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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The WTA’s Top 10 stayed in place after a week in Doha, which saw World No.3 Karolina Pliskova take home the title at the Qatar Total Open. But there were plenty of shifts for players right on the bubble, as a pair of former Top 5 players continued to chip away at their rankings.

Here are the biggest ranking movers this week after Doha:

Caroline Wozniacki +3 (No.18 to 15): Former World No.1 Wozniacki continued her comeback during the WTA’s Middle East Swing, storming to the final at the Qatar Total Open and posting wins over Monica Puig and No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska along the way.

The last time Wozniacki was ranked inside the Top 10 was in September 2015 (No.6), and with her strong showing in Doha she’s vaulted up to No.15 and closing in on a return to the game’s highest echelons.

“I feel like I’m playing really good tennis. I can still improve on some things,” Wozniacki told press after the final in Doha. “I’m really feeling positive and confident moving forward, and most of all I’m just trying to stay healthy.

“When I’m staying healthy, I can play great tennis. I can work really hard and improve my game. I’ve really put in a lot of work. It’s shown in the results. Hopefully I can keep up my level and keep improving.”

Samantha Stosur + 2 (No.21 to 19): Earlier in the season at Taipei City, Stosur halted a dismal trend of first round losses dating back to August 2016 that saw her ranking – and her confidence – take a dip. Now, the former Grand Slam champion is back inside the Top 20 after a run to her second consecutive WTA quarterfinal in Qatar.

Monica Puig +5 (No.47 to 42): Olympic champion Puig jumped up five spots to No.42 after an appearance in the semifinals in Doha. The run will do wonders for the Puerto Rican’s confidence: aside from regaining her world-beating form to put together dominating performances over Laura Siegemund and Daria Kasatkina, it’s the first semifinal Puig has reached since her fairy tale run to the gold medal at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

Lauren Davis +9 (No.55 to 46): The 23-year-old American continued to back up the form that saw her claim her maiden WTA title earlier in the season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Davis successfully qualified for the main draw at the Qatar Total Open, and went on to stun No.6 seed Elena Vesnina on her way to the quarterfinals, earning her first Top 20 win of the year.

Her season-long consistency has paid off, earning her a ranking jump to inside the Top 50, landing at No.46 – just three spots shy of her career high No.43.

Click here to check out the updated WTA rankings, as of February 6.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – No.10 seed and 2011 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner Caroline Wozniacki kept up her Middle East momentum on Monday, moving past rising Russian Daria Kasatkina, 6-2, 7-5 to advance into the second round.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Wozniacki said during her on-court interview. “She mixes up the pace a lot and she has great hands and serves well. For me, it was important to play my own game and speed things up. I was pleased with my win.

“It’s much different conditions here,” she continued in her post-match press conference. “The ball is flying. The court is faster than in Doha.

“I didn’t really know how I was going to play to start off with. Generally, I was pleased with my game. Some serves were flying a little bit. I kind of have to adjust that for tomorrow.”

Kasatkina has been one of the players to watch over the last 12 months, and the Russian has backed up the hype with a pair of wins over Angelique Kerber at the Apia International Sydney and last week at the Qatar Total Open.

“I was watching her play last week during my rain delay and she was still playing a bit. I thought, ‘Gosh, she’s so young!’ I remember when I was 19, I thought I was all grown up, but she definitely has a great career ahead of her.”

Coming off a run to the Qatar Total Open final, Wozniacki’s experience and consistency proved too much for the flashy Kasatkina, hitting 17 winners to just 20 unforced errors – compared to 43 from the Russian teenager.

“I feel I can generate a lot of pace on these courts. I get to a lot of balls, too, which I think is frustrating for the other players that I can kind of go from defense to offense and really hurt them with that when they play a short ball.”

The Dane saved her best tennis for the key points, converting five of seven break point opportunities en route to the 90 minute victory.

“I won her back in 2011, and I’ve made many semifinals here, so I’ve had great matches here. It’s a lot of fun for me to be back; I was sorry to miss last year because of injury, but that makes coming back even better!”

Up next for the former World No.1 is Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, who ousted Turkish wildcard Cagla Buyukakcay in three tough sets on Sunday.

“I saw her name at a tournament somewhere last year at the end of last year,” she said of the Gstaad champion. “I think she played the finals, but that’s basically it.

“I know how she looks like, but I don’t know anything about her game. I will have to just scout some matches and go from there.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The second half of the Middle East swing continues at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the first Premier 5 event of the year. Meanwhile in Hungary, WTA action returns to Budapest for the first time since 2013 at the Hungarian Ladies Open.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week on the WTA:

CURRENT TOURNAMENTS:

Dubai:

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Premier 5 | $2,365,250 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska
Defending Champion: Sara Errani

Budapest:
Hungarian Ladies Open
International | $226,750 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Timea Babos, Lucie Safarova, Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges
Defending Champion: None (First Staging)

Sara Errani

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:

Acapulco:

Abierto Mexicano Telcel
International | $226,750 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Monica Niculescu, Jelena Ostapenko, Kristina Mladenovic
Defending Champion: Sloane Stephens

Kuala Lumpur:

Alya WTA Malaysian Open
International | $226,750 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Carla Suárez Navarro, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Garcia, Yulia Putintseva
Defending Champion: Elina Svitolina

Indian Wells:

BNP Paribas Open
Premier Mandatory | $6,993,450 | Hard
Top-ranked players: Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Dominika Cibulkova
Defending Champion: Victoria Azarenka

