Tennis News

LONDON, Great Britain – No.12 seed Carla Suárez Navarro survived a scare in her Wimbledon opener against Shuai Zhang, overcoming a mid-match wobble to advance 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

The last time the pair played was at this tournament and at this stage, with the Spaniard easing past Zhang in a comfortable straight sets back in 2014. Today’s match was decidedly more competitive, with the Chinese No.1 breaking twice to take the second set and going up a break in the third.

But the Spaniard, who reached the semifinals of the Aegon Classic Birmingham earlier in the grass season, roared back in the third to reach the second round.

No.14 seed Samantha Stosur also moved into the second round after putting an early wobble behind her to defeat 24-year-old Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3.

“Not much to be disappointed about with that match,” Stosur said afterwards. “I felt like I was in control.

“There’s always things you want to get a little bit better at but for the most part I thought I played well and really solid. I served well. A couple little things on my forehand. Apart from that, I was happy.”

The Australian’s next opponent will be the big-serving Sabine Lisicki, who was off to a roaring start at Wimbledon and needed only 52 seconds to win her opening game against Magda Linette before taking the match 6-1, 6-3 in 59 minutes.

Meanwhile, Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova scored the biggest win of her career over No.23 seed Ana Ivanovic, knocking out the former No.1 in her Wimbledon main draw debut, 6-2, 7-5.

The Serb took no credit away from her No.223-ranked opponent but pointed to a lingering wrist injury as a factor in her first round exit.

“It was very tough. I mean, since two weeks I struggle with my right wrist,” she said “It was very hard to accelerate on my forehand. I tried to do everything possible to be fit and recover and tape it and so on.

“I feel like it caused me a lot of miss hits. My forehand was hard to control her fast shots. I thought she played really well and served very good. Especially in the first set, she was not missing many first serves.”

Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands put their friendship aside in their first round battle. Regular doubles partners, this time they stood on opposite sides of the net as Mattek-Sands looked to deal an upset to her No.28-seeded friend. She nearly managed it two times – the American held match point once in the second set and twice in the third – before Safarova closed her out 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 7-5.

Also through to the next round is No.17 seed Elina Svitolina, who advanced comfortably against British player Naomi Broady, 6-2, 6-3. Perhaps surprisingly, Svitolina has never made it past the second round of Wimbledon – she’ll hope to do so for the first time against Yaroslava Shvedova.

DUBAI, UAE – Ana Konjuh breezed into the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after routing China’s Zhang Shuai 6-0, 6-1.

The score was a surprise given Zhang’s impressive run in Doha last week when she beat Garbiñe Muguruza en route to the quarterfinals.

But she found her Croatian opponent on devastating form, producing a display of awesome power hitting to seal a second-round meeting with Australia’s Sam Stosur.

“The last two years I played quallies, so I’m really happy to be in the main draw this year and to keep my game like that,” said Konjuh. “Hopefully I’m going to continue.”

.@AnaKonjuh is really in the zone at @DDFTennis! pic.twitter.com/HDmxj1Lt9d

— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2017

A Chinese player who fared much better was Peng Shuai, who comfortably defeated Leisa Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1 to set up a second-round clash with Barbora Strycova. Surprises continued on Court 1 with Catherine Bellis eliminating 17th seed Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 7-5. Meanwhile, qualifier Elise Mertens upset Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-2 on Court 3.

Bellis, ranked 70th in the world, found herself 5-1 down in the second set before reeling off an incredible six games on the trot to seal a remarkable victory.

“I got myself in a bit of trouble in the second set, but I’m glad I got out of it. I just thought to myself, stick to my game plan, just keep steady, I can come back,” said Bellis afterwards. “I can come back against anyone I set my mind to. I’m really glad I got through it. in the beginning of the second, I think I won the first game. The second game was really long.

“So I just kept thinking to myself, I’m still in this match, obviously even when I was losing, still in this match, and I’m playing well, so I can come back whenever I want and whenever, you know, I get a good rhythm. So once I went down, I just stayed calm and stuck to my game plan and came back.”

Peng Shuai advances to @DDFTennis Second round!

Storms past Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1! pic.twitter.com/de1fzAED2d

— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2017

Elsewhere, Kateryna Bondarenko survived an opening-set blip to come through 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Misaki Doi claimed a notable win against Madison Brengle, the Japanese beating the American in three tight sets.

Check out all the day’s results here.

Serena Williams features on Centre Court, while a host of other second and third-round matchups will take place on Friday. We preview the must-see Day 5 matchups at Wimbledon here, courtesy of wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo.

Friday

Second Round and Third Round

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Christina McHale (USA #65)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Williams has compiled an 80-10 record in her 17 Wimbledon appearances.

