Tennis News

MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a mid-match wobble to defeat Timea Babos in the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals and move one step closer to a return to the WTA Finals.

In a contest that ebbed and flowed throughout, top seed and defending champion Kuznetsova harnessed the home crowd support to eventually triumph, 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2, after a fraction over two and half hours on court.

The result keeps alive the 31-year-old’s hopes of appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The Russian, who was a fixture at the season-ending showpiece for much of her early 20s, has not qualified since 2009, but will return should she lift the title in Moscow. If she fails in her quest, Johanna Konta will take the final spot in the eight-player draw.

Babos’ battling performance ensured that the outcome remained in the balance until the last. In the second set, she displayed particular character to break twice with her opponent serving for the match. A flawless tie-break ensured the match went the distance, and despite falling behind in the decider, another comeback looked on the cards when she reduced her arrears to 3-2.

However, a thigh injury halted this revival – and the match – allowing Kuznetsova to regroup during a length injury timeout. On the resumption, the Russian took control rattling off the final three games to set up a semifinal with No.4 seed Elina Svitolina.  

“Where to start? My coach and Nastia [Myskina] said in the locker room that the points were very short, from one to three rallies. I didn’t run much. I think I was good for me that I had a third set even when I felt a little bit tired,” Kuznetsova told the Russian press. “In the third set I let the situation go and played better.

“It has prepared me a base for tomorrow’s match because the way I played during last two matches, the last four sets: yesterday’s and the first two from today…It won’t get me far.”

Earlier in the day, Svitolina delivered a clinical display to swat aside lucky loser Ana Konjuh, 6-1, 6-1. Svitolina has been in terrific form during the second half of the season, reaching the semifinals or better in three of her past five tournaments.

“It was a good match for me, I was serving well and seeing the ball good. This was a good game and I’m really happy that it’s another semifinal for me,” Svitolina told wtatennis.com.

“After Beijing I had one week off and I was at home, just trying to recover fast. These last two tournaments – here and in Zhuhai – are very important and I’m just trying to stay focused.”

MOSCOW, Russia – Daria Gavrilova ended 2014 champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s hopes of returning to the Kremlin Cup final after a two-hour-and-thirty-six-minute battle in the Moscow quarterfinals.

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Last week at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, Gavrilova stunned the WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber in straight sets, and tonight in Moscow she added another scalp to her long list of upsets after taking out Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Gavrilova squeezed through a tight opening set, with both players wrestling for the momentum before the Australian converted her fourth break opportunity in the eleventh game to narrowly take the set. She climbed ahead to a 4-0 lead in the second, with Pavlyuchenkova looking increasingly more frustrated, and looked set to wrap up the encounter.

The Russian had other ideas, though, and harnessed the energy of her home crowd to mount her comeback, rattling off six games in a row to level the match and force a decider.

With emotions running high, Pavlyuchenkova dumped a forehand into the net and got her second warning for racquet abuse, handing Gavrilova the first break in the third set at 3-2.

The Australian took over from there, and she brought up match point with a well-timed drop shot after running Pavlyuchenkova all over the court, then sealed the match with a blistering forehand for a spot in the semifinals.

Pavlyuchenkova will likely rue her missed opportunities – she brought up 17 break points (with six of them coming in the deciding set) and only converted on five. For her part, Gavrilova was more efficient and converted six of her nine chances. Pavlyuchenkova struck 30 winners and 45 unforced errors throughout the match against Gavrilova’s 27 and 33.

Gavrilova will play Julia Goerges for a spot in the final after the German edged past No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 6-1.

1. Fantastic First.
Dominika Cibulkova will round off a fantastic season by appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career. “I can’t describe with words what qualifying for the WTA Finals Singapore means to me,” said Cibulkova. “After such a tough year last year, this year has been amazing – so reaching the WTA Finals is a dream come true. It was my goal to be a consistently great player and I have achieved that this year. I want to enjoy it, play good tennis and end the year the best way I can.”

2. Linz Leader.
She wrapped up her place at the season-ending showpiece when she beat Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz.

Dominika @Cibulkova reaches the #WTAFinals for the first time in her career! ? pic.twitter.com/Yhg1cNBokQ

— WTA (@WTA) October 16, 2016

3. Comeback Queen.
Singapore will crown a terrific comeback season for Cibulkova. She has won three titles in 2016 — at the Katowice Open, Aegon International Eastbourne and most recently Linz – and she finished as runner-up at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mutua Madrid Open and the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

4. Flying High.
She’s flown up the rankings this year – Cibulkova was ranked No.66 in February and thanks to her scintillating form has since hit a high of World No.8.

5. Wedding Worries.
Cibulkova’s wedding this year was scheduled for the day of the Wimbledon final – and when she made it all the way to the quarterfinals it looked like the nuptials might have to be delayed for a day or two. Elena Vesnina solved the potential problem, though, beating a fatigued Cibulkova, 6-2, 6-2.

6. Missed Chance.
It’s all such a contrast from 2014, when Cibulkova had her first chance to qualify for the WTA Finals – and her late season form took a nosedive, winning just three regular season matches after Wimbledon.

7. Impressive Improvement.
It’s also a huge improvement from 2015, when she missed five months of the season after surgery on her heel and dropped down the rankings, falling out of the Top 50, although she managed to rise up to world No.38 by the end of the year.

The point of The Championships so far? ??? @ARadwanska & @Cibulkova #Wimbledonhttps://t.co/UZ1HMkYjvv

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2016

8. Rival for Radwanska.
Cibulkova leads defending Singapore champion Agnieszka Radwanska 3-1 this year — and all four matches went deep into three sets. That will be intriguing should they face off in the Finals.

