Tennis News

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – It was a photo finish in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, but Dominika Cibulkova had an extra gear against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, dispatching her rival, 6-4, 7-5.

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The Slovak unleashed her signature aggressive style for most of the match, hitting 36 winners to 26 errors throughout the nearly two-hour match, but Wozniacki wasn’t far behind with 19 winners to 21 errors, working her way back into the second set from 3-5 down and saving three match points before Cibulkova was able to close it out on serve.

“I think it was a really great match,” the 2014 Australian Open finalist told former WTA star turned on-court interviewer Ksenia Pervak. “It’s always tough to play Caroline. Today, I played really well; I was really aggressive even though I made some mistakes, I was really confident. I knew it was the only way I could beat her.

“In the end, I started having a problem with my arm, but it turned out really well, so I’m proud of how I stayed really tough mentally.”

The two have played since their junior days, with Wozniacki coming into the match with a 9-3 head-to-head advantage in WTA matches, but three out of their last four matches had gone the distance, including Cibulkova’s win over then-No.1 Wozniacki in the fourth round of Wimbledon back in 2011.

“The tactic was always the same against Caroline: be as aggressive as I can and go for my shots. She gets back so many balls and is waiting for your mistake; if you play shorter, she’s going for it. I had to be aggressive every single point, no matter the score.

“That’s what I did and that’s why I won.”

Up next for the former World No.10 is rising Russian Daria Kasatkina; the teenager reached another WTA quarterfinal when she eliminated lucky loser Laura Siegemund, 6-3, 6-4.

“I never saw her play, so it’s going to be another tough round. I’m just going to be focused and ready, and I’m just going to hope for another match like this.”

Earlier in the day, Timea Babos upset No.9 seed Monica Niculescu, recovering from a set down to win, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, while qualifier Kateryna Kozlova continued her dream run into the quarterfinals with another three-set win over wildcard Elena Vesnina, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The final match of the day was centered around home favorite and No.5 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, survived a tough second set to beat German youngster Carina Witthoeft, 6-1, 7-5.

SYDNEY, Australia – British No.1 Johanna Konta put on a masterclass in the final of the Apia International Sydney to defeat Agnieszka Radwanska and capture her second career WTA title in straight sets.

Despite hitting a meager nine unforced errors, Radwanska had no answer against Konta’s aggressively controlled power tennis, falling 6-4, 6-2 after just over an hour and twenty minutes.

“She was just playing unbelievable tennis from the beginning till the end,” Radwanska said to press after the match. “And normally you’re thinking that she can’t play like this whole match and it’s gonna be even game or two that, you know, you can go forward because she’s gonna have some worse couple of games. But she didn’t.

“She was just playing [the] whole match so aggressive with pretty much everything in, and I couldn’t do much.”

Spurred on by a partisan crowd – “it’s a bit like playing Fed Cup,” Konta commented to her coach Wim Fissette at one on-court coaching break – the Sydney-born Brit stayed calm against the World No.3, who she had never defeated in their previous encounters.

.@JoKonta91 is on ?! #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/8Y2okuemYP

— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017

Keeping Radwanska under pressure with her relentless space and rhythm, Konta grabbed the lone break in the opening set but she had her opponent on the ropes throughout. Radwanska saved another break point that would have given the Brit a double-break lead, but couldn’t take back the deficit as Konta charged ahead.

Konta kept it rolling in the second set, quickly building up a double break to lead 4-0. Though Radwanska managed to grab a couple of games back, Konta imposed herself on every point and never allowed her opponent any time to get back into the match.

The Brit sealed the victory with an ace – her seventh of the match – to take home her second career WTA title.

.@JoKonta91 captures @SydneyTennis title!

Knocks out Radwanska 6-4, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/jVaZfiWMki

— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017

“I’m just overall happy with how I was able to progress throughout this tournament,” Konta told press after the win. “I felt each match that I was playing I was thinking a little more clearly and getting that much more match-tight, as the saying is.

“But overall, very happy with the match I played today. I really felt I definitely maintained a high level throughout and I made it very difficult for her to do much today. Going into any match against Aga – I played her twice before – I knew it had to be nothing short of what it was today if I was to have a chance of coming through.”

Guaranteed to move up to World No.9, Konta’s victory will give her plenty of confidence for the upcoming Australian Open, having not dropped a set all tournament long. She’s set to open against Kirsten Flipkens next week in Melbourne.

“Obviously how I have done here, I take it as a really positive thing, as a nice reward along the way for the hard work that myself and my team have put in every day,” Konta said.

“But it’s not a reflection of how next week will go, how the rest of the year will go. It’s back to everyday hard work, because that’s what dictates how I do.”