Three weeks have passed since Bartoli was crowned as the Wimbledon champion. Still, the tennis calendar moves on and there were a number of events on offer for the top tenners to play. Some were eager to return and make amends for a poor Wimbledon (Williams, Errani), others looked to begin the US Open series early (Radwanska), some were sadly injured despite intending to play (Sharapova, Bartoli) whilst others simply took a much needed rest after the long summer (Azarenka, Li, Kvitova, Kerber, Wozniacki).
(Rank/Seed)
(1/1) Williams entered the clay court event in Bastad, Sweden as she fancied playing seaside tennis at event she had heard good things about. From the beginning of the week, the crowds flocked to the centre court and unsurprisingly, Williams quickly put her bad Wimbledon experience behind her. She didn't drop a set en route to her 53rd career title, beating home player Larsson in the final 64 61. This was her 7th title of the year; a 5th on clay to maintain her unbeaten record on the surface this year. Amazingly it was also her very first International level title of her career!
(4/1) Radwanska should have taken advantage of injury withdrawals from Sharapova, Bartoli and Lisicki in the first Premier level event of the US Open series in Stanford. She never played her best tennis during the week though and struggled past Lepchenko in a 3 set quarter final. Then, having avenged a recent loss to rising star Hampton in the semis, she looked a dead cert to beat (25/3) Cibulkova in the title match, considering her 4-0 head to head (the last being a 60 60 win)! However, Radwanska let plenty of opportunities slip against her aggressive opponent who never stopped hitting out, losing the final 36 64 64, despite having led 4-2 40-15 in the third and saving 4 match points. Radwanska was only broken once in the first two sets, but her percentage dropped significantly in the third as she was broken in her last three service games, often off crushing Cibulkova second serve returns and sometimes dubious, mistimed shot selection. Cibulkova's mind triumphed in the end as Radwanska's body let her down it seemed as she tired. This marks yet another strange loss for the usually steady Pole; another loss to a non top 20 player and in a match in which she had a sizeable lead at some stage.
(6/1) Errani looked to put her miserable Wimbledon behind her with a title defence in Palermo. It almost happened as she didn't drop a set en route to the final, but there lost to her closest friend; doubles partner (11/2) Vinci 63 36 63, her 1st loss to her team mate since 2010 and her 1st ever on clay against Vinci.
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