Clijsters Defeats Sharapova In Cincinnati

Kim Clijsters survived a rain-delayed, see-saw match to win the Cincinnati Open title over Maria Sharapova 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2. It was Clijsters third title of the year (after Brisbane and Miami) and 38th overall.

WIMBLEDON 2010: Women's Final Preview

Serena Williams USA (1) vs Vera Zvonareva RUS (21). For the third consecutive year and sixth time in the last eight years, Serena Williams is in the Ladies' Final of the Wimbledon championships. Surprisingly, she is not facing her older sister this time, as she has four times before, winning three titles in the process. Serena did well to get past a spirited challenge from Petra Kvitova, but, as predicted, she left the court with a victory after two sets.

The 12-time major champion is playing Russian Vera Zvonareva who is in her first Grand Slam final of her career. Zvonareva has a very strong backhand and a good forehand. She has previously shown an extreme level of mental frailty (the celebrated collapse against Flavia Pennetta at the 2009 U.S. Open where she blew 6 match points in the second set and lost the third set 6-0 while in tears). However, by dispatching Kim Clijsters from a set down and outlasting a determined Tsvetlana Pironkova in their closely contested semifinal demonstrate this is a brand new Vera.

Unfortunately for her, she is playing a new Serena. This Serena has yet to lose a set in this entire Wimbledon tournament and is lapping the field in the number of aces delivered. The two have played 6 times before with Serena winning all but once. If Zvonareva can keep the game score close then perhaps Serena will get nervous and give her a chance. As Francesco Schiavone proved in the 2010 Roland Garros final, anything is possible.

Yeah, I don't think so either.

MadProfessah's PREDICTION: Serena in 2 sets.

US OPEN 2009: Clijsters Beats Venus; Pennetta Survives

Kim Clijsters beat an injured Venus Williams 6-0 0-6 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Li Na and a semifinal with defending champion Serena Williams, who demolished Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-0 earlier in the day.

The showdown between the two former US Open champs (Venus, 2000 & 2001) and Clijsters (2005) was a hard-hitting somewhat ugly affair with far more errors than winners with the Belgian coming through with more consistently aggressive shots throughout. Williams was clearly hampered by her left knee, and admitted as such later on after teaming with Serena to get to the Women's Doubles quarterfinals by defeating the team of Sorana Cirstea and Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-2.

The match of the day was Flavia Pennetta's 3-6 7-6(6) 6-0 win against Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva had 6 match points in the second set against Pennetta and the Italian consistently kept her cool and played long points until she found her spot and hit clean winners on 5 of the 6 match points down. It was quite a display of mental toughness. After losing the second set, Zvonareva dissolved into tears and quickly lost the deciding set in rash of errors and rushed shots while Pennetta smartly kept the ball in play.

Pennetta plays Serena and Clijsters plays Li Na in the quarters on Tuesday, setting up a mouth-watering semifinal in the bottom half of the draw. The top half of the draw is a completely different tournament (Craig Hickman called it a Tier III) with only 3 seeded players remaining (Nadia Petrova (13), Svetlana Kuznetsova (6) and Wozniacki (9), the last two who play each other today) and only one of them can make it to the semifinal!

I smell a Serena Williams-Svetlana Kuznetsova final. The last time these two played at a major, the winner went on to win the entire thing, and that is the only Grand Slam match Serena has lost this year!

Venus Wins Second Title in 2 Weeks

World #5 Venus Williams defeated defending champion Flavia Pennetta 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour in Acapulco, Mexico win her second WTA Tour title in as many weeks, her 41st overall.

Pennetta has given Williams difficulty in the past, and is one of a mere handful of people who had beaten the 7-time major champion 3 times in a row, in addition to bouncing Venus from the 2008 French Open.