Tennis News

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.”

NEW YORK, NY, USA – A journey which began waiting around at the tournament supervisor’s office ended with Laura Siegemund and Mate Pavic hoisting aloft their first Grand Slam trophy on tennis’ grandest stage.

In front of an unashamedly partisan Arthur Ashe crowd, Siegemund and Pavic spoiled the party by upsetting No.7 seeds CoCo Vandeweghe and Rajeev Ram, 6-4, 6-4.

“I’m just stunned a little bit at this point. I’m very happy. I think we played a great match today, Siegemund said. “We did play a great tournament. All the other matches were, yeah, very solid also in the important situations, although we never played together.

“So it’s just amazing that even in the finals we could just play the same, you know, stay focused and stick to the system that was working the whole week. He was, as the British say, cool as a cucumber. He was cooler than me maybe at times. I was very glad about that.”

Despite both teams carving out several chances, the first set went on serve until 4-4, before a mistake at the net from Vandeweghe leading to the ultimately decisive break. The unseeded duo continued to exert the pressure in the second set breaking Vandeweghe to secure a milestone victory.

“In all the matches that we played, we broke the guy’s serve a lot of times,” Pavic said. “Like even today Rajeev was serving big and we broke his serve twice.

“We were putting the balls back, returning good, makes the them feel pressure and then it’s not easy to make the point. So I think that make a huge difference in all the matches that we played so far.”

They had never met before.
They didn't know who one another was.
But now Siegemund-Pavic are in Mixed Dubs Final. pic.twitter.com/Kw6W3yjXCp

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 9, 2016

More to follow…

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – World No.153 Chang Kai-Chen provided further evidence of the current strength in depth on tour by knocking out Roberta Vinci in the first round of the BMW Malaysian Open.

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Following a succession of surprise results during the WTA’s recent double-header in Dubai and Doha, Chang became the latest underdog to have her day, producing a rousing early evening comeback to defeat top seed Vinci, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

The result, though, is by no means an isolated one. In fact, Chang has made a habit of defeating Top 10 players, Vinci joining a list that also includes Dinara Safina, Marion Bartoli and Samantha Stosur.

“It’s always an honor to play a Top 10 player and I really enjoyed the whole match,” Chang said. “I told myself after the first set to be more patient, so I slowed everything down, kept more balls in and just played with her. The result came out well!

“She’s very difficult to play because she slices and spins it, and I’m very happy I could win this match.”

No.2 seed Elina Svitolina fared better rather better in her first-round outing, requiring only 47 minutes to defeat qualifier Miyu Kato.

There were mixed fortunes for Svitolina in the Middle East, as a semifinal in Dubai was followed by a surprise first-round loss to Denisa Allertova in Doha. And Svitolina took out her frustration on qualifier Kato, breaking five times, whilst giving up just seven points on her own serve, en route to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Equally impressive was Svitolina’s next opponent, Risa Ozaki, who defeated Elizaveta Kulichkova, 6-0, 6-2.

“I’ll try and do the same thing – play the ball and not the opponent, which is the most important thing to me,” Svitolina said. “I think she’s playing well. She had a good win today and it’s always tough to play a qualifier, because they’ve had a couple of matches and it’s completely different conditions here than to Doha and Dubai.”

A fixture inside the Top 20 for the best part of a year now, Svitolina is flying the flag for Ukrainian tennis and this summer will have the opportunity to represent her motherland on the greatest sporting stage of all.

“The Olympics is a big event. It’s the first time for me so it’s going to be a really different experience and it’s amazing that I’m going to represent my country and play for Ukraine. It’s just a great thing.”

After last year’s French Open, Svitolina overtook Alona Bondarenko as Ukraine’s highest-ranked player of all time, a status that is a source of great pride: “It feels really great since I am the highest ever Ukrainian woman. So for me it was a big thing after Roland Garros when I became one of the highest.”

Elsewhere there were wins for Naomi Broady, Zarina Diyas and Yang Zhaoxuan.

Diyas caused the day’s biggest upset, knocking out No.4 seed Annika Beck, 7-5, 6-3. Broady, meanwhile, fired down 17 aces to win a see-saw encounter with Klara Koukalova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and Zhaoxuan fought back to defeat No.8 seed Zheng Saisai, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

DUBAI, UAE – German wildcard Mona Barthel put on a strong display to kick off the first night session of this year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, knocking out former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-1, 6-3. Top seed Angelique Kerber looms in the next round.

“I think I played a really good match,” she said after the match. “Jelena’s a really good player so it’s always tough to play against her. I’m just really grateful that I got the wildcard to even have the opportunity to play here.”

A former World No.23, Barthel spent most of 2016 dealing with a serious of illnesses and injuries, causing her to fall out of the Top 100. She kickstarted the new year with a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open – her career-best result at a major tournament – and brought her signature firepower to Dubai, rolling past the Serb in just under an hour.

