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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – Top seed Angelique Kerber recovered from breaks in both sets against big-hitting American Shelby Rogers to advance, 6-4, 7-5, and reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.

“It was a good match,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I was trying to feel my game again. I was moving good, but it was not so easy because she didn’t play badly. I was trying to stay positive and play my tennis.”

Kerber was playing her first match since her late-night victory against Duan Ying-Ying, and suffered a slow start to Rogers, who reached the French Open quarterfinals last spring and began 2017 with a win over Simona Halep at the Australian Open.

The German reclaimed World No.1 from Serena Williams at the start of the fortnight in Florida, and showed some of why the two-time Grand Slam champion has been so tough to beat in the last year, rolling through six of the next seven games from a break down to take the opening set.

“It’s always good to have close sets, especially when you win them at the end because they give you confidence that you can go out in your next match knowing you can win close matches because you’ve just done it a day ago. I’m looking forward to the next match.”

Rogers kept fighting, however, and fought off multiple break points in the fifth game to engineer another service break. Much like the first set, Kerber took control from there, winning five of the final six games to seal the hometown favorite in just under 90 minutes.

“If you win the match, you’re always happy about your performance. In the second set, she was 4-2 up and we’d played a long game. That was important because she was playing well, but I was staying positive and believing in my chances. I think that was the key to the match.”

In all, Kerber struck 17 winners to only 22 unforced errors; Rogers took far more risks throughout, her 34 winners were ultimately undone by 51 unforced errors.

Up next for top seed is Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki. Ozaki was already enjoying her best-ever result at a Premier Mandatory tournament when she broke new ground on Sunday, besting Kerber’s countrywoman Julia Goerges, 7-6(5), 6-3. 

“I’ve never played against her, but I saw a little bit on TV because she played Julia today. I think she’s playing good here, coming from qualies, so she has a lot of matches and confidence.

“She has nothing to lose, so it’ll be another good match.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA — Former World No. 5 Lucie Safarova recorded her first top 10 win since 2015 at the Miami Open on Monday, defeating World No. 4 Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6(5), 6-1 for a place in the quarterfinals.

“It was a great match and I’m really excited to be for the first time here in the quarterfinals,” Safarova told WTA Insider after the match. “I knew I had to come out really strong and play fast, and [not] let Dominika play her game. She puts a lot of balls back and she’s a very big fighter so I had to be really sharp and strong, which I was. I’m really happy it worked out.”

Now ranked World No. 36 and on the comeback trail from a bacterial infection that hampered her for parts of the past two seasons, Safarova earned her first win against a member of the WTA top 10 since defeating Angelique Kerber at the 2015 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Added Safarova: “[Winning today] means a lot. It feels great to be there again with the best players, being able to beat them means my level is there again.”

The pair, who were meeting for the eighth time overall in Miami, saw an opening set decided in a tie-break for the fourth time after trading breaks twice in the set. Trailing 4-3 in the tie-break, Safarova rifled a backhand return winner to pull level before running off three of the final four points to take a one-set lead.

“We’ve played so many matches against each other, of course also practices,” Safarova said about her history with the Slovak. “We know each other very well and we know what to expect!”

The second set proved closer than the score indicated inside the lines, as Safarova wrapped it up in 55 minutes — just one minute shy of the mark in the first. Four of the set’s seven games went to deuce, and the Czech was forced to save three break points before converting on her third match point for the win.

Safarova will take on Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals, who advanced after Garbiñe Muguruza retired with illness after the opening set. The pair have played seven times, with Wozniacki holding a 4-3 head-to-head lead.

“She’s playing great tennis again,” Safarova said of the Dane. “I think it’s a little bit similar game to Dominika — Caroline puts a lot of balls back. I have to be patient but play aggressive and again come up strong and try to go for it. I feel healthy now — thank God! (laughs) — and I’ll…keep trying to push my limits more and more.”

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Radwanska & Pliskova On The Precipice Of WTA Finals Qualification

Radwanska & Pliskova On The Precipice Of WTA Finals Qualification

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Road to Singapore leaderboard, Sunday Recap

RTS No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska and No.8 Madison Keys stay on course; RTS No.9 Carla Suárez Navarro crashes out; RTS No.11 Johanna Konta eases into second round

RTS No.6 Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka lose tight opener; RTS No.8 Goerges/Pliskovaadvance comfortably

RTS No.13 Andreja Klepac / Katarina Srebotnik keep Singapore dreams alive by eliminating and ending the hopes of RTS No.9 Raquel Atawo / Abigail Spears

Click here for the complete China Open draws.

