St. Petersburg: Wickmayer vs. Ostapenko
Yanina Wickmayer takes on Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Yanina Wickmayer takes on Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Highlights from first and second round action at the Western & Southern Open.
The St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy debuts on the WTA calendar following an Australian Open that featured impressive performances from a trio of talented young Russians. Among them, Margarita Gasparyan reached her first major second week, while former French Open junior champion Daria Kasatkina made a second straight Grand Slam third round. Each fell to World No.1 Serena Williams; each will be on hand to play her home tournament.
On the outside looking in is another Russian Roland Garros junior champ – off the court for the last two years with a torn labral, but one who knows a thing or two about playing the 21-time Grand Slam champion on Rod Laver Arena.
Former World No.3 Nadia Petrova played a pair of must-watch Melbourne matches against the American in the mid-00s – the last coming in 2007, when Williams was ranked No.81.
“I remember that match,” Petrova told WTA Insider last fall. “I was two points away from winning, serving for it. But in this critical situation, she came up with some amazing shots and I was pushed back to the wall. I tried everything and she would come up with something even better.”
The Muscovite later got her revenge in Beijing and Madrid, becoming one of the few players to earn back-to-back wins over the World No.1.
“I always enjoyed our matches; every time I stepped on the court against her, I was never intimidated. I knew what I had to do in order to win, or at least play a good match.”
A prominent part of Russia’s golden generation – one that includes Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Anastasia Myskina, Olympic Gold medalist Elena Dementieva, and World No.1 Dinara Safina – Petrova has been trying to heal an injury she first picked up during the 2013 French Open – ten years after she became the first Russian woman since Olga Morozova in 1975 to reach the semifinals on the terre battue.
“It was very cold that year,” she said of her first round loss to Monica Puig. “I thought my muscles were just overworked. The doctors and physios said that I needed a good break and I would be fine for the grass court season.
“I followed that advice, but when I returned to court, it got worse, to the point that I struggled through my first round at Wimbledon. It was a little bit easier in doubles, but I had to do more medical research and see some other specialists.”
Despite managing to qualify for a sixth overall WTA Finals appearance with Katarina Srebotnik, the 37-time WTA titlist (13 singles, 24 doubles) soon made the decision to stop playing altogether in the hopes of fully healing her hip before launching a return.
“I’d rather be playing tournaments, going from one place to another. I miss all the emotions, the excitement of a win or a loss. That part of me is missing right now, but unfortunately my hip has been still giving me a hard time.”
No stranger to long lay-offs, a then-19-year-old Petrova was poised for a breakout 2002 season when a stress fracture stunted her progress for six months.
“That was a reality check, and a big test for me,” she said of her first major injury. “I’d had a great off-season, and I started really well in my first event, almost beating Venus Williams. I was a Top 30 player for the first time, but right before the Australian Open, I had to pull out because of my foot.
“It was hard seeing the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon just go by. All that was left was to just see it on TV. My ranking dropped out of Top 100, and it was the first time that I had to start from the scratch. But I managed, and I’m sure that made me a stronger and better player.”
Rehabbing a labral tear presently remains the biggest test for the now-33-year-old Russian, who refuses to make any immediate decisions about her future.
“I’ll feel like I’m making improvements, but as soon as I start loading my body with practicing and playing, it starts showing signs of breaking down again. I think it’s from the years that I’ve been on tour, the wear and tear.”
For a woman on the move for most of her life, 24 months at a standstill has been a “mixture of emotions” for the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, who has spent the time finishing the renovations on her Miami home, giving back through her eponymous foundation, and otherwise enjoying a normal life with her dog.
“It does feel good to be in one place. It’s nice to wake up in your own bed every morning, but after doing it for so many years, you get used to the traveling. Sometimes I do miss getting on a plane and going somewhere, the change of surroundings. I’m getting a bit tired of being in one place.”
The daughter of elite athletes – her mother was an Olympic bronze medalist in the 4×400 meter relay – Petrova began playing tennis at eight years old; she left Moscow at 12 as her parents pursued coaching opportunities in Egypt and Poland.
As a teenager, she relocated to the Netherlands to work with coach Glen Schaap (who later worked with Safina and junior rival Jelena Dokic), but admitted it was hard to ever feel at home in any one place.
