Montréal: Kucova Interview
An interview with Kristina Kucova after her win in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
An interview with Kristina Kucova after her win in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Qatar Total Open,
An interview with Victoria Azarenka after her semifinal win at the Brisbane International.
MONTRÉAL, Canada – Simona Halep moved impressively into the last eight of the Rogers Cup with a straight set win over Karolina Pliskova on Thursday.
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Sixty-eight minutes was all it took for Halep, the runner-up 12 months ago, to defuse the big-serving Pliskova and complete a 6-3, 6-3 win.
“I’m happy that I won today. It’s nice to be in the quarterfinals again, a second year in a row,” Halep said during her on-court interview. “I enjoy my time here and I’m looking forward to the next round already.”
That match will pit her against Daria Kasatkina after she upset No.7 seed Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-3.
If Halep reproduces the level of tennis that dispatched Pliskova she will prove hard to beat; the Romanian barely put a foot out of place, hitting 22 winners and just nine unforced errors to extend her post-Wimbledon unbeaten streak.
As early as the second game, Halep’s agility and movement was putting her in the ascendency, instinctively darting right to flash a forehand past Pliskova. A couple of points later she had the break, the same wing once again outmaneuvering the Czech.
While Halep was unable to hang onto this advantage she was soon back in front, dragging Pliskova all over the court to open up a 4-2 lead. This time she made Pliskova pay, wrapping up the set with another fizzing forehand a few games later.
Her dominance was even more apparent in the second set, the No.5 seed taking four of the last five games to secure her passage through.
“She’s a good player, I knew that well – I’ve played her a couple of times already this year, so I knew she was going to be very strong,” Halep added. “But I played some good tennis, a high level, and I moved very well.”
Following victory on home soil in Bucharest, Halep has now won seven straight matches, and 20 of her past 23: “I can say that I’m confident, I have a few matches in a row that I won. I’m coming here without expectation, just to enjoy the tennis and to do my best always.”
Les Petits As @banquenationale ont eu la chance d'échanger des balles avec @Simona_Halep après sa victoire. pic.twitter.com/3eUo53zeta
— Coupe Rogers (@CoupeRogers) 28 July 2016
DOHA, Qatar – Zhang Shuai recorded one of the biggest wins of her career, overcoming No.5 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the last eight – her fourth on the Premier level – at the Qatar Total Open.
Muguruza, who was playing her second match of the day – overcoming Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay 6-3, 6-2 after their rain delayed match – quickly found herself in trouble against the Chinese No.1 – herself having to beat Timea Babos earlier in the afternoon – in the first meeting between the pair.
“I woke up thinking that I was going to have a very tough day,” Muguruza said after. “This morning I warm up at 9:00 in the morning. I played pretty good the first match. The second one, Zhang played very well. The conditions were difficult. There was a lot of wind. She was finding her shots. At the end I think was two points difference and they went to her.”
Thunderous hitting from the baseline saw Zhang secure back-to-back breaks of the former French Open champion’s serve for a surprise early 4-1 lead. Muguruza’s fighting spirit helped her break back to love and restore parity as a tight opening set went to a tie-break.
It was the impressive Zhang from there, nailing an impressive 83% of first serves to take the opener as Muguruza double faulted on set point.
.@zhangshuai121 claims an epic rally! @QatarTennis pic.twitter.com/oOgyNEfoAA
— WTA (@WTA) February 15, 2017
The second set followed a similarly tight pattern but this time it was Muguruza with the crucial break at 4-2 as Zhang hit a forehand long, the single break proving sufficient for the Spaniard to serve out and take the match to a deciding set.
The former Australian Open quarterfinalist staved off three break points before breaking herself with a forehand onto the line.
With Muguruza struggling on her second serve, Zhang broke yet again and consolidated for a 5-2 lead but the Spaniard is not a grand slam champion for nothing and roared back to level at 5-5.
What an upset!@zhangshuai121 ousts Muguruza 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5! #Qatar_Total_Open pic.twitter.com/00mkn0hr03
— WTA (@WTA) February 15, 2017
Zhang, making only her third appearance at Doha, was not to be denied and a further break at 6-5 sealed the win and her best showing to date. The win marked her fifth career Top 10 win and first of the season after previously earning wins over Dinara Safina, Petra Kvitova, and two over Simona Halep in 2016.
Up next for the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai semifinalist is either No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova or Caroline Garcia. Meanwhile Muguruza said she is looking forward to moving on to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“I think I’m going to go as soon as possible,” she said. “I want to go in Dubai, try to have a few days of training, recovery take it very seriously. I think Dubai is a big tournament this year for us. I want to do well there.”
Victoria Azarenka has Friday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
MONTRÉAL, Canada – Simona Halep capped off a productive Friday afternoon at the Rogers Cup by teaming up with Monica Niculescu to reach the doubles semifinals.
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A few hours after defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the singles quarterfinals, Halep was back out on court alongside Niculescu. If Halep was feeling any fatigue she hid it well, playing her part in a surprise 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 win over No.2 seeds and reigning French Open champions Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.
The last time Halep made it this far in doubles at a WTA event came alongside Maria Elena Camerin in Linz in 2012, since when she has focused her attention primarily on singles. However, her decision to take a wildcard with fellow Romanian Niculescu to help acclimatize to the North American cement has proven to be an inspired one.
In front of a healthy number of their compatriots on the Banque Nationale court, both players rose to the occasion during an entertaining finale. With Halep imperious from the baseline, they rallied from 7-4 down to complete the upset when Niculescu fired a backhand past the stranded Mladenovic.
“Playing with Monica, she’s very tough and very concentrated during the matches. But she motivates me pretty well,” Halep said. “Today it was a crazy match. The opponents are playing well; they won the French Open, it was a good win for us.”
Meeting them for a place in the final will be Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik, who saw off Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Heather Watson, 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.
On the other side of the draw, there was another surprise as Christina McHale and Asia Muhammad knocked out top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. Early breaks in both sets made the difference in a tight contest as the American duo ran out 6-4, 6-3 winners.
Restoring a sense of order at the Stade Uniprix were No.4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, who moved one step closer to their first title since 2014 with a 7-6(1), 6-0 victory over Australian wildcards Daria Gavrilova and Samantha Stosur.
Semifinal @katemakarova1 @CoupeRogers ?Полуфинал? #teamrussia #teamvesninamakarova pic.twitter.com/rIpPagfB7x
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) 29 July 2016
Samantha Stosur was the latest player to send a seed out of the Qatar Total Open, beating eighth seed Barbora Strycova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
HOBART, Australia – No.2 seed Camila Giorgi had a tough battle to start her week at the Hobart International, but the big-hitting Italian had few problems against rising Japanese star Nao Hibino to reach her first WTA quarterfinal of the season, winning, 6-2, 6-3.
Play in Hobart suffered a slight delay to start as rain threatened to wash out the opening matches. Known for her effortless power, Giorgi made up for lost time in style against Hibino, maintaining a healthy 68% on first serves, and only dropping serve once per set.
“Every match is different,” Giorgi said after the match. “The conditions are different. The important thing is to go on so you can get better.”
Hibino had been looking strong to start the season, having already made the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic, but Giorgi – who pushed Angelique Kerber to three sets at the Brisbane Internaitonal – was too strong over the one hour, 11 minute match.
Giorgi next plays the winner of the second round match between No.8 seed Alison Van Uytvanck and Eugenie Bouchard, who lost just three games in her first round match against former nemesis Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
“It’s just a match, so it doesn’t matter who I play. I will be focused on me, like always.”
More to come…
Madison Keys takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.