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Beijing Monday: Top Trio Kerber, Muguruza, Radwanska Take Center Stage

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Four of the Top 5 seeds will be in action on a busy Monday at the China Open. We preview the must-see matchups right here, courtesy of wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo.

Monday

First and Second Rounds

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs. Katerina Siniakova (CZE #56)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Kerber has reached the quarterfinals in three of the last four years at Beijing, but has never reached the semis.

Angelique Kerber is hoping to continue her fantastic season in Beijing with a deep run and that all starts with a first-round matchup with 20 year old Czech Katerina Siniakova. It’s been a good summer and fall for Siniakova. She has reached her first two WTA finals and is playing just a sliver shy of her career-high ranking of No.53. Last week she qualified for Wuhan and upset Timea Babos before falling to Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. But facing World No.1 Angelique Kerber in this her career year? That’s a different level of challenge for Siniakova, who has only faced two Top 10 opponents in her career to date. Kerber, meanwhile, is just focused on keeping the routine and rhythm that has made her 2016 so successful. “I’m trying to going to each tournament thinking match by match, not thinking too much what’s happen around, just playing my best, practicing good during the tournaments, have good recovery,” she said. “Yeah, just go and play good matches.”

Pick: Kerber in two

[8] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #54)
Head-to-head: Keys leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Keys won her 40th match of the season on Sunday in Beijing.

Madison Keys is looking to cash in on a golden opportunity to put some distance between herself and the rest of the pack when it comes to qualification for this year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Yaroslava Shvedova’s upset of Carla Suárez Navarro in first-round action at Beijing means that Keys can stretch her lead over the Spaniard – currently ranked No.9 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard – with each victory she earns this week. On Monday, Keys will face Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in a rematch of last year’s first-round battle in Beijing. Keys won that one in straight sets and also defeated Mladenovic at the Olympics in Rio this year, where she won the final four points of a third set tie-break to prevail. Mladenovic, who defeated Jelena Jankovic in three sets on Sunday, has seen her ranking drop outside of the Top 50 for the first time since last spring and has dropped five of her last six against the Top 10.

Pick: Keys in three

[2] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ #36)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Muguruza owns a 6-0 lifetime record at Beijing.

Defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza is looking for a late-season push to lock up her second straight WTA Finals appearance, and the 22 year old Spaniard is happy to be back in Beijing, the site of one of her biggest titles to date. “I think it’s very, very satisfying when you go to a tournament where you know you played well, you feel welcome,” she said on Saturday after defeating Irina-Camelia Begu in three sets. “But honestly, this was last year. Nobody really is thinking about who won last year. It’s all about who is going to win this year, who is winning. I’m not really thinking. I’m just going for my match, just concentrating on the next one.” The next one for Muguruza will come against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva. The fiery 21 year old notched her first Top 10 win of the season two weeks ago in Tokyo and she’ll look to claim another big scalp when she meets Muguruza for the first time on Monday. Muguruza has lost more matches against players ranked outside of the Top 20 than any other player in the Top 5, so she’ll have to be dialed in from the get-go to book her spot in the sweet sixteen.

Pick: Muguruza in three

[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #4) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #37)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 5-2
Key Stat: Radwanska will qualify for Singapore if Keys fails to win today.

Agnieszka Radwanska has always been a threat to win the title in Beijing, and 2016 is no exception. The Pole owns a 21-7 lifetime record at the China Open and has been to at least the semifinals in four of the last seven years. “I’m just feeling very well here,” Radwanska said after dispatching Chinese wild card Wang Qiang 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday. “I like the courts. I like the conditions. Everything suits me. So just, you know, very happy that I can really play my best tennis here.” Next up for the 2011 Beijing champion will be a meeting with Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova. Radwanska cruised past Makarova in second-round action at Wuhan last week to improve her record against the southpaw to 5-1 on hardcourts. Makarova has put up inconsistent results in 2016, but she has earned nine Top 5 wins in her career and is capable of defeating anybody when she’s at her best.