“I really didn’t get attached to people. Of course, you make friends, but it’s not like ones you grow up and go to school with, and you create a strong bond. It’s hard to leave those kinds of people behind, but I didn’t really have that.
“I do have a lot of friends in all these places that I still keep in touch with, and I did enjoy traveling. I was a teenager that really liked exploring new places, getting to know new cultures, cuisines. For me, it was fascinating.”
Some of her strongest bonds were forged during her brief tenure on the junior circuit, where she upset Dokic for the 1998 junior title in Paris.
“We were competing against each other but we still were into socializing and hanging out. We would always do something fun after the tennis was over. It was a lot of good quality time.
“Transitioning from juniors to pros, we kept close, tried to support each other, show up at each other’s matches. But it was an emotional rollercoaster because there’s a big gap in level. Everyone is older, more experienced, and a lot stronger.
“It was a difficult moment and, of course, when you are a brand new player on the tour, it’s not like everyone is warm and welcoming. You have to earn your spot among the players, and prove yourself with good wins.”
Former No.1 Tracy Austin once remarked, “Every time Petrova gets up a head of steam, she gets injured.” Indeed, physical issues of varying severity likely kept the Russian, with her big serve and booming all-court game, from realizing her potential in an era that boasted both Williams sisters, Belgians Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, Americans Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati, Swiss Miss Martina Hingis, French star Amélie Mauresmo – and, of course, all of her countrywomen.
“It’s just genetically how my body is built and how it handles all the sudden movements in a match. A lot of leg injuries and muscle strains I had came from my lower back and my pelvis being out of alignment. It took me a while to understand that, to start taking proper care of my body.
“I’m also not that kind of a player where, if I’m out for two-three months, I can pick up where I left off. It would take me a while to get back into everything – the tournaments and months of practice – to that same level where I could feel and see the game, to feel confident on the court again.”
When it came together, she was almost unstoppable. She won her own Olympic Bronze medal in women’s doubles with Maria Kirilenko and titles on all surfaces in her 15 years on tour. She defeated 16 of her generation’s 18 Grand Slam champions, and 13 of the 14 women who had been or went on to be World No.1.
She is one of only ten women to beat both Williams sisters – winners of a combined 45 Grand Slam titles – in singles and doubles, and handed former No.1 Kim Clijsters the most lop-sided loss of her career, a 6-0, 6-1 clinic at the 2010 Australian Open that Petrova calls her “perfect match.”
Her first breakthrough came in 2003; ranked No.76, she roared into the final four of the French Open, repeating the run two years later.
“After the foot injury in 2002, I had no expectations. I knew my draw was difficult, but I had an amazing first round over Monica Seles and followed it up with the win over Capriati.
“I remember even having set point against Clijsters in the semifinals but I was having a bit of pain in my leg. After losing that set point, I was really not able to regain that level.
“But that really was a big turning point for me in my career.”
A player for whom potential often outpaced progress, Petrova was the best player not to have won a WTA title for two years, falling in her first four finals before coming full circle at the Generali Ladies Linz.
“A few times, I felt like I had bad luck because I was so close. Other times, I’d get into my head when I was close to winning, and I couldn’t finish it off because of the nerves. I was over-thinking it too much.
“I have such good memories of Linz because it was a lot of firsts for me. It was my first doubles title, and my first singles title, as well. It was almost like a home tournament, and everything was organized very well. I liked the city, and the extra things that they would do for the players. They went out of the way to make it a nice tournament. After the first win there, everything got a lot easier.”
For a while, it was effortless. She paired up with longtime friend Tomasz Iwanski in early 2006 and won her next four finals, heading into the French Open as the best player without a major title, at a career-high ranking with a 15-match winning streak on clay.
“I was feeling very confident; it was the first time I saw winning a Grand Slam as a possibility. I started to believe, but unfortunately, it was very sad, some silly injury. I felt my dreams were shattered, or at least that kind of belief and confidence.”
Straining her upper leg in practice, she fought through a losing first round battle against Akiko Morigami, a missed opportunity from which Petrova believes she never recovered.
“I did regain a certain level of play, but I don’t think I ever came close to that mental state in my career where I felt like I was able to make that extra step.
“For me, it was about the results, winning a lot of matches and just keeping the momentum.”
