WTA Cincinnati: 3rd Round Predictions

1. Milos Raonic vs. Tomas Berdych

Milos Raonic has been knocking on the door for his big breakthrough for quite a while.  I thought Wimbledon might be the time, but he suffered a disappointing Wimbledon and fell early at the Olympics despite a very solid effort in the second round going down to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 25-23 in the third set.  He has however managed two very good wins in Cincy over Richard Gasquet and Marcos Baghdatis, and has the opportunity to make back-to-back Master 1000 quarter-finals here.  Tomas Berdych is his opponent who has not been enjoying the best of times recently; however I fancy Berdych to have a deep run this week and edge Raonic...
Prediction - Berdych in 3 sets

2. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Sloane Stephens

Agnieszka Radwanska continues her assault for the coveted number one spot, which will be in her grasp with titles this week and in New Haven.  She has struggled for her best form since reaching the final of Wimbledon, but will look to put things right in the humid and hot conditions of Cincy.  Her opponent in the third round is Sloane Stephens who has enjoyed two routine wins over Tsvetana Pironkova and Camila Giorgi.  The American has a lot of potential, but has had endured some tough losses recently where she has failed to hold her nerve.  She has the game to threaten Radwanska and I fancy her to get a set, but I would be very surprised if she could pull off the upset win.

Prediction - Radwanska in 3 sets

3. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Caroline Wozniacki and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova have both cruised into this third round match-up; Wozniacki defeated Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-0 6-1, meanwhile Pavlyuchenkova has scored two bagel sets in straight set wins over Carla Suarez Navarro and Julia Goerges.  Wozniacki has won all five encounters against Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets and despite a resurgence of late from the Russian, I think Wozniacki will be dominant in this match...

Prediction - Wozniacki in 2 sets

WTA:

Li Na d. Johanna Larsson in 2 sets
Sam Stosur d. Ekaterina Makarova in 2 tight sets

Serena Williams d. Urszula Radwanska in 2 sets

Peng Shuai d. Petra Kvitova in 2 sets

Angelique Kerber d. Andrea Hlavackova in 2 sets

Venus Williams d. Sara Errani in 2 sets

ATP:

Mardy Fish d. Radek Stepanek in 2 tight sets

Novak Djokovic d. Nikolay Davydenko in 2 sets

Andy Murray d. Jeremy Chardy in 2 sets

Juan Martin Del Potro d. Viktor Troicki in 2 tight sets

Marin Cilic d. Pablo Andujar in 2 sets
Kei Nishikori d. Stanislas Wawrinka in 3 sets