Tokyo: Osaka Interview
An interview with Naomi Osaka after her win in the semifinal of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
An interview with Naomi Osaka after her win in the semifinal of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
WUHAN, China – Simona Halep is aiming to end her hex in China this week at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. The World No.5 was forced to withdraw from last week’s Toray Pan Pacific Open due to a hamstring injury and she’s now struggling with every tennis player’s worst enemy: jet lag.
“I practiced two times already here,” Halep told reporters at WTA All-Access Hour on Sunday. “I feel good. On the court I feel a little bit tired. I cannot sleep like I do always.”
“Last night I slept four hours, so I am much better than the first night,” she said with a laugh.
Coming off a strong summer swing that saw her win two titles (Bucharest and Montréal) and suffer just three losses since the French Open – all to either No.1 Angelique Kerber or No.2 Serena Williams – Halep comes into the Asian swing looking to qualify for the WTA Finals for a third consecutive year. Currently No.3 in the Road to Singapore, the 24-year-old is in good position to lock it up sooner rather than later. But to do so she’ll need to break her sub-par trend of results in China at this time of year.
Although Halep won in Shenzhen two Januarys ago, she is just 6-6 on Chinese soil during the fall swing, with her best result coming in 2014, when she made the quarterfinals of the China Open. That also happens to be the only instance in four appearances that she made it past the first round there. In her two appearances in Wuhan, her best result came last year in the third round, where she lost to Johanna Konta.
“I don’t feel that it’s tough to find the motivation and the energy,” Halep said when asked about the Asian swing, who added that though her hamstring may not be healed, she’s been able to practice pain-free for two days. “I feel okay. But here everything is different: food, people, the country is different. It’s not easy to adapt so quickly.”
Halep will be without her coach Darren Cahill in Wuhan. He plans to rejoin the team next week in Beijing.
“I’m not tired mentally,” Halep said. “I’m confident. But you never know here. Every match is difficult at this level. I just want to give my best, to do as much as I can to this end of the season. It’s important, because last years, previous years, I didn’t play that good. So I want to change it.”
Halep will play her opening match against her countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu on Monday.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Agnieszka Radwanska moved one step closer to a sixth straight appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
After reaching the final four of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the 2015 champion moved back into the Top 4 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, bolstering her qualification chances as the Asian Swing gets underway. Switching places with US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova, either woman could lock up spots in Singapore with strong results at this week’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Pliskova reached the third round in Wuhan after a straight sets opening round win over Lucie Safarova, while Radwanska makes her Wuhan debut on Tuesday against Ekaterina Makarova.
Also into the third round of Wuhan is Simona Halep, who is ranked No.3 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. Depending on other results, Halep could clinch her spot in Singapore should she reach the final – or perhaps the semifinal – in Wuhan. Halep is looking to qualify for the WTA Finals for a third straight year, having finished runner-up to former No.1 Serena Williams.
Tokyo champion Caroline Wozniacki rocketed up 13 spots to No.20 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, but the former No.1 faces an uphill climb should she aspire to make it back to Singapore for the first time since 2014. After winning her first title of the season in Tokyo, the Dane would likely have to win three more titles in Wuhan, Beijing, and Moscow to have a hope of qualifying – though her chances remain solid of making a second straight appearance at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Click here to check out the full Road to Singapore leaderboard
It’s time for the sweet 16 at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open! Four of the top five seeds will be in action, and eight Top 10 players will take the court in total. Chris Oddo previews the action right here at wtatennis.com.
Wednesday
Round of 16
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs. [14] Petra Kvitova (CZE #16)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 5-4
Key Stat: Kerber is one of four players to have won three titles this season (also Azarenka, Halep and Stephens).
Angelique Kerber stretched her current winning streak to eight matches on Tuesday with a three-set win over Kristina Mladenovic, and the German has won 20 of her last 23 since playing her first hardcourt match of the summer. It’s autumn now, but the World No.1 has shown no sign of slowing down. On Wednesday she’ll face Petra Kvitova for the tenth time, and Kerber won’t need to think too hard to remember their last meeting. Kerber defeated Kvitova for the third consecutive time in the round of 16 at the US Open. From there the 28-year-old went on to win her second major title and became the WTA’s 22nd World No.1, while Kvitova has parted ways with coach Frantisek Cermak and continued to search for the missing ingredients in her game. Though she has not achieved the results she wanted in 2016 (she’s yet to reach a final), Kvitova did win the Bronze medal in Rio and has won 14 of her last 18 matches. Kvitova is a very dangerous player at the moment and she has proven that by trouncing Jelena Ostapenko and Elina Svitolina in back-to-back matches in Wuhan. Kerber will likely have to summon her best tennis to win on Wednesday, but it’s something the German has been able to do pretty much without fail in 2016.
Pick: Kerber in three
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #4) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #22)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 9-4
Key Stat: Wozniacki has won 12 of her last 13 matches.