Monday Preview

If Keys loses to Kristina Mladenovic (4th match, Lotus, NB 6.30pm) then Karolina Pliskova and Agnieszka Radwanska will qualify for BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, regardless of their own results on Monday.

Karolina Pliskova

UPDATED LEADERBOARD

SINGLES:

Qualified: Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep

Next In Line (Current Top 8):

How can they qualify in Beijing ?

(note: Scenarios will change if those currently in the Top 8 advance)

Pliskova – qualifies by reaching QF OR

· Keys fails to reach 3r (QF if Pliskova advances to 2r) OR

· Konta nor Kuznetsova reach final*

*both are in the same half so only one of these is possible

Radwanska – qualifies by reaching QF OR

· Keys fails to reach QF OR

· Konta nor Kuznetsova reach final *

*both are in the same half so only one of these is possible

Garbine Muguruza

Muguruza – qualifies by reaching final

Cibulkova – qualifies by winning title

Keys – qualifies by winning title

It is mathematically possible for Kuznetsova to qualify this week by winning the Beijing title BUT this would depend on a 2r defeat for Cibulkova.

It is no longer mathematically possible for Konta to qualify this week, even if she won the title.

Currently No.9 to No.13 with points behind current projected cut-off (3137)

It is interesting to note that four of the players that are battling for qualification – Muguruza, Keys, Kuznetsova and Kvitova are all in the same quarter of the Beijing draw, creating some potentially exciting matchups in the R16 at the China Open, a stage where Pliskova and Konta could also meet

DOUBLES

QUALIFIED: Garcia/Mladenovic, Hingis/Mirza, Makarova/Vesnina, Mattek-Sands/Safarova

NEXT IN LINE:

Shvedova/Babos

3975

1r v Savchuk/Wang (Mon)

Hlavackova/Hradecka

3775

Lost 1r (Arruabarrena/Kalashnikova)

Chan/Chan

3760

1r bye, 2r-King/Niculescu or Xu/Zheng

Goerges/Pliskova

3390

1r d. Aoyama/Ninomiya , 2r vs Hingis/Vandeweghe or Irigoyen/Maria

How do they qualify in Beijing:

Timea Babos / Yaroslava Shvedova qualify unless Sania Mirza / Barbora Strycova or Xu Yi-Fan / Zheng Saisai win the Beijing title OR by reaching the Beijing SF

Andrea Hlavcakova / Lucie Hradecka qualify unless Mirza/Strycova reach Beijing final or Xu/Zheng win the Beijing title

Sania Mirza, Barbora Strycova

Chan Hao-Ching / Chan Yung-Jan qualify unless Mirza/Strycova or Xu/Zheng reach Beijing final OR by reaching the Beijing Final

Julia Goerges / Karolina Pliskova qualify by advancing to the same round or better than Mirza/Strycova and Xu/Zheng and if Klepac/Srebotnik don’t win Beijing title**

Remaining Teams in Possible Contention (points behind current cut-off)

Atawo/Spears

-575

l. 1r Klepac/Srebotnik; cannot finish Top 8

Xu/Zheng

-720

Must reach at least QFs to stay in contention**

1r vs King/Nicuescu (Mon)

Mirza/Strycova

-1005

Must reach at least QFs to stay in contention**

(same quarter as Goerges/Pliskova)

1r – bye; 2r vs Dabrowski/Martinez Sanchez

Klepac/Srebotnik

-1230

8th at best, must win Beijing to stay in contention and Goerges/Pliskova do not reach SF

1r d Atawo/Spears, 2r vs Arruabarrena/Kalashnikova

**this will change and require a better result if Goerges/Pliskova advance.

WTA Finals: Get Your Tickets!

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Halep & Kvitova Light Up The Beijing Player Party

Halep & Kvitova Light Up The Beijing Player Party

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – The WTA’s biggest names were out in full force to celebrate the final Premier Mandatory event of the year at the China Open, but this was no average player party.

Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki were among the names to hit the Beijing National Stadium – the iconic “Bird’s Nest Stadium” that played host to the 2008 Olympics’ Opening Ceremony – and took part in the China Open gala celebration.

The gala also served as the kickoff to the Song Qingling Foundation, which works to promote the development of tennis among Chinese children and teenagers.

Click below to check out the best photos of the night, courtesy of Visual China Group!

China Open Player Party

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