Stuttgart: Kerber vs. Kvitova
Angelique Kerber takes on Petra Kvitova in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Angelique Kerber takes on Petra Kvitova in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
An interview with Laura Siegemund after her loss in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The story of the tournament from the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Agnieszka Radwanska was the top seed in Stuttgart but upset by hometown hero Laura Siegemund in the semifinals. As the top seed in Madrid thanks to Serena Williams’ absence, can Radwanska live up to her lofty standing in the Spanish capital?
Here’s a look at the draw, quarter by quarter.
First quarter: Aga’s tough start
The draw gods were unkind to Radwanska, who has never been shy to admit that clay isn’t her favorite surface. Her opener comes against fellow Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova, also a former French Open quarterfinalist in the midst of rebuilding her ranking. When Radwanska and Cibulkova met in Indian Wells, it turned into a nearly three-hour classic edged by the former.
If she passes that difficult test, Aussie Open semifinalist Johanna Konta or Caroline Garcia — who likes to play on clay and seems to thrive in an underdog role — awaits. Her potential third-round foe? Well, it could be 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani. Should we keep going?
Svetlana Kuznetsova not only reached the final in Miami but was last year’s finalist in Madrid; Radwanska and Kuznetsova might tangle in the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova will be hoping the thigh injury she sustained in Prague is nothing serious.
Prediction: Cibulkova
Second quarter: Vika and the defending champion
Victoria Azarenka can play on clay, no question. But would the Belorussian have taken an extension to the hard-court swing? Maybe. She is riding a 15-match winning streak, dropping a measly four sets in the process. Azarenka became just the third women’s player to achieve the Sunshine Double, too. Given all of her success in 2016, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that there was heartbreak for Azarenka in Madrid 12 months ago. Three match points came and went against Williams, one of a trio of close matches she lost to her pal in a span of two and a half months.
Azarenka’s journey this year starts against Laura Robson, and in the second round another player returning from injury, Alizé Cornet, could feature versus the two-time Slam champ. A possible clash between Azarenka and defending champion Petra Kvitova looms in the quarterfinals.
Besides thriving in the quicker conditions in Madrid, Kvitova is sure to be buoyed by her performance in Stuttgart. Kvitova fell to eventual champion Angelique Kerber — but it was a high-quality contest between the lefties.
Prediction: Azarenka
Third quarter: Halep’s revival?
In 2013, Simona Halep needed a wildcard to play in Madrid. Those days are long gone. She doesn’t need wildcards anymore. But it isn’t the best of times for Halep. Injuries – and coming back from them – have proved to be, somewhat predictably, problematic. She sits 29th in the Road to Singapore standings. Could Madrid, where Halep made the final in 2014, mark a revival? Halep appears to have a nice path to the third round, although if the confidence is low and the body still not at 100%, the likes of Misaki Doi and Margarita Gasparyan shouldn’t be discounted.
Should she progress to that third round, Timea Bacsinszky could surface, and the Swiss ousted Halep in Miami. Garbiñe Muguruza finds herself at 35th in the Road to Singapore, going through a similar struggle as the Romanian. Muguruza, projected to play Halep in the quarterfinals, starts against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Schmiedlova broke through in 2015 but the Slovak can’t buy a win at the moment (199th in the Road).
Yet another younger player seeking an upturn, Eugenie Bouchard, might confront Muguruza in the second round. Karolina Pliskova, however, is the form player of the section.
Prediction: Pliskova
Fourth quarter: Surging Kerber
She was already a Grand Slam winner, but Kerber achieved a significant feat in Stuttgart: For the first time in her career, the 28-year-old successfully defended a title. Not only did Kerber repeat, but she did so in style, playing sizzling tennis from the quarterfinals onwards.
Now Kerber’s task is to put aside Stuttgart and refocus on Madrid. Last year, fresh off her success at home, Kerber fell in her opener. Mind you, it was an especially difficult pairing — with 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur. The versatile Barbora Strycova – a loser to Stosur in Prague this week – is Kerber’s foe on this occasion. Strycova is certainly no slouch.
Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens or Daria Kasatkina, a trio from the younger guard, may line up against Kerber in the ensuing rounds. Kerber and Keys have already met five times, with the elder of the two holding a 4-1 advantage. Lucie Safarova picked up a maiden 2016 win in Prague this week and hasn’t stopped, making the final in her home country. Safarova and Carla Suarez Navarro – one of Kerber’s victims in Stuttgart – are on a collision course in the third round.
Prediction: Kerber
Semifinals: Azarenka, Kerber
Winner: Azarenka
Daria Gavrilova takes on Simona Halep in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
An interview with Serena Williams after her win in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
SINGAPORE – There’s squad goals, and then there’s the WTA Legends, who were out in full force on Thursday morning to take in the incredible view from the top of the Marina Bay Sands before Day 5 action began at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
WTA Finals Ambassadors Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Monica Seles Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Iva Majoli, and Mary Pierce took to the highest peak of the world-famous hotel to pose for a series of photos at the Marina Bay Sands’ SkyPark, offering sprawling views of the city; they later enjoyed some Singapore delicacies at Spago, hosted by Chef Joshua Brown.
