Serena Williams road to the final

Much tougher than expected for Serena Williams who rallied four times (!) from one set down to reach the final. The best-ranked player she faced being Sara Errani, seeded 17. Sick in the semifinals, she beat the surprising Swiss Timea Bacsinszky after much drama.

Serena will be the huge favorite to lift the trophy on Saturday. That what she said about the pressure to be the player to beat year after year:

It’s not easy. Some days I feel it and the pressure gets to you. It’s kind of hard when you go to every single match and you’re the favourite to win and it’s bigger news when you lose than when you win. But there’s one thing that I learned when I was really young, when I had an opportunity to work with Billie Jean King. She said “Pressure is a privilege”. I’m in a position of privilege to be able to feel that pressure.

Lucie Safarova’s road to the final

A Wimbledon semifinalist last year, Lucie Safarova reached her first Grand Slam final without losing a set, an impressive feat when you look at the players she faced: defending champion Maria Sharapova, Sabine Lisicki, Garbine Muguruza… She beat Ana Ivanovic 7-5 7-5 in the semifinals, after an nerve-wrecking end of match. Watch Lucie’s joy after the last point:

A popular player on the WTA tour, Safarova was congratulated by current and former players on Twitter after her victory over Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals:

Asked if the “good girl” could win the title she said:

I hope so. I think sport should be about fair play. I think people should be nice to each other. Doesn’t matter if it’s in sports or in general. So that’s what I’m trying to do, even here. I have a few good friends on tour. It’s not easy when you play them, but that’s life.

Serena Williams – Lucie Safarova head to head: 8-0

Lucie Safarova has never beaten Serena Williams in eight meetings. Their most disputed match was in fact their first back in 2007, won by Serena 7-6 in the third.

So, epic battle or routine win? Serena or Lucie? Who do you think will win? Please share your thoughts.
I’ll be watching the final at Roland Garros tomorrow and I’ll be rooting for Safarova, hoping she won’t be taken by nerves.

Roland Garros is already over for the defending champion, Maria Sharapova, who lost to 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova in straight sets 6-7 4-6.

“I felt like I had small openings, and played a good few points. I just wasn’t able to keep that level up today. She was able to do that for a longer period of time. She was the much more aggressive player. She took the time away from me, created her angles and I didn’t”,

said Sharapova, who had reached the final the three previous years.

Safarova will next face Garbine Muguruza, who reaches the quarterfinals here for the second year in a row.

The other surprise today came from Timea Bacsinszky who beat number 4 seed Petra Kvitova 2-6 6-0 6-3, to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinals. Her next opponent is the surprising Alison Van Uytvanck.

Women’s quarterfinals:
Serena Williams vs Sara Errani
Timea Bacsinszky vs Alison Van Uytvanck
Ana Ivanovic vs Elina Svitolina
Garbine Muguruza vs Lucie Safarova

Andy Murray defeats Robin Haase 6-3 7-6 1-6 7-5

First round scare for 2012 US Open champion Andy Murray who battled cramps to overcome Robin Haase in 4 sets.

Novak Djokovic defeats Diego Schwartzman 6-1 6-2 6-4

A routine win for world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

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Sara Errani:

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova:

Lucie Safarova:

Jurgen Melzer:

Kimiko Date:

Taylor Townsend:

Flavia Pennetta:

Gael Monfils:

Elina Svitolina:

Martina Hingis:

Photo credit: Peg

More reports from Cincinnati:
On the way to the Western & Southern Open
The Western & Southern Open main draw party
Friday evening at Lindner Family Tennis Center
Seeking relief from the heat
Proximity
Interviews and Press Conferences
The Mixed Zone
Stars and Flowers
Players at practice

Thanks to Peg, who covered the Cincinnati Masters for Tennis Buzz, a few pictures of players practicing:

Sam Stosur:

Svetlana Kuznetsova:

Lucie Safarova:

Jelena Jankovic:

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