Charleston: Daria Kasatkina vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Daria Kasatkina takes on Irina-Camelia Begu in the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open.
Daria Kasatkina takes on Irina-Camelia Begu in the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open.
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Fifty-seven minutes was all it took for top seed Venus Williams to brush aside the challenge of local wildcard Lee Pei-Chi and book her place in the second round of the Taiwan Open.
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A solitary break was enough to give Williams the opening set and with her own serve as imperious as ever she rattled through a more one-sided second to complete a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
“It was exciting to compete against a local player – the crowd were super involved and made things exciting,” Venus said. “The first round is never easy so I’m really happy to now be advancing and hopefully play better and better with every game.”
In stark contrast to her opponent, Lee was stepping on court for her very first WTA main draw match. And while she was unable to maintain her bright start, Williams had some words of encouragement.
“I didn’t know what to expect because I’d never met her before and was really impressed with how she competed. Obviously we know Hsieh [Su-Wei] and the Chan sisters, but from today I can see that tennis here has a bright future,” Williams said.
Next up for Williams will be a different challenge in the shape of Urszula Radwanska.
“It’ll be a little bit different from today – she plays with a little bit more top spin – so I’m going to need to have a different strategy. But you never know, and whatever it takes to win the point is what I’m going to do.”
There were mixed fortunes for the other seeds in action on Wednesday. No.3 seed Yulia Putintseva finished strongly to see off Miyu Kato, 6-4, 5-7, 6-0, and book a quarterfinal berth, while Kurumi Nara, the No.7 seed, was also pushed hard during a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Zhang Yuxuan.
No.4 seed Zarina Diyas looked set to join them when she romped through the second set against Elizaveta Kulichkova. However, Kulichkova, a talented junior who is rapidly making a name for herself in the senior ranks, had other ideas, bouncing back to triumph, 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her win in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
After a thrilling three set match on Charleston’s Stadium court, good friends Daria Kasatkina and Daria Gavrilova met at the net for an amusing attempt at a fake-out handshake.
An interview with Ana Ivanovic after her second round win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Angelique Kerber has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
Three-time champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looked on course for a fourth Abierto GNP Seguros title after taking down No.3 seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets and booking a place into the final.
Ana Ivanovic takes on Margarita Gasparyan in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Kicking off finals Sunday at the Volvo Car Open, World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands treated the Charleston crowd to a rousing doubles match alongside partner and Australian Open co-champion Lucie Safarova.
Up against a newly formed Czech duo in Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova, Mattek-Sands and Safarova recovered from a tough second set to rebound in the match tie-break, winning, 6-4, 1-6, 10-7, to take home their second title of the season – and Mattek-Sands’ third overall.
The win triggered a lengthy celebration from two of the tour’s biggest personalities, and even a revival of the Shaun T-choereographed dance the two debuted after winning in Melbourne.
Check out some the best photos from after the match right here, courtesy of the Volvo Car Open:
