Tennis News

WUHAN, China – Dominika Cibulkova completed her arduous journey to the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final with a thrilling victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova

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After over two and half hours of thrilling tennis, Cibulkova added the finishing touch to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory by thumping a backhand onto the baseline. In the final she will face the winner of Friday’s evening session, Petra Kvitova.

“It feels great. I’m really tired right now, but the feeling to be in the final is unbelievable, and that’s why I love it,” Cibulkova said. “It’s just a great win for me today.”

Cibulkova’s path to the final has been far from straightforward. Rain earlier in the week forced the Slovak to play both her last 16 and quarterfinal matches on Thursday, making the level of play against Kuznetsova all the more remarkable.

“I would say that nothing has been easy here. I’ve had really tough matches from the first round so you don’t expect anything easy from this tournament. I’m really looking forward to another final and I want to keep going, keep playing like this,” Cibulkova added.

Didn't expect Cibulkova to have enough left in the tank for a performance like that. Love her attitude+it's another final @wuhanopentennis

— Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) 30 September 2016

Outthought and outfought in the first set, Cibulkova went back to the drawing board at the start of the second. Her change of tack reaped immediate dividends, bookending a trademark drive volley with a couple of perfectly executed drop shots to break in the opening game.

“I have my notes with me [on court] for a couple of years now and it’s helping me, so it’s nothing new for me but it’s something that keeps me focused and helps me remember things to do – it’s just a reminder for me. But it helped me today.”

While this advantage did not last for long, the tide was turning, Cibulkova taking four of the last five games to force a decider.

With the contest in the balance, Cibulkova somehow managed to summon her best tennis. Serving at 4-4, 15-30, she finished a series of energy sapping points with spectacular winners to edge ahead. This sequence seemed to drain the belief from Kuznetsova, who soon found herself staring at three match points. One was enough, Cibulkova pouncing on an inviting serve to reach her fifth final of the season.

The result not only guarantees a return to the Top 10 but also boosts her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time. She will now occupy one of the eight qualification spots on Monday, regardless of the result in the final. 

Dinara Safina walked away from tennis in 2011 after a persistent back injury forced her to retire, but not she racked up 12 WTA titles, reached three Grand Slam finals and rose to WTA World No.1 during her eleven years on tour.

Now, the Russian is putting all of her expertise to work as she takes up coaching at New York City’s MatchPoint NYC in Coney Island.

“I moved to New York for [the coaching], but also because I love it here, I wanted to move here,” Dinara told ESPNW’s Nick McCarvel.

“I’ve always had a feeling for New York. I just said to myself, ‘If I have something inside that wants to try New York, I should do it.’ Nothing is stopping me.”

After getting her law degree in Russia, doing temporary stints as player relations in Madrid and in Moscow, and even working at an IT firm, Dinara revealed that she has plans to continue working with young rising talent.

“I want to be back on tour as a coach, but there is no second life. We have one life. I gave it 100 percent when I was playing and I got injured. For me, it was a sign to have another part of my life. And now I want to help others get to where I was.”

BEIJING, China – World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza kicked off her Beijing title defense with a hard-fought win over Irina Camelia Begu, emerging victorious from the early test to move into the second round of the China Open.

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Though a spate of unforced errors from the forehand wing left Muguruza vulnerable and allowed Begu to grab the first set, the Spaniard recovered and notched a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory after an hour and fifty minutes.

“I think it’s very, very satisfying when you go to a tournament where you know you played well, you feel welcome,” Muguruza said after the match. “But honestly, this was last year. Nobody really is thinking about who won last year. It’s all about who is going to win this year, who is winning.

“I’m just going for my match, just concentrating the next one.”

Muguruza also kept her bid for Singapore on track as she eyes a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“Definitely Singapore was a great motivation to try to find my spot,” Muguruza admitted. “Well, Beijing is one of the biggest tournaments we have, so for sure I have a great opportunity to do it well and qualify.”

Also into the second round, Belinda Bencic advanced past Annicka Beck in straight sets. In a match that featured 10 breaks of serve, it was Bencic who edged through 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 17 minutes.

Wildcard Sabine Lisicki had a more straightforward path, powering past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva and Yanina Wickmayer are also through, with Putintseva weathering a stern challenge from 19-year-old wunderkind Jelena Ostapenko to advance 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. Meanwhile, Wickmayer added to Monica Puig’s post-Olympic woes, beating the Puerto Rican 6-2, 6-0 and handing her the worst defeat since the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

Welcome to WTA Finals month. Here are the updated scenarios after 24 hours to digest the Beijing draw for singles and doubles…

ROAD TO SINGAPORE UPDATE – Saturday, October 1st