Off to Cincinnati! Previewing the Women's Tournament

The Western and Southern Open, commonly referred to as Cincinnati, has always been one of my favorite non-Major tournaments of the tennis year. For most of the top players, it is their last chance to make an impression to the rest of the world heading into the year's last Major, the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York. Heading into the 2011 Western and Southern Open, there is no bigger story than the one and only Serena Williams, who is coming into Cincinnati having won two tournaments in a row, Stanford and Toronto. Before we simply chalk Serena in as the Champion of the 2011 Western and Southern Open, let's look at the draw quarter-by-quarter.

Day 6 Preview: What to Look For

Day 6 looks to be a great day of tennis. There are a lot of great matchups as the third round gets underway. The biggest match of the day by far is Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin del Potro. When the draw was made, this match was immediately pointed out. Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, is on his way back from a wrist injury that took him out for all of 2010. He's on the comeback trail now, and this will be very interesting to see how far he has come. In other matches, Roger Federer plays Janko Tipsarevic, which is a really good test of Federer's form. Before Djokovic and del Potro take the court, Stanislas Wawrinka takes on Jo Wilfried Tsonga, which should be a hard hitting affair. Another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, plays Thomaz Bellucci, who is on an absolute tear right now. On the women's side, Samantha Stosur plays Gisela Dulko, a tough Argentinian. Francesca Schiavone takes on Shuai Peng, in what should be a competitive match. And finally on the women's side, Caroline Wozniacki plays Daniela Hantuchova, and Wozniacki looked shaky against Wozniak, so this should be very interesting.

Main Event of the Day: Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin del Potro

Undercard Matches Worth Watching: Wozniacki vs. Hantuchova, Wawrinka vs Tsonga

Upset Possibility of the Day: Bellucci over Gasquet. Gasquet has the pressure of a nation on him, and Bellucci is playing out of his mind. It seems Bellucci has a great opportunity to win this one.

Day 4 Results: No Upsets, Player Carried Out on Stretcher

So Day 4 of the French Open was going pretty straightforwardly, with Federer going on court at 11 and seemingly off by noon. Djokovic, by all appearances, didn't break sweat today. The same went for the women. Caroline Wozniacki had her customary close second set, but other than that, the two finalists from last year, Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur both gave up a combined 4 games. Then Vera Zvonareva happened. As the third seed and the defending Wimbledon and U.S. Open Finalist, she has a lot of expectations going into this tournament. She was playing Sabine Lisicki, the 121st ranked German who, after many injuries, is attempting to make a career resurgence. Lisicki took the first set from Zvonareva 6-4, but the third seed was able to take the second in a grueling 7-5 set. Then it's when it started to get interesting. Lisicki was able to take a 5-2 lead in the third with Zvonareva serving. She even had a match point at 30-40, but Zvonareva was able to hold. It was all downhill from there for the German. She got broken at 30 and asked for the trainer. After the trainer looked at her, they called a doctor to attend to her as well. In a surreal sight, they took her blood pressure on the bench. After a while she continued to play. Zvonareva held easily, and watching it, is was painfully obvious that Lisicki was done. Her grunts weren't normal grunts, but almost pain shrieks. She got broken at 5-6 to end the match, and immediately afterwards the medical team came out and got a stretcher for her. The early word was that it was cramps, and hopefully it wasn't much more. The takeaway is that Zvonareva won, and so all of the top seeds advanced, but there was drama in the Bullring today on an otherwise routine day at the Stade Roland Garros.

Day 4 Preview: What to Look For

After the dramatic five setter today on court Phillipe Chatrier, we now move to the second round. Tomorrow looks to be a bit more calm, but there are a few matches worth watching. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are both in action, but they are playing relative unknowns who shouldn't pose much of a threat, so tomorrow is a perfect day to check out some other matches. Espn3.com and Tennischannel.com are two great sites that stream many courts (legally too!). After the break, some matches to watch.

Day 2 Preview: What to Look For

Day 2 of the 2011 French Open is upon us. And, unlike Day 1, the stars are out in full force. On Court Phillip Chatrier, defending champion on the women's side, Francesca Schaivone takes on American Melanie Oudin, Novak Djokovic plays Thiemo De Bakker, and then Roger Federer plays the man who almost beat him two weeks ago, Feliciano Lopez. Later in the day world's number one, Caroline Wozniacki plays Kimiko Date Krumm. That won't be the most exciting match, but there is a 21 year age difference between the two, so that might be worth watching for the novelty factor.

Main Event of the Day: Federer vs. Lopez
Upset Possibility: Ivo Karlovic over Juan Martin del Potro
Undercard Match Worth Watching: Oudin vs. Schiavone