Tennis News

Wednesday proved to be an odd day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – one filled with surprising upset that brought us an unlikely quarter-final match-up between fellow Spaniards and first time opponents Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.

Arguably the biggest upset of the day took place on Centre Court when 13th seed Carla Suarez Navarro upset two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to reach the final eight in Dubai. She defeated the No. 2 seed 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

“Carla plays different from the other girls – the backhand slice, she can play at the net, from the forehand she can put topspin,” Kvitova said. “She has a lot of variety in her game. She’s not the only one playing like this, but I lost twice already against her, so I hope next time will be better.”

Following up on her US Open victory last year against the Pole, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza ousted fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-2 to secure her spot in the quarter-final stage of the tournament. The contest lasted 76 minutes and saw Garbine strike 4 aces, win 84% of her first service points, and converted five break point opportunities.

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“I think nowadays there are so many girls that play so well that the difference between the top players and the other ones is really small,” Muguruza said afterwards. “If you work hard and play your best and concentrate on just playing your game, I think you will always have the chance to beat them.”

This marks the first time that these two competitors will meet on the WTA tour and will likely make for an entertaining match-up between two of the top Spaniards on the tour. The winner will find herself in the semi-final in Dubai, which will be an outstanding achievement.

Prediction: Garbine Muguruza in Three Sets

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic faced minimal resistance en route to the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and she will now meet Karolina Pliskova for the second time on the WTA tour. Pliskova leads the series 1-0 following a straight sets victory at last year’s United States Open. Check out the Ivanovic v Pliskova Head to Head.

Follow the match live here: Ivanovic v Pliskova Live Stream

The Serbian star reached the third round in Dubai without dropping a set so far in the tournament. Her second round victory against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki was particularly strong, as she won the match 6-0, 6-3. She hit 16 winners to close out the match in 1 hour and five minutes, and appeared to have recovered from the foot injury that plagued her in Melbourne.

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Ivanovic will come up against Karolina Pliskova, who defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round of the tournament. It was her 14th match win of the season so far and highlights the exceptional form the Czech player is in right now. She converted six break points and won 65% of her first service points to close out the match in 1 hour and 25 minutes.

“She’s playing really well lately, and it’s great to have new faces in woman’s game,” Ivanovic said when asked about Pliskova. “She’s definitely a different kind of player to other girls. She’s tall, has big serve, quite flat shots. I lost to her in US Open, so hopefully I can get a better game plan tomorrow and prevail.”

This marks the second time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, and is a match-up that is just as intriguing the second time around. Ivanovic is yet to find her way in 2015 following a surprisingly premature exit from the Aussie Open. She has, however, looked sharp in Dubai, and will look to avenge her 7-5 6-4 loss to Pliskova at the US Open.

Prediction: Karolina Pliskova in Three Sets

Following impressive starts to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Muguruza will cross paths for a fourth time on the WTA tour when they meet in the third round of the tournament on Wednesday. Radwanska leads the head-to-head series 2-1 but lost their most recent encounter at the beginning of the season in Sydney.

Follow the match live here: Radwanska v Muguruza Live Stream

Radwanska was required to battle hard for her victory against an inspired Caroline Garcia on Tuesday, as she defeated her French adversary in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The Pole’s biggest adversary in the contest was the extreme heat, which forced her to take an eight-minute medical timeout before edging out the victory in the decider.

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“I came from Poland under different conditions, and there was a lot of sickness going on out there. Everybody was sick,” Radwanska said. “I came here not really 100% well. But I think the most important part is that I was able to finish that match and win that match, so that’s the most important thing.”

The Pole will come up against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, who had little trouble getting past former Serbian No. 1 Jelena Jankovic. She defeated the former Top 5 player 6-3, 6-1 in exactly 61 minutes to advance to the third round of the tournament. Muguruza struck 3 aces, won 91% of her first service points, and secured five breaks of serve to close out the match with relative ease.

The first two meetings between these competitors both ended in victories for Radwanska. She earned her first win at the Miami Masters I 2012, while the second victory took place at the Australian Open last season However, the Spaniard proved that she is not one to count out of tournaments, as she upset Aga in their most recent meeting in Sydney, and will be on alert for another potential upset on Wednesday.

