Dubai: Kristyna Pliskova vs Roberta Vinci
Kristyna Pliskova takes on Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Kristyna Pliskova takes on Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Caroline Wozniacki discusses her next match after her win in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Watch Angelique Kerber hit the practice court ahead of the start of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Watch Angelique Kerber and Mona Barthel’s 26-shot rally in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – Kateryna Bondarenko is through to the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after No.5 seed Garbiñe Muguruza was forced to withdraw due to a left achilles injury while trailing 4-1 in the opening set.
“It’s good that I’m through, but it wasn’t really a win,” Bonadarenko said after the match. “She retired.”
Muguruza suffered a shock defeat last week Doha to Zhang Shuai, and looked to be struggling with her timing early on, double faulting to hand her opponent the immediate break.
At the first changeover, Muguruza called for the physio but opted not to take an injury timeout before being broken again.
“When I finished in Doha, because of the rain, a lot of people played two matches, including me,” Muguruza explained. “The second one was very tough, and I remember that as soon as I went, after the match, to my room, I started to have a pain in my left Achilles.
“The next morning was even more painful. I have been carried this since that day. And here, I have been training but on and off, honestly, because of the pain. Some days it was a little bit better, some days it was a little bit worse. It was just hard for me to serve, especially, and to just move side to side today on the court.
A lack of mobility clearly apparent, Muguruza decided that the best way back into the match was to hit her way out of trouble. But with the score at 4-1 in the first set, she decided that it wasn’t worth continuing.
“I can’t see anything right now. I have to do some kind of MRI.
“Personally, I don’t think it’s like something big, hopefully, but it’s very irritated and it’s really bothering me every time I have to run on the court.”
.@GarbiMuguruza retires in the opening set.
Kateryna Bondarenko advances to @DDFTennis Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/zVW98VFLPo
— WTA (@WTA) February 21, 2017
Muguruza’s retirement means that Bondarenko, who has never been past the second round, will now face either Viktorija Golubic or Caroline Wozniacki.
Click here to learn more about Muguruza’s injury courtesy of WTA Insider.
DUBAI, UAE – Elina Svitolina made it through to her third quarterfinal of 2017 so far after a titanic tussle with Christina McHale.
The Ukrainian triumphed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to set up a clash in the next round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with Lauren Davis.
“It was really tough today – I was in and out today mentally, I was a little bit losing my focus in the first set,” she said in her on-court interview after the match.
“In the end I was just trying to fight for every ball, and I think that’s why I won.”
.@ElinaSvitolina reaches third Quarterfinal of 2017!
Tops McHale 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at @DDFTennis! pic.twitter.com/0WdyLoSLVh
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
McHale pushed Svitolina right to the end, forcing her to serve for a match which lasted two hours and 22 minutes, and saving the first of three match points.
She could not delay the inevitable for too long, though, as the 22-year-old’s grit saw her through.
Svitolina was already thinking about her next opponent, the American Davis.
“I’ve played against her a couple of times…but it’s always going to be tough in any quarterfinal,” she said.
Take a look inside the glamour and excitement of the Dubai Player Party with Dubai Duty Free Ambassadors Caroline Wozniacki and Zhang Shuai!
Garbiñe Muguruza has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
An interview with Anastasija Sevastova after her victory in the quarterfinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Julia Goerges powered through to the ASB Classic final on Friday, but the second semifinal – pitting Caroline Wozniacki against Sloane Stephens – was stopped due to rain.
Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
The first semifinal wrapped up before the skies opened, though Goerges did serve up a storm against Tamira Paszek – the German lost just six points in her first seven service games, eventually dropping serve mid-way through the second set but regrouping to close out the Austrian qualifier, 6-4, 6-2.
With the win, Goerges moves through to a WTA final for the first time in almost four years – her last WTA final came at Dubai in 2012 (falling to Agnieszka Radwanska). She’s 2-3 lifetime in WTA finals.
“I must say it feels very good to be in a final again after such a long time,” Goerges said. “But overall it was a very, very good match from my side – played very aggressively, served decently in the first set. Second set wasn’t a good first serve percentage, but it was a very, very good match from me.”
The former World No.15 will have to wait until Saturday morning to find out her opponent in the final, though, as the second semifinal – pitting No.3 seed Wozniacki against No.5 seed Stephens – was cancelled for the day due to rain. Stephens had opened up a 5-2 lead when the rain started to fall.
Here’s a taste of what Stephens was bringing to the table, courtesy of the WTA Twitter account:
Passingggg Shot! #WTA pic.twitter.com/QNEXyIkTC2
— WTA (@WTA) January 8, 2016
Sloane in the zone! @SloaneStephens hitting all the shots right now. #WTA pic.twitter.com/G1YfcgwEWy
— WTA (@WTA) January 8, 2016