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Another all Williams Wimbledon final

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Venus and Serena Williams wrapped their semifinal matches in straight sets to setup the third all Williams ladies final at Wimbledon.

Both matches had an easy first set win for the Williams girl and then a tiebreak to decide it. Venus was fist up agains the no. 5 seed Elena Demenitieva. She took it out 6-1, 7-6(3). If the Russian made less errors in the tiebreak it may have been a different story.

Serena had to wait a while to complete her win as first rain and then some Chinese resistance stretched things out. In the end she was too good for the wildcard Zheng Jie and won 6-2, 7-6(5).

I wonder how many new tennis racquets will be purchased in China following the good run at Wimbledon of Zheng.

So there you have it, the defending Champion will be aiming for title no. 5 and her 7th grand slam singles title overall. Little sister Serena will be playing for her third Wimbledon ladies title.

The Williams sisters are also in the semis of the doubles where they will meet Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua.

Remember when Marat and Roger…

Three of the four semifinalists for the 2008 men’s Wimbledon tournament have been decided. One semifinal will see Marat Safin face Roger Federer.

Who remembers the classic semifinal they contested at the 2005 Australian Open? A lot has happened since then. Federer has gone on to win eight more grand slam tournaments. Safin has seen his ranking fall from four back then to outside the top 100 before getting back to his current ranking of 75.

To reach the semis Safin defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(1), 6-3. After a slow start Safin rolled the no. 31 seed to reach his first ever Wimbledon semi.

In the other two quarterfinals completed on day 9 Federer and Nadal won in straight sets over their opponents. Federer was first to win with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Mario Ancic. The five time defending champion did not offer a single break point to his opponent. It was Ancic who last defeated Federer at Wimbledon.

Nadal snuffed out the challenge of local hope Andy Murray. Like Federer he won in straight sets and also did not give a single break point to his opponent. Nadal was never really troubled by the no. 12 seed and continued his march towards a possible finals matchup with Federer. Nadal is still waiting to see who he will meet in the semifinal as the match between Rainer Schuettler and Arnaud Clement was held over until day 10. The match is tied at one set a piece.

It will be interesting to see how Safin plays against Federer. Just looking at recent history you would give him no chance of upsetting the world no. 1. You should however remember that Safin has knocked out the world no. 3 Novak Djokovic on his was to the semis and that he is playing some good tennis on the Wimbledon grass.

I am still expecting a Federer versus Nadal final and I think that the five title winning streak will come to an end as Nadal claims his first Wimbledon crown.

Can Zheng or Dementieva stop an all Williams Wimbledon final?

Venus Williams and little sister Serena have stormed into the women’s semifinals at Wimbledon. Both won convincingly in straight sets. It remains to be seen if Zheng Jie or Elena Dementieva can stop an all Williams Wimbledon final.

Zheng continued her dream run breaking records along the way. By defeating Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 the popular Chinese player becomes the first ever Chinese player into a singles grand slam semifinal and also the first ladies wildcard to go this far.

Zheng earlier in the tournament defeated the top seed Ana Ivanovic and has now made the most of that win by reaching the semis. Quite often after a lesser known player defeats one of the top seeds they lose in the next match. There has been no such problem for Zheng as her march continued.

Against Vaidisova, Zheng the doubles champion in 2006 was too solid from the back of the court. After losing the first set Vaidisova adjusted her game and tried to keep the ball in play for longer. This worked as Zheng made more errors and the Czech player levelled the match.

In the decider Vaidisova handed her Chinese opponent the match as she hit too many unforced errors. The final game was a good indication of why she lost. Vaidisova hit four unforced errors to give her opponent 3 match points. On the third match point Zheng saw Vaidisova hit the ball into the net to give her victory. Her win no doubt will give tennis a huge boost back home in China.

Zheng’s oppponent in the semi will be Serena Williams who easily accounted for Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-4, 6-0. This will be a classic David and Goliath confrontation. Zheng has shown she can mix it with the best so she cannot be ruled out in this match.

The defending champion Venus Williams also won in straight sets. After a closely contested first set against Thailands Tamarine Tanasugarn the four time champion grew in confidence and wrapped up the match 6-4, 6-3. Early in the second set she sent down four thunderous serves that were as good as aces as she did not have to play a single ground stroke to take the game. Venus will play Elena Dementieva in the other semi.

