Tennis News

The Asian swing is heating up, with nine of the WTA’s Top 10 players set to battle for precious ranking points at this week’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. We break down the opening day matchups here at wtatennis.com.

Sunday
First Round

[9] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10) vs. Belinda Bencic (SUI #26)
Head-to-head: Bencic leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Bencic has lost eight of her last 11 matches.

After a long season that has seen her battle injuries to her back and wrist, 19-year-old Belinda Bencic is hoping to rediscover her winning ways in Asia this fall. Bencic’s plan to do so in Tokyo backfired when she was ousted by Caroline Wozniacki in three sets in her first match, and the draw gods haven’t been any kinder to the Swiss in China, as the world No. 26 is slated to face No. 9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova here in Wuhan. Kuznetsova has had some very strong results this year, particularly on hard courts where she has won seven of her last eight against players ranked outside the Top 20. But Kuznetsova has not played since falling in the second round of the US Open to Caroline Wozniacki, and she was in very poor form last year at Wuhan when she won only one game in a lopsided loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Will the Russian be able to shake off the rust and rise to the Bencic challenge, or is it time for Bencic to get her game on track and notch another Top 10 win?

Pick: Kuznetsova in three

[13] Roberta Vinci (ITA #15) vs. Monica Puig (PUR #33)
Head-to-head: Vinci leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Puig has won 11 of her last 14 hardcourt matches.

Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig suffered a Rio letdown at the US Open when she was knocked off in the first round by China’s Saisai Zheng, but Puig hit the ground running in Tokyo last week, proving that her Rio heroics were no fluke. The 22-year-old took out Petra Kvitova for the second consecutive time to reach the Toray Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals, stretching her win streak against the Top 20 to six, before falling to Agnieszka Radwanska. The unseeded Puerto Rican will look to keep the positive vibrations going when she meets Italy’s Roberta Vinci for the second time with a spot in the second round on the line. Both players know their way around a hard court, but stylistically they couldn’t be more different. Puig attacks with relentless, percussive topspin, while Vinci switches up the beat to produce an off-kilter and often times maddening amount of slice. It was Vinci that prevailed in the pair’s only previous meeting on the clay of Madrid last season. Can Puig, buoyed by her newfound confidence, power past the Italian in Wuhan?

Pick: Puig in three

[WC] Sabine Lisicki (GER #113) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #39)
Head-to-head: Makarova leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Lisicki is 2-10 against Top 50 competition in 2016.

A pair of former Top 15 players who have been off their game in 2016 will do battle in the final match of the day on Centre Court on Sunday in Wuhan. It’s been a tough year for Sabine Lisicki, but the German is hoping that she can build some momentum down the stretch after reaching the quarterfinals at Guangzhou last week. Lisicki reached her second quarterfinal of the season, winning twice in straight sets before falling to Jelena Jankovic. The Grand Slam season may be over for Lisicki, but there’s still a lot to play for. The 27-year-old German, outside of the Top 100 for the first time in over five years, will look to make up points this autumn as she did not play after the U.S Open in 2015 due to a knee injury. Lisicki is making her second appearance at Wuhan and owns a 13-18 record on the season. Former world No. 8 Makarova has had mixed results this year as well, but she has managed four quarterfinals and a 23-18 tour-level record.

Pick: Makarova in two

By the Numbers:
19 – Bencic is the youngest player in this week’s draw at Wuhan. The Swiss will turn 20 next March.
8 – Number of American players in this week’s draw in Wuhan. Three (Louisa Chirico, Varvara Lepchenko and Shelby Rogers) will be in action on Sunday.
2 – Former champions in the draw. Venus Williams (2015) and Petra Kvitova (2014) won the first two stagings of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

DUBAI, UAE – Lauren Davis secured a quarterfinal spot in her debut appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, staging an impressive comeback to beat Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

“I love playing here – it’s my first time here in an amazing city…just the atmosphere here is so great,” the delighted American said in her on-court interview.

“I’m really happy with my persistence, resilience and how I handled myself despite losing a few games in a row.”

Comeback queen! ?@LaurenDavis93 comes from a set behind to beat Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and reach @DDFTennis Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/EpCGOYoSFb

— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017

It was an inconsistent display from both players. Makarova made the initial breakthrough in a seesaw first set, but Davis was resurgent in the second, combining exquisite use of the forehand with grit to get herself back on level terms, as her opponent’s game utterly collapsed.

The Russian took an eight-minute bathroom break before the decider, but it did not help her regroup; she remained lackadaisical when it came to capitalising on break points in the final set.

The 23-year-old American took advantage, wrapping up the match in one hour and 57 minutes. Her reward will be a last-eight clash with either Christina McHale or Elina Svitolina.

DUBAI, UAE – No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska’s Dubai campaign was cut short in the round of 16 after suffering one of the biggest upsets of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against 17-year-old CiCi Bellis.

“I didn’t feel good from the beginning. I didn’t play really great, and I was trying everything. I did what I could today,” Radwanska told press after the defeat.

She added, “For me it was really hard to control the ball and make the angles. And also, my serve didn’t work at all. In those kind of tight matches, you need those things. When you don’t have it and you’re struggling pretty much from the beginning, then you have a problem.

“I was really struggling myself. I was really focusing on myself today, but I just wasn’t good enough.”

First Top 10 Win!

17 year old @CiciBellis99 knocks out 2012 champ Radwanska 6-4, 2-6, 6-2! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/ggGOaQUEDO

— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017

Despite playing against an unseeded teenager, experience told Radwanska to be wary, especially with the way Bellis had climbed the rankings and made a name for herself toward the end of last season.

“I never really think of the seeds or unseeded players,” she explained. “In today’s tennis, we don’t have ‘easy draws’ or ‘open draws.’

“Maybe you can say this from an outside [point of view], but on the court, there’s nothing ‘open.'”

Radwanska had only words of praise for Bellis, who is the youngest member of the WTA Top 100 and the youngest player to defeat a Top 10 opponent since Belinda Bencic posted back to back wins over Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic at the 2014 US Open.

“Very solid. Very consistent. She can really play good rallies with good intensity, and I think that’s a really good thing for that kind of young player. I think she was the best today.”

Putting the loss behind her, Radwanska plans to stop by her home in Poland for a couple of days before making the trip to California for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.