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EastWest Bank Classic

by forest7879 (U7064746) 06 August 2007
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Maria Sharapova barely broke sweat winning in San Diego, dropping her only set to Patty Schnyder in the final, and responding to it by bagelling her opponent in the third. However the draw was kind to the top seed - Schnyder reached the final at the expense of 5 higher ranked opponents in her half of the draw, and Sharapova's toughest opponent en route was Anna Chakvetadze in the semi, who finally ran out of steam in her 3rd straight tournament, having won a gruelling quarter final against Venus Williams the previous day.

This week sees the first post-Wimbledon appearance on the tour of Ana Ivanovic, an extremely consistent player this year, and she is drawn to play compatriot Jelena Jankovic in what could be a cracking semi-final. Jankovic is still trying to locate her pre-Wimbledon form, when she enjoyed a fantastic run despite undertaking an exhausting schedule. Another early exit here to add to the one in San Diego last week, and she will be having to defend the burn-out questions again.

I expect Sharapova to reach the final here, overcoming the challenge of several other Russians in her half of the draw, including the defending champion Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova. If she makes it however, I think she can expect a tougher, and probably Serbian, test in that final. I take the well rested Ana Ivanovic to make a successful return to action in LA.

BIG 4 ALL THROUGH TO SEMIS. The top 4 seeds all progressed to the semi finals of the EastWest bank classic, meaning a mouthwatering conclusion to the tournament is in prospect. Maria Sharapova had a surprisingly comfortable ride against Elena Dementieva, winning in straight sets. Both Jelena Jankovic and Nadia Petrova needed 3 sets to get through their respective quarter finals. One semi final will be an all russian affair between Sharapova and Petrova, while the other will be a clash between the two serbs, Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic.

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comment by GS2 (U1644947)

posted Aug 9, 2007

Dementieva has a pretty solid H2H against Hantuchova - something like 7-3 in her favour. As she's defending champ she'll be up to do well here and has looked good in her first two matches - I'd expect Elena to win this one.

Petrova should make it past Srebotnik though probably not that easily.

Krajicek pushed Sharapova to two tough sets the last time they met and could be tricky here as well.

Ivanovic faces a real test against Safarova - but it depends which Safarova turns up as she remains inconsistent.

If Jankovic is on form she'll beat Bammer who doesn't have the weapons to trouble her but Jankovic hasn't been at her best recently.

Kirilenko & Mirza should continue their revivals with wins over Dulko & Razzano (who did well to get past Peer).

Bondarenko v Azarenka is a battle of the young guns & could go either way.

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posted Aug 10, 2007

Well that was pretty good calling gs2, i think only mirza let you down there. Care to call the quarters? I think elena could beat maria tonight after maria's exertions last night

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comment by GS2 (U1644947)

posted Aug 10, 2007

Friday, August 10, 2007

Stadium (from 12.00hrs)
1. Petrova vs. Razzano
2. Kirilenko vs. Ivanovic
3. Azarenka vs. Jankovic
4. Fusano/Kops-Jones vs. Dulko/Kirilenko (possible court change)
5. Mattek/Mirza vs. Peschke/Stubbs (NB 18.30hrs)
6. Sharapova vs. Dementieva (NB 20.30hrs)

Well Petrova should ease past Razzano - I was surprised my how comfortably Nadia saw off Srebotnik so she seems to be in good form.

Kirilenko has really found some good form lately but I doubt she can continue her run here given how easily Ivanovic saw off Safarova.

Jankovic has been struggling with a cold all week but as long as that doesn't hamper her too much she should take care of Azarenka (who's one to watch in the future though)

Sharapova must be glad she's last on today after that long match against Krajicek - normally I'd favour Maria to beat Elena but Dementieva beat her here last year - seems to like this event and should be the fresher of the two so I'll go for her.

I'd say we're looking at one all Russian & one all Serbian semi final.

Of course this time I'll get it all wrong!

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posted Aug 10, 2007

i'll take the opportunity to put my 2 cents in for the quarters. between maria and elena. i'm going to go with maria. although kraijcek took her to the limit last night dementieva doesn't have to big serve to force maria in either direction and onto the back foot early enough in the point.

Ivanovic will walk all over her former doubles partner.

jankovic even in a tired state should be too much for azarenka setting up the all serbian semi final.

petrova should have enough to advance over Razzano also.

basically, although it seems a bit of a cop out. all seeds 1 - 4 should progress.

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posted Aug 10, 2007

I expect another Shappy victory before she successfully defends her US open title. Hard courts seem to be her best surface, and I can't see anyone getting past her here biggrin

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posted Aug 11, 2007

pretty strong semi final line up. Sharapova, Petrova, Ivanovic and Jankovic. the favourite on paper has to be ivanovic as she leads the head to head against all of the other semi finalists. so i think i'm going with her to lift the trophy.

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posted Aug 11, 2007

Have to agree with marcus there, my money's on Ana all the way from here on in. Mind you it has been all week. Will be an impressive comeback if she wins this whilst relatively cold. Think the russian semi is going to be very close though, Petrova seems right on her game this week.

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posted Aug 12, 2007

Well, there's Sharapova out of the game again for God knows how long. It's not grunting that is harming the women's game, but these endlessly occurring injuries. It never used to be like that, at least not to the present-day extent. Remember the days of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova? Most players simply got on it with then, injured or not...

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posted Aug 12, 2007

Did you see Sharapova's list of treatments she's undergone? Acupuncture in her EAR!! For a LEG injury! Why doesn't she learn to levitate, so her foot doesn't touch the ground? How can a seemingly moderately intelligent young woman subscribe to such superstitious nonsense?

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posted Aug 12, 2007

Yes, welcome to america. The land of the free and the home of complete and utter nonsense. I think women get injured more now because they actually do stuff that puts them at risk of injury. The game is so much more physical now. Should still be a good final tonight, think Ana will have the edge on petrova

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