Champions of the Weekend in Sports! Why did Serena and Federer Lose?!

Ladies Wimbledon Final

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Simona Halep happily embraces her 1st Wimbledon Trophy last Saturday.

Simona Halep absolutely dominated Serena Williams in the Ladies Wimbledon Final last Saturday, winning her 1st Wimbledon title in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. This is Halep’s 2nd Grand Slam title after winning the French Open last year.

Why did Serena lose?

Serena Williams is usually the favourite in a Grand Slam final, no matter who she meets. This is so because she is the Greatest Player of all time (G.O.A.T) in the open era. Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Grand Slam tournament wins in the Open Era, and is second on the all-time list behind Margaret Court who has 24.

As Serena struggles to find her groove after having a baby and tries to play injury free at 37 years old, 24 Grand Slam titles is looking harder and harder to achieve.

On Saturday, Serena should have been the underdog. Simona Halep, also a former World no. 1, has been looking solid mentally and physically, playing the best tennis of her life. For years, Simona has had the physical ability to win, but seemed to have trouble following through mentally in Grand Slam Tournaments. After finally winning her 1st Grand Slam title last year at the French Open, it became more and more obvious that her focus and confidence were improving. For this Wimbledon tournament and final, she was mentally ready and physically fit to win.

Suga can’t say the same about Serena. It is the best Serena has looked since having her baby, but she is still not at the level of fitness she used to be and it is the 1st major tournament she hasn’t pulled out of this year due to an injury. She was just starting to get back into her groove, but was not ready to win versus an opponent of Simona Halep’s standard. She also got the easy half of the draw.

24 is still possible, but Serena wasn’t ready and I know she won’t be giving up any time soon.

Kudos and Congrats to Simona Halep for executing a brilliant win!

Wimbledon Men’s Final

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World no. 1, Novak Djokovic gives his 5th Wimbledon Trophy some love after defeating Roger Federer yesterday.

World no. 1 Novak Djokovic won his 5th Wimbledon title in an epic 5-setter versus the Greatest of All Time, 37-year old, Roger Federer yesterday, 7-6,1-6,7-6,4-6,13-12. It was the 1st Men’s Wimbledon Final to go to a 5th set tiebreaker!

Why did Federer lose?

Federer did everything right and everything he could do at age 37. His movement showed no indication of his age and his serve was on point, but he just seemed to have lost this very important cat and mouse game, which happened to be the Wimbledon final. He would have been the oldest gentleman to win if he did.

Before the final, he was tied with Djokovic for tie-breaks, but Djokovic changed that by winning the 2 tie-breaks in Sets 1 and 3. So with the 1st Wimbledon Men’s final to ever reach a 5th set tie-break, Djokovic had the advantage to win. Also, with such a high percentage of net court points won, the miss Roger had by the net during the 5th set tie-break was pretty costly. Who knows what the outcome would have been if he made that shot?

Anyhow, this final ranks as one of the best finals I have ever seen. High quality tennis from the Greatest and 3rd Greatest Players of all time, with Federer on 20 Grand slams and Djokovic now on 16. It was a treat!

Congrats on your 16th Grand slam title Novak!

ICC Cricket World Cup Final

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Host team, England celebrate their epic win vs  New Zealand yesterday in the ICC Cricket World Cup Final.

England won its first ICC Cricket World Cup defeating New Zealand at Lord’s in London yesterday in one of the most dramatic matches ever as it all came down to a Super Over!

England tied New Zealand’s score of 241 in 50 overs, resulting in a Super Over to determine the winner. A Super Over is when both teams play a single over (6 balls) and the team that scores the most  runs is declared the winner.

Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler batted first for England, while Jimmy Neesham and Martin Guptill batted for New Zealand. The result? Both scored 15 runs! So then what?!

England scored the most boundaries in the match, giving them the win!

Well played New Zealand and Congrats to England!

Happy Monday Suga Bears and be Champions this week!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

If you liked this Blog, follow Suga Lifestyle Online, on Instagram (@sugalifestyle), Twitter (@sugalifestyleja) or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.

The Weekend in Sports!

