Tennis News

Road to Singapore leaderboard, Sunday Recap

RTS No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska and No.8 Madison Keys stay on course; RTS No.9 Carla Suárez Navarro crashes out; RTS No.11 Johanna Konta eases into second round

RTS No.6 Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka lose tight opener; RTS No.8 Goerges/Pliskovaadvance comfortably

RTS No.13 Andreja Klepac / Katarina Srebotnik keep Singapore dreams alive by eliminating and ending the hopes of RTS No.9 Raquel Atawo / Abigail Spears

Click here for the complete China Open draws.

Monday Preview

If Keys loses to Kristina Mladenovic (4th match, Lotus, NB 6.30pm) then Karolina Pliskova and Agnieszka Radwanska will qualify for BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, regardless of their own results on Monday.

UPDATED LEADERBOARD

SINGLES:

Qualified: Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep

Next In Line (Current Top 8):

How can they qualify in Beijing ?

(note: Scenarios will change if those currently in the Top 8 advance)

Pliskova – qualifies by reaching QF OR

· Keys fails to reach 3r (QF if Pliskova advances to 2r) OR

· Konta nor Kuznetsova reach final*

*both are in the same half so only one of these is possible

Radwanska – qualifies by reaching QF OR

· Keys fails to reach QF OR

· Konta nor Kuznetsova reach final *

*both are in the same half so only one of these is possible

Muguruza – qualifies by reaching final

Cibulkova – qualifies by winning title

Keys – qualifies by winning title

It is mathematically possible for Kuznetsova to qualify this week by winning the Beijing title BUT this would depend on a 2r defeat for Cibulkova.

It is no longer mathematically possible for Konta to qualify this week, even if she won the title.

Currently No.9 to No.13 with points behind current projected cut-off (3137)

It is interesting to note that four of the players that are battling for qualification – Muguruza, Keys, Kuznetsova and Kvitova are all in the same quarter of the Beijing draw, creating some potentially exciting matchups in the R16 at the China Open, a stage where Pliskova and Konta could also meet

DOUBLES

QUALIFIED: Garcia/Mladenovic, Hingis/Mirza, Makarova/Vesnina, Mattek-Sands/Safarova

NEXT IN LINE:

How do they qualify in Beijing:

Timea Babos / Yaroslava Shvedova qualify unless Sania Mirza / Barbora Strycova or Xu Yi-Fan / Zheng Saisai win the Beijing title OR by reaching the Beijing SF

Andrea Hlavcakova / Lucie Hradecka qualify unless Mirza/Strycova reach Beijing final or Xu/Zheng win the Beijing title

Chan Hao-Ching / Chan Yung-Jan qualify unless Mirza/Strycova or Xu/Zheng reach Beijing final OR by reaching the Beijing Final

Julia Goerges / Karolina Pliskova qualify by advancing to the same round or better than Mirza/Strycova and Xu/Zheng and if Klepac/Srebotnik don’t win Beijing title**

Remaining Teams in Possible Contention (points behind current cut-off)

**this will change and require a better result if Goerges/Pliskova advance.

WEDNESDAY IN BEIJING: Madison Keys (RTS #8) plays Svetlana Kuznetsova (RTS #10) and Garbiñe Muguruza (RTS #6) will play Petra Kvitova (RTS #12) in what could be a decisive day on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. Who will hit the speed bumps? Who will stay on track?

Here is a player-by-player breakdown of who can qualify this week…

MUGURUZA: In its simplest form, Muguruza needs to win at least one more match. She can qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by reaching the quarterfinals AND Kuznetsova and Konta not reaching the semifinals. She can also secure qualification by advancing to the semifinals this week, regardless of other results.

KEYS: Keys can qualify by reaching the final (she is in the same half as Kuznetsova and Kvitova) and if Konta does not reach quarterfinals. She can secure qualification regardless, if she can win the title.

KUZNETSOVA: Kuznetsova qualifies for the WTA Finals by winning the title

Additionally, Kvitova will need to reach the Beijing final to become part of the mix of being an alternate in Singapore. She is also entered into Luxembourg.

