Svitolina Shocks No.1 Kerber In Brisbane Quarterfinals
Elina Svitolina produced a spectacular finish to upset World No.1 Angelique Kerber in Thursday’s Brisbane International quarterfinals.
Elina Svitolina produced a spectacular finish to upset World No.1 Angelique Kerber in Thursday’s Brisbane International quarterfinals.
Here’s how Alizé Cornet reacted after pulling off a stunning upset over World No.5 Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Katerina Siniakova takes on Johanna Konta in the semifinal of the Shenzhen Open.
Highlights from all of Friday’s semifinals action at the Brisbane International
Defending champion Belinda Bencic was forced to withdraw from the upcoming Rogers Cup due to the left wrist injury she sustained at Wimbledon.
SYDNEY, Australia – With the Australian Open just around the corner, six of the WTA’s Top 10 players are heading to the Apia International Sydney to fine-tune their preparations for the year’s first major.
The Sydney draw is out and Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova and Karolina Pliskova are all in action at the Premier-level event – here’s a rundown of what they’re up against this week.
Click here for the complete Sydney singles and doubles draws.
POSSIBLE QUARTERFINALS
[1] Angelique Kerber vs [6] Johanna KontaEARLY MATCHES TO WATCH
Sloane Stephens vs [4] Karolina Pliskova: Stephens is back in action for the first time since August after a left foot injury ended her season after the Olympic tennis event. But it won’t be an easy welcome back to the WTA as she’s drawn Brisbane champion Pliskova in the first round. Stephens leads their head-to-head record 2-0, but the pair haven’t played since late 2015.
[7] Elina Svitolina vs Monica Puig: Svitolina and Puig are set to meet for the second time in as many weeks, and this time it’s at a tournament where the Puerto Rican reached the final last year and is defending valuable points. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 2-1 after last week’s win in Brisbane.
As the top two seeds, Kerber and Radwanska received a bye into the second round. Kerber awaits the winner between Daria Kasatkina and Timea Babos, while Radwanska will face either Roberta Vinci or a qualifier in her first match.
KERBER & RADWANSKA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL:
Should World No.1 Kerber make it past her tricky second-round battle, she could face British No1 Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals. Precedent would be on her side, though, as Kerber’s won both of their previous two encounters in straight sets – including their semifinal clash at the 2016 Australian Open.
It doesn’t get any easier from there, with WTA Finals champ Dominika Cibulkova and defending Sydney champion Svetlana Kuznetsova potentially looming in the semifinals.
For 2013 champion Radwanska, it’s a more straight-forward road to the final but it’s littered with dangerous floaters.
A battle against longtime nemesis Caroline Wozniacki could await in the quarterfinals – though she trails their head-to-head 6-9, Radwanska’s come out on top in their last two matches in Wuhan and Beijing. After that, she could get the big hitting Pliskova in the semifinals.
Caroline Wozniacki takes on Monica Puig in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
BASTAD, Sweden – Johanna Larsson’s defense of her Ericsson Open title gathered further momentum following a brisk win over qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo on Thursday afternoon.
Watch live action from Bastad, Stanford and Washington DC this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
The withdrawal of top seed Angelique Kerber earlier on removed one of the more significant obstacles between Larsson and a second title on home soil. However, in front of an appreciative home crowd she was never likely to take her eye off the ball, running out a 6-0, 6-3 winner in an hour and 20 minutes.
“I don’t feel more pressure, the same thing happened last year, but I don’t really think about it,” Larsson said when asked about Kerber’s unexpected exit. “I try to just focus on my own thing and it’s a very tough match coming up in the quarters so I’m just looking forward to that one.”
Sorribes Tormo has made only fleeting appearances at WTA events this year and her inexperience was laid bare early on, Larsson romping through the first set. In the second set, Sorribes Tormo gave a better account of herself, success in a terrific 23-shot exchange helping break the No.8 seed in the opening game.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, holding onto her own service games continued to be problematic. A couple of double faults handed the break right back, before Larsson put daylight between the two when she slung a serve out wide to register an increasingly rare hold the sixth game.
This cushion proved enough to get Larsson to the finishing line, and ace down the T taking her into a fifth quarterfinal in six years at Bastad Tennis Stadium.
There she is likely to face stiffer resistance, taking on No.4 seed Annika Beck, an impressive 6-2, 6-0 winner over Anastasija Sevastova. In the last second-round match, Julia Goerges fought back to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Back to back aces, nice finish by Johanna Larsson against @sara_sorribes pic.twitter.com/FC5Xw1hBdY
— Swedish Open Tennis (@swedish_open) 21 July 2016
Dominika Cibulkova talks through her performance in her victory in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
Go behind the scenes of Angelique Kerber’s photoshoot in Sydney, where she visited several of the city’s landmarks including the world famous Sydney Opera House.