Taiwan: Elina Svitolina Interview
An interview with Elina Svitolina after her win in the final of the Taiwan Open.
An interview with Elina Svitolina after her win in the final of the Taiwan Open.
Dominika Cibulkova stared into the face of defeat against Caroline Garcia, but rallied back to advance to the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open; Timea Bacsinszky also advanced.
Elina Svitolina thanks the fans after her win in the final of the Taiwan Open.
MADRID, Spain – Revenge is the theme of the day as the round of 16 kicks off with Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova seeking to avenge some painful losses earlier this season and grab a spot in the Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinals. Preview the day’s action right here on wtatennis.com
Wednesday, Round of 16
[6] Simona Halep (ROU #7) vs [10] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #15)
Head-to-head: Halep leads 2-1
Key Stat: Bacsinszky has spent 4 hours and 55 minutes on court compared to Halep’s 2 hours and 2 minutes
No.10 seed Timea Bacsinszky is feeling the effects of her busy schedule – fresh off of her title in Rabat, she came straight to the Spanish capital and was back at it again.
Despite her resilient effort, the cracks are showing in the Swiss’ game – she’s spent five hours on court in two matches and struggled to close out Ekaterina Makarova in the last round.
“It’s my seventh match in eight days, so if I have a lack of energy sometimes, I think it’s kind of normal,” Bacsinszky explained in press after the match. “I’m really happy that I won, whether it was in two, three sets… Even if it were in five I would be happy as well. I’m just happy that I won my match.”
The Swiss will have to channel all of her energy into her next matchup: she’s set to face No.6 seed Simona Halep on Court Manolo Santana. The on-fire Romanian only dropped two games in her demolition of Karin Knapp.
Halep has won two of their three meetings on tour, although did taste defeat earlier this year in Miami.
“Bacsinszky is revenge!” Halep said. “It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult, a tough match for sure. I just want to go on court relaxed and play my game. It’s a good tournament, good people around me, so I am in a good place mentally and physically.”
Daria Gavrilova (AUS #39) vs [5] Petra Kvitova (CZE #6)
Head-to-head: Tied 1-1
Key Stat: Kvitova has yet to drop a service game in Madrid
Another rematch will be taking place on Court Arantxa Sanchez as Daria Gavrilova takes on the No.5 seed Petra Kvitova in the first match of the day.
Despite their head to head record being tied at 1-1, Kvitova will go into the matchup with revenge on the mind: the last time these two played each other was at this year’s Australian Open where the unseeded Gavrilova upset Kvitova in the second round.
But this time around the Czech is working with a new team and is back to putting together deep runs – she’s reached the quarterfinals or better at two of her last three events.
“I’m happy with my performance right now,” Kvitova said in second-round press conference. “I think I played great matches in Stuttgart, and especially two weeks before the Stuttgart I had a good preparation on the clay.
“I have a new coach. That’s always great to have someone who’s helping you and finding a good way of your game and plan. I feel okay and I hope that this will kind of continue.”
This all spells bad news for the big hitting Gavrilova, who has struggled to back up her fairytale run to the Australian Open round of 16. The Australian’s best result came in the green clay of Charleston, where she reached the round of 16 before falling to eventual champion Sloane Stephens.
Around the grounds: No.8 seed Carla Suárez Navarro closes out the women’s action on Court Manolo Santana against Samantha Stosur. The last remaining Spaniard, Suárez Navarro will face a tough test: she’s up against a well-rested opponent as Stosur received a walkover into the round of 16, and Suárez Navarro is also battling an upper respiratory illness. Meanwhile, No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka continues her steady march through Madrid: she has yet to drop a set and is up against Louisa Chirico, the American qualifier who ousted Ana Ivanovic to reach this stage. Qualifier Patricia Maria Tig – one of four Romanians left in the draw – closes out the night session against Madison Keys.
Former World No.1 Maria Sharapova has picked up one of the wildcards for May’s Mutua Madrid Open as she plans her WTA comeback.
