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Tournament preview: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Players are out and firing at the Dubai Open — one of the Premier 5 events, second only to Grand Slams, WTA Finals and Premier Mandatories.

The two-week tournament (Feb 15 – 28) has a star-studded line-up on the women’s draw, with seven of the top ten players, and 14 of the top 20 in action. Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament due to an illness (read more here), and the other top-ten absentees are number two Maria Sharapova and number seven Genie Bouchard.

Venus Williams is the defending champion here, but her quest to a fourth Dubai title is not an easy one. She is placed in the third quarter alongside Ana Ivanovic, young guns Belinda Bencic and Karolina Pliskova. In-form Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova is also in that bracket. Williams would start her campaign facing Bencic, who defeated Karin Knapp in the first round. The potential QF could see Venus facing Pliskova, and Venus herself could make or break that match. But given her 15-match winning streak in Dubai and 11-1 so far in 2015, she is poised to make another deep run here.

Top seed Simona Halep’s quarter is nowhere near easy, with Makarova (who beat her in AO quarters) and recent Diamond Games champ Petkovic all presenting challenges. Halep opens with Daniela Hantuchova, who came fresh off her third Pattaya title. If Halep’s slackened form continues, she won’t make it through — instead Makarova will come out on top in this half of the draw.

Other players to watch include past champions Wozniacki and Kvitova, who are both in a relatively easier draw. My dream final would be Williams vs Wozi, in which Wozi would come out on top this time, avenging her loss in Auckland earlier this year.

Posted by Gary Kwok | February 16, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Andrea Petkovic, Caroline Wozniacki, dubai duty free tennis championships, serena williams, Simona Halep, Venus Williams, wta | Leave a comment

Kim Clijsters’ still got it

With Carla Suarez Navarro pulling out of the final of the Diamond Games vs Andrea Petkovic, tournament director and 2004 champion, former #1 Kim Clijsters played an exhibition match with Petko. What can I say? Kim’s still got it… the passing shots, the slides, the footwork and the return… if she’s stayed pro, she’s probably still one of the biggest contenders of titles and slams. Good work, Kim!

Video link:

Posted by Gary Kwok | February 16, 2015 | Categories: WTA | Tags: Andrea Petkovic, Diamond Games, Kim Clijsters, wta | Leave a comment

Catching up

So I’ve abandoned the site for a year, but I am back now and have decided to expand the site into more than just tennis. I would make it a comprehensive lifestyle + entertainment + sports directory, so stay tuned for the massive facelift.

Tennis, of course, would remain one of the main ares of focus, but I don’t want to limit myself to that, and I really don’t care if anyone reads this blog or not, for I only want a platform for some leisure writing.

OK, so a little bit of catch up on the past year:

On the WTA side, Serena Williams is still the most dominant player, recently claiming her 19th Grand Slam, setting her apart from WTA legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, standing lone at second-most GS only trailing Steffi Graf’s 22. The big question is: will she make 22 or even surpass that? My take is yes she would. With 22 so close in sight, she has now a whole-new motivation, and this surpasses every other thing that she has been chasing after — she has already carved her name into tennis history, and now she is looking to achieve something that no one else has ever achieved. Aussie Open is just the beginning, and the fearless prediction here is that this might be the year for another Serena Slam. Even if she stumbles (yet again) in Roland Garros, it is certain that 2015 will be the year she earns #20 or even 21. Also it is worth mentioning that her long-time “rivalry” Maria Sharapova will not win a single match against her for the rest of her life — trust me on this. I put a bracket to rivalry because when someone has never won against another person for 11 years, it’s at most a catfight. Williams’ biggest rival? Pretty obvious and I quote Serena herself: “Venus, please.”

Recently Williams has announced that she is going back to Indian Wells, a tournament she and Venus have boycotted since the controversial 2001 final, where Serena beat Kim Clijsters in three sets. Read full article here.

