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.

The first half of the Middle East swing kicks off at the Qatar Total Open in Doha, with 10 of the WTA’s Top 20 taking to the Gulf in search of 470 ranking points.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week on the WTA:

CURRENT TOURNAMENTS:

Doha:

Qatar Total Open
Premier | $710,900 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska
Defending Champion: Carla Suárez Navarro

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:

Dubai:

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Premier 5 | $2,365,250 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska
Defending Champion: Sara Errani

Budapest:

Hungarian Ladies Open
International | $226,750 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Timea Babos, Lucie Safarova, Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges
Defending Champion: None (First Staging)

Acapulco:

Abierto Mexicano Telcel
International | $226,750 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Monica Niculescu, Jelena Ostapenko, Kristina Mladenovic
Defending Champion: Sloane Stephens

Kuala Lumpur:

Alya WTA Malaysian Open
International | $226,750 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Carla Suárez Navarro, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Garcia, Yulia Putintseva
Defending Champion: Elina Svitolina

TOP 20 PLAYERS SCHEDULE:

1. Serena Williams
2. Angelique Kerber – Doha, Dubai
3. Karolina Pliskova – Doha, Dubai
4. Simona Halep
5. Dominika Cibulkova – Doha, Dubai
6. Agnieszka Radwanska – Doha, Dubai
7. Garbiñe Muguruza – Doha, Dubai
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Dubai
9. Madison Keys
10. Johanna Konta – Dubai
11. Petra Kvitova
12. Venus Williams
13. Elina Svitolina – Doha, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur
14. Carla Suárez Navarro – Dubai, Kuala Lumpur
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Doha, Dubai
16. Elena Vesnina – Doha, Dubai
17. Barbora Strycova – Doha, Dubai
18. Caroline Wozniacki – Doha, Dubai
19. Victoria Azarenka
20. CoCo Vandeweghe

*Current player schedules as of February 13, 2017 – subject to change.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week: 

Annika Beck (GER) – February 16, 1994
Carina Witthoeft (GER) – February 16, 1995
Cara Black (ZIM) – February 17, 1979
Madison Keys (USA) – February 17, 1995
Roberta Vinci (ITA) – February 18, 1983

SHENZHEN, China – The two remaining seeds in the draw – Agnieszka Radwanska and Eugenie Bouchard – had mixed fortunes on Quarterfinals Day at the $500,000 Shenzhen Open on Thursday.

Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The No.6-seeded Bouchard was the first to take center court and succumbed to an on-fire Timea Babos, who broke once per set and fended off all five break points she faced to prevail, 6-4, 6-4.

Bouchard, who had only played one match since the US Open due to a concussion, was playing her first WTA quarterfinal since last year’s Australian Open – Babos was just too sharp on the day, though.

“Genie’s a great player, and she definitely has more confidence and is playing a lot better than the couple months before, so I’m happy I was solid and managed the tough situations well,” Babos said.

And what about the big serving in those tough situations? “In general, in my game, I have one of the biggest serves on the tour, so it’s a huge advantage for me, definitely. Genie is an aggressive player and takes the return very early – she has great returns – so I had to put a lot of first serves in.

“Thankfully in the big moments I came up with good serves and aces, so it worked out well.”

The No.1-seeded Radwanska took the court straight afterwards and needed just 63 minutes to beat Wang Qiang, 6-3, 6-2, holding all nine of her service games – she saved both break points she faced.

Radwanska has now won 20 of her last 24 matches – including eight in a row on Chinese soil.

“We actually played each other in Tianjin, and I think she played a much better match this time, but I really pushed myself to play my best tennis today,” Radwanska said. “It was a good match for me.”

Up next for the World No.5 is Anna-Lena Friedsam, who won a see-saw battle against Katerina Siniakova in the late match, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Radwanska beat Friedsam in the pair’s only meeting.

Babos’ semifinal opponent will be Alison Riske, who rallied past Anett Kontaveit, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Babos has beaten Riske in both previous meetings, including in Tianjin just a few months ago.

Always love playing in Asia. Fans are great! https://t.co/8CDUy4dBfp

— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) January 6, 2016