Tennis News

THE WINNERS

Christina McHale produced a stirring comeback to defeat Katerina Siniakova in the final of the Japan Women’s Open Tennis and lift her maiden WTA title.

A semifinalist 12 months ago, McHale looked in store for another near-miss when she trailed Siniakova by a set and a break. However, a timely rain delay and a run of eight straight games turned the match on its head as the American closed out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

“I don’t even want to put my trophy down – I just want to hold it all the time,” McHale said during the trophy presentation. “I’ve been coming to this tournament for a few years now and I really love it here.”

Read the match recap here.

French teenager Oceane Dodin thrilled the Coupe Banque Nationale crowd by capturing her first WTA title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Lauren Davis in the final.

“It’s very special for me. This is a very nice tournament; I feel like I’m in France because the people are very friendly and supportive of me! Everyone was with me today and that helps so much when it’s a tough score.”

Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but coming into this week in Québec, the fearless Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slams – though she did reach the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in Limoges.

Read the match recap here.

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of September 19, 2016.

Oceane Dodin (FRA), +39 (No.132 to 93): Following her maiden WTA title at the Coupe Banque Nationale, Dodin made her Top 100 debut and sits at a career-high of No.93..

Lauren Davis (USA), +21 (No.104 to 83): Québec City finalist also made a big leap, jumping up 21 spots to return to inside the Top100.

Katerina Siniakova (CZE), +12 (No.65 to 53): Despite coming up just short in the final at the Tokyo International, Siniakova earned a 12-spot ranking jump to reach her career highest ranking.

Christina McHale (USA), +11 (No.53 to 42): McHale claimed her maiden WTA title in Tokyo, and along with it she earned a spot back inside the Top 50.

Shuai Zhang (CHN), +9 (No.49 to 40): Zhang’s run to the semifinals in Tokyo puts her new ranking at No.40, inching closer to her career-high of No.30 back in 2014

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Toray Pan Pacific Open
Tokyo, Japan
Premier | $885,500 | Hard
Monday, September 19 – Sunday, September 25
Defending champion: Agnieszka Radwanska

Guangzhou International Women’s Open
Guangzhou, China
International | $226,750 | Hard
Monday, September 19 – Saturday, September 24
Defending champion: Jelena Jankovic

Korea Open Tennis
Seoul, Korea
International | $226,750 | Hard
Monday, September 19 – Sunday, September 25
Defending champion: Irina-Camelia Begu

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Angelique Kerber – Wuhan
2. Serena Williams – Wuhan
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Tokyo, Wuhan
4. Agnieszka Radwanska – Tokyo, Wuhan
5. Simona Halep– Wuhan
6. Karolina Pliskova – Tokyo, Wuhan
7. Venus Williams – Wuhan
8. Carla Suárez Navarro – Tokyo, Wuhan
9. Madison Keys – Tokyo, Wuhan
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Wuhan
11. Victoria Azarenka
12. Dominika Cibulkova – Tokyo, Wuhan
13. Johanna Konta – Wuhan
14. Timea Bacsinszky – Wuhan
15. Roberta Vinci – Guangzhou, Wuhan
16. Petra Kvitova – Tokyo, Wuhan
17. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Tokyo, Wuhan
18. Samantha Stosur – Tokyo, Wuhan
19. Elena Vesnina
20. Elina Svitolina – Tokyo, Wuhan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Chan Hao-Ching (TPE) – September 19, 1993
Sabine Lisicki (GER) – September 22, 1989
Andreea Mitu (ROU) – September 22, 1991
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) – September 24, 1984
Monica Niculescu (ROU) – September 25, 1987

Coupe Banque Nationale champion Oceane Dodin became the latest teenager to make her Top 100 debut in 2016 following her maiden WTA title.

Dodin had won just two main draw matches heading into Québec, but both were at major tournaments over Top 40 players in 2015. The 19-year-old is currently riding a 10 match winning streak on two different surfaces, including five wins to capture an ITF 25K Challenger tournament in Barcelona.

Rising up 39 spots since last week, Dodin currently sits at No.93, and is the sixth youngest woman in the Top 100.

Québec City finalist Lauren Davis also made a big leap, returning to the Top 100 herself with a 21-spot jump to become the new World No.83 after making her second WTA final in as many months.

