Zverev and Dimitrov both win in 5

Wednesday was a good day for the top seeds, although it took a long time for Sascha Zverev (2) and Grigor Dimitrov (4) to win their way into the third round.

Sascha Zverev opened slowly against Dusan Lajovic, ranked 60, losing the opening set 6-2, and his history of poor performance at Grand Slam events began to surface, especially Roland Garros.

Lajovic had hit seven winners and won all four points at the net.

A better second set allowed the second seed to level the match after falling behind 1-3.  His backhand worked well in his comeback and the German young gun was looking more like the player who had delivered a brilliant clay court season leading into Paris.

Although Zverev was serving well, he couldn’t win the vital points in set three, and he fell behind two sets to one, under severe pressure.

Zverev sprung out of his apparent lethargy and won nine successive games from 1-1 in the fourth set.  

He glided into the finish line 2-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-2

Grigor Dimitrov battled past Jared Donaldson 6-7(2) 6-4 4-6 6-4 10-8

In four hours and twenty minutes.  Dimitrov reached the third round for the third time (his best effort in this tournament) and achieved his fiftieth  match win at Grand Slam level.

First round matches of significance:

Simona Halep (1) defeated Alison Riske 2-6 6-1 6-1

Jeremy Chardy defeated Tomas Berdych (17) in an epic encounter 7-6(5) 7-6(8) 1-6 5-7 6-2

Other second round matches of significance:

Kei Nishikori (19) defeated Benoit Paire 6-3 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki (2) defeated Georgina Garcia Perez 6-1 6-0

Elina Svitolina (4) defeated Viktoria Kuzmova 6-3 6-4

Novak Djokovic (20) defeated Jaume Munar 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4

David Goffin (8) defeated Corentin Moutet 7-5 6-0 6-1

Alizé Cornet (32) defeated Pauline Parmentier 7-6(2) 6-4 6-2

Petra Kvitová (8) defeated Lara Arruabarrena 6-0 6-4

Gael Monfils (32) defeated Martin Klizan 6-2 6-4 6-4

Naomi Osaka (21) defeated Zarina Diyas 6-4 7-5

Pablo Carreno Busta (10) defeated Federico Delbonis 7-6(0) 7-6(2) 3-6  6-4

Madison Keys (13) defeated Caroline Dolehide 6-4 6-1

Gilles Simon defeated Sam Querrey (12) 1-6 7-6(3) 6-4 6-1

Sloane Stephens (10) defeated Magdalena Frech 6-2 6-2

Barbora Strycova (26) defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-2

Roberto Bautista Agut (13) defeated Santiago Giraldo 6-4 7-5 6-3

Anett Kontaveit (25) defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 7-5 6-2

Fernando Verdasco (30) defeated Guido Andreozzi 6-3 6-2 6-2

Mihaela Buzarnescu (31) defeated Rebecca Peterson 6-1 6-2

Damir Dzumhur (26) defeated Radu Albot 6-3 6-3 5-7 1-6 7-5

Daria Kasatkina (14) defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-3 6-3

Maria Sakkari defeated Carla Suarez Navarro (23) 7-5 6-3

Serena back and winning

Day Three of Roland Garros 2018 and we saw Serena Williams for the first time since Miami in March.

In a high standard match, Serena managed to defeat Kristyna Pliskova.

This was despite serving two less aces, four more double faults, creating half the number of break points, and hitting five less winners.

It was conversion of break points (75% to 25%), less unforced errors, points won on first serve (80% to 70%), and generally winning the important points that enabled Serena to progress to the second round 7-6(4) 6-4.

She will play Ash Barty in the next match, the Australian 17th seed not displaying any signs of discomfort from the back injury that forced her out of the Strasbourg tournament last week.

She defeated Russian player Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-3 6-1.

A poor first serve percentage (47%) and six double faults couldn’t prevent Barty from dominating the match, and the 36 unforced errors from Natalia certainly helped.

The challenge of playing Serena is a big one, but Barty has captured some big scalps over the last year or so, and the American icon will need to beware.

The two have only played each other once - a first round match in the 2014 Aus Open when Barty was a teenager and Serena won easily - things are different today.

Rafa Nadal (1) and Maria Sharapova (28j were two Roland Garros champions to hit the court and successfully find their way through the opening round.

Sharapova did it the hard way - after smashing Richel Hogenkamp, Dutch player ranked 133, in the first set, Maria screamed her way to a halt in set two, and then lost the first three games in the decider.

