Rodina Denies Chang In Taipei Final
Evgeniya Rodina defeated Chang Kai-Chen in Sunday’s final of the OEC Taipei WTA Challenge to lift the biggest title of her career.
Evgeniya Rodina defeated Chang Kai-Chen in Sunday’s final of the OEC Taipei WTA Challenge to lift the biggest title of her career.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis kept her hopes of a first Olympic medal alive as she and countrywoman Timea Bacsinszky blasted past No.3 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the Olympic tennis event in women’s doubles.
Bacsinszky bounced back from a disappointing first round defeat in singles to play just her second doubles tournament of 2016 alongside Hingis, the reigning US Open, WTA Finals and Australian Open champion.
Together, the pair have dropped just one set through their first three matches, and were particularly dominant against the Chans – a formidable pair who were the last team to defeat Hingis and then-partner Sania Mirza before the duo went on a 41-match winning streak – winning the second set in just 35 minutes.
After going down an early break to start, the No.5 seeds broke serve six straight times to book a semifinal encounter No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. Hlavackova and Hradecka captured the silver medal at the London Olympics, falling to three-time Olympic champions Venus and Serena Williams, and saved three match points to defeat Russians Daria Kasatkina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Hingis is playing her first Olympic tennis event since 1996, when she was 15 years old.
On the top half of the draw, Czechs Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova kept up their giant-killing run with a three-set win over former World No.1s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The Italians reunited for the Olympics, but fell in a tough 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Safarova and Strycova, who began their tournament with a win over the Williams sisters.
Rogers Cup champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina had a rough itinerary down to Rio for the Olympics, but the Russians have made up for lost prep time in impressive fashion, easing past No.4 seeds Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-3, 6-4.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Angelique Kerber dodged the upset bug going around the Australian Open, grinding past Alexandra Dulgheru as the second round wrapped up at the Happy Slam Thursday.
The No.7-seeded Kerber had beaten Dulgheru in straight sets in both of their previous meetings and this one went much the same way as she beat the Romanian in an hour and 13 minutes, 6-2, 6-4.
Kerber, who was ranked No.7 in the world when the seeds were made but moved up to No.6 earlier this week, is now just two wins away from completing a Grand Slam quarterfinal set – she’s been to the quarterfinals or better at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, but never the Australian Open.
Other high-profile winners included No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who out-hit Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-2 (read more here), No.14 seed Victoria Azarenka, who continued her perfect start to the year with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Danka Kovinic (read more here), No.15 seed Madison Keys, who outlasted Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3, No.20 seed Ana Ivanovic, who beat Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-3 (read more here), and No.21 seed Ekaterina Makarova, who beat Tatjana Maria, 6-4, 6-2.
Azarenka has now lost just 20 games in seven matches this year – an average of one game a set.
“I’m just really trying to stay in the moment,” Azarenka told reporters after the match. “I do want to keep improving from match to match, but from now on it’s only going to get tougher, so I really want to keep that focus and that intensity and that determination. Really that’s what I’m looking for right now, to keep applying the same effort, and paying attention to the details in preparation before the match.”
It wasn’t a perfect day for the seeds by any means, though, with No.11 seed Timea Bacsinszky going down to Annika Beck, 6-2, 6-3, No.18 seed Elina Svitolina falling to Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-4, No.19 seed Jelena Jankovic losing a heartbreaker to Laura Siegemund, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, and No.30 seed Sabine Lisicki succumbing to big-serving Czech upstart Denisa Allertova, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Karolina Pliskova, the No.9 seed, downed Julia Goerges in the feature night match, 7-6(5), 6-1.
With 18 seeds out already, the 2016 Australian Open has set the record for most seeds to go out before the third round of a Grand Slam since the majors switched to 32 seeds at 2001 Wimbledon.
The third round will kick off on Friday, with Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova among those in action – check back on wtatennis.com for all the latest from Melbourne!
.@KaPliskova clinches the last spot in @AustralianOpen third round! Defeats Goerges 7-6(5), 6-1! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/8uAaAj6ZWZ
— WTA (@WTA) January 21, 2016
Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig is set to become Puerto Rico’s first women to win an Olympic medal as she advanced to the gold medal match with a three-set win over Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
As a result, Puig will become the first woman representing Puerto Rico to win an Olympic medal and has the chance to become the first athlete from Puerto Rico – man or woman – to win a gold medal.
#PicaPower, the world No.34’s rallying cry on social media, became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter following her victory.
Dreams come true when you work hard enough to get them! Going all the way! #JuegosOlimpicos #Tenis ?❤️?? #EquipoPUR pic.twitter.com/AI7QaVXKaT
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) August 11, 2016
Entering the gold medal match, Puig has won a career-best 36 main draw matches in 2016, more than she won in the previous two seasons.
But perhaps most impressive… did Puig forecast her success in Rio back on July 27 when she shared with her Twitter following that she introduced “Rio Puig” to the Twitter-verse?
Meet the newest addition to my family! “Rio Puig” ? #NewBaby pic.twitter.com/hpdwKJGlG0
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) July 27, 2016
While Puig will become the first woman representing Puerto Rico to win an Olympic medal, Gigi Fernandez, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, won two gold medals in doubles for the United States playing alongside Mary Joe Fernandez in 1992 and 1996. Gigi was quick to join in the celebration.
MEDALLA. ??MEDALLA. ??MEDALLA ??para @MonicaAce93 y @PuertoRicoPUR ?????? POR FIN!!!! No puedo de la emocion!