The number five seeded Russian overcame countrywoman Nadia Petrova and her nerves to move into her first Wimbledon semifinal. Dementieva looked to be cruising to a straight sets win. She had taken the first 6-1 and was cruising to a 5-1 lead in the second set. Then it all changed. Throw in some doubles faults from Dementieva and the match was turned around and we had a tie break. Once again the highest seed left in the tournament was looking likely to win as she held two match points. She didn’t and the match was level after Petrova took the breaker 8-6.

Now you had to wonder what would this do to Dementieva’s confidence. Was she going to crumble and hand the match to her Russian opponent? She was a bit shaky but in the end she kept it together long enough to take the third set 6-3. This made the final score 6-1, 7-6, 6-3.

The semis are going to be intriguing. Can Zheng pull off the fairytale win and go all the way to the final and not only reach the final but win it? Will nerves get the better of Dementieva and see her crash out against Venus?

Love to hear what you think…leave a comment then let your friends know by using the ShareThis link below.

Where did the top 4 women’s seeds go?

Svetlana Kuznetsova seeded at number four at the 2008 Wimbledon tournament lost her match to Agnieszka Radwanska. The Polish player rallied back from 4-1 down in the third to beat Kuznetsova, 6-4 1-6, 7-5.

The loss of Kuznetsova means that for the first time in the open era all of the top four seeds have fallen prior to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.

First to go was third seed Maria Sharapova who lost in the second round. Next to go was the top seed Ana Ivanovic who lost in round three. In round four we also saw Jelena Jankovic exit the Wimbledon tournament.

With the top four gone the number 5 seed Elena Dementieva is the highest seed left in the draw.

The quarterfinals matchups are below.

(7) Venus Williams (USA) vs. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) V.Williams leads 6-0
(WC) Zheng Jie (CHN) vs. (18) Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) Vaidisova leads 2-0
(14) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) vs. (6) Serena Williams (USA) S.Williams leads 1-0
(5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) vs. (21) Nadia Petrova (RUS) Petrova leads 7-4

My tips are in bold.

For a full preview of the Wimbledon ladies quarterfinals you can visit the WTA site.

Who do you think will advance to the semis? Leave a comment below or share this post using the ShareThis link below.

Murray, Lopez and Ancic take five to advance

In men’s round four action at Wimbledon the top two seeds advanced in straight sets. For Andy Murray, Feliciano Lopez and Mario Ancic it was not so straight forward.

Roger Federer (1) overcame 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt 7-6(7), 6-2, 6-4. Rafael Nadal (2) was too good for the 17th seed Mikhail Youzhny winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Andy Murray delighted centre court and Henman Hill, or is that Murray Mound fans as he battled darkness and last years semifinalist Richard Gasquet to win a stunning five set match. The local hope came back from two sets to nil down to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-4. The reward for Murray is his first ever grand slam quarterfinal where he is drawn to play Nadal. The Spaniard leads the head to head 3-0.

Spains Feliciano Lopez defeated 2006 semifinalist Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4), 8-6. The win takes him into his second quarterfinal at Wimbledon after having gone that far in 2005. Lopez will play Marat Safin in the next round.

Safin advanced to the quarters after his win over Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1. It is the first time Safin has gone this far since the 2001 Wimbledon tournament.

Mario Ancic defeated Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11. The match lasted for 229 minutes. The last set alone took 95 minutes. Ancic was serving for the match when leading 7-6 in the fifth. Verdasco broke back after hitting some good returns. Ancic now plays Roger Federer.

2003 Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler defeated Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. Asked about how he made his way into a Wimbledon quarterfinal Schuettler said “Because I’m healthy. Because I enjoy playing tennis. Because I work hard”.

Arnaud Clement setup a meeting with Schuettler after he defeated Marin Cilic 6-3, 7-5, 6-2. It is the first time Clement has reached the quarters at Wimbledon.

Day eight action is ladies quarterfinals day.

Jankovic latest of the top seeds to tumble at Wimbledon

Jelena Jankovic has joined the casualty list for the seeds at Wimbledon. The no. 2 seed lost to Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-2.

Tanasugarn has earnt a spot in the quarters where she will face the defending champion Venus Williams.

Jie Zheng and Nicole Vaidisova will meet one another in another quarterfinal.

With the top three seeds now out of the tournament it is now looking likely that there will be an all Williams final at Wimbledon. Both Williams girls are playing well.

Federer ends Hewitt’s 2008 Wimbledon campaign

After a tight first set which Federer won in a tie break he has gone on to defeat Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. The final score was 7-6(7), 6-2, 6-4.

