Tennis News

Plenty of players finished the 2014 season on the injured list, but none of them was getting as much attention as Rafael Nadal, who’s now targeting a record-breaking tenth title from the French Open, a tournament in which he seems to do well all the time despite the circumstances not always being the best. It rarely matters what condition he’s in before the start of that tournament, everyone just considers him to be the favourite for the title – and, more often than not, that isn’t just wishful thinking.

However, the early months of 2015 seem to be pointing to the circumstances being worse than ever before for the Spaniard, who’s already accumulated a surprisingly high number of awkward performances, with the list including a defeat against Michael Berrer (from a set up!), a loss against Tomas Berdych (which broke Nadal’s record streak of victories against the Czech), and a defeat against Fognini (again from a set up). What’s that supposed to mean? Is that just a run of bad results or are there more struggles on the cards for the legend?

Well, those who saw at least some of his 2015 matches know that there is a difference between his 2013 comeback and this one. Back then, it took a massive performance from Horacio Zeballos to beat him in Vina del Mar and he then went on to win three tournaments in a row before finally losing against Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. This time? Well, it certainly didn’t take an once- in-a-lifetime performance from Fognini to beat him from being a set and a break down, which is worrying indeed. And it needs to be emphasized that he hasn’t played against world-class opposition since the end of the Australian Open – once he starts playing against the higher-ranked players that didn’t take part in the Golden Swing, it might not be a pretty sight for his fans.

Perhaps even more importantly, a new crop of players that have a legitimate shot at winning a Grand Slam title seems to have risen up over the last twelve months. As far as the French Open is concerned, this group includes the names of Stanislas Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, and perhaps even the ever-present Tomas Berdych. Novak Djokovic will be there to make Rafa’s life hard in any case – and so will Roger Federer, who’s still capable of beating Nadal in an one-off match (although the Spaniard will have to cooperate somewhat).

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All in all, it seems that completing the La Décima, if you want to call it like that, could be rather tough for Nadal this year, especially if he gets a bad loss or two during the lead-up to the Grand Slam. It seems a given that he will complete the feat at some point, but, as things stand at the moment, Novak Djokovic is to be considered the main favourite for the title. But then again – it is Rafael Nadal who we are talking about.

The second day of action at the opening round of the 2015 Davis Cup saw some entertaining action on several different continents, but only two nations advanced to the quarter-final rounds, while the remainder of the World Group will have a live rubber Sunday of action to the delight of paying fans.

Complete Day 2 results available below:

Germany 0 – 3 France
Venue: Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, GER (hard – indoor)

Great Britain 2 – 1 USA
Venue: Emirates Arena, Glasgow, GBR (hard – indoor)

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Czech Republic 1 – 2 Australia
Venue: Cez Arena, Ostrava, CZE (hard – indoor)

Kazakhstan 1 – 2 Italy
Venue: National Tennis Centre, Astana, KAZ (hard – indoor)

Argentina 1 – 2 Brazil
Venue: Tecnopolis, Buenos Aires, ARG (clay – outdoor)

Serbia 3 – 0 Croatia
Venue: Kraljevo Sports Centre, Kraljevo, SRB (hard – indoor)

Canada 2 – 1 Japan
Venue: Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, Vancouver, CAN (hard – indoor)

Belgium 2 – 1 Switzerland
Venue: Country Hall du Sart Tilman, Liege, BEL (hard – indoor)

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki is through to the final of the Malaysian Open and will look to maintain her dominant campaign in the tournament to lift the title on Sunday afternoon. Her opponent in the final will be Alexandra Dulgheru, whom she has already faced twice previously on the professional tour. Wozniacki leads the head-to-head series 2-0.

Follow the final match live here: Wozniacki vs Dulgheru Live Stream

The Dane faced minimal resistance in her semi-final match-up against Su-Wei Hsieh to reach her second final of the season. The contest lasted 1 hour and 17 minutes and save her break serve six times to secure the 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“Hsieh Su-Wei’s a tough opponent,” Wozniacki said afterwards. “She plays very unorthodox, she has some amazing shots – it’s tough to play someone like that because you don’t get much rhythm.

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“I just kept my head cool out there and fought until the end.”

Wozniacki will come up against Alexandra Dulgheru, who had a more difficult path to the final of the tournament. She defeated fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova by rallying back from a set down to win 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4) in three hours and 14 minutes.

“It’s always exciting to be in finals – that’s what we practice so hard for,” Wozniacki said. “It’s my second final this year, so hopefully I can go the whole way.”

This marks the third time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Wozniacki leading the series 2-0. While one was a dominant win, the other was came via retirement. However, this should not affect Wozniacki’s path to victory, as she stands as a major favourite in Sunday’s final.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki in Straight Sets

As expected, the opening day of action in Round 1 of the 2015 Davis Cup brought with it some enthralling match-ups, riveting encounters, and surprising upsets which produced a fascinating 24 hours of competition on Friday.

