Tennis News

LINZ, Austria – Dominika Cibulkova kept alive her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a routine 6-1, 6-2 victory over Belinda Bencic in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz.

The World No.8 is currently ninth in the road to Singapore, with three places remaining unclaimed, and took a wildcard in Austria to boost her chances of qualification.

The No.2 seed skipped into a first-set lead, breaking the 19-year-old in her opening service game. She was pegged back immediately, but did not drop a game for the rest of the first set, which she claimed 6-1 at a canter.

Cibulkova did not waste any time in the second set, either. Breaking in the first game, she sped to a 2-0 lead before breaking again to go 4-1 ahead. Bencic enjoyed a brief comeback, halving the deficit to 4-2 but the 27-year-old immediately restored her cushion and claimed the second set 6-2.

“It was a really tough draw, most of the times when wildcards play each other, it should be easier than this. It was a really tough one and I was prepared for a big battle today,” the Slovak said of being drawn with Bencic.

“I was playing solid, I did nothing extra; I was playing solid and really fast. I was just playing really good tennis from the first point to the last.”

Reacting to comments from her opponent that she “killed her”, Cibulkova responded: “I wouldn’t say ‘I killed’ her, she’s a great player, so I would say I won a lot of very important points and that made a difference. It just shows that I was really strong mentally today.”

Cibulkova will face Annika Beck in the next round for a place in the quarterfinals.

Angelique Kerber was pleased – and perhaps a little relieved – after her win over Louisa Chirico in Hong Kong took her into the quarterfinals.

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.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Mirjana Lucic-Baroni caused the biggest upset of this year’s Australian Open by knocking out No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.

In little over an hour on Margaret Court Arena, Lucic-Baroni struck 33 winners to complete a 6-3, 6-2 victory and set up a third-round meeting with another unseeded player, Maria Sakkari.

Lucic-Baroni will turn 35 in March and last progressed beyond the first round at Melbourne Park in 1998. However, even after dropping serve at the start of the second set, she refused to be derailed, reeling off the next six games to seal victory, and hand Radwanska her earliest loss at Melbourne Park in eight years.

Mirjana #LucicBaroni has that winning #AusOpen feeling in 2R pic.twitter.com/i3WQOQLBTS

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2017

A one-time teenage prodigy, Lucic-Baroni has returned to the limelight in recent years, winning a third career title at Québec City in 2014, and upsetting Simona Halep at the French and US Opens. These performances have imbued the Croat with the confidence that on her day she can compete with the game’s best.

“That was my first big win in a while and it was a shock,” Lucic-Baroni said when asked about her win over Halep at the 2014 US Open. “I know I have some good tennis in me still, that’s the reason I’m still out here playing at 34 – I’m no spring chicken – to get these moments and these feelings. It was really fun tonight.

“I know that I have the game to win a big match. I didn’t go in there to see a big court, I went in with a gameplan. I’ve been around too long to just gain experience.”

Like Halep, Radwanska proved powerless in the face of a barrage of winners, responding with just eight of her own.

“There’s not a lot I could do; she’s playing without pressure, full power. It’s hard to comment because it all went so fast,” Radwanska said in her press conference. “It’s always disappointing when you lose in the first week of a Grand Slam. I need to come back next year and do better.”

Lucic-Baroni now faces Sakkari, another player appearing at this stage of the tournament for the first time.

“I don’t feel like I’m that old. I’ve missed a few years on tour, but this time around I don’t have anything to prove, I’m just enjoying myself, playing for myself. I’m enjoying it, enjoying the moments and just trying to go as far as I can,” Lucic-Baroni added.