Acapulco Round Up; Monterrey Open Draw/Preview

Acapulco

As predicted, Venus wins her first round match, then goes on to win the event, beating Pennetta in the final 6-1 6-2.

Maybe this more consistent approach Venus is taking on her ground stroke game will be more suited to clay courts than her more explosive, shot making baseline offense. Certainly, on a relatively slow, heavy clay court like those in Acapulco, Venus' serve was still hugely effective. Her big flat serves down the T in the deuce court, and out-wide in the advantage court were monstrous in the final, and Pennetta had no answers.

Trying to hit clean winners past Venus on a clay court seemed like quite a task in the final. Pennetta is no pusher, yet she found herself having to take many more risks than she's comfortable with, burying herself in unforced errors in the process. I had stated last week that Pennetta's current form was a current unknown, and I'm still unconvinced that she's playing all that well. She struggled past the likes of Petra Cetkovska, and in the final she was quite erratic. In baseline exchanges, she would leak random errors of both sides early in rallies. Her footwork wasn't as sharp as it had been at the end of 2008. Her shot selection was questionable. She went for too many low % winners, seemingly because she never trusted her own ground strokes to hold up in long rallies against Venus from the baseline so ending the points as quick as possible seemed like the only viable option.



This match goes to show how well Pennetta has to play to beat Venus.



Acapulco Final - Last two games + Trophy Presentation:








Another prediction realised; Carla Suarez Navarro's fall back into oblivion after her excellent Australian Open run. Is anyone still holding out hope that she can become a consistent world beater. Second round, straight set losses to the likes of Barbora Zahlavova Strycova are just dire.





Monterrey Open - Mexico



It's an International event, same as Acapulco (i.e Mickey Mouse). Already, the top seed, Agnieszka Radwanska lost in the first round to Na Li, 6-0 in the 3rd set (ouch). It's something of a surprise considering Randwanska is one the biggest hoggers of International events on the tour, but Li notorious for having a wild, unpredictable game. She's a shot maker, and has beaten pretty much anyone who is anyone on the tour today.



I didn't see the match, however I can only imagine that Radwanska was hit clean off the court in the third set. Her generally puffball ground strokes, mixed together with Li's explosive, unpredictable game and Randwanska's wobbly current form meant this match was very likely a potential upset. No doubt that a red hot Li would enjoy having the time to set up on her shots and tee off effortlessly against Radwanska's "junk".



This result leaves the draw looking a bit like this:



Na Li (CHN) def (1)Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 7-6(5) 4-6 6-0

Jarmila Groth (SVK) vs. Petra Cetkovska (CZE)

Lucie Safarova (CZE) def (WC) Melissa Torres Sandoval 6-4 6-1

(8) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) def Marina Erakovic (NZL) 6-4 6-3



(3) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) vs. Jill Craybas (USA)

Anna-Lena Grönefeld (GER) vs. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova

(CZE)Roberta Vinci (ITA) vs. Arantxa Rus (NED)

(6) Iveta Benesova (CZE) vs. Shahar Peer (ISR)



(7) Gisela Dulko (ARG) def Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 6-4 7-5

Mariya Koryttseva UKR) vs. Lenka Weinerova (SVK)

Melinda Czink (HUN) vs. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)

(4) Jie Zheng (CHN) def (WC) Urszula Radwanska (POL) 7-6 4-6 6-0



(5) Agnes Szavay (HUN) vs. Pauline Parmentier

(FRA)Klara Zakopalova (CZE) vs. Vania King (USA)

Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) vs. Edina Gallovits (ROM)

(2) Marion Bartoli (FRA) vs. Michaela Krajicek (NED)





With Radwanska now out, it's tough to predict who will win the events. Second seeded Marion Bartoli is much much suited to faster/mid-paced surfaces. She thrives on taking the ball early and slower surfaces mess up her timing somewhat. Her draw is tricky, with former teenage hopeful Krajicek in the first round, following by up-and-coming Slovak, Rybarikova in the second round. Overall, I wouldn't be surprised if she made it to the final however.



Pennetta is not playing that well in my opinion, but she may have played herself into some form with a couple of tough matches last week, and now her quarter of the draw holds a couple of slumping players and players who she has a good record against. Na Li may continue her good run of form though. I think the winner of the potential Pennetta v Li semi-final will win the title.



Dulko is a savvy player. She won't power anyone off court, yet she is extremely tactically aware and is able to change up the paces in rallies, throw in short angles, move her opponents around, combined with being able to set up effective ground stroke plays. She lost early in Acapulco last week however, so her form is somewhat suspect.



Agnes Szavay, who this time last year was still ranked inside the top 20, and had already won a then Tier II event, along with a quarter-final appearance at the US Open, and wins over Dementieva and Jankovic, is still "slumping". It's fair to say however, that her sophomore slump is last much too long to be considered a mere slump. She just can't compete at the highest level for an extended period of time, and her serve is wildly inconsistent now so she can longer rely on gaining a couple of cheap points every few games even against the most hapless of scrubs. Playing down in Tiers hasn't helped much; She's still losing to everyone and anyone. Therefore, her slump is obviously just her normal level, and her wonder run back in late 2007 was something of an exception.