Tennis News

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA announced on Tuesday that the Taiwan Open will move to Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, from 2017. The Taiwan Open will take place starting January 30, 2017 on hard court at the 10,000-seat indoor stadium, the Taipei Arena.

Venus Williams won the inaugural event with Taiwan’s Chan sisters taking the doubles title. Williams’ victory at the inaugural 2016 Taiwan Open tournament in an exciting final against Japan’s Misaki Doi, was her 49th WTA title win. This year’s inaugural event, attended by almost 10,000 fans, let the world focus on Taiwan through global broadcast coverage and is set to become a major drawcard for Taiwan which has developed brilliant professional female tennis players like Su-Wei Hsieh, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan.

The Taiwan Open attracts the support of the corporate sector, the media and fans, as well as creates an inspirational pathway for talented young national players who aspire to one day compete in world-class professional tennis and play in their homeland at the Taiwan Open.

Mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-Je, stated, “On behalf of Taipei City Government, I am pleased to announce that Taiwan Open will be held in Taipei next year. We are committed to bringing the best events to our global city and the decision to move the event to Taipei demonstrates the city’s ability to attract the best international sport events. We look forward to working with the WTA and the tournament organisers to make this an event all of Taiwan can be proud of.”

The Taiwan Open offers USD 500,000 in prize money and is committed to attracting the world’s top tennis talent and to making this event one of the most prestigious WTA International tournaments on the women’s tennis global calendar. The move to Taipei will result in increased government and sponsorship investment and make the event accessible to a larger fan base.

“This is an exciting time for APG as we continue to support and expand the footprint of women’s tennis across Asia,” said Stephen Duckitt, Director – Tournaments, APG. “Tennis has grown considerably in this region over the past few years and we are looking forward to stage another world-class tennis event in Taiwan, and are proud to be hosted by the Taipei City Government next year.”

Dominika Cibulkova, the reigning WTA Tour Finals champion, is gearing up for Doha and Dubai as she looks for her first tournament win of 2017.

The Slovak’s unprecedented success last year, in which she won tournaments in Katowice, Eastbourne and Linz before taking the title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, saw her rise to No.5 in the World Rankings. Now, she goes to the Qatar Total Open as the third seed in a star-studded field.

“This is my highest ranking,” the 27-year-old told Gulf Today. “You can feel the expectation and the pressure. This is something I’m trying to deal with.”

Cibulkova is among the favourites to win in Doha and is confident she knows how to handle the heat. “I have my rituals,” she said. “What I do during the match, I just want to focus on tennis, on the tactics. You put away the wrong thoughts you have on the court, like, I should win, or, I don’t want to lose.”

Doha has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for the 2014 Australian Open finalist. Her best result came in her first visit in 2008, when she reached the quarterfinals before being beaten in three sets by Agnieszka Radwanska.

However the first Slovak to reach a Grand Slam final has broken into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings for the first time and is confident the weight of expectation for her to improve her record will not prove a burden. “You just put it away,” she said, “and you focus on the right things.”

STUTTGART, Germany – Petra Kvitova snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Monica Niculescu on Thursday to secure a quarterfinal spot at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

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In the opening round, Kvitova barely broke a sweat, defeating the outgunned Louise Chirico in under an hour. However, against Niculescu she faced a very different test, and for the best part of two sets it was one she was failing.

After seeing a commanding second set lead disappear, Kvitova was forced to fend off three set points at 6-5, saving the first with the help of a net cord, before producing a couple of delightful touches to escape the immediate danger.

She rode this momentum through the subsequent tie-break, leaving Niculescu to rue her missed opportunities. This frustration boiled over in the decider, Kvitova easing into a 3-1 lead as she cantered down the home straight.

Kvitova’s reward is a meeting with No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza on Friday. Also advancing to the last eight was Carla Suarez Navarro, who impressed during a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anna-Lena Friedsam.

STUTTGART, Germany – No.1 seed Agnieszka Radwanska started her clay season with a win over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 to make her way into the quarterfinals.

Their second round encounter was Radwanska and Petkovic’s sixth time competing against each other, with Radwanska staying undefeated against the German. However, all of those matches were contested on hardcourts, and Petkovic’s favored surface is red clay – four of her six titles have come on clay.

Playing on her favorite surface gave her an early edge – she won a drawn-out tug of war in the second game to break Radwanska’s serve and put the World No.2 down in a 3-0 hole. Petkovic covered the court, matching Radwanska’s famous variety shot for shot to take the first set.

The match took a turn in the second set, as Petkovic took a terrifying tumble just as Radwanska was finding her footing.

.@AndreaPetkovic takes a nasty fall, good news she's back up and playing! #PTGP pic.twitter.com/PX8fF0MLX2

— WTA (@WTA) April 21, 2016

“I slipped on the line and fell on my tailbone,” Petkovic explained after the match. “My ankle is okay, but my back is not so good. I just couldn’t move anymore.”

Though the German dusted herself off and continued on after taking a medical time out, Radwanska took advantage of Petkovic’s hampered movement and quickly closed out the set at 6-1 to level the match. It was one-way traffic from there, as the Pole dug from her arsenal of trick shots and booked her spot in the quarterfinals after almost two hours.

Radwanska sets up a quarterfinal clash against the big-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova. Pliskova extended her winning streak against Ana Ivanovic, cruising into the quarterfinals with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win.

More to come…

STUTTGART, Germany – No.1 seed Agnieszka Radwanska extended her winning streak against Karolina Pliskova, dispatching the Czech 6-2, 7-6(8) to claim the last semifinal spot of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Watch live action from Stuttgart & Istanbul this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Despite Pliskova’s powerful weapons and game, crafty Radwanska has claimed all five of their previous encounters in straight sets, allowing the Czech no more than five games a set. Their last clay court encounter ended in a smooth 6-3, 6-4 victory for Radwanska.

After Radwanska took the first set in a quick half an hour, it seemed like their Stuttgart quarterfinal match would go the same way as all their previous ones. Radwanska was unbothered by Pliskova’s famous serve, and so long as she got back a return she found a way to control the rallies and give the Czech the type of low, sliced balls that trouble her the most.

But instead of shrinking away in the second set, Pliskova instead gave Radwanska a taste of her own medicine, catching her with drop shots and beating her at the net. She broke Radwanska’s serve at 2-3, and survived a rollercoaster 11-minute game to consolidate it.

Despite the monumental effort it took for Pliskova to get the lead, it was short-lived Radwanska quickly broke back and leveled the match at 4-4. They kept toe to toe until another marathon game – this time 15 minutes long, as Radwanska tried to hold serve and subdue the resurgent Pliskova who brought up seven break points – sent the match into a tiebreak. Four match points later, Radwanska was through to her fifth semifinal of the year.

Awaiting Radwanska in the final four is German qualifier Laura Siegemund, who extended her own streak of upsets to oust the No.6 seed Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-4 and reach her first WTA Premier-level semifinals.

The Stuttgart native felt strong support from the German crowd who were out in full force to support their local underdog.

“That was a crazy mood out there,” Siegemund said of the animated Porsche-Arena crowd. “It has so fun. I was very focused during the match and tried to concentrate on my game, but I could hear them in the background – the stadium was shaking.”

With the win she’ll reach a new career-high ranking of No.55, and earn herself a spot in German tennis history, too. With Angelique Kerber also having reached the semifinals earlier in the day, this marks the first time since 1985 that two Germans have reached this stage in Stuttgart.