St. Petersburg: Pavlyuchenkova vs. Koukalova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Klara Koukalova in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Klara Koukalova in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Belinda Bencic was on course for a career-best season when she became the youngest Top 10 debutante since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009, but lower back and left wrist injuries have kept her sidelined through most of the spring and summer.
“You only realize how much you miss tennis when you can’t play tennis,” she told WTA Insider on Wednesday.
Making her long-awaited return at the Western & Southern Open, Bencic is keeping things in perspective despite an opening round loss to Timea Babos. Take a listen as the Swiss Miss shares her stories from her time off the tour, what she’s been binge-watching on Netflix, and what she thinks of the Pokémon GO craze in the latest Daily Dispatch episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:
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Daria Kasatkina takes on Irina-Camelia Begu in the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Angelique Kerber kept her bid to claim the No.1 ranking on track with a hard-fought win over Barbora Strycova in the third round of the Western & Southern Open on Thursday.
Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Victory this week at the Lindner Family Tennis Center will see Kerber usurp Serena Williams and rise to the top of the rankings for the first time in her career, and she moved one step closer to that goal by edging past Strycova, 7-6(5), 6-4.
“It’s always tough to play against Barbora – we’ve had a lot of tough matches in the past – but I just tried to stay aggressive at the important moments and I’m really happy with how I played at the end,” Kerber said.
By her own admission, Kerber has been something of a late bloomer – she did not win her first silverware or break into the Top 10 until her mid-20s. However, just five months from her 29th birthday, she is playing the best tennis of her career.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but I’m having the best year of my career and it’s still not over,” Kerber said. “It’s amazing what’s happened in the last few months – it’s just incredible!”
In January she stunned the tennis world by beating Serena to the Australian Open title, and after taking a while to come to terms with her achievement is now reveling in the limelight; at Wimbledon, she reached her second Grand Slam final, losing narrowly to Serena, following this up with a semifinal in Montréal and a silver medal at the Rio Olympics.
Making light of this hectic summer schedule, the German was her usual indefatigable self against Strycova, scurrying to track down a succession of seemingly lost causes. This application served her well in the opening set tie-break, drawing the errors then closing it out with a typically precise backhand pass.
Strycova continued to hold her own in the second set, but once again it was Kerber that won the points that mattered most, breaking in the penultimate game before confidently serving out.
Now she is only three wins away from becoming the 22nd player to scale the top of the rankings. While Serena may be absent, things are unlikely to get any easier in Cincinnati. The next obstacle comes in the shape of Carla Suárez Navarro, who earlier on overcame Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 7-5.
Pliskova Continues To Impress
The 11th-hour withdrawal of Serena has left the top half of the draw wide open. It is an opportunity Karolina Pliskova has grabbed with both hands, capitalizing on the fast surface to get some much-needed confidence ahead of the US Open.
Pliskova has endured a frustrating campaign, struggling to replicate the form that briefly took her into the Top 10 and threaten to the 2015 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
On her day, the Czech has all the attributes to contend, her imperious serve complemented by dazzling power from the baseline, and against Misaki Doi, the lucky loser beneficiary from Serena’s injury, she finished strongly to run out a 7-5, 6-3 winner. The reward is a meeting with two-time major winner and No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Timea Bacsinszky.
After a thrilling three set match on Charleston’s Stadium court, good friends Daria Kasatkina and Daria Gavrilova met at the net for an amusing attempt at a fake-out handshake.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Already one of the most-followed WTA players on Twitter, Caroline Wozniacki reached a big milestone on Wednesday when she became one of the few tennis players to cross the one million followers mark.
There are only five active WTA players to reach 1 million Twitter followers:
1. Serena Williams – 6.07 million
2. Sania Mirza – 3.4 million
3. Maria Sharapova – 1.98 million
4. Venus Williams – 1.37 million
5. Caroline Wozniacki – 1 million
Wow!! 1 million followers!! Thank you for all the support! ❤️❤️❤️?? pic.twitter.com/y7jxbW2scX
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) February 10, 2016
On Twitter, Wozniacki does a great job of showing fans a glimpse into her life behind the scenes through photos, videos and of course, selfies. Check it out!
Playin' tennis, takin' names, breakin' rules. #heretocreate @adidas pic.twitter.com/NcY65eBgXK
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 31, 2016
Caption this..?? @DjokerNole @milosraonic @AustralianOpen #kidsday #behindthescenes pic.twitter.com/eHqIHd2xuN
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 16, 2016
It's cooold out! #mood pic.twitter.com/f8cGnpaQDQ
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 25, 2016
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Karolina Pliskova secured the first spot in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open with a three-set win over No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday afternoon.
Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Breaks at either end of the final set propelled Pliskova to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory and a meeting with Garbiñe Muguruza.
A typically heavy-duty forehand brought Pliskova an early break, and despite surrendering this advantage immediately she struck twice more to confidently close out the set.
However, on a balmy day, the Czech suffered an understandable dip at the start of the second set, flicking a forehand into the net to fall an early break behind. Kuznetsova made the most of her opponent’s charity, holding on to this slender advantage to force a decider.