Prediction: Garbine Muguruza in Three Sets

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka announced on Tuesday afternoon that she would begin working with Simona Halep’s former coach Wim Fissette during the 2015 season.

The two-time Grand Slam champion recently split with Sam Sumyk, who is now coaching Canadian No. 1 Eugenie Bouchard, while Fissette split with Halep during the off-season last year.

Azarenka revealed the news on her official twitter account.

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Following a rough 2014 season plagued with injuries, Azarenka took part in a promising start to the year when she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to last year’s finalist Dominika Cibulkova. Her ranking may have dropped to No. 50, but she has displayed the necessary traits to work her way back up the ranks this season.

Fissette previously coached the likes of Kim Clijsters and Sabine Lisicki. Under his tutelage, Halep took part in a career-best season on the WTA tour – one that included her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, a career-high ranking of world No. 2, and a semi-final showing at the Wimbledon Championships. She completed her season with a runner-up showing at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

The coaching arrangement lasted just one year, as he joined the Romanian in January ahead of the 2014 season. Halep is now working with Romanian coach Victor Ionita.

Since then, Fisstte was linked to partnerships with Madison Keys, as well as Taylor Townsend. However, it is now clear that he will begin a commitment with former world No. 1 Azarenka.

Welcome to the team Wim! @wimfissette pic.twitter.com/LSYTAWsvxH

— victoria azarenka (@vika7) February 17, 2015

Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will begin his clay court campaign on Tuesday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro when he meets Thomaz Bellucci in the main attraction on Centre Court. This marks the fourth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Nadal holding an undefeated 3-0 head to head record against the local talent.

Follow the match live here: Nadal v Bellucci Live Stream

The world No. 4 has had a scrutinized start to his 2015 season. He began with an opening round loss to Michael Berrer in Doha before he moved to the Australian Open several weeks later. He reached the quarter-final round in Melbourne before losing to Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Now, he will move over to South America, where he will face a new adversary in the form of extreme heat.

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“I think this heat would affect anybody,” Nadal said. “It’s very difficult with these conditions. The conditions are extreme, with high humidity on top of that. If it doesn’t cool off, I’ll suffer and try to survive any way I can.”

An intriguing second round match-up is scheduled to take place in the opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, as Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur will meet for the ninth time on the professional tour. The head-to-head series is tied at 4-4 after Stosur won their most recent encounter last season in Beijing.

Follow the match live here: Stosur v Wozniacki Live Stream

Wozniacki started off her 2015 season in style with an appearance in the final in Auckland, where she lost to the resurgent Venus Williams. However, things took a turn for the worse afterwards, as Wozniacki retired from her opening match in the Sydney, and failed to embark on a strong run in Melbourne at the Aussie Open. She defeated Taylor Townsend in the opening round before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the second round.

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“It’s nice to look around before I get down to the hard work this week. I’m so happy to be back in Dubai, I love this event. I’ve won it in the past and have lots of wonderful memories. We’re heading to the hotel now – we stay in the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. It’s a great hotel, the staff are all really nice. It’s also right on the grounds of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium so it’s the shortest commute of the season!”

Sam Stosur has had a turbulent start to her 2015 season, as she reached the second round in Brisbane, where she lost to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, and then fell in the same round in Sydney to Coco Vandeweghe. She then went on to lose in the second round of the Australian Open to Angelique Kerber. She is coming off a win against Australia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in Fed Cup action.

Wozniacki and Stosur have crossed paths on eight different occasions on the WTA tour, with the series tied 4-4. Stosur has proven more efficient on hard courts and leads that series 2-1. Based simply off their more recent performances on the tour, the confident Caroline should route Stosur in straight sets.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki in Three Sets

Stan Wawrinka became the latest Swiss player to capture the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament title when he defeated Tomas Berdych on Sunday.

Wawrinka, who was forced to rally from a set down, defeated Berdych to lift the crown in his first appearance at the event in a decade. He won the final 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in exactly two hours of court time. It marked yet another accomplishment in Wawrinka’s career: his first ATP World Tour 500 Indoor Title.

“It’s been an amazing week,” said Wawrinka. “It wasn’t easy, but every match I found my way. It was a great final. Tomas was playing really well, but I’m happy to turn that match for me and win the title.

