Tennis News

HONG KONG, SAP – Caroline Wozniacki progressed to the semifinals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open thanks to a convincing 6-3, 7-5 victory over Wang Qiang.

The Dane, who is yet to drop a set at the tournament, is now the top-seeded player still in the draw following World No.1 Angelique Kerber’s shock defeat to Daria Gavriova earlier on Friday.

Wozniacki dominated her opponent in the opening set, during which she dropped only three points on serve, while continuously searching for a break, which she eventually found in the penultimate game thanks to three unforced errors in a row. A forehand winner wrapped up the set.

Though the Wozniacki serve was not as dominant in the second, the 26-year-old was still firmly on top and broke in the seventh game, with Wang sending a pair of groundstrokes long as she threw away a 30-0 lead. Wozniacki’s victory was delayed briefly when Wang broke back to make it 5-5 but she was unable to consolidate the break and the No.5 seed got a much-deserved win.

“She’s a good fighter, I think she plays well and she has some good groundstrokes and it was a good match,” she said afterwards.

“I take one match at a time. The trophy’s what I’m here for and I’d love to win a trophy, no doubt but there’s some strong competition left and I’m just going to see what happens.

“I’ve been sidelined for so long and definitely that’s been difficult mentally but ever since my body has gotten back on track I’m playing so that’s definitely a positive.”

Wozniacki will face Jelena Jankovic, who kept up her defence of the title by fighting back to overcome Alizé Cornet, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Cornet, fresh from her victory over Venus Williams, made the early running, a superb backhand forcing Jankovic to net on break point. Jankovic’s slump proved to be brief and a long forehand gave the World No.49 a lead she did not squander.

The Serb was far quicker out of the blocks in the second set, winning the first four games. Her progress was curtailed when Cornet responded in kind but Jankovic, having found her serve to move 5-4 up, snatched the set when the 26-year-old sent a backhand long.

Cornet appeared to be nursing an injury and consistently needed medical attention, which helped Jankovic race into a commanding 5-1 lead in the decider. Cornet delayed victory by breaking back once but Jankovic booked her place in the semifinal the next game.

Finally, Kristina Mladenovic set up a last-four tie with Daria Gavrilova, who conquered Angelique Kerber earlier on Friday, by beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Hong Kong, SAR – Caroline Wozniacki’s strong finish to the season continued when she lifted the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open singles title at the expense of Kristina Mladenovic.

The Dane, who won the Toray Pan Pacific Open at the end of September, put in a fine performance to breeze past the 23-year-old, 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2 and complete her impressive end to the season, having had a 13-14 win-loss ratio before the US Open and a 19-3 one since.

Caroline Wozniacki was 13-14 this year before the US Open.

From New York until now: 19-3 with two titles and back in the Top 20.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 16, 2016

Wozniacki started the match at a canter, breaking the World No.54 in her opening service game, coming to net on break point after running Mladenovic off the court.

Wozniacki was hitting the ball sweetly, able to get her groundstrokes deep and powerful and a second break was to follow after she forced a tame backhand into the net.

After just 23 minutes, Mladenovic found herself serving to stay in the set and avoid a bagel, which she achieved thanks to a measured backhand volley into the corner. All it did was delay Wozniacki, who was undeterred in wrapping up the set.

Mladenovic underwent lengthy treatment before the second set, but returned to hold the first game, although she was still struggling with her first serve.

Wozniacki had looked likely to cement her advantage and break once more but, serving at 1-2, she contrived to let a 40-0 lead slip thanks and lost serve after sending a routine forehand into the tramlines. The advantage was short-lived, with Mladenovic sending a stroke wide to hand Wozniacki a break.

Mladenovic moved ahead once more thanks to a wayward backhand from the Dane, who struck back again to level the set immediately thanks to a pair of excellent returns at deuce.

The match settled into a rhythm from then on and a tie-break was needed to decide the set. After a frenetic breaker, Wozniacki sent a backhand into the net to hand Mladenovic two set points, and she only needed one.

However, her recovery was only brief and after Wozniacki had saved three break points in the opening game of the decider, she raced into a commanding lead.The first break came when Mladenovic sent a shot into the net and a second followed with an overcooked forehand.

Mladenovic had a partial recovery, holding serve then breaking back when Wozniacki was serving for the title, but the 26-year-old finally got over the line with her second match point.

LUXEMBOURG – Caroline Garcia battled into the second round of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open thanks to a 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4 victory over Anett Kontaveit.

Earning her spot thanks to a title run at the Generali Ladies Linz – her third of the season – Dominika Cibulkova heads to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global to finish what she started two seasons ago.

“In 2014 I was very close [to Singapore], and that’s what made me very intense and want it too much,” she told WTA Insider after winning in Eastbourne. “I was over-motivated and it didn’t happen.”

