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Expert Predictions: Madrid

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Agnieszka Radwanska was the top seed in Stuttgart but upset by hometown hero Laura Siegemund in the semifinals. As the top seed in Madrid thanks to Serena Williams’ absence, can Radwanska live up to her lofty standing in the Spanish capital?

Here’s a look at the draw, quarter by quarter.

First quarter: Aga’s tough start

The draw gods were unkind to Radwanska, who has never been shy to admit that clay isn’t her favorite surface. Her opener comes against fellow Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova, also a former French Open quarterfinalist in the midst of rebuilding her ranking. When Radwanska and Cibulkova met in Indian Wells, it turned into a nearly three-hour classic edged by the former.

If she passes that difficult test, Aussie Open semifinalist Johanna Konta or Caroline Garcia — who likes to play on clay and seems to thrive in an underdog role — awaits. Her potential third-round foe? Well, it could be 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani. Should we keep going?

Svetlana Kuznetsova not only reached the final in Miami but was last year’s finalist in Madrid; Radwanska and Kuznetsova might tangle in the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova will be hoping the thigh injury she sustained in Prague is nothing serious.
Prediction: Cibulkova

Second quarter: Vika and the defending champion

Victoria Azarenka can play on clay, no question. But would the Belorussian have taken an extension to the hard-court swing? Maybe. She is riding a 15-match winning streak, dropping a measly four sets in the process. Azarenka became just the third women’s player to achieve the Sunshine Double, too. Given all of her success in 2016, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that there was heartbreak for Azarenka in Madrid 12 months ago. Three match points came and went against Williams, one of a trio of close matches she lost to her pal in a span of two and a half months.

Azarenka’s journey this year starts against Laura Robson, and in the second round another player returning from injury, Alizé Cornet, could feature versus the two-time Slam champ. A possible clash between Azarenka and defending champion Petra Kvitova looms in the quarterfinals.

Besides thriving in the quicker conditions in Madrid, Kvitova is sure to be buoyed by her performance in Stuttgart. Kvitova fell to eventual champion Angelique Kerber — but it was a high-quality contest between the lefties.

Prediction: Azarenka

Third quarter: Halep’s revival?

In 2013, Simona Halep needed a wildcard to play in Madrid. Those days are long gone. She doesn’t need wildcards anymore. But it isn’t the best of times for Halep. Injuries – and coming back from them – have proved to be, somewhat predictably, problematic. She sits 29th in the Road to Singapore standings.  Could Madrid, where Halep made the final in 2014, mark a revival? Halep appears to have a nice path to the third round, although if the confidence is low and the body still not at 100%, the likes of Misaki Doi and Margarita Gasparyan shouldn’t be discounted.

Should she progress to that third round, Timea Bacsinszky could surface, and the Swiss ousted Halep in Miami. Garbiñe Muguruza finds herself at 35th in the Road to Singapore, going through a similar struggle as the Romanian. Muguruza, projected to play Halep in the quarterfinals, starts against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Schmiedlova broke through in 2015 but the Slovak can’t buy a win at the moment (199th in the Road).

Yet another younger player seeking an upturn, Eugenie Bouchard, might confront Muguruza in the second round. Karolina Pliskova, however, is the form player of the section.

Prediction: Pliskova

Fourth quarter: Surging Kerber

She was already a Grand Slam winner, but Kerber achieved a significant feat in Stuttgart: For the first time in her career, the 28-year-old successfully defended a title. Not only did Kerber repeat, but she did so in style, playing sizzling tennis from the quarterfinals onwards.

Now Kerber’s task is to put aside Stuttgart and refocus on Madrid. Last year, fresh off her success at home, Kerber fell in her opener. Mind you, it was an especially difficult pairing — with 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur. The versatile Barbora Strycova – a loser to Stosur in Prague this week – is Kerber’s foe on this occasion. Strycova is certainly no slouch.

Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens or Daria Kasatkina, a trio from the younger guard, may line up against Kerber in the ensuing rounds. Kerber and Keys have already met five times, with the elder of the two holding a 4-1 advantage. Lucie Safarova picked up a maiden 2016 win in Prague this week and hasn’t stopped, making the final in her home country. Safarova and Carla Suarez Navarro – one of Kerber’s victims in Stuttgart – are on a collision course in the third round.

