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Radwanska Survives Shenzhen Scare

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SHENZHEN, China – Top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska came back from the brink to defeat an inspired Duan Ying-Ying in the first round of the Shenzhen Open.

Having romped through the opening set, Radwanska looked on course for a straightforward outing against the World No.103. However, it proved to be anything but, the Pole eventually scraping through, 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5, after saving three match points.

“It was not my best tennis, but I’m very happy that I got the win, and on the important points I was doing a good job, which was the most important thing today,” Radwanska said.

“The match points were of course big moments, but also the tie-break in the second set. I came from 4-1 down that set but in the tie-break I didn’t play good enough and it slipped away. I was still on court for another hour after that.”

Duan, who required a wildcard into the main draw, grabbed her opportunity with both hands, recovering from the loss of the opening four games to gradually overwhelm the World No.3. In the final set it looked like she would claim a famous victory, breaking in the ninth game to serve for the match.

To the disappointment of the upset-hungry crowd, she could not find the finishing blow, three times coming within a point of victory only to be denied each time.

Radwanska made the most of her escape, taking the next two games to book a meeting with Sorana Cirstea.

“It’s always tough to play someone for the first time – I didn’t know what to expect. But she’s a very powerful player and solid from the back,” Radwanska said. “She also served very well and had nothing to lose. It was a very close match, even at the beginning.”

Elsewhere there were contrasting fortunes for her fellow seeds, Timea Babos and Anastasija Sevastova, both of whom slipped to surprise defeats. Babos failed to make the most of a flying start, losing 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, to Nina Stojanovic, while Sevastova fell to Kristyna Pliskova, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), despite holding a couple of match points in the tie-break.

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Venus, Serena Serve Up Doubles Victory

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

LONDON, Great Britain – Serena Williams and Venus Williams imposed their doubles dominance against the No.11 seeded team of Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik in their Wimbledon doubles opener to advance 7-5, 6-3.

The sisters started out sluggish in the first set as Venus, who finished her two hour and twenty-four minute marathon singles match against Maria Sakkari about two hours earlier, was broken twice to allow the Slovaks to build up a hefty 4-1 lead in the first set.

After trading breaks for 5-2, the Williams sisters broke again after Klepac couldn’t get out of the way of a Serena volley fast enough. Venus held serve for the first time just as the two started to kick it into high gear.

With Srebotnik serving for the set at 5-4, Venus fired a forehand long to give the Slovakian team three set points but immediately redeemed herself by saving one with a lunging volley on the stretch. She ripped a backhand passing shot up the middle of the court to clinch the break and level the score 5-5.

Finally fired up, the Williams sisters dropped just one point in the next two games to take the first set 7-5. They continued their romp into the second set, where they broke twice to get ahead 4-0. Klepac and Srebotnik stopped the streak of nine games in a row by getting one of the breaks back, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide as Serena and Venus took the match for their first Wimbledon doubles win in two years.

Up next for the sibling duo are the Belgian team of Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach, who took out the all-American team of Nicole Gibbs and Irina Falconi, 7-6(3), 6-1.

Another sibling duo moves on as the No.3 seeded sisters Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching battled past Ashleigh Barty and Laura Robson in a comfortable straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

They’re joined in the second round by the No.13 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva after the Birmingham finalists came back to dispatch Nao Hibino and Alicija Rosolska 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and by Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova, who are fresh off of a title win at the Aegon International Eastbourne and downed the No.9 seeds Yifan Xu and Saisai Zheng 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-5.

More to come…

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Insider Podcast: Kuznetsova, The Artist

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

LONDON, Great Britain – Svetlana Kuznetsova is a good mood these days. And why shouldn’t she be?

At 31 years old the two-time Slam champion is playing some of her best tennis in years. Currently at No.14, Kuznetsova’s seen her ranking peak this year at No.12, her highest since 2011. She has a title under her belt, winning the Apia International Sydney in January, and made the final of the Miami Open, beating defending champion and World No.1 Serena Williams en route.

After all the ups and downs of her career, Kuznetsova was outspoken last year about wanting to just enjoy her tennis, knowing that if she did the results would come. The change in mindset has led to a more positive mindset and it has freed up her game and led to a level of consistency she has not seen in years.

She’s even holding impromptu Q&As with fans on Twitter. And no matter what’s going on in her life or on the court, Sveta just can’t help being Sveta:

I sat down with Kuznetsova at Wimbledon after her strong first round win over Caroline Wozniacki for a fun discussion about the state of her game, the hilarious circumstances surrounding her first round draw against Caroline, and why she considers herself “an artist” on the court.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn or on any podcast app of your choice to ensure you never miss an episode when they go live. Reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.

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