Wuhan: Kvitova vs Cibulkova
Petra Kvitova takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Petra Kvitova takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Caroline Garcia has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
An interview with Venus Williams before her first round match at the China Open.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Top seed and World No.1 Angelique Kerber reached her fourth quarterfinal of 2017 on Thursday, closing out the night session and a big-hitting Mandy Minella, 6-1, 6-3 at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
“It was a good match from me,” she said after the match. “I played very well, and was able to play aggressively from the first point. I enjoyed the match tonight.”
Crafty lob from @AngeliqueKerber! ? pic.twitter.com/vCBZcBAeTc
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
Minella has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, reaching the semifinals at the Taiwan Open and earning an impressive win over Kristyna Pliskova at the Miami Open, but came up against a firing Kerber in Monterrey.
The German dropped just three points behind her first serve and didn’t face a break point all match, converting four of the eight she earned on the reigning Bol Open winner.
Kerber has slowly recovered from a tough first quarter, reaching the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the quarterfinals in Miami, and is still looking for her first title of the year.
Up next for World No.1 is defending champion Heather Watson, who enjoyed a strong win over Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4, 6-1, earlier in the day.
Just too good from @AngeliqueKerber ? ? pic.twitter.com/My4Mjv1H4O
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
“I think it’ll be a good match; she won here last year and is the defending champion, so she knows the court and venue.
“I think I’ll have to play like today, play my game. I’m looking forward to playing against her.”
.@AngeliqueKerber races past Minella 6-1, 6-3!
Sets @Abierto_GNP Quarterfinal vs defending champ @HeatherWatson92! pic.twitter.com/hOrRPIwXRj
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
All photos courtesy of Abierto GNP Seguros.
An interview with Peng Shuai after her win in the second round of the China Open.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – If Caroline Wozniacki scores just one more victory at the Volvo Car Open and defeats World No.66 Jelena Ostapenko, she’ll be rewarded with more than just a spot in the Charleston semifinals: she’ll be projected to break back into the Top 10 when the new WTA rankings come out, a happy ending to what has been an absolute rollercoaster last few years.
Wozniacki got her first taste of the Top 10 back in 2009, and has been a mainstay at the top of the rankings for the majority of her career – including a stint at World No.1, a ranking she held for 67 weeks.
In fact, from 2009 to 2014 she finished each year inside the Top 10, and her six year run had been the WTA’s longest active streak.
But a struggle with injuries and recovery derailed the Dane’s progress, causing her ranking to plummet to as low as No.74 during the 2016 US Open.
It was during that US Open fortnight that Wozniacki’s comeback came together; she entered the tournament unseeded and went on to reach the semifinals, knocking out the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys along the way.
Once she got going, Wozniacki never looked back, and in the 14 events since her ranking dipped to No.74, she’s put together a stunning run which includes titles at the 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, runner-up finishes at the 2017 Qatar Total Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Miami Open, and a semifinal finish at the US Open.
She’s reached the quarterfinals or better at 11 of her last 14 events and now, by virtue of her incredible consistency, Wozniacki sits one win away from a return to her beloved Top 10 – the first time she’ll be there since September 21, 2015.
It won’t be easy with Latvian teenager Ostapenko standing in her way; Wozniacki lost in straight sets the only previous match they’ve played at last year’s Connecticut Open. And due to extreme weather conditions in Charleston, Wozniacki found herself having to double up and play two matches on the same day to reach the quarterfinals.
“I think I’m well-prepared for tomorrow,” Wozniacki said after her win against Anastasia Rodionova. “I got some clay tennis in today and feel like I’m just going to go out there and have fun and do my best and see how it goes.
“I’m just playing right now. I had one practice session before the tournament started for me, and that was it. I just kind of run on experience and try and figure it out.”
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.
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
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
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)
|
|
|
|
|||
|
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.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko stunned No.11 seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets to reach the final at the Volvo Car Open, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
With the victory Ostapenko is through to her third career final – and her first on clay – where he’ll face fellow-19-year-old Daria Kasatkina.
“It’s really nice to be in the third final, but first final on clay court, and especially here in Charleston,” Ostapenko told press after the match. “I’m really looking forward for tomorrow’s match.
“[Daria] kind of defensive player, and I think clay is her favorite surface, but I’m just going to try to stay consistent and be aggressive at the same time and just play my game.”
We're going three!
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni battles back to force a decider over Ostapenko 3-6, 7-5! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/2g3oMKIpc5
— WTA (@WTA) 8 de abril de 2017
Just one point made the difference between Ostapenko and Lucic-Baroni during the tense, two-hour-and-seven-minute encounter. The Latvian employed her aggressive, fearless tennis against Lucic-Baroni, changing the direction in the ball and keeping her opponent on the run with her heavy groundstrokes.
Ostapenko was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second, but Lucic-Baroni had other ideas and the Croat put together a mammoth struggle to deny Ostapenko and break her serve.
Jelena Ostapenko edges Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 5-7, 6-4!
Sets All-Teen @VolvoCarOpen Final vs @DKasatkina! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/ugpZVK2IAh
— WTA (@WTA) 8 de abril de 2017
She unleashed a barrage of winners against the Latvian, who had no response as Lucic-Baroni grabbed the next two games to take the match into a decider. But Ostapenko tamped down her nerves in the third and found her calm to make her way into her first final of 2017.
“I actually was quite emotional in the second set when I was 5-3 up and I couldn’t finish the set, but she liked when I was emotional,” Ostapenko admitted. “It kind of gave her confidence till then.
“In the third set I was just trying to be calm because I think it was tougher for her because I didn’t show any emotions, and it helped me, so I won the third set.”
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!
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her win in the third round of the Miami Open.