Charleston: Bouchard vs. Dulgheru
Eugenie Bouchard takes on Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round of the Volvo Car Open.
Eugenie Bouchard takes on Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round of the Volvo Car Open.
SINGAPORE – For the sixth straight year and eighth time overall in her career, Agnieszka Radwanska has qualified once again for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. And this time she returns not only as the defending champion, but as the most in-form player since the US Open.
Radwanska never expected the Asia-Pacific would become the home of her best tennis, but that’s been precisely the case over the last four years. She’s won 10 titles since the start of 2013 and eight of them have come in the Asia-Pacific. Of course, the biggest title of her career came last here in Singapore, where she scrapped to qualify out of the round robin stage before beating Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals and Petra Kvitova in a thrilling three-set final to win the WTA Finals.
The 27-year-old veteran continued that season-ending momentum into 2016. She started the season with yet another title in Asia, winning the Shenzhen Open, and backed that up with a solid run to the semifinals of the Australian Open. In fact, Radwanska made the semifinals or better at five of her first six tournaments of the season, including the BNP Paribas Open, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and the Qatar Total Open.
Most notable in 2016 was Radwanska’s more disciplined schedule. She had built a career on playing as much as her body would allow and often ran the risk of arriving to the tour’s biggest tournaments injured or fatigued. This year Radwanska opted for a more limited schedule, backing herself to do well on the surfaces on which she excels. She played just three tournaments on European clay, her worst surface, and shifted to a heavier schedule during the grass season. The gamble did not pay off immediately — she lost in a thrilling three-sets to Dominika Cibulkova in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon — but playing fewer tournaments over the course of the season eventually paid off.
Radwanska found her game during the latter half of the North American hard court season, making the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open before rolling to her second title of the year at the Connecticut Open. Then, when the tour turned to Asia, Radwanska turned on the jets. Radwanska insists she doesn’t do anything differently in Asia to get the results she does. It just so happens that when she’s here, the big points go her way.
“As we know, tennis is very tight,” Radwanska told WTA insider in Beijing. “Sometimes you lose because of a couple of points. Now, I’m winning those points more often. Everything might be similar, but at the end of the day, I’m the one winning the key points. It’s not about changing something big as much as it’s about being very focused in important moments and believing in yourself, that you can do it.
“Seriously, the Asian Swing is the toughest for everyone – and for me as well! Maybe because New York is not really for me, I’m always getting home earlier so I can get a good rest and then practice really hard to do well in Asia. I guess I’m just taking my chances here.”
The Pole surged through the fall season, making the semifinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, quarterfinals at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, before rolling to her biggest title of the season at the China Open. Radwanska did not lose a set in Beijing and became just the fourth woman to own three or more Premier Mandatory titles, joining a club that includes Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka. Radwanska finished her 2016 regular season with three titles and a 51-16 record.
Having now qualified for her sixth consecutive WTA Finals, Radwanska now holds the longest streak among active players. She will also finish the season in the Top 10 for her sixth consecutive season. She has been a steady Top 10 stalwart and her ability to do so without having a typical power game makes her career all the more inspiring. Most other players rely on pure power or athleticism to work their way to the top. Radwanska’s creativity and guile proves that there is another path to the upper echelons of the game, one that can enthrall fans, light up the hot shot highlight reels, and earn her some of the best nicknames in the game.
“I really like ‘La Professora’,” Radwanska said with a smile, when asked what for her favorite nickname was. “I think it comes from Spanish and Italian coaches or players. It’s great to hear this kind of nickname. It means I playing really good, perfection tennis.”
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – 2004 Volvo Car Open champion Venus Williams made a thunderous return in Charleston, hitting 20 winners to ease past Alison Riske, 6-4, 6-2.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Charleston right here on wtatennis.com!
“It wasn’t easy,” the former No.1 told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “It was great tennis from both of us, an hour and a half of slam, bam, thank you m’am!
“I was really impressed with her; it was great to have Americans playing well.”
Keeping up a high first serve percentage, the elder of the Williams sisters hit three aces and broke serve five times in the nearly 90 minute match; despite it being her first clay court match of 2016, she still found her way to the net 26 times, winning 17 of those points. What made the difference for Venus in a battle of big hitters?
“I don’t know; I’m a little bit taller? Maybe that’s an unfair advantage,” she said with a laugh. “Thanks Mom; thanks Dad! But I think just experience definitely helped; she’s played good matches and won titles, so just the experience of playing those important points helped me a little more today.”
The No.3 seed will have an even greater height advantage in her next round as she takes on the 5’4″ Yulia Putintseva for a spot in the quarterfinals. Putintseva rallied from losing the second set of her match against 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki to serve out a titanic third set against her more experienced opponent, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Williams and Putintseva have met thrice before, with the American winning all three matches in tight, two-set matches. No doubt another advantage will be the enthusiatic Charleston crowd, who cheered for the decorated veteran throughout her second round victory.
'It's like my second home.'
Venus Williams declared her love for #Charleston following her win over Riske. #VCO2016 pic.twitter.com/eTiRAyeTQu
— Volvo Car Open (@VolvoCarOpen) April 6, 2016
“Thank you guys for rooting me on; I love being here. I love Charleston. It’s like my second home, and so I’m looking forward to the next match!”
