Pete Sampras and Roger Federer’s dominance, bad news for Andy Murray

Five statistics about what went down at Wimbledon

1. Between them, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have won 13 of the last 17 men’s singles titles at Wimbledon.

2. Andy Roddick becomes the second American man to lose three finals, following in the footsteps of former coach Jimmy Connors, who lost four.

3. Bad news for Andy Murray - not since Sampras’ first triumph in 1993 has a losing semi-finalist won the following year. Surprisingly, three of the last five

Posted: July 6th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Victoria Azarenka is capable of shocking Serena Williams

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It’s ladies day today at Wimbledon as all four women’s quarter-finals take place. Here are three stats about each encounter:

Dinara Safina (1) v Sabine Lisicki
» The pair have only met once before, with Lisicki beating Safina in three sets at last year’s Australian Open.
» The bad news for the German is that only one unseeded woman has reached the last four in the last eight years - Jie Zheng last year.
» The world number one has won eight of her last nine quarter-final matches.

Victoria Azarenka (8) v Serena Williams (2)
» Serena holds the 2-1 head-to-head advantage but Azarenka has shown she can hang with the ten-time Grand Slam champion this year.
» At the Australian Open she won the first set before retiring in the second

Posted: June 30th, 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

Local hero Gael Monfils tries to take down Roger Federer

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

Usually it’s the women’s tournament that produces the biggest upsets but yesterday two more male favourites were sent packing as Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez took care of Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Murray. The man hoping to make the year of the underdog continue today is Gael Monfils, the last remaining Frenchman in the tournament, who meets favourite Roger Federer, who knocked him out 12 months ago:

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Sorana Cirstea v Samantha Stosur
The Grand Slam quarter-final stage is unfamiliar territory for both of these women, neither of whom are in the top 30 of the world rankings. There’s not much to go on as the pair have never clashed before but Cirstea has only dropped one set so far compared to Stosur’s two. Both have taken high-profile scalps, with the 19-year-old Romanian stopping Jelena Jankovic, who reached the semi-finals in 2007 and 2008, and Australian Stosur getting rid of former finalist Elena Dementieva. Stosur is the favourite here.

Svetlana Kuznetsova v Serena Williams
Serena/Safina is the final that most expect but Kuznetsova won’t roll over for the self-proclaimed world number one. In the last three years, the Russian has reached the final, quarter-finals and semi-finals at Roland Garros, whereas Williams last got past this point in 2003. In fact, four of Serena’s last

Posted: June 3rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Serena Williams is 2.22 to overcome Elena Dementieva

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Elena Dementieva [1.81] starts as favourite against Serena Williams tonight having triumphed in their last three meetings. However Serena’s price doesn’t take into account her excellent Grand Slam semi-final record:

» Serena has won twelve of her fourteen career Grand Slam semi-finals and has been victorious in her last six.

» In contrast, Dementieva has a two out of six strike rate. She was eliminated at this stage at the last two Grand Slams and hasn’t reached the final of one since the 2004 US Open.

» Serena wins this tournament once every two years and after victories in 2003, 2005 and 2007, it is her turn again this year. Every time she has reached the final four at Melbourne Park she has been crowned champion.

» They have only met once previously at a Grand Slam, with Serena winning in straight sets at Wimbledon 2003.

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Posted: January 28th, 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