Tennis News

NEW YORK, NY, USA – It’s finals weekend at the US Open, as new World No.1 Angelique Kerber looks to solidify her spot atop the WTA rankings with a second Grand Slam title.

Standing in her way is No.10 seed Karolina Pliskova, who kept the German from hitting No.1 at the Western & Southern Open. Pliskova became the first Czech woman to reach a US Open final by becoming the fourth woman to ever beat both Williams sisters at a major tournament – the first since Kim Clijsters in 2009.

Hear from both finalists in their own words in the latest Daily Dispatch from the WTA Insider Podcast:

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TOKYO, Japan – No.4 seed Johanna Larsson powered past Sabine Lisicki in straight sets to advance in a day full of upsets at the Hashimoto Sogyo Japan Women’s Open Tennis.

Lisicki, who owns the WTA’s fastest serve, was broken six times in her 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Larsson.

Meanwhile, Aliaksandra Sasnovich left home fans at the Ariake Tennis Forest Park stunned when she took down the No.1 seed Misaki Doi in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.

“I don’t get many opportunities to play in Japan, and also as a top seed I wanted to win. It’s disappointing it ended this way,” Japan’s No.1 told The Japan Times. “I couldn’t snatch it when it was a close contest late in the first set and that gave her an extra momentum, I needed to win there to stop her.”

“There were no free points with my service game, all the games were tight even with those that I managed to hold and I could never get that conviction when I served.”

No.2 seed Yanina Wickmayer, the defending champion, was also ousted in straight sets by Viktorija Golubic, 6-1, 7-6(7).

“There’s a lot more pressure when you are defending a title, and especially because I came back after I injured myself before the U.S. Open,” Wickmayer said afterwards. “It was tough for me in general.”

“I think in the second set I got to drop shots a bit better, but the fact that she had the chance to play many drop shots means I didn’t play the right way. She’s a really smart player so she did what she had to do.”

Katerina Siniakova cruised in her 6-1, 6-4 win against lucky loser Antonia Lottner. Korean qualifier Su Jeong Jang, ranked No.186, scored a big upset Saisai Zheng, coming back from a set down to advance 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

With rain washing away most of today’s action, No.3 seed Yulia Putintseva will take the court tomorrow along with Japan’s No.2 Naomi Osaka.

QUÉBEC CITY, Canada – French teenager Oceane Dodin thrilled the Coupe Banque Nationale crowd by capturing her first WTA title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Lauren Davis in the final.

“It was a very tough match, very difficult,” Dodin said after the win. “She plays very well, and runs everywhere! I’m just trying to improve my game so I’m there for every point, focus on my serve. That helped me so much in this match.”

Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but coming into this week in Québec, the fearless Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slams – though she did reach the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in Limoges.

“It’s very special for me. This is a very nice tournament; I feel like I’m in France because the people are very friendly and supportive of me! Everyone was with me today and that helps so much when it’s a tough score.”

Victoire de Océane Dodin 6-4 et 6-3! Championne 2016 de la @CoupeBN. 1ère victoire dans un tournoi de la #WTA #rcqc pic.twitter.com/ukPdaQUmno

— Jean-Philippe Martin (@JPMartin_RC) September 18, 2016

But the 19-year-old got on a roll once she upset No.5 seed Naomi Broady, dropping just one more set en route to the title. Hitting 31 winners to just 26 unforced errors against Davis on Sunday, Dodin converted six of 10 break point chances and brought her aggressive ground game to net a whopping 26 times – winning 16 of those points. Up a set and a break, things started to tighten, but Dodin kept in front until the very end.

“After the first set, I started thinking, ‘One set and you’re going to win this tournament,’ so I started getting a little bit nervous and at 3-0, 40-0, I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ She made a little comeback, so at the end I was very nervous.

“I was thinking, ‘You can’t play a third set, so you absolutely have to win the second.’ My coach has helped me so much with the mental side, and I saw him like, ‘Go, go, go!’ So I’m very happy with myself.”

With the win, Dodin is set to crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career, and is the first teenager to win a WTA title in 2016. She received congratulations from countrywoman Caroline Garcia soon after:

1e titre WTA pour Oceane Dodin !!! @CoupeBN ??? Bravo Océ et bienvenue dans le top 100 !!!
4e titre @WTA pour la ?? en 2016 !
Correct ????

— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) September 18, 2016

Despite the loss, it was still a great week for Davis, who reached her second career WTA final in the last two months, having also finished runner-up at the Citi Open. Back in the Top 100 herself, Davis is opting to skip the Asian swing, planning instead to play the slate of indoor tournaments in Europe, primarily Linz and Luxembourg, before season’s end.

“I’ve gotten a lot of matches under my belt, and so I’m feeling a lot of confidence. Going into next season, I’m looking forward to playing even better.”

While youth prevailed in singles, it was a battle between four experience doubles players as top seeds and two-time Grand Slam champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka outlasted Russians Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova in a pair of tie-breaks, 7-6(2), 7-6(2).

“With the no-ad scoring and super tie-breaks, it’s very rare to get an easy match on the WTA tour these days,” Hlavackova said after the win. “So that experience helped today; we didn’t have a good record in tie-breaks, super tie-breaks, or no-ads before Québec, so we took this tournament to try to change that. We did, and we’re very happy about it.”

Hlavackova and Hradecka now move up to No.5 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, with a good chance of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for a second straight year.

“We’ve played together for so long that not every week can be perfect. But this week was proof that if you’re having fun, you have good results. I hope we can take this momentum into Asia.”

So nice to make hat-trick in doubles titles this year,finally adding one ? with my partner @lucik2105 @CoupeBN @WTA pic.twitter.com/MBegMtfrUa

— Andrea Hlavackova (@AndreaHlavackov) September 18, 2016

SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches powered by SAP HANA provides decisive real-time performance data. This analytical edge arms coaches and players with the insight necessary to implement crucial strategy changes during the course of the match.

“I can go on court and say to the player without any hesitation: ‘Okay, 100% of the time when they’re break point down, they’re serving here. You should look to do this,” said Nicole Pratt, coach of Daria Gavrilova.

“In Toronto, Nicole came out with the tablet and showed me a few different stats. When she showed me how far behind the baseline I was it helped a lot and I started to move back inside the court and be more aggressive. It helped me turn that match around.”

Watch the video above to hear how Angelique Kerber, Daria Gavrilova and their respective coaching teams use SAP Tennis Analytics during their matches.