“We have a clear day today, so I’ve never seen this far away,” noted Navratilova to WTA Insider. “It’s an amazing, bustling city. I drove around yesterday, went shopping at the Mustafa Centre that’s open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day; it was amazing. There’s so much energy here.”
#WTA Legends were introduced to Singaporean delicacy chicken rice by Chef Joshua Brown @marinabaysands when they're in town for #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/4nP2mPkcPr
— WTA Finals Singapore (@WTAFinalsSG) October 27, 2016
Navratilova has been on hand for much of the week, looking forward to the start of the doubles event, where eight teams will compete for a trophy named in her honor.
“It’ll be interesting because Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia had the best year, but mostly because Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis stopped playing together. They had a bit of a falling-out, but they’re playing here. That dynamic between Sania and Martina, how they get along, will be crucial.
“If they can put whatever happened between them behind and play good tennis – because doubles is a team sport, and you really need to play together – I’m looking forward to that more than anything.
“At their best, Hingis and Mirza are the favorites because they have the biggest weapons and know-how, how to play the points. But Mladenovic and Garcia would be a close second favorite.”
The WTA Legends convene for a Skypark photoshoot: pic.twitter.com/PwmqfQcqSv
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 27, 2016
Evert arrived on Wednesday night, but is in familiar territory, having visited Singapore three times before.
“Oh my god, it’s beautiful!” she enthused. “The tough thing is getting here; it’s a long way from Florida – 21 hours – but once you get here, it’s breathtakingly beautiful, especially the Marina Bay Sands.”
A longtime commentator for ESPN, the 18-time Grand Slam champion tagged Angelique Kerber as her Player of the Year, and the one most likely to lift the Billie Jean King Trophy at week’s end:
“Angelique Kerber’s impressed me, winning two Grand Slams. No one’s done that in so many years besides Serena Williams, really.
“She’s been playing some really great tennis, more aggressively. She’s really stepped it up with her game. Mentally, she’s gotten tougher, and she’s looking tough here too.”
.@28dolfan #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/PXToIho17v
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
Navratilova echoed her old rival’s sentiments on Kerber, but gave an honorable mention to No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the first of Singapore’s semifinalists following her three-set win over Karolina Pliskova.
“It’s great to see because a couple of years ago, we all thought she was probably done, that she was going to fade away and retire. She kept coming back and, lo and behold, played some of her best tennis this year.
“It’s really good to see her out there, still fighting, still enjoying it and competing so well, emotionally, mentally, and most of all, physically.”
.@greensolo9 #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/eSFMcxjh1V
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
Qualifying on the last day of the regular season, Kuznetsova’s effort completed the closest Road to Singapore leaderboard in WTA history. Evert believes the photo finish presented a strong case for just how tough the tour has become.
“It just shows the depth at the top. In previous years, you’d have Serena, and then a gap between her and the other women.
“Now, there’s no gap; the Top 8 are all relevant, and are all capable of winning this WTA Finals. I’m really happy to see that the depth is finally there again at the top of the game.”
.@kvittycat53 #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/LuKfXceawd
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
With this season nearly in the books, Evert is already looking ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2017.
“Let’s put it this way. Victoria Azarenka is going to have a baby in December and she’s thinking about coming back; that’ll be interesting. Serena’s always interesting; can she break Stefanie Graf’s record? They’re both at 22 right now, and how much longer is Serena going to be at the top of her game? Maria Sharapova’s coming back in April or May.
“There’s going to be a lot of big stories.”
SINGAPORE – Agnieszka Radwanska’s strong return of serve was key to her win over Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-3 in the final round robin match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The victory earned Radwanska a spot in the event’s semifinals.
One of the best returners in the game, Radwanska was facing one of the best servers in the game in Friday’s match.
Through this season, Radwanska is among the Top 3 on the WTA for return points won (49%), return games won (49%) and break points converted (54%).
She was facing an opponent in Pliskova who led the WTA in aces (530) and was second for first serve points won (74%) in 2016.
The SAP Coaches View shows that it was Pliskova’s second serve that was vulnerable to Radwanska’s return, with the Pole winning 61% of those points.
The “Return of Serve” tracking with Coaches View shows that a key to Radwanska’s success was her aggressive approach in taking those Pliskova second serves. Radwanska returned 78% of Pliskova’s second serves from inside the baseline.
During the first two round robin matches of the tournament, Pliskova won 47% of second serve points, compared to 36% against Radwanska. Neither of her first two opponents, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Garbiñe Muguruza, were as aggressive as Radwanska in taking the ball early. Kuznetsova returned 57% of Pliskova’s second serves inside the baseline, while Muguruza did so just 10% of the time.
The SAP Coaches View combines scoring information direct from the chair umpire with tracking data from HawkEye to allow for an in depth look at five different aspects of a match. Each tracking option can be filtered to narrow the focus to specific situations within a match, such as break points.This information is available directly to coaches in real-time during a match on their SAP tablet and also available to them online after matches.
