Day Eight of the Australian Open, and the action really is begging to wind up. We’ve lost Sharapova and Azarenka, while Francesca Schiavone fought out and epic with Svetlana Kuznetsova yesterday. That was all for places in the quarter finals, and the second half of the draw battles it out today to try and join the likes of Schiavone and Wozniacki there. This means that we have some interesting battles about to resume in Melbourne, starting with tournament favourite Kim Clijsters. She is going so strongly, even though she found her third round match a bit trying, as she had to dig a little deeper to get past Alize Cornet, in match which was a bit tighter than expected. That’s nothing much to worry about really, because players are going to have their off days, and no-one is perfect all of the time, unless your name is Rafael Nadal. Next up for Clijsters on her quest to win her first Australian Open, is Ekaterina Makarova. Makarova is a player who will run down every point and make Clijsters work hard, but she will be a strong underdog. Makarova knocked out 13th seed Nadia Petrova in the third round, and after winning her first tour tournament last year, is on the rise. However, was watching her against Petrova, and really doesn’t look as if she has the all round game to out punch Clijsters over the course of a match. Clijsters is just to quick and powerful around the court, and as long as she has that bounce in her step, then the Belgian star will win through to the quarter finals as expected .
Petra Kvitova v Flavia Pennetta makes for an interesting match. Ever since her arrival in the semi finals of Wimbledon last year, there has been a rising interest in Kvitova. The 28th ranked left hander from the Czech Republic, who has only been a pro for just over four years, is really coming along nicely. As hinted, previously on these pages, was the likely player to cause a big upset in the third round, and she did, silencing the home fans by knocking out Aussie star Sam Stosur in straight sets. Is she going to win the tournament? No, but she has every chance of making it to the quarter finals here against Pennetta. The Italian is a bit of surprise contestant in the fourth round, and that is because she looked down and out in the third round against the future potential star of Israel’s Shahar Peer. Pennetta looked to be fighting a lost cause in the first set, losing it 6-3 with Peer looking to be motoring. She held on through a tie break in the second and then ran out 6-4 winner in the third set. It really was a commendable effort from the Italian, which wasn’t watched here as Peer looked so much in control after the first set, that the doubles pairing of Azarenka & Kirilenko looked much more interesting.
Agnieszka Radwanska v Shuai Peng is a bit of an unpredictable one to call. Radwanska looks a mixed bag of talent and poor shot selection at times, but is an enjoyable player to watch. With the demise of Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka, the dark horse label must fall on the shoulders of Radwanska. She is progressing really without any fuss or bother or hype surrounding her, that’s because no-one is expecting her to win the tournament. Here’s the thing with her, she has looked as if she has lacked a bit of belief in her game, especially in the two opening rounds, but she really looked to have grown in stature in the third when she thumped Simona Halep (in a match which was presumed to be going to play out as a close one), dropping only three games along the way. What of her opponent Shuai Peng? Don’t know a great deal about her to be honest, but the Asian players seeming to be getting a stronger foothold in the game, with the likes of Na Li and Jie Zheng reaching the semi’s here last year. Peng did knock out Jelena Jankovic (7th seed) in a previous round and that is why she is here. If Radwanska is on top her game and on top of herself, then the Polish star will win. Peng looks like one of those dogged players who will just not give up, but Radwanska (ranked 12th) should win here and set up a tasty quarter final against Kim Clijsters.
In the fourth women’s singles of the day, we get to see number two seed Vera Zvonareva take on Iveta Benesova. After starting the draw strongly, Zvonareva had a bit of struggle in the second round when she dropped the first set against promising youngster Bojana Jovanovski. She looked stronger in her first set against Lucie Safarova in the third round, but was made to work very hard in the third, taking it on a tie break in the end. Zvonareva is still hit and miss really as far as the title goes, and because of the fact that she would meet Kim Clijsters in the semi finals of her half of the draw, the player who thumped her in the final of the US Open late last year, you would back Clijsters over the Russian. But Zvonareva is improving and is looking a little more mature in her tactical approach to the game. Good mover around the court, and drives her shots well to the baseline, however, may just be lacking that world class edge to take her all the way. She has to be behind Wozniacki and Clijsters in the front running. Zvonareva takes on Benesova, who has knocked out two seeds along the way. Firstly she deposed Maria Kirilenko in the second round ,before taking out dark horse Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in an enduring match. Benesova has never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam, so this is new territory for her. Really shouldn’t be beating Zvonareva here, don’t fully see an upset happening, so would look for Clijsters, Zvonareva, Radwanska and perhaps Kvitova to move through today.
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Latest Outright Winner Prices
Kim Clijsters: 11/8 at Extrabet
Caroline Wozniacki: 4/1 at Bet365
Na Li: 11/2 at SkyBet
Vera Zvonareva: 8/1 at BetFred
Petra Kvitova: 12/1 at Extrabet
