Tennis and All That

I’m disappointed that Serena is out of the Australian Open but pleased she beat the world number 1, Halep because it’ll boost her world ranking and seeding in future tournaments. However I’m delighted that the Czech women, Kvitova and Ka. Pliskova, are marching on and make up 50% of the semi-finalists. Here’s hoping for an all Czech final! They both deserve to win the title. Both are playing even better than last year. Pliskova played excellently against Osaka in Tokyo last year so has the game to beat her. However, Osaka may have tried to learn from it so could play slightly differently this time around. The key for Pliskova, I feel, is to get out of the starting blocks quickly and keep up the pressure on Osaka because she does throw her racquet about when upset and losing, as she did this tournament against Hsieh. Osaka made a comeback in that match by improving the speed of her footwork, making more small, adjusting steps, meaning she moved better and transferred her weigh...

In my previous post, I ended last season celebrating the Czech Fed Cup win over USA in the final. I start 2019 by celebrating two big title wins for two top Czech women players: Karolina Pliskova won Brisbane and Kvitova won Sydney International! Congratulations to both! May they collect many more titles this year! The sad news for Czech tennis is the retirement, due to ill health (from viruses/reactive arthritis), of Lucie Safarova, a hugely talented all-court player who was great to watch. I’ll miss her! Another loss for the game is Agnieszka Radwanska who has also retired due to a foot injury that, like Andy Murray’s hip, doctors are unable to repair, especially for the strains of competitive tennis. I’ll miss her creative shots! Her good friend, Caroline Wozniacki, is dealing with rheumatoid arthritis but is excited to be defending her Australian Open title. The Australian Open main draw starts now, in an hours’ time or so. So, on a fun note before they start, h...