My Performance: Venus Williams
Venus Williams talks through her second round win at the BNP Paribas Open.
Venus Williams talks through her second round win at the BNP Paribas Open.
SEOUL, South Korea – No.5 seed Monica Niculescu was the only seeded player to advance on Day 6 at the Korea Open Tennis after a spate of upsets saw defending champion Irina-Camelia Begu, Kirsten Flipkens and Kristina Mladenovic bow out in the second round.
Niculescu faced off against Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova for a spot into the Seoul quarterfinals. The Romanian had little trouble seeing off Schmiedlova, breaking her serve three times in each set to advance in an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 victory in just over an hour and a half.
But the rest of the field wasn’t so lucky, and chaos reigned after Niculescu left the court at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center.
Patricia Maria Tig dodged all of Kirsten Flipkens’ Seoul-ful hot shots on her way to a 6-4, 6-4 upset over the No.6 seed. She books a quarterfinal clash with Sara Sorribes Tormo, who came back from a set down to upset No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.
The day of surprises ended with the biggest shock of the day, as the No.102 ranked Jana Cepelova ousted the defending champion and top seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Angelique Kerber takes on Andrea Petkovic in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Anastasija Sevastova has Thursday’s Shot Of The Day at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Kristina Mladenovic reflects on her display at the BNP Paribas Open.
Daria Gavrilova overcame a rollercoaster first set and a stiff challenge from a surging Olga Govortsova to win her first match at the inaugural San Antonio Open.
An interview with Elina Svitolina after her quarterfinal match at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Peng Shuai takes on Agnieszka Radwanska at the BNP Paribas Open.
Victoria Azarenka tamped down a second-set surge from Samantha Stosur to extend her head-to-head dominance over the Australian and book herself a spot in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals.
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Caroline Garcia in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.