French Open: Final Preview

Let's just say the two favorites pre-tournament are still the overwhelming favorite heading into championship weekend. Let's start with the women...

Serena Williams [1] vs. Maria Sharapova [2]

Why it's taken so long for Serena Williams to win her second French Open title is up for debate, but she's certainly making a concerted effort this year to do just that. She's been absolutely unbelievable the whole tournament including her demolition of last year's finalist Sara Errani in the semifinals. The only person standing in her way is last year's champion Maria Sharapova who she has a dominant 12-3 H2H record against. They've already played three times this year and Serena has won them all, but if anything Sharapova can take it to heart that nothing is set in stone--Serena could have a bad day, Sharapova could start zoning. Weirder things have happened after all.

Prediction: Serena in 2 sets.

Rafael Nadal [3] vs. David Ferrer [4]

Rafael Nadal has won his 8th French Open title! Oh wait, he didn't yet? Well, after his semifinal clash with top seed Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, he really should've just gotten the trophy, right? Their up and down match lived up to the hype as Djokovic found another gear later in the match to push Nadal to a rare fifth set at Roland Garros. In the end, the king of clay withstood Djokovic's stand and Nadal is just one match away from his 8th French Open title, the most of any man in any major. He'll face a familiar foe in countryman David Ferrer who dismissed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets the round before. Like Serena to Sharapova, Nadal has a dominant H2H record against his opponent 19-4, but Ferrer is entering the final in fantastic form as the only player to not have lost a set. It's also his first Grand Slam final, so perhaps luck is just on his side? Or maybe not, since Nadal is the one on the other side.

Prediction: Nadal in 3 sets.

French Open: Semifinal Preview

If there's something to be said with regards to the players who made it to this stage, it's that it's been a very formful tournament.All four of last year's finalists are still around and the lowest seed is sixth, which all just means that we're in for some epic showdowns.

N. Djokovic [1] vs. R. Nadal [3]
D. Ferrer [4] vs. J. Tsonga [6]

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played the spoiler here by convincingly knocking out 2nd seed Roger Federer in a straight set beating that saw the former French Open champion unable to do much of anything against the Frenchman who got even more support from the home crowd. The rest of the line-up is made up of last year's semifinalists which includes Tsonga's next opponent, the indefatigable David Ferrer who easily handled the inevitably exhausted Tommy Robredo the round prior. Both man are trying to reach their first ever French Open final.

It's the other match-up though that everyone has been waiting for ever since the draw came out. Last year's finalists Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will meet for the 35th time in what many are calling the de-facto final. Djokovic pushed Nadal to four sets last year, but his form heading to this tournament is not what it was last year. Similarly, Nadal has blitzed through the clay season as per usual, but is he 100% physically? Nadal and Djokovic won in straight sets their previous round against Stan Wawrinka and Tommy Haas with the latter capping off his terrific tournament with the most spirited performance among the losing quarter-finalists.

My prediction for the finals? Nadal vs. Tsonga.

S. Williams [1] vs. S. Errani [5]
M. Sharapova [2] vs. V. Azarenka [3]

Last year's winner Maria Sharapova was bageled in the first set in her quarterfinal match against Jelena Jankovic, but was able to grit her way to a win. She's going to need that same attitude against Victoria Azarenka who reaches the semifinals at the French Open for the first time in her career by winning in straights against Maria Kirinlenko. Azarenka leads their H2H 7-5, but Sharapova has won at the two clay tournaments they've played. Should be an interesting match to watch and certainly it's the match whose result is not certain.

Unlike the other semifinal match between favorite Serena Williams and last year's finalist Sara Errani. Every sports stat will say this is a slam-dunk win for Serena who has just been on top form this tournament, but she did hit her first bump the prior round losing a set to former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. But her focus to capture only her second French Open title is at an all-time high and at this point she is her own worst enemy. As for Errani, she has certainly backed up her surprise results from last year including a convincing straight sets win against Agnieszka Radwanska, but beating Serena will be a big ask especially since Errani is also still alive in Women's Doubles!

My prediction for the finals? Serena vs. Sharapova.

French Open: Quarterfinal Preview

I still go back and forth regarding my sporadic blogging about tennis, but I guess waiting until the late stages of a slam to start posting is a temporary solution. With that said, the first 10 days of the French Open has come and gone and after we're left with the last 8 men and women of the tournament. Among them are many of the usual suspects including 5 former champions, but a few surprises as well like a couple of Tommys over 30 years old.

N. Djokovic [1] vs. T. Haas [12]
R. Nadal [3] vs. S. Wawrinka [9]
D. Ferrer [4] vs. T. Robredo [32]
R. Federer [2] vs. J. Tsonga [6]

Yes, Rafael Nadal is going for his 8th French Open title. Yes, top seed Novak Djokovic is looking to improve his results last year by winning and achieving a career Grand Slam. And yes, Roger Federer is attempting not only his second French Open title, but also his first title of the year. But can we just talk about 35 year-old Tommy Haas and 31st year-old Tommy Robredo? By this time last year Haas was ranked outside the top 100 while Robredo, beset with injuries, was ranked in the high 400s. Since then, they've played well enough to get seeded here and their performance is nothing by inspiring. Robredo actually becomes the first man since 1927 to come back two sets down in three consecutive matches while Haas is the first German to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals and the oldest major quarter-finalists since Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open. Haas' 3rd round match with Isner has been dubbed by many as the match of the tournament so far with the German edging out the tall American 10-8 in the fifth set.

Both men will be underdogs in their next matches as Haas will face a rusty, but still solid Djokovic while Robredo will go up against relentless David Ferrer. Nadal, who had uncharacteristically slow starts in his first few matches, is the obvious favorite against Stan Wawrinka, who had to come back down 0-2 sets in his latest match versus perennial major non-quarterfinalist Richard Gasquet. The most intriguing quarterfinal match of the lot will be between Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga since despite Federer's 9-3 record H2H against the Frenchman, Federer was pushed to 5 sets in his last match while Tsonga hasn't even lost a set the entire tournament.