Prediction: Kerber

Semifinals: Azarenka, Kerber

Winner: Azarenka

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Mladenovic Manages Riske In Strasbourg

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

STRASBOURG, France – Kristina Mladenovic withstood a spirited comeback from Alison Riske to take her place in the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

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

Leading 5-1 in the final set, Mladenovic appeared to be coasting towards victory. However, Riske had no intention of going quietly, saving four match points to draw level at 5-5.

As the tension ratcheted up inside the stadium, the Frenchwoman drew courage from a vocal crowd, stopping the rot to reach the sanctuary of a tie-break. In a dramatic finale, Riske fended off a further two match points, before Mladenovic belatedly closed out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory with an ace out wide.

“Physically it was tough out there today. Long, tight rallies. A lot of mistakes from me,” Mladenovic said. “The crowd were the difference. There was suspense – at 5-1 I think we thought it was done but she fought back to get the tie-break.

“She saved a lot of match points but I’m just happy I could get the win today. I took the tie-break point by point, calmed things down. That was the key.”

Mladenovic, the No.4 seed, is hoping for an easier outing when she takes on occasional doubles rival Alla Kudryavtseva on Thursday.

“She plays doubles like me a lot which should be interesting. It will be a tough match but hopefully without the drama of today,” Mladenovic added.

Joining Mladenovic in the last eight will be wildcard Pauline Parmentier, after she held her nerve to knock out No.2 seed Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, in the day’s final match.

Advancing in more straightforward fashion was No.7 seed Elena Vesnina, who won 6-4, 7-5 against Kateryna Bondarenko. No.8 seed Timea Babos, meanwhile, slipped to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

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Mirza Documentary Premieres Friday

Mirza Documentary Premieres Friday

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Just as Sania Mirza begins her quest for the “Santina Slam” alongside fellow Co-No.1 Martina Hingis at the French Open, the most influential woman in Indian tennis will be featured in a profile as part of the Sports Insider series on Eurosport.

“Sports Insider: Sania Mirza Superstar” is a 24-minute long documentary following Mirza through the first half of the 2016 season, playing at the Miami Open and Mutua Madrid Open with Hingis, and returning home to India. The short film will premiere on Eurosport Friday, May 20th at 11:00 AM CET, just before the French Open Draw Ceremony.

“To dream of becoming a professional tennis player, being a girl from that side of the world, we were fighting one billion odds, because it had never happened before!” Mirza says in a teaser.

Check out the teaser and stills from the documentary here on wtatennis.com!

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza

Photos courtesy of Eurosport.

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Insider Draw Analysis: French Open

Insider Draw Analysis: French Open

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – The French Open draw is out. We have questions.

Who will challenge Serena in the top half?

At first blush, the top half of the draw is far more loaded than the bottom half. In-form players such as Rabat champion Timea Bacsinszky, Madrid finalist Dominika Cibulkova, and Rome runner-up Madison Keys were drawn here. Also lurking are Victoria Azarenka (more on her below), Angelique Kerber, Carla Suárez Navarro, Ana Ivanovic, and Venus Williams – all quality players who nevertheless come into Paris under a cloud of question marks.

The result is a draw that is set up well for Serena. She opens against Magdalena Rybarikova, who has not played a tour match since losing 6-0, 6-0 to Azarenka in the Indian Wells quarterfinals. She’s projected to face No.26 seed Kristina Mladenovic in the third round. But the most dangerous opponent that could make it through there may be unseeded Timea Babos, who can be a tough out if she has her big serve going.

From there she could face either Elina Svitolina, a quarterfinalist last year, or Ana Ivanovic, 2008 champion and 2015 semifinalist. Both are quality clay players who have not been able to find much form on the surface this season. Ivanovic has not one back-to-back matches at a tournament since February. Despite getting coaching advice from four-time French Open champion Justine Henin, Svitolina has won just one match on red clay this year.

Serena’s biggest tests start in the quarterfinals, where she could play No.22 seed Cibulkova. The Slovakian is the in-form seed of that section, which includes Suárez Navarro, a struggling Andrea Petkovic, and Azarenka (no really, more on Vika below).

