Tennis News

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Venus Williams overcame a rocky start to defeat Anastasija Sevastova and book her place in the semifinals of the Taiwan Open.

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By her own admission, Williams did not know much about Sevastova’s game heading into their quarterfinals clash. However, it quickly became apparent that she would not have things all her own way.

Sevastova, playing with the carefree abandon of an overwhelming underdog, surged into a 5-2 lead. The top seed had no intentions of going quietly, turning the match on its head with a run of five straight games and fending off two set points along the way.

This took the wind from Sevastova’s sails, Willims breaking three more times to ease over the finishing line, 7-5, 6-2.

“I didn’t think about the set points, I just tried to not lose the set,” Williams said. “But she was playing really well and was very determined so it wasn’t easy to play her. From there, I think the experience really helped me and there was a lot of pressure on her.

“I just tried to do whatever was winning! If it’s not working you change it – so that’s the strategy.”

Meeting her for a place in the final is No.3 seed Yulia Putintseva. At last year’s Wimbledon, Putintseva ran Williams close, eventually being edged out after two tight sets.

“We’ve played a couple of times. The last time she played really, really well. I have a lot of respect for her and her game and I hope tomorrow to have a faster start. But no matter what happens I hope to play a good match.”

On the other side of the draw Hsieh Su-Wei kept alive hopes of a home champion when she outfoxed Russian prospect Elizaveta Kulichkova, 6-2, 6-0, to set up a meeting with No.2 seed Misaki Doi.

“I had played her twice and won in three sets, so we knew each other well,” Hsieh said. “She’s aggressive and I tried to take a relaxed approach today. I just focus on myself. Fans are so enthusiastic and I believe they make the sun shine down on me!

“In the semifinal I will play Misaki Doi. I haven’t played her for a while, but she’s been quite consistent. I just returned to Top 100, so I won’t judge myself too high or too low. I just wanted to be myself and do my best.”

SINGAPORE – Down a set in her first-ever BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global semifinal, Dominika Cibulkova shifted into turbo to take out No.8 seed and story of the tournament, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. The win is guaranteed to take her at least up to a career-high ranking of No.6.

Read how the match unfolded in the WTA Insider Live Blog.

– Cibulkova hit through the occasion, and the pressure.

Familiar to big stages, the Slovak once struggled to maintain an aggressive mindset at the finish line of high-stakes encounters; it was just six months ago that she narrowly lost back-to-back three-setters to Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbiñe Muguruza in Indian Wells and Miami.

But Cibulkova’s mental evolution has been on full display in Singapore, and the No.7 seed resolved to play positive tennis, win or lose.

A “Come On” instead of a “POME”, but it still means the same for @Cibulkova. One game away! #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/iL2afsB1dj

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

“I ended the second set really, really well,” she said after the match. “I was hitting full power and everything and I was going for it. I knew there is no other way than to go for it. I managed to put the balls in.”

Winning the last five matches against Kuznetsova made her a heavy favorite, especially considering the amount of matches the Russian had to play just to get to Singapore, let alone the semifinals. But Kuznetsova came roaring out of the gate, hitting nine winners to take the first set in 33 minutes.

“She was putting the pressure after my serve, because my percentage was really low and she was putting so much pressure from the second serve return.

“I knew I had to start serving better, I had to be the one being more aggressive on the court. I had to play my game, to be in on my forehand and to go for my shots.”

Cibulkova had caught the always-aggressive Kuznetsova’s winner total of 27 by match’s end, all the while keeping her unforced error count lower than the No.8 seed (31 to 35). Through a high-quality match, she took control when it mattered most.

“Today I managed to stay in the match, even [when] she was playing really, really good and she was overplaying me in the first set.”

A lovely dropshot from @Cibulkova. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/an8wDqduDD

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

– Kuznetsova let distractions get the best of her.

The Russian made it through two of the tensest weeks in her career to find herself in her first semifinal in Singapore. From a break down in the third, she won four straight games and appeared on course to replicate the form that took her through the first set.

But something wasn’t right. She spoke with umpire Kader Nouni during the changeover after breaking Cibulkova’s serve in the fifth game; Nouni assured her the issue – whatever it was – wasn’t falling afoul of the rules. She proceeded to lose the final four games of the match. 

“Overall I was frustrated for other thing which I thought was a little bit unprofessional,” she said afterwards.

A red-eyed Kuznetsova came to press unwilling to specify the source of her distraction, but seemed to imply she took exception to noises coming from Cibulkova’s camp.

“She was OK,” she said when asked whether player or team caused any problems.

Ultimately, the two-time Grand Slam champion refused to blame the moment for the loss, chalking defeat up to tactical errors in the final stages of the match.

“Dominika played really good. She was really aggressive. I was short on some shots, and in the end I think she just was aggressive, and I was not.”

Still, it was a revelatory season for Sveta, who plans a well-deserved vacation after a hectic schedule through the Asian Swing.

“I’m just thinking about vacation right now and just letting [today’s loss] go. I have to go to bed and sleep, not to think about the matches, not to be nervous all the time. For the last five weeks, it was every single day I was thinking about the next day to play another match.

“So I’m dreaming of being able to relax, relax the nerves, and then I just want to have a good pre-season, and next year just to be consistent. I think I [have] got lots of confidence after finishing the year like this. I think I can do a lot of the things.”

– Cibulkova believes the best is yet to come.

Cibulkova hails from a generation that includes Grand Slam champions and former No.1s like Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, and Caroline Wozniacki. But it’s taken longer for the Slovakian dynamo to meet the expectations set by her cohort, something she blames on a lack of self-belief.

“I never saw myself as that good, or maybe not as a consistent player. He made me believe it.  He had examples and I started to believe in myself much more.”

Saturday’s win puts her up to a career-high of No.6, but Cibulkova could finish the week inside the Top 5 – a ranking threshold that doesn’t faze the 27-year-old.

The on-court interview from @Cibulkova after an amazing victory! #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/qYzxlwn9Kf

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

“Right now if I’m going to be deeper than Top 10, I’ll really believe I belong there. That’s most important thing: you have to be convinced that you belong there. Then it works.”

She’ll certainly hope it works in Sunday’s final against Angelique Kerber, a match that comes just shy of three years from her first major final at the Australian Open.

“That time I was new, and playing your first Grand Slam final was really tough. I’m happy I have this experience; for me to go on the finals in Australia, I was trying to do my best but I wasn’t convinced I could really win.

“With this experience now I’m a different player. Tomorrow I will go there and just want to win.”