2013/05/25

Djokovic Makes it Through the Rain and into the Rogers Cup Final

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO – They tried to start. It rained. They stopped. The rain stopped, the players came out. They squeezed in five games, and it rained again. It stopped again, and the driers came out… it rained again. Even after the driers came out for the final time, it spitted slightly before ending, and the players would resume for the final time around,  It even started to spit for a short period, but it would eventually stop, and play would get under way around 10:25pm on a cold, blustery night in Toronto.

Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic aren’t just both Serbian, they’re good friends and good colleagues. They practice together often and know each other and each other’s games very well. “Weather is something you can’t effect, obviously. We were very close to cancelling the match tonight and playing tomorrow,” said Djokovic. Unsurprisingly, the delay did little to damage the level of play in the first set, and both players came out crushing the ball.

It would be important for Tipsarevic to use good depth to neutralize Djokovic’s able to create angles from the baseline and push him around. He did an excellent job in the first set, which saw nine straight holds. Unfortunately, the best game of the set would go against him, after several long rallies were created off his second serve, and Djokovic would break to take the opening set 6-4.

The momentum was clearly on Djokovic’s side, as he began to use the backhand down the line and dictate play, going up a quick break to earn 3-1. After another grinding game, Djokovic broke once again to go 5-1, and the match was all but over, finishing up 6-4, 6-1.

Despite winning, Djokovic was clearly frustrated with the stopping and strating due to the unpredictable rain. “I don’t see why hard court tournaments can’t have covers. I think this year’s tournament should strongly consider covers for next year.”

Djokovic will take on Richard Gasquet, who beat John Isner in straight sets earlier in the day on Saturday. Djokovic owns a 6-1 record against Gasquet, winning their most recent meeting in Miami earlier in the year in straight sets. Gasquet’s only victory over the Serb came on the hard courts of Shanghai in 2007.

Brodie McPhee is the writer of mindtheracket.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @MindTheRacket. He is covering the Rogers Cup in Toronto for Tennis Panorama News, follow @TennisNewsTPN for updates.

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Gasquet Tops Isner to gain Toronto Final

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO – For the third straight day, the Toronto Rogers Cup was effected by rain. Luckily, the first semifinal of the day was able to get under way only 20 minutes later than scheduled, around 3:20 local time.

The conditions were cold and grey, and at times windy as rain threatened but never came. Conditions were slower, a big boost to Richard Gasquet, and John Isner played into his hand. “It was weird” said the 6’9″ American. “Get here and it’s pouring down rain when I arrived to the courts, and next thing you know it stops raining and you get 100 people out there and the courts are ready to go. Didn’t get to warmup for the match. “The first set saw 12 straight holds to force a tiebreak. In reality, the momentum of play had already been set. Gasquet was incredibly effective on serve, getting in 88% of his first serves and only dropping 4 points on serve all set. Isner was forced to play 43 points on serve and save two break points to force a tiebreaker.

Momentum in hand, Gasquet rose to the occasion, taking advantage of longer points and dictating with the backhand. “It’s world class,” Isner said of the Gasquet backhand. “It’s just a gift of his, really. It’s tough for me because I like to take the majority of my shots if I’m playing a righty to his backhand, and he was able to handle that pretty well.”

While Gasquet’s first serve percentage dropped in the second set, he continued to dominate. With the pressure still squarely on Isner, Gasquet finally broke and would cruise to victory, taking the second set and the match 7-6(3), 6-3, without facing a single break point all match. “The key of the match was to return well, and I did it. I tried to return all the time to make him play,” said the Frenchman.

“Then I like to defend. But of course I had to do a big tiebreak, and I did it. I played incredible in the tiebreak and then I felt [good].”

As for the final, Gasquet is not too worried about who his potential opponent will be. “That’s not a big problem for me to play against Novak or Janko. They are very , very good players both. Both are playing very, very [well].”

Brodie McPhee is the writer of mindtheracket.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @MindTheRacket. He is covering the Rogers Cup in Toronto for Tennis Panorama News, follow @TennisNewsTPN for updates.

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Murray Pulls Out of Toronto

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO – After winning gold and silver medals as a hometown favorite, doing over eight hours of press across multiple days and catching a plane ride across five zones, it would be easy to understand why Andy Murray would be tired. Regardless, he traveled to Toronto, practiced twice in hope to adjust to the surface change, and managed to take out Flavio Cipolla in straight sets.

