Dubai: Kateryna Bondarenko vs Garbiñe Muguruza
Kateryna Bondarenko takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Kateryna Bondarenko takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
MELBOURNE, Australia – The last time Yulia Putintseva played on Hisense Arena, she pushed Agnieszka Radwanska to the brink in a topsy-turvy three-setter back in 2014; on Monday afternoon she went one better against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, recovering from a set and break deficit to defeat the Dane, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.
The Kazakh, a former junior finalist at the 2012 Australian Open, recently turned 21, but hadn’t won a WTA main draw match since last summer, and appeared close to another defeat when she fell behind a set and 4-2 to her more experienced opponent.
Yet, Putintseva displayed impressive resolve to turn the tables in a second set tie-break and weathered a final set surge from Wozniacki to serve out the win in just over three hours.
In her on-court interview, the smiling youngster admitted she was dealing with cramps from early in the third set, and played some impressive mind games to keep calm when it came time to complete the upset.
“I tried to keep my emotions inside, and actually imagine I was losing. It’s easier that way.”
Ending the match with a whopping 42 winners, Putintseva also out-aced Wozniacki, hitting two back-to-back in the middle of the second set tie-break while maintaining an impressive 74% first serve percentage.
For Wozniacki, the loss completes a string of progressively disappointing losses in Melbourne; since reaching the semifinals in 2011 – when she had a match point against Li Na – she has ended her tournament one round worse in each successive year, a pattern that was on her mind as early as last year, when she fell in the second round to Victoria Azarenka.
“I think it’s a curse I’ve gotten here,” she said in 2015. “Hopefully, I’m going to break that next year and start going the other way.”
In the same section of the draw as World No.1 Serena Williams, Putintseva not only takes out one of the American’s closest rivals, but she next plays China’s Han Xinyun, who benefitted from the 6-2, 2-1 retirement of Mariana Duque-Mariño.
Putintseva pulls off upset win on Hisense Arena #ausopen https://t.co/Rq8mh1PKlz
— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2016
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The top three seeds will battle for quarterfinal slots on Day 4 of the Rio Games. Chris Oddo breaks down the key Olympic match-ups at wtatennis.com.
Tuesday, Third Round
Centre Court
[7] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. [9] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP #12)
Head-to-head: Keys leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Keys played the longest match of this year’s Olympic Games on Monday, taking out Kristina Mladenovic in three hours and 14 minutes.
Madison Keys is one of the few players in Rio who has a big enough game to hit through the slow-playing hardcourts. She’ll have to do just that and then some if she intends to get past the gritty Carla Suárez Navarro on Tuesday. Keys won the pair’s two previous meetings, but both of them have gone three sets. If Keys is going to make it three in a row against the Spaniard, she’ll have to do what she could not against Simona Halep in the Montréal final. In that match Keys struggled to win the longer rallies and didn’t serve well enough to keep the majority of points short. Against a deft baseliner like Suárez Navarro, who defeated Ana Konjuh, 7-6(5), 6-3 on Monday, Keys will have to avoid making this match a physical encounter. After three hours and 14 minutes in the Rio heat on Monday, will Keys have the energy left to execute her game plan?
Pick: Suárez Navarro in three
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Elina Svitolina (UKR #20)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 4-0
Key Stat: Williams is bidding to be the first Woman in history to successfully defend an Olympic singles title.
In her Olympic debut, Elina Svitolina has reeled off back-to-back three-set victories, over Andrea Petkovic and Heather Watson, to book her spot in the sweet 16. But the World No.20 will run into a much stiffer challenge on Tuesday when she faces defending Olympic gold medalist Serena Williams. The last four meetings between Svitolina and Williams have seen Svitolina gain some moral victories, but the truth of the matter is that her defensive approach leaves her far too vulnerable against an offensive juggernaut like Williams. Will Svitolina step out of her shell and try to take the game to Williams, or will the Ukrainian be content to leave the match on Serena’s racquet in the hopes that the mighty American might falter? Williams struggled against Alizé Cornet on Monday, but eventually prevailed in straight sets. She could be tested by Svitolina on Tuesday, but expect Williams to sharpen her focus as the medal rounds draw nearer.
