Tennis News

ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic made a winning start to her campaign at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, racing past Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets.

Kicking off the opening day action on Cancha Central, the Frenchwoman needed just an hour an fifteen minutes to complete the 6-2, 6-3 victory.

“It felt great to play the first match on Central,” Mladenovic said after the victory. “I was actually really surprised at the schedule, you know, to open up the tournament on the center court.

“It was difficult for me, too, because I arrived just two days ago from Dubai. I’m still a bit jetlagged and it’s totally different conditions here, but I’m just very happy with the win.”

Mladenovic got off to a quick start against the No.91-ranked American, jumping ahead to a 3-0 lead in both sets. Mladenovic played aggressive, positive tennis to keep Lepchenko out of the rallies, hitting a serve out wide and following it up with a booming forehand. She closed out the set with a second break to the Lepchenko serve.

Well-executed drop shot from @KiKiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/9hXnzArzMf

— WTA (@WTA) February 27, 2017

But the American stood her ground heading into the second, mixing up her game plan to play more aggressively and earn a break back and level the score at 3-3.

Mladenovic stayed positive, and peppered her game with dropshots to grab another break and serve out the match, sealing it with another ace out wide – her fifth ace of the match.

“I was trying to stay tough in my head, just trying to work for every single point, every game. I was just trying to go for it, and Varvara is a tough player as well. Very happy with this first win.”

Up next in the second round Mladenovic will face Heather Watson, who edged past American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 7-5, 6-3.

.@HeatherWatson92 beats Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-3!

Sets @AbiertoTelcel Second round vs @KikiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/VbnOMMb5xA

— WTA (@WTA) February 28, 2017

Also through in Acapulco, No.8 Andrea Petkovic faced a tough battle against American qualifier Jamie Loeb, needing to come back from a set down in her 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.

“I’ve been here for a week already so I’ve been practicing for a long time,” Petkovic said. “I don’t remember the last time I waited this long for a match. So at the beginning I was a bit tight, because also she had been through qualifying here”

“She was playing really fast, and I needed some time to get used to it. In the second and third set – after some rough patches – I think it was pretty good.”

Joining them in the second round will be Shelby Rogers, who moved past her American compatriot Louisa Chirico 6-2, 6-2, and Pauline Parmentier who survived a rollercoaster against Nicole Gibbs to advance 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-2.

KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Premier
Prize Money: $846,000
Draw Size: 28 main draw (4 byes)/16 qualifying
Qualifying Dates: Saturday, July 16 – Sunday, July 17
First Day of Main Draw: Monday, July 18
Singles Final: Sunday, July 24, 2pm PDT
Doubles Final: Sunday, July 24, after singles final

MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@BOTWClassic – Official handle
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #BOTWClassic and #WTA.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:
· Two-time champion Venus Williams returns to tournament for the 13th time as top seed.
· Dominika Cibulkova, another former winner, is No.2 seed while Johanna Konta is No.3 seed. The 2012 runner-up, CoCo Vandeweghe, Jelena Ostapenko and Alizé Cornet are also in the draw.
· The draw’s highest-ranked player, World No.7 Venus Williams is nearly 20 years older than the lowest-ranked player 16-year-old Maria Mateas.
· Click here to see the draw after it is made on Saturday evening.

WILDCARDS:
CiCi Bellis (USA), Julia Boserup (USA), Maria Mateas (USA), Carol Zhao (USA)

WITHDRAWALS:
Timea Babos (left shoulder), Daria Kasatkina (illness), Mariana Duque-Mariño (gingivoplasty), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (left abductor), Agnieszka Radwanska (right hand), Lesia Tsurenko (left thigh)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Magda Linette says she was surprised when fourth seed Peng Shuai was forced to retire from their third-round match at the Alya Malaysian Open – but she is now ready for her next opponent.

“You are always surprised when someone retires, you’re never ready for that,” the Polish player told reporters after the match. “You just need to be focused on your own game and just try to play your own tennis. I’m glad I stayed focused.”

The 25-year-old said she noticed Peng struggling with her serve before the fourth seed admitted she could not continue, 5-2 down with just 28 minutes of the match gone.

.@MagdaLinette is in control of the first set! #alyawtamalaysianopen pic.twitter.com/5TWC2jE0Hf

— WTA (@WTA) March 2, 2017

Nevertheless, Linette was satisfied with her performance.

“I was aggressive, that was the plan, to play my own game, and I realised that most of the time,” she said. “I’m pretty happy. It was short. It’s tough to judge, but I’m happy.”

Next up for the World No.93 is Duan Ying-Ying, one of only two seeds remaining in the draw, but Linette says that no quarterfinal match would be a straightforward one.

“Everyone plays good,” she said. “Qualifiers beat the third seed and second seed. So it’s not easier now, those players are good. Even the wildcard I played two days ago was a tough one, so obviously there are no easy players, it’s even tougher because the girls are so motivated to play. I’m lucky, I’m very happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”

STANFORD, CA, USA – 17-year-old Catherine Bellis thrilled the Northern California crowd in her first round against No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko; the American ousted the Latvian youngster, 6-4, 6-4 at the Bank of the West Classic.

Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“In the end, I was just a little bit more consistent than she was,” she said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to make as many balls as I could – especially in that last game. It was a little tight; I had a couple of heart attacks, but it’s all good!”

Bellis burst onto the scene back in 2014, when at 15 years of age, she stunned Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the US Open to become the youngest woman to win a main draw match there in nearly a decade. Two years on, the potential still burned bright from the young American, who twice recovered from early deficits to survive the surging Ostapenko, who struggled on serve with nine double faults in the 72 minute match.

Injured in doubles on Monday, Bellis admitted to Andrew Krasny she considered pulling out of the tournament before the match took place.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to play tonight because yesterday I got hit with an overhead in the eye. I was crying so hard and wasn’t even able to see. So to even come out today meant so much to me.”

Improving to 3-2 against Top 50 opposition, Bellis will play the winner of the second night match in Stanford between qualifiers Sachia Vickery and Elitsa Kostova.

Her win over Ostapenko was the first Stadium Court match to last only two sets as Julia Boserup, Magda Linette, and Alison Riske each needed a decider to capture their first round wins. Another American wildcard who reached the third round of Wimbledon in her Grand Slam debut, Boserup dispatched rising star Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Linette recovered from a one-set deficit to defeat Kristyna Pliskova, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Riske pulled off the most dramatic win of all against Varvara Lepchenko, clinching victory in a third set tie-break, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

More to come…