Moscow: Friday Highlights
Highlights from the semifinal action at the Kremlin Cup.
SINGAPORE – The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global draw was completed on Friday night, with top seeds Angelique Kerber and defending champion Angieszka Radwanska headlining the Red and White round robin groups set to begin on Sunday.
Click here to check out the full Insider Draw Analysis.
Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and WTA Web Editor David Kane reunite after an impressive Asian Swing to break down the two groups, and who has what it takes to pull off a surprise run to the semifinals in the latest WTA Insider Podcast:
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SINGAPORE – No.3 seed Simona Halep kicked off her season-ending campaign with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No.6 seed Madison Keys on Day 1 of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Read how the match unfolded in the WTA Insider Live Blog.
– Simona Halep relishes this match-up.
Halep moves to 1-0 in the Red Group after a remarkably clean performance against Keys, a player she knows how to beat. The two played three times this year, all in the second half of the season, and Halep won all three matches, two of which came on hard courts. There’s just something about Halep’s game that continues to puzzle Keys, who has yet to find the sweet spot between minimizing errors by not going for too much and being the first-strike aggressor.
“I think one of her strengths is making you feel like you have to go for more and taking the risk,” Keys said. “I think just going in and knowing she’s going to get the balls back but continuing to play my game is the big thing. I think sometimes she makes me uncomfortable and I back away from playing my game and start going for things in a way that I shouldn’t.”
On paper, Keys should be able to take advantage of Halep’s serve with her forehand return and open up the court with her heavy cross-court shots. But Halep always seems one step ahead of Keys. The Romanian, who is now 6-5 against Top 10 players this year, has a fairly simple game plan against the American: Keep the ball on Keys’ backhand, minimize errors, and, most importantly, run. Even in straight sets, these are physical matches for Halep, but she seems to have unshakable faith in her gameplan and she’s now 5-1 against Keys.
– Positivity the key for Halep.
After taking the first set in 27 minutes — with a big help from Keys, who hit 18 unforced errors in the set — Halep had looks to break early in the second set and did not capitalize. You could see her frustration begin to set in. The clouds began to gather in her head, but she snapped out of it after a great coaching timeout with Darren Cahill at 2-1.
Coach @darren_cahill talks to @simona_halep, encouraging her to keep her level, before closing with a “Sorry, Sorry!” #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/fnjhI1GEvf
— WTA (@WTA) October 23, 2016
“First game of the second set I had two break points and I missed that forehand very easy,” Halep said. “Yeah, I was a little bit pissed. I called Darren at 2-1. He told me to calm down, so [that’s] everything that I did.
“Then I just stayed more focused. I felt that she’s coming back, she’s playing better and better, so I had to stay for every point there. With Madison it’s always important to play every point and win every point.”
Halep immediately broke in the next game and took control from there. Even after Keys broke back to level to 4-4, Halep again stayed positive and got the break with the shot of the match:
A sensational backhand pass from @Simona_Halep to now serve for the match! #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/Na7q8vXvfF
— WTA (@WTA) October 23, 2016
– Never underestimate the nerves of a first-timer.
If you successfully qualify for the WTA Finals, chances are you’ve gone through a few years on tour, so going to a new tournament in a new place is a rare experience. For a debutante like Keys, her experience in her first WTA Finals was markedly foreign. And it showed.
“It was obviously a very new feeling for me,” Keys said. “Then once I got on the court I definitely felt the nerves of the occasion.
“Definitely doesn’t feel like any other tournament. I think it’s been a while since I’ve gone to a tournament and it’s all felt new and it was new nerves and new occasion. So that was kind of difficult to deal with. I think at the beginning of the second set I felt like I settled in a little better.”
– Keys will likely need to beat Kerber for a chance to qualify for the semifinals.
Keys finished the match with 41 errors to just 16 winners. In a very telling stat, she hit just one ace in the match. Her return let her down in a big way, as she struggled to put any pressure on Halep’s serve, earning just two break points in the match. The Keys return against the Halep serve should go the way of the American, but her execution tonight was poor.
“I think today a big thing was this court stays really low,” Keys said. “The ball doesn’t bounce up very high. I think for me I was definitely getting caught either too far behind the ball or kind of running into it. I wasn’t timing it super well.”
The loss means her next two matches against Kerber and Cibulkova are virtually must-win matches. While she’s 3-0 against Cibulkova, she’s 1-5 against the World No.1.
– Halep could be the favorite to qualify out of the Red Group.
In a group that includes No.1 Angelique Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova, and Keys, Halep sent a strong message to the field with her steady play tonight. In addition to her performance tonight, Halep already had the best combined record against the Red Group. Going into this match, Halep held a 10-7 head-to-head advantage in the Red Group compared to Kerber (8-13), Cibulkova (7-9) and Keys (5-9).
“It’s not about the pressure,” Halep said, when asked about the effect of getting a win in your first match of group play. “I think it’s about the confidence. [Winning] gives you confidence. If you win you are more positive. When you go to the second one you say that you feel the game. You feel the court. You feel great here. So I can play my best tennis and…give everything without thinking of the score.”
Up to 1000 USANA Executives and Associates were on hand for April 16th’s USANA US Nationals Celebration at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada.
The event was hosted by former NFL player and USANA Associate Jeremy “J” Leman, and among Saturday’s special guests was Sloane Stephens, who had just won her third tournament of 2016 in Charleston, and former doubles No.1 Liezel Huber. Other athletes participating included Susan Francia, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in rowing; Alex Deibold, an Olympic bronze medalist in snowboarding; and Sarah Hendrickson, who is the first female to ever compete in an Olympic ski jumping event.
Stephens, who hit the most aces of her fellow USANA Ambassadors in Charleston, answered questions about her diet and supplement regiment on stage, and signed autographs alongside her fellow athletes, later tweeting about the day’s activities on social media.
Had a blast @ USANA US Nationals Conference. @TeamUSANA #TeamUSANA ? pic.twitter.com/kI79FBZG77
— Sloane Stephens (@SloaneStephens) April 17, 2016
Check out some of the best photos from the event:
All photos courtesy of USANA.
The order of play for the second day of action at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the round-robin stage of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Simona Halep speaks after her straight-sets loss to Angelique Kerber in the round-robin stage of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Angelique Kerber takes on Simona Halep in the round-robin stage of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
The question on everyone’s lips at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global was an obvious one – what does Svetlana Kuznetsova make of her new, self-administered haircut?
The retired WTA star made her first public appearance since the birth of her second child to launch the Nike Li Na Collection, modelled by current pro Zhang Shuai.