Tennis News

DOHA, Qatar – On Monday, Agnieszka Radwanska met the press ahead of the Premier 5 level event in Doha, the Qatar Total Open, and she discussed everything from her strong start to the season, her Fed Cup plans and the next generation of tennis. Here’s what the World No.3 had to say…

On her red-hot start to the season, which saw her win a title in Shenzhen and reach the semifinals at the Australian Open…
“I had very good start, and I just hope I can keep going and playing the same good tennis I was playing in Australia. I have a good rest after that. I was practicing at home and working hard. Hopefully I can really do well here.”

On the challenge of the “openness” of the women’s game…
“For us, for some players that being in the Top 10 for a while, it’s also tough to stay there. There are a lot of talented, young players coming up and playing great tennis. This is another challenge for us to stay there.

There’s a lot of players deserve to be Top 10. We can also see everything is changing every week about the majors as well.”

On how Serena Williams’ dominance affects that openness…
“Of course Serena is always there, especially last year, but other years totally different. She’s definitely dominating if she’s on fire. When she’s playing her best tennis, she just playing unbelievable and too good, but otherwise it’s open.”

On her plans to play in Poland’s Fed Cup tie against Taiwan…
“I want to help my team in April to stay in that World Group, so this is my plan and I hope I can play that. Of course we can see individually busy schedule and tight schedule because of the Olympics, so I really want to stay healthy the whole year. But here we have match at home, so I’m ready to play.”

With nonstop action every week, the WTA tour is always surprising and exciting. Now Dubai Duty Free, official partner of the WTA, brings you the “Always Full Of Surprises” video series to capture the most exciting moments.

What better way to kick things off than with Sara Errani’s huge win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships?

“There is no explanation,” Errani said of the victory, one of the biggest of her career. “Of course you work to be ready to the matches, but you never know which days you can play better or worse.”

Check out the video above and keep your eyes peeled for more surprises!

DOHA, Qatar – On Tuesday evening, Angelique Kerber found out just how hard life is with a target on her back, slipping to a shock straight set defeat at the hands of Zheng Saisai in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

World No.73 Zheng made a mockery of her lowly ranking to stun the recently crowned Australian Open champion, 7-5, 6-1, in an hour and 20 minutes.

Zheng becomes only the fourth Chinese player in history to defeat one of the world’s Top 2. In the third round she will face Eugenie Bouchard.

“The feeling is amazing here today,” Zheng said. “Kerber was amazing at the Australian Open and a great champion. For sure it wasn’t her best tennis today, but I’m happy I won that match.”

An accomplished doubles player, Zheng utilized her all-court nous to take the match to Kerber, with 11 of her 17 winners coming at the net. “She’s unbelievable at running so the only way I could win the point sometimes was by coming to the net!”

Zheng complemented her positive tennis with a defensive performance that would have made Kerber proud, coughing up a miserly eight unforced errors.

The decisive moment in the opening set came in the 11th game, Zheng turning the screw with a miraculous stop volley to earn a break point. Kerber wilted under the pressure, hoicking a forehand into the tramlines in a vain attempt to breach the underdog’s defenses.

Confidence now coursing through her game, Zheng raced through the second set, breaking three more times to seal a famous victory.

Kerber, in her first outing on tour since triumphing Down Under, made 38 unforced errors throughout and admitted it was a bad day at the office.

“Actually I was practicing very well in the last few days. But today my practice this morning was not the best. So I was not feeling good from the beginning.

“I think you have sometimes days like this. Of course it’s sad that’s the first round here in Doha for me. Still, I mean, it was not my day. That’s all I can say.”

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Sloane Stephens is through to her second WTA quarterfinal of the year at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, dispatching Olga Govortsova in straight sets.

The No.2 seeded American, who started off the year with a title in Auckland, was the highest-ranked player left in the draw after Victoria Azarenka withdrew earlier in the day due to a left wrist injury.

Stephens started out the match drawing first blood, breaking Govortsova’s serve at love. The Belarusian broke right back, and the two stayed level until Stephens came away with a second break after a tough game at 3-2. The nose ahead was what she needed to win the set, taking it 6-4 in a fierce line-to-line rally that saw Govortsova bury a forehand into the net at set point.

From then on Stephens was nearly untouchable. Govortsova threw every weapon in the book at her opponent but the American wouldn’t be denied, going on to close the match 6-4, 6-1.

“Today was good, I was happy to get the win,” Stephens said after the match. “I played solid – Govortosova is always a tough opponent to play.”