Always capable of raising her game several levels when in trouble, Sharapova won the final six games of the match and entered the next phase of the tournament 6-1 4-6 6-3.

Nadal won in straight sets, but was taken to a tie break in the third, 

where Simone Bolelli had chances to level the match.

Nadal still was successful 6-4 6-3 7-6(9)

The former Roland Garros champions list on display goes further:

Garbiñe Muguruza (3), 2016 winner, defeated Sveta Kuznetsova, 2009 winner 7-6(0) 6-2

Other Grand Slam champions matches:

Samantha Stosur, 2011 US Open winner, defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-2 6-4

Angie Kerber (12), 2016 Australian Open and US Open winner, defeated Mona Barthel 6-2 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro (5), 2009 US Open winner, defeated Nicolas Mahut 1-6 6-1 6-2 6-4

Marin Cilic (3), 2014 US Open winner, defeated James Duckworth 6-3 7-5 7-6(4)

Wawrinka out in round one

Day Two at Roland Garros and most of the favoured players won their way into the second round, but there were some surprises and a few matches that went the distance in a big way.

Petra Kvitova (8) sent a scare through the Czech Republic after dropping the opening set to Veronica Cepede Royg, ranked 89 in the world. The Paraguayan number one made the fourth round last year, and gave up just seven points on her serve in the first set.

Petra rebounded quickly to level at a set all and the decider was an even affair, where Kvitova was never taken to deuce, but could not break Veronica’s serve until 5-5, where she converted a chance and proceeded to hold for a 3-6 6-1 7-5 victory.

Kvitova has now won her last 12 matches, including two tournament victories.

2015 champion Stan Wawrinka (23) was taken to five sets by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.  Garcia-Lopez had defeated the Swiss star in 2014 in the first round, the same year Stan won the Australian Open.

After Guillermo won the opening set, Stan delivered sets two and three and looked likely to win the battle.  However, a fourth set tie break turned the tide.  Garcia-Lopez edged Wawrinka seven points to five, then won the deciding fifth set and the marathon battle 6-2 3-6 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3

2016 champion Novak Djokovic (20) won in straight sets against qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3 6-4 6-4.  Although it wasn’t the best tennis from Novak, he will be pleased to have his Roland Garros quest off and running without issue.

Kiki Mladenovic (29) was a quarter finalist in last years Roland Garros tournament, but this year she ran into a rejuvenated Andrea Petkovic.  

Andrea is a former top ten player, and a 2014 Roland Garros semi finalist.  However, in 2018 she had won only three main draw matches coming into Paris.

Petkovic somehow won the opening set in a tie break where she trailed six points to three.  Petkovic saved four set points and eventually prevailed 12 points to 10.

Set two was a procession, Petkovic 4-0 quickly.  Ultimately it was an impressive 7-6(10) 6-2 victory and hopefully the first step in a ranking rise from 107.

Other winners of note on Day Two:

Caroline Wozniacki (2)

Richard Gasquet (27)

Dominic Thiem (7)

CoCo Vandeweghe (15)

Karolina Pliskova (6)

Madison Keys (13)

Sam Querrey (12)

Naomi Osaka (21)

Roberto Bautista Agut (13)

Diego Schwartzman (11)

Carla Suarez Navarro (23)

Magdalena Rybarikova (19)

Daria Kasatkina (14)

Mihaela Buzarnescu (31)

Albert Ramos-Vinolas (31)

Ostapenko dumped Day 1 Roland Garros

Day One at Roland Garros and we saw the demise of last years champion Jelena Ostapenko.  It was world number 67 Kateryna Kozlova who did the damage in straight sets 7-5 6-3.

Ostapenko let herself down on serve, with just 47% of her first attempts finding the mark, and 13 double faults contributed.

Kozlova converted 7 of the 16 break point opportunities presented to her, while 48 unforced errors were costly for the fifth seed.

Elina Svitolina (4) was down 1-5 in the first set against Ajla Tomljanovic, but came back strongly to win the set and match 7-5 6-3

Her path through the draw has been made a whole lot easier with the Ostapenko defeat and the first round loss of ninth seed Venus Williams.

Venus was eliminated by Qiang Wang, ranked 85, the scoreline 6-4 7-5.

This is the second Grand Slam tournament in succession where Venus has been dumped in the first round. 

Wang had lost to Venus in the opening round of Roland Garros last year, and also the second round of 2018 Wimbledon.  This was only her second win over a top ten opponent.