9. Set Fair.
It’s not just Radwanska she has great three-set form against. Cibulkova is the player on the WTA tour with the most three-set wins in 2016 — her record currently stands at 18 wins and nine losses.

10. Follower of Fashion.
With the help and support of her friend Marion Bartoli, in 2014 Cibulkova launched a clothing line, ‘Pome!’, named after her on-court rally cry.

LUXEMBOURG – No.1 seed Petra Kvitova and No.3 seed Kiki Bertens produced a pair of shutout performances to wrap up their quarterfinal matches comfortably. Both needed less than an hour – exactly 54 minutes, in fact – to book their spots into the semifinals of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.

Watch live action from Moscow & Luxembourg this week at WTA Live Powered By TennisTV!

It didn’t start out so simple for Kvitova against No.8 seed Johanna Larsson, who was into her seventh WTA quarterfinal of the year. They wrestled for footing at the start of the match, opening with four consecutive breaks of serve.

But once she settled, it was all Kvitova as the Czech reeled off 11 games in a row to power past Larsson 6-2, 6-0.

She’ll face the winner between Andrea Petkovic and American qualifier Lauren Davis for a spot in the final.

It was the opposite story for Bertens in her quarterfinal against Denisa Allertova, with the Dutch player advancing 6-0, 6-4.

Bertens was dominant on the return and broke Allertova three times, allowing the Czech to win just one point off of her services games in the 15-minute opening set.

Allertova finally held serve in the second set and stopped the rot after eight consecutive games, with Bertens up 6-0, 2-0. She put Bertens under pressure at the baseline with her powerful forehand, grabbing one of the breaks back to level the set at 2-2 and stay within touching distance.

But Bertens dug her heels in to bat away a break opportunity, breaking Allertova once more in the penultimate game to serve her way into the semifinals.

“Everyone is really tired at the end of the year, and so am I, so it’s really good to have short matches like this to get ready for the semifinals,” Bertens smiled in post-match press. “I’m just going to play here, have fun, and see how it goes.”

Monica Niculescu received a walkover into the semifinal after No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki was forced to withdraw from the match due to gastrointestinal illness.

“After the match yesterday I felt really ill and really sick,” Wozniacki explained to press afterwards. “I did everything I could to feel better today but unfortunately I’m not strong enough or feeling good to play today. I need to think about my health.

“Of course, I’m disappointed because I love to play here and of course was trying to win the tournament, but health comes first.”

More to follow…

Keys answered both questions decisively in 2016: Yes, she can.

My story began in Rock Island where I dreamed of playing on the big stage. Now I want to win it all @Nike #justdoit pic.twitter.com/PlaXuSIm1j

— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) July 21, 2016

Keys capped off an achievement-laden season by becoming the seventh player to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. While her two breakout results last year, where she made the Australian Open semifinals and Wimbledon quarterfinals, grabbed bigger headlines, Keys’ 2016 campaign was a truer encapsulation of her talent and potential. Starting the season at No.18, Keys proceeded to make the second week of all four Slams, becoming one of just four women to pull off the feat this season. Outside of the Slams she made the quarterfinals or better at eight of 12 events, highlighted by finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the Rogers Cup in Montréal. By comparison, Keys made just two quarterfinals last year.

Keys also picked up another title on grass by winning the Aegon Classic. With the Birmingham title, Keys became the first American woman to make her Top 10 debut since Serena Williams in 1999. When the dust settled, Keys finished the regular season with a 46-15 record, an impressive improvement over her 31-18 tally in 2015 and 27-22 in 2014.

“Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time for things to click and sink in,” Keys said. “Sometimes it’s just how someone words something one time, then it just makes sense to you. I definitely think working with Thomas [Hogstedt] has been a huge benefit for me.” Keys hired Hogstedt, who previously coached the likes of Li Na, Maria Sharapova, and Caroline Wozniacki, earlier this spring.

“But I also think it’s a process. It’s being ready to handle the situation has been a big thing for me. I think I’m putting myself in those positions and handling them a lot better. That just gives me more confidence. The more I’m in those tough situations, the better I feel about them.”

Indeed, her ability to come through in tough matches has been the biggest improvement in her season. Keys is 17-5 in three-set matches this season, compared to a sub-.500 mark of 6-10 last year. She still struggles with her rhythm and decision-making in matches, but this year she’s been able to limit the dips to brief spells.

“You look at my scores and there’s lulls and stuff but I feel like before it would spiral really quickly,” Keys said. “Now I’m stopping it and getting better at that. I think it’s that confidence of knowing ‘Don’t panic, you can do this.’ I think the biggest thing is knowing that those thoughts of panic are probably going to go into your brain and just accepting it. So that’s been the biggest thing. Not fighting it and trying to think I’m going to have the perfect mentality the entire time. That’s not going to happen. So just knowing it and accepting it has been a huge thing for me.”

After starting the season with a left forearm injury, Keys has seen the hard work in the gym and on the practice court pay off. She is stronger and faster than she’s ever been and the body that would let her down has stood tall throughout the season. The ability to trust her body has freed her up to focus on her game, which continues to improve as she matures. There’s a self-assuredness about Keys this season, a swagger that wasn’t there before. Winning matches and winning them on a consistent clip breeds belief.

.@Madison_Keys joins @FearlesslyGirl as their new ambassador–> https://t.co/aJdHCUVWgv #IAmFearlesslyGIRL pic.twitter.com/x07qQZ0QUJ

— WTA (@WTA) August 24, 2016

“I feel like I’ve definitely gained confidence in myself,” Keys said. “I think especially that I’ve had a lot of matches this year where I wasn’t playing my best tennis, and I was in some bad spots, but being able to figure that out. I think that’s given me just a lot of personal confidence.”