Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – No.7 seed Elina Svitolina is into the biggest final of her career after upsetting top seed Angelique Kerber in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday; standing between her and her sixth career title is none other than 2011 champion and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki.

Check out everything you need to know about this high-stakes affair right here on wtatennis.com!

1. Svitolina can crack the Top 10 if she wins on Saturday.
Svitolina has been on the cusp of making her Top 10 debut for quite some time, and the Ukrainian youngster can close the deal should she beat Wozniacki in the final.

2. The Ukrainian is riding an 11-match winning streak.
Svitolina recovered from a third round upset at the Australian Open in impressive fashion, picking up her fifth career title at the Taiwan Open, leading her country to a Fed Cup victory over Australia, and reaching the final in Dubai.

3. Wozniacki is definitely at home in Dubai.
A Dubai Duty Free ambassador, Wozniacki overtook former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic’s record total of match wins in Dubai on Friday, winning a 22nd match in seven appearances. She last reached the final in 2011, when she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova for the title.

4. The Dane is surging in 2017.
Wozniacki began this season much like she ended last; since reaching the semifinals of the US Open, she’s been on fire, reaching back-to-back finals in Doha and Dubai; the last time she did that was in 2014, when she reached two straight finals in Flushing and Tokyo at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

5. The No.2 spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard is on the line.
Not only can Svitolina earn a career-high ranking, but a win on Saturday will also send her shooting up the RTS leaderboard, all the way to No.2. The runner-up will also be in the Top 8, ranked No.5. Svitolina would make be making her debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, while Wozniacki qualified four times, most recently in 2014.

6. Svitolina saves her best for the game’s best.
The No.7 seed not only defeated Kerber for the second time this season, but also owns a three-match winning streak on the former No.1, dating back to the China Open in Beijing. She also knocked then-No.1 Serena Williams out of the Olympic tennis event; in her last three encounters with World No.1s, Svitolina’s won two.

7. Wozniacki aims for Miami Open revenge.
Wozniacki and Svitolina played just once before, in the third round of the Miami Open; Svitolina recovered from a set down to defeat the Dane, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(1) in a late-night match.

8. Svitolina is one win from her biggest title yet.
Svitolina has already racked up five titles in her young career, but all on the International level. She finished runner-up at the Connecticut Open and the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai to Agnieszka Radwanska and Petra Kvitova, respectively, and reached the final four last fall in Beijing.

9. Wozniacki returns to the big time.
Barring the US Open final, Wozniacki hadn’t reached a Premier Mandatory or Premier 5 final since 2013 at the BNP Paribas Open. This would be her biggest title since beating Naomi Osaka in the Tokyo final last fall.

10. The final takes place after a rousing doubles championship match.
Before Wozniacki and Svitolina hit the courts, new Road to Singapore leaderboard No.1s Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai face Olympic Gold medalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. The Russians are into their second final of the season while Hlavackova are in their third, including the Australian Open.

June was defined by three breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?

Have a look at the nominees for June’s Breakthrough Performance of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, July 15.

June 2016 WTA Breakthrough Performance of the Month Finalists:

Elena Vesnina: The Russian veteran has enjoyed regular success at the upper echelons of the doubles circuit, but finally broke though in a big way at a singles Slam, reaching her first semifinal at Wimbledon with wins over Ekaterina Makarova and Dominika Cibulkova. Ranked outside the Top 100 to start the season, Vesnina has cut her ranking by nearly 100 spots since her February low of No.122 and is back inside the Top 25 for the first time since January of 2014.

Madison Keys: Keys not only earned her second title on grass at the Aegon Classic, but she also made a major rankings breakthough by becoming the first American to debut inside the Top 10 since Serena Williams in 1999. Keys backed up her newly minted Top 10 ranking with a run to the second week of Wimbledon, her sixth trip to the round of 16 or better at a major in her last seven outings.

Anastasija Sevastova: Briefly retired for a space of 18 months, the Latvian is arguably playing better than ever as she continues her climb back up the rankings, making a breakthrough at the Mallorca Open, where she reached the final – her first since 2010. The run also brought Sevastova back into the Top 70.

2016 Winners:

January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay
May: Kiki Bertens

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

DUBAI, UAE – No.7 seed Elina Svitolina took home her second title of 2017 – and the biggest one of her career – at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after defeating 2011 champion Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

Playing in her first Premier 5 final, Svitolina showed no sign of nerves as she outhit the former World No.1 to claim the victory 6-4, 6-2 after an hour and 10 minutes.

