Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – Ana Ivanovic produced another terrific performance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to knock out top seed and defending champion Simona Halep.

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In the previous round Ivanovic dropped a solitary game, and she was every bit as impressive against Halep, booking her place in the quarterfinals with a 7-6(2), 6-2 win.

“Honestly, I’m delighted,” Ivanovic said. “It was a great battle in the first set, and she’s such a great player and I really had to raise my game, which I think I did. It was not easy but I’m really thrilled to be through.”

Heavy rain meant the players did not get on court until after 8pm. When they did finally emerge, another interruption was soon forthcoming, as the ball kids hastily tried to towel down the still-damp baseline.

On the resumption, Halep started brightest, opening up a 5-3 lead. However, with the set at her mercy she tightened, netting a couple of routine groundstrokes to surrender her advantage.

With her tail now up, Ivanovic produced some sparkling tennis to take the tie-break before racing through the second set.

“I was a little but anxious because it was stop and go. I think we both wanted to continue playing but it was a little bit slippery. I needed to stay calm and I’m glad I managed to do that,” Ivanovic added when quizzed about the second interruption.

Barbora Strycova, a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 winner over Julia Goerges earlier in the day, awaits in the quarterfinals, and Ivanovic expects another testing outing.

“She beat Julia, who is playing great, so it’s going to be a tough match,” Ivanovic added. “We’ve played a few times before, but I’m not really thinking about that at the moment.”

DUBAI, UAE – World No.47 Barbora Strycova employed her brand of unpredictable tennis to power past Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and reach her sixth career WTA final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

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She was up against a very familiar opponent in the day’s second semifinal: Strycova and Garcia have played each other four times, with Strycova winning their last three matches in straight sets, including a first-round encounter earlier this year at the Australian Open.

The players started out this encounter very evenly-matched – and they stayed that way for most of the match.

Garcia played her trademark aggressive all-court game, sending Strycova on the defensive early on until the Czech grabbed the first break of the match at 3-2. Garcia used all of her weapons – even throwing in some serving and volleying – but Strycova’s unpredictable style was just too full of surprises, a two-handed backhand slice drop shot throwing Garcia completely off kilter and bringing up the break.

Strycova went on to win the next five games to take the opening set at 6-2 and go up 2-0 in the second.

Not to be outdone, the Frenchwoman held her nerve – and came up with some incredible service games – to win six of the next seven games to take the set 6-3 to level the match.

In the final set, the two were toe-to-toe, neither woman giving an inch: when Garcia broke to start the match, Strycova broke her right back; when Garcia held her serve at love, Strycova held serve at love in reply. They stayed deadlocked until Strycova finally broke for 5-3 – Garcia saved two break points to bring it to deuce, but after a 22-shot-rally Strycova emerged victorious. Serving for the match, Strycova erased both of Garcia’s break opportunities and sealed the match with an ace.

“I kept telling myself play your game and go for it – you have nothing to lose,” Strycova said after the match. “I wasn’t serving well the whole match but in that last game it was important that I pull it through.”

“That last game I was like, ‘Okay, pull something through. And then I made good serves. I’m so happy about it because it wasn’t easy match for me. But to be in the final it’s great.

Awaiting Strycova in the final is 2013 Dubai finalist Sara Errani, winner of the day’s first semifinal against Elina Svitolina. Errani leads their head-to-head record 5-1.

“We always have tough matches with Sara,” Strycova said of her opponent in the final. “Last time I lost from two match points.

“But it’s a final so I will enjoy it. Or I’ll try to enjoy it, actually.”

DOHA, Qatar – Former World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard recovered from a 2-5 final set deficit and later from match point down to dispatch resurgent Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the first round of the Qatar Total Open.

“I wanted to make it exciting for everyone,” Bouchard joked during her on-court interview when asked about the dramatic win that took nearly two-and-half hours.

The Canadian was playing her first tournament since the Australian Open – where she lost to eventual semifinalist Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round – and was very nearly out of it against Sevastova, a former World No.36 who returned to tennis at the start of 2015 following a brief retirement.

“It was all kind of a blur, really. I was just in the moment, and just kept trying to fight.

“It’s been a while since I played a match and I didn’t want to leave Doha that soon, so I’m glad to stay her another couple of days.”

Bouchard has seen her ranking fall to No.61 due to a combination of injuries and inconsistencies, but the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up had a bright start to 2016 when she reached the final of the Hobart International, and showed off some of her signature aggression against Sevastova, hitting 40 winners to 49 unforced errors. Sevastova hit fewer errors at 36, but 11 fewer winners.

“I’m just so grateful to be back on tour after a rough end of last season. I’m just so happy to be doing what I love, to be playing in front of you guys, to enjoy this life.

“I love it; I love my job, so that’s the main thing and I just want to keep getting better.”

Bouchard next plays the winner of Denisa Allertova and No.15 seed Elina Svitolina, who recently hired former No.1 Justine Henin as a coaching consultant and made the semis at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships just last week. The Canadian could face reigning Australian Open champion and top seed Angelique Kerber should both advance to the third round.

Earlier in the day, the WTA’s horde of young Russians continued to impress in their first round matches; Daria Kasatkina survived a second set hiccup to defeat qualifier Qiang Wang – who took out ASB Classic champion Sloane Stephens in Melbourne – 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

Kasatkina’s compatriot Margarita Gasparyan was even more emphatic against No.10 seed Karolina Pliskova, dropping just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win that took just under 50 minutes.

“I’m so happy that I won today,” she said during her on-court interview, this her first win over a Top 15 player.

“I’ve played Serena twice in Wimbledon and in Australia; it was amazing. I feel comfortable now playing in the big moments. It’s a nice atmosphere and I’m enjoying getting to play here.”

Fellow youngsters Jelena Ostapenko and Donna Vekic were also straight set winners in Doha, while veteran Kateryna Bondarenko – another comeback kid who returned to tennis 18 months ago after becoming a mother – defeated Annika Beck in straight sets, as well.

In the last match of the day, a pair of former Top 10 players in Ekaterina Makarova and Andrea Petkovic faced off in the first round; the German emerged victorious in just over an hour, 6-3, 6-2.