Pick: Williams in two
Court 1
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. [13] Samantha Stosur (AUS #17)
Head-to-head: Tied, 3-3
Key Stat: Kerber is bidding to become the first German woman to win a medal at the Olympics since Steffi Graf in 1992.
How impressive has Angelique Kerber’s 2016 been? A maiden Grand Slam title and a Wimbledon final have thrust the cagey German close to the top of the rankings and she’s gunning for more precious hardware here in Rio. Kerber made relatively light work of Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard on Monday and appears to be primed for another deep run in this her coming-of-age season. But standing in her way on Tuesday will be the determined Sam Stosur, a player who is tailor-made for the gritty, slow-paced Rio hardcourts. Stosur has done most of her damage on clay this year, but she just might have a shot to upend Kerber if she can dictate with her serve and play without fear in the pair’s seventh career meeting. Stosur was strong in her straight-sets victory over Japan’s Misaki Doi on Monday, but she’ll have to be even stronger if she hopes to snap her three-match losing streak to Kerber on hardcourts.
Pick: Kerber in three
Court 2
[3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4) vs. Monica Puig (PUR #34)
Head-to-head: First Meeting
Key Stat: Neither player has dropped a set this week in Rio.
It looks like Garbiñe Muguruza is turning the page on a disappointing grass court season and reverting back to the elite form that saw her claim her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros this spring. It may seem like a long time ago, but Muguruza’s performance in Paris left no doubt about her talent, mindset and belief. Now the challenge is to be more consistent. Muguruza, who plastered Japan’s Nao Hibino, 6-1, 6-1, on Monday, is the only seeded player left in her quarter. This is a tremendous opportunity for the Spaniard to open her hardcourt season in style, but she’ll have to get past the dangerous Monica Puig to keep her medal hopes alive. Puig has had a successful season on all surfaces, but the Puerto Rican has had very little experience against the WTA’s elite. She’s only played five Top 10 players in her career, losing four. Can she send a message and create a stir with a big upset in Rio?
Pick: Muguruza in three
Around the grounds…
Great Britain’s Johanna Konta’s magical season continues in Rio. The 25-year-old has yet to drop a set ahead of her round of 16 encounter with Svetlana Kuznetsova. But she’ll be tested in a big way by the resurgent Russian when the pair meets for the first time on Tuesday. Doubles action will also take center stage on Tuesday, as Garbiñe Muguruza, Carla Suárez Navarro, Sara Errani, Kirsten Flipkens, and Ekaterina Makarova will all pull double duty.
By the numbers…
19 – The age of Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, who is the youngest player left in the draw. Kasatkina will face Italy’s Sara Errani on Day 4. The Italian defeated Kasatkina in three sets in their only previous meeting.
11-1 – Serena record in Olympic singles matches. If she wins the title, Williams will tie Steffi Graf (15-1) for the most Olympic singles victories of all-time.
3 – Russia leads the way with three players (Kasatkina, Makarova, Kuznetsova) into the round of 16. The United States, Spain and Germany each have two alive in the draw, with 11 nations represented in total.
1 – Number of Olympic singles champions remaining in the draw (Serena).
Going up! Watch as Angelique Kerber has a dining experience like no other at Dubai’s Dinner In The Sky.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Day 2 at the Australian Open was highlighted by the early exits of No.2 seed Simona Halep and No.8 seed Venus Williams, clearing the way for a surprise semifinalist to come through.
– Victoria Azarenka makes a statement: The No.14 seed picked up where she left off in at the Brisbane International and is remained undefeated for the season after double-bageling Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round. This was beyond domination. This was near perfection. The two played 72 points. Azarenka won 53 of them. Van Uytvanck won 19.
