Tennis News

WUHAN, China – Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova completed a dominant week together with their seventh WTA title, outclassing Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova to win the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

A sparkling performance saw Mattek-Sands and Safarova break six times to wrap up a 6-1, 6-4 victory after a fraction over an hour on court.

The result continues a memorable end to the season for the American-Czech duo, whose success in China follows on from victory at the US Open. This points haul has not only sent both players shooting up the rankings, but more importantly secures them a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

The only wobble came with the finishing line in sight, Safarova surrendering her hitherto faultless serve to offer Strycova the chance to level the second set at 5-5. However, the No.5 seeds nipped the comeback in the bud, swatting away a couple of opportunistic volleys to close out the match.

“I think we had an amazing match today,” Safarova said. “We came out strong from the beginning. We returned great, served great, took their time away. That was the right strategy.”

The tone was set on the very first point of the match, Safarova firing a backhand past Strycova. Sensing an early opportunity, on the following point Mattek-Sands swept an inviting ball past the stranded Czech. They soon had the break and went from strength to strength, finding an answer for every question posed by the No.3 seeds.

“We went over our game plan and we just upped our game. So whether our opponents played well or didn’t play well, we were going to stick to our game,” Mattek-Sands added. “But I think, like Lucie said, we just took away their time and that’s what we did.”

Mattek-Sands and Safarova will hope to replicate this form in Singapore, where they have unfinished business. Last year, their challenge came to a premature conclusion, injury dashing their hopes in the round robin stage.

“It’s just awesome [to qualify]. we’ve been there last year but were a little bit injured and so it wasn’t the greatest performance,” Safarova said.

“But it’s amazing to make it again,” Mattek-Sands added. “Singapore is obviously is the best of the best. We literally just found out right after the match that we qualified so it’s still sinking in.”

BEIJING, China – Elina Svitolina continued her impressive end to the season by upsetting World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the third round of the China Open on Thursday.

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A mature display saw Svitolina hold her nerve at the end of both sets to close out a 6-3, 7-5 victory and book a quarterfinal meeting with Daria Gavrilova.

“I was just trying to be really focused on every ball, and of course try to win,” Svitolina said in her on-court interview.

Earlier this week, Kerber suggested that she was feeling the strain of a hectic schedule that has now seen her play 35 matches since the start of July. However, against Svitolina she battled away until the last saving a couple a couple of match points in the final game.

Svitolina, who also beat then-No.1 Serena Williams at this summer’s Olympics, continued to be the aggressor and was rewarded when Kerber sent a forehand sailing wide at the third time of asking.

“I was trying to think about my next step, what I should try to do,” Svitolina added. “I tried to make my first serve and concentrated on the next shot, but still I was a little bit shaky!”

Elsewhere, Johanna Konta continued her own impressive recent run of form with a tense victory over No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova.

Konta, who reached the fourth round of the US Open and the quarterfinals last week in Wuhan, is making a late bid to reach the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Depending on other results, a run to the final could elevate her to a qualification spot and she moved one step closer to that rarget by overcoming Pliskova, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2). 

BEIJING, China – Johanna Konta recovered from a nightmare start to defeat Zhang Shuai and end home hopes at the China Open.

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After losing the first four games, Konta turned the match on its head to quieten the crowd and run out a 6-4, 6-0 winner. The result sets up a semifinal showdown with fellow BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global contender Madison Keys and also within touching distance of reaching the Top 10.

“Even though it was 12 games in a row, the scoreline was a lot closer,” Konta said. “Every single point was a really high level. I had to fight a lot at the end and I’m really happy to get through.”

In the previous round, Zhang upset Simona Halep for the loss of only three games. Against Konta she picked up from where she left off, delighting the crowd as a run of 13 straight points helped build an early lead.

Konta stopped the rot when Zhang sent a volley long to hand back one of the breaks. The following game she produced a couple of big serves to hold serve from 0-30, as the confidence began to course through her game.

In the ninth game she edged ahead, slapping a forehand winner after dragging Zhang ragged. Even a few interruptions from the crowd managed to derail the Briton, who served out to love before rattling through the second set. 

This summer, Konta was one win from reaching the Top 10 only to produce a subdued performance against Kristina Kucova. Judging by Keys’ showing against Kvitova earlier in the day, a repeat performance will end in further disappointment. 

The stakes are equally high for Keys – who will qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by winning the title. Konta also remains in contention for a place in Singapore – victory over the American would edge her ahead of Dominika Cibulkova and into the eighth and final qualifying berth.

“I really do my best to not think far ahead and really not try to crave those sort of things,” Keys said when asked about a potential Top 10 debut. “I think if you live yourself into that, really bring your head out of your bubble, things become a bit more sticky, a bit more difficult to keep manage of.

“If it’s on the cards for me, great. If it’s not, it’s not. That’s okay, too. I’m really grateful for the journey that I’m having. However it pans out, it’s mine. Yeah, I’m just enjoying playing.”

HONG KONG, SAR – There were contrasting emotions on display after Alizé Cornet beat Venus Williams 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in Hong Kong.

Cornet could not have been more delighted to reach the quarterfinals by beating a player who had always bested her previously.

“We have played many times and I was losing in straight sets. Now I can beat her in Hong Kong!” the French player enthused. “It means I used a good tactic, I played a very good match, and I believed in it.”

Her American opponent, unsurprisingly, was very downcast.

“My opponent played well, there wasn’t much I could do against her,” said Williams. “You work hard to win matches – it’s always disappointing [to lose].”

Cornet will face Jelena Jankovic next up — and is anticipating a very difficult match.

“I’m expecting a really tough battle,” she admitted. “She has a really solid baseline game. I expect some good rallies from both of us.”

Describing her current mood as “great, tired, happy”, Cornet said that she still had some trouble with the same heel issue that has plagued her for the past four years — but that she would be running with just as much energy in the morning.

She added that she was enjoying her time in Hong Kong — the city and the tournament.

“The welcome is really amazing and the city is great,” she said. “For me, every match [on tour] is the same intensity.”

Earlier in the day, Caroline Wozniacki took less than an hour and a half to secure her quarterfinal spot, beating Great Britain’s Heather Watson, 6-3, 6-3.

Neither player looked solid on her serve – Watson won three of her four break points, but Wozniacki broke her six times in return. Next up for Wozniacki is Wang Qiang, who received a walkover after Johanna Konta withdrew from the tournament with an abdominal injury.