Tennis News

BEIJING, China – Elina Svitolina continued her impressive end to the season by upsetting World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the third round of the China Open on Thursday.

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A mature display saw Svitolina hold her nerve at the end of both sets to close out a 6-3, 7-5 victory and book a quarterfinal meeting with Daria Gavrilova.

“I was just trying to be really focused on every ball, and of course try to win,” Svitolina said in her on-court interview.

Earlier this week, Kerber suggested that she was feeling the strain of a hectic schedule that has now seen her play 35 matches since the start of July. However, against Svitolina she battled away until the last saving a couple a couple of match points in the final game.

Svitolina, who also beat then-No.1 Serena Williams at this summer’s Olympics, continued to be the aggressor and was rewarded when Kerber sent a forehand sailing wide at the third time of asking.

“I was trying to think about my next step, what I should try to do,” Svitolina added. “I tried to make my first serve and concentrated on the next shot, but still I was a little bit shaky!”

Elsewhere, Johanna Konta continued her own impressive recent run of form with a tense victory over No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova.

Konta, who reached the fourth round of the US Open and the quarterfinals last week in Wuhan, is making a late bid to reach the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Depending on other results, a run to the final could elevate her to a qualification spot and she moved one step closer to that rarget by overcoming Pliskova, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2). 

BEIJING, China – No.5 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova defeated wildcards Christina McHale and Peng Shuai on Friday to reach the China Open semifinals and extend their unbeaten run.

Titles at the US Open and Wuhan have established Mattek-Sands and Safarova as the form team on tour and despite falling an early break behind the always looked in control against McHale and Peng, closing out a 6-4, 6-2 victory after an hour and 10 minutes.

The next team charged with snapping their winning streak – which now stands at 14 matches – is Gabriela Dabrowski and María José Martínez Sánchez after they edged past recent BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global qualifiers Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4.

In the top half of the draw, top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic stayed on course for their first title since June thanks to a 6-4, 6-3 win over wildcards Timea Bacsinszky and Jelena Ostapenko. Meeting the French duo for a place in the final will be No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan.

Demain, nous disputons notre 1/2f au @ChinaOpen ??????
Tomorrow 1/2f day at #ChinaOpen @WTA pic.twitter.com/q6pGCJP6CR

— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) October 7, 2016

BEIJING, China – Johanna Konta recovered from a nightmare start to defeat Zhang Shuai and end home hopes at the China Open.

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After losing the first four games, Konta turned the match on its head to quieten the crowd and run out a 6-4, 6-0 winner. The result sets up a semifinal showdown with fellow BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global contender Madison Keys and also within touching distance of reaching the Top 10.

“Even though it was 12 games in a row, the scoreline was a lot closer,” Konta said. “Every single point was a really high level. I had to fight a lot at the end and I’m really happy to get through.”

In the previous round, Zhang upset Simona Halep for the loss of only three games. Against Konta she picked up from where she left off, delighting the crowd as a run of 13 straight points helped build an early lead.

Konta stopped the rot when Zhang sent a volley long to hand back one of the breaks. The following game she produced a couple of big serves to hold serve from 0-30, as the confidence began to course through her game.

In the ninth game she edged ahead, slapping a forehand winner after dragging Zhang ragged. Even a few interruptions from the crowd managed to derail the Briton, who served out to love before rattling through the second set. 

This summer, Konta was one win from reaching the Top 10 only to produce a subdued performance against Kristina Kucova. Judging by Keys’ showing against Kvitova earlier in the day, a repeat performance will end in further disappointment. 

The stakes are equally high for Keys – who will qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by winning the title. Konta also remains in contention for a place in Singapore – victory over the American would edge her ahead of Dominika Cibulkova and into the eighth and final qualifying berth.

“I really do my best to not think far ahead and really not try to crave those sort of things,” Keys said when asked about a potential Top 10 debut. “I think if you live yourself into that, really bring your head out of your bubble, things become a bit more sticky, a bit more difficult to keep manage of.

“If it’s on the cards for me, great. If it’s not, it’s not. That’s okay, too. I’m really grateful for the journey that I’m having. However it pans out, it’s mine. Yeah, I’m just enjoying playing.”