Tennis News

DOHA, Qatar – The WTA tour turns from a thrilling Aussie summer to a compelling fortnight in the Middle East, as US Open champion Angelique Kerber and runner-up Karolina Pliskova are the Top 2 seeds at the upcoming Qatar Total Open.

What do you need to know about the first leg of the Middle East Swing?

1. The 2017 Doha winner will join an illustrious list of champions.
With defending champion Carla Suárez Navarro forced to withdraw due to injury, the draw guarantees a new champion from the field of 28 women. Starting in 2001, Qatar Total Open’s honor roll boasts seven players who won – or went on to win – Grand Slam titles, and five World No.1s.

The women who win in the Middle East have also been able to count their Doha trophy as one of many in excellent seasons; check out this infographic tracking how the former champions fared during their title-winning years:

2. Kerber begins her quest to reclaim No.1.
Kerber fell from the top spot after Serena Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but all is not lost for the German. Should she reach the final in Doha, she could return to No.1 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where she’d also have to reach the final. With a bye in the first round, the 2014 runner-up will open against either Irina-Camelia Begu or Daria Kasatkina, who upset her at the Apia International Sydney.

3. Pliskova rides Fed Cup victories into Doha.
Pilskova began 2017 riding a nine-match winning streak through the Brisbane International and into the quarterfinals in Melbourne. The Czech shook off the surprise loss to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni with a dominating display over Fed Cup weekend, where she earned wins over Lara Arruabarrena and, most impressively, a 60-minute romp past reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded second in Doha, Pliskova opens against either a qualifier or Caroline Garcia.

4. Can Cibulkova shake off Aussie disappointment?
Dominika Cibulkova ended 2016 on a career-high, winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but the World No.5 fell before the second week in Australia to an inspired Ekaterina Makarova. Fresh off a run to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, the Slovak is the No.3 seed in Doha, and will begin her week against either Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or a qualifier, with No.8 seed Barbora Strycova looming in the last eight.

5. Will Wozniacki renew her rivalry with Radwanska in Doha?
The Asian Swing was dominated by the head-to-head between Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki. The resurgent Dane upset Radwanska en route to the Toray Pan Pacific Open title but the Pole got the better of Wozniacki in Wuhan and Beijing. Should the former No.1 beat Kiki Bertens, she’ll face the No.4 seed in the second round.

6. Muguruza aims for Fed Cup revenge.
Muguruza shakes off a tough defeat against Pliskova and has a chance to avange the loss in Doha, as they’re projected to meet in the quarterfinals. Standing in her way is wildcard Cagla Buyukakcay, who made her WTA breakthrough at this event last year – upsetting Lucie Safarova en route to the third round.

7. Fed Cup heroes face off.
After a long Fed Cup weekend, plenty of players will aim to take that momentum into the Middle East. One of the must-watch first rounds includes Yulia Putintseva, who reached her first WTA final in St. Petersburg and helped Kazakhstan into World Group II Play-Offs, and No.7 seed Timea Bacsinszky, who led Switzerland into the World Group I semifinals.

8. Hingis unveils new partnership in doubles.
Martina Hingis began the 2017 season continuing her partnership with CoCo Vandeweghe, but the Swiss Miss comes to Doha with Chan Yung-Jan as top seeds. Chan made two straight WTA Finals with sister Hao-Ching, and can certainly fulfill the power dynamic the cerebral Swiss requires in a doubles partner. The pair play their first match against Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.

9. Hlavackova & Peng seek to maintain Melbourne momentum.
Speaking of Chan Hao-Ching, the Taiwanese doubles star begins her new partnership with Christina McHale. The pair will have their work cut out for them against No.3 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai. The Czech/Chinese duo renewed their partnership at the start of 2017 and roared into the Australian Open final, narrrowly falling to World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

10. Mirza & Strycova soldier on.
Fresh off her excellent Fed Cup weekend – in which she pushed Muguruza to three sets and ousted Arruabarrena to clinch victory for the Czechs – Barbora Strycova reunites with Sania Mirza as the No.2 seeds in Doha. As they remain together, they face Raquel Atawo and Xu Yi-Fan, one of 2017’s newer pairs, in the first round.

