Tennis News

ZHENGZHOU, China – No.2 seed Wang Qiang earned her first WTA 125K Series title at the Biyuan Cup Zhengzhou Women’s Tennis Open at top seed Peng Shuai was forced to retire in the deciding set with the match standing at 3-6, 7-6(3), 1-1.

“I entered this tournament as the second seed, so there was an opportunity for me to win the title,” Wang said post-match. “I almost got knocked out in the second round. At that time, I didn’t feel as confident as I am today. I’m not quite sure what happened in the second set, but I tried to stay focused and play my game, not making too many mistakes. I knew that she would go for it whenever she had the chance.”

Peng led the match 6-3, 3-0 and served for the match, but surrendered the deciding tiebreak and could no longer play on after two hours, 15 minutes. Wang’s victory levels the head-to-head between the pair to 1-1.

It was a Chinese sweep for the home crowd as in the doubles final, Han Xinyun and Lin Zhu claimed the crown over Jacqueline Cako and Julia Glushko, 7-5, 6-1.

“We didn’t play each other before, so the only thing we could do was stick to the plan,” the pair said post-match. “The second set became easier as we found our rhythm. We were more powerful than our opponents from the baseline, and we had a better serve.”

All photos courtesy of the Biyuan Cup Zhengzhou Women’s Tennis Open.

SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova will round off a fantastic season by appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career.

Victory over Viktorija Golubic in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz confirmed Cibulkova as the eighth qualifier for the season-ending showpiece, joining Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Madison Keys in the singles field.

The 2016 season has been a comeback year for Cibulkova, as the 27-year-old claimed three titles at the Katowice Open, Aegon International Eastbourne and most recently at the Generali Ladies Linz. Cibulkova reached three additional finals at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mutua Madrid Open and the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, which helped set a career-high ranking of No.8. The Slovak also advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

“I can’t describe with words what qualifying for the WTA Finals Singapore means to me,” said Cibulkova. “After such a tough year last year, this year has been amazing – so reaching the WTA Finals is a dream come true. It was my goal to be a consistently great player and I have achieved that this year. I want to enjoy it, play good tennis and end the year the best way I can.”

The current Road to Singapore Leaderboard as follows (as of October 10, 2016):

The 2016 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued in Charleston at the Volvo Car Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world. For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.

USANA Brand Ambassadors Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur, Kristina Mladenovic, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Monica Puig, and Zheng Saisai (Caroline Wozniacki and Alizé Cornet did not play in Charleston) hit 33 of the 192 aces on Daniel Island – raising a grand total of $1,125 throughout the week.

Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!

#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway

It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Last year there was a total of 153 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.

How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Charleston deadline is April 20th at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced April 25th

Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.

For full rules on how to enter, click here.