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  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska’s Dubai campaign was cut short in the round of 16 after suffering one of the biggest upsets of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against 17-year-old CiCi Bellis.

“I didn’t feel good from the beginning. I didn’t play really great, and I was trying everything. I did what I could today,” Radwanska told press after the defeat.

She added, “For me it was really hard to control the ball and make the angles. And also, my serve didn’t work at all. In those kind of tight matches, you need those things. When you don’t have it and you’re struggling pretty much from the beginning, then you have a problem.

“I was really struggling myself. I was really focusing on myself today, but I just wasn’t good enough.”

Despite playing against an unseeded teenager, experience told Radwanska to be wary, especially with the way Bellis had climbed the rankings and made a name for herself toward the end of last season.

“I never really think of the seeds or unseeded players,” she explained. “In today’s tennis, we don’t have ‘easy draws’ or ‘open draws.’

“Maybe you can say this from an outside [point of view], but on the court, there’s nothing ‘open.'”

Radwanska had only words of praise for Bellis, who is the youngest member of the WTA Top 100 and the youngest player to defeat a Top 10 opponent since Belinda Bencic posted back to back wins over Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic at the 2014 US Open.

“Very solid. Very consistent. She can really play good rallies with good intensity, and I think that’s a really good thing for that kind of young player. I think she was the best today.”

Putting the loss behind her, Radwanska plans to stop by her home in Poland for a couple of days before making the trip to California for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

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Halep Safely Into Montréal QFs

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MONTRÉAL, Canada – Simona Halep moved impressively into the last eight of the Rogers Cup with a straight set win over Karolina Pliskova on Thursday.

Watch live action from Montréal this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Sixty-eight minutes was all it took for Halep, the runner-up 12 months ago, to defuse the big-serving Pliskova and complete a 6-3, 6-3 win.

“I’m happy that I won today. It’s nice to be in the quarterfinals again, a second year in a row,” Halep said during her on-court interview. “I enjoy my time here and I’m looking forward to the next round already.”

That match will pit her against Daria Kasatkina after she upset No.7 seed Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-3.

If Halep reproduces the level of tennis that dispatched Pliskova she will prove hard to beat; the Romanian barely put a foot out of place, hitting 22 winners and just nine unforced errors to extend her post-Wimbledon unbeaten streak.

As early as the second game, Halep’s agility and movement was putting her in the ascendency, instinctively darting right to flash a forehand past Pliskova. A couple of points later she had the break, the same wing once again outmaneuvering the Czech.

While Halep was unable to hang onto this advantage she was soon back in front, dragging Pliskova all over the court to open up a 4-2 lead. This time she made Pliskova pay, wrapping up the set with another fizzing forehand a few games later.

Her dominance was even more apparent in the second set, the No.5 seed taking four of the last five games to secure her passage through.

“She’s a good player, I knew that well – I’ve played her a couple of times already this year, so I knew she was going to be very strong,” Halep added. “But I played some good tennis, a high level, and I moved very well.”

Following victory on home soil in Bucharest, Halep has now won seven straight matches, and 20 of her past 23: “I can say that I’m confident, I have a few matches in a row that I won. I’m coming here without expectation, just to enjoy the tennis and to do my best always.”

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