Caroline Wozniacki keeps winning. And winning. The Dane notched her 500th career WTA win on Tuesday, defeating Katerina Siniakova to make it 12 victories in her last 13 matches. Wozniacki’s run of form has been remarkable, but when one considers that she carried a 13-14 record into the US Open, it’s even more mind-boggling. Confidence breeds confidence and with each passing win Wozniacki becomes even tougher to defeat. “It’s been clicking for me, probably for about a month and a half now,” Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference on Tuesday. “Even before the US Open, for about a month, I felt really good during practice. It just took me a little bit to get that out when I was playing matches.” On Wednesday Wozniacki will battle it out with Agnieszka Radwanska for the second consecutive week. The Dane eked out a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 win against Radwanska in the Tokyo semifinals, and she says there are no secrets when these two friends get together on court. “We’ve known each other for 15 years or something, so I’m pretty sure we know each other’s game by now,” she said. “If we don’t, then we have a problem. I think we know what to expect. It’s just who can execute best tomorrow.” Can Wozniacki keep this remarkable run going, or is it time for Radwanska to exact a little friendly revenge?
Pick: Radwanska in three
[6] Venus Williams (USA #7) vs. [9] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10)
Head-to-head: Tied, 4-4
Key Stat: Venus Williams has won 21 of her last 30 tiebreaks.
They last met nearly six years ago at the WTA Finals. Since then, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova have had their ups and downs, but in 2016 it has been up, up, up, as is indicated by the pair’s current Top 10 rankings. That said, both Williams and Kuznetsova have their work cut out if they want to claim a coveted Singapore slot. Kuznetsova currently stands at 11th in the Road to Singapore leaderboard standings and Williams is tied for 13th. With very little wiggle room and precious points on the line, a victory today is crucial. Both players breezed through their second-round tilts in straight sets on Tuesday, so they should have plenty of energy left to let the fur fly when they meet for the ninth time in a matchup that promises to be intense from start to finish. The margins should be very thin—Williams and Kuznetsova have split their previous eight meetings and their previous two hardcourt meetings
Pick: Kuznetsova in three
[8] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. [Q] Daria Kasatkina (RUS #28)
Head-to-head: Keys leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Keys is just one point behind No.8 Carla Suárez Navarro in the Road to Singapore standings.
One of the more intriguing battles of the round of 16 in Wuhan pits the two youngest players remaining in the draw against one another. But don’t let the age fool you—Madison Keys and Daria Kasatkina can compete at the elite level. Keys, 21, is the more accomplished player with the bigger game, but Kasatkina is a tremendous athlete that plays a refreshingly diverse brand of tennis and possesses an impressive on-court demeanor. Keys rattled the cage of Kasatkina at this year’s Olympics, dropping just four games against the rising Russian, and it will be interesting to see what Kasatkina learned from the experience of dealing with Keys’ jaw-dropping power. Did the 19-year-old discover a way to more effectively attack the American? Or will it be more of the same on Wednesday in Wuhan?
Pick: Keys in three
Around the Grounds: With so much attention on World No.1 Angelique Kerber, not much is being said about No.5-seeded Karolina Pliskova.The US Open runner-up fell in her first match at Tokyo but recovered nicely by defeating Lucie Safarova in straight sets on Monday in Wuhan. As one of the biggest breakout stories of the summer, all eyes will be on Pliskova on Wednesday to see if she can handle the feisty attack of Dominika Cibulkova. Also slightly under the radar this week is No.4-seeded Simona Halep. The Romanian will bid to reach the quarterfinals at Wuhan for the first time when she meets the ever dangerous Yaroslava Shvedova in Wednesday’s first match on Centre Court.
Also in Action: Great Britain’s Johanna Konta will continue her push for the Top 10 when she takes on No.7-seeded Carla Suárez Navarro in a first-time meeting, and Jelena Jankovic will look to back up her upset of Garbiñe Muguruza when she faces the crafty Barbora Strycova for the first time since 2011.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan – Nao Hibino stayed on course to defend her Tashkent Open title after Lesia Tsurenko retired from their quarterfinal on Thursday.
Watch live action this week from Tashkent and Wuhan on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Tsurenko arrived in Tashkent fresh from a run to the title in Guangzhou, and against Hibino this hectic schedule finally took its toll when a back injury brought her seven-match winning streak to a sudden end.
The anticlimactic conclusion to the contest was all the more disappointing given the competitive nature of the set they did play; after trading breaks, Hibino fended off two set points to take it 7-6(6). “I’m relieved after winning the first set. It was very close and I managed to hold on and fight in spite of being down,” Hibino said.
Standing between Hibino and another final in the Uzbekistani capital is World No.114 Denisa Allertova, a surprise 7-5, 6-4 winner over No.2 seed Kirsten Flipkens. Allertova produced the steadier tennis to edge the opening set, before claiming the decisive break in the final game of the match courtesy of a brilliant running passing shot.
In the top half of the draw, Kateryna Kozlova reached her second semifinal of the year after taking little over an hour to defeat Stefanie Voegele, 6-3, 6-3.
