Saturday, June 25, 2011

Wimbledon - Maria Sharapova reaching top form at Wimbledon

MARIA Sharapova has returned to top form, safely reaching Wimbledon's fourth round to banish the uneasy memories of a rollercoaster first week.

The 2004 champion dismissed Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-3 6-3 in only 74 minutes in cool, overcast conditions.

The win catapults Sharapova into the last 16, where she will face Chinese 20th seed Shaui Peng,

Fifth seed Sharapova struggled against British teenager Laura Robson in the second round after destroying Russian compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in the opening phase.

Peng overcame Hungarian Melinda Czink - Sam Stosur's first-round conqueror - 6-2 7-6 (7-5).

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

ATP & WTA - Who's seeded where for Wimbledon

SEEDINGS for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday
MEN
1
. Rafael Nadal (Spain)
2. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
3. Roger Federer (Switzerland)
4. Andy Murray (Great Britain)
5. Robin Sodering (Sweden)
6. Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
7. David Ferrer (Spain)
8. Andy Roddick (US)
9. Gael Monfils (France)
10. Mardy Fish (US)
11. Jurgen Melzer (Austria)
12. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)
13. Viktor Troicki (Serbia)
14. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)
15. Gilles Simon (France)
16. Nicolás Almagro (Spain)17. Richard Gasquet (France)
18. Mikhail Youzhny (Russia)
19. Michael Llodra (France)
20. Florian Mayer (Germany)
21. Fernando Verdasco (Spain)
22. Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine)
23. Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia)
24. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)
25. Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina)
26. Guillermo García-López (Spain)
27. Marin Cilic (Croatia)
28. David Nalbandian (Argentina)
29. Nikolay Davydenko (Russia)
30. Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil)
31. Milos Raonic (Canada)
32. Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus)

WOMEN
1
. Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
2. Kim Clijsters (Belgium)
3. Vera Zvonareva (Russia)
4. Li Na (China)
5. Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
6. Maria Sharapova (Russia)
7. Francesca Schiavone (Italy)
8. Serena Williams (US)
9. Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)
10. Marion Bartoli (France)
11. Sam Stosur (Australia)
12.
Andrea Petkovic (Germany)
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia)
14. Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)
15. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia)
16. Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)
17. Julia Goerges (Germany)
18. Kaia Kanepi (Estonia)
19. Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)
20. Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium)
21. Peng Shuai (China)
22. Flavia Pennetta (Italy)
23. Shahar Peer (Israel)
24. Venus Williams (US)
25. Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia)
26. Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia)
27. Maria Kirilenko (Russia)
28. Jarmila Gajdosova (Australia)
29.
Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)
30. Roberta Vinci (Italy)
31. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US)
32. Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)

No 2 seed Kim Clijsters (Belgium) has pulled out this morning.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

ATP - Tsonga sinks Nadal at Queen's

RAFAEL Nadal has crashed out of Queen's at the hands of French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Tsonga pulled off a shock 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-1 win in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon warm-up event this morning.

Nadal arrived at Queen's admitting he felt exhausted in the aftermath of his record-equalling sixth triumph at the French Open and he was unable to cope with Tsonga's sublime display.

Despite his tiredness this was still a major blow for the Spaniard, who had reached seven successive finals before this defeat, and it leaves him short of game time on grass ahead of the defence of his Wimbledon title later this month.

"After losing the second set, mentally I lost my concentration. It has been a lot of matches in a row and after that break in the third set it was a mountain for me to come back," said Nadal.
"I am a little tired. I wasn't there like usual and certainly I think I need a little bit of break."

Tsonga added: "The first time I reached the world top 100 was here at Queen's and today I have beaten the world number one," said Tsonga. "It was close to my best tennis - it has to be to beat Rafa."