Tennis News

STUTTGART, Germany – No.5 seed Petra Kvitova is into her first WTA semifinal of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix after overcoming a mid-match surge from Garbiñe Muguruza to advance 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.

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Kvitova grabbed the early break at 3-1 and roared ahead to a commanding lead. The combination of Kvitova’s tricky lefty serve and her powerful groundstrokes leaving Muguruza struggling to find her timing against the Czech, who broke once more to allow Muguruza just one game in the opening set. 

Muguruza changed tactics heading into the second set, playing more aggressively and taking away the pace from Kvitova’s heavy shots. A huge hold at 2-1 did wonders for Muguruza’s confidence as well, when she saw a healthy lead be wiped away but still fought off a break point to hold serve. Muguruza broke Kvitova’s serve for the first time at 4-2, winning the last four of five games to take the second set.

Despite all of the momentum swinging to the Spaniard’s favor, Kvitova – a two-time Grand Slam champion – drew from her long experience with three-set matches. She dominated in the final set, settling into the same strategy she used in the first set and keeping Muguruza back on her heels as the Spaniard’s errors – and double faults – piled up. A seventh double fault from Muguruza on match point sealed the match for Kvitova, sending the Czech into the semifinals.

“I think it’s very tough because I wasn’t playing bad, you know,” Muguruza said of the final set shutout. “I was running and trying to fight for every point but she was coming with great shots.

“And then, I was like, I’m playing good and it’s like 3-0, 4-0, 5-0. So, I know with this kind of players, with Petra if she’s playing good, she hits everything.”

Kvitova did the most damage on her serve – she hit six aces and no double faults, and only faced one break point all match long. She also kept her high-risk game in check, hitting a total of 29 winners and 21 unforced errors to the Spaniard’s 17 and 25.

Kvitova is set to face Angelique Kerber in the semifinals; the German eased past Carla Suárez Navarro 6-2, 6-4 in the day’s first quarterfinal.

“I lost to her in Singapore, unfortunately. I know how dangerous she is,” Kvitova said of the matchup. “She is playing a good game right now as well, but I’m in the semifinal now, I have three matches. I think that can help me with the feeling of the balls and everything. Lefties will be different for sure but I’m used to it.”

Simona Halep

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.2
Year-End Ranking: No.4
Season Highlights: Madrid, Bucharest, Montréal Champion, Singapore RR
Best Major Result: QF (Wimbledon, US Open)

2017 Outlook

An injury-addled off-season left Halep unprepared for the season to come, and tough losses at the Australian Open and Middle East left many to question what was to come next from the former World No.2

Halep began to slowly silence the doubters by March, reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami, and truly soared once she hit her beloved clay, winning her second Premier Mandatory title at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Romanian star credited the success at one of her favorite tournaments – run by fellow Romanian Ion Tiriac – with a new approach alongisde coach Darren Cahill.

“I had many days training with Darren,” she explained to WTA Insider. “I wanted that. I asked him when he made the schedule in January that I wanted this week to prepare with him here in Madrid. So I knew what I want to do.

“It’s much better to come a few days earlier. You feel the courts, you feel the atmosphere of the tournament, and you feel like you are into it already when the tournament starts.”

Halep continued to feel the courts this summer, winning two more titles at home in Bucharest and Montréal, where she also paired Monica Niculescu to reach the doubles final.

“It was very different because I’m not used to playing doubles,” she said in her Rogers Cup Champions Corner. “I got a little bit tired in the end. But it also helped me to play some doubles matches because I practiced the return, the serve. That helped me a lot in singles; I had tough opponents there. It’s been a great week.”

The former French Open finalist played one of her most impressive matches in Flushing, pushing then-World No.1 Serena Williams to the brink at the US Open.

“It was tough,” she said of the loss. “It is tough. I’m a little bit sad, but I have just to take the positives, because I have a lot going ahead.”

For the youngest woman in the Top 4, there is certainly still more ahead, and plenty more to come in 2017.