MELBOURNE, Australia – On Day 9 at the Australian Open, Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska won through to set up a semifinal clash, their first match since 2013.

Serena has her game face on: Make that 18 consecutive wins over Maria Sharapova. Serena continued her solid form through the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 win over the No.5 seed to advance to the semifinals. The first set remained tight after Serena overcame a slow start – she’s been struggling with food poisoning – and Sharapova lost a game point serving at 4-5 in the first set on a tough-luck netcord. But Sharapova just couldn’t capitalize on her small window of opportunities and Serena ran away with it in the end.

Full match recap here.

Agnieszka Radwanska continues her Slam streak: With a 6-1, 6-3 win over Carla Suárez Navarro, Radwanska advanced to the semifinals or better at a Slam for the fifth consecutive year. Radwanska goes into the semifinal against Serena having lost just one set all season and riding a win-streak of 12 matches, dating back to her run to the title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“Well, in hindsight, yes, especially that you playing there only against top players, and that give me always more confidence,” Radwanska said, when asked whether the WTA Finals boosted her confidence.

“But I was saying before, this is new season, new Grand Slam; you’re starting over again. So it’s not like you winning Champs so you have easier draw or easy way to the semis.”

Serena’s perfect record: Serena has made the Australian Open semifinals six previous times. She has gone on to win the title every time. An omen?

Back to the drawing board for Sharapova: Sharapova served a career-high 21 aces in the fourth round against Belinda Bencic but tallied just 3 aces, compounded with 7 double-faults on Tuesday. Without getting any free points on her serve, Sharapova’s margin of error grew smaller. It’s a tough problem to solve.

“I think if you’re serving maybe 180kph against somebody else compared to Serena, that’s an ace. Against Serena, as we all know, the return is one of her great strengths. She’s very explosive. She stays quite close to the baseline. She cuts the ball early. She doesn’t give you many angles. That’s the reason I can’t get so many free points against her.”

“Serena’s on a different level.”: Sharapova: “It’s motivating because she’s at a different level. She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players. She makes you work. That’s inspiring.”

Sluggish Suárez Navarro can’t lock in: The Spaniard said she had trouble sleeping the last two nights and the fatigue showed on Tuesday. Her game lacked conviction and she looked a step slow on the court. She did not confirm whether the knee injury she sustained against against Daria Gavrilova had an effect.

“I didn’t rest good,” Suárez Navarro said. “I feel tired. But when you are on court you have to fight, you have to run, you have to be there, and today I don’t have the good feeling to play good tennis, the good mentality to play more aggressive or try to play a little bit better than I play.

“But I have to learn about these situations, this match, this experience. I need to learn.”

Despite the disappointment, this was a good tournament for Suárez Navarro, who lost in the first round of three of the four Slams last year (she made the third round at the French Open).

Doubles semifinals are set: No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza will play No.13 seed Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, and No.7 seed Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka play No.15 seeds Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai.

Sharapova plans for a light February: Nothing is set in stone, but Sharapova said she plans on dedicating the month to getting her forearm healthy. She’ll travel to Moscow for Fed Cup but does not intend to play, and then, “I don’t see myself playing anything before Indian Wells.”

No, Serena hasn’t thought about the “R” word: Odd timing to ask the World No.1 this question mid-tournament after she just made the semifinals without losing a set, but Serena handled it well:

Q. Is there a chance we’re seeing you in Australia for the last time?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don’t think so. Hopefully not. Unless you know something I don’t know.

Q. It’s a big year ahead. You have the Olympics. You’ve won four gold medals, going for your fifth. Has it entered your mind yet?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It’s entered yours, but not mine.

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