McIntyre Tennis

Thursday WTA Results From The Sydney International

By: Mike McIntyre

Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Quarterfinal action at the Sydney International on Thursday saw the draw taken down to the final four players. Australia's Daria Gavrilova had already received a walkover in her match from an injured Garbine Muguruza. She will face another Aussie in Ashleigh Barty which will give the locals a guaranteed player in the finals to cheer for. Barty has been on a roll this event and has yet to drop set. She dispatched Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-2 to advance.

Angelique Kerber continued her impressive return to form with a 6-3, 6-1 win over 2014 Aussie Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova. It was Kerber's first straight set win of the tournament and she now stands at 7-0 on the year in singles competition between Sydney and the Hopman Cup.

The biggest surprised semifinalist must surely be Italy's Camila Giorgi who quickly got rid of the favored Aga Radwanska 6-1, 6-2. There might be something about Giorgi and the early part of the season as she started 2017 making the semi-finals in Shenzhen. She then failed to make it past the quarterfinals of any WTA events for the rest of the year. She has now won five straight matches in Sydney including the qualifying draw.

The semifinals then are set with Gavrilova vs Barty (1-1 career head-to-head) in the top half and Giorgi and Kerber (2-0 career head-to-head in favor of the German) in the bottom. Former World No. 1 Kerber now looks like the favorite between the four given her past accolades and recent return to form. The photo below captures her fighting spirit in 2018 as shot by the wonderful jimmie48.

Wednesday WTA Results From The Sydney International

By: Mike McIntyre

Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

The quarterfinals are set after matches were completed Wednesday at the Sydney International.

Aga Radwanska continued her impressive play with a 7-6(4), 6-0 win over 18 year old Cici Bellis. The young American is an up-and-coming player to watch on the WTA Tour but had no answer for the veteran Radwanska in the second set.

Radwanska will now face 26 year old qualifier Camila Giorgi who upset Petra Kvitova 7-6(7), 6-2. Giorgi has advanced to her first WTA quarterfinal since last June on grass in Birmingham. The pair stand at one victory apiece in their career head-to-head.

Top seeded Garbine Muguruza got through her opening match of the tournament after a first round bye and she dispatched Kiki Bertens 6-3, 7-6(6). After the win however Muguruza withdrew from the event giving Daria Gavrilova a walkover into the semifinals.

After the match against Bertens, Muguruza revealed that, "Since the start I felt a little bit my abductor. I already felt it in Brisbane, so I thought I was going to be much better, but it came back."

This marks the second consecutive tournament (as she eluded to above) that Muguruza has been bothered by injury and unable to complete the event on her own terms. A troubling situation as we head into the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.

Stay with us throughout the week here in Sydney as we continue to keep you posted on all WTA developments. And be sure to follow us on Twitter as well.

Tuesday WTA Results From The Sydney International

By:  Mike McIntyre

Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

The action continued on Tuesday at the Sydney International with several high profile matches. I'm really impressed with how stacked the draw is at this event and it's a great test for some of the game's top stars ahead of the Australian Open next week.

On Tuesday Australian's Daria Gavrilova defeated wildcard compatriot Olivia Rogowska in a tight match 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to advance to the second round. Gavrilova is currently ranked 25th in the WTA Tour rankings and at the age of 23 seems poised to make some moves in 2018.

Gavrilova will next face another Aussie - Sam Stosur - who also advanced in three sets. The former US Open champion (2011) took down Carina Witthoeft of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

In other matches Ekaterina  Makarova fell against Barbora Strycova. It was the Czech who prevailed 6-4, 6-1.

One veteran player with something to prove in 2018 is Aga Radwanska who suffered through a difficult season a year ago in terms of her on-court results. She's off to a great start with a huge win over 4th seeded Johanna Konta whom she defeated in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 on Ken Rosewall Arena. She will face youngster Cici Bellis in her next match.

Dominika Cibulkova has early season success in Australia in the past as she was a finalist at the Aussie Open back in 2014. Cibulkova is a dangerous unseeded floater here in Sydney and beat Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-4.

