Tennis News

On this episode it’s all about the Russians. Senior Writer for WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen previews this week’s tournaments in St. Petersburg and Taiwan and look to the new generation of Russians – Margarita Gasparyan, Elizaveta Kulichkova, and Daria Kasatkina – who are eager to put their stamps on the tour. Their collective success is an important development for a country that has produced two No.1s in Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina, swept the podium at the 2008 Olympics, and won three of the four majors in 2004. There has been a notable gap in talent after Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s protogenic rise. That’s about to change.

Gasparyan, Kulichkova, and Kasatkina are all in action this week and after a solid last six months, they are all in the Top 100, which means you’ll be seeing more of them in the main draw at tour events. So now’s the time to get to know them.

Gasparyan on switching from a male coach to a female coach, former player Elena Makarova: “She’s not just a coach. She’s a friend. I like to work with a woman. When you have a male coach you cannot speak about everything with him. Maybe just tennis. When you have tennis you can tell all. How you feel, tennis, boyfriends, everything. I’m relaxed. I don’t think a lot of tennis all the time.”

Kasatkina on the Russian resurgence: “I think it’s because of Russian character. We have not the best conditions. So that’s why we fight all the time for everything.”

Kulichkova on her friendship with Kasatkina: “We’re not so alike in terms of liking the same things. We probably like the three same things, everything else is different. But still we’re best friends. It works nicely. So if someone says friendship in women’s tennis doesn’t exist it’s a lie! We are the proof. It exists.”

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any podcast app of your choice. Reviews are always helpful so if you like what you’re hearing leave us a review. Get new episode alerts by following WTA Insider on Twitter @WTA_Insider.

STUTTGART, Germany – World No.4 Dominika Cibulkova has withdrawn from the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix due to a wrist injury.

Seeded No.3 at the tour’s first Premier tournament on European red clay, Cibulkova injured her wrist last week during practice ahead of Slovakia’s weekend tie against the Netherlands.

Cibulkova was forced to withdraw from the tie and, despite a first-round bye in Stuttgart, was unable to heal in time for Stuttgart.

As a result of Cibulkova’s withdrawal and in accordance with WTA rules, No.5 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who was set to play her first-round match against countrywoman Carla Suárez Navarro, moves into Cibulkova’s vacated spot in the draw and now has a first-round bye.

A qualifier or lucky loser will take Muguruza’s vacated spot and will play Suárez Navarro. The rest of the draw remains unchanged.

.@PorscheTennis Revised draw @PorscheTennis. pic.twitter.com/71vHUsKaRz

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) April 24, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – It was a photo finish in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, but Dominika Cibulkova had an extra gear against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, dispatching her rival, 6-4, 7-5.

Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The Slovak unleashed her signature aggressive style for most of the match, hitting 36 winners to 26 errors throughout the nearly two-hour match, but Wozniacki wasn’t far behind with 19 winners to 21 errors, working her way back into the second set from 3-5 down and saving three match points before Cibulkova was able to close it out on serve.

“I think it was a really great match,” the 2014 Australian Open finalist told former WTA star turned on-court interviewer Ksenia Pervak. “It’s always tough to play Caroline. Today, I played really well; I was really aggressive even though I made some mistakes, I was really confident. I knew it was the only way I could beat her.

“In the end, I started having a problem with my arm, but it turned out really well, so I’m proud of how I stayed really tough mentally.”

The two have played since their junior days, with Wozniacki coming into the match with a 9-3 head-to-head advantage in WTA matches, but three out of their last four matches had gone the distance, including Cibulkova’s win over then-No.1 Wozniacki in the fourth round of Wimbledon back in 2011.

“The tactic was always the same against Caroline: be as aggressive as I can and go for my shots. She gets back so many balls and is waiting for your mistake; if you play shorter, she’s going for it. I had to be aggressive every single point, no matter the score.

“That’s what I did and that’s why I won.”

Up next for the former World No.10 is rising Russian Daria Kasatkina; the teenager reached another WTA quarterfinal when she eliminated lucky loser Laura Siegemund, 6-3, 6-4.

“I never saw her play, so it’s going to be another tough round. I’m just going to be focused and ready, and I’m just going to hope for another match like this.”

Earlier in the day, Timea Babos upset No.9 seed Monica Niculescu, recovering from a set down to win, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, while qualifier Kateryna Kozlova continued her dream run into the quarterfinals with another three-set win over wildcard Elena Vesnina, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The final match of the day was centered around home favorite and No.5 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, survived a tough second set to beat German youngster Carina Witthoeft, 6-1, 7-5.