Acapulco: Lesia Tsurenko vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
Lesia Tsurenko takes on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
Lesia Tsurenko takes on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
Which players have the best chance of playing spoiler to the top tier of Roland Garros contenders? WTA Insider compiled a list of seasoned veterans and dangerous floaters who could do some serious damage on the terre battue.
Victoria Azarenka: The most in-form player through the first quarter of 2016, Azarenka is hard to beat once she gets on a roll, completing the Sunshine Double with titles in Indian Wells and Miami. Her lone hardcourt loss was to eventual Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in Melbourne.
Coming into what has traditionally been her least favorite time of year, Azarenka appeared keen to disprove the doubters – not that she listens to what they have to say – and continue her winning streak through the clay court season. Injuries have played their part in disrupting that rhythm, as a lower back injury forced her to withdraw from Madrid and didn’t seem fully healed in a second round loss to Irina-Camelia Begu in Rome.
Should she be healthy in time for Paris, her consistency can certainly take her places, having reached the semifinals back in 2013.
With comfortable head-to-heads against three of the four top seeds, it will be interesting to see who will be projected to face the Belarusian come the quarterfinals.
Agnieszka Radwanska: Seeded No.2 at this year’s French Open, Radwanska would be an all-out contender were this any other major tournament, but red clay of Roland Garros has proven the Pole’s kryptonite on too many occasions for her to feel truly comfortable coming into the fortnight.
The 2012 Wimbledon finalist eased into the semifinals of Stuttgart before getting dismantled by qualifier Laura Siegemund, and an unlucky draw saw her face one of her fiercest rivals in Dominika Cibulkova early on in Madrid. Opting not to play the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, it’s anyone’s guess how Radwanska will play in Paris, but like Azarenka, her long resumé of consistency should give her confidence to start the week. Since the US Open, the WTA Finals champion has made the semifinals or better at all but three of her last 12 events, including the semifinals of the Australian Open, which she reached dropping just one set along the way. Conserving energy will also be critical for a player who was once all too often drawn into wars of attrition.
Petra Kvitova: With a new coach and new philosophy when it came to clay courts, the two-time Wimbledon winner looked poised to build on last year, when she won her second Mutua Madrid Open title.
A run to the semifinals in Stuttgart saw her battle with eventual champion Kerber, but a pair of early losses to Daria Gavrilova and Madison Keys may have shaken her confidence ahead of the French Open. Kvitova is another former semifinalist, reaching that stage back in 2012, but has only made it to the second week once since then – last year, when she lost to Timea Bacsinszky in the fourth round.
Carla Suárez Navarro: If clay court comfort holds back the first three, the next three will need intangibles on their side. The Spaniard has all the skills and “traditional” clay court guile to succeed at the French; her breakout run came back in 2008, when she reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier.
But for Suárez Navarro, it’ll come down to what’s between the ears. A game from the semifinals in 2014, the Spaniard succumbed to nerves and a determined Eugenie Bouchard. She appeared in good form at home in Madrid, but a cold kept her from closing the door against Samantha Stosur.
If she can replicate the form that took her up to No.6 in the world just two months ago, the Qatar Total Open champion will be in good shape in the latter stages of the fortnight.
Dominika Cibulkova: The 2014 Australian Open finalist was a woman in need of a big win, and she got it in Madrid, taking out top seed Radwanska and battling all the way into the final with three-setters against Caroline Garcia, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Sorana Cirstea.
The Slovak missed last year’s French Open to have surgery on her Achilles, and will be looking to back up her best result at a Premier Mandatory with another deep run at a major tournament. The dynamic veteran burst onto the scene back in 2009, when she blew past Maria Sharapova to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French, following the feat five years later in Melbourne by going one better, again by beating Sharapova and Radwanska en route.
Seeded No.22, Cibulkova will be in position to face down another big name in the first week; unless the nerves that kept her from early round upsets in Indian Wells and Miami reappear, she is all but a shoo-in to reach the second week.
Svetlana Kuznetsova: The tour’s most enigmatic figures had a solid, if unspectacular, clay court swing; though she failed to defend her runner-up points from last year’s Mutua Madrid Open, she rebounded nicely in Rome, defeating Samantha Stosur and Daria Gavrilova before bowing out to World No.1 Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
The 2009 champion still has the game to compete with the best in the world, as her run to the finals of the Miami Open proved, but everything else has so often been up in the air. Seeded in the Top 16, Kuznetsova will be able to work her way through the first few round without facing a top seed, but will have to hit the ground running should she reach the second week.
Her win over Williams in Miami showed she could close out a big name when given the opportunity; whether she can still seal the deal at a Grand Slam remains to be seen.
Lucie Safarova: Which Safarova will show up in Paris? The 2015 runner-up looked to have shaken off the rust with a much-needed title run at the J&T Banka Prague Open, but food poisoning derailed her in Madrid and Rome. The Czech star was ruthless through six matches 12 months ago, and it took a return to red clay for the former World No.5 to win her first matches of the season after coming back from injury and illness.
