Tennis News

SINGAPORE – The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is under a fortnight away and once again fans have the chance to get closer to that action thanks to the Official WTA Finals Mobile App, Created by SAP.

The app provides access to exclusive tournament content, including:

* Virtual Replay – the ability for fans to view, track and replay ball movement
* Leaderboard Stats – a player comparison tool tracking aces, fastest serves and a whole host of other information
* Player Notifications – keep up to date with all the news about your favorite players
* Fan Zone – a social media hub where fans can participate in live polls and engage on Twitter and Facebook

TIANJIN, China – Agnieszka Radwanska made a confident start to her defense of the Tianjin Open, swatting aside Tatjana Maria in two one-sided sets on Wednesday.

Fresh from her victory in Beijing over the weekend, Radwanska needed little more than an hour to wrap up a 6-1, 6-2 victory – her 50th of the season – and set up a second-round meeting against Evgeniya Rodina.

“Firstly, I’m very happy to win my match pretty quickly. It’s good to have the opening round in two sets and be fresh for the next round,” Radwanska said. “I’m very happy that I could keep it up and play at the same level as at the China Open.”

Twelve months ago, Radwanska touched down in Tianjin amidst a desperate late scramble for points to secure a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. While the anxiety this time has diminished, her desire to be successful has not: “This year is much better. I already qualified in China Open so of course there is less pressure. But you still want to win the tournament, still want to play your best game, just a little less pressure.”

Naomi Osaka continued her scintillating run of form by brushing qualifier Lucie Hradecka aside, 6-2, 7-6(4), to reach the quarterfinals. The Czech player took the Japanese teenager to a tie-break in the second set but could not hold her off for too long.

Osaka had already beaten eighth seed Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4, 6-2, in round one. This run in Tianjin comes towards the end of a great year for her in which she reached the third round of three of the four Slams, and made the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open – an achievement for which she was voted WTA Breakthrough of the Month.

The WTA Newcomer of the Year nominee now faces Svetlana Kuznetsova after she saw off Donna Vekic, 7-5, 6-4.

Elsewhere, Han Xinyun won the first match of the day on Centre Court, beating wildcard Wang Yafan 7-5, 6-3.

LINZ, Austria – Madison Keys weathered a mid-match storm to win Wednesday’s first-round match against Camila Giorgi at the Generali Ladies Linz and move one step closer to qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

By reaching the semifinals last week in Beijing, Keys put herself in the driving seat to claim one of the three remaining places in Singapore. However, with all her qualification rivals in action this week – and less than 100 points separating her from ninth-placed Dominika Cibulkova – work still needs to be done.

Against Giorgi she kept her end up, reeling off the final four games of the match to run out a 6-3, 6-4 winner. “Definitely feels good to get a win. Camila’s always a tough person to play – she really goes for her shots and hits a lot of winners out there. I feel really happy to get through to the second round,” Keys, who faces Misaki Doi next, said.

“I think I got a little bit passive and started letting her dictate the points a little, so I knew I had to step up and go out and play my game because she wasn’t going to give it to me.

With 280 points on offer to the champion, Keys’ hopes could lay in the balance even if she goes deep into the draw this week. Despite the high stakes, the American is cutting a characteristically relaxed figure in Linz, where the conditions are perfectly suited to her big game. 

“It’s definitely a lot faster here, but it’s a good court and I definitely like playing on fast courts so I’m happy to be here,” she added.

LINZ, Austria – Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza edged closer to claiming her spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, dispatching Cagla Buyukakcay, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz.

“It was a tough first round. I think we both played well, so it was a battle out there, and a great feeling to start the tournament with a win like this,” she said after the match.

Making her debut in Linz, Muguruza overcame a tough test from the Turkish No.1, who made history for her country by taking home the Istanbul title earlier this season.

“I was looking forward to Linz because it’s new for me, new city, new tournament. I don’t play a lot of new tournaments, so I was excited.