“Sharapova requested an invitation to play in the tournament and after considering it, we decided to give her a wildcard,” said Manolo Santana, the tournament director, in a statement.
“Maria is one of the best players of the last 15 years and also a past winner of our tournament. In Madrid she always plays well and I’m sure she will come back to the courts highly motivated and hoping to do well in her first tournaments.”
Sharapova, 29, last won the event in 2014, beating Simona Halep, 1-6 6-2 6-3, in the final.
“Sharapova is one of those players that all tennis fans want to see,” added Mutua Madrid Open CEO and President Gerard Tsobanian. “Her presence in the Caja Mágica is great news for the tournament, for the fans and also for the city of Madrid.”
The Russian makes her return to the tour in Stuttgart in April following her positive test for a banned substance in 2016.
Tickets and season tickets for the Mutua Madrid Open can be purchased at www.madrid-open.com and entradas.com.
MADRID, Spain – Daria Gavrilova caused the latest upset at the Mutua Madrid Open draw, knocking out defending champion Petra Kvitova in the third round.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!
Kvitova is the 12th seed to bite the Madrid dust in just five days, leaving Simona Halep as the only Top 10 player left standing. Gavrilova, who faces Louisa Chirico in the last eight, impressed throughout, breaking three times en route to a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
While Gavrilova’s game never wavered, Kvitova’s failure to find her range was the source of increasing frustration. In the penultimate game of the opening set, a backhand into the net capped off a string of unforced errors that gift wrapped the decisive break.
It prompted the Czech to fling her hands skywards, and another break at the start of the second did little to lift her mood. Meanwhile, Gavrilova’s neat and tidy approach – she made 18 unforced errors to Kvitova’s 30 – continued to pay dividends, helping her out of couple of close games and safely across the finishing line.
Kvitova went into the tournament with an abdomen strain, an injury that affected not only her serve during the match but also her preparation beforehand.
“I think Daria really played a solid match. I couldn’t put everything together out there – I was still dealing with the pain from Stuttgart” Kvitova said. “I couldn’t really practice for a week. I’m glad that I won two matches and I’m glad that it feels like it’s getting better, so hopefully I can start to do more fitness and tennis practice.”
A run to the semifinals in Rome 12 months ago announced Gavrilova to the tennis world. Standing between her and a repeat performance at one of the spring’s other big events is qualifier Chirico, the beneficiary of Victoria Azarenka’s last-minute injury withdrawal.
#famous ? pic.twitter.com/rHtvoLHskp
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) 4 May 2016
Elina Svitolina takes on Daria Gavrilova in the quarterfinals of the China Open.
MADRID, Spain – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza continued their serene progress at the Mutua Madrid Open, dispatching quarterfinal foes Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in little over an hour.
Since seeing their 41-match winning streak ended in Doha, Hingis and Mirza have endured a relative barren patch, going four tournaments without silverware. However, inside the Caja Mágica they are casting a spell over their opponents once again, bewitching No.6 seeds Hlavackova and Hradecka, 6-3, 6-2.
This masterclass set up a semifinal clash with a resurgent Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, winners of a far closer encounter in the preceding match on court. Taking on No.4 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, King and Kudryavtseva recovered from a slow start to prevail, 2-6, 6-4, 11-9.
On the other side of the draw, Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic continued their fine clay court campaign with victory over No.3 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova.
Garcia and Mladenovic arrived in the Spanish capital having won their opening two clay court events, Charleston and Stuttgart, and a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Babos and Shvedova extends their unbeaten streak on the surface to 11 matches.
Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina are the next team tasked with ending this run. French Open champions in 2013, Makarova and Vesnina advanced without striking a ball after Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withdrew when the latter failed to recover sufficiently from a thigh strain.
With the Australian summer in the books, Serena Williams is firmly in control of the tour, having won her 23rd Grand Slam title to surpass Stefanie Graf. Looming on the schedule is the Middle East swing, featuring tournaments in Doha and Dubai; can former No.1 Angelique Kerber reassert herself as the one to beat? How will Australian Open semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe follow up her big week Down Under?