From there, a potential semifinal looms against Bacsinszky, who has a tricky draw, or Kerber, who has made the quarterfinals just once in Paris. Keys could play the spoiler as well, though she has a potential second round match against Daria Gavrilova, who has posted a very strong clay season.

All in all, this isn’t a bad path for Serena to get back to the final and earn a shot at an Open Era record-tying 22nd major title. She’ll also try and successfully defend a French Open title for the first time.

“I think now it’s different because I want to win more than I think most people ever, but also I think it’s different now because I don’t have anything to prove,” Serena said, when asked about the pressure of defending a title. “It’s just a different feeling.

“Whereas five, ten years ago, oh, I’m defending and I feel that pressure. Now it’s like I’m defending, I’m in Paris, it’s cool, and I’m having the time of my life. I’m just happy to be here.”

Victoria Azarenka

Can Azarenka bounce back?

The woman of the first quarter of the season has been quiet on clay. She’s won four matches, two of which came in Fed Cup, but a lower back injury in Madrid has halted any further progress. After losing in the opening round of Rome to Irina-Camelia Begu, Azarenka took a much-needed mental break to visit family in Belarus.

“For me it was more mental to just get away and get myself, you know, focused again and motivated again,” Azarenka said. “I went home, spent time with the family. For me, it’s always the best recharge.”

Azarenka said her standout-start to the season, which saw her win the Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, took its toll. “I didn’t really have to have much time after Miami with the Fed Cup and everything,” she said. “I felt that I wanted to get into training and have as many weeks possible on the clay.

“It caught up to me a little bit, and it’s okay. It is what it is. I feel ready to play here. I don’t feel that there is ever an ideal preparation that, you know, if you win the tournament it’s guaranteed you’re going to play well at another tournament. I think it’s just important how you take each day, and I think I gave myself enough time to prepare here.”

Azarenka says she is able to practice pain-free now, which is the best news of the last few weeks. A quarterfinal against Serena looms, but she’ll have to get out of a section that includes a potential fourth round match against either Suárez Navarro or Cibulkova.

Clay has never been her best surface and Azarenka knows it. But if she can get a few clean early wins under her belt – she opens against Karin Knapp – the confidence could start to flow. And few players are as good as Azarenka in riding a wave of confidence.

“I believe that clay is the most challenging just because of the specific movement that you have to adapt on the clay, the sliding that I don’t use on the hard courts where I’m able to go with one shot from defense to offense,” she said.

“Here it’s always a little bit more challenging, so it’s a learning experience for me how to do that. Definitely adapt the game a little bit to still make those transitions, but it’s more difficult to do than one, two shots.

“It takes patience.”

Angelique Kerber

Can Kerber and Bacsinszky survive the second quarter?

The second quarter of the draw will see some must-see matches right out of the gate. No.3 seed Kerber and No.8 seed Bacsinszky are the favorites to make it out but Kerber in particular will need to overperform to do it. She opens against Nuremburg finalist Kiki Bertens, before a possible second round against the big-hitting, streaky, but thoroughly talented big-match player in Camila Giorgi. Looming in the third round is No.29 Daria Kasatkina, who won the junior title here two years ago. That’s a tough series of potential opponents to start your tournament. And that’s before a fourth round that could see her face up against Keys, Gavrilova, Konta, or Goerges.

Kerber withdrew from Nürnberg due to a shoulder injury. She received treatment at home and says she can serve virtually pain free now. But with heavy, cold conditions expected in the first week, the risk of the pain returning is real. And Kerber has to serve well to make any headway on clay. But Kerber insists she has her rhythm back after taking a frustrating loss to Eugenie Bouchard in her first match in Rome.

“After Rome I [had] like three days off where I am really not thinking about tennis,” Kerber said. “I was completely trying to, you know, go for great dinner, to the cinema, something like this. Just going out of the tennis thing.

“And then I start to practicing again, also with my treatments and everything. So, yeah, right now I have my feeling back. The courts here are really good I’m looking forward to have few more days, few more practice before my first round. But the rhythm is back,” she said with a smile.