Hewitt had many break points however he did not convert on any. He had 8 compared with Federer’s three. Federer converted all three. This was pretty much the difference today.

Hewitt actually made less unforced errors than Federer however as mentioned above Hewitt did not win the points that mattered.

Federer marches on in his quest to win his sixth straight Wimbledon title. Next up will be the winner of the Fernando Verdasco - Mario Ancic match. Ancic is the last player to defeat Federer at Wimbledon.

Chris Evert and Greg Norman tie the knot in paradise

Amid tight security golf champion Greg Norman and tennis legend Chris Evert have married in paradise on an island aptly named Paradise Island. The island is in the Bahamas.

For Evert it his her third marriage after previously saying “I do” to tennis player John Lloyd and US skier Andy Mills. Greg Norman had been married to Laura.

Norman’s 21-year-old son Gregory Junior is reported as being best man. Both parties are 53-years-old.

Some unwitting tourists were caught up in the security operations and were turned away from where the wedding was held. The guest list is reported as being a who’s who of sport and show business. Even Bill Clinton was believed to have attended the wedding.

Greg Norman spent 331 weeks as the world’s number one ranked golfer. He continues to play on the senior’s tour when not working on his business interests which include golf course design and construction.

Golf fans know him as the “Great White Shark” due to his aggressive style of play on the golf course. Norman won the British Open twice, in 1986 and 1993. He is one of the best players to not have won a US major. He famously came close several times.

Perhaps the most agonizing were the 1986 PGA Championship when Bob Tway holed a greenside bunker shot. Yet another amazing shot snatched away the 1987 Masters when Larry Mize knocked in a 45-yard chip shot on the second playoff hole.

Chris Evert was the world no. 1 women’s tennis player for seven years. She won 18 grand slam singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles. At one time she was engaged to tennis great, Jimmy Connors. The couple did not get married.

All the best to the newlyweds.

Nadal - Federer final still on track at Wimbledon

After day 6 action at Wimbledon the odds are still looking good for a Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal final.

Nadal completed a straight sets win over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-3. That was a good win for the Spaniard as Kiefer can be a tricky opponent on grass.

Nadal will play Mikhail Youzhny in the next round. The Russian was taken to five sets by Radek Stepanek but came through 6-3 in the fifth. Youzhny the 17th seed will test Nadal although he has never made it past the fourth round.

If Nadal does get past the Russian he will have either Andy Murray or Richard Gasquet to contend with in the quarterfinals. Gasquet of course made the semifinals in 2007. Whoever it is that advances will be hard to beat for Nadal.

On the other side of the draw we see Roger Federer in the fourth round against the last man to hold up the Wimbledon trophy before Federer made it his own. The 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt. This will be a tough match for Federer as Hewitt is playing well at the 2008 Wimbledon event and is keen to finally beat Federer in a grand slam. He has lost the past five times the pair have met in a grand slam.

Federer has also defeated Hewitt 11 straight times in their head to head. The overall head to head record is 13-7 to Federer. The last time Hewitt defeated the world no. 1 was in their memorable Davis Cup semifinal in 2003.

I am hoping for an upset win by Hewitt but form dictates that Federer will take his win streak over Hewitt to 12.

Marat Safin still looms as a danger man in Federer’s half of the draw. He next plays Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss no. 2 player in reaching the fourth round has achieved his best ever result at Wimbledon. Safin if he can play at the top of his game should beat the 13th seed.

Mario Ancic and Baghdatis would also need to be kept in check for Federer to make the final.

Exciting times are ahead for week 2 at Wimbledon. As is tradition for Wimbledon the middle Sunday is a rest day so no play will take place.

Who is your tip to win the 2008 title?

Jankovic through to fourth round

Jelena Jankovic has overcome a slow start to move into the fourth round at Wimbledon. She defeated Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Jankovic was troubled by a leg injury and took time out for treatment during the match. In the end it did not hamper her enough to lose the match.

We have seen Jankovic battle through injury to get good results at grand slam tournaments in the past. At the Australian Open and the French Open she had various injuries.

The win today sees the highest remaining seed advance to a matchup with Tamarine Tanasugarn.

After the match Jankovic spoke about her injury. She said she slipped at one stage during the match and strained her knee. It was strapped by the trainer however later in the match Jankovic removed the strapping as she felt restricted in her movement.

Hopefully the injury is not bad enough to prevent Jankovic taking to the court in the next round.

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