Earlier in the day, No.7 seed Sloane Stephens won her first match since hoisting her second title of the season by defeating Danka Kovinic, 6-4, 6-3. Former Charleston finalists Lucie Safarova and Madison Keys eached dropped their opening round matches to Louisa Chirico and Laura Siegemund, respectively. Safarova, the No.4 seed and 2015 French Open finalist, was playing her first match on clay and only her fourth singles match of 2016 after illness and injury interrupted her start to the season.
Keys appeared on well on her way to moving past a tricky veteran in Siegemund, but the 28-year-old beguiled last year’s runner-up with an array of dropshots to edge out the victory in three sets.
“I think it was a very high level that we both played,” Siegemund said after the match. “I think it was a great match in general. I had chances in the first set, had a set point, but she played very well in the tough moments, so I had to be patient and wait for more chances to come.”
Third set!@LauraSiegemund forces a decider over Keys 6-7(3), 6-4! #VCO2016 https://t.co/yijErccUs8
— WTA (@WTA) April 6, 2016
Variety was the name of the game for Siegemund, who in the midst of a career-best season after reaching the third round of the Australian Open – her best-ever Grand Slam finish – back in January.
“I’m definitely a clay court player and against someone like Madison who’s a hard hitter and likes to hit fast balls, I like to mix it up, play higher, lower, try to play slices and drops. That’s just my game and I think it worked well.”
Siegemund will play another big-hitter in Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who saved four match points to defeat Kristina Mladenovic on Tuesday.
“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it much yet because I was thinking about my performance today and going through that. It’s just another match so I’ll focus, regroup and go out and try to play well again tomorrow.”
On the outer courts, No.14 seed Daria Kasatkina continued her clay court domination with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over fellow 18-year-old and former junior rival, Ana Konjuh. Kasatkina will next play Chirico for a spot in her first WTA clay court quarterfinal.
It was a tough finish for 2014 semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard, who had just leveled her match against Lourdes Domínguez Lino when she was forced to retire with a left abdominal injury; the Spanish veteran was leading the former World No.5, 6-4, 1-6, 1-0.
“I wanted to give it another game in the third set, and when I realized I couldn’t serve faster than I could serve lefty, then I thought I should probably stop playing,” she said after the match.
“It’s the same one [from last summer], which is why I’m concerned and why I did retire, to not get in the same situation as I was last year where I pushed way too much with an injury and made it worse.”
Also dealing with injury was No.2 seed Belinda Bencic, who is still dealing with back issues that forced her to retire from her match at the Miami Open. Playing 2011 runner-up Elena Vesnina, Bencic only managed two games as the Russian ran away with the affair, 6-1, 6-1.
“It wasn’t easy because Belinda is having a great season,” she said during her on-court interview. “She’s a young player in the Top 10 already. I saw at the end of the second set she started moving slowly. She had some problems with her back, but she started swinging and hitting as she could and it wasn’t easy. But I’m happy that I won this match and I’m sorry for Belinda; I hope she will be ready for the next tournaments.”
Vesnina has been surging back up the rankings following a year of inconsistent results; the former World No.21 has already earned wins over Simona Halep, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki. What’s her secret?
“Maybe because I got married? I guess so, because my results are getting better and better every week. I’m really enjoying my time here and I love Charleston. I love coming back here; my friends live here and they came to support me!”
The last match of the day was a night session match between Andrea Petkovic and Monica Puig, who roared back from 5-2 down in the openng set to defeat the 2014 champion, 7-5, 6-2.
Oh what a night!!!! Thanks for the fun and laughs and funny kiss cams ?! Cant wait for tomorrow!!! ?⭐️? pic.twitter.com/q9Mmj53VfF
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) April 7, 2016
SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova will round off a fantastic season by appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career.
Victory over Viktorija Golubic in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz confirmed Cibulkova as the eighth qualifier for the season-ending showpiece, joining Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Madison Keys in the singles field.
The 2016 season has been a comeback year for Cibulkova, as the 27-year-old claimed three titles at the Katowice Open, Aegon International Eastbourne and most recently at the Generali Ladies Linz. Cibulkova reached three additional finals at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mutua Madrid Open and the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, which helped set a career-high ranking of No.8. The Slovak also advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
“I can’t describe with words what qualifying for the WTA Finals Singapore means to me,” said Cibulkova. “After such a tough year last year, this year has been amazing – so reaching the WTA Finals is a dream come true. It was my goal to be a consistently great player and I have achieved that this year. I want to enjoy it, play good tennis and end the year the best way I can.”
The current Road to Singapore Leaderboard as follows (as of October 10, 2016):
Angelique Kerber takes on Kristina Kucova in the third round of the Volvo Car Open.
As the Kremlin Cup gets underway, the tournament’s stars, including Elena Vesnina, Ekaterina Makarova, Ekaterina Ostapenko, Shelby Rogers and Belinda Bencic have been mingling.
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Alizé Cornet in the second round of the Kremlin Cup.
Daria Kasatkina takes on Carla Suárez Navarro in the second round of the Kremlin Cup.
An interview with Julia Goerges after her win in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.
Karolina Pliskova has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Qatar Total Open.