Wimbledon 2011 – Day 10

On Tuesday in London, Maria Sharapova of Russia demolished a 2009 French Open semifinalist, Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia 6-1, 6-1.

Maria struck 23 winners (including 5 aces) with 10 unforced errors (including 1 double fault) while scoring on 6 of the 10 break points she reached against Dominika and totaling 60 points in the match. Dominika hit only 3 winners (no aces), with 11 errors (3 DFs) while converting 1 of her 4 break point opportunities against Maria and scoring 32 points in the match. match stats

Maria said: “I was playing someone I lost to a little over a month ago on clay in two sets, so I knew she was capable of playing some really good tennis. A few years ago I also lost to [Dominika] at the French Open, at the same stage as today. I thought I played really solid and did the right things to win this time.”

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Also on Tuesday at Wimbledon, this year’s champion at Birmingham Sabine Lisicki of Germany defeated this year’s champion at Eastbourne Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 6(4)-7, 6-1.

Sabine walloped 52 winners (including 9 aces) with 24 unforced errors (including 2 double faults) while scoring on 6 of the 10 break points she reached against Marion and totaling 111 points in the match. Marion hit only 12 winners (1 ace) with 17 errors (5 DFs) while converting 3 of her 4 break point opportunities against Sabine and scoring 90 points in the match. match stats - Tennis.com “Racquet Reaction”

The win made Sabine the first German to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Steffi Graf in 1999. Sabine said: ”It was a really tough match against Marion. She likes to play on grass and she plays well on it. I was disappointed I wasn’t going for my shots at the end of the second set. I started to get tentative. But I was going to fight—there was nothing else I was thinking of. I just really wanted to win. I gave it all I had. I was fighting for each point and didn’t want it to slip away.”

Marion was slowed by fatigue from long matches in the three previous rounds. Marion said: ”My mind was trying extremely hard, but my body just couldn’t do anything anymore. I still fought very hard, especially in that second set—I was down match points. But Sabine was playing very well, of course. I have no regrets… I just have to take the good things I’ve done in the last month and move forward.” postmatch interview

Sabine Lisicki will play Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon semifinals on Thursday. They have met only once before, on a Laykold hardcourt this year in the 3rd round at Miami, when Maria defeated Sabine 6-2, 6-0. It is not likely to be so easy this time.

Sabine said: ”[Maria is] a great champion and has been playing well recently. I have absolutely nothing to lose. I just enjoy myself out there on the court so much. It’s just so great, and I’m so thankful to be out there again.”

Maria said: ”Sabine hits very hard. She has probably one of the hardest serves on the tour, and that’s very beneficial. She has used that very well on grass and it’ll be challenging. I’m really looking forward to the match.”

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Also on Tuesday at Wimbledon, the 2011 champion at Miami and Marbella Victoria Azarenka of Belarus handily defeated the 2010 champ at Quebec City, Tamira Paszek, from Austria, 6-3, 6-1.

Victoria struck 30 winners (including 1 ace) with only 8 unforced errors (including 2 double faults) while scoring on 5 of the 9 break points she reached against Tamira and totaling 66 points in the match. Tamira hit 11 winners (2 aces), with 7 errors (1 DF) while converting her one break point opportunity against Victoria and scoring 41 points in the match. match stats

The win put Victoria into the first Grand Slam singles semifinal of her career. Victoria said: “Looking at the rankings, everybody says I should have been in the semifinals already. It was important I got through this match. I’m very happy to be in the semifinals, and I’m looking forward to working even harder.”

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And also on Tuesday at Wimbledon, this year’s champion at Madrid, 21-year-old 8th seeded #8 (career high: #8) Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, defeated a 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist, 23 year old 32nd seeded #34 (career high: #32) Tsvetana Pironkova from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 6-3, 6(5)-7, 6-2.

Petra struck 54 winners (including 9 aces) with 24 unforced errors (including 5 double faults) while scoring on 6 of the 10 break points she reached against Tsvetana and totaling 104 points in the match. Tsvetana hit 10 winners (1 ace), with 18 errors (3 DFs) while converting 2 of her 3 break point opportunities against Petra and scoring 80 points in the match. match stats -Tennis.com “Racquet Reaction”

Petra said: “At the beginning I was better and played like my matches before, but then I got a little nervous. I made some easy mistakes. I was so happy I won the first game in the third set, that I broke her. It got better from there.”