LIVERPOOL wins 6th Champions League Title

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Photo: Bleacher Report

Mohamed Salah scored a penalty for Liverpool in the 2nd minute of the Champions League Final last Saturday. The penalty was a result of a handball off Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa Sissoko. After a quick goal, quite a boring game followed, where Tottenham had over 60% possession for the majority of the game, but failed to score. After a few close attempts from Tottenham towards the end of the game, Liverpool’s Divock Origi sealed the title win at 87 minutes with a goal in the corner of the net.

Liverpool won 2-0. This was a great win for Liverpool after losing the English Premier League by 1 point to Manchester City. Congrats to Liverpool!

French Open, Roland Garros

Ladies

Venus Williams was sent home in the 1st round again.

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Naomi Isaka (Photo: BBC Sport)

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World #1 Naomi Osaka and GOAT Serena Williams were knocked out in the 3rd round of the French Open on Saturday.

Past French Open Champ, Garbiñe Muguruza was knocked out yesterday by Sloane Stephens in straight sets.

Defending Champ, Simona Halep is still in it to win it!

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Simona Halep (Photo: BBC Sport)

Men

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Favourites, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are all still in it to win it!

Stan Wawrinka won an epic 5-setter versus young Stefanos Tsitsipas who beat Federer in the Australian Open this year. Wawrinka faces Federer next!

WARRIORS level the series with the RAPTORS to 1-1 in the NBA FINALS

The wounded Warriors persevered to win 109-104 versus the Raptors last night.

They lost Kevon Looney in the 2nd quarter to a collarbone injury.

Steph Curry wasn’t feeling 100% and briefly went to the locker room and returned with more energy.

Klay Thompson left early in the fourth with a hamstring injury.

Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points, but his supporting cast of Siakam and Gasol were shut down defensively by the Warriors. Lowry was fouled out late in the 4th.

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The Splash Brothers scored the most points, Klay with 25 and Curry with 23, but their supporting cast stepped up big time to help them get the road win.

Draymond scored 17 points.

DeMarcus Cousins a.k.a Boogie who just returned in Game 1 after being out for a while with a quad injury, gave them 11 points and a lot of minutes with great passes. Cook hit some clutch 3-pointers, Bogut stepped in well for Looney and Iguodala sealed the win with a 3-pointer after a great assist from Livingston that was almost intercepted by Kawhi.

Stay tuned for more updates on the NBA FINALS

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Novak is back!

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Photo: firstpost.com

The favourite won the US Open for the Men!

Novak Djokovic won the US Open Men’s Final yesterday, beating Juan del Potro in fine style and straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to equal American great, Pete Sampras’ haul of 14 major titles.

Djokovic was in top form and so was del Potro. But even though del Potro played well, he was not on the same level as Djokovic.

Djoko’s rivals, Roger Federer with 20 and Rafael Nadal with 17, are the only ones still ahead and dominating Men’s tennis along with him. Djokovic won Wimbledon this year as well, making it his first back-to-back Grand Slam titles since June 2016. While Nadal won the French and Federer won the Australian Open this year.

Djokovic, will now climb to 4th in the world after his great comeback from an elbow injury and back-to-back Grand Slam victories.

Congrats Novak!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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US Open Update and Play of the Tournament so far!

Women

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Venus Williams (L) and her sister, Serena Williams (R) embrace after their 3rd round match last Friday night at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Serena Williams played her best tennis since her return from having a baby, routing her sister, Venus Williams 6-1, 6-2. Probably because she knows her best?

Serena moved on to send home Kaia Kanepi who eliminated the world no. 1, Simona Halep in the 1st round. Everyone thought the match would be over quickly after Serena destroyed her 6-0 in the first set in 18 minutes, but she recovered and came back to take the 2nd set 6-4. Serena took on the challenge to win the 3rd set and match, 6-3.

Serena plays Karolina Pliskova next, tomorrow at 9am ET.

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Photo: www.bbc.com

Dominika Cibulkova upset Angelique Kerber, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Maria Sharapova eliminated young, Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.

Madison Keys is through to the Round of 16.

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Madison Keys (Photo: BBC Sport)

Sloane Stephens, the last of the top seeds left in the tournament and Defending Champ, defeated Elise Mertens last night in straight sets and looks like she is in winning shape.

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Young Naomi Osaka, is also still in it to win it.

Men

Things are coming down to a crunch with the Men as well. Will there be a Djokovic-Federer Semifinal?