In the first edition of the WTA Insider Heat Index, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and Web Editor David Kane weigh in on who’s hot and who’s not after the first month of the season.
For more on the Heat Index and the methodology behind it, click here.
Courtney’s Picks:
1. Serena Williams (Rank: No.1; RTS No.1): Serena’s run to her record-breaking 23rd major title at the Australian Open was one of the most dominant runs of tennis in the last three years. If she continues to stay healthy and play with the relaxed attitude she displayed in Melbourne, the field is going to have a tough time against her.
2. Johanna Konta (Rank: No.10; RTS No.3): With wins already over Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, Daria Kasatkina, and an in-form Eugenie Bouchard, Konta has flown out of the gates in 2017. The British No.1 has already compiled a 12-2 record on the season, won the Apia International Sydney, and has won 20 of her last 22 sets of tennis. Those two lost sets came at the hands of Serena in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
3. Karolina Pliskova (Rank: No.3; RTS No.4): Much like Konta, Pliskova’s start has been near-perfect. She’s lost just one match under new coach David Kotyza, compiling a 9-1 record to start the year. She blew away the field to win the Brisbane International without losing a set and came within a few games of booking her spot in yet another major semifinal at the Australian Open. Pliskova may fall away when the tour turns to clay in April, but these first few months on hardcourts should be right in her wheelhouse.
4. Garbiñe Muguruza (Rank: No.7; RTS No.7): She was blasted off the court by a red hot CoCo Vandeweghe at the Australian Open, but Muguruza’s January showed marked improvements over how she finished 2016. At the season’s biggest events so far she made the semifinals of Brisbane and the quarterfinals in Melbourne, the first time she made it past the fourth round of a Slam since winning the French Open. With a Top 10 win under her belt against Svetlana Kuznetsova and a 7-2 overall record, Muguruza is back on track.
5. Agnieszka Radwanska (Rank: No.6; RTS No.17): Radwanska’s lackluster 6-3 record, with losses to Alison Riske (Shenzhen Open SF), Johanna Konta (Sydney Final), and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Australian Open 2R) belie her form. After a racquet switch during the off-season she’s getting more pace on the ball without sacrificing her feel and all three losses came to precisely the type of players she’s most vulnerable against: big, flat hitters. But she’s still made the quarterfinals or better at seven of her last eight events.
6. Angelique Kerber (Rank: No.2; RTS No.22): It’s been a slow 4-3 start for the former No.1, but her losses have not been bad ones, losing to Svitolina, Kasatkina, and Vandeweghe. She’s not far from her standard level and a good run in the Middle East should put her back on track. One shot to keep an eye on her: her serve. It hasn’t been there for her so far this year.
7. CoCo Vandeweghe (Rank: No.20; RTS No.5): The American is the lowest-ranked player on this week’s list but her blistering run to her first major semifinal in Melbourne was undeniable, scoring wins over Roberta Vinci, Bouchard, Kerber, and Muguruza. Vandeweghe’s average rank of opponent in 2017 is 35, which is the best of any player on this list (the next best is Konta at 52, Serena at 53). We have to see whether Vandeweghe can back up the result – she lost to then No.103 Duan Ying-Ying a week before Melbourne – but she’s the hot hand on tour.
8. Elina Svitolina (Rank: No. 13; RTS No.8): The Ukrainian is knocking on the door of her Top 10 debut, having started her year with a win over Kerber and then winning her fifth title of the season last week at the Taiwan Open. Svitolina is 10-2 on the season, though her win over Kerber is her only win over a Top 30 player so far this season.
9. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rank: No.8; RTS No.10): Her 7-4 start to the year includes two quarterfinals in Brisbane and St. Petersburg and a Round of 16 appearance at the Australian Open. She also finished 2016 having made the semifinals or better at four of her last five tournaments. Always one to march to the beat of her own drummer, it seems Kuznetsova has rediscovered her consistency.
