Tennis News

BEIJING, China – The resurgent Caroline Wozniacki needed just an hour and fifteen minutes to upset No.13 seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets for a spot in the round of 16 at the China Open.

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Continuing on from the recent success that has seen Wozniacki rise from No.74 to No.22 in the world, the Dane took to the court against Vinci on the back of a late season resurgence, having won 13 of her last 15 matches.

She drew first blood against the Italian in the fourth game, targeting Italian’s backhand and taking advantage of the short balls to draw a spate of errors before a volley into the net gave her the break. An untimely double fault in the next game handed Vinci the break right back, but Wozniacki wrestled the decisive break in reply for a 4-2 lead. She needed three set points but served out the opening set, 6-3.

Wozniacki was more straightforward in the second, bracketing the set with a break in the first and penultimate games, saving three set points in the fifth game to close out the match.

The 2010 champion Wozniacki was firmly in control throughout, dropping serve just once in the 6-3, 6-2 victory against Vinci. Up next she’ll meet a familiar foe, facing Agnieszka Radwanska for the third time in as many weeks.

As SAP Behind The Numbers revealed earlier in the season, historically both Radwanska and Wozniacki flourish in Asia post-US Open. They lead the tour in most Asian Swing match wins since 2011 and they’ve proved it in their growing 2016 rivalry, having just booked their third clash in as many weeks.

They first crossed paths this year in Tokyo at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, where Wozniacki defeated Radwanska in the semifinals en route to the title, but the Pole got her revenge a week later in Wuhan.

BEIJING, China – Unseeded and looming at the China Open, BNP Paribas Open finalists and Wimbledon semifinalists Karolina Pliskova and Julia Goerges recovered from a second set hiccup to score their first win over No.7 seeds Martina Hingis and CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8. The win assured Pliskova of her qualification at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in both singles and doubles.

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“I’d beaten Hingis just once, and we lost to them in Cincinnati. We’re really happy with the win; the super tie-break was tough,” Pliskova said after the match.

“It’s amazing; I’m already there for singles, so it’ll be great to be there in doubles as well.”

Pliskova and Goerges enjoyed a strong start before the former doubles No.1 rebounded with her new partner and fellow US Open semifinalist.

“I think overall, it was a good match with some good parts from both of us,” Goerges explained. “There were some sloppy games where they really gained confidence. We lost some tight points, but luckily won the first set on a deciding point; it was really a key to staying in the match because we’d really lost momentum.

“The second set, we were down 3-0 right away; we somehow came back but couldn’t manage to break CoCo’s serve again because she was serving pretty big. The match tie-break was up and down; we were 2-5 down, then 8-5 up.

“We served pretty big with two aces, which help in a match tie-break. We’re pretty happy to get through.”

For Goerges, it will also be her first appearance at the WTA Finals, a welcome surprise for a team comprised of two singles specialists.

“It’s very exciting; I must say! We didn’t plan it, because it was our first year playing together. We said we’d only play around 10 tournaments, and to qualify with eight pretty decent results is pretty special for us.

“Kaja will be going there for singles as well, but for me, it’s amazing to go to Singapore. It’s always been a dream, either in singles or doubles – hopefully one day I’ll get to go for singles too – but it’s exciting and a nice way to end the season.”

Goerges and Pliskova rounds out a stacked field full of talented teams; click here to learn more about the elite eight!