19 winners as against just 14 unforced errors indicates how well controlled Wang played.

All the seeded men that were in action on Day One won their matches, including:

Grigor Dimitrov (4)

Lucas Pouille (15)

Gaël Monfils (32)

Sascha Zverev (2)

Kei Nishikori (19)

David Goffin (8) in five sets after losing the first two against Robin Haase 

Fernando Verdasco (30)

Damir Dzumhur (26)

Pablo Carreño Busta (10)

The successful women seeds apart from Svitolina were:

Alizé Cornet (32)

Barbora Strycova (26)

Sloane Stephens (10)

Anett Kontaveit (25)

Johanna Konta (22) fell to Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3

Nick Kyrgios, who would have been seeded 17, withdrew because of his elbow injury - he will return with the grass court season in Stuttgart.

Roland Garros Men’s Singles Preview

The first round of Roland Garros has begun and I’ve yet to give my predictions for the Mens Singles.

All matches played so far have no effect on my forecast which features Rafa Nadal, to nobody’s surprise.

Nadal is the top seed and faces no real challenge until the third round where crowds will cheer on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, but it isn’t actually a challenge - Gasquet has only beaten Nadal once from 16 attempts and that was the first time they met, in 2003, in a Challenger event as teenagers.

Jack Sock is seeded to meet Rafa in the round of sixteen, but his form has been terrible this year and he is no guarantee to reach that far.

Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian young gun, is my tip to be Nadal’s fourth victim.

Kevin Anderson will most likely be in the quarter final, and that’s where he would be exiting at the hands of the clay king.

Diego Schwartzman and Philipp Kohlschreiber are threats to Anderson, but not to Nadal.

Juan Martin del Potro or Marin Cilic should be the semi finalist to compete with Nadal.

The bottom half of the draw includes the happiest group of players, as they won’t need to see Nadal until the final.

Grigor Dimitrov is seeded number four, and has four Spanish players in his quarter.  Already, Grigor has won his way into the second round and he won’t face one of those four until the fourth round.  However, that won’t happen if Novak Djokovic has his say. The 2016 champion could have a third round match with Roberto Bautista Agut and I believe Novak’s form in Rome will carry over to Paris.

Djokovic should not only beat Dimitrov, but also David Goffin in the quarter final.

His semi final opponent will be either Dominic Thiem or Sascha Zverev,  both who should ease into a quarter final battle.  Thiem defeated Nadal in a Monte Carlo quarter final, but was beaten in the final by Zverev.

2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka is in this quarter, but his form is poor at present.

Zverev has a poor Grand Slam record, his best effort a fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

His Roland Garros record is third round in 2016 and first round in 2017.

Thiem, by contrast, has made two semi finals at Grand Slam level, both at Roland Garros, and both in the past two years.

Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic to meet in a semi final, which Thiem will win

Rafa Nadal will defeat Juan Martin del Potro in the other semi final and also overcome Thiem to win an eleventh title on the Paris red clay.

Roland Garros Women’s Singles predictions

The lead up tournaments to Roland Garros have been run and won

Marton Fucsovics defeated Peter Gojowczyk 6-2 6-2 to win in Geneva 

Dominic Thiem (1) defeated Gilles Simon 3-6 7-6(1) 6-1 to win in Lyon

Johanna Larsson defeated Alison Riske 7-6(4) 6-4 to win in Nurnberg 

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (3) defeated wildcard Dominika Cibulkova (5) 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 7-6(6) in a top class match lasting three hours and thirty five minutes.  Both players were hitting outright winners from the start to the end of the match.

Roland Garros begins tonight in Paris, Australian time and my predictions for the Women’s Singles are as follows:

With mothers Serena Williams and Vika Azarenka included in the draw, plus in form Maria Sharapova, the field is as good as it gets.

Serena and Vika are not seeded, and Maria is seeded 28, so all three are dangerous in the draw.  If former champions Serena and Maria win their first two matches they will play each other in the third round.

Top seed is Simona Halep, last years losing finalist.

Her first round opponent is losing Nurnberg finalist Alison Riske, and while she should account for the American, it won’t be a walk in the park.

The Halep draw, if the seeds win as expected, has her playing  Elise Mertens in the fourth round and Caroline Garcia in the quarters.

I suspect Halep will make the semis, given her prior Grand Slam tournament success, albeit no winners trophies in the cabinet just yet.