The most anticipated match of the day however was between 2nd seeded American Venus Williams and former World No. 1 Angie Kerber. Kerber went undefeated in her four singles matches last week at the Hopman Cup and has carried forward that momentum in Sydney. She dropped the opening set against Venus before coming back for the upset 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. It is amazing what a difference a year makes as suddenly Kerber is being talked about as an Aussie Open favorite after a tough year in 2017 that has seen her ranking drop to 22nd in the world.

Keep checking back with us this week for WTA results and analysis from the Sydney International. And feel free to follow us on Twitter as well!

Women's Wimbledon Preview 2017

By Mike McIntyre

Waking up to the release of the Wimbledon draws feels a lot like waking up Christmas morning. Some of the players on Friday probably felt like they were either receiving presents or a lump of coal depending on who they drew as their first round opponent. Here is a closer look at the (once again) wildly unpredictable Grand Slam women's draw that tennis fans will be enjoying over the next two weeks.

First Quarter

What are the chances that the (for now) World No. one Angelique Kerber will do better than her first round exit at Roland Garros? Kerber does not have a nice draw and will face qualifier Irina Falconi in the opening round. Beyond that she faces either of the talented Kristen Flipkens or Misaki Doi in round two, the tricky Lucie Safarova potentially in round three and then likely the 14th seeded Garbine Muguruza in round four. With Kerber's confidence at a seemingly all-time low I can't see her making it out of there in one piece.

Former Wimbledon finalist Aga Radwanska is in this quarter of the draw but her game has been in steady decline over the past year it seems so I wouldn't get my hopes up for her to go deep in the tournament either. Radwanska faces a player whose career is even more in decline in Jelena Jankovic in the opening round.

So who should we keep an eye on in the top quarter of the draw then? Dangerous players include 7th seeded vet Svetlana Kuznetsova along with Olympic gold-medalist Monica Puig, the always dangerous Ekaterina Makarova and French Open semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky.

I'm going to go with a Muguruza vs Bacsinszky quarter-final.

Second Quarter

Karolina Pliskova is the 3rd seed and has a nice path in her section of the draw. Of the top seeds hers is the quadrant with the least amount of known obstacles towards the quarter-finals. Sloane Stephens makes her return to the Tour after a foot injury that kept here away from the game for nine months and opens against Alison Riske and has a potential second round match against 12th seed Kristina Mladenovic. Coco Vandeweghe would be the likely third round opponent in that section. ESPN Body Issue cover-girl and former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki is a good pick as a potential fourth round match-up.

This quarter seems like the most stable to me and I expect a Pliskova vs Wozniacki quarter-final to emerge.

Third Quarter

There are just so many incredible first round matches happening at the All-England Club this year. Dominika Cibulkova gets Andrea Petkovic in this quarter, Sabine Lisicki makes her return as well to competitive tennis and faces Ana Konjuh the 27th seed and Elina Svitolina the 5th seed will face recent Birmingham finalist Ashleigh Barty.

On top of that we have Venus Williams, French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys in this quadrant. Ostapenko and Keys could provide a terrific third round match here.

I'm going with Williams vs Svitolina for the quarter-finals. Gosh I wish I could be more bold with my picks!

Fourth Quarter

Finally we have 2nd seed Simona Halep opening against Marina Erakovic and on-course for a tough third round match against one of: Carla Suarez Navarro, 2014 finalist Genie Bouchard or up-and-coming Marketa Vondrousova. Victoria Azarenka is yet another player making her return to the court at Wimbledon and gets a very difficult opening match against CiCi Bellis. In the upper portion of this quarter Petra Kvitova - who won in Birmingham last week - is going to be on a collision course with home crowd favorite Johanna Konta. There is simply no shortage of capable players who could be hoisting the Venus Rosewater dish in 2017 and many of them are in this quarter of the draw.

My picks for the quarter-finals are Kvitova and Azarenka for an enticing battle of the recent comeback players.

