The talk of the day is of course Ana Ivanovic‘ win over Serena Williams.
According to her coach, Serena blocked her back and neck before her match against Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.
The Serbian reaches the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the fisrt time since the 2012 US Open.
A sad end to a terrific tournament for a Casey Dellacqua: she lost the last 8 games of her match against Eugenie Bouchard 6-0. Joining Ivanovic and Bouchard in the quarterfinals are Li Na and Flavia Pennetta.
Australian Open 2014 champion?
- Serena Williams (49%, 70 Votes)
- Victoria Azarenka (15%, 21 Votes)
- Maria Sharapova (12%, 17 Votes)
- Na Li (9%, 13 Votes)
- Other (5%, 7 Votes)
- Caroline Wozniacki (4%, 6 Votes)
- Jelena Jankovic (3%, 4 Votes)
- Agniezska Radwanska (2%, 3 Votes)
- Angelique Kerber (1%, 2 Votes)
- Petra Kvitova (1%, 1 Votes)
- Sara Errani (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 144
Loading ...No surprise in the men’s draw: Novak Djokovic, Stanislas Wawrinka, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych progress to the quarterfinals.
Who will be the 2014 Australian Open champion?
- Rafael Nadal (33%, 92 Votes)
- Novak Djokovic (28%, 80 Votes)
- Roger Federer (27%, 76 Votes)
- Juan Martin Del Potro (4%, 11 Votes)
- Andy Murray (4%, 10 Votes)
- Stanislas Wawrinka (2%, 5 Votes)
- Tomas Berdych (1%, 3 Votes)
- Other (1%, 3 Votes)
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (1%, 2 Votes)
- Richard Gasquet (0%, 1 Votes)
- David Ferrer (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 283
Loading ...Video highlights:
Tweet of the day: Gisela Dulko
Really happy about her friend’s Flavia Pennetta qualification for the quarterfinals
Genia mi amigaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!! QUE FELICIDAD…merecidisimo !!!!!! Love you♥ @flavia_pennetta pic.twitter.com/90fv24KnTf
— Gisela Dulko (@gidulko) January 19, 2014
Video of the day: Henri Leconte and Mansour Bahrami
Matches to follow on Day 8:
Dominika Cibulkova (20) – Maria Sharapova (3)
Sloane Stephens (13) – Victoria Azarenka (2)
Rafael Nadal (1) – Kei Nishikori (16)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) – Roger Federer (6)
Agnieszka Radwanska (5) – Garbine Muguruza
Jelena Jankovic (8) – Simona Halep (11)
Andy Murray (4) – Stephane Robert
Grigor Dimitrov (22) – Roberto Bautista Agut
The last Masters 1000 of the season, the BNP Paris Masters starts in about a week. I got the chance to attend the tournament in 2010 and 2011 and I’ll be there again this year, so stay tuned for recaps, pics and videos!
Waiting for the 2012 tournament, here are a few pics and videos of the 2010 tournament won by Robin Soderling.
Robin Soderling
The hard-hitting Swede defeated Simon, Wawrinka, Roddick, Llodra and Monfils to capture his first Masters 1000 title, his sixth career title.
“I don’t have a very good record in finals, and especially here in Paris, but I think a final is that one match you really want to win. I’m really happy that I played well today, and now I’m here winning the title. When I won that last point, I just felt so happy and I felt so relieved. I really wanted to win this match so much.”
Following his win, he reached a career high number 4 ranking.
Soderling has not competed since the 2011 Swedish Open in July 2011 due to injuries and illness and his return to tennis is in doubt.
Gael Monfils
2009 runner-up Gael Monfils qualified for the semifinals after victories over Becker, Verdasco and Murray. He then beat Roger Federer in a three set thriller 7-6 6-7 7-6, but Soderling proved too strong in the final.
Monfils, who was sidelined for several months this year with knee problems, has decided to end his season and won’t play the tournament this year.
Michael Llodra
Llodra, then ranked 34, beat two former Bercy champions, Djokovic and Davydenko, to reach the semifinals in Bercy.
And he was just one point away from the final: he got 3 match points in the 12th game of the final set, but Soderling raced to the net each time for winners.
Novak Djokovic
Winner in 2009, Djokovic lost to Michael Llodra in the third round of the 2010 tournament. One month later he lead Serbia to their first Davis Cup victory.
Nikolay Davydenko
Davydenko won his first Masters 1000 title at Paris Bercy 2006 by defeating Dominik Hrbaty in the final. In 2010, he defeated Thomaz Bellucci and Tomas Berdych before losing to Michael Llodra.
Andy Roddick
Despite his powerful weapons, his serve and forehand, Roddick has never done well at Paris Bercy. In 2010, he lost to Robin Soderling in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
In the stands:
Former Roland Garros finalist Magnus Norman and Soderling’s coach at the time:
Larry Stefanski, Andy Roddick’s coach:
Guy Forget and Mansour Bahrami:
More pics and videos of Paris Bercy 2010.
20 years after their final at Roland Garros, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier met again in Paris, but this time for an exhibition on a little but packed court 7.
I was at Roland Garros today, not for the womens final because I didn’t manage to get tickets (by the way, congrats to Na Li for her historic victory) but for the Trophée des Légendes.
But first, on Court 7 today, an exhibition between Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Mansour Bahrami and young players of the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament.
Amélie Mauresmo:
Nathalie Dechy:
