We Need Answers Pt. 1

In year's past the US Open Series has resulted in a number of breakthroughs and breakdowns on both the men's and women's tours. This year will be no different as we fans search for answers to questions that are constantly being asked of the players. Here is the first part of this two part blog:

1. Can Safina Hold On?

Dinara Safina has been a large victim as of late. Constantly, her number one ranking is being questioned and she is not winning Grand Slams. The last two slams she lost in straight sets in huge matches, not playing spectacularly in either. Can her confidence survive this serious blow? I hope so. She may crack and crumble under the pressure from her coach, the media, and herself, but I would love to see her persevere and keep on battling through tournaments until she finds her form. Being entered in the small event at Portoroz is a smart decision and she can easily get some confidence back and restart her winning ways.

Overall, I predict she will stay in the top 2 by the end of the year, but Serena will pass her in the rankings and barely attain the year-end number 1 ranking. I hope she is wrong and holds on, though.

2. Will breakout stars from last summer defend?

Particularly, Gilles Simon and Juan Martin del Potro broke onto the tennis scene last summer. Both men posted a number of excellent results that catapulted them up the rankings into the top 15. Now is a critical moment for both players as they are forced to start defending the points they earned last year.

Firstly, Simon will have a much harder time defending his ranking this summer. Last summer he won a title and reached a semifinal of a Masters Event. Additionally he reached the finals of another Masters Event and the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup. This year, however, his results have been polar opposite. He has a mediocre record for a top ten player at 24-19 so far this year and has not reached a semifinal of an event since Dubai, which is one of his two semifinal finishes this year.

del Potro, on the other hand, has much more points from this year to back up his ranking. Despite winning four titles last summer del Potro should be able to balance that out with strong results at the Masters Events that he missed last year as well as an improvement on his US Open result.

To be frank, I expect Simon to drop off to the 15-20 range in the rankings. He is similar to the WTA's Agniezska Radwanksa and just lacks a weapon. del Potro should stay in the top 6 along with the other big names, but he still needs a breakthrough win at a top event like a slam or masters event to solidify his position at the top of the game.

3. Will the Williams Sisters Show?

Neither Serena or Venus Williams have played much on the US Open series. In fact, last year Venus only played the Olympics while Serena played Stanford and the Olympics during the summer before the US Open. Venus needs to play more if she wants to defend her ranking spot at number 3 because the Russian, Elena Dementieva, is closing in on Venus after the American lost points from Wimbledon.

Serena does not need to worry about moving down in the rankings but she needs to step up her game outside the majors if she wants that number 1 rankings many, including myself, think she deserves. We all know Dinara will play a few tournaments (not to protect her ranking, but she usually likes to have a at least 2 or 3 tournaments before a slam) but will Serena or Venus play as much? I doubt it. But I bet they will play at least two tournaments.

4. Crumble or Conquer?

Victoria Azarenka is a hard-hitting youngster that has soared up the rankings. Her shrieks are almost as famous as her fierce cross court groundstrokes. Now that she has ascended to top ten in the world, can the Belarusian get some big wins on some big stages?

She may have won Miami earlier this year over Serena Williams, but Serena was clearly not 100% and was suffering from a leg injury. On clay and grass Azarenka had some decent results, but nothing spectacular. As the fast hard courts of North America compliment Azarenka's game she should win even more matches and get some big wins. But still the question remains, can she do it at the US Open? I predict she reaches the semifinals as long as she doesn't face Serena or Venus along the way, and she will win a title this summer on hard courts as long as she stays healthy.

Part 2 and 4 more major questions on the game of tennis is soon to come!

Ladie's Wimbledon Quarterfinals

Sabine Lisicki continues her string of upsets, knocking out top 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Match of the Day: S. Lisicki vs D. Safina

Sabine's run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals has been full of ups and downs. In the first round she barely survived the slumping 32 seed, Anna Chakvetadze, who served for the match in the second set, before falling apart and Lisicki grabbing the win. She then followed up her win with some convincing victories over reigning Roland Garros Champ, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Eastbourne champion, Caroline Wozniacki. Her main fault was failing to convert on a series of match points against Kuznetsova, but she still finished the match in straight sets.

Safina has been less than steller. Yet she is not new to poor play early in slams. She played horridly in Australia until the semifinals where she dispatched Vera Zvonareva only to fall to a rampaging Serena Williams. At Roland Garros she stormed through the early rounds yet once again fell apart in a Grand Slam final. With both players battling in their first Wimbledon quarterfinal Safina has at least played in multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals before and has the edge in experience. But can Lisicki's monster first serve and forehand overpower the Russian's long strokes that need plenty of time to damage her opponent?

My prediction: Lisicki wins the first set but can't finish Safina off, losing a close third set.

