McIntyre Tennis

Southpaw Slice Wimbledon Recap

By Mike McIntyre

Two weeks of stirring grass court Grand Slam tennis at Wimbledon has just come to a close and both Angelique Kerber and Novak Djokovic are back to being Grand Slam champions for the first time since 2016.

Kerber defeated the greatest player of all-time in the finals in Serena Williams, but it was perhaps the throng of young talent she beat along the way that was most impressive. After beating 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva in the opening round she took care of youngsters Claire Liu, Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko to show them that 30 is indeed the new 20.

Novak Djokovic meanwhile finally overcame both mental and physical obstacles to deliver his best two weeks of tennis since prior to his elbow surgery last summer. Too good to simply stay away from Grand Slam success, the Serb won his 13th major title and 4th at the All England Club. His semifinal win over Rafael Nadal was one of the best matches in recent memory and elevated his edge in their rivalry to 27-25 in his favour. He beat an understandably tiring Kevin Anderson in the finals 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) and has now re-established himself as a key threat as we begin the summer hardcourt swing. 

Check out our Southpaw Slice recap of the Wimbledon fortnight for an in-depth analysis of the fantastic tennis we have just experienced. 

Thursday's WTA Results from the Australian Open

By: Mike McIntyre

Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

There were plenty of questions surrounding World No. 1 Simona Halep heading into her second round match against Canada's Genie Bouchard. She toughed out an opening round win over young Australian Destanee Aiava but suffered an ankle injury in the process.

Bouchard had ended her 6 match losing streak with her first round victory against Oceane Dodin. Halep was a big step-up from that level of competition despite the fact that the Aussie Open is the only Slam where Bouchard has performed at the best over her career. 

Halep won the match 6-2, 6-2 and will next face American Lauren Davis who is ranked 76th in the world.

For Bouchard it is back to the drawing board as her career limbo continues. She has a lot of work ahead of her if she wants to maintain her status as the No. 1 Canadian woman.

U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys has advanced to the third round after her 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Keys was all smiles after her match and will play Ana Bogdan in the third round.

Russia's Elena Vesnina was facing an up-and-coming player in Japan's Naomi Osaka. The 31 year old couldn't handle the game of her younger opponent on Wednesday.

The 20 year old Osaka won 7-6(4), 6-2 but will have her hands full against Australia's own Ashleigh Barty next.

One of only two players who has even been to the Australian Open final (and won it in 2016), Angie Kerber continued her impressive start to 2018 and improved to 11-0 (including the Hopman Cup) with her 6-4, 6-1 win against Donna Vekic.

Kerber's winning streak has turned her into an immediate favorite to capture her third Grand Slam title here in Melbourne this year.

The only other previous finalist and winner left in the women's draw is Maria Sharapova who avenged her U.S. Open loss to Anastasija Sevastova with a straight set win 6-1, 7-6(4). Sharapova will now provide THE match of the third round when she faces the previously mentioned Kerber.

Friday WTA Results From The Sydney International

By: Mike McIntyre

Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Friday saw the women's draw at the Sydney International narrowed down to its final two contestants.

In the all-Australian semifinal, Ashleigh Barty defeated Daria Gavrilova by a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Barty's story is one of the more unique on the WTA Tour as she took time away from the tennis circuit in 2015 to play professional cricket.

In the other semifinal Germany's Angelique Kerber continues to display her former World No. 1 form as she beat Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3. The win bumps her career head-to-head to a perfect 3-0 against the Italian.

The final between Barty and Kerber should be a good one. The pair have split their previous encounters that both came in 2017. Kerber won their first meeting in Brisbane early last season 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 and then Barty took their next match 6-3, 6-4 in Zhuhai.

In doubles action the third seeded pair of Gaby Dabrowski and Yifan Xu took the title over top seeded Andrea Sestini-Hlavackova and Latisha Chan 6-3, 6-1. It is the first title of the year for Canada and it bodes well for Dabrowski as she will attempt to win her second career Grand Slam in Melbourne. She won the mixed doubles at the French Open in 2017. 

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.

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!

