Kasatkina Clears Bencic Hurdle In St. Petersburg
No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina dispatched burgeoning rival Belinda Bencic in straight sets to advance at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina dispatched burgeoning rival Belinda Bencic in straight sets to advance at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
EASTBOURNE, England – Caroline Wozniacki stepped up her Wimbledon preparations with a confidence-boosting win over Alizé Cornet at the Aegon International Eastbourne on Sunday.
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Playing just her third match since March, Wozniacki showed few signs of rustiness, briskly pocketing the first set then coming from a break down in the second to complete a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
The Dane is currently ranked at No.35 in the rankings – her lowest position since May 2008 – after missing much of the season with an ankle injury. And after making her return in Nottingham last week she is refreshed eager to test her mettle ahead of the year’s second major.
“I feel confident on my feet, I’ve worked really hard to get into the best shape possible and do a lot of stability work, so now I’m feeling comfortable on my ankle and the grass,” Wozniacki said.
“It’s nice to be on a nice court with a great crowd and also to get another match in before Wimbledon. I’m just excited every time I go on court now.”
In the other three opening round matches there were wins for Jelena Ostapenko, Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.
Ostapenko continued the good form that took her to the Birmingham quarterfinals by prevailing in her all-teenage battle with Daria Kasatkina, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Babos edged out Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 7-6(3), while Mladenovic prevailed in an equally close encounter with Yanina Wickmayer, 7-6(6), 6-4.
Simona Halep and Martina Hingis paid a visit to the Faberge Museum ahead of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
The ladies hoping to reach the Wimbledon main draw begin their quest out in Roehampton on Tuesday; find out which are the ones to watch on wtatennis.com.
SINGAPORE – Doubles co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza have become the first players to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, the WTA’s crown jewel event where the world’s Top 8 teams will battle for a $7-million prize purse.
“Qualifying for the WTA Finals for the second year in a row with Sania is very exciting,” said Hingis, three-time WTA Finals doubles champion. “We enjoyed every moment in Singapore last year and hope to defend our title amongst the best doubles teams in the world.”
Mirza added, “Being able to achieve such great success together has been a dream come true. Having won the WTA Finals in Singapore last year as well as multiple tournaments in such a short period of time has been an unbelievable experience. I’m very much looking forward to competing in Singapore once again to try to make it three titles in a row.”
The collaboration between Hingis and Mirza began at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where they achieved instant success by taking the title and eight more by the end of the year, including the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. This year, Hingis and Mirza have already claimed five titles – Brisbane International, Apia International Sydney, Australian Open, St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia – Rome. As a result, the Swiss-Indian duo, known as “SanTina” to their fans, will attempt to defend their title in Singapore in their second appearance as a team.
Here is the current doubles Road to Singapore Leaderboard:
1. Martina Hingis (SUI) / Sania Mirza (IND)
2. Caroline Garcia (FRA) / Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
3. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) / Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
4. Chan Hao-Ching (TPE) / Chan Yung-Jan (TPE)
5. Xu Yifan (CHN) / Zheng Saisai (CHN)
6. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) / Elena Vesnina (RUS)
7. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) / Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
8. Julia Goerges (GER) / Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
9. Vania King (USA) / Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)
10. Timea Babos (HUN) / Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
The doubles competition will begin in Singapore on October 27 and is a single elimination contest between the Top 8 doubles teams of the 2016 season, all vying to hold the Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy. Total prize money for doubles stands at $1.4 million with the champion team taking home up to $500,000.
Want to watch SanTina go for season-ending glory? Tickets packages for the WTA Finals are already available!
For the latest updates and insights, follow on Twitter (@WTAFinalsSG), Facebook (facebook.com/WTAFinalsSG) and Instagram (@WTAFinalsSG).
Watch all of the best shots of the Aegon Classic Birmingham – right here!
Today’s SAP Stat Of The Day shows how Kristina Mladenovic was able to capitalize on her chances in her quarterfinal win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Petra Kvitova takes on Timea Babos in the second round of the Aegon International.
Johanna Konta takes on Petra Kvitova in the third round of the Aegon International Eastbourne.
Highlights from third round action at the Aegon International.