Novak Djokovic eliminated Richard Gasquet easily in straight sets.

Dominic Thiem who eliminated Stan Wawrinka early, also eliminated marathon-setter, Kyle Anderson in straight sets, which is never easy to do.

American, John Isner eliminated the Canadian, Milos Raonic in an epic 5-setter.

Juan del Potro sailed through his match to reach the Quarterfinals. He plays John Isner tomorrow!

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Roger Federer (Photo: Bleacher Report)

Roger Federer schooled the young Aussie, Nick Kyrgios in straight sets to advance to the round of 16.

Watch “US Open Hot Shot: Roger Federer Goes AROUND The Net” on YouTube here and the shot is legal! 

Young, Kei Nishikori is still in it to win it, as well as 2014 US Open Champ, Marin Cilic.

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Rafael Nadal (Photo: Bleacher Report)

World no. 1, Rafael Nadal was forced to rise to the occasion to eliminate hard-hitter, Nikoloz Basilashvili in 4 sets. That was quite a quality match! He plays Dominic Thiem tomorrow!

Stay tuned!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

If you liked this Blog, follow Suga Lifestyle Online, on Instagram (@sugalifestyle), Twitter (@sugalifestyleja) or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.

Serena vs. Venus in the 3rd round in the US Open Today!

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Photo: bbc.co.uk

Serena Williams is out in her tutu for the US Open after her cat suit was banned. I mean, it’s not like the fashionable G.O.A.T would wear it again anyway.

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Twirllll

Serena meets her sister, Venus today for the 3rd round at the Arthur Ashe Stadium at about 6pm ET on ESPN.

How has Serena been hitting? Check this video out from ESPN on her 2nd round win by clicking on the link here:

https://es.pn/2olVYVe

Upsets on the Ladies side so far

The no. 1 seed, Simona Halep crashed out of the US Open quite early in the 1st round! So did the no. 2, Caroline Wozniacki last night in her 2nd round match.

French and Wimbledon Champ, Garbiñe Muguruza also tapped out.

Who’s left for the Ladies besides the Williams Sisters who have dominated the sport for years?

The field is still wide open. But Defending Champ, Sloane Stephens is still in it to win it.

Maria Sharapova is still struggling with her comeback.

Then there is young Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys, Karolína Plíšková, Jelena Ostapenko, Petra Kvitová and more!

What’s happening with Men?!

No upsets on the Men’s side just yet! Big name favourites Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are looking good and still in it to win it!

Stay tuned!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Who’s still in it to Win it on Manic Monday at Wimbledon?

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Photo: BBC Sport

It’s Manic Monday at Wimbledon as everyone in the Round of 16 battle it out on the courts on the same day! Every Wimbledon ticket holder wins today.

The King and Queen of the grass are surely still in it. Serena Williams is showing some fight to reach to her historic 24th Grand Slam title in her first few months after returning from her new life of motherhood.

Roger Federer who has 15 Wimbledon singles like Serena is looking good. But, fellow Champ, Rafael Nadal is playing some of the best tennis of his life and previous World no. 1, Novak Djokovic is showing determined signs of a comeback following his elbow injury.

Young Kei Nishikori, John Isner and Milos Raonic are still in it though and so is Kyle Anderson and the experienced, Juan del Potro.

The ladies could have some newcomers or young Champs vying for the title.

Karolína Plíšková, the last of the ladies ranked in the top 10 is currently battling it out with Kiki Bertens who is up a set on her and leading in the second. Kiki Bertens had previously eliminated veteran, Venus Williams in an epic 3-setter.

Angelique Kerber will be challenged by the promising Swiss talent, Belinda Bencic this morning.

Young, 2017 French Open Champ, Jelena Ostapenko and Daria Kasatkina are still in it to win it.

Today it’s all about tennis! Stay tuned!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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G.O.A.T, Roger Federer Wins the Australian Open for the Men and his 20th Major Title!

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Roger Federer’s Australian Open 2018 winning moment after he had to wait on Cilic’s challenge, and Federer’s ball was in!

Roger Federer has defended and won his 6th Australian Open Title and 20th Grand Slam Title! The G.O.A.T beat Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

1st set

The 1st set was all about Roger Federer, who took the 1st set 6-2.

