Tennis News

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber began her quest to become World No.1 in earnest on Wednesday, dispatching the always dangerous Kristina Mladenovic, 6-0, 7-5, to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open.

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“It wasn’t so easy to come to a tournament with just one or two days to prepare, and first rounds are always tough,” she told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “But I was trying to play my game, and it’s so nice to be back in Cincinnati; I have great memories from the last few years, and the fans are amazing. It’s just so nice to be back here on the Center Court.”

Kerber arrived in Cincinnati fresh off her run to the final of the Olympic tennis event – where she became the first German woman since Stefanie Graf in 1992 to medal in tennis.

“It was really special, one of the really special weeks in my career so far. Winning a medal was a dream; when I was young, I was the Olympics at home and to go back home with a medal right now is an incredible feeling. I had an incredible week there.”

The World No.2 ultimately showed few showed few signs of fatigue against Mladenovic, who was playing her second match of the day after Tuesday’s rain interrupted her first round match against Kateryna Bondarenko. While both players hit 18 winners, it was Kerber’s consistency that won the day, with 20 unforced errors to 44 from the Frenchwoman, who was a game from forcing a deciding set before the German clinched the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

Up next for Kerber is the unseeded and looming World No.20 Barbora Strycova; the Olympic Bronze medalist in women’s doubles will be playing with Co-No.1 Sania Mirza for the first time this week in Cincinnati, but has been equally impressively in singles this season. Surviving a topsy-turvy first set against No.14 seed Samantha Stosur, Strycova saved a set point in the first set tie-break – and needing six of her own – to ultimately beat the Aussie, 7-6(11), 6-3.

Kerber leads their head-to-head 4-1 but the two have split their 2016 meetings and Strycova won their most recent encounter at the Mutua Madrid Open.

It’s an important week for the reigning Australian Open champion and Wimbledon finalist; should she win the Western & Southern Open title, she would end Serena Williams’ 183 straight weeks atop the WTA rankings and become the top seed at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.

.@AngeliqueKerber ❤️'s #CincyTennis fans! https://t.co/lO2TkF8k6G

— WTA (@WTA) August 18, 2016

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – No.2 seed Roberta Vinci made her way to the quarterfinals of the Connecticut Open for the first time after a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ana Konjuh.

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“It was not an easy match,” Vinci admitted afterwards. “It’s always tough, the first round for me. She played well, but the court is so fast. I played consistent and tried to stay focused every point.”

Eighteen-year-old Konjuh was making her New Haven debut after coming through three rounds of qualifying, and she came out swinging against the No.2 seed. She brought up two break points right away against the Italian’s serve, unleashing her powerful groundstrokes to yank Vinci from line to line.

The Italian held on, though, and took advantage of a loose service game – including two double faults – to get the first break to love at 4-2. She rattled off another two games and took the opening set. The second set unfolded in the same pattern as the first, with Vinci grabbing two late breaks to take the match after just under an hour.

With the win Vinci advanced to the New Haven quarterfinal and notched her ever best result at New Haven, having reached just two second round appearances in 2011 and 2015.

“I love to play here in New Haven, I have great memories here from last year,” she said. “And now I’m in quarterfinals, for the first time, so I’m so happy. I will try my best for tomorrow.”

Vinci is set to play Johanna Larson in the next round for a spot in the semifinals.

Also in action today was lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens, who upset the higher-ranked Caroline Garcia, 7-6(3), 7-5.

Her reward? A quarterfinal clash with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

“She’s a great player, she’s very talented,” Flipkens said. “I’ve already had some matches against her in the past.

“I just hope that I can go out there and do my best and have a good match, no matter what the result.”

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska ended lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens’ dream run at the Connecticut Open, winning 6-1, 6-4 to book a semifinal against defending champion Petra Kvitova.

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Flipkens became one of two lucky losers to reach the semifinals after replacing the ailing Lesia Tsurenko and powering past Belinda Bencic and Caroline Garcia, but she just didn’t have enough in her arsenal of slices and volleys to grab her first win over the World No.4.

Radwanska dug from her own bag of tricks against Flipkens, switching up the pace between line to line rallies and killer dropshots.

But the Belgian didn’t roll over, and produced some spectacular tennis – and razor sharp shot-making – to earn the break right back and level the match at 2-1.

This rally from @FlipperKF and @ARadwanska ? #CTOpen16 pic.twitter.com/DKSevPxqjk

— WTA (@WTA) August 25, 2016

 It was the last game Flipkens would win for a while, though, as Radwanska’s cerebral style of point construction kept her seemingly always a step ahead. She rattled off five games in a row to take the set and an early break in the second.

Finally finding her footing late in the match, Flipkens rallied to get the break back and began to meet Radwanska blow for blow, creating for some incredible rallies.

TWEENER SPOTTING! ?

But really, how AWESOME was that rally?! #CTOpen16 pic.twitter.com/PN5DPFqkoO

— WTA (@WTA) August 26, 2016

“It’s always entertaining for us, as well, playing rallies like this,” Radwanska said of the rally above. “Of course, she’s a very tricky opponent. You can really expect from her those kind of shots. Very good touch, very good hands. We had a lot of matches with rallies like this.”

Radwanska just stayed more consistent throughout and finally earned the decisive break at 5-4, taking the match after an hour and 22 minutes. The top seeded player hit 25 winners to 16 unforced errors – a high number for the usually tidy Radwanska – against Flipkens’ 21 winners and 27 unforced errors.

With the victory Radwanska is through to her first semifinal at the Connecticut Open, where three-time champion Petra Kvitova awaits across the net.  

“I’m just very happy to make the first semifinal,” Radwanska said. “Especially that it’s a very strong tournament. It means I had a couple of good matches, a couple of good wins.

“Well, I guess now I have really nothing to lose, especially I’m playing Petra next.”

For tennis fans, snagging a selfie with their favorite player is the ultimate prize. But what happens when it’s a player asking the fans for selfies?

We sent Jelena Ostapenko on a selfie scavenger hunt through the grounds of the Western & Southern Open. Find out what happened when she ambushed fans, volunteers, and more in search of the ultimate selfie prize.

It’s all in the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free: Always Full Of Surprises!