S. Williams [1] vs. S. Kuznetsova
A. Radwanska [4] vs. S. Errani [5]
V. Azarenka [3] vs. M. Kirilenko [12]
M. Sharapova [2] vs. J. Jankovic [18]

First and foremost, this is Serena Williams' tournament to lose. This is true even though she hasn't won the French Open in more than a decade and had only played ONE match total in Roland Garros the past two years! Of course anything can happen (see her first round loss last year), but she hasn't lost on clay this year and in terms of pure power and talent, there is no one left that should trouble her. She'll have to face former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova who hasn't had a great year since her quarterfinal result at this year's Australian Open and came into this tournament unseeded. On the same side of the draw is 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska who beat former champion Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round to reach her first French Open quarterfinals. She'll meet last year's "surprise" finalist Sara Errani who is so far backing up last year's result. That's probably the one match that could go either way.

Defending champion Maria Sharapova is playing like the defending champion and she can certainly repeat provided Serena isn't her opponent at the finals. First she'll have to get through Jelena Jankovic who has had mixed results this year, but seems to be finding some form here. Sharapova should still win based on form. On the same side, Victoria Azarenka took out former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone to reach another major quartefinal (her 7th in her past nine slams). She should be seen as the favorite against Maria Kirilenko who was blessed with an easy (hasn't faced anyone ranked above 50).

French Open: The Finale

I'm about two weeks too late, but as one Grand Slam begins (Wimbledon is just a few days away with the qualifying rounds completed today and the draw announcement scheduled for tomorrow), I should probably put proper closure to the Grand Slam that just ended. The keyword was "history" as both the man and woman champions did just that by winning the French Open.

Undisputed King of Clay Rafael Nadal won his 7th French Open title one-upping Bjorn Borg's tally of six setting a new record. While Nadal seemingly swept all of his other matches during the fortnight, he faced challenges in the final both in the form of his opponent world no. 1 Novak Djokovic and the weather. On-and-off rain caused delays and suspension of plays and it clearly affected the quality of both players' games with neither player able to play at their best. Still, Nadal managed to win the first two sets and a lesser player would call it quits right then and there, but Djokovic displayed his unflinching self-belief by running away with the third set and breaking Nadal early in the fourth. Unfortunately, the weather just got worse and play was postponed the next day. The conclusion of the final on Monday proved why Djokovic is world no. 1, but also why Nadal now has 11 Grand Slams. Nadal breaks back to get even, but Djokovic makes him fight for it until the bitter end. A double fault from Djkovic during Nadal's match point, however, meant that the "Djoko Slam" is denied. Grudge match at the green grass of Wimbledon?

Now world no. 1 Maria Sharapova lifted her fourth Grand Slam trophy and her very first French Open title. With a title at each Grand Slam, she completed her career Grand Slam and it must have been even more sweet that she was able to do this after a slew of injuries and surgeries. Truth be told, however, this was Sharapova's tournament to lose with other favorites and seeds faltering early and with her relatively impressive play the weeks leading up to the tournament. And while she was reaching her first even French Open final, her opponent Sara Errani was even more inexperienced in such a huge state. Keeping her nerves and her serves in check, Sharapova was able to overpower Errani and take advantage of her experience to win in straight sets. The career Grand Slam catapults Sharapova into the list of all-time greats in the game especially with so many legendary players who couldn't accomplish the same feat. Is she the favorite for Wimbledon and the Olympics? You bet on it.

Top seed and defending champions Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor won the Men's Doubles title over second seed Bob and Mike Bryan while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci defeated Maria Kirinlenko and Nadia Petrova for the Women's Doubles title. Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi took home the Mixed Doubles title.

French Open Finals Preview

We are just two matches away from crowning the champions of this year's French Open. For the women, it will be a fight between now world no. 1 Maria Sharapova and now top 10 player Sara Errani. It would be their first title at Roland Garros though in Errani's case it's also her first Grand Slam final. Actually that's not completely accurate as it was only yesterday she reached the Women's Double final with Roberta Vinci... and won. So no matter what happens today Errani has already had a winning fortnight. She will be seen as the underdog today, but underestimate her at your peril. She did take out two French Open champion and gutted out an impressive 3-set win in the semifinals against the reigning US Open champion Sam Stosur. For Sharapova, the pressure is wholly different. Winning this title would mean completing a career Grand Slam which is one of the sport's greatest achievements. After her relatively impressive clay court season and other top players early exits, the French Open really coalesced as hers to lose. Kudos to her to keeping focus and reaching the finals here for the first time. She even avenged last year's Wimbledon final loss to Petra Kvitova just a round before.

Like Sharapova, Novak Djokovic is reaching the finals of the French Open for the first time AND he is also looking to get a career Grand Slam. Not only that, but if he wins this tournament, he will become the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four major titles at once. Not even Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have done this. It hasn't come at all easy for him, however, as he had to claw and fight his way through the draw. He was down two sets against Andreas Seppi, down multiple match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and nearly lost the first two sets to Federer. But the world no. 1 persevered, was fearless, and got through them all to make a date with history. Unfortunately for him, he is up against the undisputed King of Clay and Nadal has been nothing short of brilliant this fortnight. The six-time French Open champion has yet to lose a set or even be tested. The efficiency with which he dismissed each and everyone one of his opponents is scary and he will be going into the final against Djokovic as the heavy favorite. Just for reference, Nadal only let Juan Monaco win two games the entire match while Nadal made David Ferrer look clueless in their semifinal clash.

Predictions: Whoever wins it will be an inspiring sports story be it for a first-time slam winner, a career Grand Slam, or a record 7-time champion. If I was placing bets, I'll bet on Maria Sharapova to handle the big event better and use her experience and physicality to overpower Sara Errani. Likewise, Rafael Nadal will end Novak Djokovic's historic run as Nadal just seems unbeatable. With that said, weirder things have happened. That's why they play the game.