Semi Finalist:  Simona Halep

The most intriguing quarter of the draw involves 2016 champ Garbine Muguruza, the tournament third seed, and Karolina Pliskova, sixth seed.

Muguruza has had a mixed 2018, one minor trophy in South America, but not the greatest form leading into Paris.

Her first round opponent has also lifted the trophy here - Sveta Kuznetsova in 2009.

Possibly too strong for Kuznetsova, but drawn to play Strasbourg winner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round and the unpredictable CoCo Vandeweghe in the round of sixteen.

Pliskova is the scheduled quarter final opponent, and the Czech player is confident, having won the recent Stuttgart tournament.

Pliskova may have to deal with a possible Sharapova or Serena Williams, before even considering Muguruza.

Semi finalist:  Garbine Muguruza

The bottom half of the draw has second seed Caroline Wozniacki who is aiming for her second major of the year.

Her danger may come as soon as the fourth round where she is likely to meet either Daria Kasatkina or Carla Suárez Navarro.

A quarter final would depend on victory over Sloane Stephens or Anastasija Sevastova.

The final eight opponent would likely be Petra Kvitova, and given the superb form of the dual Wimbledon champ, I would predict a Czech win

Semi finalist:  Petra Kvitova 

Defending champion is Jelena Ostapenko and her draw, as fifth seed means she could face Azarenka in round two, and Jelena has Venus Williams drawn as a round of sixteen opponent.

I believe the quarter final will feature Ostapenko against fourth seed Elina Svitolina, the recent winner in Rome.

Svitolina is primed for success in Paris and her Grand Slam performances, below expectations till now, could record a break through on the red clay.

On paper, she has a relatively soft draw, maybe a tough third round against Mihaela Buzarnescu, who just made the semi finals in Strasbourg before a possible fourth round against Madison Keys, whose preference is not this surface.

Semi Finalist:  Elina Svitolina 

I believe that Simona Halep will play Petra Kvitova in the final and will win her first Grand Slam tournament.

Two unseeded finals

The semi finals ha e been played in the four tournaments leading into Roland Garros which begins at the same time as the finals of the these tournaments

The semi final results 

Nurnberg 

Alison Riske defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-3 6-1

She will play Johanna Larsson in the final

Johanna Larsson defeated Katerina Siniakova (8) 4-6 6-3 6-1 to set up an all unseeded final.

Both players have one WTA title to their name - Riske won hers in October 2014 in China 

Larsson was successful in Sweden in July 2015

So for one this will be breaking a long drought.

Larsson, whose career high ranking is 45, will rise at least 30 places to 67, and if she wins, to 59

Riske, whose career high ranking is 36, will rise at least 22 places to 83, and if she wins, to 68

Riske leads 2-0 head to head, but those results were in 2010 and 2014 so bear little meaning to this final.

Strasbourg 

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (3) defeated Ash Barty (1) 6-4 1-0 (retired) thanks to the Australian suffering a back injury, one which threatens her Roland Garros campaign.

Pavlyuchenkova will play Dominika Cibulková in the final

Wildcard Dominika Cibulkova (5) defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu (4)

Buzarnescu led 6-2 5-3 and served for the match after Cibulkova held serve for 4-5.

Then mistakes from th Romanian led to a service break and eventually to a tie break 

Cibulkova trailed 3-5 in the tie break, but she came back from the brink a second time, winning the next four points, taking the set 7-6(5) and running away with the decider 6-1.  27 points from 37 decided emphasised the third set dominance of Cibulkova who now contests her second final of 2018

Cibulkova leads 7-3 head to head, including five of the last six, the latest being in Doha earlier this year.

Geneva 

Marton Fucsovics defeated Steve Johnson (6) 2-6 6-4 6-1

He will play Peter Gojowczyk in the final

Peter Gojowczyk defeated wildcard Fabio Fognini (2) 6-4 6-4 and will contest another all unseeded final

Lyon

Dominic Thiem (1) defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4 5-7 6-4, in his second successive three setter

He will play Gilles Simon in the final

Gilles Simon defeated Cameron Norrie 6-1 7-6(6)

Isner, Wawrinka out in quarters

Quarter final results in Europe

Geneva

Steve Johnston (6) defeated Guido Pella 6-3 6-4

He will play Marton Fucsovics in the semis 

Marton Fucsovics defeated wildcard Stan Wawrinka (3) 6-4 6-0

Peter Gojowczyk defeated Andreas Seppi (7) 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3

