Tennis News

BEIJING, China – Friday’s China Open draw placed Agnieszka Radwanska on a last 16 collision course with former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki.

Over the past fortnight, Radwanska and Wozniacki have crossed paths in Tokyo and Wuhan, and should both clear the opening couple of hurdles in the Chinese capital another showdown awaits. Wozniacki came back from the brink to win in Tokyo – where she went on to lift the title – before the Pole gained revenge this week in Wuhan to reduce her arrears in the career head-to-head to 5-9.

Radwanska, the No.3 seed, begins the calendar’s final Premier Mandatory event against Wang Qiang, with the winner of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova lying in wait in the second round. Wozniacki, the 2010 champion, is unseeded and was paired alongside CoCo Vandeweghe first up. Victory over the big-serving American could see her meet No.13 seed Roberta Vinci. 

New Word No.1 Angelique Kerber begins her challenge against a qualifier, while No.2 seed and defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza faces Irina-Camelia Begu.

Muguruza has endured a disappointing second half of the season and is in need of a good run in Beijing to confirm her return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Her hopes of doing so were done no favors by the draw, which placed Petra Kvitova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys in her quarter.

The prospect of meeting Kvitova in the third round will be particularly daunting, given her spectacular form in Wuhan, while Kuznetsova and Keys are both looking to secure a place in Singapore. Whoever is left standing after running this gauntlet is likely to face No.4 seed Simona Halep for a place in the final.

In the top half, Kerber finds herself in a section that also includes Barbora Strycova, Elina Svitolina and No.6 seed Venus Williams.

Draw @ChinaOpen is out. 1R highlights: Wozniacki-Vandeweghe, Pliskova-Safarova, Stosur-Zhang, Mladenovic-Jankovic. pic.twitter.com/Rsz6DFuCbl

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 30 September 2016

Dominika Cibulkova’s boldest decision has a touch of romance to it. 

She and her then-boyfriend, Miso Navara, had been dating for a year when they decided that he would leave his job to travel on the tour with her.

“It was after one year, and we didn’t know how it was going to turn out,” she recalls in an exclusive WTA interview.

As she points out, it turned out pretty well: “We are together for seven years, we got married last year and we are one happy couple,” she beamed.

Marriage proved a good omen for the 27-year-old, as she finished the year as the WTA World No.5, her highest year-end ranking. It capped a brilliant run of form for Cibulkova: her four WTA titles in 2016 were more than any other player and she picked up her 400th career WTA win in the quarterfinals at 2017 Doha. And last season, she ended the year in spectacular style, winning the biggest title of her career so far at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Cibulkova was marking International Women’s Day, which has ‘Be Bold For Change’ as its 2017 theme.

International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year, and celebrates women’s contributions to culture, the economy, politics and society.