Tennis News

RABAT, Morocco – Britain’s Laura Robson is back to her winning ways after a long injury layoff plagued with false starts – the former No.27 scored her first WTA main draw win since 2013 at the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, advancing past Ghita Benhadi 6-1, 6-1.

Watch live action from Rabat & Prague this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Robson, who capped her promising juniors career by winning the Wimbledon Junior Girls Championship at 14 years old, found her professional career derailed by a left wrist injury and subsequent surgery that kept her sidelined for 17 months. She currently sits at No.426, but her ranking is expected to rise inside the Top 300 after the victory at Rabat.

The Brit’s performance against 18-year-old Moroccan wildcard Benhadi showed signs of Robson’s pre-injury form: she broke Benhadi’s serve six times and won 67% of her own first and second serve points.

Speaking earlier this year at Indian Wells, Robson said playing matches pain-free for the first time in two years has helped build her confidence.

“I’m not scared to hit [my serve] any more,” she said. “I am getting a couple of miles per hour on serve and the forehand, even if it doesn’t go in. It’s that nice feeling of not being scared to go for it anymore.”

Robson, who is making her Rabat debut this week, also expressed plans to take full advantage of her protected ranking that’s set to expire at Eastbourne, one week before Wimbledon.

“As much as I’d like to get more matches in at qualifying level and things like that, it would be a waste not to use [my protected ranking],” Robson said.

“I plan to play virtually all the clay-court season and the French Open and I think I’ll still have one left for the first week of the grass.”

Yay! ?? #happyandhealthy

— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) April 16, 2016

Also through to the round of 16 is the top seed Timea Bacsinszky, who had little trouble cruising past Russian wildcard Anna Blinkova, 6-4, 6-2.

Lucky losers Richel Hogenkamp and Sara Sorribes Tormo made good on their second chances; Hogenkamp knocked out No.4 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 6-4, and Sorribes Tormo dominated the Tunisian wildcard, 6-0, 6-2.

Meanwhile No. 8 seed Yulia Putintseva and No.7 seed Lesia Tsurenko also advanced, along with Kateryna Kozlova, Tatjana Maria, and qualifiers Marina Erakovic and Aleksandra Krunic.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – No.2 seed Lucie Safarova threw down 14 aces to edge past No.4 seed Samantha Stosur, winning the battle of former French Open finalists, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, to capture the J&T Banka Prague Open title.

Watch live action from Prague & Rabat this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Heading into the International-level event in Prague, Safarova hadn’t won a singles match all year. In fact, she hadn’t even won a set until last week in Stuttgart, still struggling to find her form since returning from the bacterial infection that sidelined her at the end of 2015 and forced her to skip the Australian Open.

But last year’s French Open finalist peaked just at the right time, powered by her adoring home crowd to recover from a one-set deficit for her first title of the year.

“I had quite a few tough matches here so I feel pretty tired,” Safarova said after the match. “But my health is holding up which is the best news for me after such a long time of struggling.

“Each match here I was playing better and better, and by semis and finals I felt like my old self.”

Safarova went down an early break in her first service game, Stosur threading a pinpoint accurate backhand down the line to bring up the first break chance of the match. The Australian’s heavy shots were giving Safarova plenty of trouble throughout the opening set, going up a 4-1 lead. Despite pushing back during the later stages of the set, Safarova wasn’t able to pressure the Stosur serve and find a chance to break back, dropping the first set.

The Czech mounted her comeback in the second set, aided by Stosur’s service struggles: the Australian hit four double faults in the one game to hand Safarova the first break. She also unleashed her own powerful serves: 12 of the 14 aces struck by Safarova came in the final two sets. Despite hitting a rare double fault on set point – one of two the whole match – Safarova closed out the second set to level the score.

Safarova got the break in the seventh game of the final set, going up 4-3 as the tide – and the vocal crowd – turned firmly in her favor.

A pair of aces sealed the match and the Prague title, which is Safarova’s seventh WTA title, and her first one on clay courts since Oeiras in 2005.

“I’m so happy because support during the week was amazing,” Safarova said. “To finally get some wins under my belt feels great. And a seventh title? Wow!”

Prague is quickly becoming a stronghold for Czech players: they’ve now seen their second Czech champion in as many years, with Karolina Pliskova having won last year’s inaugural staging.