Timea Bacsinszky

As for Bacsinszky, the Swiss star was dealt the trickiest draw of any top seed. A semifinalist here year who comes into Paris having won 14 of her last 17 tour-level matches, she could face landmine after landmine just to get to the quarterfinals. She opens against a qualifier, and then would face either Stuttgart finalist Laura Siegemund or Eugenie Bouchard. The third round could see a fun slice-and-dice match-up against Monica Niculescu, with a potential fourth round match against No.9 seed Venus Williams or No.23 seed Jelena Jankovic.

Can Halep and Muguruza make good on their favorable draws?

No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza and No.6 seed Simona Halep were the biggest winners on draw day. With so many in-form players landing in the top half, Muguruza and Halep have a good look at the semifinals if they can manage the pressure. That’s a showdown many would love to see.

A two-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, Muguruza comes into Paris with just one semifinal under her belt this season. That semifinal came a week ago in Rome, when she ran up against an unwavering Keys. But while the end results have not been there, the quality of her play has steadily improved and she’s been on a steady upward trajectory since February.

Garbine Muguruza

She opens against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, who is on an 11-match losing streak in tour-level matches. She could face Rome quarterfinalist Christina McHale in the second round and the first seed she could face is No.27 Ekaterina Makarova, who she beat 6-1, 6-0 in Rome. The fourth will likely feature either No.13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova – no easy task for sure – or No.24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Her possible seeded quarterfinalists: Roberta Vinci, who struggles on clay, Petra Kvitova, who can struggle on any given day, Karolina Pliskova, who is playing on her worst surface, or a surging Irina Camelia Begu, who beat her in Madrid. All very doable for a woman who finds a way to play her best in Paris.

“For sure, it’s better to come back to a tournament where you have great memories and results,” Muguruza said. “It’s so bad to go to a tournament where you can’t play. There are some of them where, okay, it’s impossible here.

“Here at Roland Garros, it’s special for Spanish people. I think for everyone, but Roland Garros in Spain is like everything. So, for sure it’s great. It’s like a second home here.”

As for Halep, she is the clear winner of the draw sweepstakes. The 2014 finalist can’t complain about a draw that lands her in No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska’s quarter. A quick review of our pre-tournament Clay Court Power Rankings puts Halep at No.2 and Radwanska at No.20 for good reason.

Simona Halep

Halep opens against Japan’s Nao Hibino and her first two matches should be fairly straightforward – playing either Zarina Diyas or Carina Witthoeft in the second round. The first seed she could face is No.32 Jelena Ostapenko, with a potentially injured Samantha Stosur (Stosur withdrew from Strasbourg with a left wrist injury) or last year’s finalist Lucie Safarova, who is still chasing her 2015 form. Make it that far and her quarterfinal opponent is a difficult one to project, as Radwanska, Barbora Strycova, Sloane Stephens, and Sara Errani will all duke it out in that section.

This is as good a draw as a sixth-seed could hope for. Now to see if Halep can seize the opportunity.

“Today when I practiced I felt very heavy the ball,” Halep said, when asked about adjusting to the cold, heavy conditions in Paris. “I was practicing with Carla and the coach, he said it’s different than Madrid. I said, I want to go back to Madrid, because there I felt very well the game. Here I feel it well, but I still need couple of days just to feel it like 100%.

“But I always liked these courts. They are a little bit faster and I can play my game, to be more aggressive, and also to open the court better.”

Agnieszka Radwanska

Who will emerge as this year’s surprise?

Last year it was Bacsinszky and Ivanovic making surprising runs to the semifinals, with Safarova doing them one better by making the final. Who will be this year’s spoilers?

We’ve already highlighted No.22 seed Cibulkova as a potential spoiler. Keys could also make a run out of that tough second quarter, where a potential fourth round against Kerber could happen. With their contrasting styles, those two have always played tough matches.

Gavrilova is another name to keep an eye out, as she could be the one that ends Keys’ tournament early. If she comes through that potential second round match she could barrel into her second Round of 16 appearance of the season at the Slams; if the draw breaks open, she could well go two steps further.

Then there’s No.25 seed Begu, who is arguably having the best clay season of anyone. She made the quarterfinals in Charleston and Madrid before reaching her best career result in Rome, where she lost to Serena in the semifinals. She’s floating in the bottom half of the draw in Muguruza’s quarter.

