Cincinnati: Halep vs Radwanska
Simona Halep takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
Simona Halep takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
SINGAPORE – Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova were in high spirits as they reflected on their win over Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, which made them the doubles champions at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“We were coming here so motivated to have this trophy,” Makarova admitted in their post-match press conference. “We came so early, because two years ago we came quite late – we had just two days for practice.”
“Not enough,” Vesnina interjected.
“Yeah, we came one week before [this year’s tournament began], and were ready, and really wanted this trophy,” Makarova continued. “We’re so happy that we did it today.”
They were quick to pay tribute to their vanquished opponents, and the role they played in making the match such a special occasion.
“We [have] always had tough matches against Lucie and Bethanie,” Vesnina said. “We know that it has to be [a] good match from us and we have to… up our level of the game, because otherwise we won’t beat them. It was really good quality tennis today in the final.”
Vesnina and Makarova’s win meant that Sania Mirza finishes the year as Doubles World No.1. The champions wondered whether she might want to thank them for their part in her ranking – or whether she was still smarting from her semifinal loss.
“Congrats to Sania, by the way,” Vesnina said with a smile. “She should give us some gift, I think. We still beat her in the semifinal so she’s upset.”
The new champions were also keen to talk about why they think their partnership works – despite the two players being polar opposites.
“We are different a little bit, but I think that [the partnership] is working because we are different,” Makarova suggested. “Yeah, I’m more quiet and Lena is more –
“I’m talking all the time!” interrupted Vesnina, and her partner agreed. “She’s lefty; I’m a right-hander. Left-handed people, you know that they’re thinking with a different part of the brain and I’m thinking with a different [part of mine]. So that’s why we’re different, but we are still together.”
“Yes – but we are still good to each other,” Makarova added.
Unsurprisingly, the pair are planning a break between Christmas and New Year – but are expecting that they will reunite in January to begin their 2017 campaign.
“For sure we will play Australian Open together, yeah; maybe the tournament before,” Makarova confirmed.
“Now we want to enjoy this moment. We want to have a holiday. She goes to Zhuhai, so her season is not finished yet. We wish you will all big good luck there -same way as here.
“Then definitely, yeah, we will be ready for Australia.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Ana Ivanovic moved confidently in the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over qualifier Kateryna Kozlova.
Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
In her opening round match Ivanovic took a while to get into her groove, but against Kozlova she hit the ground running, reeling off five straight games to pocket the opening set in 23 minutes. Kozlova, who was appearing the quarterfinals of a Premier event for the first time, gave a better account of herself in the second, battling back from 5-3 down before eventually succumbing.
Meeting Ivanovic for a place in the final will be another of the draw’s more established names, Roberta Vinci. And Vinci needed to draw on all her experience to see off Timea Babos in an absorbing encounter, 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4).
Babos was in command for much of the final set – leading 5-3 and then 4-2 in the tie-break – but was unable to find the decisive blow. The decisive moment came in the 10th point of the tie-break when Vinci skipped around a second serve only to flash a forehand fractionally wide.
The Hungarian’s relief was short-lived, though, Hawk-Eye adjudging the ball to have clipped the outer edge of the sideline. This successful challenge took the No.2 seed to match point, which she converted when Babos sent a weary forehand sailing beyond the baseline.
“It was a long match, a tough match. Timea has a great serve – always 190km/h. Tough for me to return,” Vinci said. “I was 5-3 down at the end, but I stayed focused and won a great match today.
“In those moments you have to stay positive and don’t think about the score. In the end she was probably a little bit nervous, and a little bit tight, she missed some easy balls and I won.”
Vinci has lost six of her previous nine meetings with Ivanovic, although the two have not crossed paths for a couple of years.
“Ana is a great player. Of course it will be a difficult match. But I’m in the semifinals, nothing to lose, just enjoy! I will try my best – I need to be aggressive every single point. We will see.”
Friday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
WTA Insider | In the WTA Finals championship match Live Blog, Dominika Cibulkova upsets World No.1 Angelique Kerber in straight sets.
Highlights from the round of 16 action at the Taiwan Open.
Angelique Kerber takes on Simona Halep in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open.
SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova has climbed to a career-high ranking of World No.5 after stunning Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 6-4, to win the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
The Slovakian began the tournament as World No.8 and looked set to make an early exit when she lost her first two round robin matches.
However, after beating Simona Halep to reach the semifinals, she recorded a victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova before upsetting the Australian Open and US Open champion to claim the title.
The win moves her up to fifth, leapfrogging Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Madison Keys, who were all eliminated at the round-robin phase.
Had Cibulkova won her first two round-robin matches, she would be just over 100 points behind Simona Halep, who remains as World No.4.
Kerber secured her status as year-end World No.1 thanks to Serena Williams’ withdrawal from the tournament and received her award in Singapore.
Meanwhile, in the doubles rankings, Sania Mirza hangs on to top spot despite her and Martina Hingis’ semifinal exit in Singapore.
Had Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic or Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the tournament, the Indian’s 81-week reign as No.1 would have ended, but Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina’s triumph means she holds on to secure the 2016 WTA Year-End World No.1 Doubles Ranking, presented by Dubai Duty Free. Garcia is just 225 points behind her.
.@MirzaSania secures #WTA Year-End Doubles World No.1 presented by #DubaiDutyFree! pic.twitter.com/rCCtVtAIFB
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
An interview with Ana Ivanovic after her quarterfinal win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her win in the final round of the Western & Southern Open.