Karolina Pliskova

TOP 20 PLAYERS’ SCHEDULES:

1. Serena Williams: Indian Wells
2. Angelique Kerber: Dubai, Indian Wells
3. Karolina Pliskova: Dubai, Indian Wells
4. Simona Halep: Indian Wells
5. Dominika Cibulkova: Dubai, Indian Wells
6. Agnieszka Radwanska: Dubai, Indian Wells
7. Garbiñe Muguruza: Dubai, Indian Wells
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova: Indian Wells
9. Madison Keys: Indian Wells
10. Johanna Konta: Indian Wells
11. Petra Kvitova
12. Venus Williams: Indian Wells
13. Elina Svitolina: Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Indian Wells
14. Carla Suarez Navarro: Kuala Lumpur, Indian Wells
15. Caroline Wozniacki: Dubai, Indian Wells
16. Elena Vesnina: Dubai, Indian Wells
17. Timea Bacsinszky: Indian Wells
18. Victoria Azarenka
19. Samantha Stosur: Dubai, Indian Wells
20. Barbora Strycova: Dubai, Indian Wells

Eugenie Bouchard

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) – February 20, 1994
Klara Koukalova (CZE) – February 24, 1982
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) – February 25, 1994
Chen Liang (CHN) – February 25, 1989

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

After a rollercoaster week in Doha, World No.3 Karolina Pliskova took home the title, posting back to back wins over Dominika Cibulkova and Caroline Wozniacki along the way. Her efforts vault her into the No.2 spot on the Road To Singapore leaderboard, leapfrogging past Australian Open finalist Venus Williams.

She’s now the first player to win two WTA titles in 2017, and she’s also 15 of the 16 matches she’s played this year (including Fed Cup).

“I don’t feel like I lost just once! I feel like I lost more times but it didn’t happen and I got two trophies. Yeah, it’s an amazing start [to the season],” Pliskova told WTA Insider after her win in Doha.

“It’s always tough after the off-season to get in a good shape at the tournaments and get back on track. I think it’s the best that I’ve ever had and the longest streak of winning matches that I had.”

Another major RTS move this week belongs to reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion Dominika Cibulkova, who reached the semifinals in Doha to storm into the Top 8.

Here are the biggest moves on the Road To Singapore this week:
Karolina Pliskova +2 (No.4 to No.2)
Venus Williams -1 (No.2 to No.3)
Johanna Konta -1 (No.3 to No.4)
Dominika Cibulkova +6 (No.14 to No.8)
Elina Svitolina -1 (No.8 to No.9)
Caroline Wozniacki +20 (No.29 to No.9)

Click here to check out the full Road to Singapore leaderboard, updated as of February 20th.

Road To Singapore Leaderboard

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Dominika Cibulkova has long played David to a tour of Goliaths. The Slovakian dynamo found fertile soil early in her career and promptly began planting seeds; her garden is a veritable who’s who of the game’s biggest and brightest.

She rode that role right into a Singapore debut, where she broke new ground by winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, stunning then-No.1 Angelique Kerber in the championship match.

Starting 2017 in full bloom therefore marks a colossal shift for Cibulkova, who is suddenly tasked with preventing the very chaos she once strived to create.

Dominika Cibulkova

“I felt good in Australia but this is a new position for me, being World No.5,” she said during All-Access Hour at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “I really have to work on myself every day, especially mentally.

“There are some players who come onto the court a bit differently against you. They have nothing to lose and want to beat you. This is something I’m really trying to adjust to, that and the expectations – not just my own, but also those of the people around me.”

Expectation undoubtedly bogged her down in Brisbane and Sydney, but it was after a run to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy that the wilting Slovak decided to reassess, stepping down from her perennial spot on the Fed Cup team.

Dominika Cibulkova

“I got really negative on the court in St. Petersburg,” she said of her loss to Yulia Putintseva, “and that was my biggest disappointment from that match; maybe the expectation got too big for me.

“It’s good that I didn’t play Fed Cup so I could really have time to prepare for Doha. It helped me a lot and that’s why I played so well there. I’d always feel tired after a tie, but that’s something you have to accept if you decide to play Fed Cup. You have to know you won’t be completely ready for the next tournament.”

Cibulkova has been an absolute stalwart in national competition – playing a whopping 21 ties in 12 years – and admitted the annual decision to compete often adversely affected her schedule.

“It would be easier if the event could all take place at a reasonable date, but, for example, last week Slovakia played Italy on clay. That wouldn’t make sense for my schedule at all.

“Now that I’m older and more mature, I see that my career isn’t going to last forever. Right now, I feel like I can get my best ranking and reach my best results. I have to selfish.”

Dominika Cibulkova

That desire for further introspection led her to step up her work with sports psychologist Radko Sevcík, who joined her team about two years ago and has been crucial to improving her big match mindset.

“I had my mental coach with me in Doha and we talked a lot about different things, how I should approach practices and matches, and how to be more positive on the court.”

The positivity paid off; Cibulkova reached the final four at the Qatar Total Open – the first of her career – and earned her 400th career match win in impressive style over an old nemesis.

“I felt good on the court. I beat Samantha Stosur, whom I’d never beaten before in my career. That gave me much more confidence, and even though I lost to Karolina Pliskova, it was a great match and I was really close to winning.

“After Doha, I feel like I’m playing really well.”

The first big test of that assertion will come early; Cibulkova will kick off Dubai campaign against Ekaterina Makarova, who won their most recent meeting at this year’s Australian Open.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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