 

Olympic Tennis Highlights Day 1

By Mike McIntyre

It was a crazy day for tennis at the Olympic Games in Rio on Saturday. With the opening ceremonies still fresh in everyone's mind, 62 tennis players saw themselves ousted from competition in either singles or doubles. For some like 36 year old Venus Williams, it was likely her last time competing in singles at the Olympics. For others, like 19 year old Borna Coric, they will likely still have several opportunities to win at the Olympic level. Here are the five matches that for one reason or another, grabbed our attention in the tennis world on the first day of action in Rio.

John Millman d Ricardas Berankis 6-0. 6-0

A much tighter contest would have been expected between the 71st ranked Berankis and the 75th ranked Millman in the first round of play. Instead, the Australian crushed the Olympic dreams of his Lithuanian opponent in a mere 50 minutes. When you only win 11% of points on your second serve, you know you're likely getting beat bad, but a double bagel is a tennis player's worst nightmare. Apparently this was the first time in Olympic tennis competition that such a scoreline has been delivered. You've got to be heartless to not feel any compassion for Berankis and the end result of his first ever Olympic Games.

Saisai Zheng d Aga Radwanska 6-4, 7-5

The fourth seeded Radwanska suffers her second consecutive first round exit from the Olympic Games. In 2012 it was Julia Goerges who beat her 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 in London. This time Radwanska could not even take the match to a deciding set. Radwanska had never before played the 64th ranked Zheng, but the ranking differential was misleading considering some of the Chinese player's results on the WTA Tour this year. Wins over Angelique Kerber, Genie Bouchard and Alize Cornet reveal some serious potential from the 22 year old. Zheng's win really opens up the draw in that section and offers Madison Keys an easier path to the quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic d Marin Cilic and Marin Draganja 6-2, 6-2

Perhaps the lopsided loss was because Marin Cilic had already played his singles match earlier in the day, or perhaps it was because he's ranked 197th in the world in doubles and his partner, Draganja, is ranked 136th (unranked in singles). Still the win must have been a welcome relief for Djokovic and Zimonjic who had not won a doubles match together since March of 2015. Djokovic will now be heavily tested in his opening singles match on Sunday where he will face the man who denied him a bronze medal four years ago in London - Juan Martin Del Potro.

Misaki Doi and Eri Hozumi d Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 0-6, 6-4

This match makes our top five not only because the second seeded doubles tandem from France was eliminated, but due to the Twitter rant that Mladenovic went on afterwards. In it, she blamed her loss on the French Tennis Federation for failing to advise her and Garcia that they needed to be dressed in matching attire. Garcia had to wear one of Mladenovic's outfits turned inside-out to hide the Adidas logo as she is sponsored by Nike. Citing the stress of the pre-match ordeal, Mladenovic refused to give her opponents any credit for the way they played. Sounds like a lot of sour grapes from the Frenchwoman and I'll be interested to see if the French Federation has any comment to make in the aftermath of this strange situation.

Kirsten Flipkens d Venus Williams 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)

With four gold medals in previous Olympic Games (one in singles and three in doubles) Venus Williams has had more than her share of success at the biggest international competition of them all. That success will not be continuing in singles this year as the fifth seeded American fell to the 62nd ranked Flipkens who used a variety of shots and tactics to throw Williams off her game. I watched Flipkens come back from a 0-6 deficit against Venus at the Rogers Cup in Toronto in 2013 to win that match 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 and knew that she had the ability to cause an upset today. Still, she was 1-2 in career head-to-head matches against the much higher ranked Williams and her reaction after the match proved the magnitude of this upset as she had tears of joy in her eyes and knelt down to kiss the Olympic logo on court.

With Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray all making their singles draw debut at the 2016 Olympic Games on Sunday, there will be plenty of excitement coming up on Day 2 in Rio. Stick with us as we examine the action each day and discuss the moments that stand out on (and perhaps off) the tennis court.

