Doha: Suárez Navarro vs Bacsinszky
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Timea Bacsinszky in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Timea Bacsinszky in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
Dominika Cibulkova has long played David to a tour of Goliaths. The Slovakian dynamo found fertile soil early in her career and promptly began planting seeds; her garden is a veritable who’s who of the game’s biggest and brightest.
She rode that role right into a Singapore debut, where she broke new ground by winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, stunning then-No.1 Angelique Kerber in the championship match.
Starting 2017 in full bloom therefore marks a colossal shift for Cibulkova, who is suddenly tasked with preventing the very chaos she once strived to create.
“I felt good in Australia but this is a new position for me, being World No.5,” she said during All-Access Hour at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “I really have to work on myself every day, especially mentally.
“There are some players who come onto the court a bit differently against you. They have nothing to lose and want to beat you. This is something I’m really trying to adjust to, that and the expectations – not just my own, but also those of the people around me.”
Expectation undoubtedly bogged her down in Brisbane and Sydney, but it was after a run to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy that the wilting Slovak decided to reassess, stepping down from her perennial spot on the Fed Cup team.
“I got really negative on the court in St. Petersburg,” she said of her loss to Yulia Putintseva, “and that was my biggest disappointment from that match; maybe the expectation got too big for me.
“It’s good that I didn’t play Fed Cup so I could really have time to prepare for Doha. It helped me a lot and that’s why I played so well there. I’d always feel tired after a tie, but that’s something you have to accept if you decide to play Fed Cup. You have to know you won’t be completely ready for the next tournament.”
Cibulkova has been an absolute stalwart in national competition – playing a whopping 21 ties in 12 years – and admitted the annual decision to compete often adversely affected her schedule.
“It would be easier if the event could all take place at a reasonable date, but, for example, last week Slovakia played Italy on clay. That wouldn’t make sense for my schedule at all.
“Now that I’m older and more mature, I see that my career isn’t going to last forever. Right now, I feel like I can get my best ranking and reach my best results. I have to selfish.”
That desire for further introspection led her to step up her work with sports psychologist Radko Sevcík, who joined her team about two years ago and has been crucial to improving her big match mindset.
“I had my mental coach with me in Doha and we talked a lot about different things, how I should approach practices and matches, and how to be more positive on the court.”
The positivity paid off; Cibulkova reached the final four at the Qatar Total Open – the first of her career – and earned her 400th career match win in impressive style over an old nemesis.
“I felt good on the court. I beat Samantha Stosur, whom I’d never beaten before in my career. That gave me much more confidence, and even though I lost to Karolina Pliskova, it was a great match and I was really close to winning.
“After Doha, I feel like I’m playing really well.”
The first big test of that assertion will come early; Cibulkova will kick off Dubai campaign against Ekaterina Makarova, who won their most recent meeting at this year’s Australian Open.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Jelena Ostapenko had the shot of the match in the third round at the Qatar Total Open.
The WTA’s Top 10 stayed in place after a week in Doha, which saw World No.3 Karolina Pliskova take home the title at the Qatar Total Open. But there were plenty of shifts for players right on the bubble, as a pair of former Top 5 players continued to chip away at their rankings.
Here are the biggest ranking movers this week after Doha:
Caroline Wozniacki +3 (No.18 to 15): Former World No.1 Wozniacki continued her comeback during the WTA’s Middle East Swing, storming to the final at the Qatar Total Open and posting wins over Monica Puig and No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska along the way.
The last time Wozniacki was ranked inside the Top 10 was in September 2015 (No.6), and with her strong showing in Doha she’s vaulted up to No.15 and closing in on a return to the game’s highest echelons.
“I feel like I’m playing really good tennis. I can still improve on some things,” Wozniacki told press after the final in Doha. “I’m really feeling positive and confident moving forward, and most of all I’m just trying to stay healthy.
“When I’m staying healthy, I can play great tennis. I can work really hard and improve my game. I’ve really put in a lot of work. It’s shown in the results. Hopefully I can keep up my level and keep improving.”
Samantha Stosur + 2 (No.21 to 19): Earlier in the season at Taipei City, Stosur halted a dismal trend of first round losses dating back to August 2016 that saw her ranking – and her confidence – take a dip. Now, the former Grand Slam champion is back inside the Top 20 after a run to her second consecutive WTA quarterfinal in Qatar.
