Wimbledon day 5: Former champions clash

Upset of the previous day:

Zarina Diyas def. Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(12) 5-7 6-2

Carla's game has the potential to excel on grass, but her mindset is always tuned on clay court tennis. Zarina fought well and the difference was winning that ultra close tiebreak. Even though the Spaniard won the second set, she ran out of steam in the third to the younger Diyas. Zarina has been languishing in ITFs for a while now, and it's nice to see her finally breakthrough into the main tour. With her compact game, she should be competent on the green grass. Let's see how she fares against Zvonareva next.

Schedule of play:

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/schedule/index.html

Match focus:

Petra Kvitova vs. Venus Williams

Two former champions clash early due to Venus's low ranking, and the crowd will be treated to a good grass court match between these two hard hitters. Petra's form is imperious so far, serving bagels in both her matches. In comparison, Venus has struggled against Torro-Flor and Nara. Doesn't bode well for the 5 time champion. Still, I think Kvitova will need some time to get used to Venus's game before running away with the match.

Pick: Kvitova in 2 sets

Lucie Safarova vs. Dominika Cibulkova

Lucie Safarova has never taken a set off Dominika Cibulkova in their previous 3 meetings. Can she finally claim a set with Cibulkova's suspect form? Safarova's game doesn't really suit grass, but she has managed to win 2 close matches so far. Cibulkova on the other hand, struggled to put away unheralded Alison Van Uytvanck in her 2nd round. Lucie has a chance here, but I believe Cibulkova's fight will see her through. Lucie might claim her first set over the Slovak here though.

Pick: Cibulkova in 3 sets

Belinda Bencic vs. Victoria Duval

This might be the future rivalry of women's tennis, as youngsters Bencic and Duval upset their more accomplished opponents to reach the 2nd round. Duval's win over Cirstea is more impressive, and considering she injured her back during the qualifying tournament. How long she can keep that up is questionable, but hopefully she's not too hampered by the pain. Bencic will need to take advantage of this and avenge her loss to Victoria in Acapulco this year. If Duval is healthy, she has the more natural grass game. However, with her back affected, I think Bencic will clinch this.

Pick: Bencic in 2 sets

Carolina Garcia vs. Ekaterina Makarova

Makarova is the more accomplished player on grass, but both players had similar struggles to reach the third round. Caroline upset Errani, but the Italian is one of the weakest gras court players on tour. These 2 have only met once, where Makarova trounced Garcia last year in Washington. It is safe to say that Garcia is a different player now, but the Frenchwoman has the expectations on her shoulders now. She didn;t handle the pressure well at all in Paris, let's see if she relaxes a little in London. This should be a close one, but Makarova should be able to scrape through this.

Pick: Makarova in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Li Na, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Carolina Wozniacki, Bojana Jovanovski
Upset alert: Peng Shuai

Indian Wells day 2: First round matches round up

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/543/title/bnp-paribas-open

Match focus:

Alisa Kleybanova vs. Victoria Duval

Only 3 players separate these 2 players in terms of ranking, but in terms of experience, Kleybanova has tons of them. The Russian is slowly picking up the pieces after her battle with cancer, and has already had a few wins on the main tour. Duval has been thriving in the ITF circuit and trying to play through qualifying. This is a good way to get into match rhythm and I think this will be a good fight. Alisa will have the crowd and experience behind her, while Duval will have the fearlessness of youth. I think Alisa needs this more, so I think the Russian will fight until the bitter end to cause a minor upset.

Pick: Kleybanova in 3 sets

Francesca Schiavone vs. Mona Barthel

Both players have had very a very forgettable 2014 so far, but at least Mona has a few wins under her belt. Schiavone on the other hand drew tough opponents, or lost to players who she's supposed to beat. The Italian is still winless this year despite playing lower tier events in Brazil. This doesn't bode well for the former Grand Slam champion. Barthel is difficult to predict, but with Schiavone at an all time low confidence, I doubt the German will be losing to her.

Pick: Barthel in 2 sets

Urzsula Radwanska vs. Aleksandra Wozniak

Fresh off her injury timeout, Urzsula Radwanska hopes to get back into action against Aleksandra Wozniak. The Canadian is also an injury plagued player, whose career might have been different if she stayed healthy enough. Anyway, it's tough for the Pole to get straight back into match playing rhythm. Wozniak had Acapulco to prepare, so she has the advantage with more match play. Even though Radwanska is still ranked higher, I believe Wozniak will take this.

Pick: Wozniak in 3 sets

Monica Niculescu vs. Marina Erakovic

I cannot say that I'm a big fan of Niculescu's game. The Romanian's unorthodox and junky game does give players fits and confuses the ball bashing players. However, Monica is under an injury cloud as she retired in Florianopolis. I doubt she has recovered fully if it was serious enough to retire from title defense. Erakovic and Niculescu have met once before last year, with Monica edging Marina out in a third set tie break. On hard courts, I believe the aggressive Erakovic has the advantage here. She just needs to keep going for it and not be bothered by the weird balls the Romanian is sending her.

Pick: Erakovic in 2 sets

Elina Svitolina vs. Monica Puig

This might be the first time these 2 have met on the senior tour, but I am sure they have a long history in juniors. Just a few years ago, these 2 players were at the top of junior rankings and this will be a good match up to see who has improved the most. Svitolina currently has a title and couple of impressive wins so far, while Puig has the tendency to perform well in the Slams. Based on current form, Elina has the advantage with more wins under her belt. Puig has suffered from fluctuating form since late last year, and it would be a surprise if she snaps out of that.

