Graf-Agassi Dream Team Inspires Halep
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Simona Halep called on a couple of all-time greats to help fine-tune the preparations for her defense of the BNP Paribas Open.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Simona Halep called on a couple of all-time greats to help fine-tune the preparations for her defense of the BNP Paribas Open.
TOKYO, Japan – Jana Cepelova ended home hopes at the Japan Women’s Open Tennis with a hard-fought victory over Kurumi Nara in Friday’s quarterfinals.
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Nara, the final Japanese representative in the draw, started brightly but it was Cepelova that finished the stronger to run out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 winner.
After losing three straight games to drop the first set, Cepelova soon fell a break behind in the second. Rahter than dwell on this setback, the Slovakian used it as a turning point, winning four of the next five games to level the match.
Her dominance continued into the decider a couple of early break giving her stranglehold she would not relinquish.
Since coming through qualifying to reach the third round of Wimbledon, Cepelova’s form has been mixed; clay court outings in Gstaad and Bastad both ended in the first round before she fell in the final round of qualifying for the US Open.
Now she is through to her first quarterfinal at a WTA tournament since last summer, where she will face No.7 seed Christina McHale after she battled past Viktorija Golubic, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Meanwhile, in the top half of the draw, Katerina Siniakova will take on the highest-ranked player left in the draw, No.6 seed Zhang Shuai.
Siniakova followed up her marathon encounter against Louisa Chirico with a far more straightforward 6-2, 6-4 win over Alison Riske. Zhang was made to work harder, recovering to beat Varvara Lepchenko, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-3.
Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Martina Hingis and more WTA stars danced the night away in Russia at the spectacular Player’s Gala Dinner at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza before the start of the BNP Paribas Open.
TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan – WTA players have been taking time out of their packed schedules at the Taiwan Open this week to meet some of the local young people in Taipei City.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur spent the morning inspiring the next generation, running a tennis training clinic for youngsters – the photos show just how much fun it was for everyone.
Meanwhile, World No. 93 Mandy Minella and Taiwan’s own Chuang Chia-Jung visited the Taipei Chang Gung memorial hospital, chatting to the young patients there.
All photos courtesy of Taiwan Open.
CoCo Vandeweghe takes on Kiki Bertens in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
QUÉBEC CITY, Canada – French teenager Oceane Dodin thrilled the Coupe Banque Nationale crowd by capturing her first WTA title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Lauren Davis in the final.
“It was a very tough match, very difficult,” Dodin said after the win. “She plays very well, and runs everywhere! I’m just trying to improve my game so I’m there for every point, focus on my serve. That helped me so much in this match.”
Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but coming into this week in Québec, the fearless Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slams – though she did reach the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in Limoges.
“It’s very special for me. This is a very nice tournament; I feel like I’m in France because the people are very friendly and supportive of me! Everyone was with me today and that helps so much when it’s a tough score.”
Victoire de Océane Dodin 6-4 et 6-3! Championne 2016 de la @CoupeBN. 1ère victoire dans un tournoi de la #WTA #rcqc pic.twitter.com/ukPdaQUmno
— Jean-Philippe Martin (@JPMartin_RC) September 18, 2016
But the 19-year-old got on a roll once she upset No.5 seed Naomi Broady, dropping just one more set en route to the title. Hitting 31 winners to just 26 unforced errors against Davis on Sunday, Dodin converted six of 10 break point chances and brought her aggressive ground game to net a whopping 26 times – winning 16 of those points. Up a set and a break, things started to tighten, but Dodin kept in front until the very end.
“After the first set, I started thinking, ‘One set and you’re going to win this tournament,’ so I started getting a little bit nervous and at 3-0, 40-0, I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ She made a little comeback, so at the end I was very nervous.
“I was thinking, ‘You can’t play a third set, so you absolutely have to win the second.’ My coach has helped me so much with the mental side, and I saw him like, ‘Go, go, go!’ So I’m very happy with myself.”
With the win, Dodin is set to crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career, and is the first teenager to win a WTA title in 2016. She received congratulations from countrywoman Caroline Garcia soon after:
1e titre WTA pour Oceane Dodin !!! @CoupeBN ??? Bravo Océ et bienvenue dans le top 100 !!!
4e titre @WTA pour la ?? en 2016 !
Correct ????— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) September 18, 2016
Despite the loss, it was still a great week for Davis, who reached her second career WTA final in the last two months, having also finished runner-up at the Citi Open. Back in the Top 100 herself, Davis is opting to skip the Asian swing, planning instead to play the slate of indoor tournaments in Europe, primarily Linz and Luxembourg, before season’s end.
“I’ve gotten a lot of matches under my belt, and so I’m feeling a lot of confidence. Going into next season, I’m looking forward to playing even better.”
While youth prevailed in singles, it was a battle between four experience doubles players as top seeds and two-time Grand Slam champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka outlasted Russians Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova in a pair of tie-breaks, 7-6(2), 7-6(2).
