Venus Williams has been looking to regain the form she once had and we all remember and if Wednesday was any indication that form may not be that far from her. Williams was dominant in a 56 minute 6-2, 6-1 win over the #12 player in the world in Ana Ivanovic. Williams serve wasn’t totally up to speed with a first serve % of just 44%, but she won all 18 that she got in and was a strong 52% on second serve points. She broke Ivanovic five times in eight service games by attacking her second serve and winning 68% of those points.
In doubles action Venus and Serena Williams were knocked out by top five doubles players Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 4-6, 10-4. The match was always tight with both teams winning over 60% of their service points and each team being broken twice in ten service games. Things just went the way of the Russians in the deciding super-tie break. It isn’t the worst thing though for the Williams sisters who both have quarterfinal matches on Thursday to focus on and could be quite busy the next few days with singles play.
Singles Draw
This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.
The draw for Venus Williams has gotten a bit easier as second seed Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out on Wednesday by Flavia Panetta. Panetta will still be the higher ranked player, but it’s not a world top-five player in the quarterfinals anymore. In fact the only top five player left that Williams could face is her own sister Serena. This also means Serena wouldn’t need to beat any top five players to win this tournament. When #4 Sara Errani was beaten by #8 Caroline Wozniacki it meant that Venus wouldn’t face any top-ten players on her side of the draw. A finals appearance looks more and more doable for Venus.
On Serena’s side after Carla Suarez Navarro upset Petra Kvitova there is only one top ten player between Serena and the title, her next opponent Jelena Jankovic.
The Matchups
The quarterfinal on Thursday features Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic. Williams is 8-4 vs. Jankovic and in their last meeting beat her 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the semifinals of the WTA Championships in October.
Venus Williams will be facing Flavia Panetta on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Williams is 3-4 all-time vs. Panetta but they have not met in almost five years. Their last meeting was a 7-6 (2), 6-4 Panetta win in the round of 16 in Cincinnati back in 2009.
Doubles Draw
This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.
A potential semifinal for Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigal Spears no longer would feature Kvetva Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. The world top ten doubles players were bounced by Flavia Pennetta and Sam Stosur on Wednesday.
The Matchups
In the quarterfinals on Thursday Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigal Spears will face #1 Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The Americans have faced the Italians four times and come up in short in all of them. Their last matchup was a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 win for the Italians in the semifinals in Sydney. Lisa Raymond and Shuai Zhang (China) have never faced their opponents, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Safarova.
Tuesday Schedule
All times ET
- 5 AM – Venus Williams vs. Flavia Panetta on Center Court – Panetta leads 4-3 all-time
- 5 AM – Lisa Raymond/Shuai Zhang vs. Kirsten Flipkens and Petra Kvitova on Court 1 – First ever meeting
- Approx. 7 AM – Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears vs. #1 Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci on Court 1 – Errani/Vinci leads 4-0 all-time
- Approx. 10 AM – #1 Serena Williams vs. #5 Jelena Jankovic on Center Court – Williams leads 8-4 all-time
TV Schedule
The first quarterfinal (Venus Williams) will be on ESPN3.com while the third semifinal (Serena Williams) will be replayed on Tennis Channel at 9 PM ET.