Monday WTA Results from the Sydney International

By Mike McIntyre

Photos by Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

The draw this year is so strong on the WTA side of things at the Sydney International that many first round matches would more than suffice for a final at many events on the Tour. Monday saw first round action nearly completed and there were some noticeable results even this early into the 2018 season.

Angelique Kerber d Lucie Safarova 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 6-2

What a difference a year makes! At the start of 2017 Kerber was the No. 1 player in the WTA rankings and now she has fallen all the way back to No. 22. A coaching change to Wim Fissette could pay dividends and help restore the German's confidence in her game. She lost the opening set to Safarova but recovered to take it in three. A solid opponent like Safarova is tough early in a draw and we'll see if Kerber can use this as motivation moving forward.

Safarova is a player who is certainly capable of playing top level tennis but has her ranking currently at No. 31. She's part of the No. 2 doubles tandem in the draw alongside usual partner Barbora Strycova.

Kerber's draw doesn't get any easier as she will next face American Venus Williams who is seeded 2nd. Kerber has a narrow 4-3 lead in their career head to head although Williams won their only encounter in 2017 in straight sets in Miami.

Nobody expected Sloane Stephens to have the summer she had upon returning to the WTA Tour following a lengthy injury layoff. She tore through the lead-up to the US Open and then nabbed the first Grand Slam of her career in New York. Since then however she has failed to win a single match and that slide continued in Sydney.

Stephens struggles continued as she dropped a very lopsided match to Italy's Camila Giorgi who defeated the American 6-3, 6-0. Stephens also lost in her doubles match alongside Jelena Ostapenko who herself went down in her opening round singles match. Tough goings for the two Slam winners from 2017. 

Giorgi will now advance to face Petra Kvitova who won her opener with a 6-1, ret. victory against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

The Sydney draw has plenty of players who are unseeded yet still big threats like Dominika Cibulkova who could contend for the title. The Slovakian won her match against the 8th seed Anastasija Sevastova by a decisive scoreline of 6-3, 6-1. Cibulkova is currently ranked 26th on the WTA Tour and reached the second round at this event a year ago before falling to Genie Bouchard. Her next match is against Elena Vesnina against whom she has a 4-4 head-to-head record in her career. All four of her wins against Vesnina have been on hard court, so that bodes well for her. Cibulkova only made one tour final last year, in New Haven, and at the age of 28 will be looking to prove that she still has plenty of solid tennis ahead of her.

Away from the on-court action there were several player sightings from around the grounds.

Aga Radwanska took time to sign some autographs and pose for some pictures with some young fans. She has the unenviable task of facing 4th seed Johanna Konta in her first round match Tuesday.

Scouting the action around the courts was Andrea Sestini-Hlavackova who is the No. 1 seed in doubles along side Latisha Chan.

Check back with us throughout the week for more pictures and coverage from the Sydney International. Throw us a follow on Twitter as well.

Monday WTA Results from the Sydney International

By Mike McIntyre

Photos by Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

The draw this year is so strong on the WTA side of things at the Sydney International that many first round matches would more than suffice for a final at many events on the Tour. Monday saw first round action nearly completed and there were some noticeable results even this early into the 2018 season.

Angelique Kerber d Lucie Safarova 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 6-2

What a difference a year makes! At the start of 2017 Kerber was the No. 1 player in the WTA rankings and now she has fallen all the way back to No. 22. A coaching change to Wim Fissette could pay dividends and help restore the German's confidence in her game. She lost the opening set to Safarova but recovered to take it in three. A solid opponent like Safarova is tough early in a draw and we'll see if Kerber can use this as motivation moving forward.

Safarova is a player who is certainly capable of playing top level tennis but has her ranking currently at No. 31. She's part of the No. 2 doubles tandem in the draw alongside usual partner Barbora Strycova.

Kerber's draw doesn't get any easier as she will next face American Venus Williams who is seeded 2nd. Kerber has a narrow 4-3 lead in their career head to head although Williams won their only encounter in 2017 in straight sets in Miami.

Preview of the U.S. Open Women's Draw

By Mike McIntyre

There has perhaps never been more at stake in women's tennis at the final Grand Slam of the season as there is this year, as eight different players could leave the U.S. Open with the World No. 1 ranking. While some have a much stronger shot at accomplishing the feat than others, it reflects a WTA Tour that is still in-flux with the absence of Serena Williams and reveals a group of players who have yet to decide who among them might settle into the role for an extended period of time. Here is a look at the four quarters of the main draw and who we think stands the best chance of hoisting the trophy, and perhaps also emerging as the next No. 1 player in the world.

