Tokyo: Story Of The Tournament
The story of the tournament from the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
The story of the tournament from the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Former World No.1 Martina Hingis and fellow Olympic Silver medalist Timea Bacsinszky enjoyed a happy reunion at home, knocking out Diana Marcinkevica and Carina Witthoeft, 6-2, 6-3, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
“It’s really cool,” Bacsinszky said after the match. “What we have together, we shared so many big emotions and two unbelievable weeks. Those memories will stay with me forever.”
Bacsinszky and Hingis paired up for the first time at the Olympic tennis event, stunning 2012 silver medalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka en route to the Gold medal match, where they lost a tense two-setter to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
???@mhingis and @TimeaOfficial show off their victory dance! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/AglQe6iiwd
— WTA (@WTA) April 12, 2017
Back together in Biel/Bienne, the pair reunited with the upcoming Fed Cup semifinal in mind; the Swiss team takes on Belarus in two weeks for a spot in their first final since 1998, when Hingis helmed the squad in singles and doubles.
“It was amazing to play again with her here, and great preparation for Fed Cup,” Bacsinszky added, “because you never know, if it’s 2-2 in a semifinal, you’ll want to have some matches under your belt to get the connection back.
“That was important for us, so that’s why we decided to play here. I’m thrilled to play here again in Switzerland with my home crowd!”
The Swiss are certainly looking strong at home. With Hingis and Bacsinszky cheering her on from the stands, Viktorija Golubic extended her winning streak to eight straight matches on Swiss soil, having won both singles rubbers in last year’s Fed Cup semifinal against the Czech Republic, her maiden title at the Ladies Championship Gstaad, and her first round match in Biel/Bienne, a nail-biting three-set win over Volvo Car Open semifinalist Laura Siegemund.
Viktorija Golubic battles past Siegemund 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)!
Makes @WTABielBienne Second round! pic.twitter.com/GwWuXaNEnF
— WTA (@WTA) April 12, 2017
All photos courtesy of Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
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.
Angelique Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova are just two of the stars who took to Twitter to send Easter greetings to fans.
WUHAN, China – No.3 seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova reached their third final in four events together at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, defeating No.6 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3, 7-6(6), and No.2 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, back-to-back to book a championship match against No.5 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
Watch live action from Wuhan on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Rained out on Thursday, Mirza and Strycova edged past Babos and Shvedova, who needed to win Wuhan to confirm their place in the WTA Finals, and recovered from a second set wobble to dispatch the Chan sisters to reach the championship match over the reigning US Open winners. Strycova has dealt with an especially busy week, having played two singles matches yesterday on her way to a quarterfinal finish.
“So we are obviously very happy to be in our third final together,” Mirza said after the match. “The schedule has been really tough – especially for Barbora – but we are fighting every point and every match and enjoying ourselves playing together.”
Mirza and Strycova first paired up en route to a winning week at the Western & Southern Open, and have lost just one match since then, taking the Toray Pan Pacific Open and winning three more matches in Wuhan over two pairs hoping to book their spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
By reaching final at @wuhanopentennis Mirza/Strycova move to No.11 on #RoadToSingapore Leaderboard. Can move to No.9 with title https://t.co/GZbcuGkWCF
— Kevin Fischer (@Kfish_WTA) September 30, 2016
The World No.1 qualified first for Singapore with former partner Martina Hingis back in May, but the results with Strycova put her new partnership up to No.11 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard; a win in the final over Mattek-Sands and Safarova would bump them up to No.9. Should Mirza qualify with both teams, the doubles threat could earn the right to play with either Strycova or Hingis – with whom she won the title last year.
Mattek-Sands and Safarova had to do double duty on Thursday, winning their second round and quarterfinal rounds in straight sets; the team was equally imperious on Friday against Christina McHale and Peng Shuai, winning, 6-4, 6-3. Playing their first tournament since winning their third Grand Slam title, team “Bucie” are on a nine-match winning streak and are currently in pole position make their second straight appearance in Singapore.
Highlights from semifinal action at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Highlights from final action at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
An interview with Karolina Pliskova before her first round match at the China Open.
BEIJING, China – The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is just under three weeks away, and with just three of the Top 8 players have already been determined in singles – while four teams have qualified in doubles – the China Open will be a crucial battleground for those aiming to earn enough points to book their ticket to Singapore.
The conclusion of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open saw Simona Halep become the third woman to qualify for Singapore after her run to the semifinals. For the Romanian, it marks the third straight year she has qualified for Singapore, having reached the final on her 2014 debut.
In doubles, darkhorses Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova flipped the script in Wuhan by clinching their spot at the WTA Finals by winning the doubles event over a surging Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova. Mirza and Strycova remain outside the Top 8 since forming at the Western & Southern Open, and will need a strong result in Beijing to have a hope of crashing a party the World No.1 herself is already set to attend with former partner, Martina Hingis.
As the China Open enters its third round, defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska is a win away from returning to Singapore and making her eighth WTA Finals appearance in the last nine years after knocking out Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. Currently into the second round in Beijing, Karolina Pliskova could also make her WTA Finals debut by reaching the last eight.
2015 semifinalist Garbiñe Muguruza is very much in the hunt for a return to Singapore of her own, and could book her spot by reaching the final.
Click here to check out a full list of senarios, here for the updated Road to Singapore leaderboard and here to buy tickets for the WTA Finals!