Wuhan: Shot Of The Day (Tuesday)
Agnieszka Radwanska had Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska had Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Simona Halep takes on Madison Keys in the quarterfinals of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Petra Kvitova and Dominika Cibulkova will meet in the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan final with a lot more than just the trophy on the line.
Earlier this week, Kvitova scored a win over current WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the third round at Wuhan, which, arguably, could be considered the WTA match of the year. Kvitova entered the week at No.21 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard. With an 11-1 record in Wuhan – she was the inaugural winner in 2014 – Kvitova will move to No.12 by reaching the final this week and will be either 897 points outside of the Top 8 – or within 582 points.
If Kvitova, a finalist at the 2014 China Open, 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.
Cibulkova, who missed four months due to surgery on her Achilles last year, will move to RTS No.7 by reaching the Wuhan final as she attempts to qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time in her career. She can move as high as No.6 on the Leaderboard overtaking French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza if she wins the title.
SINGLES:
All Eyes on Beijing
Following the finals in Wuhan, all eyes will be on Beijing as the Road to Singapore heats up and enters the final stages – as the countdown to the start of the WTA Finals winds down.
In singles, three players have qualified – Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams and Simona Halep – leaving five spots on the table entering the China Open, a Premier Mandatory event awarding up to 1,000 points to the champion. Meanwhile in doubles, nine teams remain in contention for the final five spots.
Click here to check out the complete China Open draws.
Knocking on Qualification’s Door
Karolina Pliskova and Agnieszka Radwanska are closing in on qualification but they will need to reach the quarterfinals or semifinals (depending on the Wuhan final results). However, if some results fall in their favor, Pliskova and Radwanska could qualify as early as the opening weekend in Beijing.
HOW PLISKOVA & RADWANSKA CAN QUALIFY
1. Madison Keys fails to reach 3r AND Carla Suárez Navarro fails to reach SF
2. Keys fails to reach 3r AND neither Svetlana Kuznetsova nor Johanna Konta reach the final, nor Kvitova wins title (if she wins Wuhan)
3. Suárez Navarro fails to reach SF and neither Kuznetsova or Konta reach final nor Kvitova wins title (if she wins Wuhan)
NOTE: Kuznetsova, Konta, Kvitova are all in the bottom half
Six of Nine Players Ranked Inside RTS Top 12 on Bottom Half of Draw
While Pliskova and Radwanska are next in line to qualify, Garbiñe Muguruza, Dominika Cibulkova and Madison Keys round out the Top 8 of our live leaderboard. Carla Suárez Navarro is next in line followed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Johanna Konta and Petra Kvitova.
Four of these – Muguruza, Keys, Kuznetsova and Kvitova are all in the same quarter of the Beijing draw, creating some exciting early round matchups at the China Open.
Road to Singapore Update:
Qualified: Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep
Current Projected Top 8 (5 Spots Remaining)
Next in Line with points behind current projected cut-off (3137)
DOUBLES:
Mattek-Sands/Safarova Seek Wuhan Title, Singapore Qualification
Playing in their seventh tournament together this year, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova have a chance to qualify for the WTA Finals for the second consecutive year on Saturday, but they will need to defeat Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova in the Wuhan final in order to do so.
Wuhan will be the fourth final this year for Mattek-Sands/Safarova, having won titles at Miami and the US Open, while also finishing as runner-up in Charleston. They will move to RTS No.5 if they are runners-up in Wuhan.
Mirza/Strycova Closing in on Top 8
Although this is only the fourth tournament of the year for Mirza/Strycova, the two have posted a 15-1 record winning titles at Cincinnati and Tokyo. Their only loss thus far has been to Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline GarcIa, currently the top ranked doubles team in 2016, at the US Open in the quarterfinals.
Despite forming the late-season partnership, Mirza/Strycova are rapidly climbing the Road to Singapore leaderboard. By advancing to the final, they will move to No.11 and cam climb to No.9 with the Wuhan title.
Qualified: Garcia/Mladenovic, Hingis/Mirza, Makarova/Vesnina
Current Projected Top 8 (5 Spots Remaining)
|
Shvedova/Babos |
3975 |
|
|
Mattek-Sands/Safarova |
3911 |
Qualify with Wuhan title (vs Mirza/Strycova in final) |
|
Hlavackova/Hradecka |
3775 |
|
|
Chan/Chan |
3760 |
|
|
Goerges Pliskova |
3270 |
Remaining Teams in Possible Contention with points behind projected cutoff (3270)
|
*Atawo/Spears |
-575 |
||
|
*Xu/Zheng |
-600 |
||
|
Mirza/Strycova |
-885 |
Close to 570 (and 9th place) with Wuhan title (vs Mattek/Safarova in final) |
|
|
*Klepac/Srebotnik |
-1130 |
||
*Atawo/Spears, Xu/Zheng and Klepac/Srebotnik are in the same quarter of the draw
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
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
An interview with Petra Kvitova after her win in the second round of the China Open.
Petra Kvitova takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round of the China Open.
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
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.
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.
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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).