Tennis News

After completing undoubtedly her best season on the professional tour, Simona Halep is hungry to add to her accomplishments and with solid performances at all tournaments this season. She will begin her year at the Shenzhen Open, where she will contest an opening round contest against Germany’s Annika Beck. Halep leads the head-to-head series 2-1.

Halep took part in another breakthrough season in 2014, as she followed up on her gradual rise the previous year with several remarkable accomplishments. The Romanian reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open, reached the final of WTA Finals, and ended her season ranked below Serena Williams and Sharapova at world No. 3.

“The stadium is big and very nice,” Halep said of the 4,000-seat Centre Court at the Longgang Tennis Centre. “I really like practicing there and I’m looking forward to starting the tournament here.

“My goal is to play in Singapore again this year, so I have to play my best at every tournament. I’ll just go match by match and tournament by tournament, and I hope to be in the Top 8 again.”

World No. 53 Annika Beck won one title in 2015 and complied a 33-30 record on the WTA tour. She also reached the second round of the Australian Open in both singles and doubles.

This marks the fourth time that Halep and Beck will meet on the WTA tour. While the Romanian leads the series 2-1, it was Beck who won their most recent encounter: a grass court matchup at the s-Hertogenbosch event earlier in the season. Considering their latest encounter is on a hard court, Beck’s tactics will not be enough to defeat the ambitious Halep.

Prediction: Simona Halep in Three Sets

Petra Kvitova will follow the Romanian top seed Simona Halep on court on Monday afternoon, as she kicks off her 2015 season at the Shenzhen Open. Kvitova will meet local talent Ying-Ying Duan in the opening round – an opponent she has never crossed paths with on the professional tour. While this could produce unforeseen upsets early in the season, it is unlikely to be the case in this particular contest.

In 2014, Kvitova compiled a 43-16 record on the WTA tour, which included three titles on the WTA Tour. She won the Wimbledon title with a thrashing of Canadian starlet Eugenie Bouchard. The Czech No. 1 also helped her nation win yet another Fed Cup title at the end of the season.

Ahead of the start of the season, Kvitova suggested that she was ready to make an even bigger run this year and had set her sights on claiming the world No. 1 ranking.

“I have some clear goals in my mind. I want to have better results at the Grand Slams and of course one day I want to be Number One in the world. I have been close already, but I really hope that day will come. Those clear goals are motivating me to work harder than ever before.”

World No. 119 Ying-Ying Duan won her first ITF singles title last season on the tour and compiled a 30-16 record outside of WTA action. She also managed to earn $107,217 for her efforts that year.

This marks the first time that these two competitors meet on the WTA circuit. Duan is likely to be thoroughly outmatched during the encounter, as Kvitova is one of the toughest players to get past in the upper echelon of the tour. Given her motivation to succeed early on, it is unlikely that we will see an upset I the making on Monday.

Prediction: Petra Kvitova in Straight Sets

The first official week of the 2015 tennis season has officially begun and the opening Monday of action will feature an entertaining opening match between top-ranked American youngster Madison Keys and former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova. This marks the third time that these two competitors wil meet on the professional tour, with Keys leading the series 2-0.

The world No. 30 won her first WTA title at Eastbourne ahead of the Wimbledon Championships. She would later reach the third round at SW 19 for the first time in her career. She finished her season with a quarter-final loss to Luksika Kumkhum in Osaka.

During the off season, the American made headlines when she announced that she had joined forces with Lindsay Davenport for the 2015 season. The former champion is expected to accompany Keys to all four Grand Slam events.

“It originally started that Lindsay would help me for the off-season, not so much being my coach, and we both enjoyed it so much she said she was open to doing it full-time. Jon is amazing. He is willing to help and he’ll be in Sydney and in Brisbane I have a hitting partner, Lester Cook, with me. Then Lindsay gets in towards the end of the week before the Australian Open.”

After starting the year in fantastic fashion with a runner-up finish at a Grand Slam final, Dominika Cibulkova was unable to do much with the remainder of her season on the tour. She failed to win more than one title that year and finished the season with a 33-24 record. She also failed to go past the third round of any event since April 2014. Given her poor showings for the better part of the past eight months, it is difficult to understand how Cibulkova has remained in the Top 10 in the rankings.

This marks the third time that Keys and Cibulkova will meet on the professional tour, with the American leading the head-to-head series 2-0. Both those wins took place on hard courts, which gives the big-hitter the advantage on Monday afternoon.

Prediction: Madison Keys in Three Sets

One of the scintillating rivalries in tennis today will get another chapter in its storied tale, as world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and former world No. 2 Andy Murray cross paths in the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships on Saturday afternoon. This marks the 24th time that these two competitors will meet on the tour, with Djokovic leading the head-to-head series 15-8.

Top seed Novak Djokovic put on an entertaining showing in his first match of 2015. The Serbian star stormed through his encounter against Stan Wawrinka, as he won 10 of 11 games to lead 6-1, 4-0 without even breaking a sweat. He would drop just two more games in the entire match to defeat his rival 6-1, 6-2 and secure his spot in the final against another one of his noted adversaries.

Following his surprisingly close three-set victory over Feliciano Lopez on Thursday afternoon in Abu Dhabi, British No. 1 Andy Murray bludgeoned top-ranked Spaniard Rafael Nadal in straight sets to reach the final of the exhibition tournament in the UAE. The Scot, who barley made any mistakes during the match, saved nine break points to defeat the world No. 3 6-2, 6-0 in a little over an hour of competition.

