Cincinnati: Serena in danger?

Day 5:

Angelique Kerber vs. Serena Williams
Caroline Wozniacki or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Petra Kvitova
Samantha Stosur vs. Venus Williams
Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Li Na or Johanna Larsson

Match focus:

Angelique Kerber vs. Serena Williams

Serena has been lethargic in her matches so far. Against lesser players like Daniilidou and Urszula Radwanska, she committed a generous amount of unforced errors. Well, these players have nothing to hurt Serena, so she was able to pull through. The gold medallist will now face a tough challenge in the form of Angelique Kerber, who has won the most number of matches this year.  Serena needs to bring her best to the court because the pesky German will make her hit a lot of balls. Once Serena's concentration deviates, she might lose this quickly. I guess Serena is tired from playing so many matches. I won't be surprised if she withdraws prior to this match.

Pick: Kerber in 2 tight sets

Samantha Stosur vs. Venus Williams

Venus Williams seems to be back on track with her demolition of Sara Errani. And she will like her chances against the wildly fluctuation Samantha Stosur. After all, she won their last encounter in Rome in straight sets. Venus can only pray that the she will be healthy enough to play as Samantha has a habit of losing easily to the bigger names of WTA. Also, Venus's height and her strong backhand will not be bothered by Samantha's kick serve. The American definitely has a chance of reaching the semi-finals or the finals here.

Pick: Williams in 2 sets

Caroline Wozniacki or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Petra Kvitova

Whoever is the winner in the Wozniacki/Pavlyuchenkova match will be at a disadvantage before the match even begins. A well-rested Kvitova will just annihilated anyone who's not at 100%. If Caroline somehow ekes out a win against Pavlyuchenkova, she would have played 2 gruelling sets already. If Pavlyuchenkova beats the annoying Dane, she doesn't have the court coverage and speed to trouble Kvitova. Anyway, it's a win-win situation for Petra.

Pick: Kvitova in 2 sets

Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Li Na or Johanna Larsson

Let's not kid ourselves here. Larsson doesn't stand a chance against Li. She is only in the quarter-finals as she had the fortune of drawing Bye-toli. Radwanska is not convincing as the top seed and Li has already taken her out easily last week. I expect her to do the same here. Li needs to quickly take out Johanna and get ready to play first strike tennis.

Pick: Li in 2 sets