Australian Open Women's Quarterfinal Preview

By Tia Ko

Serena Williams (1) vs. Maria Sharapova (5)

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will meet for the 21^st time Tuesday afternoon in Melbourne where they will compete for a semi-final spot in the Australian Open. It will be the first time the two have met prior to the semifinals at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2010. Statistically speaking, Sharapova doesn’t have a very good chance of winning this match considering she hasn’t beaten Williams since the WTA Championships back in 2004. Since then, Williams has gone 17-0 with her last victory over Sharapova occurring during the semifinals of Wimbledon last year 6-2 6-4. Serena’s road to the quarterfinals has been pretty smooth sailing despite not having played competitive tennis since her devastating defeat at the US Open in September. In her last four matches combined, her opponents have only managed to win 17 games to Serena’s 49 with her toughest match coming in the first round against Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5. After that, she was victorious over Su-Wei Hsieh, Daria Kasatkina, and Margarita Gasparyan.

Maria Sharapova’s route to the quarterfinals has also been straightforward except for her third round where it went to a deciding set against the American Lauren Davis 6-1 6-7(5) 6-0. She also beat Nao Hibino, Aliaksandra, and Belina Bencic. When asked about her upcoming match, “It’s not like I think about what I can do worse,” Sharapova said. “Always trying to improve. I got myself into the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam. There is no reason I shouldn’t be looking to improve and to getting my game in a better position than any other previous round. It’s only going to be tougher, especially against Serena.”

Agnieszka Radwanksa (4) vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (10)

Agnieszka Radwanksa and Carla Suarez Navarro have only met three times but their past two encounters have gone the distance. The last time they met was last year at the Miami Masters where the Spaniard won 5-7 6-0 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Head-to-head, Radwanska leads 2-1. In Radwanska’s fourth round match, she was two points away from being defeated by Anna-Lena Friedsam 4-5 in the third set; however the German ended up getting leg cramps late in the match and failed to get into the rallies thereafter. Radwanska was able break and serve out her game winning 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5. Radwanska also beat Christina McHale, Eugenie Bouchard, and Monica Puig on her way to the quarters.

Carla Suarez Navarro seeded no. 10 disappointed hopeful Australians when she beat the new hometown hero Daria Gavrilova in the fourth round. Gavrilova, who originally represented Russia but emigrated to Australia last year, took the first set easily 6-0 but was unable to stay focused and ended up losing to Suarez Navarro 0-6 6-3 6-2. The Spaniard defeated Viktorija Golubic, Maria Sakkari, and Elizaveta.

Angelique Kerber (7) vs. Victoria Azarenka (14)

Victoria Azarenka leads their head-to-head 6-0. Will the higher seeded Angelique Kerber be able to finally take a match from the Belarusian? These two met just a few weeks ago in the finals in Brisbane where Vika won easily 6-3 6-1. Azarenka is a two-time champion having won in both 2012 and 2013 and is currently a favorite to win a third title down under. The German Kerber is looking to reach her best result at a Grand Slam since her semifinal performance back at Wimbledon in 2012. Kerber beat Misaki Doi, Alexandra Dulgheru, Madison Bregle, and Annika Beck on her way to the quarters. Vika was victorious against Alison Van Uytvanck, Danka Kovinic, Naomi Osaka, and Barbora Strycova on her route to the last 8. 

Johanna Konta vs. Shuai Zhang

We’re witnessing the success story of Zhang Shuai, the first women’s qualifier to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in 26 years. This has been the first time the 133rd ranked 27 year old Chinese player has made it past the first round of a Grand Slam much less the fourth! She will be playing against 47^th ranked Johanna Konta. The two met only twice: once in the 2012 US Open qualifiers with Konta coming out on top 6-4 3-6 7-5 and once in 2013 during the Guangzhou, China tournament with the Chinese countrywoman winning 7-5 6-3. Both players created huge upsets as they made their way to the quarters most notable Zhang beating no. 2 seed Simona Halep, Alize Cornet, Varvara Lepchenko, and Madison Keys. Konta upset no. 8 seed Venus Williams in the first round then Saisai Zheng, Denisa Allertova, and Ekaterina Makarova. 

Thursday at the Rogers Cup in Pictures

By Mike McIntyre

Eight women made their way into the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto today. Here's a look at some of the highlights as we head into the final three days of action.

3rd seed Agnieszka Radwanska was up against 14th seed Sloane Stephens in the opening match of the day

Check out the intensity in those eyes!

