Day 5: The Women

The top women's players certainly haven't made much fuss this first week, have they? In fact, with all the talk about the men's draw, you might have forgotten the women were even playing.
They're still around, though, and they might very well be setting themselves up to upstage the men in the second week of the tournament – especially the bottom half of the draw, which was in action today.
The match to watch, between Justine Henin and Nadia Petrova, ended up being a blowout. Henin came in with a 13-2 advantage, so she was favored to start with, but when she served 80 percent in the first set alone and made just three unforced errors; well, you just knew she was in for a short day. The second set did get a little more interesting – Henin's not the greatest server in women's tennis, so you knew her percentage had to drop, and it did. Petrova took a 3-1 lead early, but Henin bounced back, and her numbers for the match remained gaudy (for her) – 70 percent of her first serves in, six aces, one double fault, five unforced errors and 26 winners, and she ended up winning 6-1, 6-4. Her only two unforced errors of the entire second set were in the game where she was broken. Now, Henin has always been an inconsistent match-to-match player, but if she can keep up anything close to this, she's going to give her next opponent a very tough match.
That next opponent just happens to be her compatriot, Kim Clijsters. Clijsters was never really in trouble against Maria Kirilenko, taking early breaks in each set and not getting pushed in her 6-3, 6-3 win. Clijsters was also impressive on serve, hitting 81 percent of her attempts and hitting five aces against two double faults and 20 winners against 14 unforced errors. Her match against Henin should be a blockbuster. Henin won the last time these two played on grass and leads 2-1 on the surface (the loss was a retirement in 2003), but Clijsters has been the better player in their two matches this year. She's needed third-set tie-breakers both times, but she's also had mental lapses in both of those matches and probably should have won them in straight sets.
The winner of that match will get the winner of Jelena Jankovic vs. Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva's been up-and-down over the course of her career, but she's on a high right now. She was pretty even with Yanina Wickmayer except for in a crucial category – points won on serve. Zvonareva won 41 percent of the points on Wickmayer's serve, while her Belgian opponent only won 21 percent of her receiving points. The result was a 6-4, 6-2 victory, and Zvonareva's second Round of 16 at a Slam this year.
She might have a tall task to go further, though. After a quiet 2009 and a slow start to 2010, Jankovic is again looking like an elite player. She won 81 percent of her first-serve points in a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win over Alona Bondarenko. However, the next quarterfinal Jankovic reaches here will be her first. She's yet to advance further than the fourth round in seven tries at Wimbledon, and grass has proven to be her weakest surface. Could an upset be brewing here?
Tsvetana Pironkova and Jarmila Groth aren't exactly household names, but neither are nobodies to tennis fans, either. Both are solid players who made some noise as teenagers, and today, both advance to the Round of 16 for the first time at Wimbledon. Pironkova advanced to her first Grand Slam Round of 16 when Regina Kulikova retired at 6-4, 2-0, and Groth got through Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-5, to reach her second consecutive fourth round.
Both will be hard-pressed to go further. Pironkova will now play Marion Bartoli, who committed just seven unforced errors in her 6-3, 6-4 win over Greta Arn. She was also very strong on serve, winning 83 percent of her points, and she hit 19 winners. The 2007 runner-up should be heavily favored in this Round of 16 match.
Groth has an even tougher opponent, in five-time champion Venus Williams. Williams stayed on serve with Alisa Kleybanova until 5-4, and from there, she never looked back, winning seven of the last nine games. Williams had 24 winners and 15 unforced errors in the match, and she's got a very nice path to the semifinals. There's even a chance she won't play a Top-10 player until the finals, if Henin or Zvonareva comes through the other quarter. No matter who she plays, given her history here, and her opponents' history, it's hard to bet against her playing for Title No. 6 next Saturday.
Back with the men's results later.