Apart from Williams, WTA field has welcomed an array of young players led by the likes of Simona Halep and Genie Bouchard. The biggest breakthrough went to Halep, who cracked into top 5, and actually top 2 — last year. But since then she has faltered a bit. Genie, on the other hand, is a bit overrated for my taste. Having watched her play several times, it is safe to say that she has the potential to battle past tough match-ups but when she faces top players like Serena and Maria, she stand absolutely zero chance. She is not as witty as Halep, and she is not as powerful as other young guns like Garbine Muguruza and Elina Svitolina. Spotlight is all over teenager Madison Keys, who beat big names like Kvitova and Venus Williams en route to her first grand slam SF at the Happy Slam. But I think this is a one-time thing for her: she would need a couple of years before she becomes a consistent force to be reckoned.

The reason I don’t write much about ATP is that the big 4 has been so consistent — TOO consistent in a way that I don’t have to “predict” anything. Actually the last eight of the 2015 AO featured the top 7 seeds — the only exception being Federer, who lost to Italian Andreas Seppi in the third round. To be very honest, I am not surprised by the loss — considering his age, Fed can pretty much lose to anyone who’s at their best when he himself is having a bad day.

That being said, 2015 would be a pretty interesting year for tennis. Keep an eye for a Serena and Djokovic Slam — for they are truly deserving #1s and when they mean business, nobody on tour can stop them. Not even Nadal, Federer or Murray.

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Posted by Gary Kwok | February 10, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Andy Murray, ATP, Australian Open, Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova, Martina Navratilova, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, serena williams, Simona Halep, tennis, Venus Williams, wta | Leave a comment

Pre-match analysis: Williams VS Azarenka

The much anticipated rematch of last year’s final is set with the top two seeds to meet in the finals in Flushing Meadows. Despite the fuzz and buss the match has brought, I think it will be a pretty straight forward affair.

Williams came into the Open with such strong will to defend her title for the first time here that she literally crushed all her opponents in the six rounds she’s played. So far she has yet to drop a set and has lost a combined 16 games, and in them only 2 service games were broken (1 to Stephens and 1 to Li Na). Her serve has been so solid and consistent even though she (surprisingly) is not the leader of the Ace board. She is a very poised player now, and her wild outburst of emotions are rarely seen since the 2009 semis saga here. She has learnt how to control her own power and use it to dictate points. She now feels comfortable to go into longer rallies to have the point set up and her dropshots are cherries on the top when it comes to shot-making. Her return is as vicious as ever, stomping over literally everyone’s serve and creating winners from all over the service box. She simply is at the very best of her game now and she wants the title more than anyone. Expect her to come out firing and be really focused tonight.

Azarenka on the other hand was not as convincing as Williams in advancing to her second straight USO finals- she had to survive Alize Cornet of France and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia before reaching the quarters, where the draw has been open up by surprise packages Daniela Hantuchova and Flavia Pennetta. In that two matches she spent no time cruising past and, credits to her, has displayed a better form. She has slowly lifted her game and should be entering the finals with the best form over the past two weeks. But her unforced errors has been plaguing her, and against Williams one would expect her to force herself to find all corners, which in turn would cost her more errors. Her serve is very unreliable throughout the tournament and if she serves the way she did vs Williams, no mercy will be given and Williams is going to eat her up alive. She does have the toughness to bounce back from matches, but Williams herself is known as the toughest woman on tour when trailing. Azarenka can’t rely on that. She has to lift her game to another level if she wants to stand a chance vs Williams. Her two wins over Williams (Doha in Feb and Cincinnati last month) would give her a decent confidence boost entering the match, but in a grand slam finals Williams would be a different person. Williams would bear those losses in mind and get the best out of it, capitalize and make revenge.

Azarenka, as “the most legitimate number two in the world” as put by William’s coach and boyfriend Patrick Mouratoglou, will give Serena a good run but the four-time champion would gun her down when it matters and will come through in straight sets and claim her 17th career singles grand slam title.