French Open 2012 So Far

The second Grand Slam tournament of the year has been going on for ten days. Interestingly enough, that's also how long I lasted in the suicide pool being taken out by Andy Murray's lost today. Neither here nor there! Now with the tennis world focused on the red clays of Roland Garros, here are just some of the storylines of the tournament...

Ups and Downs for American Women

Through their first 10 matches, American women went 10-0 including some impressive wins from young players against seeded layers. Of course, it also set up the improbable upset of Serena Williams in the first round, her earliest lost ever from a Grand Slam. With all of this said, there's a handful of women who was looking to do well to qualify for the Olympics including Venus Williams. Will be interested to see where all of that settles.

Top Women Struggle

Along with Serena, former champions fail to reach the latter stages including Francescha Schiavone, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, and defending champion Li Na. World no. 1 Victoria Azarenka also crashed early as well as Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozkiacki.

Newcomers and Comebacks

Here are just a few names making their presence known by making it as far as they did. There's David Goffin who took out Radek Stepanek in the first round and played his childhood idol Federer hard in the fourth round. There are Sloane Stephens and Varvara Lepchenko, the two Americans to make it furthest in the draw, 4th Round, losing to eventual semifinalists. Or how about Yaroslava Shvedova, ranked 142, making it all the way to the QF and Nicolas Mahut getting some nice revenge on Americans in a big stage by taking out Andy Roddick in the first round? Finally there's Brian Baker, who came back to the game just last year and after a few weeks of non-stop winning including his run through qualifying and the 2nd round of the French Open, he's never been higher.

The Final Eight and Predictions

So after ten days, out of the 256 men and women 8 remain, the final four guys and the final four women. The final four guys are no strangers. Top seed Novak Djokovic is looking to complete a career Grand Slam while second seed and clay king Rafael Nadal is trying to get his record 7th French Open crown. Former champ Roger Federer is looking to win his first major since 2010 Australian Open and David Ferrer is celebrating reaching his first French Open SF. In the women's side Maria Sharapova, like Djokovic, is looking to complete a career Grand Slam (and recapture the #1 ranking) while Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur want to get back on top after lackluster results post their Grand Slam results last year. Finally, Sara Errani took out two previous French Open champions and now reaches her first ever major semifinals. All eyes will be on Sharapova-Kvitova and Djokovic-Federer since they look to be the blockbuster match-up the tournament has been waiting for. The winner of that woman's match should be seen as the favorite to win the whole thing while Nadal WILL win regardless of who he is facing. That's just the truth.

French Open: The Finale

After 15 days on the red clay of Roland Garros, a pair of champions made history while a couple of runner-ups proved a lot of people wrong.


Rafael Nadal won his 6th French Open title, equaling Bjorn Borg's tally as well as making him only the 7th man to win at least 10 Grand Slam titles. Nadal defeated his archrival Roger Federer who pushed the Spaniard from the very first game. In fact it was probably Federer's best effort against Nadal at Roland Garros, which is small solace at the moment, but should prove beneficial for the rest of the season. Nadal was able to come back down a set point and 2-5 in the first set to win the next dozen or so game. Federer managed to level the second set all the way to a tiebreak, but even when he lost that, he found a way to win the third set. Nadal, however, took advantage of Federer's flagging energy in the fourth to win. With the trophy, Nadal remains #1 in the world with Novak Djokovic nipping at his heels.


Li Na became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam after she defeated defending champion Francesca Schiavone. Many people wouldn't have bet on seeing either of these players at the finals, but there they were, Schiavone showed everyone that last year's win was no fluke and Li Na impressed by taking down four top ten opponents en route to her first major victory. While Schiavone was seen as the more accomplished clay-court player, it was Li Na who dictated play from the start overpowering as well as outcrafting the Italian. Li Na was also a picture of poise as one would've expected her to buckle under the pressure of the moment, but she helf steady and in two sets, she found herself a winner. With the state of the women's game at the moment, with no clear frontrunners, one could do worse than these two.

In doubles, Daniel Nestor defended his title last year with a new partner this year, Max Mirnyi. Unseeded Czech team Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka won the women's doubles title.

French Open: Semifinal Report & Finals Preview

Unlike last year when I only set one set of one semifinal match, I saw most of the matches this year and was absolutely thrilled with all of them. Weather made most of the matches tricky with the wind whipping up at the most random times messing with the players' shots and moving around the clay beneath that troubled some, but in the end four tennis players came out on top and they will play for glory this weekend.


If some people thought that Francesca Schiavone's win last year was a fluke then the ever-jubilant Italian proved those people wrong as she fought valiantly to reach her second straight French Open final with a chance to defend her title. She got through Marion Bartoli, a tricky opponent with the crowd solely behind her, in two pretty straightforward sets. In the final, she will face an opponent that many people did not expect to be there at the end of the tournament.


Like Schiavone, Na Li probably felt like she had a lot to prove. After reaching her first Grand Slam final at this year's Australian Open, Li bottomed out unable to win many matches. That was until she got to Roland Garros, her least favorite slam, where she just kept winning... and winning. She already took down three top 10 players including her semifinal opponent Maria Sharapova who knew that this was her best chance to reach a French Open final for the first time. Too bad her solid serve let her down when she really needed it and instead it was the Chinese player to achieve yet another milestone for herself and for her country.

Prediction: Their H2H is tied at 2-2, but Schiavone has won their only clay court match which was at least year's French Open where the Italian won 4-2 in straight sets. Li will have the power, but Schiavone will have the variety and the movement giving her the edge. Schiavone in 2 sets for her 2nd French Open title.


Five-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal celebrated his 25th birthday on the day he played his semifinal match against Andy Murray. While the scoreline says it was a straight set victory, as everyone expected, it was probably a tighter match than everyone anticipated. The conditions affected both players flustering a usually unflappable Nadal. In the end though, the Spaniard book his spot in his 6th French Open final, one way away from tying the tally set by Bjorn Borg. In the final, he will meet an all too familiar rival.


