Tokyo: Shot Of The Day (Sunday)
Caroline Wozniacki had Sunday’s shot of the day at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Caroline Wozniacki had Sunday’s shot of the day at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Caroline Wozniacki takes on Sam Stosur in the first round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Watch all of the best shots from the Toray Pan Pacific Open – right here!
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Halep Books Return to Singapore
Just two days after celebrating her 25th birthday, Simona Halep secured her spot in Singapore for the third consecutive year by reaching the semifinal with a win over Madison Keys. Halep joins Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams in the Singapore lineup with the final five spots up for grabs.
Cibulkova, Kuznetsova Deliver Under Pressure
Dominika Cibulkova delivered in a big way with wins over Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova on Thursday to set up a semifinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova. The victories position her among the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard and also confirm her return to the WTA Top 10 when the latest rankings are released after Wuhan.
Kuznetsova, who now sits at No.10 on the Leaderboard, has enjoyed a late-career resurgence as she will reach her highest ranking since the 2010 French Open after Wuhan. Both players are jockeying for position on the Leaderboard, and a semifinal win will add 235 points to their totals.
Cibulkova has a chance this week to move as high as No.6 on the Leaderboard, overtaking French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza. Kuznetsova, on the other hand, has a chance to climb into the Top 8 if she can capture the title in Wuhan.
Late Season Push for Kvitova
Petra Kvitova scored a win over current WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the third round, which, arguably, could be considered the WTA match of the year.
Kvitova entered the week at No.21 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard. Projected to climb to No.18 with her results so far, a run to a second Wuhan final – she was the inaugural Wuhan champion in 2014 – would push her to around No.12. If Kvitova, also a finalist in 2014 at Beijing, could complete a Wuhan/Beijing double, she would vault into the Top 8 and be in position to qualify for the WTA Finals for the sixth straight year.
WTA FINALS – ROAD TO SINGAPORE UPDATE – Thursday, September 29th
SINGLES:
Qualified: Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep
Next to Qualify: No more qualifiers this week. All eyes will be on Beijing
Current Projected Top 8 (Remaining 5 Spots)
Contenders for Top 8 in Action:
(Current projected cut off is 3,137; points trailing the current projected cutoff)
DOUBLES:
Qualified: Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina
Next to Qualify: It is possible for two of three teams to qualify this week – Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova will qualify if they defeat Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova in quarterfinal, and either Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan or Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will book their ticket to Singapore with the title
Current Projected Top 8 (Remaining 5 Teams)
|
Babos/Shvedova |
3975 |
QF vs. Mirza/Strycova |
|
Hlavackova/Hradecka |
3775 |
lost 2R vs Bondarenko/Chuang |
|
Chan/Chan |
3760 |
SF vs winner of Babos/Shvedova & Mirza/Strycova |
|
Mattek-Sands/Safarova |
3676 |
No.5 seed, SF vs McHale/Peng |
|
Goerges/Pliskova |
3270 |
lost to Atawo/Spears in 2R |
Contenders for Top 8 in Action:
(Current projected cut off is 3,270; points trailing the current projected cutoff)
|
Atawo/Spears |
-575 |
lost to Chan Sisters in QF |
|
Xu/Zheng |
-600 |
lost Atawo/Spears in 1R |
|
Klepac/Srebotnik |
-1130 |
lost No.2 seed Chan Sisters in 2R |
|
Mirza/Strycova |
-1280 |
QF vs Babos/Shvedova |
Petra Kvitova takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
An interview with Venus Williams before her first round match at the China Open.
An interview with Peng Shuai after her win in the second round of the China Open.
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:
|
Shvedova/Babos |
3975 |
1r v Savchuk/Wang (Mon) |
|
Hlavackova/Hradecka |
3775 |
Lost 1r (Arruabarrena/Kalashnikova) |
|
Chan/Chan |
3760 |
1r bye, 2r-King/Niculescu or Xu/Zheng |
|
Goerges/Pliskova |
3390 |
1r d. Aoyama/Ninomiya , 2r vs Hingis/Vandeweghe or Irigoyen/Maria |
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)
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Xu/Zheng |
-720 |
Must reach at least QFs to stay in contention**
1r vs King/Nicuescu (Mon) |
|||
|
Mirza/Strycova |
-1005 |
Must reach at least QFs to stay in contention**
(same quarter as Goerges/Pliskova)
1r – bye; 2r vs Dabrowski/Martinez Sanchez |
|||
|
Klepac/Srebotnik |
-1230 |
8th at best, must win Beijing to stay in contention and Goerges/Pliskova do not reach SF
1r d Atawo/Spears, 2r vs Arruabarrena/Kalashnikova |
|||
**this will change and require a better result if Goerges/Pliskova advance.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
BEIJING, China – The WTA’s biggest names were out in full force to celebrate the final Premier Mandatory event of the year at the China Open, but this was no average player party.
Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki were among the names to hit the Beijing National Stadium – the iconic “Bird’s Nest Stadium” that played host to the 2008 Olympics’ Opening Ceremony – and took part in the China Open gala celebration.
The gala also served as the kickoff to the Song Qingling Foundation, which works to promote the development of tennis among Chinese children and teenagers.
Click below to check out the best photos of the night, courtesy of Visual China Group!
