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Siegemund Sets Up All-German Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

STUTTGART, Germany – The giant-slaying run continued for Germany’s Laura Siegemund; the qualifier took out World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-2, to reach her first career WTA final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

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The qualifier won her seventh match of the week – and her 14th straight set since coming to Stuttgart – and had all the answers against the top seed, who lost five games in a row from a 3-1 advantage in the opening set.

“Maybe I’m a similar type like her to other players,” Siegemund said after the match. “I didn’t focus on beating her with her own weapon or anything like that. I was focussing on my game which has been working well the whole week and didn’t find the switch to play aggressive that well. I was playing a little bit short at the beginning which gave her a lot of options but managed to fix the problem and found my game, a little bit later than the other matches but I found it.”

Serving at a stunning 90% off her first serve, Siegemund played a near-perfect match against Radwanska, hitting 34 winners to just 17 unforced errors – racing past the Pole’s own stats of 13 winners and 15 unforced. Converting a double break lead on her fifth break point opportunity of the fifth game of the second set, all looked clear for Siegemund when Radwanska enjoyed a brief resurgence, breaking back and making the veteran fight for the finish line.

“I felt like I’m in the flow and I don’t need to think, I’m going to make the right decisions. Sometimes you feel you’re not in the flow and then it’s good to have a good strategy every single point. But today I stood up of the break and I knew I had to trust my intuition and it worked well. Sometimes you get up from the bench differently. It’s very individual in that situation. But I was very focussed, I was very calm. If it was 5-5, I had a plan as well. So, I felt good.”

In the midst of a breakthrough season that has already seen her reach the third round of the Australian Open and quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open, Siegemund dutifully broke serve one last time and served out her spot in the final after one hour and 23 minutes.

“My tennis was not good enough, that’s for sure today,” Radwanska told press after the match. “Well, I think with that kind of game she is playing, the first shot is very important. And she was playing pretty much all in and every time she got the ball I think she had nothing to lose, so she just took the risk.

“I can’t complain; I had a really good start of the year, a couple of good results as you said, a couple of semi-finals and so far so good. Well, I hope I can keep going that way.”

Siegemund defeated three Top 10 players this week – Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci in addition to Radwanska – and her stellar run could have major implications on the German Olympic team; tentatively up to a new career-high ranking just outside the Top 40, Siegemund has leapfrogged countrywomen Sabine Lisicki, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Julia Goerges, and Mona Barthel to become the No.4 German behind Angelique Kerber (who she plays in the Stuttgart final), Andrea Petkovic, and Annika Beck. Kerber and Siegemund will be meeting for the first time, but the reigning Australian Open champion will be keen to defend the title she won for the first time in 2015.

In doubles, co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza appear to have gotten their groove back; Santina had struggled through early exits in Indian Wells and Miami, but are back in their first final since winning the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Against Lisicki and Lucie Safarova, the reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions made a solid case for completing the Santina Slam at the French Open with a 6-4, 7-5 win in the semifinals.

No.2 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic won their first title of 2016 in Charleston, and got past former No.1 Kveta Peschke – who is playing her first tournament in over a year – and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the second semifinal later on Saturday, 7-5, 5-7, 10-4. They will play Santina for a second straight title to bookend their Fed Cup heroics.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MONTERREY, Mexico – World No.1 Angelique Kerber was taken to three sets by Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone but came away with a hard-fought victory in her opening match at the Abierto GNP Seguros.

A finalist here in 2013, Kerber was back in Monterrey after a three-year absence from the tournament and needed an hour and forty minutes to shake off the rust and move on 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 against the 36-year-old wildcard Schiavone.

“It was not so easy to find the rhythm in the first set, because she played very well from the first ball and I was trying to find my game,” Kerber told press after the victory.

“I was a little bit tight today, but after the second set I was playing my game and moving good. I’m happy that I stayed positive.”

