SAP Stat Of The Day: Kristina Mladenovic
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Kristina Mladenovic scored a milestone win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Kristina Mladenovic scored a milestone win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
No.5 seed Maria Sharapova survived a hiccup to reach the second week of the Australian Open – and earn a career milestone – with a three-set win over American Lauren Davis.
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Top seed Timea Babos kicks off her Hungarian Ladies Open campaign with a solid victory in front of her home crowd, knocking out Turkish wildcard Ipek Soylu in straight sets to move into the second round.
“I’m just happy to play here at home,” Babos enthused after the match. “It’s very special for me, it motivates me a lot – I’m very happy to have this first win.”
With the support of the vocal home fans, Babos powered her way to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Soylu, breaking her serve five times and needing just an hour and twenty minutes to advance.
“Already for the first round to have such a great crowd and such a big number of fans, it’s an amazing feeling. Hopefully this week I can continue that, and playing singles and doubles will bring out plenty of people.”
Besides being Babos’ first victory in Budapest since 2013, it’s also the Hungarian’s first main draw win of the year after a disappointing string of first-round losses stretching back to October 2016.
“It was not an easy season so far for me,” Babos reflected. “I started to play better at the St. Petersburg Ladies Open, but I played a lot of Top 30 players. I lost some tough three-setters.
“But then I had Fed Cup, which helped a lot. I played very, very consistent and I beat some Top 30 players and started to feel better.”
Also in action, No.8 seed Annika Beck had to fight against the home crowd on her way to the quarterfinals against Hungarian wildcard Fanny Stollar.
Yesterday, Stollar thrilled the local fans by notching her first ever WTA main draw victory against Danka Kovinic, but the No.282 was unable to back it up and fell to Beck, 6-2, 6-0.
“It was a very good match and she started off pretty well,” Beck said afterwards. “I backed off a bit at the start and fought my way through the games. I got on top of her and was able to finish it off, even with the score it was still a close match since the games were close.”
“It’s my first quarterfinal of the year, I’m just happy I can keep up the good results and have more success on the court.”
Joining Beck in the quarterfinals is No.2 seed Lucie Safarova, who needed just 56 minutes to sweep past Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-2, 6-1. The 2015 French Open finalist took an early lead in both sets, opening with a break in each to control the match and battle past the No.102 Taiwanese.
“It’s always nice to play the tournaments which are close to home so more friends and family can come,” Safarova said. “This week my coach’s family and little kids are here. Those are my friends! It’s nice and I’m enjoying it.”
Rounding out the quarterfinals are No.3 seed Julia Goerges, who defeated Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour, and Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who scored another upset to knock out No.6 seed Pauline Parmentier, 7-6(3), 6-4.
DUBAI, UAE – No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shaui continued their solid start to 2017, knocking out Mandy Minella and Anastasija Sevastova, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Peng shook off a disappointing singles loss to Sevastova to pair Hlavackova, with whom she reached the Australian Open final, to get her revenge on the Latvian in doubles.
“It’s not always easy to play after Shuai loses in singles on the same day,” Hlavackova said after the match. “Obviously, you’re sad, but it’s nice that we were able to work as a team and just fight for the doubles anyway. That’s what I felt today. We were just better players but they played very solidly. Sevastova’s having a good week so she was playing unbelievable serves and forehands. It was always close so I’m happy we got through.”
The duo raced out to a 4-1 lead to start, and survived a surge from Sevastova and Minella to clinch the opening set and ride the momentum to a one hour and six minute victory.
“It seems like it’s going well. We always had good results together, so it’s not a huge surprise for both of us. But nothing is guaranteed, so we’ve worked hard for every win.
“We’re looking forward to playing more big events like these. We play very well together.”
Hlavackova is coming off a longterm partnership with Lucie Hradecka, with whom she qualified for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global the last two years in a row. What do Hradecka and Peng have in common? A two-handed forehand.
“Maybe I like their mentality, but whatever happens I guess I need to keep looking for more double-handed players!” joked the Czech veteran.
Up next for Hlavackova and Peng are No.4 seeds Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-Jan, a newly formed team who reached the semifinals just last week at the Qatar Total Open.
Earlier in the day, top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic recovered from 0-4 in the match tie-break to oust Viktorija Golubic and Kristyna Pliskova, 7-5, 4-6, 10-5. Mladenovic had to shake off a singles loss of her own to reunite with Garcia in time to reach the quarterfinals, where they’ll play No.5 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Yaroslava Shvedova, who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu and Daria Kasatkina, 6-3, 6-3.
No.3 seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova also advanced on Wednesday, easing past Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson, 6-3, 7-5; they’ll next face No.7 seeds Abigail Spears and Katarina Srebotnik.
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
A clip from Caroline Wozniacki’s press conference after her quarterfinals win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Caroline Wozniacki takes on CiCi Bellis in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – 2011 champion Caroline Wozniacki put an end to CiCi Bellis’ dream run at the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, notching commanding 6-3, 6-2 win over the 17-year-old American.
