Wuhan: Radwanska vs Makarova
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Elina Svitolina takes on Lauren Davis in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Caroline Wozniacki talks through her win in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Caroline Wozniacki had Friday’s shot of the day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Elina Svitolina talks through her win in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The top seeds tried to predict who would sweep Sunday’s Academy Awards to hilarious effect at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Check it out right here!
Halep Books Return to Singapore
Just two days after celebrating her 25th birthday, Simona Halep secured her spot in Singapore for the third consecutive year by reaching the semifinal with a win over Madison Keys. Halep joins Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams in the Singapore lineup with the final five spots up for grabs.
Cibulkova, Kuznetsova Deliver Under Pressure
Dominika Cibulkova delivered in a big way with wins over Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova on Thursday to set up a semifinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova. The victories position her among the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard and also confirm her return to the WTA Top 10 when the latest rankings are released after Wuhan.
Kuznetsova, who now sits at No.10 on the Leaderboard, has enjoyed a late-career resurgence as she will reach her highest ranking since the 2010 French Open after Wuhan. Both players are jockeying for position on the Leaderboard, and a semifinal win will add 235 points to their totals.
Cibulkova has a chance this week to move as high as No.6 on the Leaderboard, overtaking French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza. Kuznetsova, on the other hand, has a chance to climb into the Top 8 if she can capture the title in Wuhan.
Late Season Push for Kvitova
Petra Kvitova scored a win over current WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the third round, which, arguably, could be considered the WTA match of the year.
Kvitova entered the week at No.21 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard. Projected to climb to No.18 with her results so far, a run to a second Wuhan final – she was the inaugural Wuhan champion in 2014 – would push her to around No.12. If Kvitova, also a finalist in 2014 at Beijing, could complete a Wuhan/Beijing double, she would vault into the Top 8 and be in position to qualify for the WTA Finals for the sixth straight year.
WTA FINALS – ROAD TO SINGAPORE UPDATE – Thursday, September 29th
SINGLES:
Qualified: Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep
Next to Qualify: No more qualifiers this week. All eyes will be on Beijing
Current Projected Top 8 (Remaining 5 Spots)
Contenders for Top 8 in Action:
(Current projected cut off is 3,137; points trailing the current projected cutoff)
DOUBLES:
Qualified: Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina
Next to Qualify: It is possible for two of three teams to qualify this week – Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova will qualify if they defeat Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova in quarterfinal, and either Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan or Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will book their ticket to Singapore with the title
Current Projected Top 8 (Remaining 5 Teams)
|
Babos/Shvedova |
3975 |
QF vs. Mirza/Strycova |
|
Hlavackova/Hradecka |
3775 |
lost 2R vs Bondarenko/Chuang |
|
Chan/Chan |
3760 |
SF vs winner of Babos/Shvedova & Mirza/Strycova |
|
Mattek-Sands/Safarova |
3676 |
No.5 seed, SF vs McHale/Peng |
|
Goerges/Pliskova |
3270 |
lost to Atawo/Spears in 2R |
Contenders for Top 8 in Action:
(Current projected cut off is 3,270; points trailing the current projected cutoff)
|
Atawo/Spears |
-575 |
lost to Chan Sisters in QF |
|
Xu/Zheng |
-600 |
lost Atawo/Spears in 1R |
|
Klepac/Srebotnik |
-1130 |
lost No.2 seed Chan Sisters in 2R |
|
Mirza/Strycova |
-1280 |
QF vs Babos/Shvedova |
ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic made a winning start to her campaign at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, racing past Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets.
Kicking off the opening day action on Cancha Central, the Frenchwoman needed just an hour an fifteen minutes to complete the 6-2, 6-3 victory.
“It felt great to play the first match on Central,” Mladenovic said after the victory. “I was actually really surprised at the schedule, you know, to open up the tournament on the center court.
“It was difficult for me, too, because I arrived just two days ago from Dubai. I’m still a bit jetlagged and it’s totally different conditions here, but I’m just very happy with the win.”
Mladenovic got off to a quick start against the No.91-ranked American, jumping ahead to a 3-0 lead in both sets. Mladenovic played aggressive, positive tennis to keep Lepchenko out of the rallies, hitting a serve out wide and following it up with a booming forehand. She closed out the set with a second break to the Lepchenko serve.
Well-executed drop shot from @KiKiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/9hXnzArzMf
— WTA (@WTA) February 27, 2017
But the American stood her ground heading into the second, mixing up her game plan to play more aggressively and earn a break back and level the score at 3-3.
Mladenovic stayed positive, and peppered her game with dropshots to grab another break and serve out the match, sealing it with another ace out wide – her fifth ace of the match.
“I was trying to stay tough in my head, just trying to work for every single point, every game. I was just trying to go for it, and Varvara is a tough player as well. Very happy with this first win.”
Up next in the second round Mladenovic will face Heather Watson, who edged past American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 7-5, 6-3.
.@HeatherWatson92 beats Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-3!
Sets @AbiertoTelcel Second round vs @KikiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/VbnOMMb5xA
— WTA (@WTA) February 28, 2017
Also through in Acapulco, No.8 Andrea Petkovic faced a tough battle against American qualifier Jamie Loeb, needing to come back from a set down in her 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
“I’ve been here for a week already so I’ve been practicing for a long time,” Petkovic said. “I don’t remember the last time I waited this long for a match. So at the beginning I was a bit tight, because also she had been through qualifying here”
“She was playing really fast, and I needed some time to get used to it. In the second and third set – after some rough patches – I think it was pretty good.”
Joining them in the second round will be Shelby Rogers, who moved past her American compatriot Louisa Chirico 6-2, 6-2, and Pauline Parmentier who survived a rollercoaster against Nicole Gibbs to advance 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-2.
Petra Kvitova takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
An interview with Venus Williams before her first round match at the China Open.