“I just went out there wanting to enjoy it. I think I served well and played an aggressive match from the beginning, so that helped a lot.”

Absolutely brilliant from Barthel! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/kdT1GfjOkY

— WTA (@WTA) February 19, 2017

Jankovic herself suffered through an injury-addled 12 months, and the lack of matches was evident from the 2008 US Open finalist, who hit an uncharacteristic 28 unforced errors to just nine winners. Barthel, by contrast, struck 18 winners to 15 unforced errors, a solid differential for one who plays with such razor thin margins.

Still, the German was made to work for it in the end; Jankovic leveled the second set after falling behind an early break, and saved the first two match points before booking a second round encounter with her countrywoman and two-time Grand Slam champion.

Can @Jelena_Jankovic mount a comeback? #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/yYQDkmj84j

— WTA (@WTA) February 19, 2017

“The last couple of matches, I had some difficulties closing them out. So I was probably thinking too much about that, but when I got the break I thought, ‘Nope, it’s not going to happen again!’ I was just trying to stick to my gameplan, and not to think too much.”

Kerber and Barthel split their last four encounters, though the most recent came in 2013, which the former No.1 took in straight sets at the French Open. Barthel leads their head-to-head 2-1 on hardcourts.

Barthel storms past Jankovic 6-1, 6-3!

Plays @AngeliqueKerber next! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/kaJhwj0twr

— WTA (@WTA) February 19, 2017

“It’s such a strong tournament, featuring the best players in the world, so it’s always tough. I’m really happy to have won the first round, and I know playing Angelique won’t be easy. But I have nothing to lose so I’ll try to go out there and just enjoy. I love this city, and have spent a week here preparing. I’m still so thankful for the opportunity, and look forward to being back on the center court.

“It’ll be a great test for me to see where I am right now. It was such a tough year for me last year, so I’m just trying to improve my game every day. I lost a lot of my fitness so I’m still just trying to get back into my rhythm. We’ve had some really good matches the past, but I’ll try to enjoy it.”

.@BamBamSam30 moves into @DDFTennis Second Round!

Downs Zhang 6-3, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/MYSZ9k021e

— WTA (@WTA) February 19, 2017

Earlier in the day, No.12 seed Samantha Stosur eased past Chinese qualifier Zhang Kai-Lin, 6-3, 6-3.

“I thought it was pretty tricky conditions out there, a bit windy and much faster than what we were playing on in Doha, where it was slow and heavy,” she said after the match. “Here, it’s fast and lively. But overall I’m happy to be in the second round.”

Up next for the Qatar Total Open quarterfinalist is either Zhang Shuai or Ana Konjuh.

Magnificent forehand from @bambamsam30! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/NKhfc7nwqT

— WTA (@WTA) February 19, 2017

“I’m feeling a lot better about my tennis at the moment. I gained a bit more confidence again, and winning matches always helps. For a while, I was hitting the ball really well, but then I was struggling with my shoulder. I feel like I’ve gotten over that hurdle and I’m on the right path again.

Around the grounds, No.15 seed Caroline Garcia knocked out Johanna Larsson, 6-3, 6-3, while two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova dispatched qualifier Zhu Lin, 6-3, 6-1. Japanese hotshot Naomi Osaka advanced over qualifier Chang Kai-Chen, and in the biggest upset of the day, Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur stunned No.14 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-4.

Click here to hear more from Jabeur in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast.

MONTERREY, México – Heather Watson produced her best tennis of the season to defeat Caroline Wozniacki and take a place in the semifinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme.

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A battle between two of the WTA’s sprightliest movers produced no shortage of entertaining exchanges, yet it was Watson, not the former No.1 on the other side of the net, setting the tone.

In a sparkling display, Watson took the game to Wozniacki from the off, eventually getting her reward with a break in the penultimate game of the opening set. Even a slow start to the second failed to discourage the Briton as she came roaring back, a couple of heavy-duty forehands kick-starting a run of four straight games.

Wozniacki, as ever, battled gamely to end, but she had no answer to her opponent’s inspired tennis, spraying a forehand wide to slip to a 7-5, 6-4 defeat.

“I’m very happy with how I played today. I thought I played very well – I needed to against Caroline because she’s a great player – and I had to fight to the end because I knew she would,” Watson said during her on-court interview. “I just took it point by point and didn’t look too far ahead.

“I think one of her main traits is that she is such a fighter. She makes a lot of balls and makes you really win it. I knew I was going to have to finish a lot of points today, come to net and not be too passive.”

Meeting Watson for a place in the final will be either Caroline Garcia or Pauline Parmentier.

On the other side of the draw, hopes for an all-British final were dashed when Kirsten Flipkens upset No.4 seed Johanna Konta, 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1. Her reward is a meeting with another unseeded player, Anett Kontaveit, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Nicole Gibbs.