First Quarter

Current World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova assumed the role thanks to a Johanna Konta victory over Simona Halep at Wimbledon after she herself had already been knocked-out of the draw. Pliskova seemed comfortable talking about her new position at the top of the rankings while she was in Toronto at the Rogers Cup but was pushed to a third set there by 19 year old Naomi Osaka in the third round before falling to veteran Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals. Pliskova would get revenge against Wozniacki in the quarter-finals in Cincinnati before falling to eventual champion Garbine Muguruza in the semi-finals there. I foresee this progression continuing for Pliskova with a return to the finals in Flushing Meadows as a distinct possibility. She's in a great section of the draw filled with recent underacheivers like Kristina Mladenovic and over overachievers like Barbora Strycova in her path towards the final sixteen. Potential quarter-final foes include the struggling Aga Radwanska, a relatively dormant Svetlana Kuznetsova and a couple of dangerous floaters like Lucie Safarova and the young CiCi Bellis. By the quarter-finals I see Pliskova's game coming into a groove and believe she will fight hard to keep her No. 1 status. 

Photo by Mike McIntyre

Keep an eye on: Bellis, Safarova and Vandeweghe

Pass on: Kuznetsova, Mladenovic and Radwanska

Second Quarter

The two big seeds in this section of the draw couldn't be heading in more different directions. Fourth seeded Elina Svitolina may be a surprisingly unknown quantity to many quasi-tennis pundits - she was seriously undervalued by the media in Toronto - but she is a major obstacle to any serious U.S. Open contender. The 22 year old has won a whopping five titles in 2017 and is proving she is ready to claim her first Grand Slam. It may not happen in New York, but it will indeed happen at some point in the near future the way she has been playing.

Photo by Bob McIntyre

Also in this section is sixth seeded and defending champion Angelique Kerber who has had a abysmal season for someone who came into 2017 holding two Slam titles to her name. Kerber is limping into the Open and has not given any signs in match play that she is ready to raise her game to the levels it was at a year ago. Playing rising star Naomi Osaka of Japan in the opening round might very well afford Kerber a quick exit like she experienced at the French Open back in the spring. Osaka has pushed the likes of Konta, Halep and recently in Toronto, Pliskova, to three sets and seems poised to have a breakthrough. She's a hard hitter and if she's healthy I think this could swing her way.

Photo by Mike McIntyre

Keep an eye on: Gavrilova, Keys, Osaka

Pass on: Bouchard, Ostapenko

Third Quarter

Caroline Wozniacki has had a resurgence this season and has climbed her way back into the top-ten in the rankings with appearances in six finals. Unfortunately for her she has lost every one of those finals and in straight sets to boot. Having made the finals twice at the U.S. Open (2009 and 2014) means that Wozniacki knows how to handle the pressure at the final major of the year. I can see a quarter-final appearance here this year but I don't think she has the fire of some of her younger top-ten peers.

Photo by Mike McIntyre

Venus Williams at the age of - well, does it even matter anymore - is also in this section of the draw and the American superstar has already surprised us by making the finals of two Slams in 2017. Her summer appearances don't inspire confidence but you can't count out someone who has made the finals here four times previously including two tournament victories. Her last showing in the finals was fifteen years ago however so I'm not banking on Venus to make it past the fourth round or quarter-finals at best.

Photo by Mike McIntyre

My pick here - and it's not groundbreaking by any stretch - is Garbine Muguruza. She can play more freely now after picking up her second Grand Slam at Wimbledon as she proved with her recent win in Cincy. She has a nice draw, matches-up well vs Wozniacki and Venus, and isn't afraid to take her chances and go for it. I also like Caroline Garcia of France as a potential dark horse here who is the 18th seed in this part of the draw. People might also be mentioning Petra Kvitova and who wouldn't want to see her succeed, but I don't like her play on hardcourts this summer.