“I don’t think I’m looking for perfection,” Azarenka said. “I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus. I like that I was very composed today, from first point to the last point. Like it didn’t matter what the score was, I was there on every point. So that’s what I’m very happy about today.” She’ll play Danka Kovinic in the second round.
– Zhang Shuai finally gets her major win: The Chinese qualifier came into Melbourne 0-14 in Grand Slam main draw matches and she got the toughest draw of any qualifier in No.2 seed Simona Halep. Yet somehow, Zhang made it look easy. She raced to a 4-0 lead and never looked back, winning 6-4, 6-3, to pull off the biggest upset of the first round. Read more about Zhang’s near-retirement, and what this win means to her here.
– Halep suffers a mental drain: The Romanian just couldn’t get the pieces together in time for Melbourne. After injury and illness derailed her training, it always felt like Halep was playing catch-up as the season began. She was noticeably more upbeat after today’s loss than she has been here in Melbourne the last two years, where she lost in the quarterfinals. Halep admitted it was hard to come into the tournament confident.
“I can say that I am a little bit down mentally because I was very sick at home,” she said. “Then I came here with Achilles again. So it’s tough to be positive, 100%, and try everything. But I did. I think I did everything I could today. It was all I could do today. So I am okay, but disappointed, of course.”
“When I played here two years before, and last year I lost in the quarters because I was blocked, I couldn’t manage the situation, the emotions. But today was different. Today I think I was okay. Was only about the game. I played not my best tennis. I played too short. I played too soft. She could do everything with the ball.
“It’s okay. I don’t want to make this match like dramatic. It happened. You know, everyone can lose. Everyone can win. I know that. I have just to take it like it is and go ahead.”
– Konta-mania strikes again: Johanna Konta came into the Australian Open winless but she found her 2015 form quickly, playing a strong match to oust No.8 seed Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-2.
– Venus Williams to drop out of the Top 10: With her first round exit, Venus will drop out of the Top 10 after the Australian Open. She is currently entered into the Taiwan Open, which starts on February 6th. As she did at the 2015 French Open, Venus declined to appear for a press conference after her loss. Under ITF rules she could be fined up to $20,000.
– Misaki Doi’s Slam breakthrough will have to wait: Over the last year, Doi has become one of my favorite players to watch. Her forehand has turned into a real weapon as she’s added a more aggressive stance to her game. Against No.7 seed Angelique Kerber, Doi had match point and at 6-5 in the second set tie-break only to miss a makeable forehand return; Kerber escaped with a 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 win. Doi lost despite hitting 59 winners — 42 off the forehand side — compared to Kerber’s 35 winners.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for Doi, who has now won the first set off Kerber, Bencic, Svitolina, and Ivanovic in her last four Slams. She lost all four matches.
– Garbiñe Muguruza makes a confident start: The Spaniard showed no signs of the foot injury that’s derailed her season so far, beating Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-4. She also caught a break when Kirsten Flipkens pulled off the win over the very dangerous Mirjana Lucic Baroni. Muguruza will play the Belgian in the next round.
– Naomi Osaka’s culture clash: Osaka followed up her strong qualifying run to win her first match at a major, in her Grand Slam debut no less, beating Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-2. She was greeted in the secondary interview room by a standing room only crowd of Japanese and English-speaking reporters and jokingly pleaded to the moderator to only have questions asked in English.
“I’m trying to study Japanese but I get really nervous when I hear it,” the Osaka-born Osaka said. “It’s really fast; sometimes it sounds like they’re rapping, so then I’m just like, ‘Oh my god; I didn’t hear the first part of the question.’ Then I look like an idiot, and I don’t want to look like an idiot.” Watching the 18-year-old try to bridge her two cultural backgrounds will be very interesting.