After his match, Murray was clearly exhausted, and noted that hard courts were notoriously difficult on his joints. On Thursday, the gold medalist was forced to withdraw from the tournament before his scheduled night match against Milos Raonic, citing a left knee injury.

“I decided this morning. Obviously it was a bit sore yesterday, then had some treatment and stuff after the match. It felt a bit better, and then came in today, I saw the physios, they did some work on it, and it’s still a bit sore.”

Raonic was forced to give a walkover to Murray earlier in the year, and Murray had a chance to speak to the Canadian before officially announcing his decision. “I spoke to the tournament directo and apologized to him, and then came upstairs and Milos just came up and had a little joke about it. In Miami earlier in the year he pulled out against me, and then obviously repaid him the favour today”, Murray joked.

“In terms of kind of where I go from here, I don’t know. We’ll talk about it with the team this evening and decide what the best thing to do is, if it’s to hang here for a couple days or go onto Cincinnati or go to Miami or whatever.”

For Raonic, it’s a chance to play in his first ever quarterfinal of a Masters 1000 tournament in from of a home crowd. “Obviously it was something I was really looking forward to… It’s my first quarterfinal in a Masters and to be at home is pretty special.”

Raonic will play the winner of John Isner and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals.

Brodie McPhee is the writer of mindtheracket.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @MindTheRacket. He is covering the Rogers Cup in Toronto for Tennis Panorama News, follow @TennisNewsTPN for updates.

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Canadians Featured on Tuesday at Rogers Cup in Toronto

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO – Tuesday featured the start of the main draw at Rogers Cup, as well as many featured first round matches. Canadians Frank Dancevic and Vasek Pospisil started and ended the day session. It was nothing but tough losses for both, however.

Dancevic started action on centre court against Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin. The Canadian had his chances, but bowed out in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. “As professionals we don’t really get the opportunity to play at home. We get this opportunity once a year as Canadians. I love it. It’s great. It’s unfortunate that I wasn’t playing really good today. I felt like if I was at the top of my game I could have maybe won today or done a little bit better here.”

“I’ve had a pretty rough year this year battling injuries and stuff. My confidence this year started getting better last week. Like I started playing really well and I made the semifinals of Vancouver.” “Then I just found that arriving here late and adjusting, I found it a little difficult… so going out today I didn’t have the best confidence.”

To finish the day session, Pospisil dropped his second round match against Juan Monaco on an obviously pro-Pospisil grandstand court. It was a tough turn around after a long match on Monday. “I knew I was going to have to be at the top top physically and mentall and be very sharp. I tried my best, but to beat a player that’s top 10 in the world, you’re going to have to be at the top of your game.”

To start the night session was the Canadian favorite for the week, Milos Raonic. He took his break opportunities and served well to beat Serbian and doubles partner Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4.

Despite this being his home town tournament, and with the expectations of a country on his shoulder, he was confident and dealt with the pressure wonderfully. “I don’t think there was really too much nerves… sort of came out and was pretty fluid and relaxed throughout the match from the beginning to the end.” The Canadian emphasized that this was far from a nervous beginning. “I don’t think the whole – just getting this match out of the way. I don’t think of it that way, as a relief.”

Raonic could be faced with the difficult task of playing recent gold medalist Andy Murray, who arrived on Tuesday and was out practicing while Raonic won his match. “I played him earlier this year. I know if I play well I’ll have my opportunities.”

The Canadian continues to emphasize his drive for improvement in all aspects of his game. He also hinted that improving his return game would reap the most rewards for his game. “Being able to get out of the defensive on the return games into an aggressive position a bit quicker. That’s the thing that would probably make the biggest difference in my results.”

Elsewhere, Fish, Querrey, Haas, Stepanek, Granollers, Youzhny, Benneteau all won. And in the most dramatic match of the day, Fognini outlasted Lu, 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-6(5) in nearly three hours on a packed Court 1.

Wednesday will feature del Potro, Tsonga, Murray and Djokovic on the centre court in Toronto, as seeds begin their second round matches.

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‘The Face-Off’ Nets Raonic a Win over Sampras

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – The master versus the prodigy. The past versus the future. A man whose best days are behind him in Pete Sampras, and a man whose best days are still to come in Milos Raonic. Yet both men are alike in more ways than one.