Radwanska was more consistent however and would prevail 6-1, 7-6.

Kristina Mladenovic was on the practice courts with Jamie Hampton despite being knocked out of the event in the first round. Mladenovic won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon this year with Canadian Daniel Nestor.

Cooling off was key for players today as it was the hottest day of the event so far.

The Williams sisters practicing side-by-side. Venus was ousted by Kirsten Flipkens while Serena was set to play the Belgian later today to try and exact some family revenge.

Venus checking her text messages (?) on a break.

Serena working on her serve.

Serena's long time hitting partner Aleksandar "Sascha" Bajin

Stretching is key, especially when you've been off the tour for over two months with a back injury.

Venus' hitting partner wasn't quite as jacked as Serena's, but he got the job done.

Poor Daniel Nestor. Two hours before the end of the auction and still no bids to hit with one of the greatest doubles players of all time.

Looks like Milos Raonic's big win over Juan Martin Del Potro went straight to his head!

5th seed Sara Errani of Italy does whatever she can to win her match against Alize Cornet, which she does 7-5, 7-6.

I hate when this happens!

Errani freaked out on Cornet at 5-5 in the 2nd set asking, "You always say 'allez', but now you say 'vamos'. Why you say 'vamos'?" Cornet replied, "I always say 'vamos'!"

Dominika Cibulkova stretching after her morning hit.

After Vasek Pospisil, the 2nd best smile of the day.

Daniela Hantuchova practicing ahead of her doubles match

Martina Hingis working on her overhead smash

Potentially the professional tennis player with the most amount of fans. Li Na is absolutely huge in China. She took on Ana Ivanovic on Thursday.

Ivanovic would let a 5-2 third set lead slip and fall to her opponent 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).

Wimbledon champ Marion Bartoli did not bring enough racquets to her match. Had to actually ask her opponent Magdalena Rybarikova if she could borrow hers for a game! Rybarikova was all class and allowed it. She also won the match when Bartoli withdrew due to an ab injury.

Mladenovic is good friends with Bartoli and this was her reaction courtside after she encouraged Bartoli to challenge one of her opponent's shots that was called in. The replay showed that it was in fact out. Nice to have friends, eh?

Serena Williams destroyed Kirsten Flipkens 6-0, 6-3 avenging her sister Venus' loss to the Belgian from earlier in the week. Williams hit the practice court after the match as she said she was not happy with her own return game.

Jelena Jankovic sarcastically reacts to a fan's comments (in Serbian) after losing a point to Sorana Cirstea of Romania.

Cirstea, who beat Caroline Wozniacki in 2hrs 56 minutes the night before, gets another huge win. This time 6-3, 6-4 over Jankovic.

Serena Williams in press. The black purse at her feet is actually carrying her dog Chip. No joke.

Dominika Cibulkova celebrates defeating higher ranked Roberta Vinci for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Hingis and Hantuchova would lose their second round doubles match for the second tournament in a row of Hingis' comeback. The pair is gearing up for the U.S. Open.

In the final match of the night, vet Samantha Stosur (one of the fittest players on tour) fell to Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3.

Keep checking back over the final three days of the Rogers Cup for more images and reports. If you're not already, follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates here in Toronto.

Rogers Cup Reaches Third Round in Toronto

By Mike McIntyre

The Rogers Cup in Toronto has reached the third round and will see 16 players battle it out for spots in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Starting the day off at Rexall Centre will be 3rd seeded Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland against 14th seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States. Radwanska has a 2-0 career head-to-head against the young American though both victories took three sets to accomplish. Radwanska easily dispatched the hard hitting but error prone Yanina Wickmayer on Tuesday night while Stephens took out Mona Barthel in a match that went the distance. Radwanska has been looking sharp this week and I'd expect her to get past Stephens today.

Over on the Grandstand court, Alize Cornet of France will see if she can continue to deliver upsets against 5th seeded Sara Errani. Cornet defeated 11th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko in the second round in straight sets while Errani took out Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 7-6 yesterday. Errani has won two of the three meetings against Cornet and should be favored to move on today.