Keep an eye on: Garcia, Makarova

Pass on: Kvitova, Rybarikova

Fourth Quarter

Let's just get right to it and admit that the Simona Halep vs  Maria Sharapova match is one of the greatest first round matches of all-time at a Slam. We get the No. 2 seed against the former World No. 1 and U.S. Open champion of 2006. Halep must have been in disbelief when she found out who she drew in her opening match and yet I feel that overcoming this obstacle is almost a necessity for Halep if she wants to hoist a Grand Slam trophy one day. Mentally she needs something to prove to herself that she is a true champion and what better than by defeating one of the greatest players (love her or hate her) of recent history. Her 0-6 record against Sharapova is daunting, yet Halep has played very consistent tennis this year and has made it deep in almost every tournament she has played. Recent no-shows in the later stages of Toronto and Cincy have me concerned if I'm a Halep fan, as there is clearly something that is holding her back from playing anywhere near her best tennis when it seems to count. As if her 6-1, 6-1 thrashing by Svitolina in the semi-finals of Toronto wasn't bad enough, she followed that up by getting blitzed 6-1, 6-0 in the finals of Cincinnati by Muguruza. Halep is only five points behind Pliskova for the No. 1 ranking and that can either motivate or hinder her performance against Sharapova depending on how she reacts Monday night.

Photo by Mike McIntyre

The good news for Halep is that a) Sharapova has not proven to be healthy enough to compete in recent months and b) the rest of her draw is pretty favorable. Her second through fourth round matches don't make me blink an eye if she wins her opener, and Johanna Konta could meet her in the quarter-finals but the Brit has not really performed on the hardcourts since her Wimbledon semi-final run.

Photo by Jimmie48 Photography

Do keep a close eye on Sloane Stephens who has been straight-up fire this summer. In only her third tournament back after an eleven month layoff, the American made the semi-finals in Toronto beating Kvitova and Kerber along the way. She then followed that up with another semi-final appearance in Cincinnati to prove that Toronto was no fluke. That saw her ranking skyrocket from 934 in the world to its current spot at No. 84. Only a matter of time before she is back in the top 20 and with her recent confidence she is not someone you would want to face. A second round match against New Haven finalist Dominika Cibulkova is an early test, but she has had plenty of those lately and handled them with relative ease. 

Photo by Mike McIntyre

Keep an eye on: Goerges, Stephens

Pass on: Everyone else not named Halep or Sharapova

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.

 

Angelique Kerber Crashes Out of Roland Garros on Day 1 in Paris

By Mike McIntyre

Photography by Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Carrying the burden of being the World No. 1 seems to be getting the best of Angelique Kerber. The 29 year old German went crashing out of Roland Garros on the opening day of play Monday, taken down by the 40th ranked Ekaterina Makarova of Russia by a score of 6-2, 6-2 in a battle of two lefty players. 

The loss has been labeled by many as a shock but truthfully there were many signs that this was a very possible outcome. Rather than seize the opportunity to take charge of the No 1 ranking with a pregnant Serena Williams out for the rest of 2017, Kerber has wilted under the pressure and seems to be playing with less and less confidence with each event she enters. 

Her record this season is now 3-5 on the red dirt and Kerber admitted after the loss that she can't wait to, "forget the clay court season as soon as possible."

To be fair, Kerber admittedly is not as comfortable on clay as with other surfaces and in her pre-tournament press she did not sound like a player who truly believed in her chances in Paris.

"Everybody knows it's not my favorite surface," Kerber said. "But, yeah, we have to play on clay. I try my best. Last year as well, these were not the best weeks for me. I mean, it was my best year, but when I played tournaments on clay, I was not performing so well. This year it's the same.”

Makarova deserves credit as the former World No. 8 (2015) has twice before made it to the fourth round of the French Open. Despite having a 4-7 record vs Kerber coming into the match, Makarova's wealth of experience would have undoubtedly calmed any nerves that one might normally experience playing the top seed. 

According to the WTA Insider on Twitter, Kerber will still manage to retain the No. 1 ranking unless Karolina Pliskova makes the final or if Simona Halep wins the title.

Either way it does not appear likely that Kerber will be holding onto the ranking much longer at this rate. A change of surface and mentality is required for her to get back to her winning ways of a year ago.