It has been 16 months since Roger Federer reached a Grand Slam final, but tomorrow he will contest his record 23rd slam final after triumphantly defeating the hottest player of the year. His semifinal opponent Novak Djokovic has had an amazing half a year winning every single match he has played (41-0 record; 7-0 against Federer and Nadal). With a win, Djokovic would've also claimed the #1 ranking. Aggressive, but smart play from Federer coupled with a flat-footed and disheartened Djokovic quickly put the Swiss up 2 sets. Djokovic was able to gut out the third set and serve for the 4th set until Federer came back to take the 4th to a tiebreak. Federer won that with the weapon he used so effectively throughout the match: his serve. Long live the King indeed.

Prediction: Is there a point in going over their lopsided H2H in Nadal's favor esp. Nadal's absolute dominance on clay and at the French Open in particular? The best thing Federer can hope for is to not get embarrassed on court like he was three years ago. THEN AGAIN Nadal hasn't shown his A-game all tournament and Federer's match with Djokovic might light the fire within. Still, Nadal in four sets for his 6th French Open crown.

French Open: Quarterfinal Report

For the first time since 2006 at Roland Garros, the top four men's seed make it to the semifinals at a Grand Slam event giving us mouth-watering match-ups that is a tennis fans' dreams come true. Other than Novak Djokovic, who moved into this stage without having to play in the quarterfinals when his opponent had to withdraw with injury, the other three were pushed, but not hard enough.

Top seed Rafael Nadal met up with Robin Soderling, the only player to defeat him at this event. Nadal broke early in each three sets with Soderling only able to put up a bit of a fight in the first and third. Roger Federer had to deal with windy weather and a partisan crowd as he faced Gael Monfils, but though the Frenchman fought valiantly in the third set, it was another straight sets win for the Swiss. He's the only player left in the draw to not have lost a single set. Finally, Andy Murray fought off a determined Juan Ignacio Chela in the first two sets and was rewarded with an easier third set. His injured ankle seems to be doing just fine.

Semifinal Preview
Rafael Nadal [1] vs. Andy Murray [4]
Novak DJokovic [2] vs. Roger Federer [3]

They all have something to play for--Nadal to reassert his clay dominance, Djokovic to get that elusive #1 ranking, Federer to comeback strong, Murray to win his first slam title--which makes it all the more interesting. Based on performance this year, it's hard to see anything but a Nadal- Djokovic final. There's a chance that Federer, with all of his experience, could beat DJokovic to end his unbeaten run this year especially with all of the pressure the Serbian must be feeling. I'll definitely be rooting for Federer all the way!


Just... crazy. That's what I have to say about the women's draw. And yet as crazy as it has been the past two weeks, once the dust settles, the semifinalists aren't so shocking. I mean all four have reached Grand Slam finals and two are major champions. In fact the lowest ranked player is seeded 11th, which seems pretty formful if you ask me.

That 11th seed is also the only French player left in the draw in both the men's and the women's. Marion Bartoli reached her first French Open semifinals by taking out former Franch Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova who just couldn't handle Bartoli and the crazy weather. Defending champion Francesca Schiavone dug real deep to come back from a set and a break deficit to win the last two sets 7-5 against Russian youngster Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Na Li and Maria Sharapova both had far easier straight-set wins against 4th seed Victoria Azarenka and 15th seed Andrea Petkovic respectively, which was shocking since they both historically haven't done that well on clay and the players they beat were expected to put up more of a fight than they did.

Semifinal Preview
Francesca Schiavone [5] vs. Marion Bartoli [11]
Na Li [6] vs. Maria Sharapova [7]

Even though I didn't predict ANY of these women to reach this point of the tournament, mad props to all of them for doing so. Other than Schiavone, it's the first semifinals on Roland Garros clay for them and it's been a real fight to get here. Who will win? I WISH I HAD EVEN AN INKLING, but I really don't. Any of these four can win the title. I'd probably give a slight edge to Schiavone and Sharapova since they have already won a slam. In Sharapova's case, if she wins this, she gets a career Slam. I'm personally hoping for a Schiavone-Li final since I'd be ecstatic either way.

French Open: Fourth Round Report

As I type this, the top five seeds are still alive in the draw. Of course 4th seed Andy Murray still has not officially moved on from the fourth round as he is currently 2-sets all with 15th seed Viktor Troicki and will play a one-man-takes-all set. Other top seeds such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Robin Soderling notched straight-set and relatively drama-free wins. Nadal beat veteran Ivan Ljubicic while Federer took down countryman and 14th seed Stan Wawrinka. Djokovic and Soderling defeated a pair of Frenchmen, 13th seed Richard Gasquet and 18th seed Gilles Simon.

The only Frenchman left in the draw, 9th seed Gael Monfils, made it worthwhile for his country though as he pushed 7th seed David Ferrer to five sets and winning 8-6 in the dramatic final set after blowing three prior match points earlier on. Fabio Fognini also made a valiant effort against another Spaniard Albert Montanes winning 11-9 in the fifth set after sustaining a muscle injury late in the final set severely hampering his movement. Despite his win, he had to default on his next match giving his opponent, Djokovic, a free ride into the semifinals. Finally, Juan Ignacio Chela also won in five sets against Alejandro Falla.

Quarterfinal Preview
Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling
Andy Murray or Viktor Troicki vs. Nicolas Almagro Juan Ignacio Chela
Roger Federer vs. David Ferrer Gael Monfils
Novak Djokovic d. Mikhail Youzhny Fabio Fognini

As you can see, my predictions were a bit off only getting the usual suspects correct. Now depending on the result of Murray-Troicki, there'll either be all top four seeds in the quarters or there'll be two Serbians. Either way, it's fascinating. Djokovic continues his unbeaten run this year, but it's Federer who probably has the more impressive record of making his 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. In the end scheme of things, I'm still predicting a Nadal-Djokovic final with the Spaniard winning.


Not even sure where to start with the women. How about the fact that the top three seeds are gone with 3rd seed Vera Zvonareva going down to 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? Truly that was the one lone "upset" in terms of the lower ranked player beating a higher one. Perhaps 6th seed Li Na winning against 9th seed Petra Kvitova could be looked at as an upset based on the forms these ladies have shown the past few months, but give all credit to Li Na for gutting this one out. 15th seed Andrea Petkovic continues her meteoric rise reaching the quarters.