“With the no-ad scoring and super tie-breaks, it’s very rare to get an easy match on the WTA tour these days,” Hlavackova said after the win. “So that experience helped today; we didn’t have a good record in tie-breaks, super tie-breaks, or no-ads before Québec, so we took this tournament to try to change that. We did, and we’re very happy about it.”
Hlavackova and Hradecka now move up to No.5 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, with a good chance of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for a second straight year.
“We’ve played together for so long that not every week can be perfect. But this week was proof that if you’re having fun, you have good results. I hope we can take this momentum into Asia.”
So nice to make hat-trick in doubles titles this year,finally adding one ? with my partner @lucik2105 @CoupeBN @WTA pic.twitter.com/MBegMtfrUa
— Andrea Hlavackova (@AndreaHlavackov) September 18, 2016
Dominika Cibulkova speaks after her win over Donna Vekic.
Agnieszka Radwanska made a dramatic start to her BNP Paribas Open challenge, staging an improbable comeback to overcome Dominika Cibulkova.
THE WINNERS
Christina McHale produced a stirring comeback to defeat Katerina Siniakova in the final of the Japan Women’s Open Tennis and lift her maiden WTA title.
A semifinalist 12 months ago, McHale looked in store for another near-miss when she trailed Siniakova by a set and a break. However, a timely rain delay and a run of eight straight games turned the match on its head as the American closed out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
“I don’t even want to put my trophy down – I just want to hold it all the time,” McHale said during the trophy presentation. “I’ve been coming to this tournament for a few years now and I really love it here.”
Read the match recap here.
French teenager Oceane Dodin thrilled the Coupe Banque Nationale crowd by capturing her first WTA title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Lauren Davis in the final.
“It’s very special for me. This is a very nice tournament; I feel like I’m in France because the people are very friendly and supportive of me! Everyone was with me today and that helps so much when it’s a tough score.”
Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but coming into this week in Québec, the fearless Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slams – though she did reach the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in Limoges.
Read the match recap here.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of September 19, 2016.
Oceane Dodin (FRA), +39 (No.132 to 93): Following her maiden WTA title at the Coupe Banque Nationale, Dodin made her Top 100 debut and sits at a career-high of No.93..
Lauren Davis (USA), +21 (No.104 to 83): Québec City finalist also made a big leap, jumping up 21 spots to return to inside the Top100.
Katerina Siniakova (CZE), +12 (No.65 to 53): Despite coming up just short in the final at the Tokyo International, Siniakova earned a 12-spot ranking jump to reach her career highest ranking.
Christina McHale (USA), +11 (No.53 to 42): McHale claimed her maiden WTA title in Tokyo, and along with it she earned a spot back inside the Top 50.
Shuai Zhang (CHN), +9 (No.49 to 40): Zhang’s run to the semifinals in Tokyo puts her new ranking at No.40, inching closer to her career-high of No.30 back in 2014
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Toray Pan Pacific Open
Tokyo, Japan
Premier | $885,500 | Hard
Monday, September 19 – Sunday, September 25
Defending champion: Agnieszka Radwanska
Guangzhou International Women’s Open
Guangzhou, China
International | $226,750 | Hard
Monday, September 19 – Saturday, September 24
Defending champion: Jelena Jankovic
Korea Open Tennis
Seoul, Korea
International | $226,750 | Hard
Monday, September 19 – Sunday, September 25
Defending champion: Irina-Camelia Begu
2016 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open
Wuhan, China
Premier | $2,288,250 | Hard
Sunday, September 25 – Saturday, October 1
Defending champion: Venus Williams
Tashkent Open
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
International | $226,750 | Hard
Monday, September 26 – Saturday, October 1
Defending champion: Nao Hibino
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Angelique Kerber – Wuhan
2. Serena Williams – Wuhan
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Tokyo, Wuhan
4. Agnieszka Radwanska – Tokyo, Wuhan
5. Simona Halep– Wuhan
6. Karolina Pliskova – Tokyo, Wuhan
7. Venus Williams – Wuhan
8. Carla Suárez Navarro – Tokyo, Wuhan
9. Madison Keys – Tokyo, Wuhan
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Wuhan
11. Victoria Azarenka
12. Dominika Cibulkova – Tokyo, Wuhan
13. Johanna Konta – Wuhan
14. Timea Bacsinszky – Wuhan
15. Roberta Vinci – Guangzhou, Wuhan
16. Petra Kvitova – Tokyo, Wuhan
17. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Tokyo, Wuhan
18. Samantha Stosur – Tokyo, Wuhan
19. Elena Vesnina
20. Elina Svitolina – Tokyo, Wuhan
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Chan Hao-Ching (TPE) – September 19, 1993
Sabine Lisicki (GER) – September 22, 1989
Andreea Mitu (ROU) – September 22, 1991
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) – September 24, 1984
Monica Niculescu (ROU) – September 25, 1987