Tennis News

As Dominika Cibulkova, Caroline Wozniacki, and Peng Shuai showed over the weekend, comebacks come in all manner of ways. And to appreciate what each woman did to win the weekend titles, you have to understand what they’ve come back from.

Cibulkova finally earns her spot in Singapore.

For Cibulkova, her run to her third title of the season at the Generali Ladies Linz capped of a resurgent year that saw her return to the Top 10 and qualify for her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. After a strong Asian Swing, in which she made the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, Cibulkova knew she had to win the title in Linz to qualify for Singapore.

This was not the first time the 27-year-old had a chance to earn a berth for the WTA Finals. In 2014, reaching her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open put her in the RTS mix just as the tour turned to the summer hardcourt season. She went on to win just three regular season matches after Wimbledon. As Cibulkova has said, she wanted to qualify so badly she could not enjoy her tennis or play well.

“In 2014 I was very close, and that’s what made me very intense and want it too much,” Cibulkova told WTA Insider after triumphing at the Aegon International in June. “I was over-motivated and it didn’t happen.” She vowed to learn her lesson after that disappointment, and with a help of a sports psychologist, Cibulkova she had to let go in order to excel.

Then came a heel surgery in the spring of 2015, which sidelined Cibulkova for five months. She went from being a Top 10 player in 2014 to No. 66 at the start of this season. The climb back has been a steady and methodical one, highlighted by three titles and three big finals as well, at the Mutua Madrid Open, Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

And it all came together perfectly in Linz, where she won the title, under pressure, without losing a set.

Wozniacki’s abrupt U-Turn.

Everything you need to know about Wozniacki’s year can be summed up in a single stat. Wozniacki was 13-14 before the US Open this year. Since then? She’s 19-3, with those three losses coming coming to Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska.

After making her surprise run to the US Open semifinals – her best result at a major since 2014 – the Dane has won two titles, at the Toray Pan Pacific Open and now the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open. After a season of fits and starts that saw her struggle to remain healthy and build momentum, Wozniacki is now back in the Top 20 with a solid shot to qualify for the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

In fact, with her entry in this week’s tournament in Luxembourg and as one of the in-form players heading to Zhuhai, Wozniacki should put herself in great position to get back in the Top 10 early next year. That’s an incredible turnaround for a player who was ranked No.74 less than two months ago.

Peng Shuai’s overdue win on home soil.

But the best story of the weekend came at the Tianjin Open, where 30-year-old Peng Shuai, who had been the standard-bearer of Chinese tennis for years along with Li Na, finally won her maiden WTA title. It was just two years ago that the Tianjin native made her Slam breakthrough, advancing to her first major semifinal at the US Open in 2014. That run helped boost her back in the Top 20 – she reached a career-high No.14 in 2011 – but tennis has an uncanny knack for cruelty. In 2015, Peng underwent major back surgery after the French Open last year, a decision to took because she hoped to prolong her career, because despite her legacy as one of the best players China has ever produced, Peng wasn’t done yet.

“The doctors told me I should think twice before taking this operation and surgery,” Peng said. “They said no one can make sure that the operation could be successful, 100%. The doctors performed this operation on me and told me there was a 50% possibility I could come back to the court. Before the surgery, the question was whether I could come back to the court or not. So maybe after this surgery my performance will not be very good. Before and after the surgery, the difference, the gap, was huge.

“After the surgery, I needed to do a lot of training and practicing. Something I could do in the past, maybe I could not do it today after the surgery. I need to take gradual steps to improve myself after the surgery. I think more important for me is to stay healthy and fit, otherwise I cannot continue my professional career.”

Peng’s ranking fell to as low as No.768 this season; the comeback has been slow and painful. During the off-season training block she had to lie in bed for three days after training because of the pain. She rushed her return in order to represent China at the Olympic tennis event in Rio but everything began to come together during the Asian Swing.

She beat Venus Williams at the China Open in front of a raucous home crowd and now, returning to her home in Tianjin, she swept both the singles and doubles title with Christina McHale. The win puts her ranking at No.108, and if she can move up a few more spots before year’s end she could earn direct entry into the main draw at the Australian Open.

“For me, two years ago, I was at a peak level,” Peng said at the China Open. “I could choose whether I would like to play or not. Actually, my friends and family did not agree with my surgery, because it’s too risky. Now I’m near 30 years old. After the surgery, no one could guarantee I could come back to the court. What if I have more injuries if I come back to the court? I’d like to thank them for their support and care. I am a little bit stubborn to have the surgery. My friends and family supported me to undergo this surgery. It was quite a challenge for me.