– Opportunity knocks: With Halep and Venus’s losses, the seeds remaining in the bottom quarter: Karolina Pliskova, Madison Keys, Ana Ivanovic, Ekaterina Makarova, and Sabine Lisicki. Also floating is Alizé Cornet.
– Quote of the Day: Azarenka was asked about the last time she remembers being double-bageled herself. She remembered it vividly.
“I was 11 years old. I was trying to get into Nationals for under 18, but obviously I was too young and I didn’t get in. Somebody retired and they gave me the spot. I was in school writing my essay. My dad came in and said, Hey, you got to go. I said, Where, dad?
“He said, ‘You got a spot. You can go and play.’ I was like, ‘Really?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ So I got excited, went to the court, got beat, I cried myself to sleep that day, and that was horrible experience.
“But, you know, I came back to practice the next day, and I don’t think that ever happened to me again. Hard work pays off.”
By The Numbers:
2: Garbiñe Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber each with a chance to move as high as No.2 in the WTA Rankings after the Australian Open:
-Muguruza needs SF or better
-Radwanska needs Final or better
-Kerber would need to win title
-If none of the above, then Halep will stay at No.2
4: Four Chinese women have advanced to the second round of the Australian Open – X.Han, Q.Wang, S.Zhang and S.Zheng – the most Chinese women through to the second round of a Slam since 2006 Wimbledon (Li Na, QF; Peng Shuai, 3r; Zheng Jie, 3r; Sun Tiantian, 2r).
12: Through the completion of the first round, 12 of the 32 women’s seeds have been eliminated from the tournament, including two of the Top 8 seeds – No.2 Simona Halep and No.8 Venus Williams. Since the Grand Slams adapted the 32-seed draw at 2001 Wimbledon, the 12 seeds is the most to lose in an opening round.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.15 seed Elina Svitolina ended the Rio run of 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympic tennis event.
“The feeling is unreal, and I still can’t believe this match ended with a win for me,” she said after the match.
“I was trying to be focused because she’s a great player with great experience coming back in many amazing matches. In the end, it was just point by point.”
Working with coaching consultant Justine Henin, a former World No.1 and recent International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee, Svitolina has shown steady signs of improvement in the last two seasons, reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and peaking at No.14 in the world following a title run at the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
But Svitolina had taken just one set from Serena in their previous four meetings, and was by all accounts the underdog against the four-time Olympic gold medalist.
Navigating through tense opening exchanges, Svitolina recovered from losing her early break advantage to reclaim the initiative and serve out the opening set in 34 minutes.
Serena w/d from Montreal citing shoulder inflammation. Could barely spin a serve at the end of the 2nd set. Can she bounce back @usopen?
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 9, 2016
The second set saw a struggling Serena, one who appeared to aggravate a right shoulder injury that forced her out of the Rogers Cup last week, roar back from a break down to level the contest at three games apiece, but it wasn’t enough on Tuesday night.
“In that moment, I was just trying to stay in the moment and focus on every point. She was struggling a bit, and I could see that if I pushed a little more, I could be on top. This was the key.”
Serena had given kudos to her opponent following her second round win, something which made the win all the sweeter for Svitolina, who grew up idolizing the World No.1.
“It’s amazing, and one of my dreams to play against her. I don’t think I ever dreamed of beating her. I think I’ll enjoy this moment so much, especially at the Olympics; I’ve always wanted to play here.”
Up next for the Ukrainian is No.11 seed Petra Kvitova, who is hoping to better her quarterfinal finish from the London Olympics in 2012. Kvitova won a titanic three-setter over Ekaterina Makarova earlier in the day.
.@ElinaSvitolina knocks out defending #Olympic champion Serena Williams 64 63 in the 3rd round at #Rio2016! pic.twitter.com/XwWB2UTyiN
— ITF Olympic Tennis (@OlympicsTennis) August 9, 2016
Angelique Keber takes on Monica Puig in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Monica Puig survived a full-on service onslaught from Kristyna Pliskova, who fired off a record 31 aces in their second-round match before losing 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7.