The big serve is an obvious. So is the smooth motion. The classy, well-tempered, soft-spoken demeanor both carry themselves with may not be. While it was a night of fun and laughs, at the end, both men let their tennis speak for itself.

The Air Canada Centre was the scene for the the “Face-Off” exhibition. The night was hosted by Bob and Mike Bryan‘s father, Wayne Bryan. Though he may be the father of two of the greatest doubles players ever, he acted as if he was born for the role and kept the night moving along seamlessly. First up was the doubles, featuring  Pete Sampras, Milos Raonic, Aleksandra Wozniak, Eugenie Bouchard, ex-hockey player Brad May, actor Hayden Christensen, and two local Canadian TV icons. Players substituted out in between games in the mini-match. The highlight was Christensen, who played some tennis in college and held his own against the pros. Even funnier was Wayne Bryan forcing Bouchard and Wozniak to play “handicapped” by holding Raonic and Christensen’s respective hands as they struggled around the court.

After that came the one set match between Wozniak and Bouchard. Wozniak missed 10 months of the season due to wrist problems, but returned strong winning the $50k Vancouver Challenger and playing well in Toronto. Bouchard, 17, and the No. 4 ranked junior, won the junior Wimbledon title and appears to be well on her way as a name to look out for. The two played solid baseline, side to side tennis that showed off their effective forehands and ability to push the ball deep. After a series of breaks at the end of the set, Wozniak took it 6-4.

After a series of contests and games, two young men from Raonic’s hometown, Thornhill, Ontario, came out to sing a song in tribute of Raonic and his job of promoting the sport in Canada. Part way through, Milos wandered out and had a chuckle while they finished their song. Asked after if he had heard it before, Raonic said that around the time of the Miami tournament “guys in the locker room would set it as their ring tone, and then call each other.”

Finally, we came to the main event. Raonic and Sampras went toe to toe in the first set, and it was incredibly close. Raonic’s serve regularly clocked in at over 210km/h and at points beyond 220km/h. After taking his first game, the classic Seinfeld “another game for Milos!” clipped played on the speakers and caught everyone by surprise, including Raonic. While Sampras’ serve wasn’t that, it was still incredibly effective. Early in the set, he backed up a great first serve with a jumping volley winner that left him shaking in disbelief. Overall, Sampras’ touch at the net didn’t look aged one bit and held up well against Raonic’s numerous passing shots. After each man traded holds 6 times, Raonic took the tiebreak behind an early mini-break.

The second set flew by as Raonic took control. Sampras appeared to be tiring (difficult to fault for a 40-year-old) and Milos’ movement looked the best it’s been since suffering a hip injury at Wimbledon this year. Raonic took the second set and the match, 7-6, 6-1.

Overall the points were generally short, but when stretched, the inventiveness of both men kicked in as they hustled, created openings and hit some incredibly well angled passing shots from all corners of the court.

After the match, Sampras had nothing but praise for the humbled youngster. “I’ve seen a lot of serves in my day, but this kids serve is bigger than big”. Despite describing Raonic as having “all the tools” to succeed, he also stressed patience as the Canadian No. 1 continues to mature. “Don’t expect him to win Wimbledon next year. It’s going to take some time. He can do it but let’s be patient here. Let’s not put too much pressure on the kid.”

Before the match, Raonic still seemed starstruck. “I think I’ve watched him play a couple thousand hours more than he’s watched me,” said the Canadian before the match. After a breakout year also damaged by injury, it was a dream come true to be able to play against his idol in the first tennis match ever hosted at the Air Canada Centre. “It’s been a whirlwind, from the highest to the lowest, but you guys make this night special, and hopefully there’s many more to come.”

Raonic will now travel to Barcelona with coach Galo Blanco where he will put in weeks of conditioning in order to prepare for the January Australian hard court swing, and Canada’s World Group Davis Cup tie in Vancouver against France.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He was in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto covering the ‘Face-Off’ for Tennis Panorama News. Follow him on twitter @MindTheRacket.

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Serena Williams Wins Toronto, Projected to be Seeded for US Open

Serena Williams

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – It has only been four tournaments, but Serena Williams is back to her winning ways.

In a week full of surprises, delays, and drama, Williams was the last woman standing as she defeated Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2 to claim her second championship in as many tournaments. The victory was her 39th career WTA title.