A tough draw may help her feel less pressure, and she proved she could take out the best clay courters around to reach the final last year, including Sharapova, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Ana Ivanovic. A healthy and confident Safarova is not one to underestimate, particular for a top seed looking to reach the last eight.
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All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Lesia Tsurenko has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
NÜRNBERG, Germany – Kiki Bertens lifted the second WTA title of her career on Saturday, defeating Mariana Duque-Mariño in a one-sided final at the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP.
In Friday’s semifinals, Bertens had required a third set tie-break to see off Julia Goerges, but against Duque-Mariño there was no such drama as she wrapped up a 6-2, 6-2 win in little over an hour.
“I think I played really well today – I was serving good and going for my shots. I had really good length to my shots and so she couldn’t do much from the baseline” Bertens said.
There was little to separate the players at the start of the contest, as they traded a couple of service holds, before Bertens hit the front decisively, breaking to 15 as she reeled off the final four games of the set.
Bertens’ path to the title was far from straightforward, beginning last Saturday in qualifying. And it was clear she had no intention of staying any longer on court than was strictly necessary; in the second set she raced into a 4-1 lead before breaking for a fourth and final time to wrap up victory.
Incidentally, Bertens only previous singles title also came as a qualifier, four years ago at the French Open tune-up event in Fès. The Dutchwoman will now turn her attention to Paris, where she meets No.3 seed Angelique Kerber in the first round.
Before then, though, she is planning to savor a bumper weekend. “I will fly to Paris in the morning. My family is here so for sure we will celebrate tonight!”
The afternoon got even better for Bertens a few hours later when she teamed up with Johanna Larsson to defeat Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova, 6-3, 6-4, in the doubles final.
“We try to play as many tournaments as possible together, so it’s really fun to always have the same partner,” Bertens said when asked about her long-time partnership with Larsson. “For me it’s also important that we not only have a lot of fun on the court but off the court as well.
“We’re really supporting each other. Like this week she lost first round of singles, but was there with me every match, supporting me, and that’s a great feeling to have in a doubles partner.”
The sweetest #kiss … @kikibertens and Johanna #Larsson pic.twitter.com/3VZUpZMNCx
— Nürnberger Cup (@NuernbergerCup) 21 May 2016
Kristina Mladenovic has announced that she and Caroline Garcia have ended their doubles partnership.
No.10 seed Petra Kvitova was two points from a first round upset at the hands of familiar foe Danka Kovinic, but turned the tide to advance to the second round in Paris.
Kristina Mladenovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Karolina Pliskova, Angelique Kerber, Daria Kasatkina – who will win February’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments? Vote now!
PARIS, France – No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska raced through her first round match with Bojana Jovanovski, playing bright tennis under a gloomy sky to win, 6-0, 6-2, and set up a second round meeting with Caroline Garcia at the French Open.
Radwanska hadn’t played a match since losing in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open to Dominika Cibulkova, but it was an even longer lay-off for Jovanovski, who had been off the tour since St. Petersburg in February. As the Serb struggled to find her range, Radwanska soared, hitting 22 winners to just nine unforced errors, breaking serve five times and saving all three break points on her own serve to advance in straight sets on Philippe Chatrier Court.
“It was cold and windy,” she said in her post-match press conference, describing the less than idea conditions on the court. “That’s why it was a little bit slow and the ball is not going anywhere.
“I think we all kind of used to that after couple of days here. The conditions are same for both of us.”
Over on Court 1, Garcia fought off both the demons from her first round loss in 2015 and a surging Lesia Tsurenko to win, 6-3, 7-5.
“I had no specific expectations,” she said after the match. “However, when I made it on the court today I just wanted to do my best. I played with using my strengths.
“It wasn’t a super match, but I think we waged the tough battle. I think I’m quite happy, and I’m looking forward to the next round.”
Sporting a heavily strapped left thigh, Tsurenko nonetheless recovered from losing the opening set to take a 5-2 lead in the second, getting within points of a decider. With the crowd behind the young Frenchwoman, Garcia swept the final five games to win her fifth match in a row following her title run at the Internationaux de Strasbourg last week.
“In Strasbourg I played very well. I learned about myself. I have worked hard, day after day, week after week. It has been a long process. Takes a lot of time.
“But my game has improved, and this is a very important tournament. We’re in France. I wanted to do something. I think I was quite good at managing my stress. I managed to stay very focused, and each point counted.”
Radwanska and Garcia have played thrice before; though the Pole has won two of their three previous meetings, all have gone the distance.
“That’s for sure going to be different match. I guess she’s on fire winning last week. She’s a good hitter and we had couple of good matches, long ones.
“So, well, just looking forward. Going to be a good match, especially here where she’s playing at home.”
“I think I’m getting better. Of course I was doing everything in those last couple of weeks to move better. I think that’s the key on clay.”