Pick: Radwanska in three

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Beijing: Kvitova Interview

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

An interview with Petra Kvitova after her win in the second round of the China Open.

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Beijing: Kvitova vs. Muguruza

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Petra Kvitova takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round of the China Open.

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Zhang Stuns Halep To Reach China Open Quarterfinals

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – World No.36 Zhang Shuai thrilled Chinese fans with a dominant upset over the No.4 seed Simona Halep to become the first Chinese woman to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open since Li Na in 2013.

Watch live action from Beijing on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

In a rematch of their Australian Open encounter – where Zhang shocked Halep in the first round on her way to her Cinderella run to the quarterfinals – Zhang similarly seemed to have all the answers against her No.5-ranked opponent. Undaunted by playing in front of her home crowd, she needed just 58 minutes to advance 6-0, 6-3.

“I feel I played much more better today than in Australia Open because I have more confidence,” Zhang said after the match. “Especially because we are in the China Open, my favorite tournament, so I’m really happy.”

The key to Zhang’s victory was keeping Halep out of position, leaving the Romanian always a step behind in rallies. As a result Halep struck twelve winners but 23 unforced errors, compared to Zhang’s neat and tidy nine winners and just three unforced errors. Halep’s serve also put her in trouble – she hit six double faults during the match.

For Zhang, the win brings together a full circle moment; at this stage last year, a No.191-ranked Zhang considered retiring from tennis after losing in the first round. Her family convinced her to play one last tournament, the Australian Open, and the rest has been a steady rise to the top.

“Last year I was feeling really down. I was feeling really sad. I felt I was working hard but never won, never play good, never play well,” Zhang reflected.

“This year everything change. I am feeling much more confident on court. When I want to go cross-court, the ball go cross-court. When I want to go down the line, they go down the line. I can control everything on court.

“I feeling everything working, yeah. Feeling good. I like this tennis.”

“I don't want to stop now, I want to keep going.” -@ZhangShuai121 ready for @ChinaOpen Quarterfinals pic.twitter.com/HIm4QmawNu

— WTA (@WTA) October 6, 2016

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3 Takeaways From Keys' Three-Set Thriller With Kvitova

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – Madison Keys moved one step closer to qualifying for her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, edging a streaking Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), to advance to her first Premier Mandatory semifinal at the China Open. Keys will play Johanna Konta on Saturday for a place in the final.

1. Keys’ improved resilience wins the day…again.

No single stat explains Madison Keys’ rise through the ranks in 2016 than her three-set record. In 2014 she was 6-10. In 2015 she was 7-8. In 2016? She’s now 17-5.

“You look at my scores, there’s lulls and stuff but I feel like before it would spiral really quickly,” Keys told WTA Insider earlier this week in Beijing. “Now I’m stopping it and getting better at that.

“I think it’s that confidence of knowing ‘Don’t panic, you can do this.’ I think the biggest thing is knowing that those thoughts of panic are probably going to go into your brain and just accepting it. So that’s been the biggest thing. Not fighting it and trying to think I’m going to have the perfect mentality the entire time. That’s not going to happen. So just knowing it and accepting it has been a huge thing for me.”

To succeed as a power player you have to be able to execute under pressure. Players who can grind out points have the luxury of being able to play for the next shot, prolonging rallies and using their defense to get themselves out of trouble. Players like Kvitova and Keys do not have that luxury. When the opening is there they have to execute. That becomes more and more difficult when the pressure is on.

Keys had multiple opportunities to let this match slip away. She served for the straight set win at 5-4 in the second set only to get broken and lose the tiebreaker. After building a quick 3-0 lead in the final set she let Kvitova back into the set at 3-3 and then had to fend off seven break points to get the match into a final set tie-break.

Then, on the biggest pressure point of the match at 5-5 in the tie-break, Kvitova maintained her discipline and kept the ball on Keys’ less dangerous backhand side before the American finally had enough.