Stephens is set to face Naomi Osaka in the next round. The Japanese wildcard turned heads in Melbourne after her run to the third round of the Australian Open. Now She’s backing up those signs of promise, now into her career first WTA quarterfinal after a straight sets win over Mariana Duque-Mariño, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Great Britain’s Johanna Konta, however, came up short against the unseeded but always dangerous Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The No.4 seed saved two match points in the third set, down 2-5 against the Croatian, and even managed to hang on to even things out at 5-5. She couldn’t complete the comeback, falling to Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

DOHA, Qatar – Jelena Ostapenko sprung the latest shock at this year’s Qatar Total Open, battling back to knock out No.5 seed Petra Kvitova.

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Seeds have been falling like dominoes in the opening few rounds and Kvitova’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 defeat means that just four of the original 16 remain.

At last year’s Wimbledon, Ostapenko defeated Carla Suárez Navarro in a coming of age performance, imbuing her with the confidence to topple even bigger names. “It gave me kind of confidence that I can play at that level,” Ostapenko said when reminded afterwards of her win over the Spaniard. “Today, I’m just happy that I could play my best tennis.”

Kvitova started brightly enough, recovering from 3-1 down to take the opening set. But as the contest wore on, the Czech cut an increasingly passive figure on the court, spending more and more time pinned behind the baseline.

Ostapenko, meanwhile, continued to exhibit the fleet-footedness befitting a former ballroom dancer; at 2-2 in the second set she flew across the court to unleash a fizzing forehand that left Kvitova grounded and, more importantly, a break down.

The two-time Wimbledon champion did not win another game until midway through the decider and by that point the tide had well and truly turned. Showing no sign of nerves, the young Latvian confidently cruised to victory, breaking Kvitova for an eighth and final time.

Ostapenko’s positivity was born out in the numbers, outlanding the Czech 28 to 16 in the winners count. “I play more matches, get some wins and I think [confidence] comes from there,” Ostapenko added.

Her reward for this incredible performance is a meeting with another of the draw’s giant slayers, Zheng Saisai, who followed up her victory over top seed Angelique Kerber by knocking out Eugenie Bouchard, 7-6(1), 6-1. 

“She’s had some really great wins this week,” Ostapenko said when asked about her quarterfinal foe. “I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can have a great match.”

DOHA, Qatar – Co-No.1 doubles team Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza had not lost a match since last August at the Western & Southern Open, but their 41-match winning streak came to a sudden halt at the hands of Russian duo Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, 2-6, 6-4, 10-5.

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

An accomplished doubles player, Vesnina won her most recent Grand Slam doubles title over Hingis at the 2014 US Open, when the Swiss Miss was still partnered with Flavia Pennetta. That script would flip in dramatic fashion less than a year later at Wimbledon after Hingis paired up with Mirza; the two roared back from a 2-5 final set deficit to beat Vesnina and longtime partner Ekaterina Makarova for their first major title.

“That was an amazing match for us,” Vesnina said after the match. “We played against them just a week ago, and they’re one of the greatest doubles teams we have in women’s tennis. I think everything worked today for us to win, and we’re just so excited about it.

“We changed our tactics a little bit in the second set, and we saw that it started to work. We stuck to this game plan, and were a little bit lucky on some points, but it’s always like this in doubles with deciding points. Dasha played really well on key moments. She just went for her shots and made a lot of good volleys today, so we’re really pleased and proud about this win.”

“It’s unbelievable for me,” Kasatkina added, “something huge because it’s just my third WTA doubles tournament and we beat Sania and Martina. For me, it’s something unbelievable.”

Santina’s historic streak began two months after their Wimbledon triumph at the US Open, which would be the first of nine straight titles as a team, including the China Open, the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, the Apia International Sydney, a third major title at the Australian Open and, most recently, the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy – where they beat Vesnina and Kasatkina in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

“We were surprised that so many people came to watch,” Vesnina said. “The court was packed; most of the people were cheering for Martina and Sania, which is normal. It actually worked well for us; we were enjoying this atmosphere on the court. It felt like we were playing a final.”

“It was a full house!” Kasatkina said with a laugh.

Had they won a 10th title in Doha, Hingis and Mirza would have tied Jana Novotna and Natasha Zvereva for the longest winning streak since 1990 at 44 match wins, but still had a ways to go before catching Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver, who amassed 109 straight matches between 1983 and 1985.

So that's how the cookie crumbled .. just kiddin.Hehe.. We'll be back stronger than before?#SanTina #4⃣1⃣✔️ @mhingis pic.twitter.com/1uKpPT8Wks

— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) February 25, 2016

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Dominika Cibulkova is back into the Abierto Mexicano Telcel final for a second time after a comfortable win over Christina McHale, 6-3, 6-3.

