Tennis Chatter

Venus Williams rolled through quarterfinals today, beating S. Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4. She played well at the net, winning 11 out of 12 chances. However, she looked a little vulnerable off her second serve (winning 43% of her points off of it) and tightened up a little in the second set, allowing herself to be broken. She held on for the win however, and will face French Open finalist A. Ivanovic in semifinals. Ivanovic defeated N. Vaidisova in quarterfinals, hitting 21 unforced errors to Vaidisova’s 39. I expect Venus to win and advance to finals, with J. Henin defeating M. Bartoli on the other-side of the bracket.

Men’s quarterfinal brackets are complete, after finishing all remaining fourth round matches today. Berdych took care of J. Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7, 6-0. He hit 48 winners, to 35 unforced errors. In addition, he hit 15 aces. Nadal won another tough five-setter, this time against M. Youzhny 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Youzhny had Nadal in the first two sets, until Nadal settled down and hit 57 winners, to only 18 unforced errors. I expect Berdych to beat Nadal in quarterfinals with his powerful ground strokes and big serving.

Djokovic won a great match against Hewitt, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. This win shows how clutch Djokovic can be, fighting off many set points for Hewitt, and winning three tiebreakers. Despite this, he needs to cut down on his 49 unforced errors. His oppenent in semifinals will be Bagdatis. Bagdatis defeated Davydenko 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. I expect Djokovic to win this match-up.

It’s important to note that this side of the draw is extremely young. Berdych, Nadal, Djokovic, and Bagdatis are all extremely young. If you add Gasquet (on the other side of the draw), you see a very bright future for tennis (American tennis on the other hand…not so much).

Federer’s match against Ferrero was delayed at 5-5 in the first set due to rain. I think Federer wins this match in three sets.

Roddick and Gasquet’s match didn’t get on court due to rain. Roddick is the conventional pick (he is consistently good on grass). But I give Gasquet a great chance.