Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – Top seed Angelique Kerber needed just over an hour to move into her first semifinal of 2017 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after defeating Ana Konjuh in straight sets.

The World No.2 employed her solid brand of tennis against the big hitting 19-year-old, staying calm against Konjuh’s barrage of winners to advance 6-3, 6-2.

“I’m really happy about the match today,” Kerber told press after the victory. “I mean, it was a tough one, because Ana is a tough opponent. She’s going for it. You have to play until the last point so it’s nice to get through in two sets.”

Speed and soft hands from @AngeliqueKerber! ? pic.twitter.com/Ti8X0o1Ej5

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

Kerber got off to a roaring start, shutting out Konjuh to build up a daunting 4-0 lead.

The Croat stopped the rot with a break of serve, reeling off three straight games to cut into Kerber’s advantage. But a string of double faults – including two in the 5-3 game – and loose errors off the ground handed Kerber the opening set.

Konjuh held her ground in the second, hanging with the World No.2 in the early exchanges and showing flashes of the brilliance that caused her to be named one of the most promising young players of the WTA. Kerber stayed firmly in control, though, and broke twice to reel off four games in a row and close out the match after an hour and fifteen minutes.

“I'm feeling good and really looking forward to play my first Semifinal at @DDFTennis!” -@AngeliqueKerber pic.twitter.com/KlNLPjZ4Sq

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

Kerber hit a scant seven winners to Konjuh’s 24, but allowed just eleven unforced errors compared to her opponent’s 35.

She’ll play Elina Svitolina for a spot in the final with an eye on the WTA’s top ranking: should Kerber win the title in Dubai she’ll return to World No.1.

“I think it will be a tough match again,” Kerber said. “I think we will have a lot of rallies. I have to be aggressive and just like the last days here. I mean, I have to be really focused on my game, on my rhythm.

“Just trying to enjoy the next match here on the Centre Court, and of course I will try to go out there and to win another match here.”

DUBAI, UAE – Just days after throwing down the WTA Shot Of The Month gauntlet to trick shots queen Agnieszka Radwanska, World No.2 Angelique Kerber produced yet another highlight-worthy piece of brilliance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – and this time she even went right handed for it!

Watch Kerber switch hands for a right-handed reflex volley in her WTA Shot Of The Day from her quarterfinal against Ana Konjuh:

Speed and soft hands from @AngeliqueKerber! ? pic.twitter.com/Ti8X0o1Ej5

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

 “I don’t think [I’ve ever hit a right-handed volley before],” Kerber laughed in her post-match press conference. “I think this point — yeah, I have no idea. I just react, so it was just maybe a little bit luck, as well.”

She added, “I’m naturally right handed. Maybe that helps me in this point.”

On Tuesday, Kerber’s 26-shot rally against Mona Barthel prompted the German to muse out loud about displacing perennial hot-shot winner Radwanska, who not only took home January’s WTA Shot Of The Month but also owns the WTA Shot Of The Year Award for the last four years.

She’s coming for you @ARadwanska… pic.twitter.com/q11Hc9WD6Z

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 21, 2017

Radwanska was game and readily accepted the challenge on Twitter:

Game on ???@AngeliqueKerber https://t.co/0S9L0qIsjJ

— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) February 21, 2017

@ARadwanska ???

— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) February 21, 2017

But will it be enough for Kerber to dethrone Radwanska and claim February WTA Shot Of The Month? Stay tuned…

DUBAI, UAE – Last week, historic rainfall wreaked havoc on the Qatar Total Open schedule, where former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki reached the final.

Now it’s looking like the bad weather has followed her across the Gulf all the way to Dubai, where it delayed the start of her quarterfinal against CiCi Bellis.

Wozniacki, whose nickname is “Sunshine,” has figured out the culprit behind all of Dubai’s weather woes:

“At this point, I was just, it’s me. I’m bringing the rain,” she laughed in her post-match press conference.

“You know, even in Doha and in Dubai, I come and it’s raining. I step on the court and it’s raining. I was, like, this is deja vu from Doha last week!”

But Wozniacki probably doesn’t mind the rain too much. After all, it’s bringing out some of her best tennis.

“I have a winning record with this rain. Just bring it on. I’m ready for it.”

Waiting for the rain to stop… ?☔️ pic.twitter.com/t04KiqURvx

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

“I am very happy how I played the last game – it was great,” the Latvian told press after winning in an hour and 21 minutes.

Anastasija Sevastova is first through to @DDFTennis Semifinals!

Slides past Wang 6-4, 7-5! pic.twitter.com/Wh9AeknZ44

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

Currently ranked No.35, she will reach a career high on Monday after her campaign in Dubai.

Yet she had struggled to dominate this quarterfinal thanks to her opponent’s battling spirit, and it was Wang who struck first, breaking serve to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set.

The 26-year-old hit right back, though, and went on to take the first set – but Wang was not ready to give up. Even after falling behind by a break of serve in the second set, she clawed her way right back into it to level up at 5-5.

Despite the Chinese player’s determination, Sevastova eventually managed to serve it out on her third match point to secured herself a deserved semifinal berth against either CiCi Bellis or Caroline Wozniacki.

“I’m going to watch the match,” Sevastova added. “CiCi played an amazing match yesterday, Caroline has a perfect record against me…we’ll see how it is tomorrow.”

DUBAI, UAE – Chan Hao-Ching and Yaroslava Shvedova shocked top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic to make it through to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The fifth-seeded pair won through in a thrilling decider to take the match 7-5, 3-6, 10-3.

“We lost in a super tiebreaker and still I think we had lots of opportunities,” said Mladenovic afterwards. “We had a big lead in the first set and I think we should have closed it out and won probably, but it’s tennis, and the girls are playing well as well and in the third set anything can happen.”

Mladenovic was not too disappointed, however, adding that she and Garcia were both working on their singles game while competing in doubles.

“It’s not easy, it’s just our second tournament of the year,” she said. “I still think we had a good run in Melbourne – lost in the semis – here we had a tough tournament. It’s our goal this year, we are going to be more focused on our singles and we are trying new things, like we are switching sides every set and like really working on our singles game.”

The 23-year-old remains hopeful that she and her partner will impress over the course of the year.

“It’s just the beginning of the season,” she pointed out. “We are looking forward, the season is very long and Indian Wells, Miami coming up soon so everything is positive.”

Second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina progressed in a topsy-turvy clash with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, winning 6-1, 3-6, 10-5.

Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai had a straightforward quarterfinal against Chan Yung-Jan and Martina Hingis, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.