Agnieszka Radwanska

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.5
Year-End Ranking: No.3
Season Highlights: Title at Shenzhen, New Haven, Beijing
Best Major Result: SF (Australian Open)

3 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/TVSyPn5BV1

— WTA (@WTA) December 29, 2016

2017 Outlook

Having made her big breakthrough with victory at last year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, 2016 saw Agnieszka Radwanska consolidate her place at the very top of the tennis tree.

The Pole set the tone for another campaign characterized by its consistency in January, triumphing at Shenzhen before reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open where her winning run was finally halted by an on-song Serena Williams.

This good form continued throughout the year, but a major breakthrough proved elusive until Beijing, where she outclassed the high-flying Johanna Konta to collect a third Premier Mandatory crown. Despite playing herself into form at the perfect moment, there was to be no repeat in Singapore, her reign ended by a comprehensive semifinal defeat to Angelique Kerber.

Aside from at Melbourne Park, she was unable to make it beyond the last 16 at the majors, and the principal question surrounding Radwanska in 2017 will be whether she can defuse the game’s big hitters to go deep into a 128-player draw. To date, the 27-year-old’s only Grand Slam final came at Wimbledon in 2012, yet the recent success of fellow counterpuncher Angelique Kerber offers hope that a return is within her grasp.

Her 11th year on tour will begin in Shenzhen, where prize money totaling $750,000 – the highest of any International event on the calendar – has enticed a stellar field. Joining Radwanska in the draw will be two other members of the Top 10, Simona Halep and Johanna Konta. After this, she will head to Sydney to finalize preparations for the Australian Open alongside Kerber and Dominika Cibulkova.

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Unseeded Cagla Buyukakcay’s fairytale week at the TEP BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup came to a thrilling conclusion when the hometown favorite recovered from a set down to defeat No.5 seed Danka Kovinic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

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“It’s an incredible week for me to win the title at home, to break into the Top 100 with this tournament, to play against someone with my crowd,” she said after the match. “It was an amazing atmosphere today. I was playing better and better every day, but of course every day is another day, so I didn’t expect to win at the beginning of the week. I’m so excited and so happy for today.

“It’s an amazing feeling. Of course, I was always dreaming to play well in Grand Slams, to win titles at big tournaments. This is a tournament I’ve been playing since 2005, when I was 15, and I saw the best players at this tournament when I was young. So I dreamed of winning the title since then; it’s very special for me.”

Set to crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career, Buyukakcay was making history with every win this week in Istanbul, becoming the first Turkish woman to reach a WTA semifinal, then a final, and against Kovinic, the first Turkish WTA titlist in history.

“You’re a great person, a great friend, and a great player,” she said in her on-court acceptance speech, addressing Kovinic. “I’m sure you have much more to achieve in your career.”

In front of an enthusiatic home crowd, the 26-year-old gained revenge for her straight-sets loss to the Montenegrin two weeks ago at the Volvo Car Open, saving 10 of 12 break points faced during the two hour, 23 minute final.

“In the beginning of the set, I was feeling tired, but the crowd was cheering a lot, so I was trying to motivate myself too. In the second set, I told myself, ‘I don’t have anything to lose; I have to play more aggressively and better than in the first set. I have to take some risks.’

“I told myself, ‘Enjoy the time,’ because last year, when I was watching the ATP event, it was packed because of Federer. Today, I knew it would be packed because of me, and I told myself, ‘It’s such a big honor for me to pack a stadium.'”

Surviving several long games early in the decider, Buyukakcay looked on course to wrap up the match in decisive fashion when she raced out to 40-0 at 5-3, but treated the full house at the Garanti Koza Arena to a tense ending when she finally closed out her biggest-ever win on her fifth championship point.

“As I think everyone could see, I was really tired today,” Kovinic said after the match. “I really wanted to win this one, but it wasn’t enough because my body couldn’t follow my mind.

“In the end, I’m a bit disappointed but I wasn’t 100% fit today.”

Walking away with the runners-up trophy, Kovinic wasn’t done for the day; the 21-year-old was set to partner fellow No.3 seed Xenia Knoll in the doubles final later on Sunday; following a lengthy on-court concert, Kovinic was forced to withdraw due to a left hamstring injury, handing the title to hometown favorite in Ipek Soylu, the unseeded 20-year-old who reached the final alongside Romania’s Andreea Mitu.