Tennis Top Gear

BY Mad Professah

Here are my predictions for the women’s semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2010. This Wimbledon is very special for me, because it will be one where I will finally visit the All-England Tennis Club for the first time.

I previously predicted the women’s quarterfinals and was right in 2 of 4 matches.

Serena Williams USA (1) vs Petra Kvitova CZE. This match could be trickier than it looks on paper. Although I predicted this match up, not playing her best tennis and experiencing movement difficulties. The two have played once before, in the second round of this year’s Australian Open, with Serena winning a straight sets match which was closer than the 6-1 6-2 scoreline. Kvitvova is a lefty, and has a good serve and powerful groundstrokes. She’s also a good mover. But with Serena serving up an average of a dozen aces per match, she is practically unbeatable. This match will be closer, but the end result will be the same, with Serena Williams the overwhelming favorite to reach her third consecutive Wimbledon Ladies’ final and win her fourth Wimbledon singles title.
PREDICTION: Serena in 2 sets.

Venus Williams USA (2) Tsvetana Pironkova BUL vs. Vera Zvonareva RUS (21).One of the most stunning upsets in Wimbledon history occurred earlier this week when 5-time Wimbledon champion lost in straight sets to the unheralded Bulgarian. Pironkova is dangerous, with tricky spin and deceptive power, but clearly she can be overpowered. Venus hit 29 unforced errors in 17 games of tennis (but she also hit 22 winners). The problem was with her feet, which got her to balls late (or early) causing her to hit them feet out of the court. Zvonareva has long been one of my favorites (so is Kuznetsova) but there’s no question that she’s a headcase. Getting through a 3-set slugfest with Kim Clijsters was an excellent result for the Russian. It’s possible that Venus’ loss today and Clijsters’ win yesterday were the bigger factors in the Belgian’s defeat in the quarterfinal. The two have played once before, last year on hard courts in Moscow after Zvonareva had been out for months with a tn ankle injury and Pironkova won easily in straight sets. That will not be the case this time. Zvonareva deserves to win this match and I believe she will. PREDICTION: Zvonareva in 3 sets.

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2008 Champion failed to defend his title last year due to a nagging knee injury but the break from tennis seemed to have worked well for the Spaniard with impressive wins this year ? winning all three claycourt Masters titles and the . He then clinched the world number one ranking […]

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Czech player made headlines this week when he defeated six-time champion in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal encounter with third-seed Serbian . Both players are raring to go a step further in this grasscourt Slam now that Federer is out of the picture.
Djokovic currently holds a 2-0 […]

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Watch 2010 Championships Live Online Video Stream
The Wimbledon Championships 2010 goes into the semifinal stage of the Ladies Singles event. Defending champion attempts to reach the final but has to get past by unseeded player
Serena Williams (USA) vs Petra Kvitova (CZE)
(RUS) vs (BUL)
Check out the rest […]

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Defending champion avoided an upset-marred quarterfinal singles matches at the 2010 Ladies Singles Championships at the All England Club, cruising to the semifinals after defeating China?s Li Na. Her older sister, , crashed out in the final eight after being defeated by unseeded Bulgarian .
This may seem like an easy […]

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Former world number five saw her ranking plummet from the latter part of 2009 after an injury-marred season. However, she managed to keep herself on track earlier this year by winning a title in Thailand and a runner-up finish in . At the 2010 Championships, the Russian was seeded 21st and clearly […]

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Sean Randall breaks down the men’s semifinals.

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Justine Henin has withdraw from the upcoming US summer hardcourt season due to an injured right elbow.

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InterviewThursday, 1 July 2010
Q. Were you worried at all?
SERENA WILLIAMS: About? Worried about?
Q. The match, how it was going early.
SERENA WILLIAMS: No. I try not to worry too muc

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InterviewThursday, 1 July 2010Q. What does this mean to you and what does it feel like?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I’m very excited. I think I haven’t realized it yet that I will be play

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Consecutive losses – at Slams, at around quarterfinals, in a five set format……….? Maybe. But there’s another notch that he may have grazed here marginally against Berdych which will make life a living hell on the tour. Have a clue? You see, even though Federer now has 10 losses this season, most of the matches […]

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This win over Soderling may prove to be a game changer for Nadal. Soderling today had moved even past Federer as the next best player on the tour – on any surface. Nadal eliminated Soderling in straight sets at Roland Garros. That may still be discounted given Nadal’s expertise on the surface – but straight […]

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Is the No. 21-seeded Russian through with cracking under the pressure and breaking into tears during and after matches?

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CHIPNPUTT The Cursed Nike Ad 14 football players and one tennis player featured — all but 3 football players are home.

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This year?s semifinal bracket will be without a familiar face for the first time since 2003. ?s stunning loss to was without question a landmine that left the remaining men in the field with an equal opportunity of taking home the title.
Who would have thought that of the top four […]

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Getty

“That’s [Tomas Berdych’s] game. He took a lot of chances, you know. I tried to slice it; I tried to play aggressive. You know, first you just want to try to make the returns.

“But, you know, I mean, I had my chances. I don’t think I needed to change much. The way I returned, this match I could have won as well, you know.

But, uhm, I was just not playing well enough. And when he had to, he was able to come up with some good stuff, you know. But I definitely gave away this match, I feel.” –Roger Federer

::

Guess I watched a different match, because the match I saw, Berdych took the victory, Raja didn’t give it away. Certainly not the way Alejandro Falla gave away the match in the first round.

But what do I know?

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said it best yesterday after her loss to when she said, ?I hate losing.? and then added, ?I think anytime you accept losing, it?s definitely a good time to walk away.? And though Williams managed to keep her poise during what must have been a difficult press conference, the same couldn?t […]

Related posts:Grass Court Season Preview: Does ?Real Tennis? Start Now?
Federer Will ?Try and Play? Says His Website.
Soderling Thumps Federer While Schiavone & Dementieva Advance.

