McIntyre Tennis

Women's Semifinals Set at Roland Garros

By Mike McIntyre

Photos from Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

It's down to the final four at Roland Garros for the women as semifinal action is set to begin Thursday. In the top half of the draw there are two women who many/most expected to be there and in the bottom half a couple of unexpected arrivals given the surface being played on.

World No. 1 Simona Halep has every reason to capture her first Grand Slam in Paris, but the reservations are high given her previous performances when attaining the finals of a major. Both last year at this very tournament against Jelena Ostapenko and earlier this year in Australia to Caroline Wozniacki, she let commanding third sets leads slip through her fingers. She also lost a close final at the French Open in 2014 to Maria Sharapova.

Halep had to overcome losing the first set in both her opening round match against Alison Riske as well as her quarterfinal victory over Angie Kerber. The Romanian dug-deep both times and showed her typical grit to get back into the match. It often seems easier for Halep to come from behind, but her fans will nervously await the moment where she can protect a lead when it matters most. Can the Romanian finally overcome her late match lapses and maintain her focus to collect her first Slam title this week? 

Garbine Muguruza will try to stop Halep and the 2016 French Open champion certainly knows how to bring out her best in the Slams. After having a lethargic clay court lead-up to Roland Garros, Muguruza has been on fire this week and is yet to drop a single set. She trounced two-time winner Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 in the quarters on Wednesday and looks intent to claim her second major title on the red clay. Muguruza is already a two-time Grand Slam champion and has proven herself quite capable when reaching this stage of the bigger events.

In the bottom half we have two Americans who are set to re-enact their surprise US Open final from last September. Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens have both seen their promising young careers temporarily derailed by injuries in the past. Healthy and playing the best tennis we have seen from them, the two have surprised many by having such strong results here on clay.

Keys - like Muguruza - has yet to lose a set in Paris and her most impressive win was a 6-1, 7-6 victory in the third round over rising star Naomi Osaka. For her part, Stephens has had four lopsided victories en route to the semifinals, but survived a stern test from Italian Camila Giorgi in the round of sixteen where she narrowly advanced 4-6, 6-1, 8-6.

In terms of head-to-head encounters, Muguruza leads Halep 3-1, but the Romanian took their only career meeting on clay back in 2015 in Stuttgart. Stephens has the 2-0 edge over Keys, and both of those matches have been on hard courts and also had very decisive scorelines.

All four remaining players have made Slam Finals before but only two have prevailed. While Muguruza has the best track record at the French as a previous champion, Halep will be anxious to erase the self-doubt she has certainly accumulated in recent years. Keys and Stephens want to prove that they can excel on the red clay of Europe just as much as their more accomplished clay court rivals in the other half.

Check back with us here at ProTennisFan for all the final action from Paris and follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates and photos.

Start of the Clay Court Season Means the French Open is Fast Approaching

By Mike McIntyre

Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

With the Miami Open just reaching its conclusion with John Isner and Sloane Stephens hoisting their respective winners trophies, the ATP and WTA Tour's now switch their focus from hard to clay courts. The surface transition is an exciting period of time as it means that we are fast approaching the next Grand Slam of the year at Roland Garros. With roughly a month and a half still to go this is the time for players to assert themselves as pre-tournament favorites for the French Open. With that in mind, let's take a look at who to watch out for in the men's and women's games.

Will defending champion Rafael Nadal be healthy enough to capture his 11th title in Paris? The Spaniard had a remarkable return to form in 2017 capturing both the French and US Open's but has been limited in his appearances this year due to knee issues. If at (or close to) 100% he is the heavy favorite to be the last man standing once again in June.

Photo: Bob McIntyre

The biggest challenge to Nadal might well have been the ageless Roger Federer but he has once again decided to skip the clay court season and prepare for his ultimate goal of capturing yet another Wimbledon crown. Federer raced-out to his best start to a season ever with 17 consecutive wins before he fell to Juan Martin Del Potro in the finals in Indian Wells.

Active winners at Roland Garros are few and far between due to Nadal's incredible dominance over the past decade. In fact, the only ones left on the ATP Tour aside from the previously mentioned Federer are Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka. Djokovic continues to struggle to regain his form and his confidence while Wawrinka has a very mediocre 3-4 record thus far in his limited appearances in 2018. In other words, the chances of a first-time French Open winner if Nadal falters are high.

