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BEIJING, CHINA – No.19 Elina Svitolina scored her second win over a reigning World No.1, beating Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the China Open. She’ll play Daria Gavrilova for a spot in the semifinals.

Three takeaways from Svitolina’s solid win:

1. Mental focus was the key to Svitolina’s win.

Svitolina is a fiery player and she’s never been shy about wearing her emotions for all to see. The frustration can mount quickly for the 22-year-old, but she’s slowly learning to let go. That could be the key to unlocking another level in her game.

“Today was a good win for me,” Svitolina told reporters. “The way I played was really good. I was going for my shots, sometimes just staying with the ball, not missing in important moments.

“I think I’m moving in a good way. Playing against top players, this is the main goal. I try to really stay on their level and then get better.”

Just two months ago, Svitolina knocked out then No.1 Serena Williams from the Olympic tennis event. Now she avenged her Montreal loss to Kerber to score another win over a No.1. Svitolina’s young career continues to have its ups and downs but she remains a frustrating player to face because at her best, she isn’t going to give you free points. You have to earn every single one, and when you’re not at your best that can prove very difficult.

“The main thing is to just stay in the moment, to think about the plan, about the match, what is my next step, next action,” Svitolina said. “So I try to really don’t think about [playing a No.1]. If I think too much, I lose my way.

“Of course, Angelique or Serena, they’re not letting you play your game. If you’re out for even two, three seconds, they just going to do winners. They are there all the time. They’re not letting you go.”

Kerber had a break lead in both sets but she would finish just 2 for 11 on break points in the match. On the key points, Svitolina stood tall, worked her defense in and out of the corners, and made Kerber hit the extra ball. In Montreal, Svitolina grew easily frustrated when Kerber’s counter-punching skills resulted in impossible gets. On Thursday, Svitolina shrugged them off and got back to work.

“The main thing was just mentally to be focused,” Svitolina said. “Even if you play a good point against her, she can play some amazing shot back. Still you need to be, Next point, don’t eat yourself from inside. This is really important when you play against her because sometimes she gets some balls which is, like, unbelievable, playing amazing shots from down the line.”

Svitolina’s run in Beijing puts her in solid position to qualify for the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai at the end of the season. Svitolina played the inaugural event last season and she’s looking forward to returning.

“The atmosphere is great there,” she said. “It’s like the second after Singapore. So there’s always motivation. Just 12 players there. It’s really special to play there. It’s still a big, big tournament. It’s really special for me.”

Angelique Kerber: “It was a tough match. I had my chances, for sure, but I didn't take it.” #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/IUVdHWfCQx

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 6, 2016

2. Kerber’s China swing bore little fruit.

After winning her second major title at the US Open and rising to World No.1 for the first time in her career, Kerber’s run through China was a frustrating one, bowing out in the third round at both the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the China Open. That’s not the consolidating run the German was looking for, especially as she was trying to lock up the Year-End No.1 ranking before the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

The good news for Kerber is there was no pattern through both losses. She had the bad luck of running into an on-fire Petra Kvitova in Wuhan and the two played a grueling, high-quality match that may go down as the match of the WTA season. She was the only player to take a set off Kvitova last week and she walked away with her head held high.

The loss to Svitolina was far more worrisome, though much of Kerber’s erratic play could be chalked up to the right leg injury she carried into the match. She refused to use the injury as an excuse for her loss and said she did not believe the injury to be serious, but it was evident she was unable to play her physical, counter-punching game against Svitolina. The Ukrainian played her solid game-style perfectly and forced Kerber to go for too much to terminate points. On this day the World No.1 missed more than she made.

“I think it was up-and-down match,” Kerber said. “I played a few games really good and then I did a lot of easy mistakes. She was moving good. She brings a lot of balls back. I think that was the key, why she beat me at the end.”

3. Kerber’s pre-Singapore dilemma.

Kerber is currently entered as the top seed in the Hong Kong Open next week. On one hand, playing the event would give her a chance to earn points towards the year-end No.1 ranking and a good run there could boost her confidence heading into Singapore.