Beginning no earlier than 1pm on Centre Court, the 4th seeded Li Na from China will face 16th seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. The two have only met once before, on clay back in 2006 in a match that Ivanovic was forced to retire after trailing 1-6. Neither player has dropped a set yet this week here in Toronto. Coin toss in this one, although don't forget that Li Na did make the finals a year ago in Montreal.

The second match on the Grandstand is between Wimbledon winner and 7th seed Marion Bartoli against the unheralded Magadalena Rybarikova of Slovakia. This is their seventh career meeting with Bartoli holding a 4-2 advantage. Look for Bartoli to advance with ease as her confidence is huge at the moment.

World number one Serena Williams will take to the court not before 2:30pm and faces Kirsten Flipkens the 13th seed. Flipkens ruined any chance of an all-Williams match-up when she dropped Venus in the opening round 0-6, 6-4, 6-2. Will she be able to defeat two Williams' in one tournament? Don't count on it. This will be the first career meeting between the two but I wouldn't expect it to last too long.

Jelena Jankovic the 15th seed will be up against Sorana Cirstea who out-lasted Caroline Wozniacki in a match that lasted 2 hours and 56 minutes Wednesday night. Cirstea saved two match points against Wozniacki and we'll see if her good fortune continues today against the talented Jankovic. The pair have split their previous four meetings although Jankovic has won the last two in a row on hard court.

Dominika Cilbulkova and Roberta Vinci have played each other more than any other third round combo here in Toronto. This will be their eighth match against one another with Vinci holding the 5-2 lead. Vinci in fact has won the last five straight and that includes victories on clay, grass and hard court. That being said, Cilbulkova has been striking the ball awfully hard all week and is coming off an excellent performance in Stanford two weeks ago where she won the title by defeating Radwanska in the final. I can see her pulling off the mild upset here today.

At night, Petra Kvitova will play Sam Stosur in the last of the third round matches. Kvitova dashed the hopes of Canadian tennis fans by knocking off Eugenie Bouchard last night in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. She leads Stosur 4-1 in their previous encounters although Stosur won their most recent match on clay in Rome earlier this year. Stosur is coming in hot with a tournament win in Carlsbad and will have a great shot at upsetting her higher ranked opponent today.

Check back with us often here at ProTennisFan for more updates and be sure to follow us on Twitter as well.

Rogers Cup WTA Draw Analysis

By Mike McIntyre

The Rogers Cup is ready to begin in Toronto on Monday where Petra Kvitova is the defending champion and Serena Williams is the number one seed. With both Vika Azarenka and Maria Sharapova having to withdraw due to injuries, many will be expecting a Serena victory by the time Sunday comes around.

As one of the top eight seeds in the tournament, Williams received a first round bye and will play the winner between qualifier Chanele Scheepers and Francesca Schiavone. Schiavone won the French Open in 2010 and then lost there in the finals in 2011, the same year she reached her career high ranking of 4th in the world. Clearly stronger on clay, the Italian is now ranked 55th in the world but still represents a quality opponent should she face Serena in round two.

This quarter of the draw has not just one, by two Williams sisters in it. Venus makes her first tournament appearance since the French Open and could face Serena in the third round. The two will play in a doubles exhibition on Monday night against former world number one Monica Seles and Canadian sensation Genie Bouchard. They are not however entered in the office Rogers Cup doubles draw.

Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli will bring her two-handed forehand and backhand to Toronto and is also in this section of the draw as the 7th seed. She will face the winner between qualifier Lauren Davis and former Grand Slam champion and lucky loser Svetlana Kuznetsova. Oddly enough, Davis defeated Kuznetsova on Sunday in the final round of qualifying, but as the Russian was the highest ranked player in the qualifying draw, she takes a spot that was vacated in the main draw by Vika Azarenka's last minute withdrawal. Look for the veteran to make the necessary adjustments to earn the victory over Davis this time.