Other Matches:

Serena Williams has flown past opponents in the early rounds.

V. Azarenka vs S. Williams

Many people have this match pegged as an upset special as Azarenka is one of the few players that can match the Williams sisters off the ground. I'm not buying it though. Azarenka may be able to out shriek Serena but no way can she out-hit her. Serena's serve has been spectacular throughout The Championships and will give her the clear edge.

My prediction: Serena wins a tight straight set affair.

Venus Williams continues to dominate the lawns of Wimbledon

V. Williams vs A. Radwanksa

Venus is playing too well to lose to Radwanksa late in a slam. Radwanska may be able to run down enough balls to claim a few games, but her 60mph second serves will come back to bite her in the ass.

My prediction: Venus clobbers the young Pole

Elena Dementieva has yet to face a seed this year at Wimbledon.

E. Dementieva vs F. Schiavone

Who would have thought Schiavone could have reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals with the year she is having? Not I, certainly. Elena has had a cakewalk draw so far, facing no seeds, and she has easily defeated them all. Their H2H is 4-4 but this is a different Elena and different Franny since the last time they played. Schiavone barely has a winning record on the year while Elena has nearly fourty wins despite a poor clay season.

My prediction: I expect Elena to keep with her trend, winning in straight sets.

Court Locale Drama

Serena Williams easily defeats Roberta Vinci on Court 2 as Azarenka battled on Centre Court

Emerging at last year's Wimbledon, court placements of some top women have caused problems for spectators. Many have criticized that defending champs always deserve to play on Centre Court at the big W, yet how is that fair for other players. Because as young and inexperienced players progress through the draw to the later rounds they play more on Centre Court and are forced to deal with the tremendous pressure it comes with. Overall, because of Wimbledon only giving one slot to women's matches on Centre Court, it is evident that the scheduling committee must switch around the women that get to play on the most famous court in tennis in preperation for later rounds of the tournament.

Saying your first time on Centre Court is intemidating is an understatement. The silence, the history, the aura permeates throughout the stadium clearly affecting even some of the most experienced players in their matches. One clear example, Victoria Azarenka vs Sorana Cirstea displayed a series of nerves, some great play, and two emerging stars of the WTA. Clearly, Cirstea was affected by the situation. Her first time on Centre Court resulted in her winning only 2 points on Azarenka's first serve. Azarenka also had flashes of nervous moments, only breaking Cirstea's serve once in the entire match despite having some of the tour's top returns.

Additionally, the match led to plenty of discussion as they held the sole Ladie's singles match on Centre Court while two-time champion Serena Williams battled a veteran Italian on the new Court 2. Many argue that Williams should never play on any court lower than Court 1 or Centre, yet with only two spots for ladies matches the scheduling committee must recognize a number of important factors: star power, possible upsets, a player's potential, chance to go deep at Wimbledon, and the player's history at Wimbledon.

Victoria Azarenka defeated Sorana Cirstea on Centre Court of Wimbledon on day 5

On paper, Victoria Azarenka vs Sorana Cirstea is clearly the better match. Cirstea and Azarenka are both coming off quarterfinal appearances at Roland Garros and are both still teenagers. If both maintain their form of late, they certainly will at the least move up in the rankings. Additionally, Cirstea's Roland Garros run featured upsets over seeded players Cornet, Wozniacki, and Jankovic. All three of those upsets were over players that enjoy clay and Wozniacki and Jankovic are top ten players in the world. With Azarenka being considered the third betting favorite behind Venus and Serena the scheduling committee certainly didn't want to miss an opportunity to display an upset on Centre Court. The main argument for Serena to be on Centre over Azarenka is her previous results at Wimbledon, while Azarenka, in only her fourth Wimbledon has never previously reached the second week.

Despite all of this, however, the main problem I have with the opinion of past champions only playing on Centre Court or Court 1 is that when Azarenka and Serena meet in their quarterfinal match tomorrow imagine the problems Azarenka might have if it were to be her first match on the most prestigious court in tennis. It is simply unfair for young players to have their first match on Centre Court be in the QFs against a fellow top 8 seed.

Fans of certain players never will be happy about some of their court placements at Wimbledon. Last year there was Venus and Serena on Court 2 on the second monday and Jelena Jankovic out on Court 18 while Svetlana Kuznetsova and Aggie Radwanska played on Centre Court. This year Serena and Venus have been relegated to courts other than Centre while matches such as Wozniacki vs Kirilenko and Azarenka vs Cirstea starred on Centre Court. The only solution would be adding a second slot for a women's match on Centre Court and Court 1 but with Wimbledon's late start time for those two courts (1 pm local time) it is impossible.

Overall, until Wimbledon breaks its tradition Serena and Venus and other top women's players will just have to deal with playing on multiple courts throughout The Championships in the first few rounds.