He will play Fabio Fognini in the semis 

Wildcard Fabio Fognini (2) defeated Tennys Sandgren 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

Lyon

Dominic Thiem (1) defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7(4) 7-6(0) 6-4

He will play Dusan Lajovic in the semis

Dusan Lajovic defeated Taylor Fritz 7-5 6-1

Gilles Simon defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6 6-4 7-6(5)

He will play Cameron Norrie in the semis 

Cameron Norrie defeated John Isner (2) 7-6(1) 6-4

Nurnberg 

Alison Riske defeated Sorana Cirstea (6) 2-6 7-5 1-0 (retired)

She will play Kirsten Flipkens in the semis

Kirsten Flipkens defeated Kiki Bertens (3) 5-7 6-3 7-6(3)

Katerina Siniakova (8) defeated qualifier Fanny Stollar 7-5 6-4

She will play Johanna Larsson in the semis

Johanna Larsson defeated Kristyna Pliskova 5-7 7-5 6-4

Strasbourg 

Ash Barty (1) defeated Qiang Wang 7-5 6-4

She will play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semis 

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (3) defeated Zarina Diyas 6-4 6-2

Mihaela Buzarnescu (4) defeated Su-Wei Hsieh (8) 6-0 6-3

She will play Dominika Cibulkova in the semis 

Wildcard Dominika Cibulkova (5) defeated Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-3

Sloane Stephens out in Nurnberg

Some upsets in the ATP and WTA as we approach the important phase in each tournament.

In Geneva, seeds were successful in the completion of the second round:

Wildcard Stan Wawrinka (3) defeated Jared Donaldson 6-3 6-4

Andreas Seppi (7) defeated qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-5 6-3

Wildcard Fabio Fognini (2) defeated qualifier Noah Rubin, ranked 204.

Rubin matched Fognini in the opening set, with both players winning a similar percentage of points on their first serves.

With one service break apiece, a tie break was needed, and the American prevailed over Fognini 7-6(5).

Undaunted, the Italian dominated the remainder of the match, winning 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2

In Lyon, Taylor Fritz defeated compatriot Jack Sock (3) 7-6(6) 6-2

In Nurnberg, Yulia Putintseva defeated wildcard Sloane Stephens (1) in a first round match that was delayed a day.

It took three hours and Putintseva had to come back from a set down to win 5-7 6-4 7-6(3)

More second round matches:

Sorana Cirstea (6) defeated Madison Brengle 6-3 3-6 6-3

Kirsten Flipkens defeated qualifier Nadia Podoroska 7-6(6) 6-2

Qualifier Fanny Stollar defeated Heather Watson 6-3 6-3

In Strasbourg, second round matches:

Ash Barty (1) defeated Pauline Parmentier 6-1 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (3) defeated Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-4 6-4

Su-Wei Hsieh (8) defeated wildcard Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-3

Samantha Stosur defeated Dasha Gavrilova (2) 6-3 6-4

First rounds completed in Europe

First round matches were completed and second rounds were commenced in tournaments in Germany, France and Switzerland.

Strasbourg 

Second round

Qiang Wang defeated Danielle Collins (7) 4-6 7-5 6-2

Zarina Diyas defeated Timea Babos (6) 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2

Mihaela Buzarnescu (4) defeated lucky loser in qualifying Elena Rybakina 6-3 7-6(2)

Wildcard Dominika Cibulkova (5) defeated Reka-Luca Jani 6-1 6-4

Geneva 

First round

Qualifier Lukas Rosol defeated Jiri Vesely 2-6 7-6(6) 7-6(4)

Steve Johnson (6) defeated Marius Copil 7-6(4) 6-3

Marton Fucsovics defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas (5) 6-1 6-2

Second round

Peter Gojowczyk defeated wildcard David Ferrer (4) 6-2 6-4

Nurnberg

First round

Sorana Cirstea (6) defeated Andrea Petkovic 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

Mona Barthel defeated Carina Witthoeft 7-5 6-3

Kirsten Flipkens defeated Alison Van Uytvanck (7) 7-6(5) 2-6 7-6(2)

Veronica Cepede Royg defeated Kateryna Kozlova 6-3 6-4

Heather Watson defeated Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3 3-6 7-6(3)

