TENNIS in DEPTH.

Caroline Wozniacki was made to fight all the way before booking her place in the quarter-finals of her home city Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen. Wozniacki found herself a break down in both sets against Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who also spurned two set points in the first, before recovering to triumph 7-6 (7/4) 6-3.

Third seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands celebrated overtaking Venus Williams to become American number two by reaching the last eight with a topsy-turvy win over Johanna Larsson. After losing the first set in a one-sided tie-break, Mattek-Sands regrouped to storm through the second before having to hold her nerve to win 6-7 (1/7) 6-0 7-6 (7/5). Fourth seed Lucie Safarova beat Michaella Krajicek 6-7 (7/4) 6-4 6-2 while China’s Shuai Zhang also moved through with a 6-3 2-6 6-3 win over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan.

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Friday is shaping up to be an exciting day at the 2011 French Open with several key matches that could upset the outcome of the tournament. On the men’s side is the match between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin delPotro. On paper it looks like another win for Djokovic, but the big Argentine is playing far above the level his ranking would suggest. This could easily turn into a long 5 set match, and deplete Djokovic’s energy for week two.

Defending champion Schiavonne is facing hard hitting Shuai Peng, and based on current form this could be the end of the Italian’s reign. Marion Bartoli, the home town favorite, will face relative new comer Julia Goerges in a test of the potential for the German who many have picked as the surprise eventual winner.

Bethanie Matek-Sands will try to defeat Jelena Jankovic again. A win for the American could vault her up the rankings to be the #1 American.

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The 26-year-old will pass Venus Williams on the next rankings, and could even pass Serena Williams if she makes it to the semis.

Mattek-Sands, who rallied from 62 42 down to win her first round match, was pushed to three sets again but got past Varvara Lepchenko, 63 26 63. ”In the middle of the second set she played two of the best games she had all match. There was a little bit of a momentum shift,” Mattek-Sands said. “It was tough, but in the third set I came out and wanted to be aggressive. I noticed she was struggling when I hit hard and deep, so it was my goal to do that more.” Mattek-Sands donned trademark unique apparel during the match, something that has gotten her a lot of attention – along with her constantly improving results. But the attention goes both ways, and she spoke about that in press.

“Deep down I’m a person who wants everybody to like me. There are going to be people that don’t, no matter what I do. I tend not to look at comments online or in the media. Being yourself, being an individual, you kind of put yourself out there. I can be a little sensitive about it. I’m pretty confident in myself so I still do it anyway, but somewhere down there I’m wishing everybody liked it.”

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Bethanie Mattek-Sands rallyed from 60 31 down to beat No.15 seed Ana Ivanovic, 06 64 64. Mattek-Sands, ranked 22 spots lower than the No.18-ranked Ivanovic at No.40, lost the first set in just 23 minutes but never gave up hope against her. The first set wasn’t the worst set I’ve ever played, she just came out on fire and I was missing a couple of shots here and there,” Mattek-Sands said. “I just needed to get my footing beneath me on the clay and hang in there. It was great tennis – both of us were playing well, it just came down to who was better at the end of the day. Obviously I’m an aggressive player too and it paid off.”

Vania King, ranked No.109 now but a former Top 50 player, had the opposite trend in her match against No.23-ranked Nadia Petrova, blowing through her first set in 24 minutes and holding off a late charge from the two-time French Open semifinalist to win, 61 76(5). King missed one match point at 61 54. In what many expected would be an Ivanovic-Petrova second round match-up, Mattek-Sands and King will have an all-American duel for a place in the third round. Mattek-Sands leads King in their head-to-head series, 2-0.

In the only other upset of the day, Julia Goerges fired 12 aces to keep her clay court win streak going with a 67(3) 61 64 win over No.14 seed Kaia Kanepi. Goerges, who won her first Premier title in Stuttgart a week ago, led 4-2 before dropping the first set but regrouped to extend her streak to seven wins in a row. ”To beat a player like Kaia is a good win,” Goerges said. “It has been different since I won Stuttgart. When you come here after a win like that, a lot of people are congratulating you. But everyone is tough to beat here – all the best players are here. We’re also not indoors anymore and the ball jumps differently, so you have to get used to it. I’m happy I managed it well today and was able to win.”

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Bethanie Mattek-Sands celebrated her 26th birthday with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sofia Arvidsson to advance to the second round. Mattek-Sands will face top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday. Mattek-Sands lost the one time she played Wozniacki, in the 2009 Italian Open. ”It’s a good challenge for me and I like challenges,” Mattek-Sands said. “You just got to go into the match knowing you’re not going to get free points. For me, I’ll stick to my same game plan. I’m going to play aggressive.”

Dinara Safina beat Jelena Dokic 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open. Safina missed three months last year because of a back injury. ”Slowly, I am starting to get some matches behind me,” Safina said. “I’m still far from being at my best, but we are working day by day and with each win it helps me to get closer to where I want to be.”

In other first-round play, Kimiko Date Krumm, at 40 the oldest player in the women’s singles draw, beat Zuzana Ondraskova 6-4, 6-3.

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Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Vera Dushevina in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Mattek-Sands called for the trainer while leading 6-4 4-3 and after a lengthy delay, including a visit from the WTA doctor, went on to beat the Russian 6-4 6-4 and set up a second round clash with 10th seed Shahar Peer.

Elsewhere, Lucie Safarova, Alla Kudryavtseva, Anastasija Sevastova, Timea Bacsinszky, Sara Errani and qualifier Alize Cornet all advanced, while there were also wins for Kimiko Date-Krumm, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Alla Kudryavtseva, Sybille Bammer, Monica Niculescu, Coco Vandeweghe, Sania Mirza and Melanie Oudin.

American wild cards Vania King and Lauren Davis bowed out to Gisela Dulko and Zuzana Ondraskova respectively.

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Venue: Sportpaleis Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Surface: Indoor hard.

Belgium goes into this tie as favourites despite USA reaching back-to-back finals in the last two years and leading the Belgians 5-1 in their previous meetings. Three-time US Open winner Kim Clijsters heads up a strong Belgian side that also includes Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens, while An-Sophie Mestach comes in to replace the injured Justine Henin, who announced her retirement on Wednesday with a career-ending elbow problem. USA is without the injured Williams sisters, so Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin once again lead the attack for the visitors. Vania King and Liezel Huber provide the team with added doubles expertise.

Both Belgium and USA are former Fed Cup champions. The Belgians won the title for the only time in 2001, while the Americans have claimed a record 17 victories, although their last triumph was back in 2000.

Belgium, Kim Clijsters, Yanina Wickmayer, Kirsten Flipkens, An-Sophie Mestach (replacing Justine Henin), Sabine Appelmans (captain)

USA, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Melanie Oudin, Vania King, Liezel Huber, Mary Joe Fernandez (captain)

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The United States remains well and truly the most successful Hyundai Hopman Cup nation with the team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John Isner claiming their sixth victory inside Perth’s Burswood Dome in front of a crowd of 8564 people. The USA team came into Hyundai Hopman Cup XXIII unseeded but played outstanding tennis all week dominating Group B beating France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Nicolas Mahut 3-0, Italy’s Francesca Schiavone and Potito Starace 2-1 and Great Britain’s Laura Robson and Andy Murray 3-0. Mattek-Sands and Isner took on the Belgium team of Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans in the Final after they replaced the Serbian team of Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic when Ivanovic suffered a slight stomach tear.

”It’s been an amazing week. It’s my first time in Perth and I’ve really enjoyed myself. It’s funny, I saw this (diamond tennis ball trophy) actually when I first got here and I thought it was the best trophy in sports,” Mattek-Sands said. ”This is one of the best run events of the WTA Tour of the year. It’s fantastic. There was a really strong field this year, there was great players; Ana, Justine, Djokovic, Hewitt. I hope everyone enjoyed watching some great tennis this week.” Isner made his debut at last year’s Hopman Cup and was delighted to return, and to partner Mattek-Sands to form a winning team. He was also happy to bounce back from a tough loss to Murray. ”I’ve got to thank Bethanie; her back’s got to be hurting from carrying me all week. She was rock solid all week long,” Isner said.

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