The Daily Swing: WTA Charleston 4-8-2011

RESULTS - APRIL 7, 2011:
Women's Singles - Third Round
[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) d [15] B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 76(6) 76(9) -- There's always drama whenever BZS steps on the court, but this was a treat even by her standards. Wozniacki had to save set points in both frames, with BZS doing a tremendous job of making Wozniacki work for every point with sharp angles and depth variety. It was a tremendous example of how Wozniacki is beaten with assertiveness, not power--points can be dictated without power. In the end, though, Wozniacki plays on in South Carolina, and another BZS racquet winds up in pieces.
E Vesnina (RUS) d [2] S Stosur (AUS) 64 61-- I said yesterday that this tournament was a great chance for Stosur to reboot her disappointing 2011, but winning only five games against Elena Vesnina to end her title defence in Charleston falls into the "not helping" category. Stosur very ably defended her 2010 semifinalist points at Roland Garros last year, but otherwise she does not seem to fare well under a spotlight at all. The biggest difference I've noticed in her game in 2011 is her lack of free points off her serve, which at points last year was being declared "better than Serena's." When you have that kind of weapon, only winning one game in a set should never happen.
[3] J Jankovic (SRB) d C Scheepers (RSA) 62 62
[12] J Goerges (GER) d [5] S Peer (ISR) 62 63 -- I expected this match to be a blowout in the other direction, which it clearly was not in the slightest. Goerges has impressed all year, and gets a very winnable quarterfinal against Vesnina today. With Petkovic's recent success as well, Germany hasn't been doing big things in women's tennis like this since the days of Steffi Graf and Anke Huber.
[6] Y Wickmayer (BEL) d [Q] A Tatishvili (GEO) 64 75
[11] S Peng (CHN) d [7] N Petrova (RUS) 63 57 62 -- Peng leads the WTA in wins in 2011 (26), and is poised to make huge improvements to her already career-high ranking. She has to be considered the favorite to make it out of the decimated bottom half at this point.
C McHale (USA) d [10] D Hantuchova (SVK) 76(3) 61 -- I saw Christina McHale play a few times during her run to the round of sixteen in Cincinnati last year, and I was never all that impressed with her game. She struck me as largely weaponless, but, given this run, I clearly missed something. McHale has now beaten two seeds (Kleybanova and Hantuchova) in straight sets, dropping more than one game only once in four sets. She gets Jankovic next, a match that I expect to be long but not particularly close).
[Q] S Mirza (IND) d [WC] S Lisicki (GER) 64 64 -- A very surprising result, especially given the surface. The only time I've seen Sania Mirza play this year was during her scare of Justine Henin in the first round of the Australian Open, in which she looked incredibly powerful but also incredibly streaky. I have to think, especially after her upset of fourth-seeded Marion Bartoli in the previous round, Lisicki underestimated just how dangerous an opponent Mirza can be.

Women's Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] K Peschke (CZE) / K Srebotnik (SLO) d J Goerges (GER) / N Petrova (RUS) 63 75
[4] B Mattek-Sands (USA) / M Shaughnessy (USA) d D Hantuchova (SVK) / M Kirilenko (RUS) 75 76(2)

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2011
STADIUM - Not Before 1:00 PM

[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) vs [6] Y Wickmayer (BEL) -- All-out aggression vs the opposite of that. I have to think Wozniacki's patience will win out here.
[11] S Peng (CHN) vs [Q] S Mirza (IND)
[3] J Jankovic (SRB) vs C McHale (USA)

Not Before 7:00 PM
[12] J Goerges (GER) vs E Vesnina (RUS)
A Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A Rodionova (AUS) vs S Mirza (IND) / E Vesnina (RUS) -- Not a bad week for the latter pair, eh?

ALTHEA GIBSON
Not Before 5:00 PM
R Kops-Jones (USA) / A Spears (USA) vs S Peng (CHN) / J Zheng (CHN)