Any suggestion that Pliskova, who is also still alive in the doubles draw, would wilt physically in the decider was given short shrift. With the winners flowing from her racquet, she gave Kuznetsova the runaround to advance into her fifth semifinal of the season.
“It wasn’t easy today, she played some good tennis and me as well, I was happy with how I played, especially in these conditions – it’s pretty hot today,” Pliskova said. “In the first set I tried to play aggressive and not give her time to dictate the game.
“My serve wasn’t that good today in the first two sets, but in the third it improved a lot.”
This week has ushered in a timely return to form for Pliskova ahead of the US Open. Although she is wisely refusing to look too far ahead.
“Any semifinal is great because you have the chance to get to the final, so I’ll just do my best to prepare for the next match – I have doubles so wish me luck!”
Muguruza secured her place thanks to a comfortable win over qualifier Timea Babos. Since winning her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, Muguruza has struggled for consistency but impressed against the big-serving Babos, breaking three times to complete a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Three-time champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looked on course for a fourth Abierto GNP Seguros title after taking down No.3 seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets and booking a place into the final.
Highlights from first and second round action at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Angelique Kerber is gunning for the No.1 ranking in Cincinnati, but the German isn’t the only one with designs on the Western and Southern Open title. Chris Oddo previews Saturday’s semifinals right here at wtatennis.com.
Saturday, Semifinals
Center Court
[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. [15] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #17)
Head-to-head: Pliskova leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Pliskova leads all players in the ace category in 2016 with 394 through her first three rounds in Cincinnati.
Karolina Pliskova had the upper hand on Garbiñe Muguruza when they met head-to-head in 2015, defeating her in Dubai and then again a month later at Indian Wells, but it is Muguruza who has proven to be more comfortable on the big stage since the pair last met. The Spaniard is a Grand Slam winner and a Top 5 player now, while Pliskova has still to reach the second week of a major. But don’t be fooled by the Czech’s lack of Slam success. The 24-year-old is progressing steadily and it’s just a matter of time before she has her day in the sun. Will it be Saturday? Pliskova will need to serve effectively to win for the third consecutive time against Muguruza, and she knows she’ll have to make more first serves than she did on Friday in her quarterfinal win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. She only managed a 44% first-serve percentage in her three-set win over the Russian, but was pleased to earn her second Top 10 win of the year nonetheless. “I can serve big in the important moments which is good, but I have to get high with the percentage,” Pliskova said. “Still happy with the serve. I think it’s still winning the matches for me, so still the biggest weapon.” Speaking of weapons, the powerful Muguruza is not lacking in that department. She knows she’ll have to use her full arsenal to change her fortunes against the dangerous Pliskova. “She’s playing well,” Muguruza said on Friday after defeating Timea Babos in the quarterfinals. “I think this surface helps her a little bit with her style of game.” Muguruza has been focused and in the zone all week, and it has shown on the scoreboard. She’ll take a confident air with her on the court and let the chips fall where they may. “I’m satisfied the way I’m fighting and my spirit and energy on the court, so hopefully I can keep this until the US Open,” she said.
Pick: Muguruza in two
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. [3] Simona Halep (ROU #4)
Head-to-head: Halep leads, 4-2
Key Stat: Kerber could ascend to the No. 1 ranking for the first time with the title in Cincinnati.
Two steps from a career-changing milestone, Angelique Kerber continues to wear the blinders and deflect all pressure about climbing to the top of the WTA rankings. “I’m not feeling more pressure, to be honest,” she said after coming back from a set down to defeat Carla Suárez Navarro in the sweltering Cincinnati heat on Friday. “I learned a lot from last tournaments and last matches about pressure, and when I put the pressure too much on myself, I mean, that’s not the way I would like to play my tennis.” Though Kerber struggled early against the Spaniard, she drew upon a reservoir of confidence and found her second wind to win on Friday. It’s been a recurring theme for the German, and as the wins pile up, the confidence grows. “I knew I’m really fit and I worked a lot in the last few months and years to go out and try to play matches like that,” she said. “Of course when you win the matches you have much more confidence and you can do it and turn around matches and go for three sets after you lose the first one. That gives me for sure more confidence also for the next challenges.” The challenge will be a big one on Saturday, as Kerber will square off with the scorching-hot Simona Halep. The Romanian notched her 13th consecutive win on Friday night, taking down Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets, and she is playing her best tennis of the season at the moment. Like Kerber, Halep fell behind early but stormed to the finish, taking 13 of the final 15 games from Radwanska. Will Halep be able to continue her run and rain on Kerber’s parade in Cincinnati, or will the German edge ever closer to a colossal milestone?
Pick: Halep in three
By the numbers…
1 – Number of singles semifinalists still alive in the doubles draw (Pliskova and partner Julia Goerges face Martina Hingis and CoCo Vandeweghe).
20-2 – Halep’s record since the start of Roland Garros this year.
46 – Kerber’s 2016 win total – more than any other player on tour.
183 – Number of consecutive weeks that Serena Williams has held the No. 1 ranking, which is second-most all time behind Graf (186).