“At one point I just had to laugh, during the changeover, because it was so unbelievable,” Puig commented after the win.
Pliskova’s dominant serve is the hallmark of her game, and it was in full strength during the match. Her 31 aces set a new women’s tennis record, breaking Sabine Lisicki’s previous record of 27 aces last year in Birmingham.
But even making tennis history was no consolation for the tough loss.
“I don’t care about that right now,” Pliskova said to press afterwards. “It’s nice, but I wish I could have hit like 20 and won.”
Puig, who made the biggest final of her career last week in Sydney, approached the booming serve by keeping a positive mentality even when the win seemed just out of reach – she saved three match points in a row in the second set tie-break and another two in the third set.
“I think I just tried to stay as positive as possible, even though it was difficult at times,” Puig said. “You know, you get upset: she fires another ace and you’re just like, okay! I just tried to stay relaxed in those important moments.”
“I think it’s just about believing that you can come out of a moment like that, that at any moment you can get a second wind and come out of it.”
Up next for the 22-year-old Puerto Rican is the No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska defeated the resurgent Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-2 in the second round (read about the win – here).
The all-time WTA leaderboard for most aces in a single match (WTA main draw-level only):
31 – Kristyna Pliskova
[l. Monica Puig in 2016 Australian Open second round, 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7]
27 – Sabine Lisicki
[d. Belinda Bencic in 2015 Birmingham second round, 6-1, 7-6(4)]
24 – Serena Williams
[d. Victoria Azarenka in 2012 Wimbledon semifinals, 6-3, 7-6(6)]
24 – Kaia Kanepi
[d. Lucie Safarova in 2008 Tokyo [Japan Open] first round, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4]
23 – Serena Williams
[d. Zheng Jie in 2012 Wimbledon third round, 6-7(5), 6-2, 9-7]
Highlights from all the third round action on Day 4 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs were the best doubles team at the start of the new millenium; the US-Aussie pair began 2000 with their first major title at the Australian Open, becoming Co-No.1s just before that year’s US Open.
Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez became Co-No.1s in the summer of 2004 after capturing the first two legs of the Calendar Year Grand Slam, winning a total of eight majors as a team.
Lisa Raymond ascended to Co-No.1 again in 2006, this time with Aussie Sam Stosur, with whom she reached five major finals – winning two at the 2005 US Open and 2006 French Open.
Liezel Huber joined Cara Black atop the WTA Doubles rankings at the end of 2007, when the team won the WTA Finals in Madrid – capping a successful successful season that saw them win two of the four major tournaments at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
The sport’s preeminent sister act have dominated the doubles scene throughout their storied singles careers, winning three Olympic Gold medals in addition to their 13 Grand Slam doubles titles.
Flavia Pennetta joined partner and good friend Gisela Dulko a few weeks after the two won their first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open; the team known as Dulketta had also ended 2010 with a win at the WTA Finals in Doha.
Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik both became No.1 for the first time after winning their first major title at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.
Liezel Huber become Co-No.1 with a second partner in the spring of 2012; that partner was none other than Lisa Raymond, who was back at Co-No.1 with a third partner in her historic career. The Americans paired up ahead of the London Olympics, and cementing their partnership with the 2011 US Open title.
Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci had each been No.1 apart, but finally shared the top spot in 2013, not long after toppling the Williams sisters en route to their first Australian Open title.
Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai had burst onto the scene in 2013 after winning the Wimbledon Championships, and consolidated their place as the best team in the world when they became Co-No.1s a few weeks before winning their second major title at the 2014 French Open.
Sania Mirza capped an undefeated run through three straight tournaments by reaching No.1 last spring, but it wasn’t until the start of 2016 that Swiss Miss Martina Hingis was able to ascend to the top spot as well; the pair have been undefeated since August, with wins at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the 2015 WTA Finals in Singapore.