Likely candidates who could take-down the King of Clay include Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and the previously mentioned Del Potro. Aside from Federer, it has been Del Potro who has had a stellar 2018 with a 21-4 record that has seen him rise to No. 6 in the ATP rankings. His game works well on clay too and he has previously made the semifinals of Roland Garros in 2009 and the quarterfinals in 2012, both times falling in five set thrillers to Federer.

Thiem and Zverev meanwhile represent the future of the ATP and at the ages of 24 and 20 respectively it is only a matter of time before they achieve Grand Slam success. Thiem has gone an impressive 8-1 already this year on clay with a tournament victory in Buenos Aires. Last year he went 24-5 on clay including a run to the semifinals at Roland Garros where he lost to eventual champion Nadal. Zverev is still looking for his Grand Slam breakthrough and he routinely gets knocked for failing to yet attain a major quarterfinal. The German has not yet played on clay in 2018 but had a respectable 16-4 record on the surface in 2017. The kid is going to have his turn at the majors sooner rather than later and there's no reason why that can't happen at the next Slam of 2018.

With the women, few would have given Jelena Ostapenko a realistic shot of winning her first major title last year at Roland Garros but the 20 year old certainly cannot be underestimated this time around. While her game lay dormant to start 2018, she made the finals in Indian Wells on hardcourt and that boost in confidence should propel her into the clay court season feeling pretty solid about her game.

Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Other active female winners in Paris include Svetlana Kuznetsova (2009), Francesca Schiavone (2010), Garbine Muguruza (2016), Maria Sharapova (2012, 2014) and, of course, Serena Williams (2002, 2013, 2015). Of that group I'd give only Muguruza - the current World No. 3 - a valid shot at taking home the trophy. Sharapova is on-again, off-again dealing with nagging injury issues, just recently parted ways with her long time coach and just doesn't seem to have it since returning to the WTA Tour following her 15 month suspension that ended last Spring. As for Serena Williams, let's give the 23 time Slam champion a little more time to shake-off the rust after her nearly 14 month layoff from competition while she was pregnant and became a first-time mother.

Legitimate female contenders in 2018 aside from Muguruza, include World No. 1 Simona Halep who was oh-so-close a year ago. The Romanian was heavily favored heading into the final vs Ostapenko last year but could not capitalize despite being up a break in the third set. Another Slam disappointment happened for Halep to start this year as she lost the Aussie Open final to Caroline Wozniacki. Halep however has maintained a positive attitude thanks in part to her own internal sense of competition but also due to the wonderful influence that her coach Darren Cahill has on her. Halep is widely considered to be the leading contender to win the French Open and finally break through the barrier to her first career major.

Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Other noteworthy competitors who will also be in good standing to triumph in Paris among the women are rising star Elina Svitolina, former World No. 1 and 2017 semifinalist Karolina Pliskova and two time semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky if she's healthy and has some matches under her belt, as she only recently returned to the tour following a few months off due to injury. 

Aside from Rafael Nadal, the men's and women's fields are really wide open with a list of younger and more experienced contenders at this year's edition of Roland Garros. Tune-in again later in May to see how the above mentioned players have navigated the lead-up tournaments on the red dirt and who is poised to achieve Grand Slam Glory in Paris.

Tuesday's Women's Results at the Australian Open

By: Mike McIntyre

Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Petra Kvitova was playing in her first Australian Open since 2016.

Kvitova was beaten in an epic match by Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.

US Open finalist Madison Keys opened with a 6-1, 7-5 victory against Qiang Wang of China.

8th seeded Caroline Garcia of France with a routine 7-5, 6-3 win against Germany's Carina Witthoeft.

Garcia will next face 18 year old Marketa Vondrousova who is already ranked 62nd in the world.

The 22 year old Witthoeft is currently ranked 50th in the WTA rankings right now, hovering near her career high.

Garbine Muguruza was able to finish her first match in three tries in 2018 without injury difficulty. She advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Jessika Ponchet.

Donna Vekic raises her arms following a 7-5, 6-3 win against Japan's Nao Hibino. She will face Angelique Kerber next.

Maria Sharapova was fired-up in her return to Melbourne.

Sharapova is one of two players along with Kerber who have won the Aussie Open in their careers. The two are expected to face one another in the third round.

A selfie with her fans after a 6-1, 6-4 win against Tatjana Maria.

Canada's Genie Bouchard trying to cool-off in her first round match with Oceane Dodin.

The Genie Army has stuck with their player through tough times the past few years.



It's nice to see Bouchard smiling once again on the court. We'll see how long that lasts however as she will next face World No. 1 Simona Halep.

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.