Grand Slam Professional Tennis Predictions and Picks by Nick Bollettieri. US Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open » Berlin

Safina wins biggest title of her career

Nick's Picks — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:31:28 +0000

What a week for Russian Dinara Safina. After knocking off Justine Henin and Serena Williams, she went on to beat another top ten player, Elena Dementieva, in the finals at Berlin. Safina won the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win the first Tier I title of her young career. Safina’s victories over Henin, Williams, and Dementieva were her 9th, 10th, and 11th career top 10 wins. With the title, Safina moved up three spots in the rankings to #14 in the world.

Here is some video of the final game and more from Safina about the tournament.

Safina slays another

Nick's Picks — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:20:20 +0000

A day after she beat top-seeded Justine Henin, Dinara Safina beat arguably the player playing the best on tour right now. Safina defeated Serena Williams 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals at Berlin this morning. Coming into this match, Williams was sporting a 21-1 record and hadn’t lost a match since the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. For Safina, this was not only her first win over Serena in her career, but it is the first time she has reached a semifinal of a tournament in 2008.

Safina’s opponent in the semis will be Victoria Azarenaka, someone she has never faced. The unseeded Azarenka upset #15 Alona Bondarenko 7-6(2), 6-2. This is Azarenka’s first career Tier I semifinal appearance, and the third time she has reached at least the semis of a tournament this year. Last week, she lost in the finals at Prague to Vera Zvonareva in straight sets.

With Henin and Serena now out, the new favorite has to be second-seeded Ana Ivanovic. Last year’s French Open runner-up will play #10 Agnes Szavay later today. The two have never faced each other before.

Henin falls to Safina while Serena rolls

Nick's Picks — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:04:24 +0000

Top-seed Justine Henin lost this morning to Dinara Safina 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round of the German Open in Berlin. This was Henin’s first loss to Safina in six tries and the first time she has failed to reach the quarterfinals of an event this year. This cannot be a good sign for Henin. The last tournament she played in (Miami) she got thrashed by Serena Williams in the quarters, and after taking just about a month off she now loses in the third round. While she will still be the favorite at Roland Garros, her confidence cannot be as high as it has been in the past.

For Safina, this has is probably her biggest victory of the year. Her results have been a mixed bag so far in 2008, and with that being said she once again demonstrated that she is capable of beating the top girls. She is now going to get another chance to face a top girl, as she will now face Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

Williams beat eleventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1 in her third round match to advance. Serena is 3-0 all-time against Safina, including a fourth round victory over her at last year’s French Open.

Lisicki goes down to Bammer

Nick's Picks — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:56:39 +0000

NBTA student Sabine Lisicki fell to Sybille Bammer 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5) in the second round at Berlin earlier today. Lisicki had upset #14 Shahar Peer in the first round and had she beaten Bammer she would have gotten to play #2 Ana Ivanovic. Lisicki saved 14 of 20 break points and converted on 7 of her 11 break opportunities, but it wasn’t enough to get by Bammer. This is another solid result for the 18-year old Lisicki, as she heads into her first career French Open.

Top-seeded Justine Henin won her first match since she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams at Miami earlier today. Henin beat Yung-Jan Chan 6-0, 6-2 and will play #13 Dinara Safina in the third round. Henin is 5-0 against Safina in her career, including two wins over her on clay.

Also winning were #2 Ana Ivanovic and #4 Jelena Jankovic. Ivanovic beat Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6(0), and 6-2 and Jankovic downed Shuai Peng 7-5, 6-0. As I mentioned before, Ivanovic will face Sybille Bammer while Jankovic will take on Maria Kirilenko.

Serena makes successful return to German Open

Nick's Picks — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:45:16 +0000

For the first time since she reached the finals in 2002, Serena Williams played on the clay courts in Berlin at the German Open. Williams won her second round match over Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-3 and will face either #11 Agnieszka Radwanska or Angelika Bachmann in the third round. As I mentioned earlier, Williams is a former finalist here. She lost that match to Justine Henin in three sets, and she may get another chance at Henin in the quarterfinals this year.

While Henin has to be the favorite, Ravi Ubha of ESPN likes Serena Williams’ chances. I can’t really disagree with him, but picking against Henin on clay is dangerous. I know she hasn’t been totally healthy this season, but she is still the best player in the world. She has proven that on clay she is Nadal-like, winning four out of the last five French Opens (including the last three).

Top-women in action this week

Nick's Picks — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:29:20 +0000

Many of the top ladies are playing this week at the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. The top-seed is Justine Henin, who is playing for the first time since her quarterfinal loss to Serena Williams in Miami. Henin will face qualifier Yung-Jan Chan in the second round.

Also playing this week is the aforementioned Serena Williams, who just happens to be in the same quarter as Henin. That would be a very interesting quarterfinal match, because Henin has dominated Williams on clay, winning four of their five matches. Williams will face Italian Francesca Schiavone in the second round.

Joining Henin and Williams this week are Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Dementieva, Marion Bartoli, and more.

The ladies are already in action this morning, and Academy student Sabine Lisicki won her opening round match over 14th-seeded Shahar Peer. Lisicki, who is now ranked #102 in the world, upset the 18th ranked player in the world 7-5, 6-1 and will now face either Sybille Bammer or Michaella Krajicek in the second round. Lisicki made a big splash earlier this year when she reached the fourth round at Miami, beating Anna Chakvetadze in the process.

Other winners this morning include: Nadia Petrova, Kaia Kanepi, Alona Bondarenko, Caroline Wozniacki, Lucie Safarova, and Agnes Szavay.