“Eight months ago if there was only one tournament I want to win, it was Toronto. For whatever reason, I really wanted to win this event,” said Williams. “Going through so much and being able to win is even more amazing.”

The match started out an incredibly high level, with both players serving incredibly well. First serves were hitting lines and surpassing 108 mph on a consistent basis as both players avoided break points for the first eight games.

The fifth service game for Stosur was a different matter, however, as she began to feel the pressure, and the errors crept in. She saved the first break point of the match with an excellent slice that handcuffed Williams as she came to the net. Williams managed to get another break point, and would take matters into her own hands with an incredible down the line back hand winner. “I definitely think that’s when the match started changing,” said Williams. “but for the most part I was really fighting until that point, and obviously after that point I kept fighting. It was definitely a big point.” For Stosur, it was a disappointing lapse in concentration. “Especially being up in the game and really holding quite comfortably up until that point, it’s disappointing to lose that,” said Stosur. “Once an opponent gets a certain lead, sometimes it really boosts them and makes it a bit more difficult.”Williams then held easily to take the first set, 6-4.

The pressure continued to bother Stosur. A passive game filled with errors meant that Williams would go up an early break in the second, and it was relatively smooth sailing for Williams. After a loud strike of thunder, she didn’t speed up the match by playing faster, but by serving better. Stosur insisted he didn’t let it bother her. “If you are losing, you kind of hope it does come to stop and get a bit of a break. But I think really you’ve got to just try and ignore it and play each points as normal.”

In Williams her first three service games of the set, she lost only two points. In the final game, she clocked a first serve coming in at 124 mph. “I kept thinking, hit a ace, hit a ace, hit a ace, because I knew at that point I didn’t want to hit too many shots because I felt like I was getting a little tight,” said Williams on the last game of the match. With rain threatening at 5-2, she saved the only break point she would face all day to close out the match and win the championship.

For Williams, it was another display of dominance why many consider her one of the best to have ever played the women’s game. Williams has often talked about finding “another level” this week, particularly after losing the first set to both Jie Zheng and Lucie Safarova, and she did so again today, taking opportunities with conviction and staying out of trouble on serve. She hit nine aces and lost only three points on her first serve, 11 on serve in total.

Though Stosur could not take what would have to be considered the best championship of her career, she remained positive after struggling with bouts of inconsistency this season. “I’m full of confidence, really happy with the way my game is at the moment.”

With the draw for Cincinnati already released, Stosur and Williams could meet again in the second round if the draw holds up. “I never really want to change my game too dramatically against any kind of opponent,” said Stosur. “It’s maybe trying to execute a bit better and must always go out there and try and play as best you can.” Williams praised Stosur’s game and looked forward to the possible match-up. “We’re both playing really intense and really well, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Serena Williams has to be considered the favorite heading into the final major of the year, the US Open which gets under way in two weeks. She now leads the Olympus US Open Series. “I feel like there is a lot of improvements I want to make, you know, being able to close out big points and winning on big points and capitalizing on that,” Williams said about her game. “Still returning a little better, but overall it’s solid.”

Next up for Williams is Cincinnati, and then the US Open. “Right now physically I feel solid. I feel really good. I’m due to play on Tuesday in Cincinnati, so I’ll be there.” Williams insisted that she doesn’t feel like a favorite heading into the final grand slam of the year. “I never go in as a favorite. I feel like I’m still the underdog. I’m just taking it one day at a time and one match at a time and just going with it.”

It is expected that Williams’ ranking on Monday will place her in the top 32 high enough to be seeded at the US Open.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He was in Toronto  covering the Rogers Cup WTA edition for Tennis Panorama News

Results – Sunday, August 14, 2011
Singles – Final
Serena Williams (USA) d. (10) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 64 62

Doubles – Final
(3) Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. (4) Azarenka/Kirilenko (BLR/RUS) w/o (Azarenka: right hand injury)

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Confidence Finds Stosur in Toronto Final

Samantha Stosur at 2011 Family Circle Cup

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – The first semifinal of the Rogers Cup featured Samantha Stosur and Agnieszka Radwanska. Both players have had fantastic weeks and came in on the back of a series of dominant straight set wins.

It was Stosur who would ride the wave of confidence from her defeat of Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals, continuing to be untouchable on serve and only dropping two points on her way to taking the set 6-2.

The second set was a very different story. The errors started to creep into Stosur’s game, and Radwanska was able to play more of her creative style as the rallies lengthened. “She definitely started making me play more,” said Stosur. “I wasn’t able to get on top of the points as quickly. It was a real battle through the second set. She kept me under a lot of pressure.”

After trading breaks to open the second set and Stosur saved three break points at 3-all, the set seemed headed for a fitting tiebreak. Stosur lost focus after the changeover at 5-6, making three errors and a double fault, and the match was sent to a third and deciding set. “I guess that service game, trying to stay into that one that I ended up losing, all that pressure kind of built up and I played a pretty sloppy game and lost the set.”

In following the same pattern as the Serena Williams/Lucie Safarova semifinal of last night, both players held to 2-2, and then fatigue began to creep into Radwanska’s game and Stosur ran away with the set and the match. “In the third, getting that early break was really comforting for me, and I think then maybe she felt like it was a long way back.”

For Radwanska, who had won nine straight matches coming into the semifinal, it was tough to keep up the same level of play as the second set. “It’s very hard, you know, playing so many matches in a row, especially good matches on a very high level.”

Radwanska, who has now played three straight weeks and sported a significant amount of strapping on her shoulder still plans on playing in Cincinnati next week. “It’s just too much tennis. Just I was falling apart now, but, you know, I think I just need few days just to fix it.”

Stosur, who has enjoyed the time she has spent in the city, is thrilled with the week of success after an up and down year. “These are the big events. When you’ve got a field like what we’ve had here this week with the top 25 playing and the size of the tournament and everything, I think to do well here is fantastic.”

“I think you’re always gonna have those highs and lows through a season most of the time, unless you’re Novak, which it doesn’t seem to bother him at all. I think because it’s so competitive, as well, it’s hard to beat the best every single week. That’s what makes for a great tour,” said Stosur.

The Australian is likely in for her toughest match of the tournament yet, as she will take on the winner of Saturday night’s semifinal featuring Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He’s in Toronto this week covering the Rogers Cup WTA edition for Tennis Panorama News. Follow his updates on twitter at @GVTennisNews and his personal twitter @MindTheRacket.

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With the Crowd Behind Her, Serena Rallies Past Safarova

Serena Williams of the U.S. serves during match at the Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament in Toronto, August 11, 2011. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (CANADA – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)

 

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – Injures are a part of any athlete’s career. Season ending and potentially life threatening injuries are an entirely different topic all together. Tennis has missed Serena Williams, and Serena Williams has missed tennis. In only her fourth tournament back, she is already showing the sort of natural dominance many hope and expect to see from her. Including herself.

“I was hoping to win Wimbledon, so no, I’m not exceeding my expectations,” said Williams, who defeated Lucie Safarova Friday night 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank. “A lot of people are still expecting me to be at the top level, and I expect it even more. It’s kind of interesting.” An understatement, to say the least. Williams won her third tournament back from injury, the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, and having not lost in Toronto, she’s been perfect on hard courts since her return.

The support of the crowd, especially larger crowds at night matches, hasn’t hurt. “I love the spectators in Toronto. I love Toronto. I mean, I’ve been getting really wonderful support, and it’s been amazing. Me likey.” Fans in Toronto urged Williams on in the second set, even though she had difficulty converting break points and would only gain the necessary break through a double fault. “I honestly could have had a better chance in the first set, but I lost some key points. It was all about maybe on or two points here that would have a difference and some double faults that didn’t make sense.”

By the end, it was all Williams, who stepped it up as the final set tightened up at 2-2, and won 4 straight games to take the match. “I just think that it was just more or less about, you know, this is another level, just taking my game to a higher level and not remaining on the same platform.”

It was a similar story to Thursday night’s match against Jie Zheng. Like Zheng, Safarova came racing out of the blocks looking poised on serve, and utilizing a confident forehand down the line. However, she could not keep up the same level of play over the course of the match, and it cost the left hander in the end.

Next up for Williams is her most difficult opponent yet, Victoria Azarenka, who has lost just six games in three matches. They will be featured as the Saturday night match, starting at 6:30pm Eastern time.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He’s in Toronto this week covering the Rogers Cup WTA edition for Tennis Panorama News. Follow his updates on twitter at @GVTennisNews and his personal twitter @MindTheRacket.