Petrova separated from Iwanski soon after, leading to a string of coaching arrangements – including one with Vlado Platenik, who currently coaches Kastkina – that yielded an array of highs and lows.
“Honestly, I wish I had one coach from the beginning to the end of my career, having established a strong relationship. I know I’m not also an easy person on the court; I’m a perfectionist, and I have my demands.
“But I also feel like many coaches stop giving 100% after a while. I’m a person who wants 100% from a coach every day, at every tournament.
“It’s the same amount I’m asking from myself when I’m on the court.”
Taking that 100% and putting it toward a more philanthropic bend has been the most rewarding part of her time away from tour. The Nadia Petrova Foundation works with underprivileged children by raising funds and organizing clinics that teach them a game that already gave the Russian so much.
“It gave me such a great opportunity to travel the world, to experience different cultures and cuisines, to get to know a lot of wonderful people. Hopefully, when I was playing my best, I was able to inspire some kids with my game. I was able to give back to the community through all the charity work that I did on my own and together with the WTA.”
A natural athlete and experienced competitor, the two-time Olympian can’t help but sometimes wonder, “what if?” But whether or not she returns to tennis, Nadia Petrova ultimately appears at peace.
“I do think, maybe I was starting now, things would have been different for me; getting to a Grand Slam win or get to the top of the rankings, I believe, was a lot harder then. Every week there was Serena, Venus, and Davenport and Capriati, Justine, Kim, and Mauresmo. It was a tough competition.
“The generation when I played, the Top 10 was just packed with huge names. Many ended up winning Slams and carried on such great careers that the majority of them will be in the Tennis Hall of Fame.
“I am very honored and proud that I was also playing during this kind of time.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
In her downtime in Montréal a few weeks ago at the Rogers Cup, Petra Kvitova paid a visit to the WTA Media TV truck to find out a little bit more about the people who broadcast her matches all around the world.
She learned about everything that goes into producing a tennis match, from switching between the eight to 12 cameras per court, keeping match stats, creating slow motion replays, and much more.
“It’s amazing how many cameras there are at the same time on the same court!” Kvitova said. “When I play, sometimes I just see one camera!”
A joint venture between the WTA and Perform Group, WTA Media will produce all main draw singles matches and semifinals and finals of all doubles matches from 2017.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – No.4 seed Ana Ivanovic faced stiff opposition in talented young Russian, Margarita Gasparyan, but the Serb overcame the challenge in her opening match at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy to reach the quarterfinals, 7-5, 6-2.
Gasparyan made a splash to start the 2016 season, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, and kept things close in the opening set against Ivanovic, who fell in the third round in Melbourne to 2015 semifinalist Madison Keys.
“It was a very tough match,” she told former WTA star Ksenia Pervak during her on-court interview. “She played very well, I thought. I knew she’s had a very good start of the year, so I expected a battle today, and it was. I really had to dig deep at the end of the first, and also the second set. But I’m really happy to have the victory.”
Ivanovic maintained controlled aggression throughout the 81-minute affair, striking 26 winners to 22 errors; Gasparyan did her best to stay with the former No.1, but was unable to dictate play in the crucial moments, hitting 16 winners to 18 unforced.
Earlier in the day, hometown favorite Daria Kasatkina overcame a tough three-setter from Kirsten Flipkens, and noted the slowness of the court after her 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory. But Ivanovic disagreed.
“I actually really enjoyed it,” said the Serb. “Sometimes the ball really skids so it’s not so slow at times. But I’m really happy with the way I played today, especially being my first match.”
Hoping to catch up on her sightseeing, Ivanovic joked about narrowly missing out on the visiting hours at the Hermitage museum on Tuesday.
“I’m going to train, do my recovery. But I’m going to visit the Hermitage; I went yesterday, but they really, truly closed the door in front of me! I wasn’t lucky but tomorrow might be a better chance.”
Kasatkina had to overcome nerves in her first round match against Flipkens, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist; serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, the 18-year-old admitted nerves played a part in her going on to lose the final three games to force a decider.
“I was nervous, and started rushing, plus Flipkens is a very good player,” she said in her on-court interview.