Finally: Yes, it feels odd to call the No.2 seed a potential surprise, but will this be the year that Radwanska makes a move in Paris? Granted, her lead-up results make it hard to believe. Radwanska has been more open this year in talking about her struggles on clay and her decision to skip Rome was almost a concession on the surface. But she’s made two quarterfinals here in 2009 and 2010 and her draw isn’t a bad one, though No.30 seed Strycova may have something to say about that.

Radwanska isn’t just below the radar in Paris. She’s subterranean. But she comes into Paris rested and without expectation or pressure. To be frank, no one expects her to do much here. Even a quarterfinal run would be a big step forward for the Pole. And that boost of confidence could have repercussions when the tour moves onto her beloved grass.

Listen to more thoughts on the French Open draw in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Insider Doubles Take: French Open

Insider Doubles Take: French Open

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Santina vs. History: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza lead the field in the Roland Garros women’s doubles draw, which was released on Sunday. The reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions arrive in Paris hoping to become the first team to clinch a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam since the Williams Sisters at this very tournament in 2010. Riding a 41-match winning streak through the Qatar Total Open, Hingis and Mirza suffered a minor slump at Indian Wells and Miami, and broke their three-month title drought at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in a match tie-break, the pair captured their first trophy on red clay, after finishing second to French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Mutua Madrid Open.

Santina wouldn’t have to play the French stars – or the recently reunited Williamses – until the final, with No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, No.6 seeds and Australian Open finalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, and No.7 seeds Makarova and Vesnina falling into their half of the draw. Opening against Daria Kasatkina – one half of the team that ended their winning streak in Doha – and Alexandra Panova, Hingis and Mirza will likely be relieved by their draw, one that gives them time to play into form in time for a projected Melbourne rematch against Hlavackova and Hradecka in the last eight.

The Swiss Miss already won a Calendar Year Grand Slam in doubles, back in 1998 with Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Jana Novotna; if she and Mirza can maintain the kind of consistency that took them through the clay court season, the team to beat will be heavy favorites to cement their legendary status in Paris.

Kristina Mladenovic, Caroline Garcia

Hometown Glory: Garcia and Mladenovic were the story of the spring, winning three titles, 15 straight matches and, most impressively, two wins over Hingis and Mirza in finals. Kicking off their campaign at the start of the year to prepare for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the French youngsters had already reached two finals in Sydney and Dubai before the tour turned to clay. Defeating reigning French Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova to win their first title at the Volvo Car Open, they backed up their green clay succes with titles in Stuttgart and Madrid, only for their streak to end at the hands of Hlavackova and Hradecka in the quarterfinals of Rome.

Despite their surge, Garcia and Mladenovic are seeded outside the Top 4 at No.5, and are projected to play Mattek-Sands and Safarova by the quarterfinals. The latter looked strong in their first tournament of the season, winning the Miami Open to help Mattek-Sands clinch the Sunshine Double, but only played one match on red clay, losing in the opening round of Rome to Slovenian doubles specialists Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets.

Garcia had previously admitted to the struggle of living up to national expectations, but a triumphant Fed Cup weekend at home may have freed up the pair, who both reached the semifinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg – Garcia ultimately won the title over Lucic-Baroni. The duo play their first round against Annika Beck and Yanina Wickmayer, with No.12 seeds Lara Arruabarrena and 2012 champion Sara Errani the highest-ranked team in their section. All but unstoppable once they’ve gotten on a roll, Garcia and Mladenovic could have the greatest chance to end Hingis and Mirza’s hopes of a Santina Slam, but whether or not they can shine under the spotlight will be crucial to shifting the narrative in their favor.

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Sister, Sister: Four teams of sisters make up the French Open draw, none more high-profile than Venus Williams and her sister, World No.1 Serena. For all the talk about their historic singles success, their stunning 13-0 record in Grand Slam doubles finals – and three Olympic gold medals – is an equally impressive aspect of their combined resume. Playing their first major tournament since 2014, Venus and Serena lost their only warm-up match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (also to Klepac and Srebotnik), and won their last Grand Slam tournament at the 2012 Wimbledon championships – a pre-cursor to their most recent Olympic gold in London.