“Actually, life is full of challenges and uncertainties. This challenge is quite unique for me. I’ve made efforts in the tennis world for more than two decades. I sacrificed a lot of youth, time and energy. I’d like to take time to see if I can go further or not. Of course, if I retire, maybe I will live a normal life like others. I may have a family, babies. It’s another way of life. But I’m still happy that I made that choice.

“In retrospect, everything is on the right way. I don’t know whether I can come back to my past glory or peak. I believe I have so many supporters, and my team. I would like to sacrifice more. My goal is clear: to play more matches, be it singles or doubles. The key is to come back to the court. I feel excited about it. No other thoughts.

“When my ranking was high, I felt huge pressure. I still need to take care of other stuff, although right now I’m at the bottom level, my friends and family are still there to support me. I can look at the results in this cool-headed way.

Peng is one of a significant group of Chinese players who hail from Tianjin. In addition to Peng, China’s current Top 4 all call Tianjin home: Zhang Shuai, Zheng Saisai, Wang Qiang, and Duan Ying-Ying. The player cite Tianjin’s flexible tennis system, which allows players to go at their own pace and ambition, as the reason for their superior recruitment and retention of top talent.

With Peng finally earning the WTA title that long eluded her, the Tianjin Open get the fairytale ending it deserved.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova kept up her chances of booking a spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by beating Alizé Cornet, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Watch live action from Moscow & Luxembourg this week at WTA Live Powered By TennisTV!

The Russian entered this tournament knowing that she had to win the title to book a place for Singapore. In the early exchanges, Kuznetsova made all the running, missing the chance to break in the first game before pushing Cornet even further in her next service game, but the Frenchwoman saved five break points in an epic that lasted nigh on 13 minutes.

With Kuznetsova rattling through her own games on serve, she was able exert more and more pressure on Cornet and finally got the break that she richly deserved after to go 3-2 ahead.

Having worked so hard to get ahead, Kuznetsova threw up an error-strewn game and handed the break to Cornet with a shot into the tramlines. Both players suddenly became more comfortable receiving and after the No.1 seed had restored her advantage, a sloppy backhand into the net put the players back on level terms. A fifth straight break gave Kuznetsova a 5-4 lead, and she finally regained her composure to hold when serving for the set.

.@SvetlanaK27 breaks thrice to win the first and already once again to open the second @kremlincup_eng https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/gSuniOhsJB

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 19, 2016

The World No.9 carried her momentum into the second set, breaking Cornet’s serve for the fourth time in a row with forehand volley.

Kuznetsova failed to hang onto this advantage, however, she closed out the match at the second time of asking to take a place in the quarterfinals. There she will face Timea Babos, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Kristina Mladenovic.

“I think I was playing more against myself. I couldn’t find an exit from the situation,” Kuznetsova said in her post-match press conference. “I was winning and created situations, and when I had an advantage. Instead of keeping playing I began indulging my game. It was psychological: me against me.

“Not sure I played against Babos. I hope to play better than today. Well, the way I played today certainly won’t let me relax!”

Kuznetsova needs to win the title this week in Moscow in order to capture the final spot in the WTA Finals field of eight. Anything short of a title run for the Russian will result in Johanna Konta grabbing the final spot.

Victories from Ekaterina Makarova, Elina Svitolina and Francesca Schiavone headlined a dizzying opening day of Fed Cup action in World Group II.

Here’s how the ties stand after day one:

Russia 1 – 1 Chinese Taipei

Ekaterina Makarova found herself leading a group of young talented Russians this weekend, with two of her teammates making their Fed Cup debut and the average team age just 20 years old.

“It’s a totally different situation because every time I was playing I was one of the young players, even when I had a good ranking. But it was someone like Elena Vesnina in the team every time teaching me,” Makarova told FedCup.com before the tie.

“Now there are two girls who are debutants and it’s a good experience for me. We have a great atmosphere the girls are very nice. We’re looking forward to this weekend.”

The 28-year-old survived a scare to defeat Lee Ya-Hsuan 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 and put Russia ahead in front of a delighted Moscow crowd.

But Chang Kai-Chen put Chinese Taipei back on track, brushing away Fed Cup debutant Anna Blinkova, 6-3, 7-5.

Romania 0 – 2 Belgium

Hosts Romania were stunned on day one as Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens’ brace of victories put Belgium firmly in control of the tie.

Without Simona Halep and Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania struggled in singles as Flipkens dominated the opening rubber against Monica Niculescu, 6-3, 6-4.

