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Madrid Saturday: Dirt Ballers

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID Spain – The seeds in the lower half of the draw will make their 2016 BNP Paribas debut on Saturday at Indian Wells, including 2016 Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

Saturday, First Round

[12] Elina Svitolina (UKR #17) vs. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL #43)
Head-to-head: Svitolina leads 1-0 
Key Stat: Svitolina’s first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance came last year on clay at the French Open.

A solid start to Svitolina’s season – one that saw her capture her fourth career title in Kuala Lumpur – came to a thudding halt in a rain-interrupted opening round loss to Alexandra Panova in Bogota. Nonetheless, the Ukranian youngster will look to rebound against 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer. Wickmayer reached the third round of the Miami Open, taking out Lucie Safarova en route, and her best result came in Acapulco, where she reached the semifinals – falling to eventual champion Sloane Stephens.

Both have yet to win a match on clay, but their only previous meeting came on the terre battue last spring, when Svitolina dropped four games on the Belgian en route to the quarterfinals of the French Open.

Svitolina is the steadier of the two, but the conditions in the Caja Magica could lend themselves better to the fiery Wickmayer’s aggressive play.

Pick: Svitolina in three

[16] Sloane Stephens (USA #21) vs. Teliana Pereira (BRA #84)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Stephens has gone on to win the title at every tournament in which she has won a match.

Sloane Stephens has had a season full of highs and lows to start 2016; despite earning three titles in Auckland, Acapulco, and Charleston, the American went out in the opening round of the Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Miami. Stephens will try to get on another title-winning roll in her first match in Madird. Clay courter Teliana Pereira enjoyed a hugely successful season in 2015, one where she won her first WTA title in Bogota and earned a career-high ranking of No.43 last October.

Olympic pressure may be starting to get to the Brazilian, who lost her in the first round of her title defense to qualifier Catalina Pella in three grueling sets.

Pick: Stephens in two

Around the grounds: An all-Italian battle will take place on Court Manolo Santana as No.15 seed Sara Errani takes on Camila Giorgi, while Manhattan-born Spanish wildcard Paula Badosa Gibert opens the night session against Alizé Cornet. Badosa Gibert won last year’s junior French Open, perhaps an auspicious sign given how quickly 2014 champion Daria Kasatkina has come into her own in the year following her title run. In doubles, No.5 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic begin their quest for a third straight title against Anna-Lena Groenefeld and CoCo Vandeweghe.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Four countries fight for two spots in the 2017 Fed Cup Final this weekend as Belarus hosts Switzerland, which looks to make its first final in nearly two decades. Half a world away in Florida, the United States finds itself heavily favored against a Czech Republic squad. wtatennis.com previews the semifinals, and all the playoff action as nations look to seal up their positions for 2018.

Belarus vs. Switzerland

Venue: Chizhovka Arena, Minsk, Belarus

Surface: Hard, Indoor

A Swiss squad at full strength will take on the Cinderella story of this year’s Fed Cup in Minsk for a place in November’s Fed Cup final.

Belarus, without the services of Victoria Azarenka, pulled off a stunning victory against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in February, as Aliaksandra Sasnovich and teenager Aryna Sabalenka led the red and green to a 4-1 victory. Those two will be tasked with singles action once again, as Sasnovich is slated to play Viktorija Golubic for the second time in three weeks first up on Saturday, while Sabalenka will face Timea Bacsinszky.

Should the tie come down to the deciding doubles, Olga Govortsova and 2016 Australian Open girls’ champion Vera Lapko have been tabbed to face Martina Hingis and Belinda Bencic. With a victory, Hingis would appear in a Fed Cup Final for the second time in her career, as she played three rubbers in Switzerland’s 3-2 defeat to Spain in 1998.

Belarus and Switzerland last faced off in the World Group II Play-offs in 2012, as Bacsinszky won the deciding rubber against Sasnovich in her team’s 4-1 win.

R1: Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) v Viktorija Golubic (SUI)

R2: Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) v Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)

R3: Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) v Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)

R4: Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) v Viktorija Golubic (SUI)

R5: Olga Govortsova/Vera Lapko (BLR) v Belinda Bencic/Martina Hingis (SUI)

Though she’s not on the court for her country in this tie, Azarenka has been present at the Chizhovka Arena during practice in support of the team, and will be on hand for the weekend’s action.

