Kaohsiung: Doi vs Hsieh
Misaki Doi takes on Hsieh Su-Wei in the semifinals of the Taiwan Open.
Misaki Doi takes on Hsieh Su-Wei in the semifinals of the Taiwan Open.
Evgeniya Rodina is through to the second round of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne after opponent Timea Babos retired due to injury.
On this episode, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen recaps last week’s action at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and Taiwan Open, where two veterans put their stamp on a week that was supposed to be all about the youth. You’ll hear from St. Petersburg champion Roberta Vinci, who crashed Belinda Bencic’s Top 10 debut party, beating the teenager in straight sets to win her first title since 2013.
We’ll also preview the upcoming week’s tournaments at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the Rio Open. Brazil’s No.1 Teliana Pereira joins the podcast to discuss the current state of Brazilian tennis. Currently ranked No.43, Pereira became the first Brazlian woman to win a WTA title in 27 years last year when she won the Claro Open in Bogota, and picked up her second title later in they year on home soil in Florianopolis.
Pereira opens up about the unique experience of being a Brazilian tennis player, what it’s like playing in the immense shadow of Gustavo Kuerten, and her Rio Olympic hopes, which are still clouded in uncertainty.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any podcast app of your choice. Follow WTA Insider at @WTA_Insider.
Top seed Barbora Strycova survived another late push from a rising star to advance to the last eight in Biel/Bienne.
DOHA, Qatar – Serena Williams appeared unstoppable in the summer of 2010; the American had just won her fourth Wimbledon title and was the undisputed World No.1 when an out-of-nowhere foot injury ended her season.
“I left ranked No.1,” Williams said nearly a year later in Eastbourne. “That’s what I miss most, just being on top of the game and just playing some really good tennis, the challenges of all the players.”
Things went from bad to worse when her return to the game was further delayed by breathing troubles that turned out to be something even more serious: a pulmonary embolism.
“I honestly just thought I was out of shape, that I needed to get on the treadmill or something. They just said it could have gotten a lot serious a day later or two days later. It could have been really not good.
“It could have possibly been career-ending, but for the grace of God I got there in time and I was able to recover from it.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time. I mean, I’m not just preparing for today or Wimbledon. I’m preparing for the rest of my career.”
From a nadir of No.172 in July of 2011, Williams went on a tear that summer, winning 18 straight matches to reach the US Open final.
Clicking into gear with gusto in 2012, the American reclaimed her Wimbledon crown – her first major title in exactly two years – added an Olympic Gold medal at the Summer Games in Lodon, and capped a near-perfect season with wins at the US Open and WTA Finals.
She came into that next year’s Qatar Total Open having won 56 of her last 59 matches, with a run to the semifinals all she needed to return to No.1. From 4-1 down in the final set, Williams roared past Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals to cap an emotional comeback.
“I don’t know how I did it – I really don’t know,” she said after the match. “I just hung in there and she was playing so well. Every time I looked around she was hitting a winner.
“I just tried to stay in there.”
Williams has been atop the WTA rankings ever since, adding six more majors to her current total of 21, and is set to pass Martina Navratilova for consecutive weeks at No.1 at 157 straight weeks.
Steffi Graf remains the final frontier for the American, is in position to pass the German’s haul of 22 major titles and 186 straight weeks at No.1.
“In my particular situation, I never thought I’d play again,” she told press that night in Doha. “Then I thought I’d never be able to win tournaments or Grand Slams. No.1 was so far off. It was always a dream, but, you know, I was No.1 when tragedy struck, and it was just an awful thing to happen.
“So I’m happy that I’m back.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Marketa Vondrousova’s fairytale week continued at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne; the qualifier roared back from a first set deficit to surprise countrywoman and top seed Barbora Strycova, 7-6(3), 6-2 and book her first WTA final appearance alongside Estonian youngster Anett Kontaveit. Kontaveit triumphed in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 thriller against Aliaksandra Sasnovich earlier in the day.
A week after teenagers Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko fought for the Volvo Car Open title, the WTA field continued to serve youth in Biel/Bienne, with 23 as the average age of the semifinalists – and that’s including 31-year-old Strycova.
Defense to offense from Vondrousova!
Back on serve #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/Iq1uDQk3R7
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
Vondrousova, who reached two Slam semifinals and won two major doubles titles as a junior, was playing her first tour-level semifinal, and that experience showed early as the World No.18 raced out to a 5-2 lead, later holding a set point in the 12th game of the opener.
The teenager gamely saved it behind a booming lefty serve and saved her best tennis for the ensuing tie-break, striking a screaming winner to clinch it.
First set ? Marketa Vondrousova
Saves a set point to surprise Strycova 7-6(3)! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/7wJHPy2X8i
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
Strycova struggled to counter her fellow Czech’s aggressive game on the indoor hardcourts as Vondrousova took a 5-2 lead of her own in the second, breaking serve for the fourth and final time to advance into the biggest final of her career.
17 year old qualifier Marketa Vondrousova reaches FIRST #WTA Final!
Stuns Strycova 7-6(3), 6-2 @WTABielBienne! pic.twitter.com/YKFgxhkRIC
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
In all, the qualifier played a clean match, striking 22 winners to 13 unforced errors; Strycova’s own 13 winners were undone by 20 unforced errors.
