Singapore: Kerber Interview
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her round-robin win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her round-robin win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Alison Riske takes on CoCo Vandeweghe in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Madison Keys has Tuesday’s hotshot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Watch the best moments from Caroline Wozniacki’s press conference after her first round victory at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
SINGAPORE – Top seed Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic were imperious in a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No.8 seeds Karolina Pliskova and Julia Goerges to advance into the semifinals at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
The reigning Roland Garros champions came to Singapore with a chance to unseat World No.1 Sania Mirza atop the WTA doubles rankings, but first had to overcome a team they’d lost to at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Playing in their second WTA Finals – their first as a pair – the French youngsters played clutch tennis throughout the 85-minute encounter, saving all 11 break points faced and winning 75% of first serve points.
Big backhand from @KikiMladenovic on break point! ? #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/AGYGvd4bLp
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
“Every game was tight; we saved so many break points,” Garcia said during the team’s on-court interview. “We knew things could change at any time, but we stayed very aggressive and played a very good match.”
Where last year’s championships was a round robin format and no-ad scoring, this year’s competition brought back the single-elimination knock-out from 2014, but took away no-ad, leading to some marathon games between the two teams.
“You don’t have space for mistakes, but the stats prove it; we saved 11 break points. I think it was a very close match; the girls are playing strong with big serves. It was tough to break each other, but I’m just enjoying my time with my partner; we’re so happy and lucky to be back here.”
To end the season as Co-No.1s, the French team will have to have a better result than Mirza, who plays her quarterfinal match on Friday with fellow No.2 seed Martina Hingis, and could next come up against Bethanie Mattek-Sands, the only other player in contention for No.1.
Seeded No.3 with Lucie Safarova, Mattek-Sands will have to win the title to nab the top spot, but the American will first have to take on No.7 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova on Thursday night; the winners play Garcia and Mladenovic on Saturday.
Describe your team in ⓵ word!@CaroGarcia: Awesome ?@KikiMladenovic: French ??#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/bIRjtanm9A
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Kristina Mladenovic scored a milestone win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
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.
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.