Nick's Picks: Sony Ericsson Open Women's Quarterfinals

(5) Venus Williams (USA) vs. (26) Iveta Benesova (CZE)

Venus is still not serving her best, but she managed to still beat Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. She only got in 53% of her first serves, and this comes the match after she only got 45% of her first serves in play. As the tournament progresses she is going to need to get that up over 60% to have a chance at the title.

Benesova took down Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open for the first time in her career. She comes into the tournament ranked No. 31 in the world and will most likely find herself moving up the rankings if she continues to play like this throughout the rest of 2009. 

Match-Up:

Venus is 2-0 against Benesova, with their most recent match coming in the Olympics last year. Benesova is a lefty with a solid two-handed backhand and a good first serve. She moves extremely well and hits the ball quite flat. Her second serve is attackable, but she doesn’t make too many mistakes out there! Like I said before, Venus needs to get her first serve percentage higher and she also needs to stay away from the unforced errors on the forehand side. If she plays like she did in the last two sets against Radwanska she will win this match. If she lets Benesova gain confidence then she could find herself playing from behind again. The match is on Venus’ racket and she knows it.

Nick’s Pick — Venus Williams in 2 sets  

(11) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs. Samantha Stosur (AUS)

Azarenka beat Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-4 to claim a spot in the quarterfinals. The athletic Belarusian is ranked a career high of No. 10 in the world and deservedly so. She has already won two titles this year and she went to the semis last week in Indian Wells. She is playing some of the best tennis on the WTA Tour.

What can I say about Stosur? She follows up a great win over Dinara Safina with another good win over Amelie Mauresmo on Monday. She only faced one break point on her serve the entire match while breaking Mauresmo three times. This is her best singles performance so far in 2009 and I’m sure she doesn’t want it to end here!

Match-Up:

Azarenka is 2-0 against Stosur, with one of those wins coming last year in Los Angeles. Stosur is a fantastic doubles player and is very athletic. She has a solid serve and is full of confidence. She has absolutely nothing to lose in this match and she has already shown she can beat the top players. Azarenka has to be careful here because Stosur will not be afraid of her whatsoever. The winner of this match is going to be determined by who makes the least unforced errors and I believe that is going to be Azarenka.

Nick’s Pick — Azarenka in 3 sets