Tokyo: Radwanska vs Puig
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Monica Puig in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Monica Puig in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
TOKYO, Japan – No.2 seeded Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova took home their second doubles title of the year, handily defeating the unseeded Chinese duo of Liang Chen and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-1, 6-1, in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Watch live action from Tokyo this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“We were playing great from the beginning to the end,” Strycova said in their post-match press conference. “We actually didn’t make any errors in the first set and we felt great on the court. I think it was one of the best matches we played together.”
Mirza and Strycova, who first teamed up in Cincinnati and won their first title at the Western & Southern Open, overcame a tough draw which saw them face off against home favorites Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara in the first round. After edging past the Japanese duo 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-8, Mirza and Strycova cruised against Kato Miyu and Xu Yifan before battling past Gabriela Dabrowski and María José Martínez Sánchez to reach the final.
Liang and Yang faced a tougher road to the Tokyo final, needing to battle past two seeded teams – the No.1 seeded Chan Hao-Ching and Chan-Yung-Jan in the first round, then the No.3 seeds Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears before booking a clash against the No.2 seeded Mirza and Strycova.
“It’s great to play your best tennis in the final, we were happy to do that,” Mirza said. “We played very solid, and we kept our concentration the whole match. Like [Barbora] said, it was one of the best matches that we played.”
The victory puts Mirza and Strycova one step closer to a potential spot in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Entering Tokyo the duo sat at No.19 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard, trailing the Top 8 by about 500 points. With 470 points now in the bag, the team received a major boost in their standings.
Tokyo ✅ ??
Smiles ✅
Title #2 for team ✅
Title #40 ✅?? @BaraStrycova https://t.co/9xo3Trl8Ey— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) September 24, 2016
What was the key to Caroline Wozniacki’s Toray Pan Pacific Open title? SAP Coaches View breaks down the Dane’s clutch approach to break points and aggressive return stance.
The most fun part of any Chinese meal is the fortune cookie, so last month while in Beijing the WTA’s biggest names received a special treat.
Watch as Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Johanna Konta, Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands learn their fortunes, and get a bit of tennis advice too!
Check out which fortune each WTA star received – and don’t miss lucky Kerber’s double fortune!
An interview with Caroline Wozniacki after her win in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
The story of the tournament from the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Karolina Pliskova had Monday’s shot of the day at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Venus Wlliams takes on Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Former World No.1 Amélie Mauresmo ended her fourth year as French Fed Cup Captain by leading her country into its first final since 2005 – back when the two-time Grand Slam champion herself played for the team.
Mauresmo announced that she wouldn’t continue at her post in 2017, however, due to personal reasons:
.@AmeMauresmo : “Pour raisons personnelles, je vais quitter mon poste de capitaine. J'attends un 2e enfant.” #fedcup
— FFT (@FFTennis) November 14, 2016
The news that she is expecting her second child was met with mixed emotions from the talented squad of players, including Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic, Alizé Cornet, and Pauline Parmentier. In her four years as Captain, Mauresmo took from the precipice of Fed Cup zonal relegation into a championship weekend in Strasbourg, which they narrowly lost to the Czech Republic in a decisive doubles rubber.
Mauresmo’s team took to Twitter to express their appreciation for their fearless leader:
Cap @AmeMauresmo, un grand MERCI pour tout ce que tu ns as apporté ces 4 dernières années, ns avons grandi à tes côtés. Tu vas nous manquer! pic.twitter.com/rx8iVUtZ3A
— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) November 14, 2016
Dur réalité mais quelle belle aventure merci a cette magnifique equipe et ce staff de rêve #lovemyteam #lastpicalltogether #triste pic.twitter.com/JYuIgQZS8I
— pauline parmentier (@ppauline86) November 14, 2016
MERCI à tous du fond du cœur pour votre soutien inconditionnel! Malgré la défaite, ce we et toutes ces émotions resteront inoubliables ??❤️ pic.twitter.com/TbcBdpujHc
— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) November 14, 2016
Tout est possible ! A demain tous ensemble #TeamFranceTennis pic.twitter.com/GIPy9DduHM
— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) November 12, 2016
Mauresmo’s fellow former No.1 and 2016 International Tennis Hall Of Fame Inductee Justine Henin also announced the coming birth of a second child, with the due date expected for early next year:
Henin has been working with rising WTA talent Elina Svitolina since the start of 2016; the Ukrainian youngster has since defeated a pair of reigning World No.1s in Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, and reached the final of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Who took home the most silverware in 2016? Was it World No.1 Angelique Kerber, WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova or Serena Williams? Find out right here!