First Quarter Prediction: Serena Williams d. Bartoli

In the next quadrant of the draw, Agnieszka Radwanska will look to get her confidence going as she aims for her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open later this month. The third seed will have a tough opening match as she will face the winner between Yanina Wickmayer and Laura Robson. Wickmayer was once ranked as high as 12th in the world and has three career titles to her name. The 23 year old has still not reached her peak and while currently only ranked 57th in the world I feel that she is due for a breakthrough at some point. Robson for her part represents the future of British tennis on the WTA Tour and at only 19 years of age is the 32nd ranked player in the world. Wickmayer defeated Robson in their only career meeting back in 2010 on grass and should expect a much tougher match this time around. This match-up is one I would recommend to anyone attending on Monday and has three sets written all over it.

Up and coming American Sloan Stephens is the 14th seed and also in the second quarter of the tournament. Lookout as well for the future Mrs. Alexander Ovechkin - Maria Kirilenko that is, along with 5th seeded Sara Errani who will threaten Radwanska for a spot in the semi-finals.

The 26 year old Errani is one spot below her career best ranking in singles and has made the finals of two clay court and two hard court tournaments proving she can play well on either surface. She got to the semi finals of the French Open where she was humbled by Serena Williams 6-0, 6-1. Her record at the Rogers Cup is a mediocre 1-5, so I'm not sure if playing in Canada agrees with her too much. Still, given her 5-1 record against Kirilenko I would expect her to make her way to the quarter-finals to face Radwanska against whom she has struggled with a 2-6 head-to-head.

Second Quarter Prediction: Radwanska d. Errani

In the third quarter of play Li Na of China is the 4th seed and made the finals of the event a year ago while Angelique Kerber of Germany is the 8th seed. Kerber has had a solid but not spectacular season and is 1-6 lifetime vs Na. Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic is also in this section and the 16th seed could also put together a good run here in Canada where she won the event all the way back in 2006 in Montreal. 

I'd look a little bit beyond the top seedings in this part of the draw to 11th ranked Italian Roberta Vinci to have a strong outing here. She has made the quarter-finals the past two years and knocked off some quality players while on Canadian soil. Her last tournament appearance was nearly a month ago but she won that event in Palermo on clay.

Don't overlook Dominika Cibulkova as well who could face Kerber in the second round and is currently ranked 21st in the world. The Slovak just won the event in Stanford last week where she knocked-off Radwanska in the final. The win was particularly meaningful to Cibulkova as she was double "bageled" earlier in the year by Radwanska 6-0, 6-0 in the finals in Sydney. Her confidence levels should be enough to carry her through a few rounds.

Third Quarter Prediction: Vinci d. Ivanovic

In the last part of the draw, Caroline Wozniacki replaced 2nd seed Azarenka late Sunday night and will receive a bye even though she is the 9th seed in the event. Azarenka lost for the first time in nine career meetings on Sunday to Sam Stosur in the finals of Carlsbad, California. Her official reason for withdrawing in Toronto was due to a lower back injury. 

The 23 year old Wozniacki is still the youngest player in the top ten in the rankings even though it seems she has been there for quite some time now. She brings a modest 21-16 record on the WTA Tour into this event and has been struggling to find consistency all season long. The Dane was 3-6 during the clay court season and then fell in the second round of Wimbledon. Getting back onto hard courts is probably the best thing for her at this point.

Wozniacki, who won here in 2010, could face Jelena Jankovic in the third round and then either defending champion Kvitova or Sam Stosur in the quarter-finals. Jankovic is 29-12 on the season but has lost in the first round of the Rogers Cup in each of the past three years. Stosur made the finals in Toronto two years ago but has also been inconsistent since her U.S. Open victory that same summer. Kvitova meanwhile has won a hard court event in Dubai earlier this year and made the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.

This section of the draw is extremely tough, with rising Canadian sensation Genie Bouchard also present. Bouchard opens with a tough match against Russian Alisa Kleybanova who was once ranked as high as 20th in the world before Hodgkin's Lymphoma forced her to withdraw from the game. Kleybanova played in only one event in 2012 and has only played in three this year that have all been challenger type events. Currently ranked 602nd in the world, it will be a real test for her to get back up in the rankings but something we'd all love to see given the difficulties she has faced.

