Doha: Shot Of The Match (Petkovic)
Andrea Petkovic had the shot of the match in the quarterfinals at the Qatar Total Open.
Andrea Petkovic had the shot of the match in the quarterfinals at the Qatar Total Open.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Top seed Serena Williams reached her sixth straight US Open semifinal with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over No.5 seed Simona Halep.
“I feel great. I’m glad I got tested,” she told press after the match. “I think her level really picked up in the second, but I had some opportunities that I didn’t take.
“So what I gather from that is I really could have played better in that second set and maybe had an opportunity to win in straights.
“I think if anything, that’s the biggest silver lining I take.”
Playing the last of the ladies quarterfinals, Serena enjoyed a strong start against Halep, racing out to a 3-0 lead and edging out a long sixth game to take the opening set in just over a half hour. Halep, however, has been playing some of her best tennis this summer with a win at the Rogers Cup and a semifinal showing at the Western & Southern Open, and saved a stunning 12 break points in the second set to level the match on her fifth set point.
Serena began the decider saving a pair of break points of her own, converting the comeback into a 4-1 lead and didn’t look back as she served out her spot in the semifinal in 134 minutes.
“I think there is a huge enjoyment in the three-set matches, but I just feel like you don’t get that appreciation until later. Obviously in the moment you want to win fast and you want to win easy and win in straights. You really feel that appreciation much later.”
In all, the American hit 50 winners to 43 unforced errors, and the serve proved particularly potent on Wednesday night with 18 aces. For her part, Halep kept a positive differential of her own with 20 winners to 17 unforced errors, but was only able to break serve twice in three sets.
“I think it was a good match,” Halep told press. “I played well. I could play better in those moments when I had chances. But I think the level was pretty high.
“I’m ok with the way that I was fighting till the end. It’s something normal now for me, so it’s a good thing. She played really well. She is the best player, so her serve was huge today.
“It was tough. I’m a little bit sad, but I have just to take the positives, because I have a lot going ahead.”
Up next for the World No.1 is No.10 seed and Cincinnati champ Karolina Pliskova, who is playing her first Grand Slam semifinal, in the first match of Thursday’s night session.
“I haven’t even gotten that far yet, actually,” Serena admitted. “I’m still trying to just get over this match. I’m sure Venus will tell me something, but I’ll be there. I’ll be ready tomorrow.”
After over 2 hours of tennis, 18 aces and 50 winners @serenawilliams beats #Halep to move on. #usopen https://t.co/58PNxuxl7t
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2016
Carla Suárez Navarro had the shot of the match in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open.
WTA Insider | In the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, The semifinalists fight for the final at the US Open; will there be a third major final between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber?
WTA Insider | In the latest Daily Dispatch, Italian journalist Luca Baldissera joins once again to try and make sense of a remarkable evening under the lights.
MONTERREY, Mexico – No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has tended to play her best tennis at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme, winning the title three times – most recently in 2013 – but the Russian came up against stiff opposition in qualifier Pauline Parmentier on a stormy Tuesday night, falling, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round.
“I played a really good match,” she said during her on-court interview. “It wasn’t tight at all in the beginning; I played really good with the spin on the forehand and she had a problem with that. I’m really happy to win this match. It wasn’t easy to come back after the rain; I was a bit tight, but I think I made it, so it’s good.”
A former Top 40 player, Parmentier qualified for the Monterrey main draw dropping just one set en route, and roared through the opening exchanges before rain interrupted proceedings – canceling the planned second night match between No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki and Olga Govortsova.
“I think playing qualifying helped me a lot because I won three matches when it was very hot. Now it was ok, so it was better for me; I had a rest today and it was good.
“But to play three matches before the main draw was really good.”
Serving for the match at 5-1 in the second set, Parmentier couldn’t find a serve on match point and Pavlyuchenkova engineered only her second service break of the match.
“I did a wonderful double fault on match point,” the veteran laughed, “But I said, ‘Ok, it’s still 5-2 for me, so refocus on the game, move my legs and just watch the ball!'”
Up next for Parmentier is Monica Puig, who outsteadied local wildcard Marcela Zacarias, 6-2, 7-5.
