Tennis News

ZHUHAI, China – Johanna Konta guaranteed that she will end the year ranked inside the Top 10 following Wednesday’s victory over Samantha Stosur at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

Four weeks ago, Konta became the fourth Briton in WTA history to reach the Top 10 when she finished runner-up at the China Open, in Beijing. By winning her opening round-robin match in Zhuhai, she will remain among the elite until the year’s end, becoming the first British player to do so for 33 years.

Jo Durie was the last to achieve the feat, when she finished 1983 ranked No.6, following in the footsteps of Grand Slam champions Virginia Wade (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) and Sue Barker (1976, 1977, 1979).

Impressive! ??? https://t.co/aFXNFWKQd3

— Jo Durie (@Jodurie) November 2, 2016

For Konta, it is the latest accomplishment of a memorable campaign that has already seen her lift a maiden WTA title, in Stanford, and reach the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Last summer, a 16-match winning run, which began at a lowly ITF Circuit event in Granby, Canada, and ended in the second week of the US Open, sent Konta skyrocketing up the rankings and, more importantly, imbued her with a sense of belonging. Since then she has been a regular at the business end of tennis’ showpiece events, runs at Stanford, Beijing, Montréal, Eastbourne, Miami and the Australian and US Opens cementing her place at the WTA’s top table.

The 25-year-old has a work ethic rivalled by few on tour and unsurprisingly is now concentrating on taking the next step.

“I think [being in the Top 3] is what I dreamt of as a little girl. I dreamt of being No.1 in the world, being the best player out there,” Konta said after her win over Stosur. “I think you got to put also dreams aside a little bit separate just because you got to focus on the work and you got to focus on things that you can control. That’s the effort and attitude that I approach my job, what I do.”

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The bottom half of the draw will take the court on Thursday to finish off the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open. We preview the matchups here.

[13] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #15) vs. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK #97)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Rybarikova is the lowest-ranked player to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells since 2012.
Victoria Azarenka continues to play the type of tennis that elicits strong conviction from pundits that she will one day return to the top of the game. Already one of the best returners, the World No.15 is developing into one of the best servers this season. The former No.1 has only faced six break points in her three matches here in the desert, and credits additional power for improvement of her serve. “I worked a lot on my serve to be able to create easier serving games and going for my shots,” Azarenka said after defeating Samantha Stosur in three sets on Tuesday, a match in which she faced only one break point. “Developing power and speed, and now I need to work a little bit more on accuracy.” Azarenka could make her return to the Top 10 with a title at Indian Wells, but down the road she’d like to achieve a lot more than that. “I think getting to No.1 of course it’s a goal. My main goal is to win Grand Slams,” she said. “That’s what I want really bad and that’s what I’m working towards.”

Meanwhile, Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova is playing some of the best tennis of her career, and has notched her biggest result at a Premier Mandatory event. The 27-year-old former World No.31 has now won three consecutive matches against the Top 10, and four of her last six.

Pick: Azarenka in two

Daria Kasatkina (RUS #48) vs. [18] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #19)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kasatkina already has five more main draw wins in 2016 (12) than she managed in all of 2015 (7).
Clearly, there is something about the thin desert air that 23-year-old Karolina Pliskova enjoys. She improved to 7-2 lifetime at Indian Wells with a takedown of Great Britian’s Johanna Konta on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time. Pliskova is tied for the tournament lead in aces and has won 87 percent of her service games over her first three matches. After dropping back-to-back first-rounders in the Middle East, Pliskova retreated to her residence in Monaco to regroup. “Last year I didn’t lose any first rounds,” Pliskova said after defeating Ana Ivanovic in the third round. “Now I’d lost twice in a row so I’m just happy to have some matches and looking forward to the next one.”

Though not widely known, Pliskova’s next opponent promises to provide her most difficult challenge of the week. 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina, the youngest player in this year’s draw, has created quite the buzz around the grounds with her sparkling game and fine mental focus. The young Russian backed up a big three-set win over Monica Puig with an eyebrow-raising straight-sets thumping of No.12 seed Timea Bacsinszky on Tuesday night. Kasatkina dealt with Bacsinszky’s eclectic strokes and world-class defense clinically, peppering the Swiss’ forehand with heavy topspin forehands of her own, patiently waiting for her opportunities to strike. On Thursday she’ll face Bacsinszky’s polar opposite in the hard-serving Pliskova and it will be interesting to see how the Indian Wells debutant handles the challenge.

Pick: Pliskova in three

– Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Four years ago, Victoria Azarenka arrived at this juncture of the BNP Paribas Open feeling invincible.

Riding the crest on a 20-match unbeaten run that had taken her to Australian Open glory and top of the rankings, Azarenka looked set to embark on a period of dominance at the summit of the women’s game.

However, it has not panned out quite like that for the Belarusian, whose status as her generation’s standard bearer has been undermined by a succession of injuries.

