I correctly predicted two of the three results today.
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Williams beat (4/3) Radwanska for the 8th time in as many meetings 62 64 to practically guarantee her place in the semi finals. Williams played oddly, serving poorly and often hitting behind Radwanska, who tried absolutely everything to throw Williams off her rhythm. Though Serena may have hit 35 winners to 25 unforced errors, unlike in her previous match, she wasn't entirely in control. She was anxious throughout and dropped serve in the fifth game of the second set having taken a 3-1 lead. Radwanska exploited this and battled back to 4-4 with a clean winner:error ratio of 9:6, but ultimately lacked the quintessential firepower required to beat Williams. This was Williams's 75th win of her year whilst for Radwanska, with this loss her championships are effectively over.
8/7 Jankovic upset the odds to beat (2/2) Azarenka 64 63 to claim her best win since beating Serena, the number one back in Rome 2010 and her first win at this event since 2009! Jankovic broke Azarenka twice in the first set and once in the second set by simply being content to rally solidly and allow Azarenka to implode, hitting a modest 14 winners to 13 unforced errors. Azarenka's game didn't improve from her first match at all as she hit 40 unforced errors, compared to only 30 winners. She served poorly, often giving Jankovic early leads in her service games due to her unforced errors and uncharacteristically failed to put much pressure on Jankovic's serve, breaking only once all match! This is Azarenka's 4th loss in her last 5 matches and her first to Jankovic since Cincinnati 2009, having won their last 4 meetings until now, 2 of those wins coming at the WTA Championships in 2009 and 2010!
5/4 Li battled the nerves to edge (7/6) Errani 63 76(4) and improve her career head to head with the Italian to 6-0. Li was erratic throughout, showing patches of brilliant play followed by lulls of form, finishing with 42 winners to 35 unforced errors. Errani's participation had been in doubt before the match due to the calf injury she sustained yesterday, however even though both her calves were evidently strapped with tape, her movement or game weren't seriously impaired. Errani actually battled well, hitting a total of 14 winners to only 13 unforced errors. After letting a 3-1 lead become a 3-5 deficit in the second set, she saved a match point and then broke Li down 5-6 to force the tiebreak. As in yesterday's breaker, she led 3-1 only to see it dissipate at the hands of Li's powerful play, practically ending her championships in the singles at least.
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