Posted by Gary Kwok | September 8, 2013 | Categories: WTA | Tags: azarenka, ivanovic, li na, serena williams, us open, wta | Leave a comment

Post-match report: Pennetta VS Vinci

Pennetta came into the 2013 US Open unseeded, but her performance for the past 5 matches have been so impressive that I think she should spend no time in returning to top 10. She defeated (I wouldn’t really consider it an upset) fellow countrywoman and #10 seed Vinci 6-4 6-1 in a very convincing display of her ability in their quarterfinal clash.

Flavia Pennetta

Both players looked nervous and struggled to hold serve in the beginning, trading breaks to make it 1-1. Vinci was the first to hold, and she started employing her signature play, using her backhand slices deep down the baseline to allow herself net approaches and she seemed settled at one point. Both players know each other too well, as they are tied 4-4 in their series and they were room-mates and good friends off court. Pennetta knew just what to do against Vinci: trying to keep Vinci staying behind baseline using her own very consistent groundstrokes and occasional crafty touches of drop shots and passing shots. She went up a break to lead 4-2 and had break points to go on to a 5-2 lead, but Vinci rallied from 0-40 to come back and held, then breaking her 30-year-old opponent to level the match. Pennetta however broke her again and despite some aggressive net approaches from Vinci trying to erase set points, she pocketed the first set 6-4. Vinci only won 13 of the 25 net points in the first set.

From then on Pennetta didn’t allow Vinci to get back to the match, racing to a commanding 4-0 lead and eventually closing it out 6-1 with a beautiful lob shot that sailed over Vinci and landed inside the court on the final point. She struck 23 winners and 17 unforced errors throughout the match, and is now in her first-ever semifinals of a Grand Slam. Her run has not been easy- she took out #4 seed Sara Errani 6-3 6-1 in the second round and then ousted former champion Kuznetsova of Russia, whom she had a 0-5 head2head deficit heading into that match in the third round. In all matches she is consistent, fast and has a clear mind. She knew how to play her opponents employing the right strategy and is physically fit enough to execute her game plans- she has completely walked out of her wrist injury already.

Flavia Pennetta

This year’s USO celebrates veterans-5 players in the quarters are 30+, and would Pennetta go one step further to reach her very first grand slam finals? Not quite probable, I’m afraid, as she face last year’s finalist Azarenka in the semis on Friday. Azarenka wasn’t on top of her game, but when she needed to step up she was able to summon her weapons and mental toughness to battle past tricky opponents. Her quarters match vs Hantuchova was better- she wasted no time and looked focus and her games are finally putting together for the first time since last Sunday. She seems poised to reach her second USO final, with a possible re-match of last years final v Serena Williams, in which she would be trying very hard to avenge her three-set loss here last year. If Pennetta were to stumble Azarenka, she will have to up her level and demolish the Belorussian mentally early.

Posted by Gary Kwok | September 5, 2013 | Categories: WTA | Tags: azarenka, Pennetta, sara errani, serena williams, sports, tennis, us open, Vinci, wta | Leave a comment

Post-match report: Azarenka VS Ivanovic

Despite her three-set victory over Ivanovic in their rain-delayed round of 16 match, Azarenka played a very sloppy match that was nowhere near her best.

From the beginning to the end of the match, Ivanovic’s forehand dominated, firing winners after winners. She adopted an aggressive play and ended up with 41 winners, compared to Azarenka’s 21. But that approach of course has also resulted in 42 unforced errors which ultimately gave the match away. She played a spectacular first set and showed fighting spirits in the third, saving three match points, two on Azarenka’s service game. I’m very glad to see Ivanovic going out there playing like that again- her smooth and to-the-point forehand is the most splendid one on WTA tour- no one matches her in that regard. She can fire unbelievable shots from both wings, even while on the run. Azarenka had no answer to that whole match- a lot of points she didn’t even have time to react and was just rooted to the ground. Since winning Roland Garros and getting to world #1 in 2008, Ivanovic has been struggling in a confidence crisis and her game falls apart. It is nice to see a player with such talent and potential (not to mention good look) to come back anew. Her 2013 results are pretty good actually, often pushing top 5 players to 3 setters (Azarenka, Li Na and Sharapova etc). I think she is going to need a big breakthrough win to re-establish herself as a force and if she does it, she still has a very bright career ahead, so she should take this loss positively and I do see a silver-lining shining through.

