WTA Cincinnati (Premier 5):
Draw
OOP

Not too many people thought Ana Ivanovic stood a chance against Bank Of The West Classic Champion Victoria Azarenka on Monday night. As the draw was released on Saturday, Ivanovic fans worldwide sobbed and groaned at the luck of facing a recent titlist in the first round. However, Ivanovic exceeded all expectations as she recovered from 6-2 5-3 down to defeat Victoria Azarenka in three sets. She was aided greatly by her younger opponent, it must be said, as Azarenka served 3 (THREE!) double faults while serving for the match. She gave her opponent a second chance, and Ivanovic was smart enough to take it. Eventually the Serb closed out the match 2-6 7-6(6) 6-2.

That match raises two important questions; ‘Will Ivanovic be able to use the win to spur her on?’ Two weeks ago in Stanford she brushed aside Kleybanova, but as belief and hope poured back into the minds of Ivanovic fans, she was easily dismissed in the very next round by Bartoli. She seems to have no problem playing well when under no pressure but as soon as people begin to expect from her, she usually collapses in the most horrific fashion. She plays Yaroslava Shvedova next and though she will undoubtebly be seen as the favourite by many after last night, Shvedova is a talented young player and more than capable of taking Ivanovic out. The second question raised is whether there will be any real champions in the future. The players to emerge out of Azarenka’s era are seemingly either weak mentally or without anywhere near the tools and weaponry of yesteryear’s champions. The next few years will surely answer that question.

Elsewhere, Ivanovic’s fellow Serb Bojana Jovanovski created a stir as she took out Madrid Champion Aravane Rezai in three. I actually had a chance to meet BoJo at Eastbourne this year and she is a lovely girl with a fiery game so it’s great to see her doing so well. Ivanovic’s BFF Dinara Safina also found herself a rare win, defeating Roberta Vinci to advance to her second round match-up with Kim Clijsters. Could she draw inspiration from her BFF’s win last night and come away the victor? Interesting times ahead.

ATP Rogers Cup, Toronto (1000):

Draw
OOP

Over in the Rogers Cup, things were a lot quieter with only one match going to three sets in the first round. In what was supposed to be the more interesting match-up, Mikhail Youzhny defeated Gilles Simon in straight sets. Simon was leading 4-1 in set two before rain stopped play. When they came back out, Youzhny reeled off five games in a row to impressively take the match and move on into the second round. Gilles continued to moan and have long, animated conversations with himself after every point he lost and even some that he won. He seems to be suffering a huge crisis of confidence and for anyone who dislikes Simon, now would be the perfect time to label him a ‘pusher’ because he is certainly playing like one.

The performance of the day was without a doubt Ernests Gulbis’ demolition of Thomaz Bellucci. Even after going walkabouts for the first three games in set two, Gulbis recovered well and continued to crush the ball time and time again. This was without a doubt his best performance since coming back from that nasty hamstring injury and it is so amazing to watch him in that kind of form. He moves on to face everyone’s bestie Robin Soderling tomorrow, in a match which promises to be ‘Big (boy) tennis’ in its purest form.

Rafole were edged out by wildcarded duo Pospisil/Raonic 10-8 in the third in what can’t be described as that much of a shock. Mens Doubles is dominated by serve and neither (currently) posses a huge serve or are comfortable enough at the net. Coupled with the fact that they have gone from being fierce rivals to the odd sensation of playing as a team and a loss is also inevitable. If they do play together more in the future (and i’ll be praying to God that they do), it is likely they would become more comfortable on court and play as a team rather than two singles players.

Both tournaments really kick off on Tuesday with match-ups such as Kuznetsova vs Sharapova, Ferrer vs Nalbandian, Gulbis vs Soderling, Gonzalez vs Monfils, Hantuchova vs Pavlyuchenkova and Pennetta vs Zheng all taking place. Don’t miss it.