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Radwanska Stops Petkovic Again, Azarenka Ends Voskoboeva’s Run

 

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – The best of the Friday day session was saved for last at the Rogers Cup, as Agnieszka Radwanska took on Andrea Petkovic in a rematch of the Mercury Insurance Open semifinal from last week. Radwanska had already defeated Vera Zvonareva in the previous round of the Rogers Cup, the same player she defeated in the final of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad.

Both players were very much in form, and relying on their typical styles in order to take points. Radwanska employed her inventive, adaptive style of play included with excellent movement and defense. Petkovic played her hard hitting baseline style. In the end, the points and rhythm of the match was much closer than the scoreboard showed at the end, a 6-4, 6-3 victory for Radwanska.

“I really enjoy playing her, because I always think it’s a good match to watch for the audience,” said Petkovic. “Agnieszka it’s always long rallies. You have to really build up the point.” Indeed, many long rallies left the audience thrilled, as the angles would continue to get steeper and wider, and both played excellent running defense. “I think I played a little bit too much, you know, like flat to her. Maybe I should have used the angles more. I just felt like I needed to overpower her, which was the wrong approach,” reflected Petkovic.

For Radwanska, it’s a continued stretch of excellent play after her championship run in Carlsbad last week. “I’m very happy with my game, with my performance,” said Radwanska. “I had a lot of good matches against top players. I have the confidence and a lot of experience against top players.”

Also winning was the fourth seeded Victoria Azarenka, defeating Galina Voskoboeva 6-1, 6-2. Voskoboeva, who needed to qualify to get into the main draw of the tournament, defeated Maria Sharapova in the third round of the tournament. This being her sixth match of the tournament, she looked out of energy and out of answers for Azarenka’s consistent and powerful game.

Azarenka has only lost 6 games in as many sets in her first three matches, and insists she is not thinking about being the highest ranked player left standing. “I’m just here to play the tournament, not looking at the rankings or anything else, just trying to stay focused on every game.” This is the third time in four attempts that Azarenka has made it to the semifinals in Canada. She has never advanced to the final.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He’s in Toronto this week covering the Rogers Cup WTA edition for Tennis Panorama News. Follow his updates on twitter at @GVTennisNews and his personal twitter @MindTheRacket.

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Stosur Advances to Toronto Semis with Victory over Vinci

Samantha Stosur at 2011 Family Circle Cup

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – The first quarterfinal on Friday featured Australian Samantha Stosur taking on Roberta Vinci. Vinci, who had already defeated world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki and former No 1  Ana Ivanovic was in tough against the tenth seed.

The first set seemed destined for a tiebreak, as both players held relatively comfortably for the first nine games. It was not meant to be, however, as Stosur made the necessary adjustment, parking herself in the doubles alley and taking the Vinci slice backhands on the forehand, and broke to love to take the set 6-4. “I think playing someone like her I wanted to try and keep aggressive and it was hard to do that off a backhand when she’s keeping the ball very low.”

Stosur rode this wave of momentum, quickly taking the second set 6-1. “I think once I won that first set, obviously you can kind of not relax but you feel like you’ve definitely got a bit of a lead going. “Once I broke early in that second set, really felt like I was in control of the match.”

She served at an impressive 84% for the set, including hitting 3 straight aces in her third service game. “I think as the match went on I obviously grew in confidence,” said the Australian. “You get that bit of a lead with that buffer of a couple of breaks and I thought I might go for it a bit more, where as at the start I was just trying to kick it in, get it to her backhand and really go for a high percentage.” Stosur has not been broken in her last seven sets and has saved 11 break points along the way.

Vinci’s combination of backhand slices and net play helped her to advance to the Rogers Cup quarterfinals for the first time, and Stosur was prepared for it. “I think playing someone like her I wanted to try and keep aggressive and it was hard to do that off a backhand when she’s keeping the ball very low.”“I knew going into the match that she obviously has a different style. It is definitely tricky. Playing someone like her, I quite enjoy that challenge of having to work things out. Maybe you don’t win the point on the first or second shot, maybe take three or four balls and then you set up and then you get your opportunity.”

Stosur, who improves to 7-1 in two career Rogers Cup appearances, will play the winner of Andrea Petkovic and Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals on Saturday.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He’s in Toronto this week covering the Rogers Cup WTA edition for Tennis Panorama News. Follow his updates on twitter at @GVTennisNews and his personal twitter @MindTheRacket.

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