By: Matt DeCorso

Hello! Well I guess we won't be seeing a repeat of last years final because Mauresmo was stunned 3-6 7-6 6-1 by Italy's Schiavone! Beating a Top 3 player deserves some recognition so congrats Francesca! Kuznetsova prevented an all Italian semi by taking care of Farina Elia. Zvonareva set up a clash with our girl Venus by escaping Pistolesi. In the blow out of the day, Venus mauled Maleeva 6-1 6-0!!!! Also in Budapest a 15 year old named Agnes Szavay reached the finals in the doubles event so good luck to her. Enjoy the preview!

Vera Zvonareva versus Venus Williams

First of all I think Venus deserves some applause for her incredibly easy win over pesky Maggie Maleeva. Losing 1 game in a whole match means you probably hit a good % of first serves in, hit lots of winners and kept the errors down so thats good for Venus. I honestly expected some sort of fight from the Bulgarian but I guess Venus wore her out. In this match against Vera look for Venus to definitley try and get the point over quickly because Vera can run for miles as she proved in her upset win over Venus last year in Paris. She should also try and use the net to intimidate Vera.

Weakness: The second serve and unforced errors could hinder Venus against a troublesome opponent.

Vera Zvonareva has had a great week in Poland and after beating a tough player yesterday, wants to keep going. In order for Vera to have any chance at evening the series with Venus at 2 a piece, she must attack any short ball and use it to her advantage. She's also in the doubles semifinal here so she should us her doubles finesse to overthrow a confident Venus Williams. Vera also has to remember that her loss to Venus in Charleston was on green clay and she beat Venus on red clay last year so she could use that mentality.

Weakness: Vera's loss to Venus in South Carolina two weeks ago is probably still in Vera's mind so she might focus too much on that.

Who has the Edge?

Serve- Venus
Groundies- Venus
Movement- Venus
Intangibles- Vera
Volley- the doubles semifinalist Vera Zvonareva!

The stats show that they will have a long match but don't get too comfy because Venus could just as easily surprise the fans with another whitewash win. For Venus, your serve is your weapon so use it wisely. For Vera, definitley use the famous drop shot to keep Williams running.

Matt's Pick: Venus will beat Vera 6-4 6-2.

Thanks