Brisbane: Shot Of The Day (Wednesday)
Garbiñe Muguruza has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
Garbiñe Muguruza has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
SHENZHEN, China – The two remaining seeds in the draw – Agnieszka Radwanska and Eugenie Bouchard – had mixed fortunes on Quarterfinals Day at the $500,000 Shenzhen Open on Thursday.
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The No.6-seeded Bouchard was the first to take center court and succumbed to an on-fire Timea Babos, who broke once per set and fended off all five break points she faced to prevail, 6-4, 6-4.
Bouchard, who had only played one match since the US Open due to a concussion, was playing her first WTA quarterfinal since last year’s Australian Open – Babos was just too sharp on the day, though.
“Genie’s a great player, and she definitely has more confidence and is playing a lot better than the couple months before, so I’m happy I was solid and managed the tough situations well,” Babos said.
And what about the big serving in those tough situations? “In general, in my game, I have one of the biggest serves on the tour, so it’s a huge advantage for me, definitely. Genie is an aggressive player and takes the return very early – she has great returns – so I had to put a lot of first serves in.
“Thankfully in the big moments I came up with good serves and aces, so it worked out well.”
The No.1-seeded Radwanska took the court straight afterwards and needed just 63 minutes to beat Wang Qiang, 6-3, 6-2, holding all nine of her service games – she saved both break points she faced.
Radwanska has now won 20 of her last 24 matches – including eight in a row on Chinese soil.
“We actually played each other in Tianjin, and I think she played a much better match this time, but I really pushed myself to play my best tennis today,” Radwanska said. “It was a good match for me.”
Up next for the World No.5 is Anna-Lena Friedsam, who won a see-saw battle against Katerina Siniakova in the late match, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Radwanska beat Friedsam in the pair’s only meeting.
Babos’ semifinal opponent will be Alison Riske, who rallied past Anett Kontaveit, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Babos has beaten Riske in both previous meetings, including in Tianjin just a few months ago.
Always love playing in Asia. Fans are great! https://t.co/8CDUy4dBfp
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) January 6, 2016
Andrea Petkovic takes on Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the Brisbane International.
Victoria Azarenka takes on Ysaline Bonaventure in the second round of the Brisbane International.
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Angelique Kerber takes on Madison Brengle in the second round of the Brisbane International.
Varvara Lepchenko takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of the Brisbane International.
SHENZHEN, China – A day after making a winning comeback to the tennis court at the Shenzhen Open, Eugenie Bouchard backed it up to reach her first WTA quarterfinal in almost a year.
Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
On Tuesday, Bouchard played her first complete match since suffering her concussion at the US Open, and she was a winner, rallying from 4-2 down in the third set to edge Donna Vekic, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
The No.6-seeded Canadian had a much simpler day at the office on Wednesday, dropping serve in the first game of the match but then reeling off 12 of the next 17 games to roll past American qualifier Nicole Gibbs, 6-4, 6-2, breaking serve one last time to win after just 67 minutes on the court.
“It was a solid match from me. I think I was able to improve off of my first round,” Bouchard said.
“But first and foremost I was able to play another whole match healthy, with no pain and no symptoms.”
Bouchard is now through to her first WTA quarterfinal since last year’s Australian Open.
And the Canadian, a former World No.5 and Wimbledon finalist, doesn’t want to stop here.
“Every match that I play gives me a little bit more confidence,” she said. “I know it’s a long road back to recovery and to being back to where I was and even better, so I’m ready for that long journey.
“But, you know, if it’s a little step I can take every day, then I’m happy with that.”
The tournament’s No.1 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, followed Bouchard onto center court – and into the quarterfinals as well – after a close finish, closing out China’s own Zhang Shuai, 6-1, 7-5.
Radwanska, who’s coming off a fantastic fall season that brought her three WTA titles – including the WTA Finals in Singapore – and took her back to World No.5, has now won 19 of her last 23 matches.
It was a rough day for the other seeds in action, though, with No.3 seed Irina-Camelia Begu retiring down 7-5, 3-2 to Anna-Lena Friedsam due to a right knee injury, No.4 seed Monica Niculescu falling to Timea Babos, 6-1, 6-4, and No.7 seed Zarina Diyas succumbing to Katerina Siniakova, 6-0, 6-4.
First time using a selfie stick ? thank you for staying after the match guys #ilovechina pic.twitter.com/uinuGZruzn
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) January 6, 2016
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her second round win at the Brisbane International.
BRISBANE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka survived some tense moments early on but then absolutely powered through to the quarterfinals of the $1,000,000 Brisbane International on Wednesday.
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Facing unheralded lucky loser Ysaline Bonaventure, who replaced Simona Halep in the draw, Azarenka had some trouble early on – she dropped serve in the opening game and then, a few games later, had to battle for more than 16 minutes to break back, but she eventually did, evening it to 2-all.
From there the Belarusian ruthlessly powered past the Belgian, reeling off 10 of the next 13 games – and winning 12 of the last 13 points of the match – to prevail in an hour and 27 minutes, 6-3, 6-2.
“I think the beginning was definitely really tough,” Azarenka said after the match. “She played very well, and it’s also a little bit of a moment of adaptation when you don’t know who you’re playing. But I’m glad I could stay strong and turn it around at the beginning. It wasn’t going my way at first, for sure.
“Just to feel the momentum shift in the match was important, in the beginning of the year, and for me especially since I haven’t played in a while. It’s good to go through those moments. I’m happy the way I was looking for a solution, trying to stay in the moment, and fighting to take control back to me.”
Awaiting Azarenka in the quarters will be No.8 seed Roberta Vinci, who won through on Tuesday.
Azarenka has beaten Vinci in straight sets in all three of their previous meetings, but they haven’t played since 2012, and Vinci is on fire – she’s gone from No.43 to No.15 in the last four months.
“We’ve played quite a few times, but it’s been a while since we last played,” Azarenka said of the US Open finalist. “She’s still a very aggressive player. I think she has a lot to offer, and variety, and the slice is only one component of her game. It’ll be important to really just focus on my own game.”
Three more players snapped up quarterfinal berths at the Premier-level event during the day session, most notably No.4 seed Angelique Kerber, who cruised past Madison Brengle in 61 minutes, 6-3, 6-0.
Other winners were Andrea Petkovic, who edged fellow former Top 10 player Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5, 6-4, and American qualifier Samantha Crawford, who surprised No.7 seed Belinda Bencic, 7-5, 7-5.
Crawford – who hit 13 aces in the match – didn’t just score her first Top 20 win over the No.14-ranked Bencic, it was actually her first Top 50 win (she had never beaten anyone higher than No.59 before).
Dabbing is all the rage in the NFL, and now @vika7 has brought it to tennis #BrisbaneTennis #dab https://t.co/c76OtVpmAS
— Brisbane Intl (@BrisbaneTennis) January 6, 2016