Monica Puig +5 (No.47 to 42): Olympic champion Puig jumped up five spots to No.42 after an appearance in the semifinals in Doha. The run will do wonders for the Puerto Rican’s confidence: aside from regaining her world-beating form to put together dominating performances over Laura Siegemund and Daria Kasatkina, it’s the first semifinal Puig has reached since her fairy tale run to the gold medal at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.
Lauren Davis +9 (No.55 to 46): The 23-year-old American continued to back up the form that saw her claim her maiden WTA title earlier in the season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Davis successfully qualified for the main draw at the Qatar Total Open, and went on to stun No.6 seed Elena Vesnina on her way to the quarterfinals, earning her first Top 20 win of the year.
Her season-long consistency has paid off, earning her a ranking jump to inside the Top 50, landing at No.46 – just three spots shy of her career high No.43.
Click here to check out the updated WTA rankings, as of February 6.
An interview with Jelena Ostapenko after her win in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
Kateryna Bondarenko takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Andrea Petkovic readies for Jelena Ostapenko: No one would have slated this semifinal when the draw came out. 18-year-old Ostapenko had won just on main draw match all year and came to the Qatar Total Open thinking she would have to play through qualifying. But she paved her own way, knocking out No.5 seed Petra Kvitova and then Zheng Saisai on Thursday to become the third 18-year-old to advance to a semifinal this year.
Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Can Ostapenko go one further? She’s already into the Top 60 by virtue of her career-best run at a Premier tournament and could move into the Top 50 if she makes the final. She’ll face Andrea Petkovic, who played a top-notch match to beat No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 for her first Top 5 win since 2013. It will be the first meeting between Petkovic and Ostapenko, but the German admitted to taking notice of Ostapenko late last year.
“I saw her playing qualifying in Linz last year, and I said to myself, Wow, this girl’s really talented,” Petkovic told reporters. “I think she’s going to do some damage on tour. It’s really nice to see I have a great [prediction skills].”
Agnieszka Radwanska and Roberta Vinci put on a clinic: Remember this match at the end of the year when you’re asked for the best WTA matches of the season. This will be on the short list.
Any fan thirsty for the days of all-court tennis need look no further than the shot-making extravaganza put on between Radwanska and Vinci. Radwanska came back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to her third straight semifinal this season — she still has just one loss to her name, to Serena Williams at the Australian Open – but as stadium announcer Andy Taylor said, she broke the internet with her highlights. Catch up on all the happenings here.
Hope you enjoyed that one as much as me ?
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) February 25, 2016
One of the most notable trends of the day in Doha: Net play. Zheng Saisai started off the morning with some net-rushing – how great was it to see a Sneak Attack By Saisai? – Muguruza continued the trend with over 30 forays into the forecourt, and Radwanska and Vinci combined for over 100 net points between them.
Radwanska-Vinci final stats.
Look at the net numbers. pic.twitter.com/hVk4EmU1Gr
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 25, 2016
Carla Suárez Navarro returns to the Top 10: The Spaniard beat Elena Vesnina 6-3, 7-6(3) to advance to her second semifinal of the season (Brisbane). She’ll play Radwanska next, but Thursday’s win means Suárez Navarro will knock Flavia Pennetta out of the Top 10 on Monday, and she could move as high as No.6 if she wins on Friday.
Love means nothing: Few players give as thoughtful post-match interviews as Petkovic and she didn’t disappoint after her quarterfinal win. Here she is reflecting on her career so far:
“Tennis has always been a great love and hate story for me,” Petkovic said. “I love it so much that I hate it at the same time. I guess love and hate are very close together. It’s torn me apart, but it has also given me the most beautiful moments of my life. I wouldn’t want to miss anything of it.”
Garbiñe Muguruza makes progress: It was undoubtedly a disappointing and frustrating result for Muguruza, who looked to have the match back on her terms early in the third set before getting broken and letting her frustration get the best of her. But Muguruza played her best tennis of the year this week in Doha and there was a lot to like about how committed she was on her returns and getting herself at the net. The negatives? She picked up a left thigh injury during the match and Petkovic exposed her weak low volley.
