Tennis News

BEIJING, China – 2015 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion Agnieszka Radwanska is just two matches from booking a return to Singapore with a first round win at the China Open, defeating wildcard Wang Qiang, 6-2, 6-2.

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“First match is always tricky,” said the No.3 seed in her post-match press conference. “I just realized that the court and balls are much slower than the last week. Well, I was just trying to be more aggressive. If I had a chance, I was stepping in and moving to the net.”

Radwanska could have booked her ticket to Singapore last week had she won the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, but fell to former World No.2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals – despite holding a match point in the second set.

“You are always trying to not think about pressure, especially here, close to Singapore.

“I just hope I can do it here, that’s for sure. But, well, I had the situation last year when I had to win the Tianjin Open to qualify for Singapore, and I did it. Of course, it was last-minute qualifying.

“I will try everything to qualify a bit before that this year. Everything is open. This is a big event. Everybody can do a lot of points here. It’s a little bit more pressure, but I think every year it’s kind of similar situation for everyone, especially a lot of girls this year is really close and the rankings are very tight.”

Easing ahead to a 6-2, 5-1 lead, Radwanska wobbled at the finish line against Wang, a talented player who started the year by taking out Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open, but the Pole rebounded to end the match in one hour and 24 minutes.

“I had a couple of matchpoints. It was still not a tragedy when I was 5-1 up. I was just very happy that I put a couple of good shots in next game and closed that set also very quickly.”

Up next for the World No.3 is Ekaterina Makarova, who dispatched fellow Singapore doubles partner Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-1, in their first round encounter on Sunday.

Incredible on the run shot from Qiang Wang!! #ChinaOpen https://t.co/bpJ22ZdFpp

— WTA (@WTA) October 2, 2016

BEIJING, China – Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki kept up her impressive fall form with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over CoCo Vandeweghe, to reach the second round of the China Open.

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“I’ve been healthy,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I’ve been able to train well. I’ve been playing well. It’s a combination of that. It’s the end of the year. I have a few more tournaments left, so I’m going to try to do my best.”

Ranked No.74 in the world heading into the US Open, the Dane has lost just twice since then, reaching the semifinals in Flushing and winning her first title of the season at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Against Vandeweghe, Wozniacki raced out to a 5-1 lead in the decider before the American began to come back.

“It’s hard. I mean, she serves big. Her first and second serve is pretty big. It’s not like you think, ‘Okay, she missed a first serve, now I have a good chance to attack on the second.’

“She’s just a tough player to play because you get no rhythm. It’s the first match. You want to get into the tournament. A combination of that is tough.”

Serving for the match for a second time, Wozniacki shook off missing out on two match points in the previous game to hold at love, booking a second round meeting with No.13 seed Roberta Vinci.

“I started off pretty well, could return quite a few of her serves, put her under pressure. Then in the second set she started serving a bit better. That got me a little bit too much into the defense. Then she went for some shots and broke me. All of a sudden I had to keep trying to fight back.

“In the third set, again, I managed to return pretty well. I think that made the difference.”

Vinci will represent a complete contrast from Vandeweghe, a challenge Wozniacki looks forward to solving in Beijing.

“It’s another uncomfortable player. She mixes it up. She plays the flat forehand. Mix of pace. I’m ready for it. I’m just going to go out there and enjoy.”

Kicking off the day’s action was No.8 seed Madison Keys, who currently rounds out the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.

“It’s definitely in the back of your mind every match; it’s just another thing to try to deal with,” Keys said after the match. “I’m happy to be in this position because it means I’ve had a good year. It’s a welcome stress!”

Hoping to clinch her WTA Finals debut, the young American can qualify outright by winning the title this week, but had some struggles against local wildcard Duan Ying-Ying, eventually coming through, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.

“I had a really good first set, and she was probabaly a little bit nervous playing in front of her home crowd; I don’t think she played her best tennis. But in the second set, she played better and my level dropped. In the third, I was just trying to focus on keeping my energy up to get back into the match. Once I got some momentum, I was able to hang onto that.

“It’s definitely tough conditions, really humid out here. It’s not the hottest, but it’s not always easy to breathe out there with the humidity. That’s just where your fitness comes in, and focusing on doing your best.”

Up next for Keys is Kristina Mladenovic, who outlasted Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4); the pair last played at the Olympic tennis event, which also went to a third set tie-break.

“I’ve played Kiki a couple of times this year; the last time was in Rio and that was quite a thrilling match. She’d be a tough opponent.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

BEIJING, China – World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza kicked off her Beijing title defense with a hard-fought win over Irina Camelia Begu, emerging victorious from the early test to move into the second round of the China Open.

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Though a spate of unforced errors from the forehand wing left Muguruza vulnerable and allowed Begu to grab the first set, the Spaniard recovered and notched a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory after an hour and fifty minutes.

“I think it’s very, very satisfying when you go to a tournament where you know you played well, you feel welcome,” Muguruza said after the match. “But honestly, this was last year. Nobody really is thinking about who won last year. It’s all about who is going to win this year, who is winning.

“I’m just going for my match, just concentrating the next one.”

Muguruza also kept her bid for Singapore on track as she eyes a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“Definitely Singapore was a great motivation to try to find my spot,” Muguruza admitted. “Well, Beijing is one of the biggest tournaments we have, so for sure I have a great opportunity to do it well and qualify.”

Also into the second round, Belinda Bencic advanced past Annicka Beck in straight sets. In a match that featured 10 breaks of serve, it was Bencic who edged through 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 17 minutes.

Wildcard Sabine Lisicki had a more straightforward path, powering past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva and Yanina Wickmayer are also through, with Putintseva weathering a stern challenge from 19-year-old wunderkind Jelena Ostapenko to advance 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. Meanwhile, Wickmayer added to Monica Puig’s post-Olympic woes, beating the Puerto Rican 6-2, 6-0 and handing her the worst defeat since the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

WUHAN, China – Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova completed a dominant week together with their seventh WTA title, outclassing Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova to win the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

A sparkling performance saw Mattek-Sands and Safarova break six times to wrap up a 6-1, 6-4 victory after a fraction over an hour on court.

The result continues a memorable end to the season for the American-Czech duo, whose success in China follows on from victory at the US Open. This points haul has not only sent both players shooting up the rankings, but more importantly secures them a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

The only wobble came with the finishing line in sight, Safarova surrendering her hitherto faultless serve to offer Strycova the chance to level the second set at 5-5. However, the No.5 seeds nipped the comeback in the bud, swatting away a couple of opportunistic volleys to close out the match.

“I think we had an amazing match today,” Safarova said. “We came out strong from the beginning. We returned great, served great, took their time away. That was the right strategy.”

The tone was set on the very first point of the match, Safarova firing a backhand past Strycova. Sensing an early opportunity, on the following point Mattek-Sands swept an inviting ball past the stranded Czech. They soon had the break and went from strength to strength, finding an answer for every question posed by the No.3 seeds.

“We went over our game plan and we just upped our game. So whether our opponents played well or didn’t play well, we were going to stick to our game,” Mattek-Sands added. “But I think, like Lucie said, we just took away their time and that’s what we did.”

Mattek-Sands and Safarova will hope to replicate this form in Singapore, where they have unfinished business. Last year, their challenge came to a premature conclusion, injury dashing their hopes in the round robin stage.

“It’s just awesome [to qualify]. we’ve been there last year but were a little bit injured and so it wasn’t the greatest performance,” Safarova said.

“But it’s amazing to make it again,” Mattek-Sands added. “Singapore is obviously is the best of the best. We literally just found out right after the match that we qualified so it’s still sinking in.”