Some thoughts as the WTA Rogers Cup heads into the final weekend:
Why did so many seeds fall so early?
As the first and second seeds Serena Williams and Simona Halep work their way through the draw to what hopefully will be a meeting in the final, other seeds have been losing in the early rounds. The top eight seeds had first round byes making their first match of the tournament a second round match. Garbine Muguruza seeded #8, Caroline Wozniacki seeded #4, Lucie Safarova seeded #7 and Petra Kvitova seeded #3, all lost in their first match.
Most of these players were playing their first match since the grass courts of Wimbledon, having taken some time off before the hard court season, so match play rustiness could take the blame to some extent. Another factor is that many of the players have already played smaller hard court tournaments and have already adjusted to the surface or they played two matches in qualifying allowing them to adjust to the surface.
Petra Kvitova revealed she has been suffering from mononucleosis which was diagnosed just after Wimbledon so her loss here to Victoria Azarenka is not totally surprising. The match up against Azarenka would have been difficult for a first match after a competition break even if Kvitova was healthy.
Caroline Wozniacki lost to the youngster Belinda Bencic but it appears that Wozniacki is suffering from some sort of leg injury. After the loss, Wozniacki complained that because this tournament is a mandatory premier level tournament she had no choice but to play the match even though she could not play at her optimum level.
On court coaching with tablet computers.
This is the second tournament that the WTA is allowing the use of special tablet computers by the coaches. Prior to a match the coach can get a tablet from the WTA which will be continually updated throughout the match with statistical data. When players were asked about this new aid most were in favour of it but they were leaving it up to their coaches as far as implementation. During the tournament Nicole Pratt the coach of Daria Gavrilova was seen using the tablet during on court coaching. Victoria Azarenka’s coaches were also seen consulting the tablet during her match. It probably won’t be long before all of the coaches adapt to the technology and it becomes a coaching staple.
Fashion Issues
In the aftermath of the Nick Kyrgios outburst the focus of the tennis world was centred on the Australian so the dress of Aga Radwanska received very little attention. Radwanska’s Lotto brand dress is the latest colour combination of this particular dress and Disco shimmer might be the best way to describe it. Not sure how many club players will be buying that dress to play in but as Serena said when asked about the dress in her press conference it’s good for tennis fashion to be fun and it’s good to have a dress you can wear lots of places.
In contrast to the uniqueness of Radwanska’s dress it seems that Nike has decided to outfit all their players identically. And although I doubt Nike did it in a patriotic to Canada gesture the white racetrack tank with the pleated red skirt combination certainly coordinates well with the red and white maple leaf flag. The only problem with outfitting players identically it is difficult for the average fan to distinguish between Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka although Azarenka’s outfit had red shorts both players featured a long blonde braid and red headband.
Italian players Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci also are difficult to distinguish when both are on the same outfit with hair tied up in a bun. And Polona Hercog also was sporting the same colour combination by her sponsor asics.
In contrast Adidas players are wearing various combinations of a yellow and navy grouping. Ana Ivanovic wearing the dress version of the grouping while other players are wearing the skirt and tank top combo. The only other blue and yellow combo is being worn by Belinda Bencic who wears clothing by Yonex.
The Final Weekend
As the tournament heads toward the weekend no player has been able to provide an extended challenge to Serena Williams. Her semifinal challenger will be Belinda Bencic the eighteen year old #20 in the world from Switzerland. So far in this tournament Bencic has defeated Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, former #1 Caroline Wozniacki and Sabine Lisicki the German who holds the record for the fastest serve on the WTA tour and finally a former Grand Slam champion in Ana Ivanovic.
The other semifinal will feature the #2 seed from Romania Simona Halep against Italy’s Sara Errani. Halep should be able to overpower Errani, however, much to the surprise of many Errani was able to handle the power of Victoria Azarenka who she defeated in straight sets.
More than likely the final on Sunday will feature the top two seeds Serena Williams and Simona Halep and I don’t know too many people that will be betting against Williams to take the title.
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