Just win, baby: Petkovic is sharing her coach Jan de Witt with ATP veteran Gilles Simon. The two trained together during the off-season at de Witt’s academy in Halle and she says she’s trying to get over her penchant for perfectionism and just focus on winning.
“I actually learned quite a few things with Jan and Gilles, both of them, because men approach the game much differently than women,” she explained. “They are just less emotional and much more rational.
“I think girls — I don’t know, maybe I’m leaving myself out the window right now — but I think girls, they always want to play the perfect match. For example, I think especially Gilles Simon, because he’s also this type of player, he’s totally fine winning a match where the other guy has 65 unforced errors. He still sees his positives, what he did to the other guy that he did unforced errors.
“I think the girls, they win 6-2, 6-3, and the one missed a lot of balls, and they’re like, Yeah, I didn’t play so well. The other girl was bad. Putting so much pressure on this perfectionism that women I think a lot of time have.
“It’s really nice to get this other side, Yeah, I won, good for me. I think it’s good to have this attitude about just pushing through and winning matches no matter how ugly or how good they are.”
Called it: Earlier in the week, I highlighted the team of Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina as a potential darkhorse Olympic doubles team. The two have already won a title in Moscow and made the quarterfinals two weeks ago in St. Petersburg. On Thursday they snapped Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s 41-match win streak, knocking out the Co-No.1s 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 to advance to the Doha semifinals.
Highlights from @EVesnina001/@DKasatkina post-match interview. DK over the moon, to say the least: pic.twitter.com/POjOr2vH06
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 25, 2016
Yanina Wickmayer? Yanina Wickmayer!: The Belgian announced on Facebook that she has a memoir coming out soon.
Yanina Wickmayer has a book coming out. https://t.co/Tsi1ORjz1J
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 25, 2016
She’s also into the Acapulco semifinals after beating No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 7-6(3). Wickmayer will play No.2 seed Sloane Stephens, who held off a solid challenge from Naomi Osaka, winning 6-3, 7-5.
Petko jokes: Here’s exchange between Petkovic and the stadium announcer:
Petko: U look young, what did u do?
Me: Grew a beard.
Petko: Really?
Me: Yep.
Petko: I would totally do that if it made me look younger
— Andy Taylor (@StadiumAndy) February 25, 2016
Going up! Watch as Angelique Kerber has a dining experience like no other at Dubai’s Dinner In The Sky.
DOHA, Qatar – Carla Suárez Navarro returned to the main stage of the Qatar Total Open to play the doubles final with Sara Errani, having just won the singles title over Jelena Ostapenko a mere hours before. Pushing No.4 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching tough over two sets, the sisters ultimately defeated the Spaniard and Italian, 6-3, 6-3, to win their second tournament of 2016.
“Today’s match wasn’t easy, despite the score,” elder sister Yung-Jan said during the on-court interview. “They’re for sure very tough opponents who’ve been playing really well. I was sick and having a fever, coughing, but we’re happy to make it until the last match!”
The Chans won their home tournament just two weeks ago at the Taiwan Open, donating their prize money to their country’s hurricane relief effort, and played a near-perfect final against Errani and Suárez Navarro, hitting 21 winners to only 10 errors – a far cleaner match than their opponents, who hit 19 winners and 22 unforced.
“It’s the first time we’ve played together at the Qatar Open, but we’re the champions!” Hao-Ching said. “So we’re very happy and would like to come back next year.”
For the runners-up, it’s still a stellar Middle East Swing, as Errani already walked away with the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships while Suárez Navarro won Doha, and the pair reached the semifinals in Dubai’s doubles event, as well.
“It was two very nice weeks for us,” Errani said. “I’m very happy to play doubles with Carla; it’s amazing. She did an unbelievably great job playing singles and doubles.”
“I cannot wait to play our next tournament together. We had fun here and played well,” Suárez added.
As for the Chans, the win in Doha propels them to No.2 on the Road to Singapore standings, one behind Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza; until this week’s loss to Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the No.4 seeds were the last team to beat Santina before they went on a 41-match winning streak.
“Already No.2? I think that’s a pretty good start to the year!” Yung-Jan said.
“We’re very happy, but we didn’t check before the match, so it’s a surprise for us!” Hao-Ching said as the sisters shared a laugh during the trophy ceremony.
Angelique Keber takes on Monica Puig in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.