— Gigi Fernandez (@gigifernandez) August 12, 2016
No matter what happens in Saturday’s Gold Medal match, we know Puig will have one fan firmly in her corner:
So some good news today though! Rio started puppy school and is doing a fantastic job!!!! Im a proud mama ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/Yb9RVzcPnK
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) August 10, 2016
Roberta Vinci sits down for a chat at the Doha Corniche, one of the city’s most popular spots to take in the spectacular skyline.
Madison Keys might be the youngest member of the WTA’s Top 10, but in 2016 she proved that she has the game to stay at the top. Watch all of Keys’ best shots of the year, right here!
MELBOURNE, Australia – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza were held up for longer than usual en route to the last four of the Australian Open, eventually seeing off the stubborn resistance of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and CoCo Vandeweghe on Tuesday afternoon.
Having romped through their opening three assignments at Melbourne Park, Hingis and Mirza made the perfect start against No.12 seeds Groenefeld and Vandeweghe, pocketing the opening set in a brisk 23 minutes.
Thoughts of another routine victory were soon parked as their opponents capitalized on some uncharacteristically sloppy mistakes to level to contest. There, though, the surprises ended as the top seeds steadied the ship, breaking twice to close out a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
The result extends Hingis and Mirza’s remarkable winning streak to 34 matches – a run stretching back to the end of last summer and bringing seven titles.
And their path to number eight was made a little simpler with the exit earlier in the day of No.2 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching.
The sisters were the last team to get the better of Hingis and Mirza, coming out on top in the Cincinnati semifinals, but their hopes of reaching a maiden major final together were dashed by Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
No stranger to the business end of a Grand Slam – they lifted the French and US Open crowns in their first stint together – Hlavackova and Hradecka will now meet Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 winners over home hopes Anastasia and Arina Rodionova in the evening session.
THE WINNERS
Monica Puig made Olympic history for Puerto Rico on Saturday night, becoming the island’s first ever gold medalist after a rollercoaster win over World No.2 Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
Puig has been the surprise of the Olympic tennis event, playing the best tennis of her career to reach the gold medal match and dealing out upsets to the likes of French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova along the way.
She now stands as the first athlete – male or female – to bring home a gold medal to Puerto Rico, ending a 68-year drought dating back to the island’s first appearance at an Olympic Games.
“This is for Puerto Rico. This is definitely for them,” Puig said. “They’re going through some tough times right now, and they needed this. I needed this.
“I think I united a nation. I just love where I come from.”
Read the full match recap | WTA Insider Live Blog: Game-by-game analysis
Four years after pairing up for the first time ahead of the Olympic tennis event in London, No.7 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina strike gold in Rio, taking out No.5 seeds and World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis and countrywoman Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4, 6-4.
“It’s incredible,” Vesnina said after the match. “Ever since I was a little girl, I was watching the Olympic Games, and it was such a dream just to come here and get a medal for Russia, for my country and in front of my dad. We’ve been through so much, and yet we were so good today.
“We stuck together and we believed til the end that we could win. It’s just incredible, I still can’t believe that we won the gold. It’s the best moment in my career, I swear!”
Makarova and Vesnina came to Rio having just won their first title of the season at the Rogers Cup, but not before enduring a nightmarish travel itinery that nearly left them late for the Opening Ceremonies. Once there, the Russian duo took care of business in efficient style, running through five wins without dropping a set over the opposition.
Read the full match recap here.
In a thrilling encounter between two tough American teams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands partnered Jack Sock to take out four-time gold medalist Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, 6-7(3), 6-1, 10-7 and win gold in mixed doubles of the Olympic tennis event.
“I’m still pretty emotional,” Mattek-Sands said after the match. “I think, going into this final, we knew the American national anthem was going to be played either way, but I was actually kind of surprised I was so emotional. It’s my first Olympics, first time being up on the podium. It’s hard to describe it in words, but I’m so excited having this guy next to me, we played awesome. It was a lot of fun this whole week.”
Read the full match recap here.
RANKING MOVERS
There were no WTA ranking points awarded at the Olympic tennis event for the week of August 15, 2016.
Click here to view the current rankings.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Western & Southern Open
Cincinnati, USA
Premier | $2,503,250 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 15 – Sunday, August 21
Connecticut Open
New Haven, USA
Premier | $695,900 | Hard, Outdoor
Sunday, August 21 – Saturday, August 27
US Open
New York, USA
Grand Slam | $ TBA | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 29 – Sunday, September 11
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Cincinnati, US Open
2. Angelique Kerber – Cincinnati, US Open
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Cincinnati, US Open
4. Simona Halep – Cincinnati, US Open
5. Agnieszka Radwanska – Cincinnati, US Open
6. Venus Williams – US Open
7. Victoria Azarenka
8. Roberta Vinci – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
9. Madison Keys – New Haven, US Open
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
11. Dominika Cibulkova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
12. Carla Suárez Navarro – Cincinnati, US Open
13. Johanna Konta – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
14. Petra Kvitova – New Haven, US Open
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
16. Samantha Stosur – Cincinnati, US Open
17. Karolina Pliskova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
18. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
19. Elina Svitolina – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
20. Barbora Strycova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) – August 17, 1989
Johanna Larsson (SWE) – August 17, 1988
Fifty-four minutes was all it took for Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza to brush aside Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova and take their place in the Australian Open final.
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza ahead of her participation at the Western & Southern Open.