“This is the first time in my career that I’m in the final of a tournament that I’ve won before,” Cibulkova said. “I won this tournament two years ago. And now coming here this year, I’m in the final now. It’s a great feeling.”

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

In a rematch of their 2014 final in Acapulco – which saw the Slovak raise the trophy after a fierce battle, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 – Cibulkova took command early, dictating with her blistering forehand and not facing a break point all first set. She kept the heat on McHale, playing inside the court and returning well to force the first break of the match at 4-2, then breaking her again for the set at 6-3.

Cibulkova took advantage of a pair of McHale double faults to go up yet another break to start out the second set, but the American took it back a few games later, leaving them toe-to-toe at 3-3. After that McHale couldn’t find her way back into the match at all, and Cibulkova took the next three games to close out the match.

She’ll face Sloane Stephens in the next round, which will be her first final since 2014 and a major milestone on her road back from injury. Last year, she was sidelined for over four months due to an Achilles injury.

“It feels like everything is coming together now,” Cibulkova said after the match. “I’ve practiced really hard and I had some tough matches this year. Now I just feel like I’m playing well and finally I get to the final. I’m so happy it’s here in Acapulco again.

“I’m ready. I’m healthy, I’m ready, and I’m playing good tennis. So we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

DOHA, Qatar – Carla Suárez Navarro produced 62 minutes of immaculate tennis to swat aside No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and take her place in the final of the Qatar Total Open.

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

In one of the best performances of her career, Suárez Navarro outthought and outplayed the WTA’s resident magician to run out a surprisingly comfortable 6-2, 6-0 winner.

After an even start, Suárez Navarro laid down a marker in the fifth game, flashing winners off either wing to get her nose in front. A few games later she had the insurance break before calmly serving out the set.

A nasty tumble in the first game of the second set briefly halted the Spaniard’s charge. But after dusting herself down, normal service was immediately resumed: a whipped cross-court forehand and then a wonderful instinctive volley handing her the break.

In stark contrast, Radwanska cut a forlorn figure, the brilliance that decorated her three-set victory over Roberta Vinci the previous evening conspicuous by its absence. The Pole’s mood darkened in the following game when she netted a routine forehand to spurn a rare break opportunity.

With Suárez Navarro’s groundstrokes now in full flow, Radwanska was soon put out of her misery, the final four games flying by in a flurry of winners. 

“Today I feel really, really good,” Suárez Navarro, who hit 20 winners and just eight unforced errors, said. “I think also she was a little tired from yesterday.”

Suárez Navarro is also hoping to reach the doubles final with partner Sara Errani, and was quick to dismiss any suggestion that her visit from the trainer would jeopardize their chances. “I’m running a lot, I fight a lot, and sometime I finish like that,” she said when asked about the after effects of her second set slip. “But now I feel good and I have doubles – I’m feeling better!”

By reaching the semifinals Suárez Navarro guaranteed a return to the Top 10 and her latest win will see her rise to a career-high No.6 in the new rankings. 

“You work for a long time for this. And to be in the Top 10 is obviously good. I feel good, I feel happy and I think I’m ready for tomorrow.”

Read the match recap here.

GAME, SET MATCH: WTA Insider

Game: Carla Suárez Navarro hits a new high.

Win the biggest title of your career, move up to a career-high No.6, and take over the No.2 ranking on the Road To Singapore standings. That’s a good week of work from the 28-year-old Spaniard, who came into the Qatar Total Open final having lost her last three finals. She has struggled to summon her best tennis in the big moments – and it looked like the trend would continue after losing a 26-minute first set – but this is a new Carla. After Jelena Ostapenko swatted her off court in that first set, Suárez Navarro kept her wits about her. She never panicked, instead she grew bolder, altered her tactics to drive the ball into the middle of the court and away from the teenager’s forehand, and increased the pressure. In the end, her experience in the big moments paid off.

Suárez Navarro said at the start of the year that her goal was to get back in the Top 10, hopefully the Top 5, and win a title. It’s March and she’s nearly ticked off all three boxes. Now to see if she can translate that success into two of the biggest tournaments of the season in Indian Wells and Miami, where she was a finalist last year.

WTA Insider Champion’s Corner: Suárez Navarro.

Set: Sloane Stephens outbattles, outcompetes Dominika Cibulkova.