2nd set

Cilic fought back to win the 2nd set by tiebreak, 7-6.

3rd set

In the 3rd set Cilic was distracted and angered by the fact that it took over an hour and a half for him to get back racquets that he sent to be restrung. He got them back in the middle of the 3rd set, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Federer’s serve was on point and Federer cruised to win the 3rd set 6-3.

4th set

Federer went up quickly to 2-0 in the 4th set and looked like he was on cruise control to win the title, then Sparta came out. Sparta meaning the ‘warface’ of Marin Cilic. He has one of the meanest ‘warfaces’ in Men’s Tennis.

Federer’s serve fell apart to as low as 36% for his 1st serve percentage. Federer also started to lose rallies to Cilic’s strong forehand and showed his age with slow movement.

5th set

Federer had a shaky start to the 1st set to fight off break point, but held serve. The crowd really started to get into it and showed clear support for veteran, Roger Federer.

Cilic was moving better and Roger then knew he had to fight if he was going to win this title.

Federer then broke Cilic shortly after a bad call by the Umpire on Cilic’s serve to make it a double-fault, giving Federer the advantage that he converted. He went on to hold serve to go up 3-0 and Cilic served to get on the board to make it 1-3. Federer got back his 1st serve rhythm in the nick of time to go up 4-1 with an easy game and fought hard to break Cilic to get to 5-1. Federer then broke Cilic and it was all over.

Great Final! Well played Cilic and Congrats to Roger Federer! He has now joined the Ladies in the 20+ Major Grand Slam Titles Club. They finally got a Gentleman in there.

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Roger Federer Advances to the Men’s Australian Open Final!

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Roger Federer (Photo: The Indian Express)

TENNIS – AUSTRALIAN OPEN:

Roger Federer has reached his 30th Major Final. He defeated young, Hyeon Chung 6-1,5-2 (retired).

Fed Express is yet to drop a set in this tournament.

He will meet Marin Cilic in the Final Saturday night at 3:30am!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Who is Still In It to Win It at the Australian Open?!

The Australian Open Grand Slam Tennis Tournament 2018

WOMEN

The ladies have been battling it out in some neck to neck matches. The focus has been on World #1, Simona Halep, former World #1, Angelique Kerber (21) and current World #2, Caroline Wozniacki.

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Simona Halep from Romania a.k.a Jalapeño Pepper (Photo: GotCeleb)

Simona Halep has been struggling with a chronic ankle injury, but showed she was not backing out easily in the Quarterfinals after being down 3-0 in the 1st set to Karolína Plísková (6) and fighting back to win 6-3, 6-2.

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Angelique Kerber (Photo: The Sun)

She then faced Angelique Kerber (21) in the Semifinals last night. Kerber has had a good run this Australian Open so far despite her inconsistencies in winning majors. She defeated huge contenders such as Maria Sharapova and Madison Keys (17).

On the other side of the draw, young Belgian, Elise Mertens had an impressive straight set win (6-4, 6-0) over Elina Svitolina (4). She has been a part of former Belgian Tennis Player and World #1, Kim Clijsters’ Tennis Camp. Kim has been texting her with encouragement for every match.

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Elise Mertens (Photo: indianexpress.com)

Elise played one of the favourites, Caroline Wozniacki (2) last night in the Semifinals.

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Caroline Wozniacki (Photo: www.usatoday.com)

So who’s meeting in the Women’s Final?!

It will be Caroline Wozniacki (2) versus Simona Halep (1)! Whoever wins will win their 1st Grand Slam title and will be World #1.

Wozniacki’s Semifinal vs Mertens

Wozniacki tightened up towards the end of the match versus Mertens, up 6-3, 5-4 (30-0), then was brought to a tiebreak. She managed to dominate and win the tiebreak, thus the match, 6-3, 7-6 and is heading to her 3rd Grand Slam Final. Will the 3rd time be a charm?

Halep’s Semifinal vs Kerber

The Halep-Kerber Semifinal was epic!

Halep was quite solid versus Kerber until she was up 5-0 to serve out the first set and probably couldn’t believe she got there so fast. It looked like she started to think about it and handed Kerber 2 free points from double faults. Kerber picked up her game after that until Halep broke her to win the first set 6-3.