Yet even though the scoreline suggests a thrashing, Murray believes the match was far more competitive than the score suggests. Nadal was clearly showing signs of rust after his extended absence from the tour with a slew of injuries and few expected him to return in top form.

“It was closer than the score suggests. While he had a lot of break points I won the important ones.”

This marks the 24th time that these two competitors will cross path on the tour, and while this remains an exhibition event, it is clear that both men are keen to lift the title before setting off on their pre-Australian Open warm up events. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 15-8 and will look to exploit his recent dominance over Murray on Saturday.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Three Sets

One of the young American prospects on the WTA tour, Sloane Stephens, has hired Eugenie Bouchard’s former coach Nick Saviano to help guide her through the coming year on the tour.

TENNIS.com, who revealed that Saviano will begin working with the American at Hobart and will be present at the Australian Open, was first to announce the news. They began working with each other in early December.

After reaching her career-high ranking of No. 11 the previous year, 2014 was a mostly forgettable season for Stephens. Since losing in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships to Maria Kirilenko, she began her hard court season with a loss to Christina McHale in Washington, before rebounding with slightly better showings in Montreal and Cincinnati, where she reached the second and third round respectively. She has accumulated a 3-3 record during the US Open Series and then lost her second round match at the US Open to Sweden’s Johanna Larsson.

Much of the trouble in 2014 was due to a wrist injury in the summer portion of the season, and closed out the year with a 21-20 record in singles action.

The youngster will now begin her new season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She will then join with her new coach the following week in Australia, where she reached the semi-finals in 2013. 23 of the tour’s Top 60 women are expected to compete at this event.

Less than 48 hours into the New Year, top adversaries Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will write another chapter in their ever-growing rivalry, as they meet for the 20th time on the tour at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.

In 2014, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic won seven titles, and compiled a 61-8 record throughout the season. He won the Wimbledon Championships for the second time in his career, as well as the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Considering his dominance over the past few months, it is hard to imagine a drop in standard over the coming while. The Serb presents the toughest challenge on the tour’s immediate future, and it will be interesting to see whether he can maintain his momentum early in the season – especially against the Swiss star in his opening match.

“Abu Dhabi has built a reputation for pulling together the most formidable lineups of players. All of the potential opponents are going to test me so I will have to be at my best. I’ll start the season with a match against Stan Wawrinka so from the moment we’re out there it’s going to be intense competition. The fans will be in fine form I’m sure so it’s going to be the perfect start to the new season.”

Stan Wawrinka needed just 61 minutes to dispatch Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-2. It was a no-nonsense performance from the world No. 4, as he served with sublime accuracy and had no issues with his one-handed backhand on this occasion. However, it was far from a poor showing from Almagro, who won several love-games and remained competitive through the early portions of each set before giving away a break point in each to eventually lose the match.

This marks the third time in the last 12-months that Djokovic and Wawrinka will cross paths on the tour. They split those two meetings, with Wawrinka winning the former en route to his first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, and Djokovic the second in the Round Robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Three Sets

After it appeared that there was a glimmer of hope that he was yet to compete, Marin Cilic officially withdrew from the Brisbane Open several days ago to deal with a shoulder injury sustained during the off-season.

Cilic revealed the news via his official twitter account:

“Very sad I had to withdraw from @BrisbaneTennis tournament. At least happy for my friend #matosevic who got in instead of me.”

The US Open champion’s untimely exit opens the doors for world No. 75 Marinko Matosevic to join the field, according to Brisbane International Tournament Director Cameron Pearson.

“It’s unfortunate Marin won’t be fit to compete in Brisbane and we wish him all the best for his recovery,” he said. “Matosevic will now gain direct entry into the field, joining fellow Aussies Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the men’s draw. With a strong local contingent and some of the biggest international stars all coming to Brisbane, it’s certainly shaping up to be another great tournament.”

While Cilic would have made a fantastic addition to the draw, the expected attendees this year make it one of the most anticipated Brisbane International events since its inception. In the men’s draw, the tournament features the likes of champion Lleyton Hewitt, runner-up Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov, Bernard Tomic and the returning Juan Martin del Potro.

The Brisbane International begins Jan. 4.

Following a nine-month absence from professional competition due to a wrist injury, Juan Martin del Potro recently announced that he would return to professional competition at the Brisbane International. However, just before the New Year, the Argentine withdrew from the Brisbane International and delayed his comeback indefinitely.

It appears del Potro is still suffering from the persistent wrist injury and is not prepared to risk an premature return.

“I love playing in Sydney. The city and the fans are great and I can’t wait to come back and defend my title,” said del Potro ahead of his withdrawal. “Last year I played some of my best tennis there and it is the perfect way to start the year. I am looking forward to being back in Sydney as it is one of my favourite cities to play. I remember there were a lot of Argentine fans who came out to support me which was amazing.”

Del Potro, who is currently ranked No. 138 but will use a protected ranking of 7 in 2015, prepared his training both on and off the court in Argentina. He has not played a match since February. He managed to win the Apia international in Sydney at the start of the season, then struggled from then on and eventually opted for surgery after failed bids in Rotterdam and Dubai. Del Potro has since recovered and begun his pre-season training.