Kuznetsova Edges Pliskova To Meet Vesnina In All-Russian Indian Wells Final
No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova edged past Karolina Pliskova in two tiebreak sets to reach her third final at the BNP Paribas Open, where Elena Vesnina awaits.
No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova edged past Karolina Pliskova in two tiebreak sets to reach her third final at the BNP Paribas Open, where Elena Vesnina awaits.
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Former World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard became the last woman to enter the second round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Risa Ozaki.
“My opponent played really well,” Bouchard said during her on-court interview, adding, “She was getting a lot of balls back, and she really made me work for it. It was a tough first round here, but I’m glad to be through to the second round.”
Ozaki has been in good form of late, pushing Elina Svitolina to three sets last week at the BMW Malaysia Open, where Bouchard reached the final – also falling to Svitolina in three sets.
Bouchard was five points from defeat in the second set; despite leading by a break multiple times, Ozaki kept it close and had chances to force the former Wimbledon finalist to serve to stay in it.
“Thank you for your belief,” Bouchard said, joking with interviewer Andrew Krasny, who commented on the closeness of the match.
Despite hitting 47 errors in the match, the Canadian managed 31 winners – 21 more than Ozaki, and showed improved initiative to finish points off at the net, venturing forward 20 times.
“I just kept fighting; I definitely felt a bit off. The conditions are different from where I’ve been. I traveled recently and just kind of adjusting to everything is definitely a bit tough. But I tried to put that aside and tried to play tennis, and somehow it worked out.”
Up next for Bouchard is No.21 seed Sloane Stephens, who is looking for her first major result in 2016 after winning two International titles in Auckland and Acapulco. Stephens leads their overall head-to-head 2-1 – winning their most recent match at the 2013 China Open, and both have worked with coach Nick Saviano. Though Bouchard will be playing in front of Stephens’ home crowd, the Canadian fan support has helped her feel like Indian Wells is further up north than any map would indicate.
“I feel like I’m home in Canada. I think 95% of you come up to me and say, ‘I’m from Canada too!’ I love that; thank you guys. I love all the flags!”
Earlier in the day, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina closed Thursday’s day session with an emphatic 6-2, 6-4 win over wildcard and two-time BNP Paribas Open champion Daniela Hantuchova.
The Slovak burst onto the WTA scene back in 2002, when she upset Martina Hingis for the biggest title of her career; repeating the feat in 2007, Hantuchova has been ranked as high as No.5, but had few answers for the new teen in town. Kasatkina was all business on her Stadium Court debut, matching Hantuchova’s 21 winners and hitting 17 errors to her veteran opponent’s 33.
“It’s my first time here and I’m really happy to be here. It’s a nice tournament,” Kasatkina said, before commenting on the unfamiliar echo, “It’s so difficult when you can hear you voice!”
The 18-year-old, one of three in the Top 50 – the biggest contingent since April 2009 – quickly regained her composure, finishing the interview by wishing her mother a happy birthday.
“It’s always difficult to play your first match of the tournament, especially against such a good player like Daniela, and it’s my first match on such a big court!”
Kasatkina will look to earn another big scalp when she faces No.6 seed Carla Suárez Navarro.
“I didn’t know I’m playing her because I didn’t see the draw. But she’s playing very well; she won her last tournament, so I have to play my best tennis to beat her.”
Fellow Russian Margarita Gasparyan also made a splash in the California desert on Thursday, dispatching Belarus’ Olga Govortsova, 6-1, 6-3; she will play No.9 seed Roberta Vinci for a spot in the third round. Annika Beck silenced the home crowd when she defeated American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-2, 6-2, while Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig laid down a stunning display to defeat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-1, 6-2. Americans Shelby Rogers and Madison Brengle survived tricky encounters against Mariana Duque-Mariño, respectively, while Australian Open quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai set up a second round with former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki after edging past Pauline Parmentier in a first set tie-break, leading the French veteran to retire due to an upper respiratory illness.
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Svetlana Kuznetsova notches a big milestone and reaches her 40th career WTA final.
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – In her first outing as Australian Open champion, Angelique Kerber was brought back to earth with a bump, slumping to a shock defeat at the hands of Zheng Saisai at the Qatar Total Open.
By her own admission, Kerber struggled to deal with the occasion, her metronomic groundstrokes breaking down under the strain. “That was a new situation – it was the first match after my biggest title and I think I had so many things in my mind,” Kerber said during her All Access Hour at the BNP Paribas Open.
It was an experience the German, now enjoying the status as the world’s second best player, is keen to accentuate the positives from. After a brief break, she was back on the practice court, gearing up for one of the biggest events on the tennis calendar.
“After Doha I took maybe five or six days off. I really tried to get relaxed and enjoy this feeling of being No.2 in the world and getting used to it for the next tournaments that are coming up,” she added.
“I had a nice start to practicing hard again at home with my team around me.”
Few players have a bad word to say about Indian Wells and Kerber is no different. Down the years the tournament has provided memories both good – back-to-back semifinals in 2012 and 2013 – and bad – first round exits on her past two visits – and after that Doha blip she is hungry to add to the former list.
“I think now I got used to it [the No.2 ranking] and I’m looking forward to playing my next match here and I think I’m ready to go out there and play great tennis again.”
Kerber finds herself in a relatively open section of the draw; potential engagements with Johanna Konta and Ana Ivanovic await should she survive a far-from-straightforward opener against Denisa Allertova.
