Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Top seed Serena Williams powered through a tough, but decisive victory over 2015 BNP Paribas Open champion Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the semifinals.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Indian Wells right here on wtatennis.com!

With strong crowd support from her compatriots, Halep started strong with an early service break, but Williams proved undaunted throughout the 68-minute affair, putting down 28 winners and only 24 unforced errors, breaking serve four times to defeat the defending champion and reach her second straight Indian Wells semifinal.

“It’s a lot of love in this stadium, and a lot of Romanians,” Serena jokingly told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview, offering her apologies to Halep’s unflappable fanbase. “Sorry guys, but there’s definitely a lot of love here.”

Williams and Halep had played two tricky matches in 2015, including a three setter almost exactly 52 weeks ago in the semifinals of the Miami Open; with the Romanian beginning to show signs of improvement after a slow start to the season, the American admitted to being on her guard coming into the match.

“She obviously has been in good form the past couple years,” she said during her post-match press conference. “So, yeah, I feel really good just to get under there and buckle down and to win that.”

Up next for the World No.1 is soon-to-be new World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska, who eased past two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, 6-2, 7-6(3). The two last played in the semifinals of the Australian Open, which Williams won in two emphatic sets.

“She knows how to play in big stadiums and big matches, big games. Obviously she does everything so well, including running, and this is a good surface for her because it’s a slow surface. I think I expect there will be a lot of long rallies. Honestly, I will be ready.

“I really like Aga on and off the court. I think she’s super exciting to watch on the court, and off the court I think she’s really one of the nicest people. Regardless, I think it will be a really good matchup. Whoever wins will go into the final.

“It’s unfortunate it can’t be a final, but we’ll see how it goes. I don’t think she’s won this tournament yet, but obviously she probably wants to. We will see how that goes.”

SAN ANTONIO, TX, USA – Alison Riske began 2016 with a final at the Shenzhen Open, and stands just one match away from a second of the season after nabbing a 6-4, 6-4 victory over top seed Daria Gavrilova at the WTA 125K Series event, the San Antonio Open.

Gavrilova had beaten Riske in their only prior meeting – closer to home for the Aussie in Brisbane – and got out to an early advantage before Riske, a wildcard entrant into the BNP Paribas Open last week, pulled back and ran away with the win in straight sets.

“I got off to a slow start but it was only because she was putting a lot of pressure on me,” a breathless Riske said after the match. “I felt like that could only hold up for so long. I felt like I got into a groove a bit, and it worked in my favor.

“But she’s an amazing competitor; she is where she is for a reason.”

Up next for Riske is Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam; Friedsam was a lucky loser in Indian Wells who fell to eventual quarterfinalist Daria Kasatkina, and has earned some much-needed match wins, Thursday’s being over young Croat star Ana Konjuh in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Tsvetana Pironkova and Donna Vekic met just one week ago in Indian Wells, and the Bulgarian went two-for-two against the Croat in San Antonion, needing only 51 minutes to dispatch Vekic, 6-1, 6-1.

The last match of the day headlined the night session between No.6 seed Misaki Doi – the only remaining seed in the draw – who defeated hot-shot American Samantha Crawford, who reached the semifinals of the Brisbane International back in January, 6-3, 6-3.

In doubles, top seed Casey Dellacqua’s continued comeback came to an early end in the semifinals in San Antonio; with partner Daria Jurak, the Aussie fell to No.3 seeds Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Anastasia Rodionova, 6-4, 7-5. Jans-Ignack and Rodionova will play No.4 seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Nicole Melichar, who defeated No.2 seeds Liang Chen and Chuang Chia-Jung, 3-6, 6-1, 10-6.

HOBART, Australia – Kiki Bertens recovered from a second-set break to defeat Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Hobart International.

“It’s always tough to get some matches at the beginning of the season, so I’m happy I won two matches here and I hope to go even farther,” Bertens said in her post-match press conference.

Voskoboeva spent two years off the tour nursing persistent foot injuries, and had just won her first WTA main draw match since 2014 ahead of her clash with Bertens. The top seed, by contrast, is in the midst of a career-best 12 months, having reached the semifinals of the French Open to qualify for her first Olympic tennis event.

“It was an OK match today; she helped me a lot in the beginning with a lot of mistakes, but in the second she played really well. I had to fight for it and there were some tough conditions with the wind, but I’m happy I got through.

“I really need some matches; my body needs matches to play better. You saw what happened last year in Paris: I won a tournament the week before and was in the semis the week after!”

Bertens rushed out to a 4-0 lead to start the match, serving out the opening set before things got complicated in the second. The Kazakh pushed Bertens to the brink on multiple occasions, leading by a late break in the sixth game. But the Dutch star roared back, winning the last three games to book an encounter with qualifier Elise Mertens.

“I know her well; she’s a great young player with a good run last year. I’ll have to be more aggressive than today but hopefully I can get the win.”