On the other hand, the most important thing for Kerber is to play the WTA Finals healthy. She has come into the event sputtering in the past, having exhausted herself with last minute pushes to qualify, and she has never qualified out of the round robin stage of the event. With so much on the line in Singapore, it’s a tough choice for Kerber.

“It’s right after the match, so I don’t know exactly with my leg or whatever,” Kerber said when asked if she would play Hong Kong. “But it’s still in my schedule.”

Photos courtesy of Getty Images

BEIJING, China – Shortly after midnight Agnieszka Radwanska looked alert as ever as she secured the last semifinal spot at the China Open with an impressive win over Yaroslava Shvedova.

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Radwanska, the 2011 champion, produced two sets of near-flawless tennis to wrap up a 6-1, 6-2 victory and a book a meeting with Elina Svitolina.

.@ARadwanska through in the straightest of straight sets into @ChinaOpen SF pic.twitter.com/WCsJ4JXdC5

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 7, 2016

Shvedova, who defeated Alizé Cornet in their rain-delayed third-round encounter earlier in the day, made a bright enough start, capitalizing on a couple of errors from Radwanska to claim an early break. However, from this point on it was one-way traffic, the Pole soaking up Shvedova’s best blows to race through the rest of the set.

Radwanska’s defense was equally watertight in the second set – she would finish with just nine unforced errors – rattling off the final four games to take her place in a fifth semifinal in the Chinese capital.

Svitolina’s progress was not quite so straightforward, recovering from a slow start to defeat Daria Gavrilova. Having overturned an early deficit, Svitolina experienced an almighty struggle to close out the opening set. In the end she required seven set points, going on to close out a 7-6(3), 6-1 winner after an hour and 45 minutes.

BEIJING China – No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska returned to the final of the China Open for the third time in her career after edging past Elina Svitolina in straight sets.

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Svitolina took advantage of Radwanska’s sluggish start to push her early in the first set, but the Pole survived to advance 7-6(3), 6-3 in an hour and forty minutes.

“Well, definitely a bit too slow start for me,” Radwanska assessed. “Suddenly it was 3-5. As we know, this is a score you can definitely come back. Serve was not really the key of that match, either my serve or her.”

“I was just very glad I could come back in that first set. I think it was very important. I just played a great tiebreaker, so that helped me a lot for sure in that match.”

Both Svitolina and Radwanska advanced to their semifinal match without dropping a set in Beijing, but after trading breaks to start, it was the Ukrainian who struck first. She stepped into a Radwanska lob and hammered it cross court, earning a break in fifth game which she built up into a 5-3 lead.

Radwanska was left to play catch-up, using every trick in her arsenal to stay within touching distance before finally breaking back and leveling the match. The Pole dominated in the tiebreaker, flying out to a 5-0 lead before eventually claiming the set.

She shot to a double break lead in the final set, and saved a pair of break points to keep her nose ahead. She broke once again in the final game of the match to claim another straight sets victory in Beijing.

Radwanska books a clash against Top 10 debutante Johanna Konta for a shot at her second China Open title.

“Just very, very happy to be in the third final here in Beijing,” Radwanska said. “Well, is a great event. As we know, everybody is playing here. It’s always good to be in the final that all the top players were here.”

2011 champ @ARadwanska is back in the @ChinaOpen Final! ? pic.twitter.com/aNQv1mbvzA

— WTA (@WTA) October 8, 2016

TIANJIN, China – Agnieszka Radwanska made a confident start to her defense of the Tianjin Open, swatting aside Tatjana Maria in two one-sided sets on Wednesday.

Fresh from her victory in Beijing over the weekend, Radwanska needed little more than an hour to wrap up a 6-1, 6-2 victory – her 50th of the season – and set up a second-round meeting against Evgeniya Rodina.

“Firstly, I’m very happy to win my match pretty quickly. It’s good to have the opening round in two sets and be fresh for the next round,” Radwanska said. “I’m very happy that I could keep it up and play at the same level as at the China Open.”

