Beijing Semifinals

Here is your midweek update from the big tournaments, and this time I bring you action from Beijing where none of the top 8 seeds have made it through to the semifinals, and only one survived until the quarters.  We are back to total chaos in the WTA, despite decent performances by top 10 players last week in Tokyo, and you might well enjoy the unpredictability as opposed to complaining about it.  Two players though have given themselves an opportunity to break up the party in Istanbul where I had thought the field was almost set.

Beijing Semifinalists:
9) Andrea Petkovic (GER)
11) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
Q) Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Petkovic and/or Radwanska will move in front of Bartoli for #8 in the race in Istanbul by making the final, albeit by a small margin, giving new weight to the Moscow tournament.  If either were to win the title, they would be nipping at the heels of Stosur for #7, meaning there will be a bit of drama in the closing weeks where I thought there would be none.  It is safe to say Radwanska is the hottest player on tour at the moment while Niculescu and Pennetta have posted nice results recently, specifically at the US Open.  Petkovic also is on the upswing after becoming the only woman to reach 3 slam quarterfinals this year.

This tournament has been tough to follow closely due to the time difference but the losing quarterfinalists were Wozniacki, Ivanovic, Kirienko, and Pavlyuchenkova.  Radwanska and Kirilenko were the only women to reach the quarters at both Tokyo and Beijing, while Wozniacki and Ivanovic were the only two to make the quarters in Beijing both in 2010 and 2011.  Wozniacki and Zvonareva will both lose loads of points, Zvonareva drops to #5, as many spots in the top 10 are still wide open for the last 3 weeks of the season.

Briefly mentioning men's action, the top 4 seeds have made the semis in Tokyo, setting up blockbuster matches tomorrow between Nadal/Fish and Murray/Ferrer.  Also some intriguing matchups in Beijing where it will be Tsonga/Berdych and Ljubicic/Cilic.  Obviously over a month of the season still remains for the men but it is looking more and more like Fish, Tsonga, and Berdych will snatch the final 3 spots in London.