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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The second half of the Middle East swing continues at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the first Premier 5 event of the year. Meanwhile in Hungary, WTA action returns to Budapest for the first time since 2013 at the Hungarian Ladies Open.

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

CURRENT 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)

Sara Errani

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:

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

Indian Wells:

BNP Paribas Open
Premier Mandatory | $6,993,450 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Dominika Cibulkova
Defending Champion: Victoria Azarenka

Karolina Pliskova

TOP 20 PLAYERS’ SCHEDULES:

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

Eugenie Bouchard

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

Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) – February 20, 1994
Klara Koukalova (CZE) – February 24, 1982
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) – February 25, 1994
Chen Liang (CHN) – February 25, 1989

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – Caroline Wozniacki has won six of her last seven matches in the Middle East, dispatching Swiss youngster Viktorija Golubic, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Fresh off her Monday night win over Daria Kasatkina, Wozniacki began even more emphatically against the reigning Gstaad champion, racing out to a 5-2 lead to start the match. Though the Dane was broken serving for the opening set, she broke to love to reclaim the momentum.

The final stages of the match proved the most dramatic, as Golubic saved four match points on her own serve before the 2011 champion converted on her fifth and book her spot in the round of 16 after nearly two hours.

Up next for the the former No.1 is either No.9 seed Barbora Strycova or resurgent Chinese veteran Peng Shuai.

Earlier in the day, Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh scored another big win in her young career, ousting No.12 seed and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-3, breaking the Aussie’s serve four times in the 83 minute match.

No.8 seed Elena Vesnina earned a decisive win over Japan’s Misaki Doi, 6-2, 7-5, and will play Konjuh for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig continued her winning ways in the Middle East, upsetting No.15 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to book a potential Rio rematch against top seed Angelique Kerber, who plays later today.

It was a great day for the Americans, as Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, and Catherine Bellis all won on Tuesday, defeating Kristyna Pliskova, Naomi Osaka, and Laura Siegemund, respectively. 

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Masarova Keeps Gstaad Run Going

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

GSTAAD, Switzerland – World No.797 Rebeka Masarova’s dream run at the Ladies Championship Gstaad continued on Saturday with a straight set win over No.5 seed Annika Beck.

Delivering another performance to belie her tender years – and lowly ranking – Masarova prevailed 7-5, 6-2 to set up an all-Swiss semifinal with Viktorija Golubic.

Earlier this summer, Masarova tripped up a couple of highly touted rivals to lift the junior French Open title. It was a performance that earned her a wildcard for the WTA’s return to Swiss soil, a chance she grabbed with both hands by knocking out first former No.1 Jelena Jankovic then Anett Kontaveit in the opening two rounds.

Beck had her chances, but despite serving for the opening set she was unable to avoid becoming the 16-year-old’s third Top 100 victim.

“It’s just amazing that I’ve won another match. I can’t quite believe I’ve beaten three Top 100 players so far this week. I think I played a great match against Annika and I hope I can keep this going in the semis!”

Golubic was made to work far harder in her quarterfinal, eventually subduing Carina Witthoeft, 7-6(4), 7-6(4).

The other semifinal will also feature a Swiss player, after top seed Timea Bacsinszky raced past Johanna Larsson, 6-0, 6-1 in just 56 minutes. Her reward is a meeting with No.3 seed Kiki Bertens, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Irina Khromacheva.

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Fearless Golubic Grabs Gstaad

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

GSTAAD, Switzerland – Local favorite Victorija Golubic capped off a dream week by winning her first WTA title at the inaugural Ladies Championship Gstaad. Golubic defeated Kiki Bertens 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after a two-hour battle to claim the title in her home country.

More to come…

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – Last week, historic rainfall wreaked havoc on the Qatar Total Open schedule, where former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki reached the final.

Now it’s looking like the bad weather has followed her across the Gulf all the way to Dubai, where it delayed the start of her quarterfinal against CiCi Bellis.

Wozniacki, whose nickname is “Sunshine,” has figured out the culprit behind all of Dubai’s weather woes:

“At this point, I was just, it’s me. I’m bringing the rain,” she laughed in her post-match press conference.

“You know, even in Doha and in Dubai, I come and it’s raining. I step on the court and it’s raining. I was, like, this is deja vu from Doha last week!”

But Wozniacki probably doesn’t mind the rain too much. After all, it’s bringing out some of her best tennis.

“I have a winning record with this rain. Just bring it on. I’m ready for it.”

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Ozaki Halts Stephens Title Defense

Ozaki Halts Stephens Title Defense

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WASHINGTON DC, USA – No.136-ranked Risa Ozaki scored the biggest win of her career in the opening round of the Citi Open, knocking out defending champion Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-1.

The 22 year old from Japan came into the matchup having won just two WTA-level matches all year long, but put all that disappointment behind her against the No.23-ranked American.

Despite being broken in the opening game, Ozaki turned up the intensity and rattled off the next nine games in a row to leave Stephens reeling, down a set and a break. The American held serve to get her name on the score board at 3-1, but it wasn’t enough to turn around Ozaki’s momentum as she swept the match in just 57 minutes.

“I just played real bad. Nothing more, nothing less,” Stephens assessed after the match. “Today just sucked, it was just one of those days where everything was really bad.”

“Obviously, I’m not the first person to have a bad day and I won’t be the last. Hopefully I can pull myself together and next week will be better than this week. I won’t look too deep into this.”

Ozaki’s win sets up a second-round clash with on-the-rise Brit Naomi Broady, who saw off Irina Falconi in straight sets earlier in the day, 6-3, 6-4.

Camila Giorgi

Giorgi Ousts No.5 Seed Bouchard

The unseeded Camila Giorgi snapped a four-match losing streak in her straight sets upset over No.5 seed Eugenie Bouchard in their Washington DC opener. Even more impressive, Giorgi recorded her first win against the Canadian; she previously hadn’t even won a set against Bouchard in either of their previous two encounters.

Bouchard initially struggled against the pace of the Italian’s high octane game, falling a break down in the opening set.

“My game is based on moving forward as soon as I can,” Giorgi said, speaking to Tennis Channel after the match. “Today it worked, I think, almost everything.”

Facing elimination at a set down and 5-2 in the second, Bouchard gritted out a pair of back to back games to cut into Giorgi’s lead, and even held game point on her serve at 5-4 to try to even the score. But the ultra-aggressive Giorgi saw off her challenge with her usual calm, quick game, climbing back from 15-40 to take the match 7-5, 6-4.

After the match, she immediately grabbed her cell phone to make a very special call.

“I called my dad, my coach,” Giorgi said. “He told me I played a good game, very aggressive. He was happy.”

Giorgi will go on to play Tamira Paszek in the next round. The Austrian No.108 took down American qualifier Lauren Albanese in a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win.

More to come… 

– All photos courtesy of Citi Open and Getty Images

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