OPEN

epa04918634 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hits a return to Varvara Lepchenko of the US during their match on the eighth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 07 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

*[Granted She Stands About 5’2″]

Day 8 Wrap, Day 9 Preview

Victoria Azarenka coasted through once more into the quarter-finals of the US Open, as she ended USA’s Varvara Lepchenko’s hopes in a challenge of the fist-pumping ‘c’monnnnns’.

Azarenka hustled more in the opening set, and was really rather ruthless in the sun on anything that dropped short. Having educated us in the word ‘Pinish’ (It sounded FAR worse!) – a cross between Punish and Finish, she demonstrated it amply on the court.

The second set saw a brief flurry of resistance as Lepchenko decided that Azarenka breaking for the set simply would not do, and broke her right back, earning a roar from the home crowd. It was, however, the briefest of respites, as Azarenka sailed into the quarter-finals 6-3 6-4.

While it is great to see her back challenging in the second week, she admitted herself that there was still a lot of room for improvement, especially as we gallop towards the business end of the Slam.

“I didn’t really go for my shots at 5-3 and she’s the sort of player that doesn’t give much rhythm and it’s difficult to time her balls,” she said. “When I wasn’t aggressive enough I was in trouble and so in the final game I just tried to go for it.”

Simona Halep of Romania hits a return to Sabine Lisicki of Germany during their match on the eighth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 07 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

Waiting for her will be Romanian scrambler-extraordinaire Simona Halep. We felt quite queasy after the veritable rollercoaster of the first set. Thanks heavens this week we had paid off doing the ice-cream codas to the daily wrap! A lot is expected of Halep, let’s be honest and initially it looked like she was troubled a few tweaks and niggles as she slapped her thigh, thwacked her racquet and generally pulled off a Houdini act to push the first set to a tie-break. Somehow, Lisicki managed to squeak the first set on the tie-break to be one step closer to getting a win over Halep for the first time in four years.

The second set see-sawed around with breaks being traded here and there before Halep finally decided that a hold might be in order. Remember that quip about snatching defeat from the joys of victory? With Halep all but on one leg, Lisicki had to go and make things hard on herself by pretty much breaking herself to allow Halep to serve for the second set.

And while Halep and her limbs looked to be soon parted, she lost her chance to level. The intensity was mounting up and some of the rallies we were treated to left us legless on the court – actually at one stage Halep all but crumbled to the court in pieces too. Yet somehow she managed to scramble her way to the second set.

Given the effort that was being put into these batterings, it was not surprising that both opted to take advantage of the heat rule.

It was interesting to see who would come out the better, and ironically it was Lisicki who started cramping early into the decider. Throwing everything into the serves, Lisicki could barely move and yet any balls she could get to, she sent back to Halep, with interest! Something had to give though, and it seemed that Halep had come out of the break just a little looser. It helped her to just get the nudge ahead to close out against the German, 6-7(7) 6-4 6-3.

The Williams’ Show

Where do we start in looking ahead at the quarter-final that brings together the siblings who helped change the face of tennis?

Serena leads their head to head 15-11, with 8-5 in Grand Slams and has been pretty dominant over big sis three times, (2008 US Open, 2009 and 2015 Wimbledon). But interestingly if they meet before the semi-finals and finals, it is actually Venus who comes off the queen, leading 5-2.

New York has been friendly to both, with two wins each at the US Open – and Venus won their last (well, only) fourth round encounter.

Serena is the player in form, obviously. She has two losses in her account this year (52-2 record) but again, Venus has the latest hard court win to her name and her last coupe of matches have seen her serving look spot on as she has almost turned the clock back. As we know, Serena’s serve seemed to be off sightseeing at the start of the tournament. Expect to see the calming hand of Serena wafting about like the smell of hot-dogs on the breeze.

Ultimately Serena is now three wins away from history, and all eyes will be on this one.

Serena in 3.

Kristina Mladenovic v Roberta Vinci

Vinci comes into the quarter-final for the third time in her career in New York and faces Mladenovic for the first time. Her last couple of matches though have not been plain sailing by any means, battling from a set down in the second round and dropping a set in the third, while Mladenovic battled her way into her spot over last year’s semi-finalist Ekaterina Makarova.

Tough one to call in a quarter of the draw that was blighted immediately with scattered seeds but one thing is for sure – it is a fantastic opportunity for whoever progresses will be in uncharted Grand Slam territory.

Mladenovic in 3

Tidbits

· Halep booked herself a place in the quarter-final of the US Open for the first time in her career. When asked whether she hurts herself when she hits her legs: “I have strong legs – it’s ok” – She also will be waiting until after the tournament to hit a burger, as per her on-court interview!

· Azarenka is in to the quarter-finals on her 10th consecutive appearance at the US Open, but needed a bit of prompting as to who she might meet – admitting that she doesn’t like to look too far ahead!

· Vinci is a player that will be hoping that 13 is her lucky number – this is her 13th appearance at the US Open since her main draw debut in 2001.

· Mladenovic will look to be the first Frenchwoman to reach the quarter-final here since Marion Bartoli in 2012.

Ros Satar is a regular contributor to 10sballs.com and runs Britwatch Sports (@britwatchsports), because we Brits like watching sport. Occasionally we’re good at it.

Topics: 10sballs.com, 2015 US Open, Ros Satar, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Tennis News, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Wta

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

September 7, 2015 at 4:49 pm

-@rfsatar GIVES US HER POINT OF VIEW FROM THE #TENNIS AT THE 2015 #USOpen- http://t.co/VJiTBSaoJ2 #WTA #USOpen2015 #flushingmeadows