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Quick someone start blaming Bridgette Wilson for Federer’s current woes. Isn’t that what worked for Sampras to force him to come up one more time after a two-year drought? Oh, wait, something’s not right here. Oh, she was Sampras’s wife so we have to now go to Federer’s wife. With Bridgette it was quite a […]

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Thanks to , will not be winning again.

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A racket and shirt Nicolas Mahut (mah-HOOT) used for his record-setting match at Wimbledon will go on display at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Frenchman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he will donate the artifacts when he goes to the Newport, Rhode Island museum for next week’s Hall of Fame Championships.

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Player Aces Ist serve pct. Sets lost/ Unforced errors Tie breaks/ Double faults Bk pt conv % Time on court. Matches played Federer 55 61 3 / 75 3 / 13 42 9:03 4 OUT Murray 74 57 1 / 87 2 / 8 40 10:08 5 Nadal 45 68 5 / 67 2 / 10 […]

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ALISTAIR I have written a very long poem covering many sports – heres a few verses (including the tennis verses) to give you an idea. Here’s a poem that tries to recall Great sporting events, including football Cricket and rugby and the Olympic Games Remember the moments, remember the names Records being broken or perhaps […]

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SOMEBODY ELSE What’s going on here? the Fed’s out in quarters! I mean he’s second to none among Slam-title hoarders! Some say that in pressers he complains like some diva, Don’t fret, Rog, go play with Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. TP was right when he said “Stop what you’re doin’!” Cuz this week has […]

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Roger Federer missing his first Wimbledon final since 2002 speaks to some serious slippage. But denying that and failing to credit opponent Tomas Berdych says even more, Art Spander says.

Roger Federer - Tomáš Berdych - Wimbledon Championships - Wimbledon - Tennis

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STELLA today was supposed to be about Nouni. That can wait till tomorrow. We had a major event today. I don’t know much about the verse style called Haiku ( I read it is 3 lines, 5,7,5). Maybe Chieko San can tell me if I’ve got it all wrong but here is my attempt for […]

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Here?s my first-person account of the ball boy tryouts from last week at . -NM I grew up playing tennis against an old barnyard wall in my back alley, dreaming of one day making my way to New York and playing on the courts of the US Open. On a muggy Thursday […]

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BJORNINO Well… This is from Wimbledons own website: “Federer blames defeat on back and leg injuries” http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2010-06-30/201006301277916541006.html

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Even for avid tennis fans, the women?s semifinal line-up evokes a certain amount of confusion. ?Puh-ronk-oh-va?? ?Pet-rah Kee-vote-who?? In Tuesday?s quarterfinals at the All England Club, winners were expected to be named Williams or Clijsters, but only was that the case in a single of three matches, as went down in straight […]

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“Federer’s total dominance in the Slams had to end at some stage”

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Thursday?s order of play at will feature ladies? semifinal action. will highlight proceedings.
For Thursday?s complete order of play, click the link below.
Order of Play for Thursday July 1, 2010.

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After his shocking four set defeat to at on Thursday, top seed will find himself in unfamiliar territory when Monday?s rankings are released.
Losing his championship points from last year, Federer will drop to No. 3 on the computer for the first time since November 10, 2003.
Failing to win a […]

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Q. Difficult moment, but what couldn?t you do that you wanted to do? What let you down?
ROGER FEDERER: Uhm, well, I mean, I don?t think I played poorly. But, uhm, I think he went after it. I mean, I know Berdych. I think I?ve played him 10 times already before. That?s […]

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PA

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I don’t mean to be insensitive to Fed fans but these photos look like a great combo will miss the final for the first time since 2002.Federer lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals last night against .The disastrous defeat also means that he failed in his bid to equal Pete Sampras’s record of seven Wimbledon crowns.According to Star, Federer “not only chose to blame leg and back woes for his defeat, but volunteered that information without being asked.”You know, people criticized a lot for putting the

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Rendy Lu Yen-hsun’s incredible run at the has finally come to an end.He lost to 3-6, 2-6, 2-6 in the quarterfinal match yesterday. But here’s the good news. Rendy, the no.1 player in Asia has won so many new fans for the past two weeks. His Facebook fanpage has soared from 600+ to more than 3000+ in just a couple of days.A visit to his profile page on the Wimbledon tournament’s official website, by scrolling down and counting the number of comments made by fans and then comparing him to popular players like (432),

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The bid by Venus and Serena Williams for a fifth consecutive Grand Slam title in doubles ended Wednesday with a loss in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The sisters were beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Russians Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva. The Williamses climbed to No. 1 in doubles for the first time after winning the French Open.

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By Mike McIntyre While little-known names like Pironkova and Kvitova have advanced to the women’s semi-finals at Wimbledon this year, the men have done a better job of staying true to form. With the exception (and a major one at…

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American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals Wednesday by 39-year-old Dick Norman of Belgium and Wesley Moodie of South Africa. The second-seeded Bryans, the 2006 champions at the All England Club, lost to the seventh-seeded pairing of Norman and Moodie 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-5.

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Andy Murray has beaten Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the second year in a row. The fourth-seeded Murray beat the 10th-seeded Frenchman 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday. He dropped his first set of the tournament. Murray will face second-seeded Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.

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American twins Bob and Mike Bryan have been upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals by 39-year-old Dick Norman of Belgium and Wesley Moodie of South Africa.

Mike Bryan - Wimbledon - Dick Norman - South Africa - Wesley Moodie

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Britain’s Andy Murray battles past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he will face world number one Rafael Nadal.

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Rafael Nadal recovers from a set down to beat Robin Soderling in four sets and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

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