Tennis News

LINZ, Austria – No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro overcame some big hitting from Mona Barthel to ease past the German, 6-4, 6-2, to not only advance into the second round of the Generali Ladies Linz, but also retain her hopes of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“The most important thing is to take it match by match, step by step,” Suárez Navarro said in her post-match press conference. “Today, I felt really good on the court today. It’s an important week because of Singapore – not only for me, but for other players, as well.”

The Spaniard, currently ranked No.10 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, narrowly missed out on qualification last year, and could yet find herself closing in on the Top 8 with strong results in Linz – in a draw that boats four Top 10 players – and at next week’s Kremlin Cup.

“Players all want spots in Singapore, and we only have a few more tournaments. For me, this is a really good tournament, really good facilities. The hotel is close to site, and the food is really good. You guys will have an interesting week for sure,” she said, joking with the members of the media.

Though she led Barthel 2-0 in their head-to-head, the pair had only played on clay – Suárez Navarro’s favorite surface – and the indoor hardcourts are a much better fit for the former World No.23, who struggled with illness and injury throughout the season.

“The color [of the court] is different, but sometimes when the court is too fast, it’s not really good for me. It’s not good for the tennis or for the show, either, because it’s bing, bam, bing, bam – so fast! But I really like these courts; the color is nice and different. It’s not too fast, so it’s good.”

Serving at 71% for the match, Suárez Navarro’s consistency won the day, breaking serve four times to reach the second round in just over an hour.

“I know she serves really well, so I had to be focused on the return game. The end of the first set was tough for me, but I tried to be solid, sometimes aggressive with my return. I’m happy with my performance.”

One of the only women to reach the second week at all four major tournaments in 2016, Suárez Navarro, who won the biggest tournament of her career earlier this season at the Qatar Total Open, next plays Sara Sorribes Tormo, who knocked out Jelena Ostapenko, 7-6(3), 6-4.

“When you make it to Singapore, it’s one of the best moments after the four Grand Slams. It would be good for my career if I can make it there, even once. 

“It’s tough to get there, but even Zhuhai is also a good tournament. It means you’ve finished the year in the Top 15; that’s not bad at all.”

TIANJIN, China – Agnieszka Radwanska made a confident start to her defense of the Tianjin Open, swatting aside Tatjana Maria in two one-sided sets on Wednesday.

Fresh from her victory in Beijing over the weekend, Radwanska needed little more than an hour to wrap up a 6-1, 6-2 victory – her 50th of the season – and set up a second-round meeting against Evgeniya Rodina.

“Firstly, I’m very happy to win my match pretty quickly. It’s good to have the opening round in two sets and be fresh for the next round,” Radwanska said. “I’m very happy that I could keep it up and play at the same level as at the China Open.”

Twelve months ago, Radwanska touched down in Tianjin amidst a desperate late scramble for points to secure a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. While the anxiety this time has diminished, her desire to be successful has not: “This year is much better. I already qualified in China Open so of course there is less pressure. But you still want to win the tournament, still want to play your best game, just a little less pressure.”

Naomi Osaka continued her scintillating run of form by brushing qualifier Lucie Hradecka aside, 6-2, 7-6(4), to reach the quarterfinals. The Czech player took the Japanese teenager to a tie-break in the second set but could not hold her off for too long.

Osaka had already beaten eighth seed Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4, 6-2, in round one. This run in Tianjin comes towards the end of a great year for her in which she reached the third round of three of the four Slams, and made the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open – an achievement for which she was voted WTA Breakthrough of the Month.

The WTA Newcomer of the Year nominee now faces Svetlana Kuznetsova after she saw off Donna Vekic, 7-5, 6-4.

Elsewhere, Han Xinyun won the first match of the day on Centre Court, beating wildcard Wang Yafan 7-5, 6-3.

The finalists for the 2016 WTA Doubles Team Of The Year have been announced, and we want to hear from you, the fans. The fan vote will count as one of the coveted media votes.

Have a look at the finalists and cast your vote before Sunday, October 16th at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, October 21st.