“I knew I had to be patient and wait for the right moment to move forward,” Flipkens told press after the victory.

“It would have been a lot more difficult against Simona Halep as she is a top five player. Against Monica, I was confident going forward as I created my chances and took them when they came.”

Cirstea had a golden opportunity to rescue a point for her side, leading 5-2 in the opening set but Wickmayer came roaring back to edge through in a tight battle, 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-5.

Ukraine 2 – 0 Australia

The hosts Ukraine are in full control over Australia after Elina Svitolina and Lesia Tsurenko notched wins on day one.

Tsurenko opened proceedings with a comfortable win against Daria Gavrilova, easing past the Australian 6-2, 6-3.

“I’m very pleased with my game today,” Tsurenko explained to FedCup.com. “After the first games, the captain asked me to play deep. Don’t try to hit flat. That was the key. To play deep and wait for the right moment, and stay focused in the point whatever happened.”

Svitolina had a harder time against Barty, whose game made a mockery of her No.156 ranking as the Australian quickly took the opening set. Svitolina hit back just as strong, and finally tamped down the resistance to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

“I’m happy about today, although not about the score,” Barty said afterwards. “Elina is a tough player, with a lot of experience. She raised her level. The score of the second and third set doesn’t reflect how close the games where.”

Italy 1 -1 Slovakia

Fed Cup veteran Francesca Schiavone and Slovakian debutante Rebecca Sramkova left their countries level in Italy to close out day one.

At home and on clay, Schiavone fought past Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-1 to give Italy an early lead.

“I have to speak with my body, it’s not easy to handle three hours like before – but today I enjoyed my one hour and a half and I’m happy to bring the point to my national team. It’s my last Fed Cup so there are some big emotions,” said Schiavone, who will retire from professional tennis at the end of this season.

No.116 Sramkova took on Sara Errani, and came back from a set down to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“I was nervous in that first set but I just said to myself ‘I’m going to win it’. I just changed my thinking,” Sramkova told FedCup.com after the victory.

Photos courtesy of FedCup.com

MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova kept up her chances of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by beating Elina Svitolina, 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-4, in Friday’s Kremlin Cup semifinals.

Watch live action from Moscow & Luxembourg this week at WTA Live Powered By TennisTV!

The Russian must win the tournament to overtake WTA Most Improved Player of the Year Johanna Konta and secure a spot in Singapore.

After Svitolina started the match with a routine hold, the Ukrainian squandered three chances to move a break ahead and the Russian never looked back in the first set.

In the second set, however, the World No.15 provided much sterner opposition, breaking to love in the fifth game. Kuznetsova broke back immediately but once again fell behind a break in the very next game, despite saving two break points.

Svitolina tightened up when serving for the set, falling 0-40 behind in flash. She saved all three but succumbed to the pressure on the fourth.

However, she was not left to rue her profligacy and she claimed a highly attritional tie-break convincingly after producing a series of excellent groundstrokes, with Kuznetsova making some untimely unforced errors.

Kuznetsova appeared to be tiring but soon stopped Svitolina’s march. After a lengthy break before the decider, the top seed returned with renewed vigour, sending down a series of vicious shots to break in the opening game.

The 31-year-old saved two break points in the following game to consolidate her advantage but from there she was well on top and Svitolina was unable to get back in the match as Kuznetsova got her WTA-leading 20th three-set match win of 2016.

Kuznetsova has won 20 3-set matches in 2016. She won 17 3-set matches in 2014 and 2015 COMBINED https://t.co/kdPEISJspn

— Kevin Fischer (@Kfish_WTA) October 21, 2016

“I knew what I had to do but in the second set I stopped playing the ‘right’ tennis. I realized what was going on, I understood it was wrong but couldn’t do anything about it. And I had to play three sets,” Kuznetsova said in her post-match press conference.

Kuznetsova will face Daria Gavrilova in the final after she overcame Julia Goerges, 7-5, 6-1. Gavrilova, who was born in Moscow, received plenty of support from the Russian crowd, helping her through a rollercoaster first set and into the first final of her career.

“When I arrived in Hong Kong a few weeks ago, I didn’t expect to be finishing the season so well,” Gavrilova told wtatennis.com. “Playing here in Moscow I’m getting a lot of support – I have a lot of friends and family in the crowd – and even though I’m very tired this helped me come through the difficult moments in the match today.

“In the final I know Sveta will get a lot of support, but this is normal. It has been a great week and I am playing with no pressure so I will go out and play my game and see what happens.”