The Americans nonetheless have a history of blitzing even the most intimidating of doubles draws, and thus cannot be discounted in a quarter that includes both Garcia and Mladenovic, and Mattek-Sands and Safarova. Opening against dynamic duo Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva, the top singles seed’s decision to play doubles could either help or hinder her in her march towards tying Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam titles, but the younger Williams has played some of her best singles when she’s winning with her sister.

The Chans have been dangerous foes in the last 12 months, and were the last team to defeat Hingis and Mirza before the start of their epic winning streak. Winning back-to-back titles at home in Kaohsiung and Doha, their best result of the clay court season was a run to the quarterfinals in Madrid, where they failed to convert two match points against Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva – who are seeded No.15 and could play No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round.

Landing in a tough section of the draw that features clay courters and No.13 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, Makarova and Vesnina and the powerhouse pair of No.10 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, the sisters will have to hit the ground running from their first round against Ukrainians Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk.

Ekaterina Makarova, Elena Vesnina

Olympic Watch: With the Olympic cut-off fast approaching, Roland Garros is the last chance players and teams can earn points towards an Olympic-eligible ranking. More than half of the 64 teams in the draw are mono-country, including five of the Top 8 seeds. Makarova and Vesnina reunited just in time once the former was physically able to balance singles with doubles, and the former French and US Open champions celebrated their four-year anniversary by reaching the semifinals of Madrid and the final in Rome. Currently ranked No.9 in doubles, Vesnina could guarantee her addition to the Olumpic team with a strong result over the next two weeks, and will play their first round against former doubles No.1 Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. Other all-Russian teams in the draw include Kasatkina and Panova, and Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Andrea Petkovic began the season playing with eventual Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, but the former 2014 semifinalist at Roland Garros will pair instead with Sabine Lisicki in Paris. They could be the second round opponents of No.9 seeds and top Chinese team, Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, who reached the final four at the Australian Open back in January. Petkovic’s countrywoman Laura Siegemund burst into the tennis consciousness at the start of the clay court season when she reached the Stuttgart singles final as a qualifier, but the German veteran is an accomplished doubles player with three WTA titles to her name; she has entered the draw with Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Buyukakcay Triumphs For Turkey In Paris

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Cagla Buyukakcay continued her historic clay court season at the biggest stage of the surface, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 to become the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to win a match at a Grand Slam.

Just her presence at the 2016 French Open was historic enough: Buyukakcay joined Ipek Solyu this week as the first two Turkish women to appear in a Grand Slam. Buyukakcay battled through qualifying to book her spot in the main draw.

She let slip a pair of early break chances to go down a set to Sasnovich, who was also looking for her first match win at Roland Garros. The pair traded for breaks of serve in the second to stay toe to toe and send the set into a tiebreak, where Buyukakcay rattled off five straight games to force a decider. She won five straight games to close out the match and add another historic win to her repertoire.

Earlier in the clay season, the No.83-ranked qualifier rewrote the Turkish tennis history books in front of her home country at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup. She became the first from her country to reach a WTA semifinal, final and capture a title, as well as the first to break into the Top 100.

“I wanted to cry after the match, because it’s very important for Turkish tennis. I will be in the Top 100, which will be the first time for Turkish tennis. Probably, I will also be in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time in my career – and also in Turkish history. So that’s why I was so emotional at the end,” Buyukakcay said after the final in Istanbul.

More to come…

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Bertens Sends Kerber Crashing Out

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Kiki Bertens caused the first major upset of this year’s French Open by knocking out No.3 seed Angelique Kerber in the first round.

Fresh from a triumphant week in Nürnberg, where she came through qualifying to lift the title, Bertens continued her fine form to defeat Kerber, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Earlier this year in Miami, Bertens came within a set of toppling the German only for illness to intervene, but out on Philippe Chatrier there was to be no stopping her. Displaying the confidence of a woman riding the crest of a seven-match winning streak, she withstood the inevitable comeback, wrapping up victory on her third match point when Kerber sent a drop shot looping into the net.

Kerber is the second Australian Open champion in three years to fall at the first hurdle in Paris, following in the unfortunate footsteps of Li Na.

In Nürnberg, Bertens upset Roberta Vinci to notch up her first ever Top 10 win, and her reward for a second is a meeting with either Camila Giorgi or Alizé  Lim.

More to follow…

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