Cibulkova had long been among the toughest outs in tennis when a run to the 2014 Australian Open final – in which she ousted Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska en route – boosted the boisterous veteran into a new stratosphere. She who thrived as a chaser suddenly became the chased.

“Playing in the finals of a Grand Slam is a big thing. I think the other players always respected me, but when you earn a big result play a consistently high level of tennis, you become one of the best in the world.”

Adjusting to Elite Eight levels of expectation proved a slow process, as the specter of a WTA Finals debut weighed the typically fleet of foot Slovak down throughout the second half of that season.

“If you get in your head, I don’t think you can do well,” she mused at the Western & Southern Open’s All-Access Hour in August. “Whenever I really, really want to win, I never do.”

Eager to shake off the letdown, she gamely backed up her Melbourne run to start 2015, dismissing former No.1 Victoria Azarenka in one of the best matches of the year en route to the quarterfinals.

All the while, Cibulkova soldiered on with a chronic Achilles injury; initially planning to postpone the surgery until autumn, the Slovak was suddenly off the circuit after Antwerp, returning after a four month stretch that ultimately set her back a year.

“It wasn’t easy to come back. I was around No.60 or No.70 in the world, and facing top players in the first round because you’re not seeded. You really have to play well to get back to where you were before, and I think that’s the hardest part.

“If you can manage that, then I think it shows you’re a good player.”

Cibulkova steadied herself at smaller events, reaching the semifinals in Hobart and the final of Acapulco. But the headline-grabbing upsets for which she’d become famous eluded her through the spring, failing to convert a match point against Agnieszka Radwanska at the BNP Paribas Open, and losing in similar style to Garbiñe Muguruza at the Miami Open.

“I was waiting for something at the big tournaments because at Indian Wells and Miami, I lost really close matches,” she said at the Mutua Madrid Open. “Playing in Katowice helped me quite a lot; I actually didn’t want to go there, but when I lost in the second round of Miami, I sat down with my coach and we said, ‘I’m playing well; I just want to go there and play matches.'”

Five wins and a first title in two years at the Katowice Open was the kickstart Cibulkova craved; she avenged the Indian Wells loss to Radwanska to reach the finals in Madrid, and arrives in Singapore having won her last three matches against the reigning WTA Finals winner, including a Wimbledon thriller that will likely be another match-of-the-year candidate.

“I was able to play well because I could enjoy my tennis without stressing too much,” she said in Stanford, attributing the shift to sessions with a mental coach.

“It’s something that’s helped a lot,” she explained to WTA Insider in Eastbourne. “Now I realize everything I’m doing on the court, and I’m doing it with purpose. I don’t lose my emotions so much.

“I’m not saying it’ll be like this all the time because nothing is perfect, but I hope to keep it like this as long as I can.”

Tied with Radwanska at 49 match wins (second behind World No.1 Angelique Kerber), the Slovak newlywed leads the tour in three-set wins and is 5-3 against the Top 10, a group she rejoined for the first time since the her surgery after reaching the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

“I played really well during the whole year on all surfaces,” she noted in press that week. “It’s just something, where maybe I’m more mature and just doing things better. That’s what helps make me be a more consistent player, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to be.”

Up to a career-high of No.8, the sky’s the limit for Cibulkova, who’ll aim to be better than her best in the last tournament of the season.

“I’m not the tallest player on tour. I always say I need to have something extra to beat these players or even be on the same level. Fitness is one of my things. I need to be more than hundred percent. My physical preparation is really, really hard and tough because I need to be ready more than the other girls who can serve aces and things like that.

“Right now, I’m just playing good tennis, and that’s what keeps me going.”

SINGAPORE – World No.1 Angelique Kerber laid down a marker at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with an impressive straight-sets win over Simona Halep on Tuesday.

Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!

After edging a closely contested opening set, Kerber raced through the second, wrapping up a 6-4, 6-2 victory in an hour and 22 minutes.

“I’m feeling very good here. I’m really enjoying being back here on the center court and playing my best tennis,” Kerber told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “I think we played a great match today.

“I try every time I step on court to give my best. Of course every match here is tough – it’s the best eight players in the world – and I’m just trying to focus on my game.”

Kerber’s concentration wavered only briefly in a high-quality opening set, surrendering an early lead to allow Halep to edge 4-3 ahead. The following game she found herself in further bother, Halep threatening another break only to be denied by a pin-point forehand pass.

This proved to be the turning point, the German breaking the next game before calmly serving out the set. She rammed home her dominance in the second set, breaking twice more and committing just three unforced errors to wrap up victory.

Kerber, who also won her first match, will next face Madison Keys. Should she take at least a set from the American on Thursday, she will be guaranteed a place in the semifinals. Even if Kerber fails to do so, she would still advance unless Halep defeats Cibulkova in straight sets.