“I just try to go out there and do my best, try to win somehow, playing my tennis and being aggressive. It’s funny because it when there’s no win, everyone plays perfect. The conditions makes things equal.”

Holding on to take the first set after five breaks of serve, the Spaniard broke to 15 to start the second and served out the win in one hour and 38 minutes.

“I was calm and concentrated, even when she was playing great shots and solid in the important moments. I hung in there and waited for my opportunities.”

Up next for the former World No.2 is Monica Niculescu, who won a thrilling three-setter over Madison Brengle on Monday.

“I’ve never played against her, or even practiced together, so it’ll be interesting. I think we have opposite styles, so I think it’s going to be a fun match.”

The highest-ranked woman on the Road to Singapore leaderboard yet to qualify for Singapore, Muguruza could guarantee a second straight WTA Finals appearance by winning the title; if Johanna Konta and Dominika Cibulkova both lose their matches on Thursday, she qualifies by beating Niculescu.

“It’s something great to accomplish, to be part of the eight best players, so you obviously always have it in the back of your mind, wanting to achieve that. But I’m more focused on holding the trophy here.

“I have no idea what I have to do, but hopefully I keep winning, and I earn my spot. I go with the flow!”

LINZ, Austria – Dominika Cibulkova kept alive her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a routine 6-1, 6-2 victory over Belinda Bencic in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz.

The World No.8 is currently ninth in the road to Singapore, with three places remaining unclaimed, and took a wildcard in Austria to boost her chances of qualification.

The No.2 seed skipped into a first-set lead, breaking the 19-year-old in her opening service game. She was pegged back immediately, but did not drop a game for the rest of the first set, which she claimed 6-1 at a canter.

Cibulkova did not waste any time in the second set, either. Breaking in the first game, she sped to a 2-0 lead before breaking again to go 4-1 ahead. Bencic enjoyed a brief comeback, halving the deficit to 4-2 but the 27-year-old immediately restored her cushion and claimed the second set 6-2.

“It was a really tough draw, most of the times when wildcards play each other, it should be easier than this. It was a really tough one and I was prepared for a big battle today,” the Slovak said of being drawn with Bencic.

“I was playing solid, I did nothing extra; I was playing solid and really fast. I was just playing really good tennis from the first point to the last.”

Reacting to comments from her opponent that she “killed her”, Cibulkova responded: “I wouldn’t say ‘I killed’ her, she’s a great player, so I would say I won a lot of very important points and that made a difference. It just shows that I was really strong mentally today.”

Cibulkova will face Annika Beck in the next round for a place in the quarterfinals.

HONG KONG, SAR – Angelique Kerber will be forced to dig deep to reach the quarterfinals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open after a gutsy second-set performance from Louisa Chirico.

The World No.1 and top seed breezed through the first set, which she eventually won 6-2 after a series of unforced errors from the 20-year-old allowed the German to race into a 4-1 lead.

However, Chirico returned with renewed vigour in the second set and Kerber did not look the same after a brief rain delay. An error-strewn service game at 2-3 gave Chirico the break and she held on to her lead, only for rain to strike at 40-30 when she was serving for the set. After a lengthy delay, she held her nerve to force a decider, despite being dragged into an epic 37-shot rally.

Kerber’s out-of-sorts form continued in the first three games of the third set, which remains on serve although Chirico was set to defend a break point when the bad weather returned, forcing the postponement of play until Thursday.

Jelena Jankovic continued her defence of the tournament with a routine straight sets victory over fellow Serb Aleksandra Krunic.

Having held her own against the former World No.1, the 23-year-old faltered on serve at 4-4, with two double faults and two weak shots into the net giving Jankovic a first-set lead she did not surrender.

The two compatriots exchanged two breaks apiece at the start of the second set but, serving for a 4-3 lead, Krunic sent a wayward drop shot wide and a backhand into the net to give Jankovic the advantage. The 31-year-old made no mistake from there, holding and breaking once more to book her place in the next round.