In the end, Kasatkina played an even match, hitting 34 winners and the same number of erros, while Flipkens was far looser with a -8 differential (32 winners, 40 unforced). A former Roland Garros junior champion, Kasatkina next plays lucky loser Laura Siegemund, who upset No.7 seed Kristina Mladenovic, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Elena Vesnina was another Russian to emerge victorious on Wednesday; the wildcard recovered from a set down to defeat lucky loser Patricia Maria Tig, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Dominika Cibulkova set up a second round encounter with former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki when she beat Evgeniya Rodina, 6-0, 6-3, and Annika Beck continued her winning ways from a successful Fed Cup debut when she beat Lucie Hradecka, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
No.2 seed Roberta Vinci and Yanina Wickmayer were the last match of the day on Sibur Arena; the 2015 US Open runner-up played a clean match to outsteady the up-and-down Belgian, hitting 17 winners to 10 errors – compared to 22 winners and 30 errors from Wickmayer – to join Ivanovic in the last eight, 6-2, 7-6(2).
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska won the last nine games of a late-night third round encounter with No.10 seed Johanna Konta, 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-0, to complete the quarterfinal line-up at the Western & Southern Open.
Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“She’s a great player,” Radwanska said during her on-court interview. “We never played before, but I’ve seen many of her matches, and she’s played great tennis. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it was an exciting match playing together for the first time. I’m just so happy with the win.”
Konta needed to reach the semifinals in Cincinnati to have a chance of making her long-awaited Top 10 debut, and appeared on course to keep that dream alive when she reeled off the last seven points of the first set tie-break.
“It was a very tight match in the beginning. The tie-break slipped away too quickly, that’s for sure.”
Flick lob from @ARadwanska! ? https://t.co/0EUn8aOrGp
— WTA (@WTA) August 19, 2016
A tired looking Radwanska trailed the Brit 4-3 on serve in the second set but somehow caught fire when it mattered most, hitting 27 winners throughout the three-setter to 31 unforced errors, and converting six of her 10 break point opportunities.
What was the Pole’s secret to success as Thursday night became Friday morning?
“I was able to break at the end of the second set, and I think I started to play better tennis and much more aggressive. I think I woke up because I had eight ladies dancing in front of me; that just woke me up!”
Shutting Konta out after midnight, Radwanska booked the last remaining spot in the quarterfinals, where she’ll play No.3 seed Simona Halep, who is riding a 12-match winning streak.
“I’m just very happy to make the quarterfinals here, especially since it’s always a strong tournament with no easy matches,” she said after the match. “Andrea, Johanna in the first two matches, and now Simona in the next match. I just hope I can play the same good tennis tomorrow.
“I think against Simona, I have nothing to lose; she’s having a great season and playing really good tennis. I’m just going to go out and enjoy.
“But first, rest tonight!”
How did @ARadwanska pull out the win?
Eight dancing ladies @CincyTennis! ???? https://t.co/4JktDPxOWW
— WTA (@WTA) August 19, 2016
Ana Ivanovic had Wednesday’s shot of the day at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – And then there were eight! It’s quarterfinal Friday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Chris Oddo previews the match-ups for wtatennis.com.
Friday, Quarterfinals
Center Court
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. [9] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP #12)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 4-3
Key Stat: Kerber could ascend to the No.1 ranking with the title in Cincinnati.
Angelique Kerber is focused on the day-in, day-out aspects of being a top WTA pro. The rest of us? We’re curious to see if the German has what it takes to end Serena Williams’ remarkable 183-week reign atop the WTA’s rankings. Kerber could achieve that milestone with a title run, but it’s the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. While we watch the story unfold on Friday when Kerber meets Carla Suárez Navarro for a spot in the semis, the World No.2 will be concentrating on process. “On the court I’m really trying to focus and play my best tennis,” she said on Thursday after defeating Barbora Strycova in straight sets. “And my goal is always to go on court and win the match. Of course I mean it’s a goal to be one day the No.1, but let’s see if it happens, when it happens, whatever. I will not be putting this pressure on myself – I’m just trying to play step by step.” It’s the best way to proceed for Kerber, and so far in Cincinnati she has been able to deflect the pressure and play the type of tennis that got her to this point. Will she be able to continue her rise against the feisty Spaniard who defeated her earlier this summer in Birmingham? Or will Suárez Navarro, already one of three Premier 5 titlists this season, make her own story unfold?
Pick: Suárez Navarro in three
[3] Simona Halep (ROU #4) vs. [5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #5)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 5-4
Key Stat: Halep stretched her win streak to 12 with a straight-sets victory over Daria Gavrilova on Wednesday.
Red-hot Simona Halep is loving life in Cincinnati. And why shouldn’t she be? The Romanian is well-rested, suited aptly for the fast-playing conditions at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, and gaining confidence with each successive victory. Halep made it 12 in a row on Thursday when she rolled past Aussie qualifier Daria Gavrilova, and afterwards she cited her legs as the biggest contributor to her recent success. She says her recent training block with Gil Reyes, former trainer of Andre Agassi, has helped her fitness immensely, and she also confirmed that the injuries that sabotaged her play early in the season are behind her. It all adds up to a very formidable Halep, one that is looking more and more like a title contender each day. She’ll have to be formidable on Friday if she is to get by No.5-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska reached her fourth Cincinnati quarterfinal in five years on Thursday by coming from behind to defeat Johanna Konta in three sets. Will Radwanska be able to stop the run of surging Halep in their 10th meeting, or will the Romanian’s scorching form prove too much to handle yet again?
Pick: Halep in three
Grandstand
[7] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10) vs. [15] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #17)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kuznetsova improved to 15-4 in deciding sets this year with her win third-round win over Timea Bacsinszky.
It has been a fantastic season for 31-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova. She achieved her first win over a reigning world No.1 since 2009 in Miami when she snapped Serena Williams’ 20-match winning streak at the event. And that’s not even the half of it. Kuznetsova, now the top-ranked Russian and inside the Top 10 for the first time since 2010, has won 30 matches, claimed her 16th career title, and been a threat to go deep in every draw she has played. Occupying the 10th spot in the Road to Singapore standings, the Russian is playing for valuable points in the next months, and she’ll look to continue pushing her momentum forward when she meets 15th-seed Karolina Pliskova for the first time on Friday. The bomb-serving Czech still hasn’t made her mark at the Slams but she has been lethal elsewhere, with four semifinals, two finals and a title to her name this season. Here in Cincinnati, she has yet to drop a set in two matches.
Pick: Kuznetsova in three
[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. [Q] Timea Babos (HUN #41)
Head-to-head: Muguruza leads, 3-0
Key Stat: Their last two battles have gone to three sets.
There is fire in the eyes of Garbiñe Muguruza this week in Cincinnati, and that’s bad news for her competitors. The Spaniard had an understandable dip in level after winning her maiden Grand Slam in Paris this year, but she appears to be very determined to put that behind her as she prepares to ramp up her game ahead of the year’s final major. Muguruza has yet to drop a set in Cincinnati and though she was pushed at times by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Thursday, she played a very solid match, particularly from the service stripe where she saved six of seven break points and won 31 of 41 first-serve points. On Friday she’ll face one of the tour’s most improved players in 23-year-old Timea Babos. The Hungarian produced an upset on Thursday in defeating eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova. It was the Hungarian’s biggest win of the year rankings-wise, but she’s 1-10 against the Top 10 lifetime and 0-3 against Muguruza. She’ll need something magical to push past a resurgent Muguruza on Friday.
Pick: Muguruza in two
By the numbers…
306 – Number of weeks that Serena Williams has held the No. 1 ranking, which is third-most all time behind Martina Navratilova (332) and Steffi Graf (377).ber of consecutive weeks that Serena Williams has held the No. 1 ranking, which is third-most all time behind Martina Navratilova (332) and Steffi Graf (377).
41 – Babos’ position in the world rankings – the lowest of the draw’s eight remaining players.
19-2 – Halep’s record since the start of Roland Garros this year.
7 – Number of seeded players that have advanced to the quarterfinals in Cincinnati.
Top-ranked doubles team and WTA co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza brought their 36-match winning streak to the St. Petersburg Ladies Tophy, adding to their total with a first round win over Jelena Ostapenko and Evgeniya Rodina, 7-5, 7-5.
“We didn’t know how to play them that well in the beginning,” Hingis said in their post-match press conference. “We lost an opportunity at 3-2, 40-0 to go up and close out the match, and they came back to play a couple of really good games – especially Ostapenko, who hit some really great shots.
“I think it was great experience for them to play a match like that, and also for us to get into the tournament. I’m definitely happy we didn’t have to play a deciding set. It’s always nice to close out in straight sets; it makes us that much stronger.”
Hingis and Mirza haven’t lost a match since last August at the Western & Southern Opent, their now-37-match winning streak having taken them to titles at the US Open, BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and the Australian Open – with only the French Open standing between them and a possible “Santina Slam.”
“The streak that we’re on is amazing,” Mirza said. “To be honest, we knew we could play good, but not this good. We’re surprising ourselves as well, and we just want to keep going.
Asked about the media’s fascination with their streak, the longest since Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 straight matches in 1990, Mirza didn’t mince words.
“We’re counting, also.”
“Yes, we are,” Hingis added.
For Hingis, the partnership with Mirza marks her second to truly capture the imagination of the tennis world, the first being her late-90s domination with Russia’s own Anna Kournikova – still a popular topic in the St. Petersburg press room.
“She was a great player, a team player, and we had great times for those two years,” Hingis said, speaking about their two Australian Open victories in 1999 and 2002.
“She kind of was the one who started this Russian Armada – or Russian generation – along with Elena Likhovtseva. She was definitely the one who you could aim for and be like, go around the world and live the ‘Russian-American dream.’ I loved playing with her.
“We stay in touch, especially during the Miami event; we always try to see each other. I follow what she’s doing; she follows me.”
Mirza too fondly remembers the ‘Spice Girls’ of the women’s doubles circuit.
“At that time I think TV was not as evolved as it is today, combined with the computer, so it was not so easy to get to see matches all the time. But everybody knew Martina Hingis, everybody knew Anna Kournikova, and everybody knew that this partnership was winning a lot, and probably was one of the best doubles teams to play.
“She’s not that much older than me,” she added with a laugh. “Only five years; it’s just that she’s been around for such a long time!”
Another partnership Hingis looks forward to exploring involves fellow Swiss Roger Federer, who agreed to play mixed doubles with her at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“I waited 10 months, and maybe after winning a lot with Sania, and becoming No.1 again and winning three mixed titles, I was hoping that would be persuasion enough to partner up.”
‘SanTina’ next face an all-Russian pair for a spot in the quarterfinals and Win number 38: rising Russian star Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina, Mirza’s former doubles partner.
“We played together for a long time; she’s a very good friend of mine, and we’ve known each other since we were 13 years old.
“I have a feeling that the crowd will be behind them because she’s quite popular here, but hopefully there will be some people supporting us.”
Asked if they foresaw their partnership transcending to other endeavors, Hingis said they planned to let their racquets do the talking.
“We’ll stick to tennis; that’s what we do best.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Angelique Kerber fought back to defeat Carla Suárez Navarro at the Western & Southern Open and move within touching distance of claiming the No.1 ranking.
Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
By winning the title in Cincinnati, Kerber will end Serena Williams’ 183-week reign as World No.1, and she kept the dream alive with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory on Friday aftrnoon.
Earlier this summer Suárez Navarro edged Kerber in a high-quality encounter in Birmingham. While the rematch failed to scale these heights, for a set and a half it looked like the result would go the same way.
The chase for top spot has now seen Kerber play 21 matches since the start of June, and at times against Suárez Navarro she appeared to be running on empty. Her usual consistency from the back of the court conspicuous by its absence, the No.2 seed committed 17 unforced errors in dropping the opening set.
Fortunately for the German, the soaring temperatures and a leg injury caused her opponent to fall away spectacularly, struggling in vain to keep fatigue at bay. The turning point came midway through the second set, a scrappy game giving Kerber a 4-2 and some much-needed momentum.
Willing herself forward, she hung onto this lead, swinging a serve out wide and beyond Suárez Navarro’s reach to level the match. This positivity continued into the decider, a brilliant angled backhand bringing an immediate break as she hurtled towards a semifinal meeting with either Simona Halep.
“I think I changed a little bit my game in the second set: I was trying to go for it when I have the chance and to making the rallies a little bit shorter,” Kerber said. “I was still thinking that I can turn around the match even after losing the first set and going down a break early in the next set.”