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Posts Tagged ‘lucie safarova’

Canadians move on after first round of U.S. Open

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

Aleksandra Wozniak (Wikimedia Commons)

Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario and Aleksandra Wozniak of Montreal, Quebec have each moved on to the second round of the 2012 United States Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Wozniak’s victory on Monday was easy. She defeated Alexandra Cadantu of Romania in straight sets 6-0, 6-3.

Wozniak won with ten aces, no double faults, but won a remarkable 54% of points while not serving. She also had zero unforced errors in what could be considered one of the best matches Wozniak has ever played at a grand slam tennis tournament. Wozniak now plays 15th seed Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic today.

As for Milos Raonic, he won, but it was anything but easy. He defeated Santiago Giraldo of Columbia 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in five grueling sets.

Raonic’s effort was given a C- by former American doubles star Luke Jensen. Raonic won despite 15 double faults and 55 unforced errors. Raonic now plays Pierre-Henri Mathieu of France.
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Tags: aleksandra wozniak, alexandra cadantu, irina-cameli begu, lucie safarova, milos raonic, pierre-henri mathieu, santiago giraldo
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |

Djokovic wins 2012 Rogers Cup

Monday, August 13th, 2012

Novak Djokovic (Wikimedia Commons)

For the third time in his career, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the world ranked number two player in the world, has won the Rogers Cup.

Djokovic defeated Richard Gasquet of France handily last night 6-3, 6-2 at Rexall Centre in Toronto. Gasquet played Djokovic tight in the first set, but got broken in the seventh game, and after that it was quite smooth sailing.

Djokovic previously won the Rogers Cup in 2007 in Montreal when he beat Roger Federer 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, and then won again over American Mardy Fish last year in Montreal 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Djokovic also had an advantage because of withdrawals in the tournament to Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

On the women’s side, Li Na of China will play Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic for the final in Montreal today. Na won the French Open last year and Kvitova won Wimbledon a year ago. Na defeated another Czech, Lucie Safarova in an epic match yesterday. Down 5-1 in the third set, Na won six consecutive games to come back and win 7-5.

Tags: li na, lucie safarova, novak djokovic, petra kvitova, richard gasquet, rogers cup
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |

Weekend Sports Preview–August 13-14–PGA Championship & Rogers Cup

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Keegan Bradley (Stan Badz, PGA Tour)

This year I have already introduced you to Keegan Bradley, the Byron Nelson Classic winner, and the 25 year-old rookie on the PGA Tour whose aunt is LPGA legend Pat Bradley. Now the native of Woodstock, Vermont is tied for the lead after round two of the PGA Championship at -5 with American Jason Dufner.

Bradley shot a dazzling 64 yesterday at the Atlanta Athletic Club, but because he finished on the front nine of the Highlands Course, he didn’t have a strong of a gallery on his final hole if he would have finished on the eighteenth hole.

Dufner, meanwhile, shot a 65, including an eagle on the fifth. Only once has Dufner, a native of Cleveland, finished in the top ten of a Major. He finished fifth at the 2010 PGA Championship in Wisconsin and is still looking for his first win on tour.

An American is in great position to win a major for the first time since Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters. Only two non-Americans (John Senden of Australia, tied for third at -4, and Andres Hansen of Denmark, tied for seventh at -3) are in the top ten.

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Tags: adam scott, agnieszka radwanska, d.a. points, davis love iii, franseca schiavone, janko tipsarevic, jason dufner, jerry kelly, jhonattan vegas, jie zheng, jim furyk, jo-wilfried tsonga, keegan bradley, li na, lucie safarova, mardy fish, novak djokovic, pat bradley, pga championship, ROGER FEDERER, samantha stosur, scott verplank, serena williams, steve stricker, victoria azarenka
Posted in PGA |

Williams back in great form

Friday, August 12th, 2011

Serena Williams (Wikimedia Commons)

In the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto yesterday it was clear that Serena Williams, the 13-time Grand Slam champion, is back and playing tennis at a very high level.

On Thursday, Williams made some spectacular shots, including one where she recorded a winner down the line while doing the splits, in defeating China’s Jie Zheng 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in what was the best women’s match of the week. Both players had an incredible amount of power in their shot making.

It is a little ironic the best match so far came from two players ranked in the 80′s in the world. Williams is ranked 80th and Zheng is 82nd. One could make the argument that a Williams-Zheng match is more entertaining today than a match between the top two players in the world, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark versus Kim Clijsters of Belgium.

Upsets continued on Thursday. Vera Zvonareva, the 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist and the third seed, lost 6-4, 7-6 to thirteenth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

In the upset of the day, Wimbledon finalist, Maria Sharapova of Russia, the fifth seed, lost to Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva, currently ranked 135th in the world, 6-3, 7-6. Voskoboeva won the match despite smashing her tennis racquet on the Toronto hardcourt after not being able to win the match during a game where she had three match points. Sharapova was unable to capitalize on Voskoboeva’s emotional outburst. She struggled with her serve throughout the match, having five double faults compared to zero aces.

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Tags: agnieszka radwanska, andrea petkovic, galina voskoboeva, jie zheng, lucie safarova, roberta vinci, rogers cup, samantha stosur, serena williams, victoria azarenka
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |