Tennis News

DOHA, Qatar – No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza played some of her best tennis of the year to dispatch Hungary’s Timea Babos, 6-2, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.

“I think it was very tough,” she said during her on-court interview. “The second set, we were fighting like crazy. Timea started to play better and by the end of the match we were both very tight.

“But hey, I’m happy to win!”

Babos came into their third round encounter as the tour-leader in aces, but Muguruza stole the show on serve, hitting 10 aces of her own and 31 winners to just 22 unforced errors. Babos kept her side of the stat sheet even – 21 winners and 21 errors – but missed out on an opportunity to force a second set tie-break in the final game of the match, putting Muguruza into the last eight in Doha.

“Timea serves very strong, so I knew I had to be focused on my serve and hers as well. It was definitely one of the keys.”

Playing in Doha for just the second time in her career, Muguruza will play Andrea Petkovic for a spot in the semifinals; Petkovic closed out CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-4.

“I think the city is super fine. Doha looks great, and I’m really happy to be here and playing, finally!”

Earlier in the day, Elena Vesnina backed up her win over No.2 seed Simona Halep with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki; the win put Vesnina into her first Premier-level quarterfinal in nearly three years (Eastbourne 2013) and was just her second win over the Dane in eight prior encounters.

The last match of the day took place between No.9 seed Roberta Vinci and Turkish wildcard Cagla Buyukakcay; Vinci maintained her focus through a feline interruption to win, 7-5, 6-1.

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There’s a fresh face on the scene at this year’s Australian Open, as 17-year-old Jamiee Fourlis impressed home fans in a convincing first round win.

While Australia’s headlines focused on friend and rival Destanee Aiava, the Melbourne-born Fourlis had an agenda of her own, knocking out former World No. 50 Anna Tatishvili of the United States in straight sets.

“I tried to stay in the moment, tried to keep everything on court. There was nothing to lose today,” Fourlis told reporters post-match. “Winning your first match in a Grand Slam doesn’t come every day. At the moment I’m still trying to take it all in. But it’s an amazing feeling.”

Fourlis lost the 18/U Australian Championships to Aiava just weeks ago, and was able to play qualifying for the year’s opening Grand Slam thanks to a strong run at the annual Wildcard Playoff in late December.

After watching her compatriot Aiava bow out on Day 1, the 17-year-old kept a cool head to advance to the second round in her grand slam debut.

“She handled herself really well under the pressure of playing at home in her first Grand Slam,” childhood coach Kane Dewhurst told wtatennis.com. “She has a lot of support behind her, so it was no surprise to see her play consistently well throughout.”

Dewhurst first worked with the World No. 414 since the age of five, and was certainly impressed with what he saw in Melbourne on Monday.

“Jaimee has always been a clean ball striker. She has weapons on both sides, and it’s now just a matter of understanding when to use them. She has great variety in her game as well, and that’s why she has plenty of growth and development ahead of her.”

Fourlis fought back from an early break down in the second against Tatishvili to close out the match, 6-4 6-3, where she will meet the experienced No.8 seed and two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Dewhurst, the owner of Vida Tennis, believes that while the obvious step up in class will be difficult, Fourlis has plenty of upside and could cause an upset.

“Kuznetsova will be a huge step up in class and a massive challenge, but if she can settle early, there is absolutely nothing to lose. The sky is the limit, so I’ll tell her to just get out there and go after it.

“I don’t think we should put any limits on anyone, and there is no reason she can’t cause an upset.”

She certainly has a tough assignment on her hands, but in the shadows of the MCG, home to her beloved football team, the Collingwood Magpies, Fourlis wants all the support she can get in the second round.

“Hopefully some Collingwood players can come and watch!”

Adriano Del Monte, wtatennis.com contributor.

DOHA, Qatar – Andrea Petkovic played some of her best tennis of the year to maintain a perfect head-to-head record against No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, winning 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open.

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“It’s very special,” Petkovic said of her first Top 5 win in three years. “It was so tough; Garbiñe is such a talented and dangerous player who put me under pressure.

“I was a little lucky in the end, but I’m just happy to be through.”

Each woman hit 29 winners, but while the German played cleanly throughout – hitting just 16 unforced errors – Muguruza had more issues with consistency, hitting 38.

“I’ve been playing really well the past few weeks. Everything is coming together and I’m getting my match focus again,” Petkovic continued.

“I’m really happy I’m on the right path and really looking forward to the whole season.”

Up next for the former World No.9 is teen sensation Jelena Ostapenko, who dispatched China’s Zheng Saisai in the first quarterfinal of the day.

“I watched both of her matches, and she’s been playing great. I had her on the radar, before. I saw her in Linz qualifying and thought this girl is really good.

“She’s showing her talent, and hopefully I can recover well from today’s match and put on a good performance tomorrow.”