Czech Republic vs. USA

Venue: Saddlebrook Resort, Florida, USA

Surface: Clay, Outdoor

It’s not often that the Czech Republic and “underdogs” can be used in the same sentence regarding Fed Cup this decade,

While the Czech Republic has won five of the last five six Fed Cups, the team that’ll face the United States in Florida with a trip to a fourth straight final at stake is a young one. Leading the charge for the Czech Republic is World No.38 Katerina Siniakova, joined by Denisa Allertova alongside debutants Kristyna Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova.

Both Siniakova and Allertova have been named to Czech Fed Cup squads before, while Pliskova and Vondrousova have Fed Cup experience of a different sort. The 17-year-old, who made a stunning run to the title at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne earlier this month, was a member of the team that won the Junior Fed Cup in 2015, while Kristyna called up a team stalwart for a little advice — twin sister and World No.3 Karolina, who’s played in six ties for their country.

“Of course, she told me a lot and I asked a lot of questions,” Kristyna told fedcup.com’s Sandra Harwitt in Florida. “I asked about everything – clothes, the matches, and how is the team.”

For the United States, Australian Open semifinalist Coco Vandeweghe will lead the Americans at home for the second straight tie alongside Shelby Rogers, while World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands will hold down the fort in doubles alongside Lauren Davis for the stars and stripes should the tie feature a live fifth rubber.

R1: CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) v Marketa Vondrusova (CZE)

R2: Shelby Rogers (USA) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

R3: CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

R4: Shelby Rogers (USA) v Marketa Vondrusova (CZE)

R5: Lauren Davis and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) v Denisa Allertova and Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)

In the World Group Play-offs, Angelique Kerber returns to Fed Cup after missing February’s tie against the United States to lead Germany against Ukraine in what could be the most evenly-poised tie of the weekend. Kerber and Julia Goerges have been tabbed in singles against Elina Svitolina and Lesia Tsurenko in Stuttgart in a tie that could come down to the deciding doubles rubber of Laura Siegemund and Carina Witthoeft against Olga Savchuk and Nadiia Kichenok.

Elsewhere, France hosts Spain as Kristina Mladenovic takes her place as France’s No.1 in her top 20 season, while Russia fields three WTA title-winners (Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Daria Kasatkina) at home against Belgium. Wrapping up the World Group Play-offs, Slovakia and the Netherlands will meet for the second straight year, as the Slovaks will rely on the youth of Jana Cepelova and Rebecca Sramkova in singles play.

Eight countries will also compete in the World Group II Play-offs, as Sara Errani leads a young Italian team against Chinese Taipei; Australia travels to Serbia; Simona Halep and Romania hosts Johanna Konta and Great Britain in an anticipated tie; and Yulia Putintseva and Yaroslava Shvedova look to lead Kazakhstan to uncharted territory for 2018 in Canada.

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Bacsinszky Blasts Off To Rabat Title

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RABAT, Morocco – Timea Bacsinszky saved some of her best tennis for Saturday’s final against Marina Erakovic; the Swiss star faced few problems against the former World No.39, 6-2, 6-1, to capture her first title of 2016 at the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem.

Watch live action from Prague & Rabat this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Bacsinszky reached the semifinals of last year’s French Open, and appears to be settling into similar form after racing through Rabat – losing just one set in five matches. Against Erakovic, she played a near-perfect match over the course of an hour and seven minutes, winning 75% of the Kiwi’s second serve points without facing a break point off her own delivery. Her fourth career WTA title, the only WTA tournament in Africa Bacsinszky’s first on red clay – all three of her previous victories came on hardcourts.

It might not have been the ideal finish for Erakovic in the final, but it was still an awe-inspiring week from the qualifier, who had nearly dropped outside the world’s Top 200 due to various injuries. Taking out Fed Cup hero Kiki Bertens in three grueling sets, the 28-year-old jumps up nearly 60 spots to within spitting distance of the Top 100.

More to come…

 

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Top Seeds Take Cincy Stage

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WTA Insider | On the first WTA Insider Live Blog from the Western & Southern Open, Angelique Kerber meets the press while Garbiñe Muguruza debuts under the lights.

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