10. Venus Williams (Rank No.11; RTS No.2): Given her inspired run to the Australian Open final, it may be surprising to see Venus down at No.10. Feel-good story aside, she did not beat a Top 25 player to make the final and faced only one seeded player (Pavlyuchenkova), so it’s difficult to gauge whether her form was lightning in a bottle or sustainable. She was understandably out of gas by the time she arrived in St. Petersburg, losing quickly to Kristina Mladenovic. We’ll have a better sense of her form when she returns at the BNP Paribas Open in March.
11. Dominika Cibulkova (Rank No.5; RTS No.14): Her four losses have all come to players ranked outside the Top 30 (Alizé Cornet, Bouchard, Ekaterina Makarova, and Yulia Putintseva) and her only Top 20 win has come against Elena Vesnina. Cibulkova is still stuck in second gear to start the season, but she’s not far off from a solid level.
12. Barbora Strycova (Rank No.17; RTS No.12): The Czech is one of the most dangerous floaters in most tournament draws these days. She’s 8-3 to start the season, with two of those losses coming to Serena (Australian Open) and Radwanska (Sydney). Meanwhile she’s racked up good wins over quality opposition, including Vinci, Caroline Wozniacki, Andrea Petkovic, and Caroline Garcia.
David’s Picks:
1. Serena Williams (Rank: No.1; RTS: No.1): The American stormed into the history books in emphatic style, winning the Australian Open without dropping a set and reclaiming the No.1 ranking. Even at 35, Serena is in a class of her own, and her newfound on-court serenity should make her all the more frightening through the spring.
2. Karolina Pliskova (Rank: No.3; RTS: No.4): Pliskova made a booming start in Brisbane, and put to rest any doubts about her Grand Slam consistency by reaching another second week in Melbourne. A former finalist in Dubai, the Czech powerhouse has been on the ascendency since last summer, and has all the weapons to continue doing damage in either the Qatar Total Open, or the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – or both.
3. Johanna Konta (Rank: No.10; RTS: No.3): There’s been no sophomore slump thus far for Konta, who is quickly making a career of efficiently beating those ranked below her. Her domination of Radwanska in the Sydney final was encouraging, but the Brit will need to rack up more of those wins to rise further up the rankings. A solid force on hardcourts, she’s nonetheless untested in the Middle East – set to make her debut in Dubai after opting out of Doha to play Fed Cup.
4. Garbiñe Muguruza (Rank: No.7; RTS: No.7): Muguruza showed us a little bit of everything in Australia: her devastating power, her flair for the dramatic, and her open admission that the she’s still figuring it all out since winning her maiden major title at the French Open. The Spaniard has grown leaps and bounds since her post-Paris slump to start 2017, and has few points to defend at events that have the kind of courts on which she can comfortably dictate.
5. Angelique Kerber (Rank: No.2; RTS: No.22): It hasn’t been all roses for the former No.1 in 2017, who saw herself stunned by an inspired Vandeweghe in Melbourne. Kerber looks fitter than ever, but is still adjusting to her role as the one to beat if losses to Elina Svitolina and Kasatkina are any indication. Strong runs in Doha and Dubai could see her return to the top spot, but look for the Middle East as an opportunity for the German to get back to basics with Indian Wells and Miami on the horizon.
6. CoCo Vandeweghe (Rank: No.20; RTS: No.5): Recency bias aside, Vandeweghe’s excellent advanture Down Under was objectively the biggest revelation thus far this season. Barreling through Kerber and Muguruza in back-to-back, high-stakes matches takes some doing, and it will be interesting to see whether the American, who posted solid results in the Middle East last year, can keep up that intensity in Doha and Dubai.
7. Dominika Cibulkova (Rank: No.5; RTS: No.14): The reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion has had an understandably slower start after her breakneck finish to 2016, but will have plenty of opportunity to kickstart her season in the Middle East after a solid week in St. Petersburg. With little to defend between now and the clay court season, the Slovak can easily find herself in the Top 3 by Miami.
