Tennis News

EILAT, Israel – Even without their new star Johanna Konta, Great Britain had few problems securing a place in this weekend’s Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I promotion play-offs.

Singles victories for Heather Watson and Katie Swan helped Britain to a 2-1 win over Georgia in their final Group B outing. The result sets up a meeting with Belgium on Saturday to determine which nation will advance to the World Group II play-offs this spring.

In the absence of some of Britain’s more experienced campaigners, most notably Australian Open semifinalist Konta, 16-year-old Swann has stepped up magnificently, easing past Georgian No.2 Ekaterine Gorgodze, 6-3, 6-3, for her second win of the week. Watson then put the tie beyond Georgia’s reach by swatting aside Sofia Shapatava, 6-2, 6-0, in an hour.

“I wouldn’t call it easy at all, I don’t think any match is easy, I only have to focus 100% and be prepared for anything,” Watson said.

Sterner tests lie ahead, in the shape of a talented young Belgium side, which extended their perfect record this week with a 3-0 success over Bulgaria.

Ysaline Bonaventure got the ball rolling with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Elitsa Kostova, before Alison Van Uytvanck and Tsvetana Pironkova put their unbeaten records this week on the line.

In the end it was Van Uytvanck that prevailed, edging a see-saw opening set before cantering through the second, wrapping up an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory with an ace.

“I think they did a great job. They all have a little bit of experience now in Fed Cup, only one rookie this year,” Belgium captain Ann Devries said. “Everybody wants to go for it, everybody wants to win, and not just the players who are playing but everyone in the team.”

The other play-off at Eilat’s Municipal Tennis Centre will see the Ukraine take on home nation Israel.

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While Great Britain and Belgium are battling it out to climb another rung on the Fed Cup ladder, over in Europe the heavyweights will duke it out for a spot in the World Group semifinals.

In Leipzig, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber is hoping to inspire Germany to the semifinals for a third straight year when they take on neighbors Switzerland. Friday’s draw paired Kerber with Timea Bacsinszky, while in the opening rubber Andrea Petkovic takes on Swiss No.1 Belinda Bencic.

In Cluj, Romania make their return to the World Group when they meet defending champions Czech Republic. Romania, who last appeared at this stage in 1992, will be lead by Simona Halep, but face an uphill battle against the nine-time champions. Halep postponed nasal surgery to lead the home nation and opens the weekend against Karolina Pliskova. Petra Kvitova and Monica Niculescu will meet in Saturday’s second singles rubber.

The other two ties see 2008 champions Russia host the Netherlands, in Moscow, and Italy travel to Marseille to take on France.

Every week wtatennis.com brings you 10 Things To Know about the week – who is playing, where and much more. This week the Road To Singapore goes through Dubai and Rio de Janeiro…

1) Dubai is a significant stop on the Road To Singapore.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is a Premier event and part one of the WTA’s fortnightly tour of the Middle East – part two is the Qatar Total Open. There’s over $2 million on the line, with the winner pocketing $465,480 and 470 points for the Road To Singapore leaderboard.

2) A strong line-up has made the trip to Dubai.
Even with a couple a high-profile withdrawals, four Top 10 players – and 10 of the Top 20 players in the world – are in Dubai, with the Top 8 seeds being Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Carla Suárez Navarro, Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Roberta Vinci and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

3) Halep is looking to get back on track.
Defending champion Halep arrives in Dubai on the back of an indifferent start to 2016. After a surprise semifinal loss to Kuznetsova in Sydney, the Romanian suffered an even bigger shock at the Australian Open, crashing out to qualifier Zhang Shuai in the first round. She then split her two singles rubbers on Fed Cup duty against the Czech Republic, beating Kvitova but falling to Pliskova. Will she get back on track in Dubai?

4) Back-to-back titles no easy task.
Halep is looking to become just the third player to defend their title at Al Garhoud Street. The other two are Venus Williams (2009-10) and Justine Henin (2003-04, 2006-07).

5) If Kvitova clears early hurdles, watch out.
Kvitova has failed to win back-to-back matches here in four of her five appearances, in 2009 (to Julia Schruff), 2011 (to Ayumi Morita), 2014 (to Suárez Navarro) and 2015 (to Suárez Navarro). But in her only other try she went all the way to the title, in 2013 (beating Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic and Agnieszka Radwanska along the way).

6) Welcome to the club, Belinda.
By reaching the final last week in St. Petersburg, Belinda Bencic guaranteed herself a place inside the Top 10 for the first time in her career. Bencic is the 116th player to break into the elite bracket since computer rankings were introduced in 1975.

7) Halfway across the globe, the Latin American spring kicks off in Rio.
The Latin American leg of the tour kicks off this week with the Rio Open. Headlining the draw is home favorite and No.1 seed Teliana Pereira, who will be joined by Johanna Larsson, Danka Kovinic and Christina McHale.

8) Pereira hungry for WTA hat-trick.
Last April, Pereira became the first Brazilian in 27 years to win a WTA title when she triumphed at the Claro Open Colsanitas, in Bogotá. Eager to prove this was no flash in the pan, title number two soon followed at Florianopolis’ Brasil Tennis Cup. Will she score a hat-trick in Rio?