SINGLES:

Qualified: Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova

Next In Line (Current Top 8):

Currently No.9 to No.13 with points behind current projected cut-off (3257)

Who is Playing Where?

Muguruza: currently not entered in any other events

Cibulkova: Moscow

Keys: currently not entered in any other events

Konta: Hong Kong

Kuznetsova: Tianjin

Kvitova: Luxembourg

DOUBLES QUALIFICATION UPDATE

Doubles stays the same as yesterday…

If Sania Mirza / Barbora Strycova lose, Timea Babos / Yaroslava Shvedova, Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka, Chan Hao-Ching / Chan Yung-Jan all qualify for WTA Finals

If Mirza/Strycova AND Andreja Klepac / Katarina Srebotnik lose, the doubles field will be set as Babos/Shvedova, Hlavackova/Hradecka, Chan Sisters and Karolina Pliskova / Julia Goerges will each qualify for the WTA Finals

QUALIFIED: Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic, Martina Hingis / Sania Mirza, Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina, Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Safarova

NEXT IN LINE:

Remaining Teams in Possible Contention (points behind current cut-off)

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

HONG KONG, SAR – Caroline Wozniacki overcame a plucky Zheng Saisai in straight sets to reach the second round of the Prudential Hong Kong Open.

The No.5 seed suffered a slow start to the match, being broken by the Chinese 22-year-old in her opening game but she bounced back quickly, recovering the deficit immediately. From then on, she wasted no time in securing the first set 6-1.

Zheng returned with renewed vigour in the second set, holding serve for the first time in the match before pushing Wozniacki to the brink in the following game, squandering five break points in a marathon that lasted for over 11 minutes.

The Dane soon went up two breaks to the good but, serving for the match and 40-0 up, Zheng pulled off a stunning comeback to half the deficit before holding to put Wozniacki under pressure. The Chinese 22-year-old went 0-30 up in Wozniacki’s next service game but the former World No.1 rallied to claim victory with her sixth match point.

She was joined in the next round by current World No.1 Angelique Kerber, who overcame Maria Sakkari, 6-4, 6-4. The German skipped into a 2-0 lead in the first set and though the Greek youngster broke back, she retook the advantage and successfully closed out the first set.

Kerber then moved 5-2 ahead in the second set and though Sakkari enjoyed a moderate recovery, breaking back once, the US Open winner closed out a routine victory.

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic also cruised through to the next round by defeating Samantha Crawford, 6-3, 6-1. Breaking in the first and last games of the first set, the Serbian went behind early in the second set but rattled off six straight games to book her place in the next round.

Meanwhile, Sam Stosur crashed out of the tournament at the hands of Japanese youngster Nao Hibino. Having broken in the first game of the match, the Australian surrendered her advantage immediately. Hibino broke once more to go 4-2 up and closed out the set.

Stosur was not at the top of her game and went a break down in the second. Though she later drew level, she immediately slipped behind once more. She fought until the end, saving four match points in the final game, but the World No.84 was able to hold her never to claim a famous scalp.

Johanna Konta kept up her pursuit of a spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by defeating fellow Brit Naomi Broady at a canter, 6-2, 6-2.

Heather Watson squeezed into the next round thanks to a narrow victory over Marina Erakovic. The Brit got the pivotal break in the penultimate game of the first set and though she went 4-1 behind in the second, she mounted a comeback, sealing the win in a tie-break.

Elsewhere, Kristina Mladenovic beat Dalila Jakupovic, 7-6(6), 6-1, Caroline Garcia sailed through, 6-3, 6-0, against Tereza Martincova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Basak Eraydin, 6-1, 6-2, and Wang Qiang defeated Zhang Ling, 6-2, 6-2.

LINZ, Austria – Forty-seven minutes was all it took for Madison Keys to swat aside Misaki Doi and book a place in the quarterfinals of the Generali Ladies Linz.