“I’m looking forward to being here, to play my matches and I have a lot of confidence from the last few weeks. I’m feeling good, I’m healthy, I was practicing very well here in the last few days so I think I’m ready for the tournament to start!”
The Asian Swing begins in earnest at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the first of three Premier level tournaments that will likely determine the line-up for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Three teams have already qualified for highly-anticipated championships – including Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, and Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, but this week could set the stage for a major shake-up…
Mirza Goes All In: World No.1 and defending WTA Finals winner Sania Mirza was the first woman to earn a return berth back in May alongside then-partner Martina Hingis. But the two have since split and Mirza appears to be making a push to grab another spot on the Singapore squad with new partner Barbora Strycova. The two won their first tournament together at the Western & Southern Open – knocking out Hingis and her new partner CoCo Vandeweghe in the final – and are seeded second in Tokyo. The current Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard lead the field by about 500 points, but the Tokyo champions take home 470 points, which could be a major boost for Mirza and Strycova, who currently sit at No.19. The pair open against Japan’s own Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara in the first round.
Meanwhile, Hingis headlines the Guangzhou International Women’s Open without Vandeweghe, and instead with fellow No.3 seed Jelena Jankovic. The Swiss Miss fared one round better than Mirza in Flushing, reaching the semifinals, but won’t add any points to her race total this week. Should Mirza get that second spot with Strycova, she’ll be in the driver’s seat with the option of playing the WTA Finals with one of two partners. As Wimbledon runner-up Yaroslava Shvedova predicted at the US Open, “maybe we’ll see some drama!”
Teams In Pole Position: Speaking of Shvedova, she and Babos are ranked No.4 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. Though they’ve opted not to play in Tokyo, they could assure themselves of a return to Singapore by winning the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in two weeks. Babos made her WTA Finals debut in 2015 with reigning French Open champion Kristina Mladenovic, who qualified this year with compatriot Caroline Garcia. Shvedova was third in last year before partner Casey Dellacqua sustained a concussion at the China Open, precipitating their withdrawal.
“I went to Singapore, and as soon as I landed she decided she couldn’t come,” Shvedova said at the US Open. “So I was there for a day and half. I know we qualified and deserved to be there; we proved that we’re a very good team, and a successful team. From my side, it was more important how she was feeling. Tennis goes to the side when health is involved.”
Chan sisters Yung-Jan and Hao-Ching are top seeds this week and No.6 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, trailing Babos and Shvedova by 245 points – a gap they could close by taking home the title in Tokyo. Their first opponents are the all-Chinese pair of Liang Chen and Yang Zhouxuan.
All-American Triple: Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears made it to Singapore for a second straight year thanks to a strong fall swing that saw them reach the last eight in Wuhan capture a title in Linz to earn one of the last open spots. The Americans have their work cut out for them yet again as they attempt to play the WTA Finals for a third straight year; they sit at No.10 on the Road to Singapore leaderbaord, and trail the Top 8 by 640 points.
Seeded third in Tokyo, they begin their campaign against a pair formidable doubles players in 2008 Australian Open champion Kateryna Bondarenko (with sister Alona) and 2007 Australian and US Open finalist Chuang Chia-Jung (with former partner Chan Yung-Jan). Can the Americans make another late surge to Singapore?
Czech Plus In Québec: Supplanting the Chan sisters for the No.5 spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard are 2015 semifinalists and 2012 runner-ups Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, who conquered the Coupe Banque Nationale with a 7-6(2), 7-6(2) win over Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova, their 12th title together. Hlavackova had already won two doubles titles in 2016, but the win in Québec was her first with Hradecka since 2013, when they won the US Open – the second of their Grand Slam titles.
“I was looking forward to winning one with Lucie,” Hlavackova said after the win. “I’m even happier when I win with her.”
Hlavackova and Hradecka’s chances of qualifying for Singapore came down to the wire last fall, with the Czech pair getting in as an alternate team. Once there, they nonetheless finished second in their round robin group to reach the final four.
“It’s a little bit too early for us to stress about Singapore, but this win definitely jelps because it might take the pressure off at the end of the season. Last year, we really experienced some crazy counting and had to go all the way into the last week of the season. So, we don’t want to do that again; we’d like to qualify as soon as possible and this is a great step towards doing that.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images and Pascal Ratthé
See how Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the final of the BNP Paribas Open.
Daria Kasatkina takes on Daniela Hantuchova in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Coupe Banque Nationale champion Oceane Dodin became the latest teenager to make her Top 100 debut in 2016 following her maiden WTA title.
Dodin had won just two main draw matches heading into Québec, but both were at major tournaments over Top 40 players in 2015. The 19-year-old is currently riding a 10 match winning streak on two different surfaces, including five wins to capture an ITF 25K Challenger tournament in Barcelona.
Rising up 39 spots since last week, Dodin currently sits at No.93, and is the sixth youngest woman in the Top 100.
Québec City finalist Lauren Davis also made a big leap, returning to the Top 100 herself with a 21-spot jump to become the new World No.83 after making her second WTA final in as many months.
Who else made major moves? Find out below and click here to check out the full WTA rankings.
#WTA Ranking Movers
Zhang +9 (49 to 40)
McHale +11 (53 to 42)
Siniakova +12 (65 to 53)
Davis +21 (104 to 83)
Dodin +39 (132 to 93)— WTA (@WTA) September 19, 2016
Hear from Elena Vesnina, the new champion of the BNP Paribas Open.
An interview with Petra Kvitova after her win in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.