Petra Kvitova will play Victoria Azarenka in the Wimbledon semifinals on Thursday. Vika and Petra are tied at 2-2 in career matches. Vika won their first two meetings, Petra won the last two. Their only prior meeting on a chlorophyll court was last year in the 3rd round at Wimbledon, when Petra defeated Victoria 7-5, 6-0.

Victoria said: ”It’s a completely different game from when we played here last year—it’s a totally different stage of the tournament. She’s in great form and she’s playing well, so I really have to play my best game and try my best.”

Women’s Quarter-Final Preview

Dominika Cibulkova (24) vs Maria Sharapova (5)

For the first time since 2006 Maria Sharapova is in a Wimbledon quarterfinal when there is no possibility of a facing a Williams sister in order to win the title. Her immediate challenge is to defeat a woman who is almost a full foot shorter but who has beaten her the one time they played in a major. Cibulkova embarrassed Sharapova 6-0 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open. Amazingly, all four of their career meetings have been on clay, and  the two are locked at 2-all, with the shorter player having won the last 2 matches, including one this year.

However, Sharapova is much more comfortable on grass than clay. Cibulkova is also coming off one of the best wins of her career by basically blasting the World #1 Caroline Wozniacki off the court with nearly 20 forehand winners in a 1-6 7-6(5) 7-5 victory. The match-up on paper looks like a clear win for Sharapova, but Cibulkova has beaten her before and believes in her game. The question will be if Sharapova believes in her game, especially her (second) serve.

PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets

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Sabine Lisicki  vs. Marion Bartoli (9)

Sabine Lisicki had one of the most outstanding performances by a female tennis player this year when she saved 2 match points against #3 seed Li Na (the most successful player at the Grand Slam tournaments this year) to win 3-6 6-4 8-6 in the second round. Lisicki has yet to lose a match on grass this year, having won in Birmingham right before Wimbledon, but she had to write the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in order to get a wildcard to enter the tournament, which was granted. 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli  put on an incredible performance in the 4th round of Wimbledon to dismiss the 2-time defending champion Serena Williams by out-hitting and out-serving the 13-time major champion in two sets 6-3 7-6(6).

Bartoli had more aces (10 to 8) than Serena and in most of the rallies was hitting the ball harder and more aggressively. Serena did not play her best, true, but Bartoli won the match more than Serena lost it. Head-to-head Lisicki leads Bartoli 2-1 including a win over the Frenchwoman this year but Bartoli’s lone win was on grass at Wimbledon in 2008. Bartoli had 11 aces in the first 3 rounds and 10 in the fourth. I seriously doubt she can play as well two rounds in a row. The German wild-card is a real contender to win the entire tournament.

PREDICTION: Lisicki in 2 sets

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Tamira Paszek vs. Victoria Azarenka (4)

The highest remaining seed is the hard-hitting (and ear-splitting) Belarussian who has reached her 5th career grand Slam quarterfinal at this year’s Wimbledon but who has never reached a major semifinal. I expect that streak to end on Tuesday. Her opponent, Paszek had an impressive win over 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the 3rd round 3-6 6-4 11-9 after nearly four hours of play.

Paszek had been long touted as a player to watch about 3 or 4 years ago but injuries got in the way and the 20-year-old is the furthest she has reached in a major since her breakthrough debut year in 2007. Azarenka has the power and mentality to dismiss most players outside of the Top 10. Paszek is not an exception.

PREDICTION: Azarenka in 2 sets

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Petra Kvitova (8) vs. Tsvetana Pironkova (32)

Pironkova must be Bulgarian for “kryptonite” because there is no other explanation for why the greatest women’s grass court player of her generation would lose in two consecutive years to the same player, by the same exact score (6-2 6-3)! Last year Pironkova’s stunning win was one round later and she followed it by losing a hideous match against Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals.

The player in the other semifinal last year was Petra Kvitova who lost a high-quality affair to eventual champion Serena Williams. This year, Pironkova has to face the hard-hitting, fearless lefty who has the game to defeat anyone on the tour but didn’t quite believe in herself enough. This year she has the belief that she can do it, and she can.

PREDICTION: Kvitova in 2 sets