2016 WTA Doubles Team Of The Year Finalists

Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic: It has been quite the year for Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic on the doubles court. After suffering a couple of near-misses in Sydney and Dubai, they finally got their hands on some silverware in Charleston. This began a glorious stretch on the clay, where they triumphed in Stuttgart, Madrid and, most memorably, Roland Garros. While they struggled to scale these heights in the second half of the season, they returned to form in time for the US Open, losing out to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova in an entertaining final.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands &  Lucie Safarova: There is little doubt that Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova have been the outstanding team in the second half of 2016. Injuries and Olympic commitments meant the duo, winners of two majors in 2015, played sparingly together until the summer months, winning Miami and reaching the final in Charleston from a handful of appearances together. However, since their post-Rio reunion Mattek-Sands and Safarova have been unstoppable, embarking on a 16-match unbeaten run that has brought titles at the US Open, Wuhan and Beijing.

Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina: Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina may not have resumed their fruitful partnership until the clay court season, but they certainly made the most of this time together. On their first outing in unison, the Mutua Madrid Open, the Russians reached the semifinals, before going a stage further in Rome. One month later at Roland Garros, they continued this upwards trajectory, narrowly missing out on a third Grand Slam title. Any lingering disappointment was banished over the summer months, during which time they captured the trophy in Montréal then Olympic gold in Rio.

Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza: Following 2015’s trophy-laden campaign was always going to be a tough proposition for Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. And while they did not quite scale the same heights, they remained regulars at the business end of showpiece events. The year started in dominant fashion, victories in their first four events – a run which included the Australian Open – confirming them as the team to beat on tour. They were nearly as impressive on clay, lifting silverware in Rome and reaching the final of both Stuttgart and Madrid, before announcing their surprise split following disappointing showings at Wimbledon and then Montréal.

WTA Doubles Team Of The Year Winners
2015: Martina Hingis / Sania Mirza
2014: Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci
2013: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci
2012: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci
2011: Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik
2010: Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta
2009: Serena Williams/Venus Williams
2008: Cara Black/Liezel Huber
2007: Cara Black/Liezel Huber
2006: Lisa Raymond/Sam Stosur
2005: Lisa Raymond/Sam Stosur

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a media vote with a fan vote counting as one media vote

TIANJIN, China – Svetlana Kuznetsova kept up her pursuit of a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a hard-fought 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Naomi Osaka.

The Russian was able to break the 19-year-old’s serve in the first and fourth games of the opening set but failed to hold serve a single time as the World No.42 raced ahead.

However, the 2009 French Open champion rallied in the second, which was on serve until the seventh game, when Kuznetsova moved up a break. Osaka recovered the deficit in the following game but was broken once more and the Russian held her nerve to level the match.

The deciding set was closely contested, without a single break of serve, although Osaka squandered two break points. In the eventual tie-break, Kuznetsova’s superior experience told and she was able to take two points on the youngster’s serve and win it 7-3 to book her spot in the semifinals.

Kuznetsova will meet Alison Riske in the last four after the American overcame Xinyun Han, 6-3, 6-3. The match was a frantic affair in which both players struggled on serve but Riske got the crucial break to move 4-2 up in the opener and closed it out to get a crucial advantage.

The match moved at much the same pace in the second set, with only three games held overall; two of them were by Riske and it was the 26-year-old who advanced.

Monica Puig’s run in the tournament, meanwhile, came to an abrupt end at the hands of World No.65 Danka Kovinic.

The first set was a tight affair, in which the sole break came when the Puerto Rican squandered a 40-15 advantage when serving at 1-1. The Montenegrin held firm from there, closing out the set without any trouble.

Kovinic stormed into a lead in the second, breaking Puig in the opening game and consolidating her advantage by repeating the trick to go 4-1 ahead. Puig enjoyed a moderate recovery, halving the deficit, but was broken once more and crashed out of the tournament.

Kovinic will play Peng Shuai in the last four after the World No.182 received a bye thanks to Agnieszka Radwanska’s withdrawal.

SINGAPORE – For the sixth straight year and eighth time overall in her career, Agnieszka Radwanska has qualified once again for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. And this time she returns not only as the defending champion, but as the most in-form player since the US Open.

