Wuhan: Kvitova vs. Kerber
Petra Kvitova takes on Angelique Kerber in the third round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Petra Kvitova takes on Angelique Kerber in the third round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
The best WTA players joined Miami’s top chefs at the W South Beach for Taste of Tennis Miami, a night of food, fashion, entertainment and tennis.
Last year’s Miami Open semifinalist Simona Halep made her appearance on the green carpet with her coach Darren Cahill.
Best friends Belinda Bencic and Kristina Mladenovic struck a pose…
…as did Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Lucie Safarova and Andrea Hlavackova.
Victoria Azarenka joined DJ Mad Linx to set the mood and put on some music.
Fresh off of her big win at Indian Wells, Azarenka’s got plenty to dab about!
Chan Yuan-Liang and Chan Hao-Ching, the world’s No.2 doubles team, joined Chef Fabio Fichera in serving up some treats.
Yanina Wickmayer showed off her excellent plating technique…
…While Elina Svitolina preferred to taste test the sushi, prepared by Miami’s Khaleel Ali.
CoCo Vandeweghe and Rachel Lim seemed more excited about the desserts than anything else!
WTA legend Arantxa Sanchez Vicario grabbed a picture with Dustin Ward as they served up some small plates.
Did you make enough for everyone, Lauren Davis?
Eugenie Bouchard swapped her tennis racquet for a paddle and showed off her table tennis skills.
It just wouldn’t be Miami without some great art… and a portrait of nine-time Miami Open champion Serena Williams, up for silent auction.
Highlights from the round of 16 action at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
BRISBANE, Australia – Dominika Cibulkova survived a scare against Zhang Shuai in her first match of 2017, but the World No.5 advanced to the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International after being pushed to three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
“I was prepared for a battle,” Cibulkova said after the match. “The first matches are always really tricky, and so was this one today. It wasn’t easy to play the first match, but I’m happy that I won.”
As the tournament’s No.2 seed, Cibulkova received a bye into the second round that allowed her an extra few days to acclimate and reflect on her incredible journey; at this time last year Cibulkova was ranked. No.38 and just made the main draw cutoff. Now, she’s the second-highest at the tournament.
“I was last in here last year and now I am the second seed!”
-@Cibulkova excited to get 2017 season underway #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/R23yvh4CdN
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Cibulkova’s opponent also has a comeback story: a year ago Zhang was ranked No.139 and was considering retirement before her Grand Slam breakthrough came at the Australian Open. She finished the year at No.23 and was keen to keep her form, not breaking for off season but instead opting to play ITF events after the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Her match-fitness showed in her performance against the World No.5; despite Cibulkova’s perfect 4-0 head-to-head record against Zhang, she was pushed to the brink in their two hour and nineteen minute battle at Brisbane.
The Slovak got off to a slow start, giving Zhang plenty of room to pounce and play her clean, solid game, outpacing Cibulkova. Zhang broke twice late in the opening set; Cibulkova fought off five set points but finally blinked as she buried a backhand into the net to surrender the set 6-2.
.@ZhangShuai121 hitting all the right angles! #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/7kjFUhJEb3
— WTA (@WTA) January 4, 2017
Despite the lopsided score line, Cibulkova kept herself within touching distance and kept Zhang under pressure even as the Chinese climbed ahead 2-0 in the second. Seeing her chances slip out of reach time and time again served to galvanize the WTA Finals champion, who brought out her arsenal of punchy groundstrokes and aggressiveness, breaking back emphatically and halting Zhang’s run.
The momentum swung Cibulkova’s way as Zhang seemed to lose her rhythm, and everything went the Slovak’s way as she took the second set, playing more aggressive tennis with renewed confidence.
“[In the second set] I started to be much more aggressive,” Cibulkova explained. “It was the first match of the season and I had a bit of a slow start, but I just pumped myself up more and started playing more aggressive, going for more shots. I didn’t let her play her game.”
Comeback complete!@Cibulkova defeats Zhang 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and moves into @BrisbaneTennis Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/v77QycjXjK
— WTA (@WTA) January 4, 2017
Cibulkova stayed on course and built up a 4-0 to close in on the quarterfinals, but the match had a final twist as Zhang, who refused to fade away throughout the match, clawed her way back to level the score.
But the World No.5 was locked in, and Zhang allowed a couple of loose forehands drift wide as she dropped serve and gifted Cibulkova the chance to serve it out, booking her spot into the next round.
Awaiting Cibulkova in the quarterfinals is Alizé Cornet, who eased past Christina McHale 6-2, 6-1.
The BNP Paribas Open caused some seismic shifts to the Road to Singapore leaderboard; while Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber remained atop the standings, No.2 Serena Williams and No.3 Victoria Azarenka are hot on her heels as the tour turns to the Miami Open.
Kerber suffered a second straight WTA loss in the second round of Indian Wells, losing a tight contest to Denisa Allertova. By contrast, Williams and Azarenka made it all the way to the final, with the Belarusian winning her fourth career match over the 21-time Grand Slam champion and her second title of the season after the Brisbane International.
Not far behind is reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion Agnieszka Radwanska; the new WTA World No.2 reached another big semifinal in Indian Wells, narrowly losing to Williams in two tough sets. Drawn to face the American again in the semifinals, Radwanska rounds out the Top 4 on the RTS Leaderboard.
Qatar Total Open champion Carla Suárez Navarro saw her progress on the RTS Leaderboard stunted when a right ankle injury took her out of Indian Wells, while a left foot injury caused St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy winner Roberta Vinci into retiring in the fourth round – leaving the veterans at No.5 and No.6 respectively.
