Tennis News

HONG KONG, SAP – Caroline Wozniacki progressed to the semifinals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open thanks to a convincing 6-3, 7-5 victory over Wang Qiang.

The Dane, who is yet to drop a set at the tournament, is now the top-seeded player still in the draw following World No.1 Angelique Kerber’s shock defeat to Daria Gavriova earlier on Friday.

Wozniacki dominated her opponent in the opening set, during which she dropped only three points on serve, while continuously searching for a break, which she eventually found in the penultimate game thanks to three unforced errors in a row. A forehand winner wrapped up the set.

Though the Wozniacki serve was not as dominant in the second, the 26-year-old was still firmly on top and broke in the seventh game, with Wang sending a pair of groundstrokes long as she threw away a 30-0 lead. Wozniacki’s victory was delayed briefly when Wang broke back to make it 5-5 but she was unable to consolidate the break and the No.5 seed got a much-deserved win.

“She’s a good fighter, I think she plays well and she has some good groundstrokes and it was a good match,” she said afterwards.

“I take one match at a time. The trophy’s what I’m here for and I’d love to win a trophy, no doubt but there’s some strong competition left and I’m just going to see what happens.

“I’ve been sidelined for so long and definitely that’s been difficult mentally but ever since my body has gotten back on track I’m playing so that’s definitely a positive.”

Wozniacki will face Jelena Jankovic, who kept up her defence of the title by fighting back to overcome Alizé Cornet, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Cornet, fresh from her victory over Venus Williams, made the early running, a superb backhand forcing Jankovic to net on break point. Jankovic’s slump proved to be brief and a long forehand gave the World No.49 a lead she did not squander.

The Serb was far quicker out of the blocks in the second set, winning the first four games. Her progress was curtailed when Cornet responded in kind but Jankovic, having found her serve to move 5-4 up, snatched the set when the 26-year-old sent a backhand long.

Cornet appeared to be nursing an injury and consistently needed medical attention, which helped Jankovic race into a commanding 5-1 lead in the decider. Cornet delayed victory by breaking back once but Jankovic booked her place in the semifinal the next game.

Finally, Kristina Mladenovic set up a last-four tie with Daria Gavrilova, who conquered Angelique Kerber earlier on Friday, by beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Hong Kong, SAR – Caroline Wozniacki’s strong finish to the season continued when she lifted the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open singles title at the expense of Kristina Mladenovic.

The Dane, who won the Toray Pan Pacific Open at the end of September, put in a fine performance to breeze past the 23-year-old, 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2 and complete her impressive end to the season, having had a 13-14 win-loss ratio before the US Open and a 19-3 one since.

Caroline Wozniacki was 13-14 this year before the US Open.

From New York until now: 19-3 with two titles and back in the Top 20.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 16, 2016

Wozniacki started the match at a canter, breaking the World No.54 in her opening service game, coming to net on break point after running Mladenovic off the court.

Wozniacki was hitting the ball sweetly, able to get her groundstrokes deep and powerful and a second break was to follow after she forced a tame backhand into the net.

After just 23 minutes, Mladenovic found herself serving to stay in the set and avoid a bagel, which she achieved thanks to a measured backhand volley into the corner. All it did was delay Wozniacki, who was undeterred in wrapping up the set.

Mladenovic underwent lengthy treatment before the second set, but returned to hold the first game, although she was still struggling with her first serve.

Wozniacki had looked likely to cement her advantage and break once more but, serving at 1-2, she contrived to let a 40-0 lead slip thanks and lost serve after sending a routine forehand into the tramlines. The advantage was short-lived, with Mladenovic sending a stroke wide to hand Wozniacki a break.

Mladenovic moved ahead once more thanks to a wayward backhand from the Dane, who struck back again to level the set immediately thanks to a pair of excellent returns at deuce.

The match settled into a rhythm from then on and a tie-break was needed to decide the set. After a frenetic breaker, Wozniacki sent a backhand into the net to hand Mladenovic two set points, and she only needed one.