Eighth seed Daria Gavrilova’s match with Katerina Siniakova fell victim to the rain with the Australian leading 6-2, 1-0, with a break of serve in the second set. Venus Williams’ match with Alizé Cornet was postponed due to the bad weather.

HONG KONG, SAR – Britain’s top player Johanna Konta christened her debut into the WTA Top 10 with a commanding win over countrywoman Naomi Broady to advance to the second round at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.

Watch live action from Hong Kong all week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Fresh off her historic rise in the rankings, No.3 seed Konta kept to her winning ways and defeated Broady 6-2, 6-2, in a score that belied the difficulty of the matchup.

“The scoreline doesn’t really reflect the match itself,” Konta explained. “You can see in the length of the match how tight it was. I’m happy I was able to stay focused, stay level-headed and take my chances when they arose.”

The symmetrical match saw Konta breaking Broady’s powerful serve in the first and fifth games of each set. Broady struck five aces during the hour and twenty-minute encounter – an unusually low number for the big-serving Brit – but also hit eight double faults. Konta brought up fourteen break chances during the match, which was marked by lengthy games and multiple deuces.

“We knew going into the match that Naomi is a very good server and has a good strike, we really tried to utilize that as much as possible,” Konta said.

“I’m really happy with the level I’ve been playing and the amount of matches I’ve been able to play in succession. Hoping to stay healthy for the rest of the season and keep going like this.”

Konta kept her composure to see off Broady’s lone break chance early in the second set, and she powered through to a straight sets win.

With the victory, Konta takes a step closer to making her debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“I’m trying not to think about it, to be honest,” Konta laughed. “I’ve really got to keep myself present, especially since there’s so many variables with that. It really depends on how other players do as well.”

LINZ, Austria – No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro overcame some big hitting from Mona Barthel to ease past the German, 6-4, 6-2, to not only advance into the second round of the Generali Ladies Linz, but also retain her hopes of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“The most important thing is to take it match by match, step by step,” Suárez Navarro said in her post-match press conference. “Today, I felt really good on the court today. It’s an important week because of Singapore – not only for me, but for other players, as well.”

The Spaniard, currently ranked No.10 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, narrowly missed out on qualification last year, and could yet find herself closing in on the Top 8 with strong results in Linz – in a draw that boats four Top 10 players – and at next week’s Kremlin Cup.

“Players all want spots in Singapore, and we only have a few more tournaments. For me, this is a really good tournament, really good facilities. The hotel is close to site, and the food is really good. You guys will have an interesting week for sure,” she said, joking with the members of the media.

Though she led Barthel 2-0 in their head-to-head, the pair had only played on clay – Suárez Navarro’s favorite surface – and the indoor hardcourts are a much better fit for the former World No.23, who struggled with illness and injury throughout the season.

“The color [of the court] is different, but sometimes when the court is too fast, it’s not really good for me. It’s not good for the tennis or for the show, either, because it’s bing, bam, bing, bam – so fast! But I really like these courts; the color is nice and different. It’s not too fast, so it’s good.”

Serving at 71% for the match, Suárez Navarro’s consistency won the day, breaking serve four times to reach the second round in just over an hour.

“I know she serves really well, so I had to be focused on the return game. The end of the first set was tough for me, but I tried to be solid, sometimes aggressive with my return. I’m happy with my performance.”

One of the only women to reach the second week at all four major tournaments in 2016, Suárez Navarro, who won the biggest tournament of her career earlier this season at the Qatar Total Open, next plays Sara Sorribes Tormo, who knocked out Jelena Ostapenko, 7-6(3), 6-4.

“When you make it to Singapore, it’s one of the best moments after the four Grand Slams. It would be good for my career if I can make it there, even once. 

“It’s tough to get there, but even Zhuhai is also a good tournament. It means you’ve finished the year in the Top 15; that’s not bad at all.”