For Stosur, who was also playing in her first final of the year in Prague, the experience brings nothing but positives.

“I’m really happy with the week that I’ve had,” the Australian said. “I played some really good tennis and some hard fought matches, and it’s really good for my tennis all around.

“Lucie was too good today – we’ve had some close matches and today was pretty similar to that. All credit to her and congratulations, she had the win today.”

It will be a quick turnaround for both finalists going from Prague straight to Madrid: the Mutua Madrid Open starts today and Stosur is slated to play her opening match on Sunday.

“It’s gonna be a late night tonight, and I know Lucie and I are on the same flight,” Stosur said. “We’ll both be in the same boat but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

“It’s not ideal preparation, but to be in a final – you’d take that any day.”

Congrats @LucieSafarova!

Lift that #PragueOpen trophy ? https://t.co/GQfRaEL1RQ

— WTA (@WTA) April 30, 2016

DUBAI, UAE – Ana Konjuh breezed into the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after routing China’s Zhang Shuai 6-0, 6-1.

The score was a surprise given Zhang’s impressive run in Doha last week when she beat Garbiñe Muguruza en route to the quarterfinals.

But she found her Croatian opponent on devastating form, producing a display of awesome power hitting to seal a second-round meeting with Australia’s Sam Stosur.

“The last two years I played quallies, so I’m really happy to be in the main draw this year and to keep my game like that,” said Konjuh. “Hopefully I’m going to continue.”

.@AnaKonjuh is really in the zone at @DDFTennis! pic.twitter.com/HDmxj1Lt9d

— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2017

A Chinese player who fared much better was Peng Shuai, who comfortably defeated Leisa Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1 to set up a second-round clash with Barbora Strycova. Surprises continued on Court 1 with Catherine Bellis eliminating 17th seed Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 7-5. Meanwhile, qualifier Elise Mertens upset Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-2 on Court 3.

Bellis, ranked 70th in the world, found herself 5-1 down in the second set before reeling off an incredible six games on the trot to seal a remarkable victory.

“I got myself in a bit of trouble in the second set, but I’m glad I got out of it. I just thought to myself, stick to my game plan, just keep steady, I can come back,” said Bellis afterwards. “I can come back against anyone I set my mind to. I’m really glad I got through it. in the beginning of the second, I think I won the first game. The second game was really long.

“So I just kept thinking to myself, I’m still in this match, obviously even when I was losing, still in this match, and I’m playing well, so I can come back whenever I want and whenever, you know, I get a good rhythm. So once I went down, I just stayed calm and stuck to my game plan and came back.”

Peng Shuai advances to @DDFTennis Second round!

Storms past Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1! pic.twitter.com/de1fzAED2d

— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2017

Elsewhere, Kateryna Bondarenko survived an opening-set blip to come through 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Misaki Doi claimed a notable win against Madison Brengle, the Japanese beating the American in three tight sets.

Check out all the day’s results here.

DUBAI, UAE – Caroline Wozniacki has won six of her last seven matches in the Middle East, dispatching Swiss youngster Viktorija Golubic, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Fresh off her Monday night win over Daria Kasatkina, Wozniacki began even more emphatically against the reigning Gstaad champion, racing out to a 5-2 lead to start the match. Though the Dane was broken serving for the opening set, she broke to love to reclaim the momentum.

The final stages of the match proved the most dramatic, as Golubic saved four match points on her own serve before the 2011 champion converted on her fifth and book her spot in the round of 16 after nearly two hours.

Up next for the the former No.1 is either No.9 seed Barbora Strycova or resurgent Chinese veteran Peng Shuai.

Earlier in the day, Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh scored another big win in her young career, ousting No.12 seed and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-3, breaking the Aussie’s serve four times in the 83 minute match.

No.8 seed Elena Vesnina earned a decisive win over Japan’s Misaki Doi, 6-2, 7-5, and will play Konjuh for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig continued her winning ways in the Middle East, upsetting No.15 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to book a potential Rio rematch against top seed Angelique Kerber, who plays later today.

It was a great day for the Americans, as Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, and Catherine Bellis all won on Tuesday, defeating Kristyna Pliskova, Naomi Osaka, and Laura Siegemund, respectively.