Tennis News

Serena Williams announced today that due to a continuing shoulder injury she will not compete in the upcoming Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the China Open in Beijing.

“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open or the China Open due to continuing issues with my right shoulder,” Williams said in a statement. “I have been practicing and playing but my shoulder is still not fit for tournament play.”

“I wish the tournaments great success and I’m sure the fans will enjoy some great tennis. I am focused on getting ready to compete at the WTA Finals in Singapore.”

Williams recently told CNN’s Ravi Ubha, “I’m tired of playing tournaments unhealthy and taking losses that I would never lose.”

Williams has played eight tournaments this year, the fewest she has played in a season since returning from injury in 2011. She has won two titles (Rome and Wimbledon) and finished as runner-up three times – Australian Open (lost to Angelique Kerber in final), Indian Wells (lost to Victoria Azarenka in final) and Roland Garros (lost to Garbiñe Muguruza in final).

Her coach Patrick Mouratoglu stated in an interview with CNN, “It’s a bad season for her. She has been a lot injured. For Serena any other result that is not a title is a bad result. The final at a Grand Slam is a bad result for her. We cannot be satisfied with one Grand Slam Serena Out Of Wuhan, Beijing – Targets Singapore Return and two finals lost.”

As Williams seeks time to recover from her injury, she will look to return to action in Singapore for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, an event she has competed in nine times and won five titles.

WUHAN, China – Simona Halep is aiming to end her hex in China this week at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. The World No.5 was forced to withdraw from last week’s Toray Pan Pacific Open due to a hamstring injury and she’s now struggling with every tennis player’s worst enemy: jet lag.

“I practiced two times already here,” Halep told reporters at WTA All-Access Hour on Sunday. “I feel good. On the court I feel a little bit tired. I cannot sleep like I do always.”

“Last night I slept four hours, so I am much better than the first night,” she said with a laugh.

Coming off a strong summer swing that saw her win two titles (Bucharest and Montréal) and suffer just three losses since the French Open – all to either No.1 Angelique Kerber or No.2 Serena Williams – Halep comes into the Asian swing looking to qualify for the WTA Finals for a third consecutive year. Currently No.3 in the Road to Singapore, the 24-year-old is in good position to lock it up sooner rather than later. But to do so she’ll need to break her sub-par trend of results in China at this time of year.

Although Halep won in Shenzhen two Januarys ago, she is just 6-6 on Chinese soil during the fall swing, with her best result coming in 2014, when she made the quarterfinals of the China Open. That also happens to be the only instance in four appearances that she made it past the first round there. In her two appearances in Wuhan, her best result came last year in the third round, where she lost to Johanna Konta.

“I don’t feel that it’s tough to find the motivation and the energy,” Halep said when asked about the Asian swing, who added that though her hamstring may not be healed, she’s been able to practice pain-free for two days. “I feel okay. But here everything is different: food, people, the country is different. It’s not easy to adapt so quickly.”

Halep will be without her coach Darren Cahill in Wuhan. He plans to rejoin the team next week in Beijing.

“I’m not tired mentally,” Halep said. “I’m confident. But you never know here. Every match is difficult at this level. I just want to give my best, to do as much as I can to this end of the season. It’s important, because last years, previous years, I didn’t play that good. So I want to change it.”

Halep will play her opening match against her countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu on Monday.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Agnieszka Radwanska moved one step closer to a sixth straight appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

After reaching the final four of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the 2015 champion moved back into the Top 4 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, bolstering her qualification chances as the Asian Swing gets underway. Switching places with US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova, either woman could lock up spots in Singapore with strong results at this week’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

Pliskova reached the third round in Wuhan after a straight sets opening round win over Lucie Safarova, while Radwanska makes her Wuhan debut on Tuesday against Ekaterina Makarova.

Also into the third round of Wuhan is Simona Halep, who is ranked No.3 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. Depending on other results, Halep could clinch her spot in Singapore should she reach the final – or perhaps the semifinal – in Wuhan. Halep is looking to qualify for the WTA Finals for a third straight year, having finished runner-up to former No.1 Serena Williams.

Tokyo champion Caroline Wozniacki rocketed up 13 spots to No.20 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, but the former No.1 faces an uphill climb should she aspire to make it back to Singapore for the first time since 2014. After winning her first title of the season in Tokyo, the Dane would likely have to win three more titles in Wuhan, Beijing, and Moscow to have a hope of qualifying – though her chances remain solid of making a second straight appearance at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

Click here to check out the full Road to Singapore leaderboard

WUHAN, China – It was always going to be a big week for Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears. The Americans qualified for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global last year, and earned an important victory as they aim to return, knocking out Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8, in the second round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

“We’ve probably played at least a thousand 10-point tie-breaks,” Atawo said after the match. “They never get any easier, but if you can find a way to relax, it can help in the big points. We were able to do that today, where we were able to hit the shots when we wanted to in the important moments.”

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Recovering from losing the second set, the unseeded Americans triumphed in the match tie-break to book a last eight encounter with either Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan (ranked No.6 on the RTS leaderboard) or Slovenians Katarina Srebotnik and Andreja Klepac, who are ranked No.13.

“If we could make them play, we felt like we were in control,” Atawo said. “We just had to get that first ball in, and when we connected, it was really good.”

Atawo and Spears entered the week at No.10 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, and have had to overcome tremendous fierce opposition just to reach the second round, defeating No.9 Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai.

“It’s huge motivation, because we’ve been close the last three years, and it’s good experience. But we want to be back in Singapore, and we’ll do whatever it takes to get back there – so long as it’s legal!” Spears said as the pair laughed.

With today’s results, Atawo and Spears move into the No.9 spot and now trail Georges/Pliskova by just 575 points; to crack the Top 8 in Wuhan, they will need to win the title, thus unseating Goerges and Pliskova on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.

Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka moved up to No.5 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard after winning the Coupe Banque Nationale, and kicked off their Wuhan campaign in similarly dramatic style; the Czechs ousted Olga Savchuk and Wang Yafan, 4-6, 6-2, 10-4.

On the outside looking in – at least with new partner Barbora Strycova – is World No.1 Sania Mirza. Mirza has already qualified for Singapore with former Co-No.1 Martina HIngis, but has been making a strong push for a second qualification bid, winning a second title with Strycova at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

In need of another big result in Wuhan, the No.3 seeds came back from a set down to beat Gabriela Dabrowski and María José Martínez Sánchez, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.