After a three-day rain-induced rest, Serena Williams will get back to the business of defending her Wimbledon title against fellow American Christina McHale in second-round action. Williams has already faced the Teaneck, New Jersey native twice this year, and though she’s come away with two victories the contests have been far from simple. After her three-set victory over McHale in Miami this March, Williams was quick to offer up some kind words about her vanquished foe. “She’s an unbelievably sweet girl,” she said of McHale. “I’ve had the opportunity to play with her on Fed Cup, and we always have such a good time. I think she did a really good job. She can, should, and will be very proud of herself in this match.” The pair would meet again in Rome with Williams winning in straights, but needing a first-set tiebreaker to get through. Naturally Williams will come in as the heavy favorite, but if McHale comes out swinging this could turn into another good battle between compatriots.

Pick: Williams in two

[10] Petra Kvitova (CZE #10) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #35)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads, 4-3
Key Stat: Kvitova won 25 of 27 of her first-serve points in her first match at Wimbledon.

Can you say brutal draw? Fans of Petra Kvitova and Ekaterina Makarova surely can, as these two hard-hitting bona fide talents are set to square off in round two. That’s way too early for talents of this level, but as the cliché reads, it is what it is. Makarova certainly does not have the grass pedigree that two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has, but the Russian is a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist who missed being seeded at Wimbledon by a whisker this year. She also owns five Top 10 wins on grass, including one against Kvitova at Eastbourne in 2012. But when they met at Wimbledon in 2013, it was Kvitova who came through with a three-set triumph. Kvitova was in devilish form in her opening-round victory over Sorana Cirstea, but she’ll have to keep it up to get past Makarova, who is consistently formidable on grass and at the majors.

Pick: Kvitova in three

[8] Venus Williams (USA #8) vs. [29] Daria Kasatkina (RUS #33)
Head-to-head: Kasatkina Leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Five-time Wimbledon champion Williams leads all active players with 90 main draw matches played at Wimbledon.

One of the more eye-opening victories of the 2016 WTA season came in January, when Daria Kasatkina stunned defending champion Venus Williams in Auckland for her first Top 10 win. Kasatkina, ranked in the 70’s at the time, battled from 3-1 down in set three to win that match and afterwards paid Venus some big-time respect. “She’s an amazing tennis player and I respect her so much,” she said. “It was an unbelievable match for me.” Given that Kasatkina is making her Wimbledon debut, she’s proved to be quite a quick study on grass by reaching round three. But how will she fare against one of the most legendary grass-courters that the game has ever known? An upset at an Australian Open tune-up is certainly notable, but Friday’s task will surely be more daunting for the 19-year-old Russian. And Williams may be the oldest woman in the draw, but she’s making her intentions very clear at SW19. “I want to win,” she said on Thursday after winning her singles and doubles rounds. “I’m not here to not win. What’s the point of being here?”

Pick: Williams in two

Around the Grounds: Many of Thursday’s second-round winners on the lower half will be back in action on Friday. No.9 seed Madison Keys will take on France’s Alizé Cornet. Keys leads the head-to-head 2-0 but the pair have not met since 2014. Will Sabine Lisicki produce another memorable Wimbledon run? The German squares off with former Golden Set winner Yaroslava Shvedova on Court 16. No. 5 seed Simona Halep will meet No.26 seed Kiki Bertens in the last match on No.2 court. Bertens, who produced a career-best semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, is playing the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.

By the Numbers:

21 – Sabine Lisicki’s ace count in her first two rounds. The German is four aces behind Karolina Pliskova for the tournament lead.

6-0, 6-0 – Carina Witthoeft’s double-bagel loss to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon last year marks the only time she has lost a tour-level match without winning a game. She’ll get a chance for revenge on Friday as she meets Kerber for the second straight year at SW19.

2 – Simona Halep has only won back-to-back matches two times at the All-England Club. The other time was 2014, when she reached the semifinals.

DUBAI, UAE – Caroline Wozniacki has won six of her last seven matches in the Middle East, dispatching Swiss youngster Viktorija Golubic, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Fresh off her Monday night win over Daria Kasatkina, Wozniacki began even more emphatically against the reigning Gstaad champion, racing out to a 5-2 lead to start the match. Though the Dane was broken serving for the opening set, she broke to love to reclaim the momentum.

The final stages of the match proved the most dramatic, as Golubic saved four match points on her own serve before the 2011 champion converted on her fifth and book her spot in the round of 16 after nearly two hours.

Up next for the the former No.1 is either No.9 seed Barbora Strycova or resurgent Chinese veteran Peng Shuai.

Earlier in the day, Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh scored another big win in her young career, ousting No.12 seed and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-3, breaking the Aussie’s serve four times in the 83 minute match.

No.8 seed Elena Vesnina earned a decisive win over Japan’s Misaki Doi, 6-2, 7-5, and will play Konjuh for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig continued her winning ways in the Middle East, upsetting No.15 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to book a potential Rio rematch against top seed Angelique Kerber, who plays later today.

It was a great day for the Americans, as Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, and Catherine Bellis all won on Tuesday, defeating Kristyna Pliskova, Naomi Osaka, and Laura Siegemund, respectively.