However, her recovery was only brief and after Wozniacki had saved three break points in the opening game of the decider, she raced into a commanding lead.The first break came when Mladenovic sent a shot into the net and a second followed with an overcooked forehand.

Mladenovic had a partial recovery, holding serve then breaking back when Wozniacki was serving for the title, but the 26-year-old finally got over the line with her second match point.

Serena Williams has decided to shut down her 2016 season, announcing her withdrawal from the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global due to a shoulder injury. Serena has not played a tour-level match since losing to Karolina Pliskova in the US Open semifinals in September.

Four thoughts on Serena’s withdrawal and what it means for the WTA Finals.

1. Serena relinquishes the year-end No.1 ranking to Angelique Kerber.

Serena’s decision means there will be no battle for the year-end No.1 ranking. No.1 Angelique Kerber snapped Serena’s record-tying 186-week streak at No.1 after winning the US Open, but the German’s sub-par swing through Asia left the door open for Serena to take it back in Singapore.

With Kerber’s loss to Daria Gavrilova in the quarterfinals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open last week, the German has a 950 point lead on Serena in the rankings. Singapore offers 1500 points to the winner. Serena has won the WTA Finals the last four times she’s has played it, including back-to-back-to-back titles from 2012-2014. Kerber, by contrast, has never made it out of the round robin stage. Given their respective histories at the tournament, Singapore offered Serena a chance to finish the season where she started: at No.1.

2. Serena shuts it down early…again.

For the second straight year, Serena has shut down her season after taking a tough loss at the US Open. Given the trend, her announcement shouldn’t be a surprise. Since playing a career-high 82 matches in her astounding 2013 season, posting a 78-4 record and winning 11 titles, Serena has played fewer matches with each passing year:

2013: 82 matches, 78-4 record, won 11 titles.
2014: 60 matches, 52-8 record, won 7 titles.
2015: 56 matches, 53-3 record, won 5 titles.
2016: 36 matches, 30-6 record, win 3 titles.

Serena herself has affirmed her shift in priorities, to focus her energies on the Slams. Her win at Wimbledon this year moved her into a tie with Stefanie Graf for the Open Era record for most major titles. Healthy and rested, she’ll make her charge to break the record in 2017.

3. This decision feels different than last year.

When Serena announced last fall she would not play the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, China Open, or WTA Finals, the break felt more necessary on an emotional level rather than physical. While she was struggling with elbow and knee injuries, she cited “heartbreak” as a reason too, referring to her loss to Roberta Vinci in New York that ended her historic bid for the calendar Grand Slam.

Not to discount the psychological toll this year took out of Serena as well, wherein she was trying to catch or surpass Stefanie Graf’s records for majors and consecutive weeks at No.1, but 2016 has been a particularly tough year physically. She struggled with noticeable shoulder and knee injuries during the summer hard court season and pulled out of tournaments during the clay season due to the flu.

An extended physical break to get her body teed up for the 2017 season wouldn’t be a bad thing.

4. Singapore breaks open.

Much like in 2015, Serena’s absence from the WTA Finals opens up a significant opportunity for the qualifying Elite Eight. Seven of eight qualifying spots are now confirmed, with Kerber leading the pack along with Simona Halep, defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbine Muguruza, and first-timers Karolina Pliskova, Madison Keys, and Dominika Cibulkova. The final spot will come down to either Johanna Konta, Carla Suárez Navarro, or Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The eight women represent the full range of WTA tennis, from pure power to rangy athleticism to crafty point construction. That the court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium has played like a slower hard court only neutralizes things even more. It’s no surprise that over the last two editions of the WTA Finals in Singapore, both a power-player and a counter-puncher has been represented in the final. In 2014 it was Serena defeating Halep, while last year it was Radwanska getting the better of Petra Kvitova.

Take a diverse group of the game’s best players and stick them on a neutral surface and you get a tournament that will be anything but predictable on any given day.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.