Bellis announced herself to the Dubai draw in a big way with her stunning upset over World No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska in the last round to reach her first Premier 5 quarterfinals, but she had no answers against her childhood idol Wozniacki.
“I have been there myself, so I know what it’s like,” Wozniacki said of her young opponent. “I just try to put myself in her shoes.
“For me, it was just very important to stay strong and not show any negative emotions but just stay positive all the time, show that I have the presence on court and really make her play those extra balls and points.
“She would really have to play on a really high level to beat me, because I was going to give that extra ball back. I wasn’t going to just give it to her.”
.@cicibellis99 is ?! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/SrQdj4TNOl
— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017
The American’s tricky disguised groundstrokes – which troubled Radwanska time and again in the third round – kept Wozniacki second-guessing as the teenager dictated the early rallies. She calmly took the break at 3-1, but it would be the only lead of the match for Bellis as the former World No.1 came roaring back.
Wozniacki kept to her game plan, tracking down every shot and making Bellis play an extra ball to draw out unforced errors. The American’s game plan crumbled, rewarding Wozniacki with the break back to level the match 3-3.
The Dane took full command from there, reeling off nine straight games to grab the opening set and take a daunting 4-0 lead in the second, and she went on to serve out a spot in her sixth straight Dubai semifinals.
The unforced errors count marked the difference between Wozniacki and Bellis: while they were almost evenly matched in winners (12 for Wozniacki to 14), Bellis struck more than twice as many unforced errors with 33 against Wozniacki’s 15.
.@CaroWozniacki advances to @DDFTennis Semifinals!
Cruises past Bellis 6-3, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/GRnNkCy797
— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017
“She’s just really solid, really solid off the ground and serving well,” Bellis explained after the match. “[She was] more consistent than me today. Moved me a lot. I think all that combined.
“She’s such a great player. It was really fun for me to see what the highest level is.”
Up next the 2011 champion will take on Anastasija Sevastova for a spot in the final. The pair last met in the quarterfinals of the 2016 US Open, with Wozniacki emerging victorious in a comfortable straight sets.
“She’s a player that mixes the pace up quite a bit,” Wozniacki said. “She’s definitely going to try and get me out of my own rhythm. I’m just excited to play and be in the semifinals once again.”
January was defined by five breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances to the first month of 2016. Which one soared the highest?
Have a look at the nominees for January’s Breakthrough Performance of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 8.
January 2016 WTA Breakthrough Performance of the Month Finalists:
Daria Kasatkina: Building on the momentum she’d started at the end of last season – reaching the third round of the US Open as a lucky loser and the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup as a qualifier – 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina began 2016 with a bang by defeating Venus Williams in three sets at the ASB Classic. A former junior French Open champion, the Russian came to Melbourne full of confidence and promptly upset No.27 seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the first round. Backing up that win over fellow junior prodigy Ana Konjuh, Kasatkina’s run ended at the hands of World No.1 Serena Williams in the third round.
Johanna Konta: Konta’s breakthrough also involved a win over the elder of the Williams sisters; unseeded at the Australian Open, Konta took out the No.8 seed in two decisive sets en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal, where she lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. During her historic two weeks in Melbourne – where she became the first Brit to reach the final four Down Under since Sue Barker in 1977 – Konta outlastes 2015 Australian Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round, capturing an 8-6 final set just to reach her first career major quarterfinal, and went one step better when she ended the fairytale run of Zhang Shuai.
Zhang Shuai: Zhang came into the Australian Open without ever having won a Grand Slam main draw match in 14 previous attempts. She earned her first victory in emphatic style, however, when she blasted past No.2 seed Simona Halep in straight sets. The qualifier backed up her win with efficient wins over Hobart champion Alizé Cornet and Varvara Lepchenko – and survived a tricky fourth round with No.15 seed and 2015 semifinalist Madison Keys – before she ran out of gas on her eighth match of the tournament (three in qualifying, five in main draw) against Konta. Zhang’s run nonetheless guaranteed she would be the new Chinese No.1, a prestigious mantle with Li Na having recently retired and the 2016 Olympic Games on the horizon.
Samantha Crawford: The powerful young American has long struggled with injuries and inconsistencies since winning the 2012 US Open girl’s singles title, but had an impressive week at the Apia International Sydney. Unseeded in qualifying, she took out 2014 champion Tsvetana Pironkova to reach the main draw and hit through Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic to reach the semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. With textbook technique and effortless power, Crawford is within spitting distance of the Top 100 thanks to her run in Sydney, and should be one to watch as her ranking continues to increase.
Daria Gavrilova: Hometown favorite Daria Gavrilova rode a wave of support into her first-ever Grand Slam second week at the Australian Open. Dismissing No.6 seed Petra Kvitova in the second round, the Russian-born Aussie won a classic third round encounter against Kristina Mladenovic and bageled Carla Suárez Navarro in her next match before falling in three. Gavrilova is another former junior champion, winning the US Open title in 2010, but a torn ACL stunted her progress and kept her off the tour for nearly all of 2014. Last year, she won the 2015 WTA Rising Star of the Year Award and is set to reach a career-high ranking of No.33 following her run Down Under.
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com