Beijing: Radwanska Interview
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska before her first round match at the China Open.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska before her first round match at the China Open.
BEIJING, China – Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki kept up her impressive fall form with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over CoCo Vandeweghe, to reach the second round of the China Open.
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“I’ve been healthy,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I’ve been able to train well. I’ve been playing well. It’s a combination of that. It’s the end of the year. I have a few more tournaments left, so I’m going to try to do my best.”
Ranked No.74 in the world heading into the US Open, the Dane has lost just twice since then, reaching the semifinals in Flushing and winning her first title of the season at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Against Vandeweghe, Wozniacki raced out to a 5-1 lead in the decider before the American began to come back.
“It’s hard. I mean, she serves big. Her first and second serve is pretty big. It’s not like you think, ‘Okay, she missed a first serve, now I have a good chance to attack on the second.’
“She’s just a tough player to play because you get no rhythm. It’s the first match. You want to get into the tournament. A combination of that is tough.”
Serving for the match for a second time, Wozniacki shook off missing out on two match points in the previous game to hold at love, booking a second round meeting with No.13 seed Roberta Vinci.
“I started off pretty well, could return quite a few of her serves, put her under pressure. Then in the second set she started serving a bit better. That got me a little bit too much into the defense. Then she went for some shots and broke me. All of a sudden I had to keep trying to fight back.
“In the third set, again, I managed to return pretty well. I think that made the difference.”
Vinci will represent a complete contrast from Vandeweghe, a challenge Wozniacki looks forward to solving in Beijing.
“It’s another uncomfortable player. She mixes it up. She plays the flat forehand. Mix of pace. I’m ready for it. I’m just going to go out there and enjoy.”
Kicking off the day’s action was No.8 seed Madison Keys, who currently rounds out the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.
“It’s definitely in the back of your mind every match; it’s just another thing to try to deal with,” Keys said after the match. “I’m happy to be in this position because it means I’ve had a good year. It’s a welcome stress!”
Hoping to clinch her WTA Finals debut, the young American can qualify outright by winning the title this week, but had some struggles against local wildcard Duan Ying-Ying, eventually coming through, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.
“I had a really good first set, and she was probabaly a little bit nervous playing in front of her home crowd; I don’t think she played her best tennis. But in the second set, she played better and my level dropped. In the third, I was just trying to focus on keeping my energy up to get back into the match. Once I got some momentum, I was able to hang onto that.
“It’s definitely tough conditions, really humid out here. It’s not the hottest, but it’s not always easy to breathe out there with the humidity. That’s just where your fitness comes in, and focusing on doing your best.”
Up next for Keys is Kristina Mladenovic, who outlasted Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4); the pair last played at the Olympic tennis event, which also went to a third set tie-break.
“I’ve played Kiki a couple of times this year; the last time was in Rio and that was quite a thrilling match. She’d be a tough opponent.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
An interview with Venus Williams before her first round match at the China Open.
WUHAN, China – Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova captured the Wuhan title on Saturday to secure their return for the second year in succession to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Despite starting the week in seventh place on the Road To Singapore leaderboard, Mattek-Sands and Safarova’s seventh title together saw them become the fourth team to secure a spot at the season-ending showpiece.
“Singapore last year was awesome. It’s the year-end championships, the best of the best. Only the best teams get to go, so I think it’s an honor to make it there in the end,” Mattek-Sands said. “I think everyone at this point is fighting for a spot because the rankings were pretty close.”
It is testament to the American-Czech’s partnership that they have managed to secure their place in Singapore from so few appearance; injuries and scheduling conflicts have restricted them to just seven tournaments together this year. However, when they have been on court, it has not taken long to rekindle the magic.
In their first event of the year, the Miami Open, they romped to the title without dropping a set, following this up with another final in Charleston. They lost out on the silverware there to fellow Singapore qualifiers Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic and suffered further disappointment at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, falling at the first hurdle on each occasion.
With their Finals hopes hanging by a thread, a big performance was required at Flushing Meadows. And they certainly delivered, gaining revenge on Garcia and Mladenovic to add the US Open crown to the majors titles won at the Australian and French Opens the previous year.
The current Road to Singapore leaderboard as follows (as of October 1, 2016):
An interview with Madison Keys before her first round match at the China Open.
BEIJING, China – World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza kicked off her Beijing title defense with a hard-fought win over Irina Camelia Begu, emerging victorious from the early test to move into the second round of the China Open.
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Though a spate of unforced errors from the forehand wing left Muguruza vulnerable and allowed Begu to grab the first set, the Spaniard recovered and notched a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory after an hour and fifty minutes.
“I think it’s very, very satisfying when you go to a tournament where you know you played well, you feel welcome,” Muguruza said after the match. “But honestly, this was last year. Nobody really is thinking about who won last year. It’s all about who is going to win this year, who is winning.
“I’m just going for my match, just concentrating the next one.”
Muguruza also kept her bid for Singapore on track as she eyes a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“Definitely Singapore was a great motivation to try to find my spot,” Muguruza admitted. “Well, Beijing is one of the biggest tournaments we have, so for sure I have a great opportunity to do it well and qualify.”