“I’ve played here before and made it to the quarterfinals last year, it’s great to play here,” Kozlova said. “I started to play aggressively from the word go and put my opponent under pressure early. I think I played brave and aggressive tennis, I’m happy with my level.”
Her reward is a meeting with big-serving Kristyna Pliskova, who fired down 12 aces during a 6-3, 6-4 win over Irina Khromacheva.
WUHAN, China – No.3 seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova reached their third final in four events together at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, defeating No.6 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3, 7-6(6), and No.2 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, back-to-back to book a championship match against No.5 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
Watch live action from Wuhan on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Rained out on Thursday, Mirza and Strycova edged past Babos and Shvedova, who needed to win Wuhan to confirm their place in the WTA Finals, and recovered from a second set wobble to dispatch the Chan sisters to reach the championship match over the reigning US Open winners. Strycova has dealt with an especially busy week, having played two singles matches yesterday on her way to a quarterfinal finish.
“So we are obviously very happy to be in our third final together,” Mirza said after the match. “The schedule has been really tough – especially for Barbora – but we are fighting every point and every match and enjoying ourselves playing together.”
Mirza and Strycova first paired up en route to a winning week at the Western & Southern Open, and have lost just one match since then, taking the Toray Pan Pacific Open and winning three more matches in Wuhan over two pairs hoping to book their spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
By reaching final at @wuhanopentennis Mirza/Strycova move to No.11 on #RoadToSingapore Leaderboard. Can move to No.9 with title https://t.co/GZbcuGkWCF
— Kevin Fischer (@Kfish_WTA) September 30, 2016
The World No.1 qualified first for Singapore with former partner Martina Hingis back in May, but the results with Strycova put her new partnership up to No.11 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard; a win in the final over Mattek-Sands and Safarova would bump them up to No.9. Should Mirza qualify with both teams, the doubles threat could earn the right to play with either Strycova or Hingis – with whom she won the title last year.
Mattek-Sands and Safarova had to do double duty on Thursday, winning their second round and quarterfinal rounds in straight sets; the team was equally imperious on Friday against Christina McHale and Peng Shuai, winning, 6-4, 6-3. Playing their first tournament since winning their third Grand Slam title, team “Bucie” are on a nine-match winning streak and are currently in pole position make their second straight appearance in Singapore.
Highlights from final action at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
BEIJING, China – The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is just under three weeks away, and with just three of the Top 8 players have already been determined in singles – while four teams have qualified in doubles – the China Open will be a crucial battleground for those aiming to earn enough points to book their ticket to Singapore.
The conclusion of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open saw Simona Halep become the third woman to qualify for Singapore after her run to the semifinals. For the Romanian, it marks the third straight year she has qualified for Singapore, having reached the final on her 2014 debut.
In doubles, darkhorses Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova flipped the script in Wuhan by clinching their spot at the WTA Finals by winning the doubles event over a surging Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova. Mirza and Strycova remain outside the Top 8 since forming at the Western & Southern Open, and will need a strong result in Beijing to have a hope of crashing a party the World No.1 herself is already set to attend with former partner, Martina Hingis.
As the China Open enters its third round, defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska is a win away from returning to Singapore and making her eighth WTA Finals appearance in the last nine years after knocking out Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. Currently into the second round in Beijing, Karolina Pliskova could also make her WTA Finals debut by reaching the last eight.
2015 semifinalist Garbiñe Muguruza is very much in the hunt for a return to Singapore of her own, and could book her spot by reaching the final.
Click here to check out a full list of senarios, here for the updated Road to Singapore leaderboard and here to buy tickets for the WTA Finals!
BEIJING, China – No.4 seed Simona Halep overcame Yanina Wickmayer and the worst of the Beijing weather to take her place in the third round of the China Open.
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On a day disrupted by heavy rain, Halep made the most of a brief respite to swat aside Wickmayer, 6-2, 6-2. In the third round she will face Chinese No.1 Zhang Shuai.
After an even start, Halep took control of proceedings with a run of three straight games to close out the opening set. This grip tightened when Wickmayer threw in a couple of errors to surrender serve at the start of the second set, going on to wrap up victory after just 59 minutes.
Simona with a boom forehand! ?
Notice how she hustles to center of court afterward too.#ChinaOpen @Simona_Halep pic.twitter.com/xkUeEn5Y15— Tennis Captions (@tenniscaptions) 4 October 2016
Next she takes on her conqueror at this January’s Australian Open, Zhang. Unlike Halep, Zhang enjoyed the luxury of playing underneath the roof, eventually seeing off Alison Riske, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), in a match lasting over two and a half hours.
Also advancing in the bottom half of the draw was Svetlana Kuznetsova. A semifinalist last week in Wuhan, Kuznetsova continued her good form by beating Misaki Doi, 6-1, 7-5.
Angelique Kerber had a second shot of the day on Wednesday at the China Open.