9) Hunting down Maria’s record.
No, not that Maria. In Bogotá, Pereira is the third Brazilian in the Open Era to win a WTA title, after Maria Bueno (who won three) and Neige Dias (two). A Brazilian winning in Brazil is even rarer, though. Pereira is just the second Brazilian in the Open Era to win a WTA title on home soil – Dias achieved the feat once, doing it over in Guaruja in 1987.

10) Find out where you can watch live action this week.

SINGAPORE – Down a set in her first-ever BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global semifinal, Dominika Cibulkova shifted into turbo to take out No.8 seed and story of the tournament, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. The win is guaranteed to take her at least up to a career-high ranking of No.6.

Read how the match unfolded in the WTA Insider Live Blog.

– Cibulkova hit through the occasion, and the pressure.

Familiar to big stages, the Slovak once struggled to maintain an aggressive mindset at the finish line of high-stakes encounters; it was just six months ago that she narrowly lost back-to-back three-setters to Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbiñe Muguruza in Indian Wells and Miami.

But Cibulkova’s mental evolution has been on full display in Singapore, and the No.7 seed resolved to play positive tennis, win or lose.

A “Come On” instead of a “POME”, but it still means the same for @Cibulkova. One game away! #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/iL2afsB1dj

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

“I ended the second set really, really well,” she said after the match. “I was hitting full power and everything and I was going for it. I knew there is no other way than to go for it. I managed to put the balls in.”

Winning the last five matches against Kuznetsova made her a heavy favorite, especially considering the amount of matches the Russian had to play just to get to Singapore, let alone the semifinals. But Kuznetsova came roaring out of the gate, hitting nine winners to take the first set in 33 minutes.

“She was putting the pressure after my serve, because my percentage was really low and she was putting so much pressure from the second serve return.

“I knew I had to start serving better, I had to be the one being more aggressive on the court. I had to play my game, to be in on my forehand and to go for my shots.”

Cibulkova had caught the always-aggressive Kuznetsova’s winner total of 27 by match’s end, all the while keeping her unforced error count lower than the No.8 seed (31 to 35). Through a high-quality match, she took control when it mattered most.

“Today I managed to stay in the match, even [when] she was playing really, really good and she was overplaying me in the first set.”

A lovely dropshot from @Cibulkova. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/an8wDqduDD

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

– Kuznetsova let distractions get the best of her.

The Russian made it through two of the tensest weeks in her career to find herself in her first semifinal in Singapore. From a break down in the third, she won four straight games and appeared on course to replicate the form that took her through the first set.

But something wasn’t right. She spoke with umpire Kader Nouni during the changeover after breaking Cibulkova’s serve in the fifth game; Nouni assured her the issue – whatever it was – wasn’t falling afoul of the rules. She proceeded to lose the final four games of the match. 

“Overall I was frustrated for other thing which I thought was a little bit unprofessional,” she said afterwards.

A red-eyed Kuznetsova came to press unwilling to specify the source of her distraction, but seemed to imply she took exception to noises coming from Cibulkova’s camp.

“She was OK,” she said when asked whether player or team caused any problems.

Ultimately, the two-time Grand Slam champion refused to blame the moment for the loss, chalking defeat up to tactical errors in the final stages of the match.

“Dominika played really good. She was really aggressive. I was short on some shots, and in the end I think she just was aggressive, and I was not.”

Still, it was a revelatory season for Sveta, who plans a well-deserved vacation after a hectic schedule through the Asian Swing.

“I’m just thinking about vacation right now and just letting [today’s loss] go. I have to go to bed and sleep, not to think about the matches, not to be nervous all the time. For the last five weeks, it was every single day I was thinking about the next day to play another match.

“So I’m dreaming of being able to relax, relax the nerves, and then I just want to have a good pre-season, and next year just to be consistent. I think I [have] got lots of confidence after finishing the year like this. I think I can do a lot of the things.”

– Cibulkova believes the best is yet to come.

Cibulkova hails from a generation that includes Grand Slam champions and former No.1s like Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, and Caroline Wozniacki. But it’s taken longer for the Slovakian dynamo to meet the expectations set by her cohort, something she blames on a lack of self-belief.

“I never saw myself as that good, or maybe not as a consistent player. He made me believe it.  He had examples and I started to believe in myself much more.”

Saturday’s win puts her up to a career-high of No.6, but Cibulkova could finish the week inside the Top 5 – a ranking threshold that doesn’t faze the 27-year-old.

The on-court interview from @Cibulkova after an amazing victory! #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/qYzxlwn9Kf

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

“Right now if I’m going to be deeper than Top 10, I’ll really believe I belong there. That’s most important thing: you have to be convinced that you belong there. Then it works.”

She’ll certainly hope it works in Sunday’s final against Angelique Kerber, a match that comes just shy of three years from her first major final at the Australian Open.

“That time I was new, and playing your first Grand Slam final was really tough. I’m happy I have this experience; for me to go on the finals in Australia, I was trying to do my best but I wasn’t convinced I could really win.

“With this experience now I’m a different player. Tomorrow I will go there and just want to win.”