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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DOHA, Qatar: Former World No.1 Angelique Kerber admitted that she did not play well in her defeat to Daria Kasatkina in the Qatar Total Open – but was quick to pay tribute to her young opponent.

The top seed for the tournament was ousted 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 by the Russian teenager, who also knocked her out of the Apia International in Sydney in January.

“I was not feeling the best today – I’m trying to find my rhythm,” the 29-year-old said in her post-match press conference.

“But she [Kasatkina] plays good. I make too many mistakes in the important moments. I think it was, for sure, not my day.”

Kerber was let down by a proliferation of unforced errors in her 4-6, 6-0, 4-6 loss, but refused to blame it on the Doha rain delays affecting her concentration.

“Of course, the weather, it can happen like this,” she said. “I think this is not a big deal. Of course, we have to wait a lot, but yeah, this is not a big deal, I think, for us players.”

The German now turns her attention to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which begins on February 19.

“First of all, I have to get ready again and feeling good because, yeah, I was not feeling very good in the last few days,” she admitted. “I think this is the most important thing for me right now. Then, of course, looking forward to the next week [in Dubai].”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DOHA, Qatar – No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova survived double duty on Friday, winning her first match against No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the final of the Qatar Total Open.

Pliskova had already made it through a quarterfinal encounter with Zhang Shuai between multiple rain delays, but an even bigger test loomed in the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion, whom she’d never beaten in three previous encounters.

“I’m really excited, especially after what a long, tough day it’s been,” she said during her on-court interview. “Having two wins today is amazing, and I just beat Domi for the first time in my life. It was tough conditions, and so I don’t think it was the best tennis out there. But it’s a win, so it counts.”

The forecast favored the Slovak for most of the week, as she was the only of the four semifinalists to make it through on Thursday. That advantage appeared evident from the outset, but Pliskova soon found her rhythm, recovering from an early break to win the final four games of the opening set.

Undeterred, Cibulkova raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second and held on to level the match and take the momentum into the decider.

A tense finale followed as the pair traded confident service games until 3-3, when the World No.5 held two break points. With the help of a career-best serving day (21 in the match), Pliskova saved both in quick succession and, with the wind at her back, swept the conclusion after nearly two hours on court.

In all, Pliskova maintained impressive numbers from the back of the court, hitting 40 winners to just 16 unforced errors, and just one double fault in the face of those 21 aces.

“That definitely gave me more confidence,” she said of the crucial seventh game, adding, “and then getting on this side of the court, I got to play with the wind, so that helped, as well. I knew I had a chance to break her, and I did; I always believe I can break her, so I’m really excited to win the third set.”

Standing between Pliskova and a second title of 2017 is the winner of the second semifinal between former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig.

“Right now, I’m just really happy. I’m going to rest a little bit now, enjoy that I won two matches in one day – that doesn’t happen every day! Then I’ll get ready for the final.”

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Mladenovic Moves Past Lisicki

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic reached her fourth quarterfinal of the season with a solid straight sets win over rival Sabine Lisicki at the Citi Open.

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Stephens Makes Winning Start In Auckland

Stephens Makes Winning Start In Auckland

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Sloane Stephens made a confident start to both the season and her latest coaching partnership with a straight set victory over Polona Hercog.

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It was not all plain sailing for Stephens, who frittered away early leads in both sets before eventually prevailing, 6-3, 6-3.

“I think I was just trying to make it harder in myself! But it was good practice, so that’s good,” she said in her on-court interview.

However, the No.5 seed admits she and new coach Kamau Murray still have plenty to work on ahead of the upcoming Australian Open.

“I think the main thing we should focus on is that I won today and anything else will just wait for another day,” she added.

Stephens’ next outing will come on Wednesday when she takes on Carina Witthoeft, a 6-2, 7-6(3) winner in her all-German clash with Tatjana Maria.

Also advancing at the ASB Tennis Centre was Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose opening outing of the new season was cut short after just 49 minutes when her opponent, Mona Barthel, retired through injury. No.4 seed Kuznetsova, who was leading 6-2, 1-1 at the time, will face either Francesca Schiavone or qualifier Tamira Paszek in the second round.

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