8. Agnieszka Radwanska (Rank: No.6; RTS: No.17): Radwanska began 2017 looking for answers, switching racquets with the hope of adding a more powerful dimension to her off-court game. Ironic, then, that her three losses to start the season came against big-hitters in Shenzhen, Sydney, and Melbourne. A semifinalist last year in Doha, the Pole is certainly capable of building up a consistent foundation in the Middle East, but this more long term strategy may see more short term losses before the tour turns moves stateside.
9. Venus Williams (Rank: No.11; RTS: No.2): Venus undoubtedly turned back the clock in Melbourne. It wasn’t against the strongest field, but the former No.1 fed off her superior fitness and experience to roar into her first major final in seven years. Her performance in St. Petersburg immediately after showed her lacking in the former, and sitting out Doha and Dubai is likely a wise decision as she readies for what could be a grueling March. With the clay swing just around the corner, she’ll have fewer chances to advance up the rankings before Wimbledon.
10. Elina Svitolina (Rank: No.13; RTS: No.8): Svitolina is one of the next generation’s most enigmatic players. The Ukrainian can string together title runs at WTA Internationals, earn big wins at Premiers, but can rarely combine the two for a truly noteworthy week. Fresh off a title in Taiwan, she could solve the mystery in Doha and Dubai, having made the semifinals last year at the latter.
11. Barbora Strycova (Rank: No.17; RTS: No.12): Strycova has stealthily earned the most consistent results of the season, and is on the road to becoming a fixture at the business end of big tournaments. Last year’s Dubai runner-up earned two Top 20 wins en route to the semifinals in Sydney, and pushed Serena to two tough sets in Melbourne; can she take that extra step in the Middle East?
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rank: No.8; RTS: No.10): Kuznetsova could have found herself higher on the list were it not for kryptonite Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who knocked her out of back-to-back events in Australia. Still looking confident after her nearly flawless end to 2016, the Russian took a precautionary withdrawal from Doha and could be poised for a big run in Dubai, where she thrice reached the final.
Summary:
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
MADRID, Spain – 2014 Madrid runner up Simona Halep held off an inspired performance from Romanian qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu and secured her spot in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals, 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!
No.6 seed Halep – the only seed still standing in Madrid – leads the pack of four Romanians who’ve reached the quarterfinal stage here. It’s a historic showing for the small Latin country in Eastern Europe.
“I think it’s a big thing for our country,” Halep said. “It’s a small country, and four girls to be in the quarterfinals of such a big tournament, it means a lot.
“I am in the semifinals. Maybe the other two is going to be going in the semis. It’s going to be a good thing.”
Plenty of chances went Begu’s way in the first set: she built up 30-0 leads twice in Halep’s service games, and despite creating three break chances in the set she couldn’t convert any of them. On paper they were drawn very evenly in the first set – seven winners apiece and 12 unforced errors from Halep to Begu’s 15, but in the key moments Begu’s usually reliable forehand misfired leaving Halep in command.
Begu learned from her first set mistakes, though, and went into the second looking like she couldn’t miss – only making one error all set long. She drew Halep out of her comfort zone and left her feeling rushed, striking nine errors and suffering her first bagel set of 2016. Halep righted the ship right away though, breaking Begu early on allowing her just one game in the final set.
As good as having four Romanians in the quarterfinals was for her country, it was at times a source of distraction for Halep, who admitted afterwards that she could overhear Begu’s coaching breaks.
“Yeah, affected me a little bit, but I was stronger in the third set and I didn’t care anymore,” Halep said. “It wasn’t my best day. Anyway, if I won means that I played good tennis. I’m confident it was a good match for me.
“I take it like a positive one, even if I gave that second set easy. I was there until the end, and I’m glad that I could control myself until the end.”
.@Simona_Halep is moving onto the @MutuaMadridOpen Semifinals! #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/ZYvuxYoH0o
— WTA (@WTA) May 5, 2016