The rest of the field look at once expected and at the same time completely surprising. There's Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli who has never done so well here, but move on after Gisela Dulko retired from their match. There is the pair of former French Open champions in 5th seed Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova taking out 10th seed Jelena Jankovic and 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova. And finally, there's 7th seed Maria Sharapova outlasting 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Quarterfinal Preview
Caroline Wozniacki Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Sam Stosur Marion Bartoli
Francescha Schiavone vs. Vera Zvonareva Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Victoria Azarenka vs. Petra Kvitova Na Li
Maria Sharapova vs. Kim Clijsters Andrea Petkovic

Clearly, I messed up in my predictions, so moving on. Who is the favorite now? I don't even know. I'd probably give the edge to the former slam champions especially as they've all looked pretty good the past week or so. If Sharapova does manage to win here though, she completes a Career Grand Slam. As for the others, they can most definitely win as well and crazier things have ALREADY happened so I wouldn't be surprised about ANYTHING. Right now, I'm rooting for Svetlana.

French Open: Third Round Report

The most anticipated match of this round that everyone was looking forward to was Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin Del Potro and yet there was some drama. The mixture of being scheduled last in the main show court, the previous matches going the distance, and the weather being gloomy meant that both men had to wait a long time with the chance that their match might be postponed altogether and/or moved to another court. Both happened. They moved to the other show court, but only managed to play two sets (both men winning one each) before the match was suspended for darkness. Djokovic then went on to extend his win streak to 40 by winning the next two sets they played the next day.

In more shocking news, top seed Caroline Wozniacki falls to 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova managing to win only four games and thereby extending the question of her credibility as the "number one player of the world." While people question her status, people are also wondering what's up with the other top seed, Rafael Nadal. But despite being pushed in his first two rounds, it was vintage Nadal in the third round sweeping a qualifier (who still broke the Spaniard twice in the second set) in straight sets. And despite his earlier problems, one should not be surprised if Nadal makes it look easy the rest of the tournament.

No Americans make it to the second week of the tournament (again... or is that redundant?) with Mardy Fish, Vania King, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands all losing. It's another story for the French though as four French players (Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, and Marion Bartoli) make it to the second week. It could've been five, but Stanislas Wawrinka mounted an impressive five-set comeback against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (who was up two sets and a break). Other notable losses include last year's semifinalist Sam Stosur, Kaia Kanepi, Fernando Verdasco, and Mikhail Youzhny.

There was a slight scare for 4th seed Andy Murray as he sprained his ankle in the middle of his match. In obvious pain, he managed to power through to a relatively "easy" straight-set win, but one hopes that he can recover quickly from the injury especially with the cupcake draw that he has been offered. Other notable straight-set winners include Roger "Under the Radar" Federer, David Ferrer, Robin Soderling, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Francescha Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic, Vera Zvonareva, and Na Li.

Ten of the top 16 seeds are still alive in the men's draw, while 12 remain in the women's draw. Bring on the second week!

French Open: Second Round Report

The biggest news during the second round is the lost of 2nd seed Kim Clijsters who was a lot of people's pick, including mine, to win the tournament. A determined opponent, difficult conditions, possibly lingering health issues, and lots and lots of errors brought the 4-time major champion down making her the highest seed to leave the tournament. Another big upset is 8th seed Jurgen Melzer who joins fellow 2010 French Open semi-finalist Tomas Berdych in the sidelines. Other seeds to go down in the second round include Florian Mayer, Sam Querrey, Marcos Baghdatis, Alexandra Dulgheru, Nikolay Davydenko, Kevin Anderson, and Tsvetana Pironkova.

Top seed Rafael Nadal found himself once again in a tough and physical match against fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar. Andujar was up 5-1 in the third set, but wasted eight set points giving Nadal a straight-set win. Third seed Vera Zvonareva was down and out until her opponent Sabine Lisicki injured herself. Lisicki finished the match, but had to be taken out on a stretcher. Similarly Maria Sharapova was two points away from being upset early against French phenom Caroline Garcia. She reeled off 11 straight games through, bageling her young opponent in the final set. Speaking of the French though, they continue to have a strong presence with the top men and woman still around (Marion Bartoli, Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Richard Gasquet).

As for the Americans, three are left--Vania King, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Mardy Fish--all of them reaching the third round of Roland Garros for the first time. Other than Nadal, most of the men frontrunners are still around and doing well (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, and David Ferrer). Djokovic is set for a blockbuster match with Juan Martin Del Potro next round. With Clijsters out, the open women's draw opened up a lot more giving players such as Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Francesca Schiavone, Sam Stosur, Svetlana Kuznetsova, among others, their best chance to win. Hell, I think an injured Serena Williams or an un-retired Martina Hingis could've done a lot of damage with this draw!

French Open: First Round Report

The first round is done and dusted and most of the favorites moved safely through to the second. Some though didn't make it look easy. Defending champion and 5-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal was forced to play a fifth set for the first time in Roland Garros in his brutal match with John Isner. The American won the 2nd and 3rd set in tiebreaks, but Nadal took control as Isner ran out of juice by the end. The other French Open defending champion, Francesca Schiavone, had a much easier time against another American youngsters as she absolutely demolished Melanie Oudin. But the news wasn't all bad for Americans. In fact even with some notable absences, Americans did well on the red clay. Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Jill Craybas, Bethany Mattek-Sands, Vania King, and Varvara Lepcheko all moved on to the next round. The latter two women took down seeded players. And while Lucky Loser Ryan Harrison was beaten by last year's finalist Robin Soderling, he still managed to win a set.