Twelve months ago, Radwanska touched down in Tianjin amidst a desperate late scramble for points to secure a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. While the anxiety this time has diminished, her desire to be successful has not: “This year is much better. I already qualified in China Open so of course there is less pressure. But you still want to win the tournament, still want to play your best game, just a little less pressure.”

Naomi Osaka continued her scintillating run of form by brushing qualifier Lucie Hradecka aside, 6-2, 7-6(4), to reach the quarterfinals. The Czech player took the Japanese teenager to a tie-break in the second set but could not hold her off for too long.

Osaka had already beaten eighth seed Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-4, 6-2, in round one. This run in Tianjin comes towards the end of a great year for her in which she reached the third round of three of the four Slams, and made the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open – an achievement for which she was voted WTA Breakthrough of the Month.

The WTA Newcomer of the Year nominee now faces Svetlana Kuznetsova after she saw off Donna Vekic, 7-5, 6-4.

Elsewhere, Han Xinyun won the first match of the day on Centre Court, beating wildcard Wang Yafan 7-5, 6-3.

TIANJIN, China – Svetlana Kuznetsova kept up her pursuit of a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a hard-fought 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Naomi Osaka.

The Russian was able to break the 19-year-old’s serve in the first and fourth games of the opening set but failed to hold serve a single time as the World No.42 raced ahead.

However, the 2009 French Open champion rallied in the second, which was on serve until the seventh game, when Kuznetsova moved up a break. Osaka recovered the deficit in the following game but was broken once more and the Russian held her nerve to level the match.

The deciding set was closely contested, without a single break of serve, although Osaka squandered two break points. In the eventual tie-break, Kuznetsova’s superior experience told and she was able to take two points on the youngster’s serve and win it 7-3 to book her spot in the semifinals.

Kuznetsova will meet Alison Riske in the last four after the American overcame Xinyun Han, 6-3, 6-3. The match was a frantic affair in which both players struggled on serve but Riske got the crucial break to move 4-2 up in the opener and closed it out to get a crucial advantage.

The match moved at much the same pace in the second set, with only three games held overall; two of them were by Riske and it was the 26-year-old who advanced.

Monica Puig’s run in the tournament, meanwhile, came to an abrupt end at the hands of World No.65 Danka Kovinic.

The first set was a tight affair, in which the sole break came when the Puerto Rican squandered a 40-15 advantage when serving at 1-1. The Montenegrin held firm from there, closing out the set without any trouble.

Kovinic stormed into a lead in the second, breaking Puig in the opening game and consolidating her advantage by repeating the trick to go 4-1 ahead. Puig enjoyed a moderate recovery, halving the deficit, but was broken once more and crashed out of the tournament.

Kovinic will play Peng Shuai in the last four after the World No.182 received a bye thanks to Agnieszka Radwanska’s withdrawal.

SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova will round off a fantastic season by appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career.

Victory over Viktorija Golubic in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz confirmed Cibulkova as the eighth qualifier for the season-ending showpiece, joining Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Madison Keys in the singles field.

The 2016 season has been a comeback year for Cibulkova, as the 27-year-old claimed three titles at the Katowice Open, Aegon International Eastbourne and most recently at the Generali Ladies Linz. Cibulkova reached three additional finals at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mutua Madrid Open and the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, which helped set a career-high ranking of No.8. The Slovak also advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

“I can’t describe with words what qualifying for the WTA Finals Singapore means to me,” said Cibulkova. “After such a tough year last year, this year has been amazing – so reaching the WTA Finals is a dream come true. It was my goal to be a consistently great player and I have achieved that this year. I want to enjoy it, play good tennis and end the year the best way I can.”

The current Road to Singapore Leaderboard as follows (as of October 10, 2016):

Caroline Wozniacki’s excellent run of form continued as she overcame Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.

The Dane, who has lost just three matches since the US Open and won the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Hong Kong Open in recent months, suffered a slow start to the match, dropping serve in the opening game.

However, Brengle’s lead was short-lived, with Wozniacki finding her range and winning six games in a row to take the set. She carried her good form into the second set, skipping into a 5-0 lead and though she dropped serve and was unable to complete the bagel, she recovered to book her place in the next round.

