Brengle Stuns Serena In Auckland Upset
Madison Brengle pulled off her first Top 3 victory at the ASB Classic, clinching a thrilling three-set win over top seed Serena Williams in Auckland.
Madison Brengle pulled off her first Top 3 victory at the ASB Classic, clinching a thrilling three-set win over top seed Serena Williams in Auckland.
DOHA, Qatar – Carla Suárez Navarro returned to the main stage of the Qatar Total Open to play the doubles final with Sara Errani, having just won the singles title over Jelena Ostapenko a mere hours before. Pushing No.4 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching tough over two sets, the sisters ultimately defeated the Spaniard and Italian, 6-3, 6-3, to win their second tournament of 2016.
“Today’s match wasn’t easy, despite the score,” elder sister Yung-Jan said during the on-court interview. “They’re for sure very tough opponents who’ve been playing really well. I was sick and having a fever, coughing, but we’re happy to make it until the last match!”
The Chans won their home tournament just two weeks ago at the Taiwan Open, donating their prize money to their country’s hurricane relief effort, and played a near-perfect final against Errani and Suárez Navarro, hitting 21 winners to only 10 errors – a far cleaner match than their opponents, who hit 19 winners and 22 unforced.
“It’s the first time we’ve played together at the Qatar Open, but we’re the champions!” Hao-Ching said. “So we’re very happy and would like to come back next year.”
For the runners-up, it’s still a stellar Middle East Swing, as Errani already walked away with the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships while Suárez Navarro won Doha, and the pair reached the semifinals in Dubai’s doubles event, as well.
“It was two very nice weeks for us,” Errani said. “I’m very happy to play doubles with Carla; it’s amazing. She did an unbelievably great job playing singles and doubles.”
“I cannot wait to play our next tournament together. We had fun here and played well,” Suárez added.
As for the Chans, the win in Doha propels them to No.2 on the Road to Singapore standings, one behind Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza; until this week’s loss to Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the No.4 seeds were the last team to beat Santina before they went on a 41-match winning streak.
“Already No.2? I think that’s a pretty good start to the year!” Yung-Jan said.
“We’re very happy, but we didn’t check before the match, so it’s a surprise for us!” Hao-Ching said as the sisters shared a laugh during the trophy ceremony.
Garbiñe Muguruza overcame a slow start – and a spirited challenge from Svetlana Kuznetsova – to move into the semifinals of the Brisbane International for the first time, where she’ll face Alizé Cornet.
An interview with Carla Suárez Navarro after her win in the final of the Qatar Total Open.
Lauren Davis takes on Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinals of the ASB Classic.
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA, USA – Former World No.5 Daniela Hantuchova has earned a wildcard into the main draw of the upcoming BNP Paribas Open. Other wildcard entrants will include Australian Open quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai, Heather Watson, and Americans Shelby Rogers, Samantha Crawford, Lauren Davis, Alison Riske, and Jamie Loeb.
The Slovak made her big breakthrough back in 2002 when she upset Martina Hingis for the title, and came back in 2007 to win a second time – defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Hantuchova also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open back in 2008, but with her ranking currently outside the Top 100, the seven-time WTA titlist could not enter the main draw without a wildcard.
Joining Hantuchova in the main draw is Zhang Shuai, the Chinese No.2 who enjoyed a Cinderella run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open; a qualifier in Melbourne, she won her first-ever Grand Slam main draw match in emphatic fashion when she dismissed then-World No.2 Simona Halep in straight sets. Zhang took that momentum all the way into the final eight, where she fell to Johanna Konta; far from a one week wonder, she took turned that form and momentum into a title run last week at an ITF Challenger in Rancho Santa Fe.
Watson enjoyed a solid start to the year by reaching the quarterfinals of the Hobart International as defending champion, and is currently in the quarterfinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme – one of three Brits to reach WTA quarterfinals this week, and the largest number since 1978.
Of the five Americans awarded wildcards, Samantha Crawford raced into the semifinals of the Brisbane International as a qualifier, while Shelby Rogers recently reached the finals of the Rio Open – falling to former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in straight sets. Alison Riske started 2016 brightly with a run to the finals of the Shenzhen Open, and Lauren Davis pushed former No.1 Maria Sharapova to three sets at the Australian Open. Finally, former NCAA champion Jamie Loeb has played solid tennis on the Challenger level, reaching the quarterfinals of a 100K and winning a 25K.
Read more about the wildcards set to play Indian Wells here.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Karolina Pliskova’s clinical serving was front and center in her semifinal victory at the Brisbane International.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Elina Svitolina booked her place in the quarterfinals of the BMW Malaysian Open with a topsy-turvy win over qualifier Risa Ozaki on Thursday evening.
Watch live action from Monterrey & Kuala Lumpur this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
After breezing through her opening match, Svitolina, the No.2 seed, seemed on course for another routine victory when she took a one-sided opening set.
However, in the end she was made to sweat – by both Ozaki and the Malaysian capital’s humidity – before running away with the match, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
Struggling with a preexisting back problem, Svitolina lost a series of tit for tat games to drop the second set to her unheralded opponent. A visit from the trainer helped alleviate her discomfort and refocus the mind as the Ukrainian nipped the potential upset in the bud.
“My back was a bit sore. I had an injury at the Australian Open so I need to take care of it and that’s why today I was worrying a bit about my back,” Svitolina said. “After the timeout I came out strong and was playing great and playing my game. So I’m really happy and it was good that I came back strong.
“I was a little bit injured, a little bit off my game. But she started playing well and that’s why I was a little bit struggling. All the games were advantage, deuce, advantage, deuce, so it was just a few points the difference. But this happens sometimes so I was just trying to be focused – and of course the conditions were not easy, too.”
Also advancing in Svitolina’s half of the draw was qualifier Zhu Lin, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Zarina Diyas.
In the top half, there was success for a couple more unseeded players, Naomi Broady and Cagla Buyukakcay. Broady beat Yang Zhaoxuan, 6-4, 6-3, while Buyakakcay defeated top seed Roberta Vinci’s conqueror, Chang Kai-Chen, 7-5, 6-3.
Karolina Pliskova takes on Alizé Cornet in the final of the Brisbane International.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Eugenie Bouchard’s resurgent form continued at the BMW Malaysian Open, where she’s into the final without dropping a set so far after a win over Naomi Broady, 6-4, 6-3.
Watch live action from Monterrey & Kuala Lumpur this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Earlier in the day, Elina Svitolina made her way to the final with a win over Zhu Lin, the No.2 seed dispatching the Chinese qualifier in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
More to come…