Sixth seed and last year's semifinalist Tomas Berdych gets the dishonor of being the highest seed in either draw to get booted in the first round; 18th seed Flavia Pennetta was the highest seed in the women's side to get upset. 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic also fell in the first round, a discouraging result for her especially in light of some of her gains in smaller tournaments. Other seeds to get upset include Nicolas Almagro, Marin Cilic, Shahar Peer, Dominika Cibulkova, Milos Raonic, Nadia Petrova, and Klara Zakapalova. And though not seeded, sad to see Tommy Haas exit early as well as Lleyton Hewitt withdraw at the last-minute. Finally, former top ten player Patty Schnyder called it a career after her first round lost here.

Novak Djokovic continued his unbeatable form, winning his 38th straight match. Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Juan Martin Del Potro all showed excellent form. Coming back to Roland Garros for the first time in five years, Kim Clijsters extends her unbeaten Grand Slam match win to 15 matches. Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Sam Stosur, and Maria Sharapova won in straights.

French Open Preview

So the world didn't end this weekend, which is not only fantastic news for, well everyone, but also for us tennis fans because Sunday marks the beginning of the French Open, the second tennis Grand Slam tournament of the year. Since I don't have time to do my usual draw analysis, here are my scattered thoughts for both the men and women instead.


The main story for the men this whole season has been the absolute dominance of 2nd seed Novak Djokovic. Undefeated this year, he has won 7 titles and shows no sign of slowing down. Defending champion and 1st seed Rafael Nadal is still the favorite, but the fact that Djokovic beat Nadal four straight times this year including twice on Nadal's beloved clay makes the whole thing just a bit more interesting. And even though 3rd seed Roger Federer is a former champion, his form and his chances here at least compared to Nadal and Djokovic aren't so good. Then again he IS the last person to defeat Djokovic (at last year's year-end championships). Then there's 4th seed Andy Murray who is slowly coming out of his post-Australian Open funk fighting Djokovic on clay this year closer than anyone else has.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling has reached the French Open finals two times in a row beating the defending champion en route each time. We doubt he'll do it a third time, but weirder things have happened. Other names to watch out for include David Ferrer (always a threat to test our your endurance), Richard Gasquet (beat Federer recently on clay), Milos Roanic (newcomer of the year, no?), and Juan Martin Del Potro (comeback of the year, no?).

Quarterfinals
Rafael Nadal d. Robin Soderling
Nicolas Almagro d. Andy Murray
Roger Federer d. David Ferrer
Novak Djokovic d. Mikhail Youzhny

Semifinals
Rafael Nadael d. Nicolas Almagro
Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer

Finals
Rafael Nadal d. Novak Djokovic


With Justine Henin retired and the Williams sisters injured, the big story here is that anyone, I repeat, ANYONE can win this thing. The one who seems to be a few people's favorite is 2-time French Open finalist and 2nd seed Kim Clijsters even though she's injured and hasn't played competitively in two months. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki should see this as yet another golden opportunity to win that maiden slam especially since she has probably been the most consistent player on the tour this year. Defending champion and 5th seed Francesca Schiavone should not be counted out (remember her implausible dream run last year?), but she really hasn't been the same player since. Then there's 7th seed Maria Sharopova who is one of the very few multi-Grand Slam champions on the list and with her recent successes in clay, you never know. She could win the career Grand Slam.

Third and fourth seeds Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka can most definitely claim the championship, but they're their worst enemies. Then again this pretty much goes for a whole slew of players such as Li Na (have struggled recently, but always a threat in slams) and Sam Stosur (she was last year's finalist!) as well former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic who both possess the talent obviously, but recently not the self-belief to win. All I really have to say is, Elena Dementieva surely retired from the game one year too early didn't she?

Quarterfinals
Caroline Wozniacki d. Samantha Stosur
Vera Zvonareva d. Francescha Schiavone
Victoria Azarenka d. Petra Kvitova
Kim Clijsters d. Maria Sharapova

Semifinals
Vera Zvonareva d. Caroline Wozniacki
Kim Clisjters d. Victoria Azarenka

Finals
Kim Clijsters d. Vera Zvonareva

FINAL WORLD: Somehow I find myself predicting the top four women seeds to reach the semifinals as improbable as that outcome may be, but that's what happens when I don't pay attention to the recent results. For the men, I predicted the top three plus Almagro since I just don't trust Murray to reach that far. In the end though Nadal will most likely repeat while there will be a first-time French Open champion for the women.

Tennis Year-In-Review

It's a new year, which means it's a new tennis season. I'm sorry to say that if you had blinked, you might had missed the off-season. Tournaments are already underway and in fact Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer appropriately opened up the new year by getting to the finals at Abu Dhabi beating Tomas Berdych and Robin Soderling respectively. The Spaniard won the exhibition match in two very tight sets. But before 2011 gets ahead of us, let's take a moment to take a look back at what happened in the tennis world in 2010...

Nadal's Historic Year

When he retired during his semifinals match at the Australian Open to start the year, everyone wondered if the 6-time grand slam champion's best days were over. It wasn't... by a long shot. He went on an historic run on red clay going undefeated sweeping all three Masters titles and reclaiming his French Open crown. He followed it up by taking his second Wimbledon title and then just for good measure becomes the youngest player to achieve a career Grand Slam by winning the US Open. He'll attempt to get the "Rafa Slam" at Melbourne in a few weeks.

And The Best Woman Player Is?

Take your pick, because no one has a clue. We have the #1 ranked woman Caroline Wozniacki who won the most matches on tour, but not a single major title to her name. There's of course Serena Williams who won TWO major titles, but played a severely limited schedule even by her standards mostly due to an injury sustained post-Wimbledon. Then there's Francesca Schiavone who won her first Grand Slam title at the French and helped Italy with the Fed Cup, but her results elsewhere are nothing to get excited about. Two other women had breakthrough years as both Vera Zvonareva and Samantha Stosur were first-time slam finalists and ended the year with their highest ever ranking. Their lack of a major title though leaves us just one possible contender...

Clijsters Keeps Re-writing Legacy

If I had to pick, it'd go to Kim Clijsters who has really taken advantage of her second chance in tennis after coming back on tour at the latter end of 2009. She successfully defended her US Open title, adding to the two she already had. Other than Wozniacki, she was probably the most consistent woman on tour winning titles from both halves of tennis season including two Masters titles. She also won the year-end championships for the third time and has gone 6-0 in finals since her comeback. Plus she has also dominated her fellow countrywomen Justine Henin during her comeback winning every match they've played this year.

