Cincinnati day 2: Bye-toli

Singles - Second Round
(2) Serena Williams (USA) d. (Q) Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) 63 64
(3) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 63 67(6) 64
(5) Angelique Kerber (GER) d. (LL) Timea Babos (HUN) 36 61 62
(Q) Johanna Larsson (SWE) d. (8) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 64 62

Singles - First Round
(WC) Venus Williams (USA) d. (12) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 63 67(5) 62
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. (15) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 76(8) 31 ret. (dizziness)
(Q) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) d. (16) Lucie Safarova (CZE) 63 64
(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 64 60
Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. (Q) Madison Keys (USA) 63 63
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 26 76(1) 63
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) d. Christina McHale (USA) 36 63 30 ret. (GI illness)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) d. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 67(6) 62 63
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) d. Tamira Paszek (AUT) 61 21 ret. (migraine)
(Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) d. (Q) Kiki Bertens (NED) 62 61
(Q) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) d. (Q) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 63 75
(LL) Anna Tatishvili (GEO) d. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 76(5) 75
(WC) Sloane Stephens (USA) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 64 61

(Q) Johanna Larsson (SWE) d. (8) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 64 62

I have no idea what's going on with Bartoli here but her form has been totally dismal recently. I know she's upset at being snubbed at the Olympics and has been keeping herself busy with tournaments which no one entered. But she didn't have any good showings in all of those depleted fields. And now she lost to Johanna Larsson, who lost to Melanie Oudin in the French Open. Larsson's game isn't difficult to read as she doesn't possess a backhand. It's a surprise that Bartoli couldn't take advantage of that. With this loss, Marion is officially out of the top 10 in rankings. Maybe it's a good thing because she clearly doesn't belong there.

(3) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 63 67(6) 64

This match was just utter tortue for anyone who had the misfortune of watching this. Samantha Stosur was in full shank mode, mishitting balls like nobody's business. After choking away the second set, she was down 0-4 quickly in the third set. Then, it was Anabel's turn to stink up the court. The Spanish girl couldn't put a ball in court as Stosur won 6 games in a row to win this shit-fest. One thing can be sure, Samantha is not going to defend her US Open title this year. The Australian's form is truly atrocious and she would be lucky to win a few matches in New York.

(WC) Venus Williams (USA) d. (12) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 63 67(5) 62

Venus Williams is back! Despite failing to close it out at 54 and 65 up in the 2nd set, the American made things right by cruising through the third set. On paper, this is an upset; but everyone knows Venus can beat anyone on her good day. Good signs for the American as she showed good signs during her Olympics campaign of being able to play healthily. Let's see if she can finish this tournament without being affected by her autoimmune disease.