“That was just like, we’re going to go for it and see what happens. Hope for the best,” Keys told reporters afterwards with a laugh. Indeed, Keys gripped and ripped a backhand down-the-line winner to earn match point. She only needed one.

“It was about one or two points in the end,” Kvitova told WTA Insider. “I had break points in the third and I don’t know, I didn’t really think I did anything really wrong. She served well and really went for it at 5-5 in the tiebreaker and put the backhand down the line. It was a great move from her.”

2. Kvitova’s resurgence in China could continue in Zhuhai.

Kvitova was understandably dejected after the loss, having come so close to extending her win-streak to nine matches.
“I felt like the first two sets I was the worst player until the last game of the second set when I break her and then the tie-break,” Kvitova said. “Then in the third I thought I was the better player, but that’s tennis.”

Kvitova was one for 11 on break points in the final set. Keys did well to save more than a handful on her own accord, but Kvitova had a relatively easy forehand on one that she put into the net.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have missed that forehand, but that’s just how it is,” she said. “I had more chances than that. I think both of us in the third were both mentally strong, it was just about the third and you never know how those tiebreaks will go.”

“It was a good fight and finally I am done here.”

Kvitova finally found her game in China, winning the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open last week and making her third China Open quarterfinal. In all she went 8-1 through China to bring her ranking back up – she could return to the Top 10 next week depending on Konta’s results in Beijing – and finish the year strong. In all, Kvitova played nine matches in 12 days in China and a brief respite will do her good.

“I’m really tired and I just need to rest,” Kvitova said. “Especially when you lose you just feel more tired than normally.”

Kvitova will finish her regular season in Luxembourg next week and then will head to the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai to finish her WTA season. “We are playing the final of the Fed Cup so I think it will be good to play in Zhuhai,” Kvitova said.

How big is the Konta-Keys semi @ChinaOpen?

Keys wins: Qualifies for @WTAFinalsSG.
Konta wins: Makes Top 10 debut, moves to No.8 in RTS.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 7, 2016

3. Keys on the verge of qualifying for Singapore.

If she advances to the final she will lock down her Singapore spot*. The 21-year-old holds the keys to her own fate this week and Saturday’s semifinal looms particularly large considering she is not presently entered in any more tournaments before the WTA Finals. In other words, barring any last minute wildcards, Beijing is her last chance to earn points.

“It’s tough,” Keys told WTA Insider earlier in the week. “Do I use that as my motivation to try and figure it out or is that going to make me more nervous and put more pressure on me? It just depends on the day.

“Some days it’s like ‘No one say the word! We’re in Beijing, that’s all we’re doing, there’s no more tournaments for the rest of the year.’ Other days it’s like ‘This is really tough, grinding, it’s been a long season, but I’m that close.’ I want to put myself in the best position and I want to be able to walk away, qualifying or not, knowing that I did everything I could to get there.”

*Editor’s note: Karolina Pliskova has withdrawn from Linz and Garbiñe Muguruza has replaced her as a Top 10 direct entry into the main draw. In addition, Dominika Cibulkova and Keys have taken wildcards into Linz. As a result, while a win over Konta on Saturday will place Keys on the cusp of qualification, she will no longer automatically qualify for the WTA Finals by making the China Open final.

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Konta Upsets Keys To Reach Beijing Final & Top 10

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – Johanna Konta upset Madison Keys to reach the final of the China Open and become the first British player in 32 years to reach the Top 10.

Watch live action from Beijing on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

This summer in Montréal, Konta had the chance to reach the Top 10 only to slip to a surprise defeat at the hands of World No.121 Kristina Kucova. However, this time she rose to the occasion magnificently, withstanding a mid-match comeback from Keys to complete a 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 win.

“I’m definitely enjoying my time here. It’s my first time in Beijing and I hope to play many more times here. It’s an amazing atmosphere, such a beautiful stadium, it’s a real pleasure to play here,” Konta said in her on-court interview.

