Stanislas Wawrinka may face more round of 16 heartache

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After a Wimbledon-less Sunday, things get very exciting today as every single man and woman left in the single’s tournaments will be in action. Here are three stats about each of what we consider today’s four main matches:

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Andy Murray v Stanislas Wawrinka
» Murray has a 4-3 head-to-head record against Wawrinka and has won four of their last five clashes. They have never met on grass.
» The world number three has won all three of the duo’s meetings at the round of 16. Wawrinka has exited five of his last eight tournaments at that stage, with four of those losses coming against players ranked in the top five.
» The Swiss 24-year-old hasn’t reached the last eight of a Grand Slam in 17 career attempts, whereas Murray has done so in three of his last four.

Robin Soderling v Roger Federer
» Soderling and Federer have met ten times and the world number two has

Posted: June 29th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Serena and Venus bid to win their eighth title in ten years

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Photo Credit: Fiona Hanson/PA Wire

Between them, the Williams sisters have won seven of the last nine ladies’ singles titles at Wimbledon, reaching the final a further four times and winning the ladies’ doubles three times for good measure. With Maria Sharapova already out and Dinara Safina fresh from bottling yet another Grand Slam final at Roland Garros last month, it looks like they could be left fighting each other again. Here’s a look at the five favourites in the betting:

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Serena Williams
Serena is the most successful active women’s tennis player with ten Grand Slams but she hasn’t won Wimbledon since 2003, a Grand Slam drought only topped by her seven year (and counting) wait for a second French Open title. The woman named second seed has only won Wimbledon twice in the last 16 years but they were on both of the occasions that a Williams sister held that position - Venus in 2001 and Serena in 2002. There have been just five occasions in the Open Era where the losing lady has come back to win the following year and the last to do so was Jana Novotna 11 years ago.

Venus Williams
Venus has dominated Wimbledon this decade, reaching seven finals and winning five - including three of the last four - but has a fair way to go before rivalling Martina Navratilova (nine) and Steffi Graf (seven) as SW19’s greatest Open Era champion. She hasn’t been in great form recently, winning

Posted: June 25th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

There could yet be another upset in the French Open women’s semi-finals

History dictates that a Safina/Kuznetsova final is far from certain

Top seed Dinara Safina and Serena-conquering Svetlana Kuznetsova are strong favourites to overcome Dominika Cibulkova and Samantha Stosur in today’s French Open semi-finals. However, in ten of the last 11 years at least one of the women’s semis has been won by the lower seed, meaning there is potential for an upset.

Dinara Safina v Dominika Cibulkova
The major concern for Safina will be that the top seed has made the final just once in nine years at Roland Garros, with four falling at the semi-finals over that period. The Russian lost the final last year and it is notoriously difficult to bounce back, with Ana Ivanovic last year becoming the first woman to do it since 1996. Safina has won her two previous meetings with the Slovakian in straight sets but Cibulkova, who has never been this far at a Grand Slam before, has dropped just 15 games in her last four matches.

Posted: June 4th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Fernando Gonzalez will offer Andy Murray his first real test

Previews of today’s four French Open quarter-final matches

Considering Andy Murray had only previously won two matches at Roland Garros, his path to the quarter-finals this year has been surprisingly straight-forward. With Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic eliminated, this is being viewed as a great chance for him to break his Grand Slam duck but today’s last eight clash with Fernando Gonzalez is unlikely to be a walkover:

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Robin Soderling v Nikolay Davydenko
Soderling recorded one of the most historic victories in French Open history by eliminating the previously unbeaten Nadal in the last round but building on that success could prove a tough task. The last two men to knock the world number one out of a Grand Slam - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Australia last year and Murray at Flushing Meadows - were beaten in the next round. This is the first time the Swede has got this far in a Grand Slam whereas Davydenko has reached the semi-finals twice before at Roland Garros alone. Intriguingly, Soderling has won their two previous meetings on clay though.

Andy Murray v Fernando Gonzalez
Murray have never met Gonzalez on clay before but will need to be at his best because the Chilean is enjoying a fantastic season on the surface. Gonzalez has reached the final four in all three of the clay tournaments he has entered

Posted: June 2nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

The Williams sisters are favourites but Serena looks the more likely winner

Here are the contenders to Maria Sharapova’s relinquished crown

chickendinner’s Danny Harris has run the rule over all of the leading challengers for this year’s Australian Open. Reigning champion Maria Sharapova won’t be there to defend her title and Serena Williams looks likely to be the one to take advantage:

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Jelena Jankovic (1)
Despite being ranked top in the world, Jankovic has never won a Grand Slam and her only final appearance in one was at last year’s US Open. Jankovic has lost to second ranked Serena Williams in both finals she has played her in. A Serbian has never won the women’s tournament.

Serena Williams (2)
The Williams sisters have beaten each other nine times each although Serena has six final wins over her sister compared to three by Venus. Serena has won the Australian Open every other year for the last six years and last won it in 2007 which dictates that she is due another win this year. Serena has nine Grand Slam wins with five coming against her sister.

Dinara Safina (3)

Posted: January 17th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment