Australian Open: Elina Svitolina vs Julia Boserup
Elina Svitolina takes on Julia Boserup in the second round of the Australian Open.
Elina Svitolina takes on Julia Boserup in the second round of the Australian Open.
WTA Insider | On the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, all of the top seeds are on the schedule to take Cincinnati by storm after a rainy Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open.
Varvara Lepchenko takes on Duan Ying-Ying in the second round of the Australian Open.
KAOHSUING, Taiwan – Misaki Doi’s finally roused her slumbering campaign to life on Monday with a straight set win over Kristyna Pliskova at the Taiwan Open.
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A miserable start to 2016 saw Doi fall at the first hurdle in Auckland, Hobart and finally the Australian Open. The third and final of these defeats Down Under was particularly galling, Doi holding a match point against eventual champion Angelique Kerber in the first round of the Australian Open.
Perhaps buoyed by Kerber’s subsequent heroics at Melbourne Park, Doi came out with a spring in her step against Pliskova, breaking serve twice to take the first set. She repeated the trick in the second set to wrap up a 6-3, 6-4 victory in little over an hour.
Also advancing in the bottom half of the draw was qualifier Yuxuan Zhang, a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2 winner over lucky loser Hiroko Kuwata.
Meanwhile, in the top half there were wins for Urszula Radwanska and Anastasija Sevastova.
Radwanska was given a stern examination by local wildcard Hsu Ching-Wen, before coming through, 6-4, 7-6(1). Sevastova was pushed even harder, fighting back to see off Kristina Kucova, 4-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(3), in a match lasting nearly two and a half hours.
Tuesday will see most of the remaining seeds, including home favorite Hsieh Su-Wei, in first round action. The only exception is top seed Venus Williams, who will wait until Wednesday to get her challenge underway against Lee Pei-Chi.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza fought past an early challenge from CoCo Vandeweghe to make her way into the third round of the Western & Southern Open for the first time.
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Curiously enough for the reigning French Open champion, this tournament has never been one where she’s seen much success. In fact, she’s never scored a win in any of her three previous appearances in Cincinnati. Muguruza made sure to fix this stat after powering past Vandeweghe, 7-6(4), 6-2.
“I’m finally happy I won my first match here, and against a very difficult opponent,” Muguruza said afterwards. “CoCo is very powerful, but I’m happy to be into the third round.
The Spaniard started out very tentatively against the big hitting Vandeweghe, striking three double faults in one game and flubbing a backhand to meekly surrender the first break at 4-2. But instead of allowing herself to panic, Muguruza put together the aggressive game she’s relied on in the past and broke back immediately to erase the lead. She kept it up well into the tiebreak and through the second set, where she broke twice more to wrap up the match after an hour and 25 minutes.
Both players posted similar numbers in the winner to unforced errors count, with Muguruza striking 21 winners and 20 unforced errors and the American hitting 22 and 21, respectively. Despite Vandeweghe outplaying and outserving Muguruza for much of the first set, Muguruza proved more dominant on the key points. She converted all three break points she created while Vandeweghe only converted one of two.
Now with a win in Cincinnati finally under her belt, what are the rest of the No.4 seed’s goals for the year?
“Well, first of all not get injured,” Muguruza laughed in her on-court interview. “Of course and keep showing this level and keep winning a lot of matches, if I can, and perform well.”
She awaits the winner between Kurumi Nara and No.16 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the quarterfinals.
More to come…
MELBOURNE, Australia – The bottom half of the draw is back in action led by Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.
Thursday, Second Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs Lucie Safarova (CZE #61)
Head-to-head: Serena leads 9-0
Key Stat: Serena is contesting the Australian Open for the 17th time – the joint-most along with sister Venus Williams
Lucie Safarova saved an astonishing nine match points in her opening match against Yanina Wickmayer, a two-hour three-set marathon. But unfortunately for the Czech, it doesn’t get any easier in the second round, where she’ll need all that grit against six-time champion Serena Williams.
The last time these two met was at the final of the French Open back in 2015, with this early encounter a testament to the pair’s diverging career paths. Serena is now seeking her record breaking 23rd Grand Slam title in Melbourne and Safarova, a former World No.5, plummeting out of the Top 50 after struggling with injury and illness.
“I didn’t come here to lose in the first round, or the second round, or at all,” Serena told press earlier in the tournament. “I’m just here to play and to win obviously, but just to play.”
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #79)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 2-0
Key Stat: Lucic-Baroni is 3-14 against Top 5 players
The last time Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a match in Melbourne it was 1998 – Martina Hingis was the WTA World No.1 and Serena Williams hadn’t yet won her first career title.
But there’s not much time for the former Wimbledon semifinal to revel in the three-set comeback win over Wang Qiang, because up next is World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska.
A two-time semifinalist here, Radwanska faced a battle in her opener against Tsvetana Pironkova but saved her best for last to move into the second round for the ninth time in her career. The Pole is hoping to continue that run and bring her signature mix of skill and creativity to the second week of this Slam.
“I really feel good on this center court,” Radwanska said in press. “I like to play here, I like Australia. I’ve been always playing good tennis here, two semis.
“Of course, that’s always very close till the end. Hopefully I can do one step forward and play seven matches here.”
[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs [Q] Anna Blinkova (RUS #189)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: This is Blinkova’s first ever match against a Top 10 opponent
No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova barely broke a sweat in her Melbourne opener, making quick work of Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and needing just one hour and dropping two games en route to the second round.
But she still wasn’t completely satisfied after the 6-2, 6-0 victory:
“I think there are more things which I want to improve. First round, it’s always tricky, and I didn’t feel that good in the first set there.
“I was a little bit nervous in the beginning, made a lot of mistakes on my forehand, especially no first serves. So this I want to improve high percentage of the first serve, definitely.”
It’s a scary prospect that the WTA’s undisputed ace leader still wants to improve her serve. But that’s what Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova will be up against in her first ever match against a Top 10 opponent.
Blinkova might be slightly out of her depths against big-hitting Pliskova, but don’t count her out just yet: she started her Australian Open main draw campaign with a statement win over the No.32-ranked Monica Niculescu.
Around the grounds…
No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova continues her quest for a maiden Slam in her second round clash against Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei. Cibulkova leads their head-to-head 1-0, but they haven’t played in almost three years. Also in action, Naomi Osaka will look for Grand Slam revenge against No.9 seed Johanna Konta. The Brit won the pair’s only previous encounter, which came in the second round of qualifying at the 2015 US Open. No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki is hoping for another comfortable win in her rematch against Donna Vekic, who’s into the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2015 French Open. Meanwhile, No.22 seed Daria Gavrilova carries home hopes in her second round clash against 19-year-old Ana Konjuh. Gavrilova is one of two Aussies remaining in the draw.
SALT LAKE CITY, USA – Climbing to the summit of women’s tennis is no easy matter. Staying there, though, is arguably even more challenging.
No stone is left unturned in the quest for the slightest competitive edge. Therefore, it is no surprise that many players are paying increasing attention the nutritional side of their preparation.
Kristina Mladenovic and Alizé Cornet are two players famed almost as much for their exceptional physical conditioning as for their technical brilliance, and on Tuesday were unveiled as the latest big names to trust their health to USANA Health Sciences.
The two Frenchwomen join USANA’s 700-plus stable of athletes who back their performances with the global nutritional company’s NSF-tested products, including fellow WTA stars Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Madison Keys, Samantha Stosur, Sloane Stephens, Monica Puig and Zheng Saisai.
Currently the highest-ranked French player in both singles and doubles, Mladenovic is one of the brightest young talents on tour. Still just 22, Mladenovic already has one WTA title in singles and a further 12 in doubles, as well as two Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns alongside Canada’s Daniel Nestor.
“I’m excited to be part of Team USANA,” Mladenovic said. “I have been using USANA vitamins and supplements for a few years and have seen the difference that it has made in my health and fitness. As one of USANA’s Ambassadors, I’m looking forward to sharing my positive experience with others and letting them know what USANA can do for them.”
Heading into her 10th year on tour, Cornet recently captured her fifth WTA singles title, at the Hobart International, taking down fellow USANA Brand Ambassador Eugenie Bouchard in the final. The former World No.11 has reached the last 16 at three of the four majors and also holds three wins over Serena Williams.
“USANA vitamins and supplements have been an important part of my nutrition routine for years,” Cornet said. “I believe in USANA products and I am thrilled to be an Ambassador.”
USANA has been the Official Health Supplement Supplier of the WTA since 2006 and continues to provide its high-quality, NSF-tested nutritional products to more than 170 WTA athletes, including 15 athletes in the WTA Top 20, and eight of the Top 10.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her win in the second round of the Western & Southern Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki had little trouble in her straight-sets win against Donna Vekic, playing solid tennis to ease through 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open.
But Wozniacki will be happy with wrapping up the comfortable victory in just under an hour and twenty minutes, because awaiting in Round Three is the very in-form Johanna Konta.
The former No.1 got off to a strong start against Vekic, ruthlessly punishing any weak serve that came her way to rocket up to a double break lead. The Croat did her best to hang in there, occasionally foraying to the net and peppering her game with drop shots.
“I feel really good body-wise and mentally, which is huge for me,” Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference. “Patches of my matches have been really good. I thought I started off pretty well today. In the end, maybe a little bit too passive. But generally, I think it was steady and played pretty decent.”
Wozniacki struggled with her ball toss throughout the match under the bright midday sun on Rod Laver Arena, and a pair of double faults in the same game gave Vekic a chance to break back at 4-1, wrong-footing Wozniacki with her inside-out forehand winners. The momentary lapse did nothing to halt the Dane’s momentum and she got right back on track in the next game, breaking back and serving out the set comfortably.
She broke three more times in the final set, absorbing Vekic’s pace and rhythm to force the errors, which came fast and thick towards the end of the match. After just an hour and 18 minutes she made her way to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2014.
The former No.1 was just too solid, hitting 21 winners to 9 unforced errors against Vekic’s 23 winners and 32 unforced errors. The Dane was also a force at the net, winning 80% of her 15 forays to the net.
She’ll look to continue that form against Konta, her opponent in the third round.
“She plays really well, you know, big forehand, big serve,” Wozniacki said. “But I’m ready. I’m playing well. I’m excited for the challenge.
“She’s obviously won last week in Sydney. She had a good last year. I’m here to fight. I’m here to do my best, and try and win the match.”
Caroline #Wozniacki is through to 3R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/kJ0BoDLFFo
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 19 de enero de 2017
On this episode it’s all about the Russians. Senior Writer for WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen previews this week’s tournaments in St. Petersburg and Taiwan and look to the new generation of Russians – Margarita Gasparyan, Elizaveta Kulichkova, and Daria Kasatkina – who are eager to put their stamps on the tour. Their collective success is an important development for a country that has produced two No.1s in Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina, swept the podium at the 2008 Olympics, and won three of the four majors in 2004. There has been a notable gap in talent after Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s protogenic rise. That’s about to change.
Gasparyan, Kulichkova, and Kasatkina are all in action this week and after a solid last six months, they are all in the Top 100, which means you’ll be seeing more of them in the main draw at tour events. So now’s the time to get to know them.
Gasparyan on switching from a male coach to a female coach, former player Elena Makarova: “She’s not just a coach. She’s a friend. I like to work with a woman. When you have a male coach you cannot speak about everything with him. Maybe just tennis. When you have tennis you can tell all. How you feel, tennis, boyfriends, everything. I’m relaxed. I don’t think a lot of tennis all the time.”
Kasatkina on the Russian resurgence: “I think it’s because of Russian character. We have not the best conditions. So that’s why we fight all the time for everything.”
Kulichkova on her friendship with Kasatkina: “We’re not so alike in terms of liking the same things. We probably like the three same things, everything else is different. But still we’re best friends. It works nicely. So if someone says friendship in women’s tennis doesn’t exist it’s a lie! We are the proof. It exists.”
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