“It’s very special for me [to win such a big tournament],” Svitolina said in her on-court interview. “I’ve played very amazing tennis this week and I’m happy it happened in Dubai.

“It’s the first trophy for me at such a big tournament, so it’s very special for me.”

“I dreamed for all my life to be in the Top 10” -@ElinaSvitolina pic.twitter.com/T4CooJ6Nw3

— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2017

With the title, Svitolina will rise from WTA No.13 to No.10, making her the 120^th player to make her Top 10 debut since the WTA Rankings were introduced on November 3, 1975.

“I’ve dreamed for all my life to be in Top 10. It’s a very amazing feeling to enter Top 10, and do it by winning the tournament! I’m very excited for the season and very excited I could win this tournament.”

The 22-year-old Ukrainian entered the matchup against Wozniacki with a 1-0 lead in the pair’s head-to-head record, with their only meeting coming last year in Miami where Svitolina came within two points of defeat before winning 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(1).

This time in Dubai, it was a more comprehensive affair, with Svitolina injecting pace into her groundstrokes to break down Wozniacki’s rock-solid defense.

.@ElinaSvitolina captures @DDFTennis Title!

Defeats Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/TA3LibF8zn

— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2017

A pair of inch-perfect passing shots left Wozniacki wrong-footed and gave Svitolina the lone break in the first set at 3-2. But the Dane refused to fade away, batting away a pair of Svitolina set points at 5-4 with some bold tennis – including a second-serve ace – to force the Ukrainian to serve it out.

Wozniacki let three break points slip by that would have leveled the score, and instead Svitolina held serve from 0-40 down to take the opening set.

Svitolina continued her momentum into the final set; after trading breaks to start, Svitolina played more aggressive to chip away at Wozniacki’s defense as the Dane’s unforced error count continued to build. Svitolina rattled off the last five games in a row to close out the match and biggest title of her career.

“It’s been a good two weeks, @DDFTennis is a special tournament for me.” -@CaroWozniacki pic.twitter.com/xVVyG0fmXK

— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2017

Despite the disappointing loss, Wozniacki is taking away positive signs from her Middle East fortnight, which saw her reach back-to-back finals.

“It’s been a good two weeks for me – two finals, lots of matches,” Wozniacki said in her on-court interview. “Making another final here [in Dubai] is definitely great, and I’m already excited to be back.”

Another piece of good news for Wozniacki? The Dane is inching closer to her return to the WTA Top 10: with her run to the final she’ll move to No.14, and is defending just 145 points until the US Open.

BUCHAREST, Romania – Vania King toppled the No.8 seed Cagla Buyukakcay after a two-hour-and-twenty-minute battle, emerging victorious 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 to book her spot into the quarterfinals of the BRD Bucharest Open.

King’s victory today marks the first time she’s won back to back WTA main draw matches since July of 2014. She has been sidelined with a right knee injury for several months since then before making her return to the tour in August last year. Despite making deep runs into several ITF events, she’s struggled to put together WTA-level wins as she continues her comeback.

King is set to face Pauline Parmentier in the next round. The Frenchwoman fought through a tight first set to advance past Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(3), 6-4.

More to come…

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – As the WTA’s last stop before the US Open, the Connecticut Open in New Haven is known for having a stacked field. This year is no different, with 20 of the WTA’s Top 31 players set to feature at the Premier-level event.

Even more impressive, the tournament has announced a player field comprised entirely of players who will compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“From a rankings perspective, all of these players would be seeded at a Grand Slam, which shows how deep and talented the player field is for the 2016 Connecticut Open,” said Tournament Director Anne Worcester. “From Grand Slam Champions to talented Americans to more than 20 Olympians – the field will be dynamic, international in flavor and extremely competitive.”

Four-time champion Caroline Wozniacki took the first wild card into New Haven in her quest for a record-breaking fifth title at the tournament.

Here’s the full list of players committed to play at this year’s Connecticut Open:
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Petra Kvitova
Jelena Jankovic
Caroline Wozniacki
Roberta Vinci
Madison Keys
Dominika Cibulkova
Karolina Pliskova
Timea Bacsinszky
Elina Svitolina
Sara Errani
Sloane Stephens
Kiki Bertens
Belinda Bencic
Johanna Konta
Daria Kasatkina
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Barbora Strycova
Ekaterina Makarova
Irina-Camelia Begu

The Connecticut Open, a Premier-level event and part of the Emirates Airline US Open Series, will be held August 19-27 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. Tickets are on sale now – click here for more information.