Earlier in the day, another qualifier got a big win over former World No.5, Lucie Safarova. Risa Ozaki came back from a set down to defeat the 2015 French Open finalist, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

“In the first set, she played well and I couldn’t hit a strong ball,” she explained after the match. “After that, I tried to focus on my forehand and things got better from there.”

Safarova won a titanic sixth game in the first set and broke to start the second, but the 22-year-old won six of the last seven games to level the match.

“I started the match really well,” Safarova echoed in her post-match press conference. “I had some game points to go 3-0, but things started going the other way. It wasn’t easy conditions with the wind; she started to pressure me more and make fewer mistakes. I lost my rhythm; I tried to hang in there but it was always tough serving in this wind.”

The Czech veteran showed signs of life late in the match, breaking Ozaki as she served for the upset, but the Japanese youngster broke serve one last time, reaching her third career WTA quarterfinal in two hours, 22 minutes.

“These conditions don’t really suit my game because I like to be aggressive, but I was making too many mistakes. She was putting a lot of balls back; she ran and served well, especially at the end. This isn’t the result I would have liked, but it’s tennis and things happen. It’s good that I got an extra two matches before Melbourne. Hopefully I’ll peak there.”

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Karolina Pliskova ended Daria Kasatkina’s breakthrough run at the BNP Paribas Open with a brilliant display of controlled aggression on Thursday afternoon.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Indian Wells right here on wtatennis.com!

Kasatkina has been one of the fortnight’s feel-good stories, but the emotional and physical exertions finally caught up with her as Pliskova ran out a 6-3. 6-2 winner.

Pliskova, the No.18 seed, took full advantage of the friendly conditions, hitting winners at will past her weary teenage opponent. However, it was far from mindless ball-bashing from the Czech, who gave Kasatkina very little in the way of cheap points, coughing up 10 unforced errors during their hour on court.

Kasatkina held her own in the first set, withstanding the onslaught from the other end until the sixth game when Pliskova arrowed a forehand into the corner to break. With Pliskova’s own serve as dominant as ever, the set was soon in the bag.

Pliskova continued to turn the screw at the start of the second, another thumping forehand bringing an immediate break as she hurtled towards a maiden Indian Wells semifinal.

There she will face 2012 champion Victoria Azarenka, who downed Magdalena Rybarikova in a 6-0, 6-0 shutout.

While Kastakina was unable to replicate the tennis that accounted for No.12 seed Timea Bacsinszky a round earlier, it takes little away from a remarkable rise; this time last year, the teenager, then outside the Top 300, was slogging it out on the ITF Circuit.

“Now I’m Top 40,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Last year I was 340. Yeah, it was pretty fast!” 

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – For so long one of the game’s perennial bridesmaids, Agnieszka Radwanska is currently looking every inch the serial winner.

Last October, after countless near misses, the Pole finally enjoyed her own big day, defeating Petra Kvitova to lift the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. This victory had been a long time coming; Radwanska and her entertaining brand of imaginative, all-court tennis had been wowing crowds since she arrived onto the scene in the mid-2000s.

Success in Singapore has imbued Radwanska with the confidence to take her game to the next level, winning more matches (17) this year than any other player. Number 17 came over Kvitova in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, a result that guaranteed a rise to No.2 in the rankings.

She has been this high before, enjoying a brief stay after reaching the 2012 Wimbledon final, and this time hopes to continue the upward trajectory.

“There is always opportunity [to be No.1], but it’s not about one or two tournaments,” Radwanska said. “To be No.1 you really have to play the whole season very [well], and obviously catch Serena. But she is also playing very good tennis and she will want to play good and be there at No.1.

“It’s always a good feeling to be back in this position. I wasn’t long last time, but I think that was a few years ago. It’s always good to be back in that position.”

Radwanska could make inroads into Serena Williams’ sizeable lead atop the rankings with victory when the two meet on Friday evening. Williams has dominated their previous encounters, winning all nine, dropping just one set in the process. However, the American is taking nothing for granted when she takes on the new and improved Radwanska.

“She knows how to play in big stadiums and big matches, big games,” Williams said. “Obviously she does everything so well, including running, and this is a good surface for her because it’s a slow surface. I think I expect there will be a lot of long rallies.

“Honestly, I will be ready. I really like Aga on and off the court. I think she’s super exciting to watch on the court, and off the court I think she’s really one of the nicest people. Regardless, I think it will be a really good match-up.”

Radwanska has reached the final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden once before, losing out to Flavia Pennetta in 2014 – an experience that still smarts: “Well, of course I was very disappointed, especially that I was feeling very good whole tournament and I was really playing great tennis.

“Obviously that was one of the worst moments in my career, that I wasn’t healthy in the final, the big event. But just that was past, so hopefully that will never happen again.”