Fourth Quarter Prediction: Kvitova d. Jankovic

Semi-final predictions:

Serena Williams d. Radwanska

Kvitova d. Vinci

Final Prediction:

Williams d. Kvitova

Serena will be hungry to reclaim the Rogers Cup title and show that her loss at Wimbledon a month ago was just a small blip on the screen in her otherwise stellar 2013 season.

Check back with us often throughout the week as we will be covering the tournament live from the Rexall Centre in Toronto. Follow us on Twitter as well for timely updates on all of the action both here and in Montreal.

Posing in ESPN's Body Issue Causes Controversy for Agnieszka Radwanska

By Mike McIntyre

What was meant to be a celebration of some of the fittest professional athletes on the planet has caused a measure of controversy for WTA player Agnieszka Radwanska this past week.

Along with ATP player John Isner, the world number four player showed off her 5'8'', 123lb physique in two photos in the annual ESPN Body Issue. One photo has the 24 year old sitting on a white lounge chair next to a pool filled with floating tennis balls while in the other she is floating in the pool itself on her stomach.

While news of her appearance in the magazine was appreciated by many of her fans worldwide, the reaction in her native Poland was polarized, specifically enraging a segment of the Catholic population including a youth group that she had apparently been affiliated with. The group, "Youth Crusade" has dropped Radwanska following her appearance in the magazine for what they feel is rather un-Catholic behaviour.

“It’s a shame that someone who has declared their love for Jesus is now promoting the mentality of men looking at a woman as a thing rather than a child of God worthy of respect and love,” Father Marek Dziewiecki, a senior Catholic priest, told The Telegraph. “If she meets a man who she can truly love and establish a happy family and raise Catholic children, then she would probably have to hide these pictures from relatives.”

It should be noted that Radwanska's not the first WTA player to be featured in ESPN's Body Issue, nor is she the highest ranking female tennis player to grace its pages. Current world number one Serena Williams was on the cover in 2009, former world number two Vera Zvonereva was in the 2011 edition, while Daniela Hantuchova was included in last year's issue. 

Rather than avoid the issue, Radwanska issued a statement on her Facebook page on Friday where she not only refused to apologize for her decision but also clearly justified her reasoning for participating in the photoshoot:

“For those that are not familiar with the magazine, ESPN The Body Issue is a celebration of the beauty of the bodies of the best athletes in the world. It includes both men and women of all ages and all shapes and sizes. Other athletes photographed include San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, 77-year-old golf legend Gary Player, and Olympic volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings – during and after her pregnancy. My tennis colleagues Serena Williams, Daniela Hantuchova and Vera Zvonareva have all participated in the past.

The pictures are certainly not meant to cause offense and to brand them as immoral clearly does not take into account the context of the magazine. Moreover, they do not contain any explicit imagery whatsoever. I train extremely hard to keep my body in shape and that’s what the article and the magazine is all about. If you read the interview, it only discusses my job as an athlete and what I have to do physically to be able to participate at the highest level of sport.

It has been suggested by some members of the press (among others) that I was paid for the photo shoot. This is absolutely not the case. Neither I nor any of the other athletes were paid. I agreed to participate to help encourage young people, and especially girls, to exercise, stay in shape and be healthy.”

I don't think that response could have been any more thorough or to the point in explaining her reasons. Will her comments quiet her religious critics? - probably not, but she has taken the high road in simply stating the positive qualities she wished to promote in her photos and accompanying article rather than lashing back at her detractors for themselves displaying less than Catholic values by pointing the finger at her. 

On the tennis court Radwanska continues to maintain a threatening presence on the WTA Tour while she chases that elusive first Grand Slam title. After starting the 2013 season by winning back-to-back tournaments in Auckland and Sydney she has failed to reach another final in the past six months, but played admirably at Wimbledon where she lost in the semi-finals to Sabine Lisicki 9-7 in the decisive set.

Keep checking back with us at ProTennisFan as we will be speaking with Radwanska at the Rogers Cup in Toronto in two weeks time. Follow us on Twitter as well for timely updates on both the ATP and WTA Tours.