As for Vika, she was never settled in the match and was struggling with her own service game, surrendering 7 of them to Ivanovic. Her forehand wasn’t working at all- she had 0 forehand winner until the last few games in the second set. But she was able to put her poor performance in the first set behind and keep up with the footwork and also the pace from the second set. She has a tougher mind than Ivanovic, and she played better in big points. Her backhand drop shoots were stunning, with the spin so difficult to read and the disguise so hard to react to. But her unforced errors were also piling up with frustrations- at some obvious points she just wrecked the ball so hard that it flew way out of baseline. She is playing like a young Serena, with everything in her arsenal but not knowing how to use them correctly and control them effectively. However, having battling past Ivanovic, the draw should be open for her to cruise into the finals, but judging from her performance from the last two weeks, she is not going to win her maiden US open title this year just yet.

Posted by Gary Kwok | September 4, 2013 | Categories: WTA | Tags: azarenka, ivanovic, match points, roland garros, tennis, us open, wta | Leave a comment

Pre-match analysis: Serena Williams VS Li Na (US Open Women’s Singles semi-finals)

It’s been a long time in the Slams have we seen such a reliable semi-finals line-up- the No.1 seed VS No. 5 seed. Personally I think the clash would decide the titlist of this year’s Championships- whoever wins this would go on and win the crown, due to the poor performance of no. 2 seed Azarenka in the tournament so far- I’ll come to that later.

The matches between Li and Serena has always been tough, though Serena leads their head-to-head with an authoritative 8-1 result, Li has played Serena tough in every of them. Serena prevailed their last match in Cincinnati 7-5, 7-5 just two weeks ago.

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That more or less lays down the essence of this juicy semis lineup: the two aggressors will play each other a tough match. Li has shown her improved aggressive play with more accuracy and consistency throughout the fortnight, as well as a more solid mental toughness which has always been plaguing her in important moments. But her 3-set wins over tricky lefty Makarova and her convincing victory over former world #1 Jelena Jankovic should give her enough confidence boost to put up a good fight against Serena in such a big occasion.

But Serena on the other hand has been playing her own brand of tennis for the past two weeks, of which nobody on tour can contest when she is on it. In the much-anticipated quarterfinals against Sloane Stephens, the pressure was on her to avenge her dramatic loss to Stephens in the Australian Open earlier this year. She overcame that and showed the world that she is now an improved player in terms of emotion-management and that’s what makes her simply the best player on tour. People have been talking about her power play but it is unfair to overlook the fact that she also has the most precision in shot-making and selection, solid defense and iron-like mental toughness. Her footwork is agile as ever too. Li can’t handle Serena’s serve either, should she finds her rhythm and land her first serves.

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That being said, a healthy Serena outplays Li just slightly in all regards, and that would prove the difference between them- Serena will come through in two tight sets, should she not injure herself in her third round doubles match with Venus against #11 seeds Lucie Safarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Tough luck for Li- in this form she would have defeated Azarenka should she advance.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to vote and let me know what you think.

Posted by Gary Kwok | September 4, 2013 | Categories: WTA | Tags: azarenka, li na, serena williams, us open, wta | Leave a comment

Starting off

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I’ve been wanting to start a tennis blog since ever, and I finally got myself to do it- in this blog I will write about tennis matches- more on WTA because I ‘m more familiar- draws’ analysis, pre-match picks and post match reviews. It’s kind of weird to start off in between the last stage of the US Open, but I really want to share my thoughts, so what the hell!

Posted by Gary Kwok | September 4, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: sports, tennis, wta | Leave a comment

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