Who else made major moves? Find out below and click here to check out the full WTA rankings.

#WTA Ranking Movers

Zhang +9 (49 to 40)
McHale +11 (53 to 42)
Siniakova +12 (65 to 53)
Davis +21 (104 to 83)
Dodin +39 (132 to 93)

— WTA (@WTA) September 19, 2016

TOKYO, Japan – Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka scored her first win at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in emphatic fashion, knocking out Japan’s No.1 Misaki Doi in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Following her first round win at last week’s Japan Women’s Open Tennis, Osaka entered the Premier-level event on a career-high ranking of No.69, making her Japan’s No.2-ranked player. But across the net stood the Japanese No.1, who was looking to rebound from last week’s opening round loss.

Osaka blasted seven aces in her stellar performance against Doi. Both players were evenly matched throughout the one and a half hour encounter, but it was Osaka who dominated the big points, bringing up five break chances and converting two – one early in each set.

For her part, Doi did her best to stay within touching distance of the 18-year-old, but couldn’t find the weapons to put her under pressure. She brought up her first – and only – break opportunity late in the second set with Osaka serving for a 5-3 lead. Osaka batted it away with a zinging forehand down the line to stay on course.

A final ace sealed Osaka’s passage into the second round, where she awaits the winner between Lucie Safarova and No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova.

More to come…

QUÉBEC CITY, Canada – French teenager Oceane Dodin thrilled the Coupe Banque Nationale crowd by capturing her first WTA title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Lauren Davis in the final.

“It was a very tough match, very difficult,” Dodin said after the win. “She plays very well, and runs everywhere! I’m just trying to improve my game so I’m there for every point, focus on my serve. That helped me so much in this match.”

Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but coming into this week in Québec, the fearless Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slams – though she did reach the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in Limoges.

“It’s very special for me. This is a very nice tournament; I feel like I’m in France because the people are very friendly and supportive of me! Everyone was with me today and that helps so much when it’s a tough score.”

Victoire de Océane Dodin 6-4 et 6-3! Championne 2016 de la @CoupeBN. 1ère victoire dans un tournoi de la #WTA #rcqc pic.twitter.com/ukPdaQUmno

— Jean-Philippe Martin (@JPMartin_RC) September 18, 2016

But the 19-year-old got on a roll once she upset No.5 seed Naomi Broady, dropping just one more set en route to the title. Hitting 31 winners to just 26 unforced errors against Davis on Sunday, Dodin converted six of 10 break point chances and brought her aggressive ground game to net a whopping 26 times – winning 16 of those points. Up a set and a break, things started to tighten, but Dodin kept in front until the very end.

“After the first set, I started thinking, ‘One set and you’re going to win this tournament,’ so I started getting a little bit nervous and at 3-0, 40-0, I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ She made a little comeback, so at the end I was very nervous.

“I was thinking, ‘You can’t play a third set, so you absolutely have to win the second.’ My coach has helped me so much with the mental side, and I saw him like, ‘Go, go, go!’ So I’m very happy with myself.”

With the win, Dodin is set to crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career, and is the first teenager to win a WTA title in 2016. She received congratulations from countrywoman Caroline Garcia soon after:

1e titre WTA pour Oceane Dodin !!! @CoupeBN ??? Bravo Océ et bienvenue dans le top 100 !!!
4e titre @WTA pour la ?? en 2016 !
Correct ????

— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) September 18, 2016

Despite the loss, it was still a great week for Davis, who reached her second career WTA final in the last two months, having also finished runner-up at the Citi Open. Back in the Top 100 herself, Davis is opting to skip the Asian swing, planning instead to play the slate of indoor tournaments in Europe, primarily Linz and Luxembourg, before season’s end.

“I’ve gotten a lot of matches under my belt, and so I’m feeling a lot of confidence. Going into next season, I’m looking forward to playing even better.”

While youth prevailed in singles, it was a battle between four experience doubles players as top seeds and two-time Grand Slam champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka outlasted Russians Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova in a pair of tie-breaks, 7-6(2), 7-6(2).

“With the no-ad scoring and super tie-breaks, it’s very rare to get an easy match on the WTA tour these days,” Hlavackova said after the win. “So that experience helped today; we didn’t have a good record in tie-breaks, super tie-breaks, or no-ads before Québec, so we took this tournament to try to change that. We did, and we’re very happy about it.”