Azarenka would go on to defend her Australian Open crown and reach a couple of finals at the US Open – both times coming out on the losing side in classic battles with Serena Williams. Yet problems – of varying severity – to feet, ankles and back soon saw Azarenka spending as much time on the treatment table as the court.

Her absence was keenly felt, robbing the sport of the one player perhaps capable of challenging Williams’ hegemony. After a number of false dawns, this season Azarenka finally looks in a position to resume this rivalry.

Now ranked No.15, Azarenka can return to the Top 10 by reclaiming the title she first lifted during her annus mirabilis. And while her fitness woes have tested her patience, the 26-year-old has never lost sight of the end goal.

“I’m in a different stage of my career. You know, I think getting to No.1 of course it’s a goal. My main goal is to win Grand Slams. That’s that I want really bad and that’s what I’m working towards. I always think that ranking is a bonus that comes with it. Once you have results, you win tournaments, it comes automatically.

“And at first it was something that you just, you want to get there since you’re a kid. You know, it’s a big dream. And once you achieve it, sometimes it brings the level of motivation down. Right now my level of motivation is different. I’m not that kid with a big dream of becoming No.1. I have been there.”

Azarenka started the year like a freight train, romping to the title in Brisbane then cantering through the opening week of the Australian Open. Many tipped her for a third title Down Under, but it was not to be, an inspired Angelique Kerber – whom Azarenka had outclassed in the Brisbane final – dashing the dream.

Worryingly for the rest of the tour, and quarterfinal foe Magdalena Rybarikova, she insists the best is yet to come: “Oh, I don’t think I am close to fulfilling my potential. Just to see what I can do on practice court and physically what I can improve, I’m far from that. That’s what I’m looking forward to improve.”

Perhaps burnt by her experience in Melbourne, or just eager to make up for lost time, the former No.1 is leaving no stone unturned in her pursuit of tennis’ biggest prizes.

“Now I don’t really think ahead. There is a difference between creating a big picture and goals, to set the goals where you work day in and day out towards. But what’s going to happen, I don’t really think about it. I just want to make sure that on every single day I do whatever I can. I think the great quote, you know, anybody can outwork you, but nobody will out prepare me.”

ZHUHAI, China – All four semifinalists at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai boasted perfect round-robin records, but someone’s 0 has to go on Saturday. Top seed Johanna Konta takes on the in-form Elina Svitolina, while Petra Kvitova meets home favorite Zhang Shuai.

Saturday, Semifinals

Stadium
[1] Johanna Konta (GBR #10) vs. [4] Elina Svitolina (UKR #14)
Head-to-head: Svitolina leads 1-0
Stat: Svitolina was the only semifinalist to drop a set during the round robin  
Nearly four years ago, Elina Svitolina met Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals of an ITF Circuit event in Israel. Both players were ranked outside the Top 100, but on that day it was the teenage Svitolina that comfortably prevailed, going on to collect the trophy a few days later. She would lift more significant silverware that year, announcing herself as one of the game’s brightest prospects by triumphing at the WTA event in Baku.

She has made good on this promise, developing her game under the watchful eye of coach Iain Hughes to the extent that she is knocking ever louder on the door of the Top 10. Last year the Ukrainian reached the semifinals in Zhuhai and after strong showings at recent outings in Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo it would be no surprise to see her go at least one step further this time around.

To do so she will need to get the better of Konta once more. However, this version of the Briton is a very different proposition to the one that stood across the net from her in their ITF days. Imbued with an on-court maturity and steely competitiveness matched by few of her peers, Konta has flown up the rankings over the past 18 months. Her round-robin victory over Samantha Stosur guaranteed she would finish the year in the Top 10, and judging by the way she dispatched Caroline Garcia to reach the semifinals her ambitions do not end there.

[2] Petra Kvitova (CZE #13) vs [WC/12] Zhang Shuai (CHN #28)
Head-to-head: tied 1-1
Stat: Zhang owns a 7-6 win-loss record against Top 20 players in 2016
Petra Kvitova can lay claim to being the WTA’s most impressive performer over the last few months of the season. Casting aside the inconsistency that blighted the first half of the season, Kvitova, who eased past Roberta Vinci and Barbora Strycova in her two round-robin outings, has now won 26 of her past 32 matches.

The highlight of this run was a second title in Zhuhai, and should she continue this rich vein of form on Chinese soil it will take a super-human effort to stop the Czech. Her next opponent, Zhang Shuai, will have a little extra help though, in the shape of an unashamedly partisan home crowd.

Desperate for a successor to Li Na, Chinese tennis has seen Zhang emerge as its unlikely standard bearer in 2016. Little more than 12 months ago, Zhang was contemplating retirement on the back of a dispiriting spell on tour. Sam Stosur talked her out of it and she has been on an upward trajectory ever since. In January she ended her long-running Grand Slam hoodoo by making it all the way through qualifying and into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, building on this platform with credible showings in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing to leave herself on the verge of the Top 20.