Eliminée au 1er tour ces deux dernières années, Caroline Garcia a réussi à faire sauter le verrou ukrainien #RG16 https://t.co/47cZyIhz6o
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 23, 2016
Garbiñe Muguruza fired a warning shot to her French Open rivals with a 6-2, 6-0 win over wildcard Myrtille Georges.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Serena Williams leads the top half of the draw into the second round on Thursday in Paris. We preview all the action here at WTATennis.com.
Thursday, Second Round
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Teliana Pereira (BRA #81)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Serena Williams improved to 62-1 in first-round matches at Grand Slams with her win on Tuesday.
Serena Williams’ potential road to the Roland Garros title got easier on paper when No.5 seed Victoria Azarenka, her rival and potential quarterfinal opponent, was knocked out of the draw on Day 3 by Karin Knapp of Italy. But the 21-time major champion was more concerned about working her way through the draw than monitoring other results on Tuesday. “In order to get the warm weather you have to last to the second week,” Williams joked after her 42-minute victory over Magdalena Rybarikova on a chilly afternoon in Paris. On Thursday the American will bid for her 56th career Roland Garros win against a very talented clay-courter in Brazil’s Teliana Pereira. The 27-year-old world No.81 has amassed 16 wins and two titles on clay over the last two years, but she’s gone 0-4 in that span against players in the Top 25. She’ll face the challenge of a lifetime when she faces the game’s greatest player on the world’s biggest showcourt. How will she respond?
Pick: Williams in two
[26] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #30) vs. Timea Babos (HUN #45)
Head-to-head: Mladenovic leads, 3-1
Key Stat: Mladenovic and Babos won three doubles titles together in 2015 and qualified for the WTA Finals.
A pair great friends and former doubles partners will duke it out in a no-holds-barred battle for supremacy on the singles court on Thursday. 23-year-old Timea Babos is blossoming as a singles player in 2016, winning 21 matches to best her previous career high by nine, and reaching semifinals in Shenzhen and Rabat. Mladenovic has struggled to live up to expectations at times this season, but the Frenchwoman has demonstrated the ability to put bad patches behind her at Grand Slams in the recent past. She has been to at least the third round at the last four majors, a feat that Babos has never accomplished in her own budding career. Can rising Babos pull an upset and knock off her good friend on her home soil on Thursday? Or will it be big-match Mladenovic who seizes the energy of the moment to prevail?
Pick: Mladenovic in three
[8] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #9) vs. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #47)
Head-to-head: Bascinszky leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Bacsinszky is 11-2 on clay this season and has not lost to a player ranked outside the Top-10 on the surface.
Eugenie Bouchard snapped a long losing streak against the WTA’s elite in Rome when she knocked off Angelique Kerber to register her first Top 10 win on clay since the 2014 French Open. Will Bouchard’s renaissance continue in Paris against red-hot Bacsinszky on Day 5? Already having registered seven more wins in 2016 than she did in all of last season, the 22-year-old Canadian believes she is on the right track. “I feel like it’s kind of my first year on tour again,” Bouchard said on Tuesday after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund in straight sets. “I try to see it as a positive thing, like I’m going to try to prove to myself how well I can play and prove that I do belong at the top. Nobody’s going to hand it to you.” Bacsinszky, a semifinalist in Paris last year, will look to wear Bouchard down like she did when the pair met for the first time at Indian Wells this spring. Her world-class defense, variety on the clay and fighter’s mentality should give her chances to repeat that result.
Pick: Bacsinszky in three
[29] Daria Kasatkina (RUS #32) vs. Virginie Razzano (FRA #184)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Razzano is the lowest-ranked player left in the draw.
Opportunity knocks in a tiny section of the top half of the draw, where not a single seeded player stands between rising Russian Daria Kasatkina and her first round of 16 appearance at a major. 19-year-old Kasatkina has turned heads all season with her athleticism, maturity and court sense, now maybe it’s time for her to turn the corner at a Grand Slam? Standing in her way on Thursday her will be a heart-and-soul veteran that is the only player in history to have ever defeated Serena Williams in the first-round of a major. Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano accomplished that tremendous feat right here in Paris in 2012. In her 18th appearance at the French Open, does the 33-year-old have more magic to summon?
Pick: Kasatkina in three
Around the Grounds: Other than defending champion Serena Williams,14th-seeded Ana Ivanovic is the highest-seeded player remaining in top quarter of the draw. She’ll meet Japan’s Kurumi Nara in the day’s first match on Court 1. No.9 seed Venus Williams will bid to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time since 2010 when she meets American qualifier Louisa Chirico on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
By The Numbers
3 – Number of former Grand Slam champions in action on Day 5 (Serena and Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic).
70 – Venus Williams is playing in her 70th Grand Slam draw at Roland Garros, most among active players and second only to Amy Frazier’s 71 all-time.
5 – Number of former Roland Garros Girls’ Singles champions in action today (Mladenovic, Razzano, Cornet, Svitolina and Kasatkina).
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor