2011 Australian Open (Day 6): A Viewer’s Version

Kim Clijsters (3) def. Alize Cornet (7-6³, 6-3). Every potential champion has a bad day, unless you’re Sharapova at the ’08 Aussie Open or Nadal at the ’10 French Open, and thus yesterday was Clijsters’. With 6 double faults to 0 aces (ugh) and 41 unforced errors to 13 winners (ugh ugh), Clijsters was lucky to escape. But, then again, Cornet is not one of those players that can overwhelm with power or guile; she simply doesn’t have the tools to do so. Clijsters made it hard on herself — as always — but she’s still the favorite in my mind.

Petra Kvitova (25) def. Sam Stosur (5) (7-6⁵, 6-3). One of a surprisingly large amount of Croat lefties, Petra Kvitova made quite a statement last year by making it to the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. Kvitova looked better than that yesterday, improving her two-handed backhand into a biting weapon. With 35 winners to 26 unforced errors and 79 total points won to only 63 by Stosur, Kvitova looked every bit the experienced veteran she isn’t when she took down the home favorite. Surprisingly collected, Kvitova strolled through the match with an 80% first-serve percentage and — this one’s an unusually sweet stat for baseliner Kvitova — a 72% success rate at the net. Kvitova showed off bullets from both wings, but also the precision from then net. She appears to have a very good future, with the mental fortitude of Wozniacki and raw power of Alisa Kleybanova.

2011 Australian Open (Day 3): A Viewer’s Version

Day 2: A Quick Finale

I think I discussed the majority of the matches occurring on Day 2, except for the ones that ended the day. So, here goes.

Ana Ivanovic. Now there’s a name with which I continue to be on the fence. She makes a horrible mess of the first half of last year, then goes on a tear towards the season’s end and finishes in the top 20. Just when I think she’s back on the track to the top, she loses in the first round to one of those gazillion Russians in the draw. In her favor were the facts that she lost to a former top 30 player in Makarova and that the match went to 10-8 in the third set. Neither played a good match, as their abysmal winners-to-unforced-errors ratios and poor second-service winning percentages prove, but someone had to win and I guess it wasn’t Ivanovic’s day yet again. I never really cared for her playing style, but her absence from the sport made me miss her impact on the game. Maybe she can reclaim some glory come the spring clay season.