Top Seeds Bertens & Siniakova Storm Through In Bogota
Bogota’s top seeds Kiki Bertens and Katerina Siniakova had to weather a pair of tough opponents – and the rainy conditions – to move into the second round at the Claro Open Colsanitas.
Bogota’s top seeds Kiki Bertens and Katerina Siniakova had to weather a pair of tough opponents – and the rainy conditions – to move into the second round at the Claro Open Colsanitas.
MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a mid-match wobble to defeat Timea Babos in the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals and move one step closer to a return to the WTA Finals.
In a contest that ebbed and flowed throughout, top seed and defending champion Kuznetsova harnessed the home crowd support to eventually triumph, 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2, after a fraction over two and half hours on court.
The result keeps alive the 31-year-old’s hopes of appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The Russian, who was a fixture at the season-ending showpiece for much of her early 20s, has not qualified since 2009, but will return should she lift the title in Moscow. If she fails in her quest, Johanna Konta will take the final spot in the eight-player draw.
Babos’ battling performance ensured that the outcome remained in the balance until the last. In the second set, she displayed particular character to break twice with her opponent serving for the match. A flawless tie-break ensured the match went the distance, and despite falling behind in the decider, another comeback looked on the cards when she reduced her arrears to 3-2.
However, a thigh injury halted this revival – and the match – allowing Kuznetsova to regroup during a length injury timeout. On the resumption, the Russian took control rattling off the final three games to set up a semifinal with No.4 seed Elina Svitolina.
“Where to start? My coach and Nastia [Myskina] said in the locker room that the points were very short, from one to three rallies. I didn’t run much. I think I was good for me that I had a third set even when I felt a little bit tired,” Kuznetsova told the Russian press. “In the third set I let the situation go and played better.
“It has prepared me a base for tomorrow’s match because the way I played during last two matches, the last four sets: yesterday’s and the first two from today…It won’t get me far.”
Earlier in the day, Svitolina delivered a clinical display to swat aside lucky loser Ana Konjuh, 6-1, 6-1. Svitolina has been in terrific form during the second half of the season, reaching the semifinals or better in three of her past five tournaments.
“It was a good match for me, I was serving well and seeing the ball good. This was a good game and I’m really happy that it’s another semifinal for me,” Svitolina told wtatennis.com.
“After Beijing I had one week off and I was at home, just trying to recover fast. These last two tournaments – here and in Zhuhai – are very important and I’m just trying to stay focused.”
BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Former World No.1 Martina Hingis and fellow Olympic Silver medalist Timea Bacsinszky enjoyed a happy reunion at home, knocking out Diana Marcinkevica and Carina Witthoeft, 6-2, 6-3, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
“It’s really cool,” Bacsinszky said after the match. “What we have together, we shared so many big emotions and two unbelievable weeks. Those memories will stay with me forever.”
Bacsinszky and Hingis paired up for the first time at the Olympic tennis event, stunning 2012 silver medalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka en route to the Gold medal match, where they lost a tense two-setter to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
???@mhingis and @TimeaOfficial show off their victory dance! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/AglQe6iiwd
— WTA (@WTA) April 12, 2017
Back together in Biel/Bienne, the pair reunited with the upcoming Fed Cup semifinal in mind; the Swiss team takes on Belarus in two weeks for a spot in their first final since 1998, when Hingis helmed the squad in singles and doubles.
“It was amazing to play again with her here, and great preparation for Fed Cup,” Bacsinszky added, “because you never know, if it’s 2-2 in a semifinal, you’ll want to have some matches under your belt to get the connection back.
“That was important for us, so that’s why we decided to play here. I’m thrilled to play here again in Switzerland with my home crowd!”
The Swiss are certainly looking strong at home. With Hingis and Bacsinszky cheering her on from the stands, Viktorija Golubic extended her winning streak to eight straight matches on Swiss soil, having won both singles rubbers in last year’s Fed Cup semifinal against the Czech Republic, her maiden title at the Ladies Championship Gstaad, and her first round match in Biel/Bienne, a nail-biting three-set win over Volvo Car Open semifinalist Laura Siegemund.
Viktorija Golubic battles past Siegemund 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)!
Makes @WTABielBienne Second round! pic.twitter.com/GwWuXaNEnF
— WTA (@WTA) April 12, 2017
All photos courtesy of Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
Daria Gavrilova takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.
Highlights from the quarterfinals action at the Kremlin Cup.
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Top seed Elina Svitolina appeared on course for a regulation comeback when her Tuesday match with Alexandra Panova bled into Wednesday due to inclement weather. But the Russian, a 2012 finalist at the Claro Open Colsanitas, had other ideas as she saved a whopping five match points – three in a row in the third set tie-break – to oust the Ukrainian youngster, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6(6).
“I’m always happy to come back,” she said after the match. “It’s been my sixth year, probably. I like it here; I have lots of support and I play a good game here.
“Every point was very important because it was very close. Same as yesterday in the first set and today the final set was very close. I had to fight for everything, be aggressive, be prepared for everything because it could change very quickly.”
Panova hadn’t played a WTA tournament since the BMW Malaysian Open, which Svitolina went on to win, but a quarterfinal appearance at an ITF Challenge in Croissy-Beaubourg set her up in good stead against Svitolina, who won eight more points overall in a match that suffered multiple rain delays before it was finally postponed.
“Of course, it’s very difficult. We had two stops. The first one was pretty early, so it was almost like starting the match from the beginning. At the second stop it was getting dark, and it was not playable.”
Another upset happened earlier in the day, as former Swiss star Amra Sadikovic continued her second career by winning her first WTA main draw match since 2013, turning the tide against 2010 champion Mariana Duque-Mariño, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Sadikovic announced her retirement in the middle of 2014, and spent 14 months as a tennis coach before deciding to return to competition last summer.
“I had to play my best to beat her,” she said after the match. “For me, it was special to get to play on the center court, just awesome. I went out on court kind of nervous in the beginning, just trying to stay in there and play point by point and I ended up winning the match.
Undaunted by the vociferous local support, Sadikovic held her nerve to convert her only break point opportunity in the final set and clinch the upset in over two hours.
“When I play back home in Switzerland, everyone cheers for me. I was expecting that and I prepared myself. I talked to my coach who said, ‘Just try to stay in the moment and play point by point.’ It all worked out.”
As first round play came to its belated conclusion, half of the draw’s quarterfinalists were also decided on Wednesday. No.4 seed Lara Arruabarrena is the highest ranked woman remaining in the draw, and a second emphatic win – this time a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Anne Schaefer – brought her into the last eight. Rio Open quarterfinalist Paula Cristina Goncalves earned another of the day’s upsets by eliminating No.6 seed Tatjana Maria, 6-4, 6-3. Qualifier Catalina Pella backed up her win over No.2 seed and defending champion Teliana Pereira by beating Elitsa Kostova, 6-3, 6-2, while No.5 seed Irina Falconi survived a tense second set tie-break to oust French veteran Sherazad Reix, 6-3, 7-6(2).
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Friday’s shot of the day at the Kremlin Cup.
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Kremlin Cup.
Angelique Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova are just two of the stars who took to Twitter to send Easter greetings to fans.
An interview with Madison Keys ahead of her participation in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.