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“It’s my first [ATP World Tour] 500 title and winning indoors is something special for me personally. It’s always amazing to win a trophy. It’s the best feeling.”

Wawrinka took home €358,540 and 500 Emirates ATP Ranking points for his efforts.

The dejected Berdych was disappointed with his performance, given that he had full control of the match before wilting. As the runner-up, the former defending champion takes home €161,650 and 300 points for his efforts.

“I’m disappointed with the way the match finished,” said Berdych. “There can only be one winner. I had my chances in the beginning of the second set and I didn’t make them so I think that cost me the match.

“I can see some positive things because the last time I played him it went a completely different way. I was in control in the beginning and the small differences decided it today. Next time I need to work harder.”

History was made in Memphis on Sunday afternoon, as Japanese No. 1 Kei Nishikori became the first player to win the Memphis Open title three consecutive times since the tournament’s inception 40 years ago.

Not only did Nishikori achieve what no other competitor has been able to do since the first edition of the tournament in 1975, he withstood 12 aces from Kevin Anderson to defeat the South African in straight sets to lift his first title of the season.

The world No. 5 took part in a turbulent week in Memphis, but managed to conclude it with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Anderson. He surpassed other titleholders like Tommy Haas and Jimmy Connors, who have only won the title twice consecutively.

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“It feels great, of course,” he said. “Today’s match was much different than [the past] couple of matches. I played really solid from the baseline and returned really well.”

In an interesting gesture from the tournament, Nishikori was gifted with a custom-made Gibson Memphis ES-335 Figured Gloss Semi-Hollowbody electric guitar instead of a traditional trophy.

“I love it!” Nishikori said of his prize. “I’ve never done guitar before, but I think I might need to start and get some lessons.”

Anderson, who was chasing his third title on the ATP World Tour, was disappointed with his inability to compete against Nishikori. However, he will now set his sights on another tournament he has done well in historically, Delray Beach.

“Being in that stage a few times now in the finals, obviously you want to take it a little bit further, but it wasn’t there,” he said. “I have a couple of other tournaments coming up now, so I can’t afford to dwell on this.”

While the attention on Sunday was focused on Wawrinka and Nishikori’s title wins, there were various players on the ATP and WTA tours that lifted their first titles of 2015.

On the ATP tour, Pablo Cuevas managed to rally late in the Brasil Open final to defeat qualifier Luca Vanni and lift his first title of 2015. He defeated Vanni 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) to win his third overall title on the tour, and move to 3-0 in finals.

“We were both very nervous,” said Cuevas. “I think it was the first time I played a final as the favourite. I thought that I couldn’t lose when that happens, but the matches become more difficult. In front of me I had someone that was playing with a lot of confidence and with a great serve. I think we both failed at some moments: a double fault, a volley. There were many mistakes at the end and the winner was the one who fails less than the other.

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“I’m having a great comeback. I dream it will be good, but it’s better than I thought. I’m happy and enjoying the moment. But I’m healthy and I want more. I think I can give more and I thought about it when I could not play.”

Cuevas won $80,850 and 250 ATP Ranking Points, while Vanni won $42,600 and 150 Ranking Points. It was a strong showing for a player who had never previously won a match on the ATP World Tour.

“I’m so happy,” Vanni said. “It was a close match. I fought hard against Cuevas. Tomorrow he will be 28, maybe 27, in the (Emirates ATP Rankings)…I’m so proud of myself.”

On the WTA tour, Daniela Hantuchova rallied from a set down to beat Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and win the PTT Thailand Open. The contest lasted a total of two hours and seven minutes and saw Hantuchova struggle before finally jumping out to a dominant lead in the deciding set.

“Today was very tough because Ajla was playing some great tennis,” Hantuchova said. “I had to really fight for it – at the end I felt maybe I was a little fresher and sharper, and that decided the match.

“But Ajla has a great future ahead of her. She’s also a very nice girl. It’s nice to have somebody like her in the game. And like I said on the court, I’m sure she’ll have many more finals to come.”

Tomljanovic, however, was still satisfied with her performance, as she had never been in a WTA semi-final before, let alone competing for a title in the final.