Schiavone, who previously announced that this year would be the end of her nearly two-decade-long career, opened her final Monterrey campaign in commanding fashion against the World No.1. She broke early and raced ahead to a 3-0 lead before Kerber found her footing.

Kerber stayed patient to pounce on her first opportunity as the Italian faltered while serving out the set, striking her first double fault. The German came up with a laser-accurate forehand winner to finally earn the break back, but Schiavone calmly struck back in the next game to take the set.

The World No.1 finally found her range – and her forehands – in emphatic fashion in the second set, breaking Schiavone three times in a row and dropping just three points on her own serve to take the second set in less than 15 minutes and level the match.

After going down an early break in the third, Schiavone finally stopped the rot of Kerber’s eight games in a row. The Italian refused to fade away and stayed within touching distance, but wasn’t able to pressure the German’s serve the way she did in the first set. Kerber didn’t face any break points and stayed solid to serve out the match and take the hard-fought opening victory.

Kerber will take on Mandy Minella in the next round after the Luxembourger defeated Elitsa Kostova in a tight straight sets earlier in the day, 7-6(3), 6-3.

“I will be looking more on my side of the court,” Kerber said. “I’ll be trying to go out and enjoy the match and try to be aggressive. I think I’ve never played against her, but I think it will be a good match as well.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Good friends and doubles partners Daria Kasatkina and No.9 seed Daria Gavrilova did battle for well over two hours at the Volvo Car Open, with Kasatkina emerging victorious, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 to reach her second straight quarterfinal in Charleston.

“Today was very tough to play,” she said in her post-match press conference. “You go on court, you are tossing the ball for the serve and it goes in the tribune, you know. It was very difficult, and I was playing against my very good friend, so it was like double portion of toughness, but it was I think a good match, so I’m happy that I won.”

The pair’s last singles match came at the 2015 US Open, which Kasatkina won as a lucky loser in her Grand Slam main draw debut. Since then, the two have become fast friends and nearly upset Sania Mirza and Andrea Hlavackova earlier this week in doubles.

“Every tournament we are talking like, ‘Ah, imagine we play against each other.’ When the draws come out, we’re like, ‘For sure we play against each other first round,; and it never happens. And today we’ll go for dinner.”

On the singles court, it was the Russian who made the better start on a windy Thursday on stadium court, taking the opening set and breaking serve at the start of the second.

Gavrilova is three spots shy of the career-high ranking she first earned last fall, and battled through the blustery conditions to win four straight games to put the match nearly on level terms.

Kasatkina regained her rhythm from there, breaking the Aussie as she served for a decider, and engaged Gavrilova in a lengthy tenth game on her own serve before the No.9 seed took it on her fifth set point.

Still, the unseeded Russian took momentum into the third, breaking serve in the opening game and raced to a 5-0 lead, winning one last epic battle and converting the two hour, 17 minute victory of a service winner.

“In the second set my coach came on the court. He told me I was start to play quite soft, and I stopped moving. He was right, because in the third set I pushed myself to play more aggressive, to start to move with the legs, and I did the job.”

There were no hard feelings at net for the two combatants, showing off a choereographed handshake after a tough match.

“She was like, ‘Okay, let’s do the weird handshake. And I said, ‘Let’s go like fake handshake!’ So we just were trying to make some fun.”

“I had a few tough months. I couldn’t win a match,” she added, discussing a tough season that nonetheless saw her earn two wins over World No.1 Angelique Kerber. “So I came here with not a lot of expectations for sure. I was just happy that I came back on the clay so I can play my favorite tennis, and I’m happy that I’m moving on and I’m in the quarters here.”

Up next for Kasatkina is No.10 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, another 2016 quarterfinalist who stunned 2010 champion Samantha Stosur to start the day in Charleston.

“She will be very motivated because she lost our last two matches. For sure she will try to do her best, and she’s better on the clay for sure. All her best results are on the clay. And I lose our only clay court match in Rome last year. “So for sure I have to prepare well to show my best tennis tomorrow.”

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