“Return of serve” tracking shows where each service return was struck, differentiating between first and second serves, with an emphasis on how many serves are returned from inside the baseline. This data can be filtered by a particular score.
Radwanska broke Pliskova five times in 10 games during Friday’s match, giving the defending champion a berth in the semifinals as she aims for a second straight WTA Finals title.
SINGAPORE – Garbiñe Muguruza ended her breakout season with one last win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, ousting an on-fire Svetlana Kuznetsova and blitzing the Russian in the final two sets of a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Read how the match unfolded in the WTA Insider Live Blog.
– Muguruza wanted this win.
For a player who won their first Grand Slam and ascended to a career-high ranking of No.2 just four months ago, few eyes were on Muguruza heading into Singapore.
“I suffered a lot in the last month,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I was wondering if I’m going to qualify, if I’m not going to qualify. I really wanted to qualify.
“I had the opportunity to go to Linz to play, and then I twisted my ankle and it was drama for me.”
The drama continued at the WTA Finals; down a set to Karolina Pliskova in her first round robin match, the Spaniard roared back and got perilously close to victory, only to lose the last five games.
“It was a very tough tournament. I had a match point in my first match; then the second match [against Agnieszka Radwanska] was tough.”
Mathematically out of contention to advance into the semifinals, there was little more pressure on Muguruza than the amount she put on herself.
“I have to be honest. Going into this match, it was extremely hard for me. Minutes before I was like, ‘This is going to be is difficult one for me.’
“At the end it was about my desire of wanting to be here and competing against the best. It became a challenge for me today, to see how I was going to react.”
Losing a decisive first set to Kuznetsova, who already qualified first in their round robin group, the reigning Roland Garros winner reacted well, dropping just one more game and hitting 31 winners to end her week with a 1-2 record.
“For sure a victory like today’s is going to keep me a little bit happier. I felt I took my opportunities in this one. Well, it was too late, but I still did it!”
A season of ups and downs put extra emphasis on an ostensibly low-stakes match; from her emotional reaction on court and in press, it was clear how much the win meant to her.
A relieved @GarbiMuguruza gets a win at 2016 @WTAFinalsSG. And nice words from @AndrewKrasny. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/zJYNXmfJwE
— WTA (@WTA) October 28, 2016
– Fatigue finally caught up with Kuznetsova.
The Russian had already advanced into the semifinals. For the first time in two weeks, she didn’t need to win a match to keep her season alive. Kuznetsova pointed to that inherent lack of intensity as being crucial to the loss on Friday.
“I’ve done the most important job in the past matches,” she said after the match. “You definitely don’t want to lose a match. You try to fight.
“Sometimes the lack of energy just won’t let you do that.”
Still, she noted her superb level of tennis in the first set, and how it only took a few tight games in the second set to turn things towards the Spaniard.
“I want to give credit to Garbine because I think she played way better in the second and third set.
“I don’t feel exhausted like that or something. But of course, to push yourself to the limit, you got to really go hard. I just want to do it tomorrow, try to do my best.”
She’ll have her opportunity tomorrow in the semifinal, where she takes on another surprise semifinalist in Dominika Cibulkova. Trailing 3-5 in their head-to-head, Kuznetsova’s lost her last five matches with the Slovak, including a three-set thriller at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
“I do remember quite a bit of that match. I know I will try to make the changes on what I think didn’t work for me in that match.
“Of course, obviously, I’m not going to tell it now,” she added with a smile.
Garbine on the scene. @GarbiMuguruza takes a near 13 minute game. 2-0 in set 3 #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/llIXns86bZ
— WTA (@WTA) October 28, 2016
– Muguruza is looking towards 2017.
It may be too soon for any player to sum up their season right after their last match, but Muguruza had a clear picture of what went right and wrong in 2016.
“I started the year thinking, ‘Okay, this is an important year for me. I finished well last year. Let’s try to keep doing well.’
“But the results weren’t there at the beginning, so I was like struggling. I was like, ‘Man, I’m practicing and doing everything and I am not winning matches.’ So it created a lot of frustration.
A top drop shot from @GarbiMuguruza. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/nxuEqkuomr
— WTA (@WTA) October 28, 2016
“I calmed down and then finally had the results, but then everything changed. All these responsibilities, all these emotions. It was hard for me to deal with this for the next tournaments. But I wouldn’t change anything, obviously.”
She’ll have to spend the off-season adjusting to what she cannot change, but after a heavily scheduled season, the former World No.2 will be looking to relax over the next few weeks.
“I didn’t really plan things because I didn’t know when I was going to finish here. Right now I’m just going to see how many days I have, see where can I go, who’s available.”
What she hopes will emerge will be the “dangerous opponent” she believes herself to be.
“I don’t really care who’s in front of me. Obviously the situation and the tournament, these can affect me, but I always think I have a chance to win.”
Highlights from round-robin action at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.