On Sunday 26 April 2015 at Porsche Arena Angelique Kerber will meet Caroline Wozniacki for the final of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2015
The current ranking 14 Kerber and the current ranking 5 Wozniacki will face each other for the tenth time. Head 2 Head Comparison
Pablo Andujar won David Ferrer 7-6(6), 6-3 and in Sunday’s final will face defending champion Kei Nishikori
On the road to the final, Andujar defeated Albert Ramos, Leonardo Mayer, Feliciano Lopez, Fabio Fognini and Ferrer.
Andujar and Nishikori faced each other three times in the past. Nishikori won the matches on the hard surface and Andujar won on the clay surface.
Kei Nishikori is closing in on a successful title defense at the Barcelona Open. He is through to the semi-final stage of the tournament, where he will next come up against intriguing foe Martin Klizan. This is just their second meeting on the professional tour, with the Slovak leading the head-to-head series 1-0. His win was a recent one – a straight sets victory over Nishikori in the opening round of the 2014 French Open, which sets up an intriguing berth for Saturday.
The Japanese No. 1 reached the final four in Barcelona with a three set victory over Roberto Bautista Agut. He defeated the Spaniard 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in a rollercoaster meeting. Nishikori struck five aces, 25 winners and converted four break points to finish the match in one hour and 41 minutes of court time.
“I’m really happy with the way I’m playing right now, especially in the third set,” said Nishikori. “It was a really tough match.”
Nishikori will next come up against Martin Klizan, who only needed straight sets to oust another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo. He defeated the 2004 champion 7-6(5), 6-4 in an impressive performance overall. He withstood eight aces, won 89% of his first service points and saved all six of the break points he faced to close out the match in one hour and 40 minutes.
This is just the second time that these two players will meet on the ATP World Tour and it is certainly set to be an intriguing encounter marked by a potential upset. Klizan holds a win against the Japanese No. 1 and US Open runner up at the clay court Grand Slam last season, and a dominant one at that. It will be interesting to see how Nishikori handles that memory as he attempts to avenge that loss and bring the head-to-head series to equal terms.
Although many expected Italy’s Fabio Fognini to continue is momentum following a straight sets win against Rafael Nadal — his second of the season – instead we are offered an all-Spanish final four berth between David Ferrer and Pablo Andujar. This will marks the fourth time that the two competitors cross paths on the professional tour, with Ferrer leading the series 3-0. This is also their fourth encounter on clay.
Seeded third at this year’s tournament, David Ferrer secured his spot in the semi-final stage in Barcelona with a straight sets win against Philipp Kohlschreiber. It was a straightforward match, one that Ferrer harnessed the support of his fellow countrymen in the stands to close out the match 6-3, 7-6(5). He won 69% of his total service points, saved five break points, and converted five of his own to win the match in a total of one hour and 44 minutes. The win extended his head-to-head record against Kohlschreiber to 11-2 with nine consecutive wins dating back over eight years.
“Now I am in the semi-final, and I’m very happy for that,” said Ferrer.
The Spaniard will come up against Pablo Andujar in his final obstacle en route to the tournament final. Andujar defeated Fabio Fognini, the player who toppled clay court king Rafael Nadal for a second time this season on clay, in straight sets to secure his spot in the semi-final round in Barcelona. He won 73% of his first service points and converted five break points en route to the 6-1, 6-3 win in one hour and five minutes.
This marks the fourth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour. Ferrer leads the head-to-head series 3-0, all wins on clay. He should have little trouble notching another win in the rivalry on their consistent surface to secure a spot in his fifth Barcelona Open final.
Following an entertaining encounter earlier this season, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki and will meet for a spot in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament in Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon. This is just the third time that the two top competitors will cross paths on the professional tour with Halep leading the head-to-head series 2-1.
In a seesaw encounter that saw a bizarre number of breaks, Simona Halep was able to maintain her form at the pivotal moments to secure the 6-4, 6-4 victory over Sara Errani. It was her second impressive clay court showing of the season, as she defeated Garbine Muguruza in her first match in the clay portion of the year.
“I’m happy because I need matches at the beginning of the clay season,” Halep said. “So, it was good that I had a tough opponent in the first round who was hitting the ball very strong, and today I had a different one.
“Errani’s balls are very heavy to play. I did a great job today with my return and I stayed very close to the baseline, and I just tried to open the court more and to finish the balls, to make winners. I couldn’t too many but it was a good match I think.”
In a far different encounter from her upcoming opponent, Caroline Wozniacki managed to breeze past Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3 to secure her spot in the semi-final round in Stuttgart.
“I played well today. Ran a lot of balls down, played aggressively and went from offence to defense and back which is good. I was very pleased with my performance.”
Following a tied head-to-head series, Halep and Wozniacki faced off at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to determine who would win the rubber match. Wozniacki won their first meeting at this event three years ago, while Halep avenged that loss in New Haven in 2013. In the end, it was Halep who rallied back to close out the match in three sets. This marks their first meeting on clay and that only adds another layer of intrigue to the encounter.
Following a slew of shocking losses in her last few tournaments, Agnieszka Radwanska has announced her split with tennis legend Martina Navratilova.
The partnership began at the start of the 2015 season but it appears that the Polish No. 1’s recent trend of frustrating losses, coupled with Navratilova’s inability to commit full-time to the job, made the split an all-too-real option for Radwanska.
“I just wanted to thank Martina for her time and efforts over these last few months,” Radwanska wrote on twitter. “It was a great experience to work with one of the all time greats. However, we both agreed that as Martina could not commit 100% to the project then it was not going to work as a long-term partnership. We will stay friends and I wish her all the best in her personal and professional life.”
Navratilova’s partnership with Aga was the latest in a long line in star coaching roles over the past few years; Andy Murray sparked the trend when he hired Ivan Lendl then Amelie Mauresmo; Novak Djokovic brought Boris Becker on board; Marin Cilic partnered with Goran Ivanisevic to win his maiden Grand Slam title; Roger Federer teamed up with his idol Stefan Edberg, while Kei Nishikori joined forces with Michael Chang.
Navratilova won 167 WTA titles over the span of her illustrious career, 18 of which were Grand Slam singles titles and won her last Grand Slam mixed doubles title at the US Open in 2006. Her rivalry with Chris Evert goes down as one of the biggest rivalries in women’s tennis, having played each other a total of 80 times, with Navratilova leading the series 43-37.