Keys received a last-minute wildcard into the tournament and has made the most of her opportunity. After seeing off Camila Giorgi in the first round, Keys was even more clinical against Doi, reeling off the final 10 games of the match to triumph, 6-2, 6-0.

This was the American’s 45th victory of a highly impressive campaign that has seen her reach the second week of all four majors and break into the Top 10. The next milestone could be looming: a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

She already stands on the cusp of qualification following a semifinal run at the China Open, and a similar showing in Linz, where she takes on Océane Dodin next, will all but guarantee her place.

Also looking to secure a spot in Singapore are Garbiñe Muguruza and Dominika Cibulkova, who were equally impressive in Thursday’s final two matches. Muguruza needed barely an hour to overpower Monica Niculescu, 6-1, 6-1, while Cibulkova swept aside Annika Beck, 6-1, 6-3.

“It was a fun match – it was actually tough, but fun – because it’s a different sort of opponent and I had to be really concentrated and calm, which I did,” Muguruza said. “I’m really happy with today – she’s such a different player, she can make you feel very uncomfortable so I just went for my shots.

“I knew how she was going to play against me, so I was just playing my game and I think it worked very well.” 

Reigning champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also advanced, although she was made to work slightly harder, recovering from a slow start to defeat Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 7-6(2).

Having trailed 4-1 in the opening set, a run of four straight games helped Pavlyuchenkova turned the match around and book a quarterfinal showdown with Cibulkova.

The defending champion @NastiaPav reaches the quarterfinal #generli #WTALinz #power pic.twitter.com/nzi3IuI1n5

— WTA Linz (@WTALinz) October 13, 2016

HONG KONG, SAR – No.5 seed Caroline Wozniacki ended Jelena Jankovic’s title defense hopes in straight sets at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.

Wozniacki came into the encounter with Jankovic locked at 5-5 in their head-to-head record, but it had been two years since their last match. The resurgent Wozniacki – who’s won 17 of her last 20 matches – was able to break the tie and win 6-3, 6-2.

“I was very happy with the way I played – I think it was high level, from both of us,” Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference. “Wins like this always give a lot of confidence. I’m really pleased that I was able to win in two sets.”

Wozniacki and Jankovic traded breaks twice during a tense opening set. But then Dane found another gear with her aggressive groundstrokes and rattled off eight consecutive games to take the opening set 6-3 and go up a double break in the second, 4-0.

Jankovic managed to get one of the breaks back to narrow Wozniacki’s lead, but the resurgent Dane had pulled too far ahead, and they stayed on serve until Wozniacki closed out the match after an hour and forty-three minutes.

Excited to be in to another finals tomorrow! One more to go! #HongKong #finalno42 pic.twitter.com/p3ZYGmKnJu

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) October 15, 2016

“I’m really happy to be in another final,” Wozniacki said. It’s been a good week, and obviously it’s going to be a tough one tomorrow but I’m excited to play.”

Regardless of the result in the final, Wozniacki has already declared her post-US Open campaign and rankings comeback a success.

“I think I can be very proud of myself and the way I managed to fight back [this season],” she reflected. “Before the US Open, I was almost 80 in the rankings, now I’m back near the Top 20. It’s a big step.

“I think most importantly I’ve been playing well and getting a lot of wins in. I think that’s something I’m very proud of, and something I haven’t been through before.

“Proving to myself that I’m still one of the top players and that I’m tough to beat – regardless of how I do tomorrow or in Luxembourg – is definitely something that I could call a success.”

She sets up a final against Kristina Mladenovic after the Frenchwoman ousted Daria Gavrilova – author of yesterday’s upset over World No.1 Angelique Kerber – in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.

“It was a very difficult match, Dasha is a great player around the baseline and she’s very tricky,” Mladenovic said in her post-match press conference. “We saw her in the match against Kerber, and well, I thought it was a good fight for me out there and I’m very happy to win and be in the final in Hong Kong.”

Moscow, Russia – Elina Svitolina has admitted that she did not believe that her triumph over Serena Williams at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics was possible.