Radwanska never expected the Asia-Pacific would become the home of her best tennis, but that’s been precisely the case over the last four years. She’s won 10 titles since the start of 2013 and eight of them have come in the Asia-Pacific. Of course, the biggest title of her career came last here in Singapore, where she scrapped to qualify out of the round robin stage before beating Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals and Petra Kvitova in a thrilling three-set final to win the WTA Finals.

The 27-year-old veteran continued that season-ending momentum into 2016. She started the season with yet another title in Asia, winning the Shenzhen Open, and backed that up with a solid run to the semifinals of the Australian Open. In fact, Radwanska made the semifinals or better at five of her first six tournaments of the season, including the BNP Paribas Open, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and the Qatar Total Open.

Most notable in 2016 was Radwanska’s more disciplined schedule. She had built a career on playing as much as her body would allow and often ran the risk of arriving to the tour’s biggest tournaments injured or fatigued. This year Radwanska opted for a more limited schedule, backing herself to do well on the surfaces on which she excels. She played just three tournaments on European clay, her worst surface, and shifted to a heavier schedule during the grass season. The gamble did not pay off immediately — she lost in a thrilling three-sets to Dominika Cibulkova in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon — but playing fewer tournaments over the course of the season eventually paid off.

Radwanska found her game during the latter half of the North American hard court season, making the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open before rolling to her second title of the year at the Connecticut Open. Then, when the tour turned to Asia, Radwanska turned on the jets. Radwanska insists she doesn’t do anything differently in Asia to get the results she does. It just so happens that when she’s here, the big points go her way.

“As we know, tennis is very tight,” Radwanska told WTA insider in Beijing. “Sometimes you lose because of a couple of points. Now, I’m winning those points more often. Everything might be similar, but at the end of the day, I’m the one winning the key points. It’s not about changing something big as much as it’s about being very focused in important moments and believing in yourself, that you can do it.

“Seriously, the Asian Swing is the toughest for everyone – and for me as well! Maybe because New York is not really for me, I’m always getting home earlier so I can get a good rest and then practice really hard to do well in Asia. I guess I’m just taking my chances here.”

The Pole surged through the fall season, making the semifinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, quarterfinals at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, before rolling to her biggest title of the season at the China Open. Radwanska did not lose a set in Beijing and became just the fourth woman to own three or more Premier Mandatory titles, joining a club that includes Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka. Radwanska finished her 2016 regular season with three titles and a 51-16 record.

Having now qualified for her sixth consecutive WTA Finals, Radwanska now holds the longest streak among active players. She will also finish the season in the Top 10 for her sixth consecutive season. She has been a steady Top 10 stalwart and her ability to do so without having a typical power game makes her career all the more inspiring. Most other players rely on pure power or athleticism to work their way to the top. Radwanska’s creativity and guile proves that there is another path to the upper echelons of the game, one that can enthrall fans, light up the hot shot highlight reels, and earn her some of the best nicknames in the game.

“I really like ‘La Professora’,” Radwanska said with a smile, when asked what for her favorite nickname was. “I think it comes from Spanish and Italian coaches or players. It’s great to hear this kind of nickname. It means I playing really good, perfection tennis.”

SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova will round off a fantastic season by appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career.

Victory over Viktorija Golubic in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz confirmed Cibulkova as the eighth qualifier for the season-ending showpiece, joining Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Madison Keys in the singles field.

The 2016 season has been a comeback year for Cibulkova, as the 27-year-old claimed three titles at the Katowice Open, Aegon International Eastbourne and most recently at the Generali Ladies Linz. Cibulkova reached three additional finals at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mutua Madrid Open and the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, which helped set a career-high ranking of No.8. The Slovak also advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

“I can’t describe with words what qualifying for the WTA Finals Singapore means to me,” said Cibulkova. “After such a tough year last year, this year has been amazing – so reaching the WTA Finals is a dream come true. It was my goal to be a consistently great player and I have achieved that this year. I want to enjoy it, play good tennis and end the year the best way I can.”

The current Road to Singapore Leaderboard as follows (as of October 10, 2016):