Tennis: Wozniacki and Clijsters Out But Other Seeds Struggle On

Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki suffered stunning defeats in the Women’s French Open and Al Dannity says we can expect more upsets as the first week of play in Roland Garros comes to a close.

Absence costs Clijsters
I warned Tennis betting fans to steer clear of Kim Clijsters but I didn’t expect her to fall so dramatically at Roland Garros. A total of 65 unforced errors contributed to the Belgian falling apart in what looked like a routine victory. Having won the first set 6-3, Clijsters led 5-2 in the second but lost 11 of the next 12 games to lose in three sets to unfancied Arantxa Rus. Clijsters was the cause of her own demise which was to be expected given her lack of preparation for the French Open. The former World #1 has been on the shelf since Miami after injuring her ankle at a party.

Worn-out Wozniacki
While Clijsters suffered from inactivity, #1 seed Caroline Wozniacki suffered from playing too much. The Dane was playing in her 12th tournament of the year when she fell to Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-3 on Friday. Wozniacki hasn’t taken a significant break all season and that’s starting to show. Just last weekend she was involved in a drawn out battle in the final of the Brussels Open. Her opponent from that final, Peng Shuai, didn’t even finish her third round match against Francesca Schiavone. Something eventually had to give for Wozniacki and Hantuchova capitalized on a tired opponent.

Zvonareva and Sharapova escape
Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova were both extremely fortunate to survive their second round encounters. An injury derailed Sabine Lisicki’s brave bid to derail Zvonareva’s campaign, eventually going down 7-5 in the third set. Sharapova, fresh off a victory in Rome, was in all sorts of trouble on Thursday against French 17 year-old Caroline Garcia. Having won the first set 6-3, Garcia broke Sharapova twice in the second to lead 4-1. Andy Murray tweeted how impressed he was by the French teenager but sadly Murray’s tweet precipitated a collapse by Garcia. Sharapova rattled off 11 straight games to take the match and survive.

Upset alert
Looking ahead to Saturday’s schedule and Sharapova will be wary of another potential banana skin in the third round. She takes on World #129 Yung-Jan Chan, who is already playing with house money. This third round appearance is the best grand slam performance of her career but Chan looked comfortable against Jill Craybas in the last round and won’t fear the Russian.

Roberto Vinci, the #30 seed, will fancy her chances of shocking #4 seed Victoria Azarenka tomorrow. The Italian veteran is enjoying the best season of her career to date and will be brimming with confidence going into tomorrow’s encounter.

The last potential shock to watch out for sees #21 seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium try to take out #12 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. This is one upset I’m going to advise bettors to steer clear of. Wickmayer hasn’t looked her best in the opening rounds. She’ll need to be at her best against Radwanska, who has found her rhythm quickly in Roland Garros. Bet on Poland’s Agnieska Radwanska to avoid the upset and progress to the second week of play in Roland Garros.