Second round 

Johanna Larsson defeated Christina McHale 6-3 6-0

Kristyna Pliskova defeated Lara Arruabarrena 6-3 7-5

Lyon

First round 

Taylor Fritz defeated Matthew Ebden 6-4 6-2

Qualifier Filip Horansky defeated Joao Sousa (7) 6-4 3-6 6-4

Mikhail Kukushkin defeated wildcard Gregoire Barrere 6-2 6-3

Second round 

Dominic Thiem (1) defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez defeated Calvin Hemery 7-6(4) 6-3

Opening in France,Switzerland,Germany

First round matches in the 4 tournaments in France, Switzerland and Germany are underway, and some of the results so far are:

Geneva 

Andreas Seppi (7) defeated Marco Cecchinato 7-5 6-4

Mirza Basic defeated Mischa Zverev (8) 5-7 6-3 6-4

Bernabe Zapata Miralles, a Spanish 21 year old qualifier, ranked 281, playing his first ATP main draw match, defeated Florian Mayer 6-3 6-2

American qualifier Noah Rubin, ranked 204, defeated veteran Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(4) 6-4

Nurnberg

Qualifier Fanny Stollar defeated Shuai Zhang (4) 6-2 6-2

Kristyna Pliskova defeated Julia Goerges (2) 6-2 6-7(8) 7-6(5)

Qualifier Nadia Podoroska, ranked 506, defeated fellow qualifier Kristina Kucova 6-2 6-3

Lyon

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez defeated wildcard Adrian Mannarino (5) 6-3 4-6 6-1

Lucky loser in qualifying Federico Coria, ranked 335, defeated Nicolas Kicker 4-6 6-1 7-5

Maximilian Marterer defeated Gael Monfils (6) 2-6 6-4 6-4

Strasbourg 

Danielle Collins (7) defeated Amandine Hesse 6-1 4-6 6-3

Mihaela Buzarnescu (4) defeated Magda Linette 4-6 7-6(1) 6-3

Ash Barty (1) defeated lucky loser in qualifying Luksika Kumkhum 6-4 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (3) defeated Tatjana Maria 6-0 6-0

Timea Babos (6) defeated wildcard Fiona Ferro 6-4 6-0

Su-Wei Hsieh (8) defeated qualifier Kaia Kanepi 2-6 7-5 6-2

Wildcard Dominika Cibulkova (5) defeated qualifier Chloe Paquet 6-4 6-2

Dasha Gavrilova (2) defeated Jennifer Brady 7-6(8) 7-6(6)

Svitolina and Nadal take the Italian spoils

The Italian Open has finished, and Elina Svitolina (4) successively defended her title, defeating Simona Halep (1) 6-0 6-4.

The first set was incredible - Halep 76% first serve and Svitolina 47%, yet Simona won only two of thirteen points on her first delivery.  Elina won six of seven.

Svitolina won 24 of the 32 points for the set.  While set two was more of a contest, Svitolina still faced no break points and converted one of four chances.  This was a final Halep will want to forget in a hurry.

Sascha Zverev (2) was placed on the back foot in his final against Rafa Nadal right from the outset, with the Spaniard winning most of the points on the German first serve - normally a strength for Zverev.

Nadal swept to a 6-1 lead.

Unintimidated, Zverev served throughout set two without facing a break point, but had Nadal on the defensive, and the top seed’s was the serve which suffered, less than half the points on the first delivery won for Spain.

The match was levelled at 1-6 6-1.

Nadal regained ascendancy in the decider, and it was the second serve which served him well.

Converting both his break points was enough to win the set and the title 6-1 1-6 6-3.

Rafa is back at world number one, directing Roger Federer back to number two.

However, in the ATP Points Race for 2018, it is Zverev who leads at the moment, ahead of Federer then Nadal.

Simona Halep has replaced Caroline Wozniacki at the top of the 2018 WTA Points Race, with Petra Kvitova lying in third.

This week there are four tournaments being held:

WTA

Nurnberger Versicherungs Cup 2018 in Nurnberg, Germany (International Category)

Top ten player Sloane Stephens heads the field, which includes top twenty players Julia Goerges and Kiki Bertens

Internationaux de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France (International Category)

Top twenty player Ash Barty is number one seed in a field which includes top thirty players Dasha Gavrilova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 

ATP 

Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open in Geneva, Switzerland (ATP 250 Category)

Top twenty player Sam Querrey heads the field which includes top thirty players Fabio Fognini and Stan Wawrinka 

Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon in Lyon, France (ATP 250 Category)

Top ten players Dominic Thiem and John Isner head the field while top twenty players Jack Sock and Hyeon Chung also grace the event.