Pick: Svitolina in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Ajla Tomljanovic, Karin Knapp

Upset alert: Alexandra Cadantu, Donna Vekic, Urzsula Radwanska

Acapulco, Florianopolis day 2: Madison Keys the dark horse

Apologies for the mistake yesterday. I seriously thought Florianopolis was played on clay as the draw was littered by claycourt specialists. No wonder the turn out for Rio was so bad as no one wanted to play a clay event in the middle of nowhere.

Acapulco schedule:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/87/title/abierto-mexicano-telcel

Florianopolis schedule:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/3024/title/brasil-tennis-cup

Match focus:

Madison Keys vs. Zhang Shuai

It was strange to see Madison Key's in the qualifying draw, when her ranking was good enough to make it as one of the seeds here. I guess she was late in her commitment and decided to play more matches before heading into Indian Wells. Good move I would say as some players scoff at the idea of playing qualifying when their ranking reaches a certain height. She faces Zhang, the lowest seed in the draw in a strange turn of events. Madison just needs to be more disciplined with her power and I do see improvement with her wins in qualifying rounds. I believe if she continues her form, she can be a dark horse for the title.

Pick: Keys in 2 sets

Iveta Melzer vs. Victoria Duval

I had to do a double check when I saw the name "Iveta Melzer" in the draw. Iveta Benesova is back! Well, as Iveta Melzer as she married Jurgen Melzer in 2012. Those who are unfamiliar with her, Iveta was a top 30 staple with several wins over top players before her shoulder started acting up. She took a 2 year hiatus and is returning to the site of her first title as a comeback. Iveta won this event all the way back in 2004 as a qualifier, but it was held on clay back then. I believe it's asking too much for the Czech to immediately spring into action after such a long hiatus. Duval has had ample practice through qualifying, and should be able to edge out Iveta.

Pick: Duval in 2 tight sets

Klara Zakopalova vs. Donna Vekic

Donna Vekic was slated to be WTA's next best thing after her run to the finals in Birmingham. However, she fizzled out and almost lost all her matches since then. What happened? It's really tough to handle the expectations weighed on you and I believe Vekic felt the pressure and wasn't ready for the added attention. She will face a tough opening round as Klara's flat game will suit the hard court surface. One thing that Donna can capitalize on is that Klara will be tired after her final loss in Rio. Maybe she can upset the Czech and start her engines again. However, I highly doubt so as this is not a final.

Sure win bets: Dominika Cibulkova, Yvonne Meusburger, Garbine Muguruza
Upset alert: Alexandra Cadantu, Hsieh Su-Wei, Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor

US Open day 4: Can Pennetta upset Errani?

Upset of the previous day:

Zheng Jie def. Venus Williams 6-3 2-6 7-6(5)

It wasn't an upset per se, but it was certainly upsetting to see Venus giving her all only to come up short. Zheng played well but the match was really on Venus' racket. Fighting with all her heart, Venus came back from a set down deficit and a 0-3 score in the third set. However, she missed the crucial backhand volley at 5-all and that seemed to deflate her, as she sent a tame serve out. Pity as Venus was in great form against Flipkens and had a good chance of going far. Nevertheless, the Chinese must be congratulated for her pace absorbing play, who always seem to trouble the top players.

Schedule of play:

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/index.html?promo=subnav

Match focus:

Flavia Pennetta vs. Sara Errani

An all Italian clash between the current and former top Italian player, Pennetta will look to show who's the better hard court player. The veteran has always played her best tennis on the US hardcourts, even capturing Carlsbad a few years ago and reaching the quarter-finals, giving Serena Williams a great fight. Errani did post a double bagel result in her first round, but it was mostly due to Rogowska's woeful play rather than her own. Does Pennetta stand a chance? Definitely. But the concern for Flavia is whether she can maintain that level for the whole match.

Pick: Errani in 3 long drawn sets

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Peng Shuai

Kuznetsova wins a match for a change. Could it be the start of her resurgence again? Well, she faces a tough opponent in Peng Shuai, who can hit a mean flat ball and can cause an upset here if she's not careful. Kuznetsova just has to play her game and it should be enough. However, she needs to be punished for wearing that hideous outfit. The color combination is akin to an orange turned mouldy. Just for that, she deserves to lose a set.

Pick: Kuznetsova in 3 sets

Daniela Hantuchova vs. Victoria Duval

Daniela Hantuchova must have prayed to the right god. Her passage to the later rounds have been paved for her following the upsets of Petrova and Stosur. Duval played well against the Aussie, but there will be a letdown following such a high. Besides, Samantha was just absolutely dire in her match, so she made things easier for the young American. With years of experience, Hantuchova stands a good chance of subduing the youngster. That is if her mind can handle it.

Pick: Hantuchova in 2 set

Alison Riske vs. Mona Barthel

Mona Barthel finally wins a Grand Slam match to advance to the 2nd round. She faces the in form Alison Riske, who carried her grass court form over to the US hard courts. The big serving American has a chance against the volatile German, who seems to lose when she is expected to win. With the home crowd behind her, the American can cause the upset here if she plays to her normal standards.

Pick: Riske in 3 sets

Kaia Kanepi vs. Anna Schmiedlova

Kaia Kanepi mysteriously skipped all the US Open warm up events and came to New York without much match play. Still, she managed to outlast Vania King to win a tight 3 setter. This might indicate she's still carrying an injury and doesn't want to aggrevate it in smaller events. Pity as the Estonian can play some mean tennis, but is always sidelined when she is hitting her stride. She faces a relatively unknown player, Anna Schmiedlova. However, given how much match play she has, you have to favour the Slovakian, who is getting some kind of breakthrough recently.

Pick: Schiedlova in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Sabine Lisicki, Yaroslava Shvedova
Upset alert: Sorana Cirstea, Mona Barthel, Kaia Kanepi, Angelique Kerber, Hsieh Su-Wei