The Longest Tennis Match of All Time

Lasting over 11 hours over three days of play, the first round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon was far and away the longest tennis player played... ever. With the scoreline as ridiculous as the match time of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68, the two men showed incredible grit throughout the whole ordeal. There's nothing left to say, but wow. And also? I'm confident we'll never be seeing this ever again.

Federer's Book-End Successes & Charity Work

Federer failed to defend his French Open and Wimbledon titles and in fact he was unable to even reach the semifinals at either tournament ending his insane major semifinals streak at 23. And yet, he began and ended the year with style and class. Early last year, he won his 16th major title at the Australian Open as well as spearheaded an impromptu charity event dubbed Hit For Haiti to benefit those affected by the deadly earthquake. Then when many thought he was down and out, he went on a 35-4 run post-Wimbledon (21-2 post-US Open) capturing four titles including the year-end champion beating Nadal in the finals. He would end the year with Nadal yet again, playing two exhibition matches in both of their home countries to benefit their respective charities.

Best of the Rest Men on Tour

While Nadal and Federer took the lion-share of major titles during the year (what else is new?), let's give props to a few men who almost reached those summits. Andy Murray may have lost to Federer at his first Australian Open final, but he avenged it by defeating the Swiss twice this year. Robin Soderling yet again made a splash at Roland Garros defeating the world no. 1 and defending champion and reaching the finals before losing to the best player of the year two years in a row. Tomas Berdych hit lightning becoming the first player not named Nadal to take Federer out of Wimbledon in forever and as a reward, reached his first ever slam final. Finally, Novak Djokovic was THIS close to the top two all year beating both in some thrilling matches, but ultimately fell just short. He ends the year on top though, leading Serbia to its first ever Davis Cup victory.

Other Tidbits

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi need to remember that those rivalry days are long over and they should just simmer down in their retirement. Issues regarding on-court coaching, doping, and illegal gambling were still around and will probably show up yet again in the upcoming year. Huge props to 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm for showing the world that age is just a number. And finally, we say our fond goodbyes to Elena Dementieva, Carlos Moya, Nicolas Kiefer, Virginia Ruano Pascual, Younes El Aynaoui, Sébastien Grosjean, Paradorn Srichaphan, and Taylor Dent.

French Open: The Finale

The clay courts of Roland Garros are empty once again, but not before it crowned a new champion and yet again honored a clay-court legend. Francesca Schiavone grabbed her first Grand Slam title while Rafael Nadal nabbed his 5th French Open title, 7th overall.


Nadal was able to avenge his fourth round loss last year to Robin Soderling by defeating the Swede in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Nadal was able to neutralize the usually powerful strokes of Soderling by getting every single ball back. Soderling committed 45 unforced errors compared to the Spaniard's 16. Soderling also could not break Nadal's serve converting none of the eight chances he got. With Nadal's win, he retook the #1 ranking from Roger Federer who was only one week away from tieing Pete Sampras overall weeks at #1. The Swiss will have to wait a long while until he can get back on top seeing as he has plenty of points to defend while Nadal doesn't for the rest of the year.


Schiavone was seen as the underdog in the women's final against the higher ranked and H2H leader Samantha Stosur. The match itself was quite competitive and the stats of both were very similar, but the Italian played the bigger points better and in the end became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title defeating Stosur 6-4, 7-6(2). This was only Schiavone's fourth title in her veteran career. During last year's French Open, Stosur defeated Schiavone in the first round.

In doubles, Serena and Venus Williams claimed their fourth straight Grand Slam title becoming only the third doubles team to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. With their Sister Slam, they also become the #1 ranked doubles team for the first time ever. Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic claimed their third Grand Slam title as a team defeating 3rd seeded team Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes for the men's doubles title.

French Open: The Finals Are Set

The first set of Nadal-Melzer was the only thing I saw during the semifinal stage. So I didn't get to see Elena Dementieva retire with a calf injury or Francesca Schiavone kiss the court when she became the first Italian woman ever to reach a Grand Slam final. Nor did I see Samantha Stosur reach her first Slam final after trouncing Jelena Jankovic. She also defeated Justine Henin and Serena Williams en route to the finals.


While I wasn't really particular regretting missing those matches, I wish I got to see the five-set brawl between Tomas Berdych and Robin Soderling. The Swede won after being down 2 sets to 1 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Lest anyone forgets, Soderling is the only person to defeat Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros and it will be a rematch of last year's fourth round match in this year's finals. Nadal admittedly has not played his best this whole tournament, and yet he still hasn't lost a single set and was able to beat Jurgen Melzer handily. A win over Soderling would see him overtake the #1 ranking.


Seeing as how I've been just AWFUL at predicting this tournament, there really isn't any point in doing them. But I'm going to anyways... Stosur leads her H2H win Schiavone 4-1 with Schiavone's only win coming at 2005 and since then the Australian hasn't dropped a set. Stosur also has shown the better form of the two during the fortnight and so she should give Australia it's first Grand Slam champion since Lleyton Hewitt.


As for the men, on paper it's all about Nadal. Their H2H is 3-2 in the Spaniard's favor, but Soderling has won their last two meetings including that match last year at Roland Garros. Nadal will be extra motivated to avenge that lost, however, and with Soderling going through a marathon with Berdych, I see Nadal winning this one. Soderling should still be able to take a set.

French Open: Quarterfinal Report & Semifinal Previews

Unless you were a certain four-time French Open champion, it was not good to be a Grand Slam champion at the quarterfinals at Roland Garros this year.

The biggest upset of the round was Robin Soderling defeating defending champion Roger Federer ending the Swiss' streak of Grand semifinals at 23 matches. 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic followed Federer losing to 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer in five sets after being up two sets! 12-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams went out to 7th seed Sam Stosur 6-8 in the third set.

