Novak Djokovic in through into the semi finals of the French Open after taming the feisty Milos Ranoic and seems all set to bag the title of the tournament. Djokovic at present is number 2 in world and won the match against Ranoic with the score 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 and finally made it to the semi finals.
This season would be the 22th semi final and 6th Roland Garros for Djokovic. He will be facing off Ernest Gulbis of Latvia in the semi finals. If he bags the final title on Sunday, he would be the 8th man to go down in history to have completed the Grand Slam career.
The twenty seven year old had quite the journey to the semifinals where he took on Joao Sousa in the first round with the score 6-1 6-2 6-4, while the score in the 2nd round was6-1 6-4 6-2 against Jeremy Chardy. The 3rd round was great as well where he faced off Marin Cilic with a score of 6-3 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-4. The 4th and the quarter finals were against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic with the score of 6-1 6-4 6-1 and 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 respectively.
Talking about his upcoming semifinals, Djokovic commented that he prefers to keep his focus only on the upcoming match and not think much about the finals. This helps to keep him focused. All he wishes to think about at present is Gulbis, since he is playing quite well of late and seems most confident.
The twenty seven year old further added that although Gulbis is playing well but he will still take his chances since he has had a great past few weeks. Couple of days off might just work more in his favor and will help him recover and concentrate on his practice.
The Spanish singer and Anna Kournikova’s boyfriend Enrique Iglesias doesn’t think that something like perfect relationship exists. He reckons that difficult times come in every relationship and the couple involved just needs to get through those times.
Enrique was answering the questions in one of his interviews recently. When he was asked what the main reason is behind the smooth running of his relationship with Kournikova for more than a decade, he said, “I don’t think there is any specific reason. It’s just that we have not let the difficult times ruin our relationship. We have tried to get through such periods and I would suggest every couple to do the same. Because when the happy times come, you would enjoy them to the fullest.”
When asked why Kournikova has been her girl friend over such a long period of time, the 39 years old who is also a songwriter said, “I don’t find a cooler girl than her in the whole world. She laughs on my stupid jokes, she really understands me very well. She is always ready to let me concentrate on my work rather than force me to spend time with her and that’s something that I really like about her.”
When asked about his qualities which prompted Kournikova to fall in love with him, Enrique said, “I have no idea to be honest with you. It’s not that I am hugely romantic, that’s not the case. It’s only my songs which have romance in them. That’s it. So, I guess you will have to ask her why she loves me this much.”
Kournikova and Iglesias had met each other for the first time in 2001 when the former was an active professional tennis player. They have been a couple since that time.
Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, powered her way into the third round of the singles competition of the BNP Paribas Open. She secured an easy straight set victory over Julia Goerges of Germany yesterday. The final score line of the match was 6-1, 6-4 in the favour of Sharapova.
It was not a flawless performance by the Russian beauty queen. He actually served quite a few double faults which would have been proven costly for her if she had been up against a top player, but, against Goerges, she managed to make up for those mistakes with some thunderous hits which left the German youngster answerless.
Sharapova who is at the 5th position in the official rankings of WTA right now had been out of action since the last few weeks as she was busy in the broadcasting works in the winter Olympics which was taking place in her country .
So, one would have probably expected her to be a little clumsy against Goerges, but, it wasn’t to be. She produced a dominating, first class performance in her comeback match and sent a strong message to her rivals.
In the post match interview, Sharapova said, “It’s never easy to play at your fluent best straightaway after the comeback and especially when you are facing a highly talented player. She (Goerges) might not have won that many matches of late, but, she doesn’t lack abilities. So, considering all those things, I would say I am satisfied with my performance.”
The match between Sharapova and Goerges lasted for just more than an hour, 65 minutes to be precise.
Now, in the next round, Sharapova will be taking on Camila Giorgi (Italy) who reached the third round by beating Sorana Cirstea in the straight sets.
Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Nadia Petrova, will not be able to take part in the upcoming Australian Open because of the demise of her mom.
Petrova’s mother passed away in a road accident a few days back. She was a sportsperson herself. During the 1976 Olympics which had taken place in Montreal, she had won a bronze medal for Russia in the 400 m relay race.
Petrova is not the only Russian player who has withdrawn her name from the Australian Open of late. Maria Kirilenko is the other one who will miss the tournament. However, the reason behind her withdrawal is different. She is actually injured and that’s why, she would not participate in the tournament.
In a press conference yesterday, the members of the organizing committee of the Australian Open confirmed the withdrawal of Petrova and Kirilenko from the tournament.
The organizers said, “Because of the sudden demise of her mother, Nadia Petrova has decided that she would keep herself out of the Australian Open. We want to convey our condolences to her and her family at this tough time.”
Currently, Petrova is not even in top 50 in the official WTA rankings. Her game has certainly gone down a lot in the recent past. She has struggled to win matches against good, quality players.
As far as Petrova’s performance in the Australian Open is concerned, she is yet to win that tournament.
A couple of years back in 2011, she had had her best outing in the Australian Open as she had managed to make it to the semi final round then. But, in the last two seasons, she got knocked out pretty early from the tournament (from the second round in 2012 and from the opening round in 2013).
Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, has said that there is nothing wrong between her and Serena Williams.
While being in England for the Wimbledon Championships earlier this year, Serena had made a controversial statement about Sharapova’s personal life.
That statement of Serena had not pleased Sharapova at all and the Russian superstar had expressed her unhappiness in a press conference. She had said that Serena should be worrying about her own life rather than making statements about somebody else’s life.
But, in one of her recent interviews, Sharapova has made it clear that both the players have put that incident behind them.
Sharapova said, “I haven’t talked a lot to Serena about that incident, but, there is no heart feeling between the two of us. We have left that incident behind.”
Although, Sharapova and Serena are not the best of friends but Sharapova hailed the American legend for the way she has performed on the tennis court over the years.
Mentioning Serena’s achievements in the game, Sharapova said, “Serena is one of the greats of the game. The kind of tennis that she has played over the years is fantastic. She has already won 17 Grand Slams and she is still going strong even at the age of 32. That’s incredible.”
Sharapova has been out of action since quite a while because of her shoulder injury. This is the second time in her career that she has picked up a major shoulder injury. She is expected to make her comeback in the first half of the next season.
Recently on her Facebook page, Sharapova requested her fans to come and support her in the BNP Paribas Open next year. The Russian superstar will be defending her crown in that tournament which takes place at Indian Wells, California.
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July 2, 2014 10:17 am | 
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