Day 5: Why oh why???

Rosmalen SF:

Urszula Radwanska def. Kim Clijsters walkover

WHY OH WHY??? Why can't Kim Clijsters stay injury free for once??! Kim withdrew in order to be fully fit for Wimbledon. If she's going to be injured facing relative scrubs in 3 matches, how is she going to survive 7 matches against top players? I'm a Kim fan and I am absolutely deflated by this. It seems like her body cannot take the beatdown of the tour anymore. Well, I hope she really goes all out now for Wimbledon. Any match of her playing is precious. I will miss you Kim! :(

Nadia Petrova def. Kirsten Flipkens 6-4 6-2

And the fairytale ends for Flipkens as well as she is knocked out comprehensively by Nadia Petrova. Well, ithis tournament will give her ranking a much needed boost, although she missed out on Wimbledon qualifying because of this tournament. Nadia will be gunning for her 11th title; and I made a mistake earlier, Nadia has never won a grass court tournament. So if she wins, it will be her first and it will complete her surface sweep of titles. Not as impressive as a career slam but still not many have achieved it. And judging by her opponent in the final, it seems like Nadia will be one of the few players to achieve this feat.

Eastbourne SF:

Tamira Paszek def. (4) Marion Bartoli 4-6 7-5 6-4

Leading by a set and 4-0, Marion Bartoli lost the plot and allowed Tamira Paszek to fight her way back into the match. Very disappointing as this is Bartoli's preferred surface and Tamira hasn't had much results lately. A huge wasted chance for Marion to defend her title and to win her first title of the year. Tamira will be elated with reaching her first Premier title ever and hopefully win her biggest title of her career. Interestingly, Paszek is slated to play Caroline Wozniacki in her first round of Wimbledon. A first round upset? Very possible.

(5) Angelique Kerber def. Klara Zakopalova 6-0 6-3

When all the top seeds fall, you can always count on Angelique Kerber to do the job. Kerber has been the most consistent player this year and is the first to reach 40 wins for the year. Hard to imagine that last year, she was languishing in the lower part of the top 100. She will be looking at her first grass court title tomorrow and you have to favour her again in the final.