Talk about a turnaround. Stephens was 0-6 in semifinals before winning her first title last summer at the Citi Open in Washington DC. She’s now won three titles in the last seven months, going 3-0 in finals during that span, and she has won every tournament at which she’s hit the semifinal stage. In Acapulco, Stephens nearly blew a set and break lead in the final against Cibulkova. But losing the second set simply set things up for a wild and tense third set, which saw both women save break points time and time again in front of a rowdy crowd. But in the end it was Stephens, who used her defense to hang close in the final frame before taking a handful of courageous cuts to win 6-4, 4-6 7-6(5) to become the first woman to two titles this season. It was a big statement win from a player who had to endure such criticism over her inability to get things done at the business end of tournaments.

Match: Teenage romp.

Another week, another teenager makes a run. February was all about the WTA trio of eighteen year-olds, who are putting their stamp on the tour. Three weeks ago it was Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina making the St. Petersburg semifinals. Last week it was 18-year-old Jelena Ostapenko, who arrived in Doha thinking she would have to play the qualification tournament. Two withdrawals later, Ostapenko was into the main draw and she didn’t waste her chance. She ousted No.5 seed Petra Kvitova and came within a few games of winning her first title. She fell short but her performance throughout the week was notable. Ostapenko’s power and timing, particularly on the forehand, was impressive, as was her feisty competitiveness.

Ostapenko jumps from No.88 to No.41 on Monday, joining Bencic and Kasatkina in the Top 50. It’s the first time three 18-year-olds occupied the Top 50 since April of 2009, when Caroline Wozniacki, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Sorana Cirstea matched the feat.

We kinda made it?✌?️☺️ @anakonjuh @DKasatkina @LizaKulichkova @jelenaostapenko https://t.co/jQNm2u67UY

— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) February 28, 2016

RANKING MOVERS
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of February 29, 2016.

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT), +47 (No.88 to 41): The 18-year-old Latvian made the biggest ranking jump of the week, and with good reason! She headed into the Qatar Total Open having won just one first main draw match all year and ended the week reaching her career first Premier-level final. With that result she jumped to a career high of No.41, joining fellow 18-year-olds Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina in the Top 50. That makes this the first time since the week of April 6, 2009 that there are three players 18 or younger inside the Top 50.

Elena Vesnina (RUS), +29 (No.118 to 89): Elena Vesnina jumps 29 spots after her run to the Qatar Total Open quarterfinals, earning a spot back in the Top 100.

Zheng Saisai (CHN), +10 (No.73 to 63): Jumping up 10 spots to No.63, Zheng Saisai climbed to Chinese No.1, overtaking Zhang Shuai and improving her Olympic qualification bid.

Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP), +5 (No.11 to 6): After winning the biggest title of the week – and of her career – Carla Suárez Navarro is ranked a career-high No.6, putting her within striking distance of her 2016 goal.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Abierto Monterrey Afirme
Monterrey, Mexico
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 29 – Sunday, March 6

BMW Malaysian Open
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 29 – Sunday, March 6

BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, USA
Premier | $6,134,605 | Hard, Outdoors
Wednesday, March 9 – Sunday March 20

Miami Open
Miami, USA
Premier | $6,134,605 | Hard, Outdoors
Tuesday, March 22 – Sunday, April 3

TOP 2O PLAYER SCHEDULES

1. Serena Williams – Indian Wells, Miami
2. Angelique Kerber -Indian Wells, Miami
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Indian Wells, Miami
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Indian Wells, Miami
5. Simona Halep – Indian Wells, Miami
6. Carla Suárez Navarro – Indian Wells, Miami
7. Maria Sharapova – Indian Wells, Miami
8. Belinda Bencic – Indian Wells, Miami
9. Petra Kvitova – Indian Wells, Miami
10. Roberta Vinci – Kuala Lumpur, Indian Wells, Miami
11. Flavia Pennetta – (retired)
12. Venus Williams – Indian Wells, Miami
13. Lucie Safarova – Indian Wells, Miami
14. Timea Bacsinszky – Indian Wells, Miami
15. Victoria Azarenka – Indian Wells, Miami
16. Ana Ivanovic – Indian Wells, Miami
17. Sara Errani – Monterrey, Indian Wells, Miami
18. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Indian Wells, Miami
19. Elina Svitolina – Kuala Lumpur, Indian Wells, Miami
20. Karolina Pliskova – Indian Wells, Miami

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Alexandra Panova (RUS) – March 2, 1989
Nicole Gibbs (USA) – March 3, 1993
Laura Siegemund (GER) – March 4, 1988
Daria Gavrilova (AUS) – March 5, 1994
Marina Erakovic (NZL) – March 6, 1988
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) – March 6, 1989