Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – 2011 champion Caroline Wozniacki put an end to CiCi Bellis’ dream run at the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, notching commanding 6-3, 6-2 win over the 17-year-old American.

Bellis announced herself to the Dubai draw in a big way with her stunning upset over World No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska in the last round to reach her first Premier 5 quarterfinals, but she had no answers against her childhood idol Wozniacki.

“I have been there myself, so I know what it’s like,” Wozniacki said of her young opponent. “I just try to put myself in her shoes.

“For me, it was just very important to stay strong and not show any negative emotions but just stay positive all the time, show that I have the presence on court and really make her play those extra balls and points.

“She would really have to play on a really high level to beat me, because I was going to give that extra ball back. I wasn’t going to just give it to her.”

.@cicibellis99 is ?! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/SrQdj4TNOl

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

The American’s tricky disguised groundstrokes – which troubled Radwanska time and again in the third round – kept Wozniacki second-guessing as the teenager dictated the early rallies. She calmly took the break at 3-1, but it would be the only lead of the match for Bellis as the former World No.1 came roaring back.

Wozniacki kept to her game plan, tracking down every shot and making Bellis play an extra ball to draw out unforced errors. The American’s game plan crumbled, rewarding Wozniacki with the break back to level the match 3-3.

The Dane took full command from there, reeling off nine straight games to grab the opening set and take a daunting 4-0 lead in the second, and she went on to serve out a spot in her sixth straight Dubai semifinals.

The unforced errors count marked the difference between Wozniacki and Bellis: while they were almost evenly matched in winners (12 for Wozniacki to 14), Bellis struck more than twice as many unforced errors with 33 against Wozniacki’s 15.

.@CaroWozniacki advances to @DDFTennis Semifinals!

Cruises past Bellis 6-3, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/GRnNkCy797

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

“She’s just really solid, really solid off the ground and serving well,” Bellis explained after the match. “[She was] more consistent than me today. Moved me a lot. I think all that combined.

“She’s such a great player. It was really fun for me to see what the highest level is.”

Up next the 2011 champion will take on Anastasija Sevastova for a spot in the final. The pair last met in the quarterfinals of the 2016 US Open, with Wozniacki emerging victorious in a comfortable straight sets.

“She’s a player that mixes the pace up quite a bit,” Wozniacki said. “She’s definitely going to try and get me out of my own rhythm. I’m just excited to play and be in the semifinals once again.”

Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen wraps up a strong fortnight at SW19, which ended with Serena Williams winning her seventh Wimbledon title to tie Stefanie Graf’s Open Era Record of 22 major titles overall. Go inside the press room to hear from Serena herself after her big win on Saturday, and Courtney is joined by two great analysts in former player and current commentator Rennae Stubbs and tennis historian and reporter Steve Flink to discuss Serena’s performance in the final, her growing rivalry with Angelique Kerber, and where No.22 places Serena in the annals of tennis history.

Stubbs on Serena: “I want people to understand how hard it is to do what she’s doing. I think that get taken for granted because she has the serve, the power, physically her presence is so much more imposing than anyone else. People think it comes easily. It doesn’t. The pressure on Serena every single time she wakes up in the morning on match day is to win the match. Any great player will tell you how stressful it is every single day. I know what Steffi went through and one thing Steffi regrets is she didn’t enjoy the victories more. But my response to that is that Steffi wouldn’t have been as great as she was because she wanted more. If you start to enjoy it you think you’ve done your job. You’re satisfied. Serena, just as Steffi was, won’t be satisfied.”

Flink: Looking at the Open Era, Steffi and Martina had much more consistency than what Serena had, and she’s making up for lost time these last four years. If she passes Steffi and even catches or surpasses Margaret Court, then she has a very strong claim at being the best ever. She only had two years earlier in her career at No.1 in the world, now she’s on her way of doing it maybe for four straight years. That was for me the biggest hole in her record until now, not enough years at No.1, not enough consistency. But she’s been so consistent over these last four years that I think she’s going to be able to overcome the deficiencies of the earlier years. There’s going to be a real serious argument about whether Serena, Steffi, or Martina as the best player of the modern era.

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Sania Mirza, India’s most successful female tennis player, has revealed that she is in discussions over a Bollywood movie based on her life following the publication of her autobiography, Aces Against Odds, last year.

“There are some talks going on, but there’s nothing concrete right now,” the 30-year-old told Al Jazeera in an interview. “I’m a private person, so it is a difficult ask of me to open up completely.”

The 41-time WTA doubles champion also said she was aiming to return to the top of the WTA doubles rankings, a position she last held in at the start of 2017.

“We’re trying to win every tournament, whether it’s a Grand Slam or a regular tournament,” she said. “It would be great to get back to number one in the world, but I was there for almost two years. I feel like I just want to keep working hard and playing as long as I enjoy the pressure of competing.”

Mirza, who won the Brisbane International this year with WTA World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, also has six Grand Slam doubles titles to her name. She won the Australian Open last year to go with her 2015 victories at Wimbledon and the US Open, while in mixed doubles she won the Australian Open in 2009, the French Open in 2012 and the US Open in 2014.

Mirza, whose husband is Pakistan international cricketer Shoaib Malik, also spoke about the impact Bollywood can have in giving other sports exposure in a country obsessed with her husband’s game.

“We try to act like we are a sporting nation two months before the Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games. Until then, nobody really cares. We need to remember that we have champions outside of cricket, as well.

“Most sports don’t get the kind of support, help or viewership that is given to cricket. But because of movies, the whole country realises who these people are. Bollywood is probably the biggest industry that we have. It’s one way to reach out to the masses and, actually, celebrate.”