Cibulkova dismisses Wozniacki, Pironkova sends Venus packing

No. 24 seed, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, played her heart out and narrowly defeated No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in round four at Wimbledon, 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.

Also, No. 32 seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria easily downed No. 23 seed, Venus Williams of the USA.

In the Quarterfinals, Dominika will face No. 6 seed, Maria Sharapova of Russia. Tsvetana will face No. 8 seed, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

With Wozniacki, and both Williams sisters out of the picture, it sure opens up the field for the remaining players. Perhaps this is the year Maria Sharapova will add another championship to her list of titles.

Cibulkova upsets Zvonareva at Indian Wells

No. 25 seed, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, defeated No. 3 seed, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 in round three of the WTA BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

It was a 3-hour marathon as the 21-year-old Cibulkova played her heart out against 26-year-old Zvonareva. Zvonareva had won the three previous meetings between the pair and she looked on course for a fourth as she took the first set but Cibulkova fought back to claim the upset win in tightly fought battle.

Wozniacki crushes King in 2nd round at Australian Open

World No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, seems intent on proving to a skeptical world that she is indeed deserving of her ranking as she cruised easily through her first two rounds at the 2011 Australian Open without dropping a set.

Caroline lost only one game in her 2nd round match on Wednesday, destroying Vania King of the USA, 6-1, 6-0.

Caroline hit 23 winners and only 8 unforced errors, a ratio of nearly 3 to 1, rarely achieved in “modern” tennis. Vania hit 10 winners, with 20 errors.

Zvonareva vs. Wozniacki in semifinal

No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva will face No. 1 seed, Caroline Wozniacki in one of the semifinals of the 2010 U.S. Open.

This is Zvonareva’s first time in the semifinals, having never made it past the 4th round in seven tries, while Wozniacki was a finalist here last year on her third try.

Zvonareva defeated 31st seed, Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semifinal. Wozniacki continued her winning form downing Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 7-5. Wozniacki hasn’t dropped a set nor played a tie-break in her first five matches, allowing just three games in her first three matches. Zvonareva has struggled a little more, surviving two tie-breaks in her matches.

Sharapova easily into round 3 at Wimbledon

Maria Sharapova of Russia, former World No. 1 and 2004 Wimbledon champion, has easily gained the 3rd round at Wimbledon 2010.

Maria seems to be on cruise control, downing countrywoman, Anastasia Pivovarova 6-1, 6-0, and Raluca Olaru of Romania, 6-1, 6-4.

At this point, Maria seems to have come back quite well from last year’s shoulder injury. She will face Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova of the Czech Republic in round three. Her quarter of the draw sets up a potential match against current World No. 1 Serena Williams of the USA in round four.

Venus Williams cruises to easy victory over Santonja at French Open

Venus Williams of the USA advanced easily to round 3 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over unseeded No. 59 ranked Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain at the French Open in Paris.

The match pitted two of the older players on tour against each other – Venus, age 29 versus Arantxa, age 27.

Kuznetsova, Safina, Azarenka, Dementieva, Wozniacki, Radwanska among top 10 seed upsets in Rome

Maria Kirilenko of Russia is making her way through the draw at the 2010 WTA Internazionali BNL d’Italia currently being played May 2-9 in Rome, Italy. In reaching the Quarterfinals, she knocked off No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in round 2. In round 3, she defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Kirilenko now faces No. 1 seed, Serena Williams of the USA in the Quarterfinals.

Another big upset in Rome was achieved in round 2 by Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania who defeated No. 3 seed, Dinara Safina of Russia, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1. Dulgheru was then ousted by No. 14 seed, Nadia Petrova of Russia, 0-6, 6-3, 2-6.