Johanna Konta took out Allertova en route to the second week, losing a three-setter to eventual semifinalist Karolina Pliskova; the Australian Open semifinalist not only became the highest-ranked British woman since 1987 (Jo Durie), but she also kept ahead of No.8 Belinda Bencic, who dropped out in the third round to Magdalena Rybarikova.
An upper respiratory illness likely kept Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships runner-up Barbora Strycova from making a bigger leap; already moving up three spots to No.9, the Czech veteran retired down a set to Simona Halep, whose own run saw her jump nearly 50 spots and into the Top 40.
Meanwhile, Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza retained the top spot on the RTS Leaderboard in doubles, while Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe debuted at No.7 following their championship win over Pliskova and Julia Goerges, who are all the way up to No.4 with two strong results in Melbourne and Indian Wells.
Click here to see the singles and doubles leaderboards heading into the Miami Open.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her win in the quarterfinals of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Dominika Cibulkova takes on Zhang Shuai in the second round at the Brisbane International.
MIAMI, FL, USA – The Miami Open gets underway on Tuesday, with a couple of inter-generational battles headlining the order of play on Grandstand and Court 1.
Tuesday, First Round
Grandstand
[WC] Laura Robson (GBR #504) vs. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL #65)
Head-to-head: Flipkens leads 1-0
When Laura Robson came off court nursing her wrist following a humbling first-round defeat to Kirsten Flipkens at the 2014 Australian Open, even in her worst nightmares she cannot have envisaged what was to follow. Two years of injury woe have derailed one of the game’s brightest young talents, leaving her kicking her heels at home as junior and domestic rivals have stepped into the limelight. Using her protected ranking at Indian Wells, Robson played well for a set before losing to eventual quarterfinalist Magdalena Rybarikova.
In Miami, she renews acquaintances with Flipkens, whose similarly anachronistic game could stymie the Brit’s search to rediscover her competitive groove. Since reaching the quarterfinals at Miami, semifinals at Wimbledon and coming within touching distance of the Top 10 in 2013, Flipkens has been forced to battle her own demons. Having dropped out of the Top 100 last year, the Belgian has been enigmatic this time around, promising showings in Auckland and Monterrey punctuated by several early exits.
Court 1
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR #59) vs. Daria Kasatkina (RUS #36)
Head-to-head: first meeting
With superb groundstrokes, excellent movement and an impressive temperament, Daria Kasatkina has all the tools to make it to the top of the game. This much was obvious when she shocked Venus Williams in the opening week of the new season to make the tennis world really stand up and take notice. Since then Kasatkina has gone from strength to strength, reaching the third round at the Australian Open, the semifinals at St. Petersburg and, just last week, a quarterfinal at Indian Wells.
On her Miami debut, she takes on Kateryna Bondarenko, another upwardly mobile player – albeit at a very different stage in her career. Since returning to the tour following the birth of her first child a couple of years ago, Bondarenko has been making up for lost time, building on a strong finish to 2015 with credible showings at several big events, highlighted by her run through qualifying to the fourth round at Indian Wells.
Also on court…
Preceding Robson and Flipkens on Grandstand will be a couple of home hopes, Madison Brengle and Nicole Gibbs, who take on Camila Giorgi and Yulia Putintseva, respectively. On Court 1, Barbora Strycova faces Anna-Lena Friedsam, and Margarita Gasparyan meets Annika Beck.
Highlights from all of Wednesday’s action on Day 4 at the Brisbane International.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Daria Kasatkina continued her productive trip stateside with victory in a see-saw encounter against Kateryna Bondarenko on the first day of the Miami Open.
Watch live action from Miami this fortnight on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
In the opening months of 2016, Kasatkina has been making great strides up the rankings, gatecrashing the Top 40 for the first time after her quarterfinal run in Indian Wells.
The young Russian carried this form into the early stages of her first-round meeting with Bondarenko, breaking three times to wrap up the first set in 27 minutes. When she then broke in the opening game of the second, a routine victory looked on the cards.
However, such thoughts were soon parked as Bondarenko capitalized on some uncharacteristically sloppy mistakes to level to contest in emphatic fashion. In the decider Kasatkina struck first, before exhibiting tremendous poise to hold onto her own serve in a titanic sixth game and close out a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 victory.
“I started the match well, but in the second set I started to give her some chances and she came back,” Kasatkina said. “It was really tough to get the momentum back, but I did it and I’m very happy because it’s my first time in Miami.”
Twelve months ago, Kasatkina, then ranked well outside the Top 200, had just qualified for an ITF Circuit event on the other side of Florida, in Palm Harbour. Since then her rise has been rapid, but the 18-year-old is eager for the perks of an even loftier ranking: “Nothing really changed – because I’m still not seeded! It’s just a ranking. If I was seeded I would get a bye, but it’s one more match I have to play.”
Her reward is a meeting with No.5 seed Simona Halep on Thursday. “She’s great player for sure so it will be difficult, but I will watch matches with my coach and we will talk about how to play her.”
Among the other early winners were Barbora Strycova, Teliana Pereira and Zhang Shuai. Strycova needed less than an hour to see off Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-2, 6-0, while Zhang was nearly as swift in dispatching junior Wimbledon champion Sofya Zhuk, 6-1, 6-2.
In the tournament’s opening match on Grandstand, Pereira had more difficulty winning her all-Brazilian clash with Beatriz Haddad Maia, eventually prevailing 7-6(2), 6-1.