Keys had produced one of the performances of her career 24 hours earlier to defeat Petra Kvitova, but failed to scale those heights against Konta, committing 47 unforced errors in their two and a half hours on court. Nevertheless, she still had her chances and looked to be headed for victory when she skipped around a return to break in the first game of the deciding set.

Instead it was Konta that took charge, drawing level immediately and threatening further breaks. Keys’ serve bailed her out on several occasions, but she finally buckled at 5-4 to send Konta into her first Premier Mandatory final.

“I don’t really think there was a secret [to winning],” Konta added. “She’s such a high-quality player, has such a weight of shot -I’m pretty sure I was cleaning the back of the court there! I just tried to run down as many balls as I could and tried to take the chances I got.”

Konta can now look forward to a meeting against 2011 Beijing champion Agnieszka Radwanska.

“It’s really special. As I said I’m just enjoying being here and trying to prolong it as long as possible and I feel very blessed to be coming back tomorrow for the final.”

On Monday she will also become the 121st different player to reach the Top 10 since the WTA Rankings were introduced on November 3, 1975. She is the fourth Briton to achieve the feat, following in the footsteps of Virginia Wade, Sue Barker and, most recently, Jo Durie (August, 1984).

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Beijing: Sunday Highlights

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Highlights from final round action at the China Open.

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Vote Now: WTA Comeback Player Of The Year

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The finalists for the 2016 WTA Comeback Player Of The Year have been released, and we want to hear from you, the fans. The fan vote will count as one of the coveted media votes.

Have a look at the finalists and cast your vote before Sunday, October 16th at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, October 21st.

2016 WTA Comeback Player Of The Year Finalists

Dominika Cibulkova: A former Grand Slam finalist at the 2014 Australian Open, Cibulkova fell outside the Top 50 after taking a break from tennis to undergo Achilles surgery in February 2015. She was sidelined for three months, and started out the 2016 season ranked No.38. Cibulkova now sits at No.10 after reaching a career-high ranking of No.8 on October 3. The Slovak’s season is highlighted by two WTA titles – at Katowice and Eastbourne – as well as finals appearances in Acapulco, Madrid and Wuhan. Cibulkova also reached the semifinals at Hobart and Stanford and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, posting five Top 10 wins so far along the way.

Vania King: Following the 2014 US Open, King spent a year on the sidelines as a result of various back injuries. After returning to the ITF Circuit in August 2015, King finished the year at her lowest year-end ranking of No.466. But the American didn’t stay there long. She improved 385 spots to leap back into the Top 100 at No.80 after reaching her third career WTA final this year at Nanchang and making a semifinals appearance at Bucharest. She recorded second round appearances at the Australian Open and US Open as well. King has been a force on the doubles circuit, too, opening the 2016 season by winning a title at Shenzhen with partner Monica Niculescu, and partnering with Alla Kudryavtseva to reach the final at Birmingham, semifinals at Charleston and Madrid, and consecutive quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami.

Shelby Rogers: After ending the 2015 season ranked No.146, Rogers started out the year playing ITF-level events and missing out on direct acceptance into the Australian Open. But the American turned it all around in Rio de Janeiro at her first WTA event of the year, reaching her second career WTA final at the Rio Open. 2016 also saw the American reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros, where she triumphed over a spate of Top 50 players, including Karolina Pliskova, Elena Vesnina, Petra Kvitova and Irina-Camelia Begu.As a result, Rogers improved her ranking 97 spots to reach a career-high of No.49 in August and now sits at No.66.

Anastasija Sevastova: Following long battles with illness and injury, Sevastova hung up her racquet and retired from tennis in May 2013. She played her first professional match of her comeback in January 2015 and won four ITF titles before returning to the WTA in the later half of the year. This year, Sevastova announced her return with a bang, reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open – taking out No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza and No.14 Johanna Konta along the way – and advancing to two WTA finals at Bucharest and Mallorca. As a result, Sevastova improved from No.110 to a career-high ranking of No.30 on September – she currently sits at No.31.

