Bank of the West Classic, Stanford 2014

[Moose]

Oh Aga, the polka dots are hurting my eyes!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Well done Lepchenko....her first win over Radwanska in 5 attempts......63 36 64

 

[Moose]

Well done Lepchenko....her first win over Radwanska in 5 attempts......63 36 64

It was also Lepchenko's first career win against a top 5 player.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ Yep...Aga was the runner up to Domi in this tournament in 2013.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

This was the first time in five Stanford appearance's that Aga dropped her opener

 

[Fefe26]

Aga seems to be in a slump

 

[rubydo]

Aga is in a deep slump. The rigors of the WTA maybe taking a toll on her slender frame. Even Ula now ranked 117 is having trouble, she was bounced out of the 1st round of the Vancouver Open on Monday by Asia Mohammad of the USA ranked 363 in the world.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Aga seems to be in a slump

I agree.

This was the 4th time she couldn't get past the initial round of an event in 2014.
It's been going downhill since Indian Wells...

 

[Hoergren]

Order of play Thursday, July 31, 2014

Stadium
11:00 - Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) V Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 64
13:00 - Coco Vandeweghe (USA) V [3] Angelique Kerber (GER) 67 60 26
15:00 - Carol Zhao (CAN) V [5] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 16 16
19:00 - [4] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) V Venus Williams (USA) 46 67
21:00 - [1] Raquel Kops-Jones / Abigail Spears (USA / USA) V Varvara Lepchenko / Ajla Tomljanovic (USA / CRO) 76 61

Results from Wednesday on page 1

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The match I am looking forward to is Venus v Vika

Venus has a h2h 3-0 over Vika,Vika has never taken a set from Venus.Vika is still in need of match practice.Venus has a great record at Stanford,she has reached the final in seven out of eight appearances.

I am picking a Venus win.

 

[Moose]

Garbine got off to a great start on hardcourts down under this season. Curious to see if she can catch fire like that again over the US summer season. She certainly has an inviting draw here, and we could easily be watching her come Sunday's final

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ Garbine will play Angie next.After watching Angie v Coco,Angie can not afford to play like she did in the 2nd set,where she got bagled today,though she righted the ship in the 3rd set.I like Garbine's chances against Angie in their matchup,these courts are fast,if Garbine can play first strike tennis,she has a good chance to win.

 

[Fefe26]

looking forward to serena vs ana tomorrow.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Venus wins 64 76(1) over Vika.

Vika's rhythm and also timing of her shots were off in this match,which is expected,due to lack of match practice.Vika did break Venus when she was serving for the match at 5-3,Vee double faulted,Vee has had trouble closing matches out,though she played a great t/breaker.

Bad luck to the Birthday Girl Vika (nice to hear the commentator at the start of the match announcing it was her birthday)...Vika needs more match play.I have missed Vika and I am glad she is back on the tour.Keep working hard Vika!

 

[Hoergren]

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, 1 AUGUST - QUARTER finals

STADIUM Starting at: 12:00 noon

Garbiñe MUGURUZA (ESP) vs Angelique KERBER (GER) [3] 26 16
followed by
[Q]Sachia VICKERY (USA vs Varvara LEPCHENKO (USA)) 16 06
followed by

Not Before 4:00 pm
[WC]Venus WILLIAMS (USA) vs Andrea PETKOVIC (GER) [8] 16 63 57

Not Before 8:00 pm
Serena WILLIAMS (USA) [1] vs Ana IVANOVIC (SRB) [5] 26 63 75

Paula KANIA (POL)/Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE) vs Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK)/Arantxa PARRA SANTONJA (ESP) 76 64

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Due to defeat of Vika in the match,Ana Ivanovic will move back into the Top 10,after 5 long years.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

If Ana beats Serena again, I will start questioning Serena's #1 ranking!

 

[Si Si Simona]

Due to defeat of Vika in the match,Ana Ivanovic will move back into the Top 10,after 5 long years.

It was a mistake to drop her coach. Ana was doing well this year and the top 10 belongs to her former coach. Too greedy. She beat Serena and Sugarbabe this year already and won 3 events, why change the coach?

Anyway these minor events are nothing without storm Simona and she is due to land on Cinci soon. Get ready!
and... Simo looks good now with that classy adidas new outfit
and... Simo needs to stop being nice for the protocol. I want Simo to start trashing the western media and put that media in her place. But she is too smart to do what I would have done in her place.

rant over

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I am curious to see how Serena continues. It was a nice win though she is still having some slight consistency issues with her ground game. The serve is looking much better. She won't have time to rest though as the rest of her road she has tough challengers in Ana, Andrea and/or Venus. This is a great field for Serena to really see where her game is at right now.

I still don't think she is being aggressive enough with her game. I realize she wants to get the ball into play, and while she is doing well in the longer rallies she also has to realize the more time she allows her opponents to hang in a point the more opportunities she is giving her opponent to win the point as well. She does better when her opponents know they don't have too much time to get in their shots, so they have to go for something special early.

 

[Calvy]

If Ana beats Serena again, I will start questioning Serena's #1 ranking!

Common sense would dictate waiting until after the US Open to question her ranking.