Rafael Nadal was the only Grand Slam champion able to hold off his inspired opponent who pushed Nadal to two tiebreaks. Nadal still ended up winning in straight sets, but he had to work hard against 19th seed Nicolas Almagro. Other quarterfinal winners include 15th seed Tomas Berdych, 4th seed Jelena Jankovic, 17th seed Francesca Schiavone, and 5th seed Elena Dementieva. This mean there will be a first-time Grand Slam winner on the women's side and on the men's side if Nadal doesn't win.

Men's Semifinals

Robin Soderling [5] vs. Tomas Berdych [15]
Rafael Nadal [2] vs. Jurgen Melzer [22]

How very wrong was I in my predictions getting only Nadal correct? In any case, Nadal must be feeling a bit better about reclaiming this title especially consider the players he has left to face. En route to the finals, Nadal will not have faced anyone in the top 20. Melzer, reaching his first Grand Slam semifinals ever, should be no problem for Nadal especially with Melzer going through that blockbuster five-set match with Djokovic. It's a bit of a toss-up between Soderling and Berdych as both have played an inspired couple of rounds. Soderling has the edge though being in this spot before and having huge confidence after beating both Nadal and Federer here.

Prediction: It will be a re-match between Robin Soderling and Rafael Nadal for the finals. Please tennis gods, make this happen. I'll be rooting for Soderling so that Federer keeps his #1 ranking.

Women's Semifinals

Jelena Jankovic [4] vs. Samantha Stosur [7]
Elena Dementieva [5] vs. Francesca Schiavone [17]

I did slightly better here than in the men as I predicted that (a) neither Williams sister would make it this far, (b) Jankovic and Dementieva would get here, and (c) Dementieva would go up against an Italian. The most significant aspect of this foursome is that none of them are Grand Slam champions with only Jankovic and Dementieva to have managed to reach a Slam final before. On paper, both matches look to be very competitive. Jankovic leads Stosur 3-1 in H2H, but Stosur won their last meeting a couple months ago. Dementieva leads 6-4 with the Italian's last win over the Russian over three years ago.

Prediction: Experience will prevail to bring us a Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva final. I'll be happy for both, but really rooting for Dementieva.

Federer's Streak Snapped by Soderling

Hell to the no way! 5th seed Robin Soderling delivered yet another huge upset at the French Open defeating defending champion Roger Federer in four sets. Soderling is the first man to outlast Federer in the last 24 straight Grand Slam quarterfinals that Federer has played, snapping the Swiss' impressive streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances! Last year, Soderling made headline news when he became the first man to beat Rafael Nadal at the same tournament. With the win this year against Federer, Soderling has now beaten the #1 ranked French Open defending champion two years in a row. More than impressive!

Federer's loss here puts his #1 ranking in jeopardy, just a week or two shy from surpassing Pete Sampras' overall weeks at #1. Federer now hopes that heavy-favorite Rafael Nadal doesn't win the whole tournament since that is the only result that would make Federer lose his top rank. Federer's reply on his streak ending is a positive one: "Now I have my quarterfinal streak." Gotta love his attitude! With that said, however, this loss might still be a crushing blow to most Federer's fans who saw Federer markedly struggle after winning the Australian Open earlier in the year. Will this continue to Wimbledon and beyond?

As a huge Federer fan, I share in their worries, but I've also made peace with the fact that all streaks end sometime and domination never lasts. Plus need I remind his fans that Federer won both the French Open and Wimbledon last year accomplishing two of his greatest goals, getting a career Grand Slam and surpassing Sampras' major championship tally? After he retook his #1 ranking at Wimbledon last year, I told myself that any wins after this point would be bonus and I've kept that stance. He went on to win Cincinnati and the Australian Open while reaching the finals at the US Open and is only 1-2 week shy of breaking another revered tennis record. Not too shabby for an over-the-hill tennis pro.

So in summary, Robin Soderling d. Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 and guess what, it's not the end of the world!

French Open: Fourth Round Report

Top seeds Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal moved swiftly to the quarterfinals in straight sets losing only 11 games each, beating Stanislas Wawrinka and Thomaz Bellucci respectively. Their wins this year are far removed from what their experienced last year in the same round. Last year, Federer had to come back two sets to love down against Tommy Haas while Nadal was defeated for the first time in Roland Garros by last year's finalist Robin Soderling. Speaking of, 5th seed Soderling is moving through the draw with fierce efficiency as well, defeating 10th seed Marin Cilic in straights.

3rd seed and former semifinalist Novak Djokovic defeated Robby Ginepri, the last American man standing, in four sets while 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating Teimuraz Gabashvili. 4th seed Andy Murray lost to 15th seed Tomas Berdych, 7th seed Fernando Verdasco was beaten by 19th seed Nicolas Almagro, and 8th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired with a bad back in his match against 11th seed Mikhail Youzhny. This is only the second time that Berdych, Almagro, and Youzhny have reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event.

Factoid: Roger Federer is one win away from reaching 24 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. If he does this, he also guarantees his #1 ranking after the tournament and will tie Pete Sampras' record of overall weeks at #1. With his win against Belluci, Rafael Nadal has notched an impressive 200 wins in clay.


Three of the top four seeds moved through the fourth round as Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, and Jelena Jankovic survive with Wozniacki being pushed to three grueling sets by 14th seed Flavia Pennetta. 2nd seed Venus Williams was defeated by 19th seed Nadia Petrova in straight sets. Venus is still alive in doubles with her sister Serena and they are the favorites to win.

Serena's next opponent was set to be four-time champion Justine Henin, but 7th seed Samantha Stosur showed it's just not THAT easy to return after being away from the tour. Stosur defeated Henin 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. 5th seed Elena Dementieva, 17th seed Francesca Schiavone, and surprise quarterfinalist Yaroslava Shvedova for Kazakhstan round out the fourth round winners.

Factoid: Serena Williams is the last American woman standing and she is also the last Grand Slam champion left in the draw. Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, and Elena Dementieva have all been Grand Slam finalists, but have yet to get their maiden slam title.