Elena Vesnina: Vesnina ended her 2015 season ranked No.111 and made her way back into the Top 100 after a quarterfinal run at Doha, where she claimed her first Top 10 win since 2013 over No.4 Simona Halep. She’s been steadily rising ever since, recording a finals appearance at Charleston and advancing to her first Grand Slam singles semifinal at Wimbledon, along with quarterfinal runs at Strasburg, Eastbourne and New Haven. She’s improved her ranking 92 spots to reach a career high ranking of No.19. Vesnina has enjoyed a successful doubles season, as well, qualifying for the WTA Finals with partner Ekaterina Makarova after winning the title in Montréal and reaching finals at Roland Garros and Rome. The pair also clinched the gold medal at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

WTA Comeback Player Of The Year Winners
2015: Venus Williams
2014: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
2013: Alisa Kleybanova
2012: Yaroslava Shvedova
2011: Sabine Lisicki
2010: Justine Henin
2009: Kim Clijsters
2008: Zheng Jie
2007: Lindsay Davenport
2006: Martina Hingis
2005: Kim Clijsters
2004: Serena Williams

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com

Comeback Player Of The Year criteria includes a player whose ranking previously dropped due to injury or personal reasons and current season’s results helped restore ranking.

Winner is then determined by a media vote with a fan vote counting as one media vote.

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Pliskova Bringing Aggressive Approach To Singapore Debut

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – Set to enter the Centre Court arena for her BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global debut is Karolina Pliskova, the Girl on Fire.

“It’s crazy, because that month in the States really changed everything,” she told WTA Insider after clinching qualification at the China Open. “I don’t know how far down I was on the Road to Singapore leaderboard before Cincinnati – pretty far, I think!

Down at No.17, to be exact, Pliskova was on no one’s Singapore short list in early August. But the Czech youngster quickly began cutting that ranking in half thanks to a blistering run at the Western & Southern Open, where she blitzed future No.1 Angelique Kerber for her second title of the season, and the biggest of her career.

“With my style, things can change a lot if I win a tournament or two.”

The winds of change blew at gale force speeds two weeks later. Rolling into the second week of a major tournament for the first time, she saved a match point to oust Venus Williams at the US Open, and became the fourth woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same Slam.

Roaring into her first Grand Slam final with a straight-set win over top seeded Serena, she finished second to Kerber in one of the best matches of the year, all but clinching the spot in Singapore she so narrowly missed 12 months ago.

“Last year was totally different,” she recalled with a wry smile. “I spent the whole season on the Road to Singapore, by the end, I was playing badly. So I didn’t make it.”

Tough weeks in Tokyo and Wuhan delayed the inevitable, but even after cementing her place among the Elite Eight, Pliskova was still ready to play, battling past young rival Daria Kasatkina in a tense third set tie-break.

“I was just praying to make it through one or two rounds because I knew I’m on the cut and only need a few points to get it. There’s always pressure, but I’m happy I made it, and able to win today after finding out last night. It confirms that I belong there.”

The tour’s ace leader will not only make her WTA Finals debut in singles, but also in doubles alongside partner Julia Goerges. Playing a sparse schedule but peaking at big events, Pliskova’s doubles season mirrors her singles, even if her approaches to the two disciplines are radically different.

“You can always improve things in doubles if you’re not feeling it in singles. I would maybe practice a few serves anyway after singles, so it can be a big help, where you can make improvements and practice there.

“I’m always in for doubles, and as long as it’s fun, and we’re winning, it’s good.”

Under the roof and away from the elements at the Singapore Sports Hub, her laser-like swings and unapologetic offense should be well suited to the indoor conditions. The 24-year-old knows where her strengths lie; playing for her first WTA Finals crown, she won’t be afraid to use them.

“For me, I still have one plan to play; I have to be aggressive otherwise I don’t have any chance to win.”

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