Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – Caroline Garcia booked the first spot into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semifinals after a dominant win against Andrea Petkovic, 6-3, 6-4.

Into her career first Premier-level semifinal, 22-year-old Garcia continued turning promise into achievements as she took on the No.28 Petkovic, who had defeated her in both of her previous encounters.

“It was very difficult conditions, very windy,” Garcia said afterwards. “It’s never easy to play in these conditions so you have to be focused.

“I played pretty aggressive today but you have to against [Petkovic] – she’s a big fighter.”

Garcia broke early in the opening set to go up 3-1, staying toe-to-toe with the big hitting German. Petkovic’s serve, which had been ailing all match long, misfired at the worst time, producing three double faults to give Garcia set points before sending a forehand long to hand the French player the first set.

Garcia once again broke serve and consolidated quickly to start the second set with a 2-0 lead, but this time Petkovic fired back to stop the bleeding, breaking back and holding to level it out at 2-2. Garcia, a regular feature in the doubles draw, was deadly at the net and with her forehand, closing out the match at 6-4.

Petkovic’s second gave her plenty of trouble – she hit 10 double faults during the match – and Garcia masterfully exploited the weakness.

“That’s one where I was looking to improve, to put the pressure on my opponent, especially on her second serve,” Garcia said after the match. “She did some double faults so I tried to put a bit more pressure for those free points.”

In the second quarterfinal of the afternoon, Sara Errani came back from a set to down to defeat the resurgent Madison Brengle, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

More to come…

ZHUHAI, China – Three of the four semifinal spots at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai could be decided as Elina Svitolina, Elena Vesnina and Sam Stosur take the court on Day 3. Preview all the singles action right here on wtatennis.com!

Thursday

Camellia Group

[13/Alt] Timea Babos (HUN #25) vs [12/WC] Zhang Shuai (CHN #28)
Head-to-head: Babos leads 1-0 (first meeting at tour level)
Stat: Zhang can advance to semifinals if she wins four games

The two lowest-ranked players at the WTA Elite Trophy will meet on Thursday with the same goal in mind, but facing very different scenarios. Last-minute singles alternate Timea Babos sits at the bottom of her group after suffering a straight sets defeat against Timea Bacsinszky, but she would have to pull off a massive performance in to advance to the semifinals. Her opponent, Zhang Shuai, needs to win just four games in order to clinch the Camellia Group semifinal spot. And considering the way China’s Zhang was able to leverage the support of her home fans in her 6-1, 6-1 thumping of Bacsinszky, Babos seems to be facing an uphill battle.

Azalea Group

[8] Sam Stosur (AUS #20) vs [11] Caroline Garcia (FRA #23)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Stat: Garcia owns a 1-7 record against Top 20 opponents in 2016

After suffering a straight-sets defeat against Britain’s Johanna Konta, Sam Stosur has one last shot to keep her semifinal hopes alive in Zhuhai. She’s up against Caroline Garcia and needs to win without dropping a set in order to stay alive in the Azalea Group. Stosur is more battle-tested than Frenchwoman, who is making her Zhuhai debut on Thursday, but she can’t afford another slow start against her big-hitting opponent.

“I’m playing another player I have never played before, so that’s I guess kind of unique these days out on tour,” Stosur mused in her post-match press conference. “I know that she plays aggressive tennis, got a big serve, really goes for it. She hits the ball hard.

“In a lot of ways it’s kind of similar to [playing Konta]. I need to, no doubt, get off to better starts. You can’t be giving these girls head starts by four games and expect to be able to come back every single time.”

Rose Group

[4] Elina Svitolina (UKR #14) vs [7] Elena Vesnina (RUS #19)
Head-to-head: Vesnina leads 2-1
Stat: Svitolina needs to win against Vesnina to advance to semifinals

Elena Vesnina is flying high after her doubles victory at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but she’ll have to hit the ground running in her first singles match at Zhuhai. Her opponent, Elina Svitolina, has her work cut out for her; she needs to beat Svitolina in order to advance to the semifinals, but Vesnina could knock her out if she wins in straight sets.

“[Vesnina] of course really confident, I think, at the moment after winning doubles in Singapore,” Svitolina assessed in her post-match press conference. “I will try just to stick to my game. It’s a new match, new challenge. There will be new opportunities. I will try to create of course opportunities for myself.”

Semifinal Scenarios
Camellia Group: Zhang advances if she wins 4 games vs. Babos on Thursday
Peony Group: Winner of Strycova vs Kvitova (on Friday) advances
Azalea Group: Stosur (vs. Garcia on Thursday) needs to win in straight sets to keep chances of advancing alive.
Rose Group: Svitolina advances with a win over Vesnina on Thursday. If Vesnina wins in straight sets, then Svitolina is out, with Friday’s match between Bertens and Vesnina determining the group winner; Bertens would need to win in straight sets to win the group.

KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Premier 5
Prize Money: $2,517,250
Draw Size: 56 main draw (8 byes)/32 qualifying
Qualifying Dates: Friday, February 19 – Saturday, February 20
First Day of Main Draw: Sunday, February 21
Singles Final: Saturday, February 27, NB 6.00pm AST
Doubles Final: Saturday, February 27, 3.30pm AST

MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@QatarTennis – official tournament handle
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #QatarTotalOpen and #WTA.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:
· Defending champion Lucie Safarova returns to action after missing the start of the season with a bacterial infection.
· The only other former winner in the draw is Simona Halep, who triumphed in 2014. Former finalists Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004, 2007), Caroline Wozniacki (2011) and Angelique Kerber (2014) have also made the trip to Qatar.
· Dubai finalists, Sara Errani and Barbora Strycova, have both entered Doha. The only players to have completed the Dubai-Doha double are Justine Henin (2007) and Martina Hingis (2001).
· For the complete draw click here.

WILDCARDS:
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN), Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA), Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR)

WITHDRAWALS:
Serena Williams (flu), Maria Sharapova (left forearm), Peng Shuai (right hand), Irina-Camelia Begu (right knee), Camila Giorgi (right knee), Alizé Cornet (low back), Mona Barthel (illness)