Top seed Petra Kvitova also cruised through her opening encounter, beating Su-Wei Hsieh 7-5, 6-0.

The two-time Wimbledon champion went ahead early, breaking the World No.81 in her second game but she was unable to consolidate her advantage. Hsieh had the chance to serve for the set at 5-4, but was broken to love and lost serve again when trying to force a tiebreak.

From then on, Kvitova was well on top and did not lose a single game in the second set.

Kristyna Pliskova had to battle from a set behind to beat Oceane Dodin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The Czech broke in the opening game of the match but her advantage was short-lived as she saved seven break points before eventually succumbing to the pressure on the eighth. Dodin subsequently broke to love to move ahead and was able to serve out the set.

In a tight second set, Pliskova eventually went ahead in the penultimate game and held her nerve to level the match. After being broken in the first game of the decider, Dodin failed to get back on level terms and exited the tournament.

Meanwhile, Misaki Doi’s defence of her Luxembourg title came to a premature end at the hands of American qualifier Lauren Davis, who emerged with a highly creditable 6-1, 6-2 victory.

The No.6 seed never found her feet and slipped to a 4-0 deficit before she won her only game of the first set.

She began the second in better form, moving a break up in the first game but she soon four successive games. Davis made no mistake from there and the World No.85 emerged from the match with a famous scalp.

Kiki Bertens had no such problems in progressing, though she had to overcome a plucky Annika Beck to secure her 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The Dutchwoman had led 5-2 and seemed to be cruising in the first set but the German got back on terms, only to lose her serve once more. Bertens let a break slip again in the second set but, with Beck serving to stay in the match, the No.3 seed broke to book her place in the second round.

Meanwhile, Mona Barthel cruised past Carina Witthoeft 6-1, 6-4, Johanna Larsson brushed Pauline Parmentier aside 6-4, 6-2, Tereza Smitkova defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-3 and Andrea Petkovic survived a scare to defeat Mandy Minella 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

LUXEMBOURG – No.1 seed Petra Kvitova and No.3 seed Kiki Bertens produced a pair of shutout performances to wrap up their quarterfinal matches comfortably. Both needed less than an hour – exactly 54 minutes, in fact – to book their spots into the semifinals of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.

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It didn’t start out so simple for Kvitova against No.8 seed Johanna Larsson, who was into her seventh WTA quarterfinal of the year. They wrestled for footing at the start of the match, opening with four consecutive breaks of serve.

But once she settled, it was all Kvitova as the Czech reeled off 11 games in a row to power past Larsson 6-2, 6-0.

She’ll face the winner between Andrea Petkovic and American qualifier Lauren Davis for a spot in the final.

It was the opposite story for Bertens in her quarterfinal against Denisa Allertova, with the Dutch player advancing 6-0, 6-4.

Bertens was dominant on the return and broke Allertova three times, allowing the Czech to win just one point off of her services games in the 15-minute opening set.

Allertova finally held serve in the second set and stopped the rot after eight consecutive games, with Bertens up 6-0, 2-0. She put Bertens under pressure at the baseline with her powerful forehand, grabbing one of the breaks back to level the set at 2-2 and stay within touching distance.

But Bertens dug her heels in to bat away a break opportunity, breaking Allertova once more in the penultimate game to serve her way into the semifinals.

“Everyone is really tired at the end of the year, and so am I, so it’s really good to have short matches like this to get ready for the semifinals,” Bertens smiled in post-match press. “I’m just going to play here, have fun, and see how it goes.”

Monica Niculescu received a walkover into the semifinal after No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki was forced to withdraw from the match due to gastrointestinal illness.

“After the match yesterday I felt really ill and really sick,” Wozniacki explained to press afterwards. “I did everything I could to feel better today but unfortunately I’m not strong enough or feeling good to play today. I need to think about my health.

“Of course, I’m disappointed because I love to play here and of course was trying to win the tournament, but health comes first.”

More to follow…