The 2nd set was a ding-dong battle even though Kerber was still plagued with unforced errors. With Halep looking slightly fresher and up 8-7, both had lost 2 match points until Halep lost a 3rd match point on Kerber’s serve and she kept pressing until she took full advantage of the 4th match point in the same game and won.

Date and Time of the Women’s Final

Saturday (Friday night) at 3:30am

Suga’s Prediction

Simona Halep has the reputation of choking in major matches, always coming close and losing it mentally and physically. However, she has stated there is a new Simona now and I believe her after the courage she showed versus the stubborn, Angelique Kerber.

I do not think Halep is giving up on this opportunity. I also doubt it will be a close or epic final. Suga calls Halep for the win.

MEN

Marin Čilić (6) reached to the Semifinals after World #1, Rafael Nadal retired in the 5th set agonized by a hip injury.

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Marin Čilić (Photo: The Sun)

I like to refer to Čilić as Sparta. Whether he reached to the Semifinals by default or not, he is quite a fighter.

He played Kyle Edmund in the Semis.

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Kyle Edmund (Photo: www.express.co.uk)

On the other side of the draw lies the young, South Korean, Hyeon Chung. He is the first Korean to reach the Quarterfinals and the Semifinals.

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Hyeon Chung (Photo: hindustantimes.com)

Chung sent former World #1, Novak Djokovic packing in the 4th round in straight sets. Djokovic expressed frustration with his chronic elbow injury.

Chung then went on to defeat Tennys Sandgren in the Quarterfinals who previously took out Dominic Thiem (5) in 5 sets.

Who does he meet next?

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Roger Federer (Photo: The Indian Express)

He will meet the G.O.A.T and current World #2, Roger Federer tonight at 3:30am. Roger previously defeated Tomáš Berdych (19) in straight sets.

Were there any Upsets and Who’s Already in the Men’s Final?!

Marin Čilić has booked his spot in the Final and will wait on the winner of the Chung-Federer Semifinal! No surprises there. Čilić beat beat Edmund 6-2, 7-6, 6-2.

Stay tuned!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Upsets at the US Open! Roger is out and it’s All American Semifinals for the Ladies!

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Photo: sports.ndtv.com

Roger Federer crashed out of the US Open last night. Juan del Potro came out with all guns blazing to spoil the anticipated Nadal-Federer Semifinal party.

What happened to Roger?!

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Photo: ftw.usatoday.com

Well I can agree with what he said in his post-match interview. He had too many misses. Del Potro was not making many errors apart from a few double faults. Del Potro was just the better player last night. His forehands were powerful and aggressive and Federer had no answers for them. He was in the wrong position too many times. Del Potro’s serve was also on point. Federer failed to seize opportunities when the times were right compared to del Potro who did the exact opposite. It mattered most when Federer had FOUR set points to win the 3rd set and he lost them all. That gave del Potro the confidence to win the 4th and the match. The closeness of the match even when Roger played horribly, showed how great he is in this game. Del Potro beat Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4.

Del Potro will face World no. 1 Rafael Nadal in the Semis. Nadal knows that if he doesn’t play his best his chances are low versus del Potro who is currently at the top of his game.

Who’s in the other Men’s Semifinal?

Kyle Anderson (28) spoiled the USA party and upset Sam Querrey (17) in 4 sets. Spectacular match. He will face Pablo Carreño Busta (12) tomorrow.

Who’s left in it for the Ladies?!

For the 1st time in 36 years there will be All American Semifinals for the Ladies!

The Semifinal action will be on today. I think they’re all going for it and it’s anyone’s game. Everyone will have to play their best tennis to have a chance to win.

Here’s the Schedule:

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Photo: express.co.uk

Venus Williams will play Sloane Stephens. Of course I give Venus the edge but Venus will need to improve her serve based on how she has been playing this tournament and will have to keep moving well.

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Coco on a roll. Photo: marketwatch.com

Then you have Coco versus Keys. That should be a cracker. Both ladies have been playing extremely well. Even though Keys has a higher ranking, I give the edge to Coco if she keeps her emotions in check.

Note that Coco also took out World no. 1 Karolina Pliskova in straight sets in the QF, 7-6, 6-3.

Stay tuned!

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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