Hlavackova and Hradecka now move up to No.5 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, with a good chance of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for a second straight year.

“We’ve played together for so long that not every week can be perfect. But this week was proof that if you’re having fun, you have good results. I hope we can take this momentum into Asia.”

So nice to make hat-trick in doubles titles this year,finally adding one ? with my partner @lucik2105 @CoupeBN @WTA pic.twitter.com/MBegMtfrUa

— Andrea Hlavackova (@AndreaHlavackov) September 18, 2016

TOKYO/GUANGZHOU/SEOUL – The Asian Swing made its official debut last week but begins in earnest with a trio of tournaments in Tokyo, Guangzhou, and Seoul. What are the biggest storylines heading into the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Guangzhou International Women’s Open, and Korea Open? Find out right here on wtatennis.com…

1) Garbiñe Muguruza leads stacked Tokyo draw.
French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza headlines the Toray Pan Pacific Open field. The Spaniard could see a US Open rematch against Anastasija Sevastova, who knocked her out in the second round. The draw doesn’t get any easier with No.8 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as her projected quarterfinal opponent and a potential semifinal with either No.3 seed and US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova or No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova. Can Muguruza replicate her stellar form from last fall to win her first Tokyo title?

2) Two-time Tokyo champ Radwanska seeded second.
Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska aims for title No.20 in Tokyo. Hoping to shake off a fourth round defeat to Ana Konjuh in Flushing, Radwanska could face a tough row of opponents including Barbora Strycova, No.7 seed Petra Kvitova, and either No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro or No.5 seed Madison Keys to reach the final.

3) Pliskova has Singapore in her sights.
Karolina Pliskova’s phenomenal run to the US Open final saw her shoot up to No.4 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. She can’t guarantee qualification in Tokyo, but the No.3 seed could boost her chances 2015 winner Radwanska and 2015 semifinalist Muguruza not far behind at No.5 and No.6, respectively. Pliskova plays her first match against either a qualifier or Yanina Wickmayer.

4) Mirza looking for a second Singapore berth?
Sania Mirza was one half of the first team to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global alongside Martina Hingis, but could be making a push for a second spot with new partner Barbora Strycova. Mirza and Strycova won the Western & Southern Open in their first tournament together, and the US Open quarterfinalists are seeded second in Tokyo.

5) Osaka the wildcard in Tokyo.
Naomi Osaka received a main draw wildcard after her US Open heroics, where she narrowly lost to Madison Keys in the third round. The personable Japanese star kicked off the Asian Swing by joining Twitter, and will play countrywoman Misaki Doi in the first round.

6) Tough draw for Errani, top seed in Guangzhou.
Sara Errani leads the field at the Guangzhou International Women’s Open, but could face 2015 finalist Denisa Allertova in the second round. Unseeded in Guangzhou, Allertova beat former No.1 Ana Ivanovic in straight sets at the US Open.

7) Jankovic hoping to rebound from injury woes.
Jelena Jankovic took home the title in Guangzhou last year, and hopes for a repeat as the former No.1 tries to turn around a tough season. “I haven’t competed much this year because of two ruptures in my shoulder,” she said at the US Open. “So, I’m a little rusty, I think that shows. I have to stay healthy and hang in there because you have to be ready for every point.” The Serb will be playing doubles with Hingis and opens against qualifier You Xiaodi in singles.

8) Begu adds some Seoul to the mix.
Irina-Camelia Begu is the No.1 seed at the Korea Open and the defending champion after winning the event last year. The Romanian opens against local wildcard Jang Su Jeong and could play countrywoman Monica Niculescu in the quarterfinals.

9) Larsson looks to build on strong summer.
Seeded No.2 in Seoul, Larsson reached the semifinals of the Connecticut Open as a lucky loser, upsetting Timea Bacsinszky and Roberta Vinci en route. The Swede followed that up by reaching the third round of the US Open for the second time in three years. Cutting her ranking in half since a July low of No.82, Larsson hopes to keep going against American Grace Min in the first round, with another American Louisa Chirico looming in the last eight.

10) Find out where you can watch the action from Asia here!