It's been 1 year since I began blogging, so I'm obviously celebrating my 1st anniversary! The tennis in Cincinnati has already been very intriguing through the 1st and 2nd rounds. The top 8 seeds had 1st round byes.
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Williams had a slow start against former junior Wimbledon champion Bouchard, ultimately losing her 1st set since Wimbledon before winning 46 62 62. She struggled in the 1st set as she acclimatised to the hot, slow conditions in Cincinnati whilst also no doubt being a little tired after her Toronto triumph just on Sunday.
2/2 Azarenka was a little out of sorts against qualifier King, winning 61 76(6). The American's decision to mix up the game allowed her to take a 3-0 lead in the 2nd set, as well as holding a set point in the tiebreak.
3/3 Sharapova made a rocky return to competition having been out for 7 weeks since her early Wimbledon exit with a hip injury, losing for the 1st time in 4 to (17/-) Stephens 26 76(5) 63. This was Maria's debut with new coach Jimmy Connors and for a while, Sharapova was patient and collected. However, as Stephens lifted her game from 0-2 down in the 2nd set, Sharapova became increasingly tense and was soon spraying the ball wildly. She hit a mere 16 winners to an incredible 62 unforced errors as she struggled to find her range when pressed, most likely due to her lack of match practice. Stephens still struggled to close it out; double faulting on 2 match points. It was the 1st time since Tokyo 2010 that Sharapova had lost her opening match at an event.
4/4 Radwanska came from 2-4 down in the 1st set to beat Lepchenko 64 60 .
5/5 Li opened her title defence nervously with a 46 61 61 win over wild card Davis.
6/6 Errani initially led 64 42 before ultimately beating qualifier Hercog 64 57 64.
7/7 Kvitova won a scrappy match against qualifier Erakovic 64 67(7) 63.
8/8 Bartoli suffered with an Achilles injury in her loss to in form Halep 36 64 61 before making a shock announcement.
9/9 Kerber struggled in the 1st round past Knapp 67(8) 60 61 before edging come back queen Kleybanova 76(3) 62 in the 2nd round, having trailed 3-5 in the 1st set.
10/10 Wozniacki handled Peng 61 61 in the 1st round before beating lucky loser Niculescu 64 63, having been 2-4 down in the 2nd round.
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