Tennis News

SYDNEY, Australia – Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska eased past qualifier Duan Ying-Ying and into the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney on Wednesday evening.

At last week’s Shenzhen Open, Radwanska saved three match points to defeat Duan in a tougher-than-expected season opener. This time around it was a far more straightforward outing, the No.2 seed completing a 6-3, 6-2 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

“Sometimes you play people two or three weeks in a row, like Caroline and I had last year in Asia, but I’m definitely more happy with this performance than in Shenzhen,” Radwanska said in her on-court interview. “It’s another semifinal here, so I’m very happy with that.

“I was warming up at 4pm and it was still very hot, so I was a little bit lucky to play this evening. I was watching the first match here and it was unbelievably hot – the guys were playing amazingly.”

Despite the more hospitable conditions, both players made heavy weather of holding onto their serve early on. But after a succession of breaks, Radwanska finally put some daylight between the two, opening up a 5-3 lead before calmly serving out the set.

.@ARadwanska takes the first set 6-3! #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/4JRVJczZYf

— WTA (@WTA) January 11, 2017

Unlike in Shenzhen, there was to be no Duan comeback, Radwanska rattling off the first four games of the second set to ease her way into the last four.

Radwanska lifted the title in 2012, and standing between her and a return to the final is marathon woman Barbora Strycova. Earlier in the day, Strycova withstood the worst of the midday sun to win an epic encounter against Caroline Wozniacki. “Like I said, she was playing unbelievable tennis and she’s really on fire. Last year she also played amazing tennis. I’m just expecting a good match and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

“It's funny when you see your picture (when) walking down the corridor” @ARadwanska on seeing her 2012 champion photo behind the scenes pic.twitter.com/ywMZcAh66K

— Apia Intl Sydney (@SydneyTennis) January 11, 2017

HOBART, Australia – Kiki Bertens recovered from a second-set break to defeat Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Hobart International.

“It’s always tough to get some matches at the beginning of the season, so I’m happy I won two matches here and I hope to go even farther,” Bertens said in her post-match press conference.

Voskoboeva spent two years off the tour nursing persistent foot injuries, and had just won her first WTA main draw match since 2014 ahead of her clash with Bertens. The top seed, by contrast, is in the midst of a career-best 12 months, having reached the semifinals of the French Open to qualify for her first Olympic tennis event.

“It was an OK match today; she helped me a lot in the beginning with a lot of mistakes, but in the second she played really well. I had to fight for it and there were some tough conditions with the wind, but I’m happy I got through.

“I really need some matches; my body needs matches to play better. You saw what happened last year in Paris: I won a tournament the week before and was in the semis the week after!”

Bertens rushed out to a 4-0 lead to start the match, serving out the opening set before things got complicated in the second. The Kazakh pushed Bertens to the brink on multiple occasions, leading by a late break in the sixth game. But the Dutch star roared back, winning the last three games to book an encounter with qualifier Elise Mertens.

“I know her well; she’s a great young player with a good run last year. I’ll have to be more aggressive than today but hopefully I can get the win.”

Earlier in the day, another qualifier got a big win over former World No.5, Lucie Safarova. Risa Ozaki came back from a set down to defeat the 2015 French Open finalist, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

“In the first set, she played well and I couldn’t hit a strong ball,” she explained after the match. “After that, I tried to focus on my forehand and things got better from there.”

Safarova won a titanic sixth game in the first set and broke to start the second, but the 22-year-old won six of the last seven games to level the match.

“I started the match really well,” Safarova echoed in her post-match press conference. “I had some game points to go 3-0, but things started going the other way. It wasn’t easy conditions with the wind; she started to pressure me more and make fewer mistakes. I lost my rhythm; I tried to hang in there but it was always tough serving in this wind.”

The Czech veteran showed signs of life late in the match, breaking Ozaki as she served for the upset, but the Japanese youngster broke serve one last time, reaching her third career WTA quarterfinal in two hours, 22 minutes.

“These conditions don’t really suit my game because I like to be aggressive, but I was making too many mistakes. She was putting a lot of balls back; she ran and served well, especially at the end. This isn’t the result I would have liked, but it’s tennis and things happen. It’s good that I got an extra two matches before Melbourne. Hopefully I’ll peak there.”

Former WTA World No.3 (in both singles and doubles) Nadia Petrova has announced her retirement from professional tennis after a 19-year career.

“Tennis has given me so much,” Petrova told WTA Insider. “It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures. My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

The 34-year-old from Russia concludes a career which saw her clinch 13 WTA singles and 24 WTA doubles titles, reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, advance to two Grand Slam doubles finals and win the WTA Finals doubles title on two occasions.

Check out Petrova’s full statement below and click here to read WTA Insider’s exclusive interview with the two-time French Open semifinalist.

Tennis has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was pretty much everything I did on a daily basis and the little time I had off, I would spend with my loved ones. I suppose when the time comes to say goodbye, it becomes bitter sweet. It’s confusing, somewhat painful, scary yet also gratifying. I’ve decided to turn the page and move on to another stage in my life and I’m ready to do it. Tennis has given me so much. It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures.

My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful. My career has been great, obviously with highs and lows. We all know I was plagued with many injuries which made some of my calendar years challenging. Unfortunately that’s part of an athlete’s life and we all learn how to deal with that. We fall and then we get back up and keep going. Then there comes a time, no matter what you do, say or feel, nothing is ever enough. Your body lets you know it’s had enough. In 2013, when I lost my mother, emotionally I was a mess. On top of that, I was dealing with a hip injury which affected a good portion of the year. I made the decision to take some personal time to heal physically and emotionally. Hopefully that would help me once I decided to step back on court. In February 2014, I tried playing to see how I felt. My mind was still everywhere but on the court and my body was just not responding. It was painful. Painful because I felt useless and the player I was once, was no longer there.

I took more time and when I decided to start training again, my body felt good but once I was aggressively doing court work, it started to break down again. I had to start facing the inevitable and that was that my career had come to an end. To be able to compete at a high level with these top players, I had to be in the best shape and if my hip was not holding up, there was no way I could move on. After many failed attempts of trying to make a come back, I came to the realization that maybe it was time to turn the page and say goodbye to tennis competitively. I would be starting a new chapter in my life, exploring other interest and keeping myself occupied but most importantly spending my time with my loved ones. Making up for lost time.

I said to myself.. “I want to start a family, I want to be home more and I want to enjoy a lot of the things I never had time for while I was on the road”. So although it’s been unfortunate that I was unable to overcome this last injury and compete again, I’m excited for what’s to come and be a part of tennis in the future with other aspects of the sport. I’ve been blessed that Tennis has been such a huge part of my life professionally for the past 15 years. I want to thank every single one of you who has made it possible along the way. Whether that’s been sponsors, tournament staff, WTA, my travel team (which consisted of my coach, trainer, physio and manager), friends and family.. Thank you all. Last but not least MY FANS!! You have been my motivation, my back bone and the reason why I hadn’t given up sooner. Without fans, there wouldn’t be tennis. You all make the sport. Thank you all so much for believing in me and helping me through out my entire career.

Without any further delay, I’d like to make it known that I’m officially retiring from the sport. I plan to stay involved in tennis in the near future. I will be devoting a lot of my time to the sport through charity work which I will make known soon. I may no longer be competing but I will never be far from a court. My heart will always belong there.

Thank you all for making my career so memorable.

Nadia P