Also into the second round, Belinda Bencic advanced past Annicka Beck in straight sets. In a match that featured 10 breaks of serve, it was Bencic who edged through 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 17 minutes.
Wildcard Sabine Lisicki had a more straightforward path, powering past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva and Yanina Wickmayer are also through, with Putintseva weathering a stern challenge from 19-year-old wunderkind Jelena Ostapenko to advance 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. Meanwhile, Wickmayer added to Monica Puig’s post-Olympic woes, beating the Puerto Rican 6-2, 6-0 and handing her the worst defeat since the Olympic tennis event in Rio.
Highlights from final action at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
WUHAN, China – Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova completed a dominant week together with their seventh WTA title, outclassing Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova to win the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
A sparkling performance saw Mattek-Sands and Safarova break six times to wrap up a 6-1, 6-4 victory after a fraction over an hour on court.
The result continues a memorable end to the season for the American-Czech duo, whose success in China follows on from victory at the US Open. This points haul has not only sent both players shooting up the rankings, but more importantly secures them a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
The only wobble came with the finishing line in sight, Safarova surrendering her hitherto faultless serve to offer Strycova the chance to level the second set at 5-5. However, the No.5 seeds nipped the comeback in the bud, swatting away a couple of opportunistic volleys to close out the match.
“I think we had an amazing match today,” Safarova said. “We came out strong from the beginning. We returned great, served great, took their time away. That was the right strategy.”
The tone was set on the very first point of the match, Safarova firing a backhand past Strycova. Sensing an early opportunity, on the following point Mattek-Sands swept an inviting ball past the stranded Czech. They soon had the break and went from strength to strength, finding an answer for every question posed by the No.3 seeds.
“We went over our game plan and we just upped our game. So whether our opponents played well or didn’t play well, we were going to stick to our game,” Mattek-Sands added. “But I think, like Lucie said, we just took away their time and that’s what we did.”
Mattek-Sands and Safarova will hope to replicate this form in Singapore, where they have unfinished business. Last year, their challenge came to a premature conclusion, injury dashing their hopes in the round robin stage.
“It’s just awesome [to qualify]. we’ve been there last year but were a little bit injured and so it wasn’t the greatest performance,” Safarova said.
“But it’s amazing to make it again,” Mattek-Sands added. “Singapore is obviously is the best of the best. We literally just found out right after the match that we qualified so it’s still sinking in.”
Petra Kvitova has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
WUHAN, China – Petra Kvitova produced a ruthless performance to power past No.4 seed Simona Halep and into a second Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final.
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In stark contrast to Dominika Cibulkova, the winner of Friday’s first semifinal, Kvitova kept her time on court to a minimum, requiring only 67 minutes to wrap up a 6-1, 6-2 victory and move within touching distance of reclaiming the title she won in 2014.
“It’s amazing. I came to this tournament and really didn’t expect this kind of performance,” Kvitova said. “Physically I’m still so-so – I’m really happy that I’m not falling apart. But I played a really great match today in spite of everything, which really put the pressure on her.”
On her day, there are few on tour capable of living with Kvitova. Unfortunately, this campaign those days have been few and far between. Struggling with form and fitness, it was not until the Olympics that the Czech showed her true colors, losing a thrilling semifinal against Monica Puig.
She would walk away with bronze, and although the color of medal was not what she had wished, the achievement alleviated the pressure weighing heavily on her shoulders. “The Olympics is just one in four years. For me the Olympic Games are very important. I grew up in a family where we were always watching the Olympics, so it’s something special.
“Everything I did from the off-season to Rio, I was just going for the medal. I think that’s helped me a lot with everything. The pressure was better afterwards.”
At the US Open, Kvitova reached the fourth round, falling to eventual champion Angelique Kerber, and the return to Asia has seen her level rise further. Kvitova’s unforced error count is usually an accurate gauge of how she is feeling and against Halep she was particularly stingy. In the end, she finished with only 16, while rattling off 34 winners – many of them spectacular.
Ruthless @Petra_Kvitova powers past #Halep 6-1, 6-2 to reach her 1st 2016 final at Wuhan Open, maintaining late WTA Finals charge pic.twitter.com/SX1otJBDF4
— Xinhua Sports (@XHSports) 30 September 2016
The tone was set early on, Halep finding herself marooned several meters behind the baseline. From here she failed to track down a drop shot to slip 0-30 down in her opening service game. Kvitova bludgeoned another winner to bring up three break points, converting when she outmaneuvered the Romanian once more.
Halep had the chance to restore parity the following game, only to flash a forehand into the tape. The match was quickly slipping away in a blur of southpaw winners, Kvitova winning 18 of the next 19 points to take the set. The second set was almost as one-sided, and only a spirited rearguard effort from Halep in the final few games extended the contest beyond the hour mark.
Remarkably given her form, the win takes Kvitova through to her first final of 2016. And another against Cibulkova will continue her improbable late push for a spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“I never have any expectations. I really love to play these big matches, in front of the crowd. Of course I will do my best tomorrow,” Kvitova added. “I think she’s improved a lot, so it will be a difficult match and I will fight again.”