By: Matt DeCorso

Hello hello! I hope you've all been following the happenings in Berlin as they have been pretty eventful. Yesterday Venus won, as did Kim Clijsters. After a 7 week lay-off Kim played a horrible match coupled with a pesky opponent in Marta Marrero. Kim won 6-4 in the third and Clijsters' fans were ecstatic. Mauresmo and Myskina also won handily. The only seed to fall yesterday was 9th seeded Vera Zvonareva. As a semifinalist in Warsaw, Vera was expected to thrive in Berlin but Zuluaga put an end to that fairytale. I also have to mention a stunning upset that occured in Rome at the mens event. Roger Federer, the world's number 1, was defeated by '02 Roland Garros champ Al Costa in three sets, after holding a lead. Enjoy the preview!

Venus Williams versus Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi

Mark down a 12th consecutive victory, all on clay, for Venus as she triumphed over tough serve and volleyer Eleni Daniilidou. Venus beat her Greek foe 7-5 6-3. Eleni definitley challenged Venus but in the end the American had more firepower. This was one of Venus' toughest matches in her 4 week undefeated stint. Along with the Reeves and Martinez matches in Charleston and the Zuluaga match in Warsaw, Eleni put up a good fight. The stats showed that Venus had a struggle gettin' that first serve in but when she did, it was on fire! In this match against the Israeli, look for Venus to definitley go for a lot of winner as her opponent is a retrieving wall!

Weakness: Anna's constant retrieval may frustrate Venus and eventually make her shots float deeper and deeper until they're out.

Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi is definitley one of the most fittest players on Tour. She is relentless in her pursuits...most of the time. After getting every ball back for a set and half she sometimes gets very exhausted yet still runs for balls. After a hard faught win over Dechy, I don't know if she'll be fit enough to play against the rebel force of Venus Williams. In this match look for Anna to utilise several shot spins like nasty low slices or high rolling topspin. As a former Berlin semifinalist, Anna definitley knows each crevice of the court.

Weakness: Anna has a limited amount of power and just hitting sitting ducks to Venus all day will get her in trouble.

Who has the Edge?

Serve- Venus

Groundies- Venus

Movement- Anna

Intangibles- Anna

Volley- Venus

The stats show a tough match but I really don't think it will be. For Anna, make sure you don't try and have a hitting dual with Venus. Use your varying spins to annoy her. For Venus, don't get frustrated with her wall like features.

Matt's Pick: Venus will roll over the Israeli 6-2 6-3.

Thanks