Biel/Bienne: Marketa Vondrousova vs Kristyna Pliskova
Marketa Vondrousova takes on Kristyna Pliskova in the quarterfinals of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
Marketa Vondrousova takes on Kristyna Pliskova in the quarterfinals of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
Venus and Serena returned from their singles matches to dispatch No.4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to reach their first Wimbledon semifinal since 2012.
Francesca Schiavone takes on Johanna Larsson in the semifinals of the Claro Open Colsanitas.
Serena and Venus Williams advanced to their first Grand Slam final in four years with a hard-fought win over Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova on Friday.
Romanian captain Ille Nastase will play no further part in this weekend’s Fed Cup action as two days worth of controversy surrounding him came to a head during the team’s World Group II Play-off against Great Britain on Saturday.
In the second set of the rubber between Johanna Konta and Sorana Cirstea, Nastase verbally abused both Konta and Great Britain’s captain Anne Keothavong, before launching into a tirade against both the umpire and referee as a result of being warned for his conduct.
He was then removed from the court, and later the arena, entering in a row with the assembled press corps as he departed. After being suspended for 25 minutes, the match was later resumed, with Monica Niculescu acting as Romania’s captain.
“Romanian Captain Ille Nastase was removed from the court during the second rubber of the Fed Cup tie between Romania and Great Britain in Constanta,” the ITF said in a statement. “Mr. Nastase was asked to leave the court by ITF Referee Andreas Egli for unsportsmanlike conduct, having already received two official warnings. Mr. Nastase was also removed from the grounds due to his serious misconduct. His accreditation was removed and he will play no further part in this tie. The ITF has launched an investigation into this matter as well as previous comments made by Mr. Nastase throughout the week.”
On Friday, Nastase was reported as having made a racist remark about the recent announcement of Serena Williams’ pregnancy, and also made suggestive comments towards Keothavong while involving himself in a dispute with a member of the press.
ITF president Dave Haggerty added Saturday: ‘This is unacceptable behavior by a Fed Cup captain. No player, official, member of the media or fan should have to endure any kind of abuse, and Mr. Nastase will rightly play no further part in this tie. A formal investigation is already underway and any decision or sanction will be made by the ITF’s Adjudication Panel. We are unable to comment further on an ongoing investigation.”
After play resumed, Konta won the last five games to defeat Cirstea, 6-2, 6-3 and square the tie at 1-1. Simona Halep defeated Heather Watson, 6-4, 6-1 in Saturday’s first match.
Elsewhere in the World Group II Play-offs after Saturday’s play, Italy leads Australia and Australia leads Serbia, 2-0, while the tie between Kazakhstan and Canada is also level at 1-1.
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.
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.
Three swisswomen in semifinal! WOW! HOPP Schwiiz! @TimeaOfficial #Golubic #Masarova ????? @WTA_Gstaad pic.twitter.com/fHuR4iJjrk
— Davide Valentini (@DavideLiberista) 16 July 2016
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…
Geschafft!!!!! Viktorija Golubic gewinnt die Ladies Championship Gstaad!!!! #wtagstaad pic.twitter.com/M32RvfI4WI
— Ladies Open Gstaad (@WTA_Gstaad) July 17, 2016
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.
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
Highlights from the second round action at the Brisbane International.