It was a solid day all around for Monterrey’s qualifiers, who went 3-0 on Tuesday as Parmentier was joined by Julia Glushko, who eased past Alexandra Dulgheru, 6-1, 6-1, and Nicole Gibba, who upset No.7 seed Danka Kovinic, 7-5, 6-2.
Rio Open winner and wildcard Francesca Schiavone couldn’t maintain her momentum when switching from clay to hardcourts, falling to former Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens, 6-3, 7-6(5). In the first match of the day, 2012 champion Timea Babos ran into nemesis Polona Hercog, who improved their overall head-to-head to 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over the current 2016 ace leader. American Christina McHale took out Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez, 6-0, 6-4, while Yanina Wickmayer survived the only three-set match of the day against Johanna Larsson, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Top seeded Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia got her title defense off to a strong start at the Engie Open de Limoges WTA 125K Series event, advancing to the second round in straight sets.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Elina Svitolina survived a stormy Sunday final against an inspired Eugenie Bouchard to capture her fourth career title at the BMW Malaysian Open, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5.
“Emotionally, I’m really exhausted now,” she said in her post-match press conference.
Svitolina recently hired former No.1 Justine Henin as part of her coaching team, and the Ukranian has enjoyed a flying start to their partnership with a run to the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and was looking for her first title of the season in Kuala Lumpur.
There were few signs of the rain-interrupted epic this match would become at the start, and Bouchard, who is in the midst of a resurgence following a disappointing 2015, broke through after the first rain delay to win the first set in a tie-break.
“It was a long day. The first set was really tough and she was playing really well, but I was 5-3 up, so I was disappointed to lose the first set after such a tough fight. After we stopped a couple of times because of the rain, it was up and down.”
Svitolina had never lost to the Canadian in three prior meetings, and her frustration at failing to serve out the opening set shown through as she fell behind 4-2 in the second. The No.2 seed soon caught fire once more, winning the last four games of the set to level the match before rain came once more.
“Honestly, I don’t remember much of the second set now because my emotions are over the moon. I just remember that it was so tough and I was 2-4 down and came back to win that set.
“During the match, I tried to change something in my game plan; I tried to adapt. When I’m not winning, why should I do the same thing?”
Bouchard looked to have the momentum when it counted, emerging from the final interruption to serve for the match in the tenth game. But the former Wimbledon finalist lost serve to love and Svitolina, who was forced to save a break point at 5-5, engineered an efficient service break to clinch the victory just before midnight.
“Many people would think the match is over, but I like to surprise everyone,” she said with a laugh. “Honestly, I was just trying to play my game; there was nothing special, just when I lost my serve I was 30-0 up, and emotionally I was struggling a bit because I lost my serve in such a big moment.
“I said to myself that I needed to just play my game and forget everything that happened in the last game. I did a great job; I played amazing returns, and she was really under pressure. This was the key in that moment.”
Winning in Kuala Lumpur brings Svitolina up to a career-high ranking of No.14, and back into the Top 15 for the first time since last summer.
“Thank you very much for staying that late to watch our final,” Svitolina said in her victory speech. “I want to thank Genie for a great final, it was a really tough one.”
“Hopefully I can come back next year!”
Earlier in the day, the unseeded pairing of Varatchaya Wongteanchai and Yang Zhaoxuan upset top seeds Liang Cheng and Wang Yafan, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7; for both winners, Sunday’s win marks the first WTA title of any kind.
“In the first set we played well,” Liang said after the match. “But didn’t play our best game from the second set. I felt very sorry to my partner for my double fault in the end. But we’ll move on and and continue to work hard.”
All photos courtesy of BMW Malaysian Oepn 2016.
After the new rankings were released on Monday, Angelique Kerber was presented with the WTA World No.1 Trophy, which was unveiled last year at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
The focal point of the trophy is a silver “star-map” tennis ball that represents the tennis universe.
On the trophy, all World No.1s, past and present, are depicted by a diamond in the sky, representing each champion leaving their mark on the sport.
At 28 years old, Kerber became the oldest woman to rise to World No.1 for the first time.
She’s only the second German woman to achieve this historic milestone since computer rankings were introduced in 1975, and the first since Stefanie Graf.
Kerber has also qualified for the 2016 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in October, and will be making her fourth appearance at the year-end finale.
Kerber’s rise to WTA World No.1 brings to an end the reign of Serena Williams, whose 186 weeks tied the all-time record set by Graf.