In Glasgow, Andy Murray needed less than two hours to defeat Donald Young to give Great Britain the 1-0 lead as expected, but it was James Ward who was the hero to be remembered on the opening day, as he overcame a two set deficit and rallied back to beat American No. 1 John Isner in four hours and 56 minutes. The match went to 14-13 in the final set before Ward managed to break Isner to close out the affair.

In Serbia, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic gave his country a 1-0 lead with a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over Mate Delic. His nation would take a 2-0 lead when Viktor Troicki defeated rising star Borna Coric in five sets 4-6 1-6 6-3 6-2 6-1.

Complete Day 1 results available below:

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Germany 0 – 2 France
Venue: Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, GER (hard – indoor)

Great Britain 2 – 0 USA
Venue: Emirates Arena, Glasgow, GBR (hard – indoor)

Czech Republic 0 – 2 Australia
Venue: Cez Arena, Ostrava, CZE (hard – indoor)

Kazakhstan 1 – 1 Italy
Venue: National Tennis Centre, Astana, KAZ (hard – indoor)

Argentina 1 – 1 Brazil
Venue: Tecnopolis, Buenos Aires, ARG (clay – outdoor)

Serbia 2 – 0 Croatia
Venue: Kraljevo Sports Centre, Kraljevo, SRB (hard – indoor)

Canada 1 – 1 Japan
Venue: Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, Vancouver, CAN (hard – indoor)

Belgium 1 – 1 Switzerland
Venue: Country Hall du Sart Tilman, Liege, BEL (hard – indoor)

With little resistance all week, Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the semi-final stage of the Malaysian Open on Friday and will now come up against Su-Wei Hsieh for a spot in the tournament final. This marks the fourth time that these two competitors will come across each other on the tour, with Wozniacki leading the head to head series 3-0.

Follow the match live here: Wozniacki vs Hsieh Live Stream

The top seed in Kuala Lumpur beat Carina Witthoeft in the quarter-final stage on Friday to advance to the final four in the tournament. The Dane won the match 6-3, 6-1 , and did so in 1 hour and 12 minutes. Wozniacki hit 2 aces, won 80% of her first service points and saved both the break points she faced in the match.

“We had a lot of tight games early on, but I managed to play well in the important points, and that made the difference,” Wozniacki said afterwards. “I’m happy about the way I played out there today. I think that was my best match so far in the tournament, and I hope to just keep improving from here.”

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Wozniacki will next come up against Su-Wei Hsieh, who needed three sets to get past Russian qualifier Elizaveta Kulichkova, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-0. It was only during the final set that she truly picked up the pace and stormed to victory in 22 minutes. She will now be faced with her toughest match of the tournament in Wozniacki.

“Playing against top players is always tough, so I won’t be thinking about who I’m playing against,” Hsieh said. “I will concentrate on bringing my best game to the court and enjoying the semifinal.”

This marks the fourth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Wozniacki leading the series 3-0. One of those three meetings was a tough encounter – she nearly lost to Wei in Beijing when she was pushed to 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 6-0.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki in Straight Sets

In her only previous appearance at the Malaysian Open two years ago, Caroline Wozniacki suffered a surprising upset in the opening round of the tournament. Over 700 days later, the Dane returned to Kuala Lumpur and kicked off her campaign in solid fashion. Through to the second round of the tournament, Wozniacki will come up against Lin Zhu, whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

Follow the match live here: Wozniacki v Zhu Live Stream

The tournament’s top seed commenced her week in Malaysia with a rapid-fire victory over a Chinese qualifier. She defeated Yafan Wang 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour and 14 minutes to advance to the following stage of the event. While she struck no aces, the Dane hit 73% of her first service points and saved 3 of 4 break points to earn the victory in a lopsided manner.

“I didn’t do so well when I was here last time, so I’m happy to get my first win in Malaysia. The first match of any tournament is always tough and I’m just happy to be through,” Wozniacki said.

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In a more difficult opening round match-up, Lin Zhu ousted Yuliya Beygeizimer in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to her second round meeting with Wozniacki. She struck 3 aces, won 67% of her first service points and converted seven breaks of serve to close out the match in 2 hours and 5 minutes.

This is just the first time that Wozniacki and Zhu will cross paths on the WTA tour. The Dane, who is positioned as the top seed of the tournament, will likely live up to her billing and will continue her dominant run through the draw. While first-time opponent and relative unknowns could always pose an unlikely threat to Top 10 players, Wozniacki should be able to advance in straight sets relatively unscathed.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki in Straight Sets