Anett Kontaveit and Aliaksandra Sasnovich open @WTABielBienne Semifinals! pic.twitter.com/PAfhqglB2r
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
Awaiting Vondrousova in the final is another former junior prodigy in Kontaveit, who reached the US Open girl’s singles final back in 2012 and outlasted Sasnovich to start Semifinal Saturday.
“I feel really good, and really happy to be in my first final,” she said after the match.
Back in the Top 100 after reaching the third round of the Miami Open, the unseeded Estonian battled through a high-quality encounter with Sasnovich, who was playing her first WTA semifinal since 2015.
Anett Kontaveit takes a close opening set vs Sasnovich 6-4! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/KuezLGrvmB
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
“I was down a break twice in the third set, but I tried to stay in there even though she was playing really well. I was just trying to stay with her do what I always do: fight and not give up.
“Mentally, I toughed it out.”
Hitting 26 winners to the Belarusian’s 29, Kontaveit’s consistency won the day, hitting 17 unforced errors against Sasnovich’s 29, and won four more points (114 to 110) by match’s end, converting her WTA final on her fourth match point after two hours and 24 minutes on court.
Drop shot Anett Kontaveit! ? #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/XzM7w5UjLP
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
It will be Kontaveit’s first meeting with Vondrousova, and knows to expect another tough match if she hopes to hoist her first WTA trophy.
“She’s had really good wins, and it looks like she’s playing well this week.”
First #WTA Final!
Anett Kontaveit battles past Sasnovich 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 at @WTABielBienne! pic.twitter.com/WkGZC8LdNr
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
More to come…
Caroline Garcia takes on Carla Suárez Navarro in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Check out the best shots of the week at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Former World No.4 and 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone reached her first WTA final since 2013 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Petra Martic.
Playing in her first WTA semifinal in nearly 18 months (2014, Hong Kong), Schiavone put down four aces and won 84% of points behind her first serve against Martic, herself a former World No.42 who one made the second week of Roland Garros back in 2012.
It had been a difficult start to 2016 for Schiavone, who missed out on a 62nd consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearance when she fell in the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open.
“When I chose Rio, I chose it mainly because it was clay,” Schiavone said in her post-match press conference. “I remembered the conditions here being very difficult, so I trained as much as is possible for me to prepare myself on clay to be ready for the heat and the effort.
“Obviously when you come here, you try to prepare as much as you can, but you don’t think ‘I’m going there to win it,’ no, no. It’s a wonderful surprise; it’s been a long time since I’ve had this big a result, so I’m taking it as it comes.”
Schiavone next plays resurgent American Shelby Rogers. Playing her first WTA main draw since the Coupe Banque Nationale last fall, Rogers ended the excellent adventure of Sorana Cirstea, a former World No.21 who had amassed a 12-1 record heading into the semifinal by reaching back-to-back finals at two Challenger tournaments in Brazil.
“It feels amazing. I’ve had a really great week, played some good matches,” Rogers said in her post-match press conference. “I got a little momentum at the beginning, but this year has been good so far; I’ve already played a lot of matches, so that’s been a big help.
“Winning this many matches in a row and playing very well is definitely a confidence-builder, but I’ve also had to fight through some tough moments in those matches. Those are where I really get confidence from, so hopefully I can carry that into tomorrow and through the rest of the year.”
Rogers won, 6-4, 6-4, and will be playing Schiavone for the first time in what will be her second career WTA final (Schiavone’s 18th).
“Rogers is a player I don’t know very well,” Schiavone said. “But it’s going to be interesting. A final is really a 50-50 chance.”
In doubles, Veronica Cepede Royg and María Irigoyen captured the doubles final with a 6-1, 7-6(5) win over Tara Moore and Conny Perrin. For Paraguay’s Cepede Royg, the Rio Open is her first WTA title of any king, while Irigoyen won her only previous WTA title back in 2014, playing doubles in Rio with Irina-Camelia Begu.
“I want to thank my partner for the amazing week we had here in Rio,” Cepede Royg said after the match. “I’m really happy for winning my first WTA title in Rio.:
“This is such an enchanting place and the city is beautiful,” Irigoyen added. “I love coming here, people are really receptive and it was a special week.”
Andy Murray believes fellow Brit Johanna Konta can capitalise on Serena Williams’ absence and become World No.1.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner confirmed on Wednesday that she and fiancé Alexis Ohanian are expecting their first child and will not return until 2018.
Murray, the World No.1 in the men’s game late last year feels his compatriot can replicate his achievements over the coming year, having reached the Top 10 and narrowly missed out on qualification for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in 2016.
“It’s been pretty much 18 months where she’s played at a level where she’s in the top seven or eight players in the world,” he said in The Guardian.
“She was close to getting to Singapore last year and she’s in with a good shot of doing it this year.
“I’m sure for all of the women, with Serena out, it’s going to be tough to predict. If she steps up her game there’s no reason why she can’t get close to the top.”
Konta has enjoyed an excellent start to 2017, having won the Apia Sydney International in January before claiming the biggest title of her career at the Miami Open earlier this month.