Weekend Watchlist: May 14

Serena surges; Murray cruises; Bouchard talks slump. (AP Photo)

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World No. 1 Serena Williams played one of her best matches since the Australian Open on Friday when she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-0 in under an hour. Williams scored sweet revenge over the Russian, who upset her in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open earlier this year. Irina-Camelia Begu earned a spot against Williams by taking out Misaki Doi, 6-2, 7-6 (3). The other women’s semifinal is between Madison Keys (who beat Barbora Strycova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3) and Garbine Muguruza (who took out Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-2).

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While the world was (understandably) more captivated on Friday by the quarterfinal between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray conquered his Davis Cup final foe David Goffin, 6-1, 7-5. The Scott then faced lucky loser Lucas Pouille—who was playing in his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 semifinal—and crushed him, 6-2, 6-1. Djokovic beat Nadal for the seventh straight time in a dramatic two-setter, 7-5, 7-6 (4), and takes on Kei Nishikori (who topped Dominic Thiem, 6-3, 7-5) in the second semifinal.

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After falling 6-1, 6-0 to Barbora Strycova in the round of 16 in Rome, Eugenie Bouchard said she’s learned a lot during her slump over the last year. Ranked No. 5 two years ago, the Canadian has slipped to No. 46, but got her first Top 10-win this week since 2014 over Angelique Kerber. “Ups and downs happen to everyone in life, no matter who you are or what you do in life,” Bouchard said. “…For me and my career, which is tennis, I have learned a lot. I have learned more on those down moments than I have when things have been going well. So I'm grateful for those lessons that I learned.”