Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – Top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic overcame a sluggish start to defeat home hopes Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua on Tuesday night.

In the last of the quarterfinals, Barty and Dellacqua briefly looked liked springing an upset before the French turned the match on its head to run out 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 winners.

Barty and Dellacqua were finalists at their home major four years ago and, as they had against Martina Hingis and CoCo Vandeweghe the previous round, lit up the Rod Laver Arena with some sparkling tennis early on.

However, the favorites began to turn the tide midway through the second set, producing two clean winners to break Barty’s serve for a 4-2 lead. From this point on it was one-way traffic, Garcia and Mladenovic easing into a maiden Melbourne park semifinal, where they will face No.12 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai.

Garcia and Mladenovic could reach the top of the rankings by reaching the final, but they will have their work cut out against Hlavackova and Peng, impressive 7-5, 7-6(5) winners over No.3 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

On the other side of the draw reigning World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and her partner Lucie Safarova laid down a marker by swatting aside No.11 seeds Raquel Atawo and Xu Yifan, 6-1, 6-1, in under an hour. Their reward is a meeting with the draw’s surprise package, Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato, after they overcame Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Andrea Petkovic, 6-3, 6-3.

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – It was more complicated than Petra Kvitova would have liked, but the three-time Connecticut Open champion came back from a set down to advance against Louisa Chirico, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

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“Luckily I turned it around, it was a difficult match for my first round here after a year,” Kvitova said afterwards.

“I didn’t play Cincinnati and I got sick in Rio, so it was a little bit difficult for me but I’m glad I was able to win it. I really had to fight for every point at the end.”

Chirico, an American qualifier, brought all of the powerful game that saw her make a breakthrough run to reach the semifinals in Madrid earlier this year. Kvitova was struggling to find her timing, and despite earning the first break of the match, she quickly found herself being outhit as Chirico rattled off six straight games to take the opening set.

The defending champion wasn’t too rattled though, as three-set comebacks are what she’s built her “P3tra” reputation on.

“I think that tennis now is very open, and with all the experience I have already, losing the first set doesn’t mean anything to me,” Kvitova said. “Even with the 6-1, which was not easy.”

The Czech’s lefty forehand found its marks and Kvitova broke twice to reel off five straight games of her own and take the second set to restore scoreboard parity, before going on to take the third set.

She needed an hour and thirty-four minutes to complete the turnaround and advance to the second round, improving her impressive Connecticut Open record to 17-2 overall.

Her victory sets up a second-round clash against Eugenie Bouchard, who had a much smoother time against German qualifier Annika Beck. The Canadian dictated play throughout, dragging Beck from line to line and keeping her on the run in the quick 6-2, 6-1 win.

It was the opposite story for four-time Connecticut Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, who took a wildcard into the tournament in a bid to rehab her injury-laden 2016 season. It was her first time playing against Jelena Ostapenko, and the 19-year-old youngster ousted her 7-5, 6-2 on her New Haven debut.

“It wasn’t my best match, but as well you just have to go with it and give her credit where credit is due,” Wozniacki said.

“I think I just haven’t played very much, and just a little bit unlucky as well.”

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska overcame an early challenge from 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko to advance in straight sets in her opening match at the Connecticut Open.

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Radwanska took a wild card into the event in search of extra tune-up matches ahead of the US Open, and she was certainly put through her paces against the young Ostapenko.

“I was actually really surprised,” Radwanska said after the match, which was the pair’s first encounter. “She’s really a very smart and solid player. She’s very young and she can already do everything on court. She can play a really good game and for sure she’s gonna be good.”

Ostapenko and Radwanska traded breaks at the start of the match and held level throughout, with Radwanska’s cerebral game matching up against the teenager’s aggressive style. Ostapenko held a set point at 5-4 on Radwanska’s serve in the first set but was unable to convert as her backhand misfired and the unforced error count did her in. The Pole held her serve and won seven games on the trot to take the opening set and a commanding 4-0 lead in the second before easing through 7-5, 6-1.

Now into the quarterfinals, Radwanska is seeking one more win to end a drought dating back to April: the former World No.2 hasn’t reached a semifinal since the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, a streak she’s certainly hoping to snap heading into the US Open.

“I think these kind of matches is always good to have before a Grand Slam,” she said. “It was a great match and I’m really happy I could play my best game. I just hope that I could play the same tennis the next match and be fully prepared for the Grand Slam.”

Radwanska awaits the winner between Caroline Garcia and lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens.

Injuries and withdrawals may have wreaked havoc on the New Haven draw, but Flipkens is one player who’s certainly not complaining. The Belgian was called in at the last minute to replace Lesia Tsurenko, another lucky loser who had to pull out from the main draw with a right knee injury.

“Well, it was a crazy story,” Flipkens said of getting the call to play. “There were so many lucky losers, and I only found out at 12:15 today that I was going to play at two o’clock!”

The Belgian took full advantage of the second chance against Belinda Bencic, defeating the Swiss teenager 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Bencic served for the match at 5-4 in the third, but Flipkens rallied to win four games in a row and advance.

Along with Radwanska, three other players booked early spots into the New Haven quarterfinals. Ekaterina Makarova grabbed the first quarterfinal berth after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Anastasija Sevastova. Meanwhile, Elena Vesnina booked a clash against the No.10 seed Elina Svitolina. Vesnina made her way to the quarterfinals after Anett Kontaveit retired at 6-4, 1-0, while Svitolina swept past Evgeniya Rodina 6-3, 6-1.