Cincinnati 2013: Western & Southern Open

[RJD11]

I see Lisiki has come back down to earth.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

This one is for you(&me) hoergren!

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I see Lisiki has come back down to earth.

She is only good on grass, she sucks on hard courts.

I still love her!!
:heart:

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Serena has a week off before the US Open if she can do Madrid and Rome before the French then I have faith she can do the Toronto/Cincy onslaught before the US Open. She will get a week off after this.

Exactly! The Open isn't like she'll lay everyday.

She isn't playing doubles it looks like either. Seeing as how Venus said she wasn't looking to play doubles at the US Open. Serena needs the match play. She still isn't exactly where she needs to be with her serve and ground game. There is still a bit of clay court game she hasn't transitioned fully out of yet creeping in every now and then. I am pleased to see a return of aggression on her part and getting greater depth on her ground strokes.

 

[Hoergren]

This one is for you(&me) hoergren!

Thanks Kiu - it's a nice and good start to the tournament. Should be a good chance that she'll get a couple of matches. And it's quite nice to have a beer after a well done match

 

[RJD11]

"I thought I started the match off pretty well, but when you put yourself in a really good position, you can't let it go," Sharapova said. "That's what I did tonight. I didn't continue what I was doing well for the first set and a half, and that hurt me.

"You know, I stopped being patient. I started making a lot more errors, especially off the first ball -- just errors that I shouldn't make. Obviously I haven't played in a long time, but I can't make that excuse for myself because I've got to be ready from the first match. So it's obviously disappointing, but that's the way it goes in this game."

Jimmy Connors, who won the tournament 41 years ago, watched from the stands in his first match as Sharapova's coach. She hired Connors, the 1972 champion and a 1986 finalist, in mid-July.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Here is the Order of play:

Order of play:
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

CENTER COURT

13:00 - [1] SERENA WILLIAMS (USA) V EUGENIE BOUCHARD (CAN)
20:30 - LAUREN DAVIS (USA) V [5] NA LI (CHN)

GRANDSTAND

11:00 - [11] SAMANTHA STOSUR (AUS) V JAMIE HAMPTON (USA)
19:00 - SIMONA HALEP (ROU) V [8] MARION BARTOLI (FRA)

COURT 3

11:00 - VENUS WILLIAMS (USA) V ELENA VESNINA (RUS)
13:00 - [4] AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (POL) V VARVARA LEPCHENKO (USA)

COURT 9

11:00 - [6] SARA ERRANI (ITA) V POLONA HERCOG (SLO)
13:00 - [7] PETRA KVITOVA (CZE) V MARINA ERAKOVIC (NZL)
15:00 - SARA ERRANI / ROBERTA VINCI (ITA / ITA) V DANIELA HANTUCHOVA / MARTINA HINGIS (SVK / SUI)

COURT 4

11:00 - ANDREA PETKOVIC (GER) V [12] ROBERTA VINCI (ITA)
13:00 - [9] ANGELIQUE KERBER (GER) V ALISA KLEYBANOVA (RUS)
15:00 - MONICA NICULESCU (ROU) V [10] CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (DEN)

COURT 6

11:00 - MONA BARTHEL (GER) V [16] MARIA KIRILENKO (RUS)
14:00 - JELENA JANKOVIC V EKATERINA MAKAROVA (RUS)

COURT 7

13:00 - ALIZE CORNET (FRA) V MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA (SVK)

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Ummmm...so confused??? The only way Sloane is playing Radwanska is if she and Aggie both make it to the finals of Cincy seeing as they are on opposite sides of the draw. As of right now, that is a pretty tall order for both women seeing as this is a loaded field.

 

[sk310]

I really think Maria is just rusty. She made a mistake by not playing in Canada. Even playing 2 matches in Canada and losing the the 2nd round would have prepared her better. Now I think she goes into the USO with two straight early round losses (Wimbledon and Cinci).

I think at this point, a few weeks in and after an injury, the Connors factor has little to do wit her loss

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I don't know if I would chalk this one down totally to rust on Maria's part sure her unforced error count was atrocious, but she was doing fine until she lost that tiebreaker that was when she went downhill fast.

 

[kskate2]

Honestly Sunday, she went downhill before the breaker and it's the reason she had to play a TB. Her 1st serve % was dismal throughout the 2nd set and that allowed Sloane too many looks on 2nd serves and then add in the UE. She did good to push it to a breaker.

 

[kskate2]

Alright gang. What's on tap for today? Some good matches. Have a look at these if you're able:
Stosur v Hampton
Halep v Bartoli
Petko v Vinci
Barthel v Kirilenko

 

[special700]

This is amazing to me

All the articles I am reading is stating "Sharapova loses in return from injury" paraphasing here. Yet when Sloane beat an obvious injured Serena at the AO they announce it like Sloane outright beat a healthy Serena. Unfrigging believable. You can't make this stuff up.

 

[djmm]

Pova is trying to give Sloane a chance.. she just don't have it.. I would like to pull for Sloane(don't tell Tossip:snigger) to get it to a 3rd set because I need to go get my popcorn for Fed match

Don't worry. I think this will be over in 15 min. You can get your popcorn while Fed is warming up.

yeah. I am looking for my car keys because if Sloane thinks Pova is gonna beat herself she don't know Maria..

62 UFEs uzzled

 

[djmm]

She needs matches not practice. She skipped Stanford & Toronto to practice and look where it got her.

I totally agree. Plus, Maria has gotten slower running from side-to-side that's why she was striking the ball late producing all those UFEs.

 

[djmm]

Sunday, Serena doesn't really care about Cinci. She will be happy to play a couple of matches and then withdraw citing some soreness so she doesn't overdo it for the Open.

This title is missing from her resume. She wants it!!

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Alright gang. What's on tap for today? Some good matches. Have a look at these if you're able:
Stosur v Hampton
Halep v Bartoli
Petko v Vinci
Barthel v Kirilenko

I am adding to your list K.
Serena and Genie
Venus and Elena

 

[tossip]

All the articles I am reading is stating "Sharapova loses in return from injury" paraphasing here. Yet when Sloane beat an obvious injured Serena at the AO they announce it like Sloane outright beat a healthy Serena. Unfrigging believable. You can't make this stuff up.

so all this contradicts what Sloane uttered after her win:snigger I am not a pova fan but it was quite clear that she was rusty.Maria has a good record at Cincy so something must have been up with her.
Serena was definitely injured in Australia but the media conveniently leaves that out...

 

[djmm]

Alright gang. What's on tap for today? Some good matches. Have a look at these if you're able:
Stosur v Hampton
Halep v Bartoli
Petko v Vinci
Barthel v Kirilenko

I am adding to your list K.
Serena and Genie
Venus and Elena

Yeah, they are just an after-thought :dodgy:

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

We all endorse the matches we like, it's OK!

Here are some updates.
Slammin Sammy took the first set 6-3 from Jamie Hampton.
Vinci won the first set 6-4
Sara as well, leading by the same score.