Cincy Trio Takes Center Stage
WTA Insider | In the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, keep up with the action as Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, and Agnieszka Radwanska all fight for quarterfinal spots in Cincinnati.
WTA Insider | In the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, keep up with the action as Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, and Agnieszka Radwanska all fight for quarterfinal spots in Cincinnati.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Angelique Kerber kept her bid to claim the No.1 ranking on track with a hard-fought win over Barbora Strycova in the third round of the Western & Southern Open on Thursday.
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Victory this week at the Lindner Family Tennis Center will see Kerber usurp Serena Williams and rise to the top of the rankings for the first time in her career, and she moved one step closer to that goal by edging past Strycova, 7-6(5), 6-4.
“It’s always tough to play against Barbora – we’ve had a lot of tough matches in the past – but I just tried to stay aggressive at the important moments and I’m really happy with how I played at the end,” Kerber said.
By her own admission, Kerber has been something of a late bloomer – she did not win her first silverware or break into the Top 10 until her mid-20s. However, just five months from her 29th birthday, she is playing the best tennis of her career.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but I’m having the best year of my career and it’s still not over,” Kerber said. “It’s amazing what’s happened in the last few months – it’s just incredible!”
In January she stunned the tennis world by beating Serena to the Australian Open title, and after taking a while to come to terms with her achievement is now reveling in the limelight; at Wimbledon, she reached her second Grand Slam final, losing narrowly to Serena, following this up with a semifinal in Montréal and a silver medal at the Rio Olympics.
Making light of this hectic summer schedule, the German was her usual indefatigable self against Strycova, scurrying to track down a succession of seemingly lost causes. This application served her well in the opening set tie-break, drawing the errors then closing it out with a typically precise backhand pass.
Strycova continued to hold her own in the second set, but once again it was Kerber that won the points that mattered most, breaking in the penultimate game before confidently serving out.
Now she is only three wins away from becoming the 22nd player to scale the top of the rankings. While Serena may be absent, things are unlikely to get any easier in Cincinnati. The next obstacle comes in the shape of Carla Suárez Navarro, who earlier on overcame Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 7-5.
Pliskova Continues To Impress
The 11th-hour withdrawal of Serena has left the top half of the draw wide open. It is an opportunity Karolina Pliskova has grabbed with both hands, capitalizing on the fast surface to get some much-needed confidence ahead of the US Open.
Pliskova has endured a frustrating campaign, struggling to replicate the form that briefly took her into the Top 10 and threaten to the 2015 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
On her day, the Czech has all the attributes to contend, her imperious serve complemented by dazzling power from the baseline, and against Misaki Doi, the lucky loser beneficiary from Serena’s injury, she finished strongly to run out a 7-5, 6-3 winner. The reward is a meeting with two-time major winner and No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Timea Bacsinszky.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her win in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Last year’s finalist Simona Halep raced into her third consecutive quarterfinal at the Western & Southern Open after needing just 53 minutes to dispatch Australian qualifier Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2.
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After days of rain and storms, the sun finally shined at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, bringing with it the blistering conditions for which Cincinnati in August is known.
“Yes, it’s very hot here,” Halep said after the match. “After the first set the sun hit me very strong so I didn’t have too much energy. I’m really happy that I could finish.”
Gavrilova is fast becoming a familiar face across the net for Halep – this is the third time they’ve faced off this year. Their first 2016 match up came in Rome, where Gavrilova pulled off the upset to take the match in straight sets, but their most recent tilt was in Montréal, where Halep mowed over the Australian in straight sets en route to the title.
“I knew that I had to be aggressive, not letting her come at me because she can play with the forehand very well,” she explained. “I opened the court, served pretty well and returned hard the second serve to force the return.”
First set ? @Simona_Halep!
Up 6-1 on Gavrilova @CincyTennis! https://t.co/155ikbtoDq
— WTA (@WTA) August 18, 2016
The Romanian employed her strategy in perfect fashion in a dominant first set. She quickly broke twice to put together a 4-0 lead. Gavrilova pounced on some loose points and surged to a 40-0 lead in the next game with a chance to get a break back, but Halep wrestled the momentum away with a couple of laser backhands down the line.
The Australian finally found her first serves and was able to get her name on the scoreboard at 5-1, but Halep’s speed and agility was in full flight to tamp down any hope of a comeback, easily putting away a backhand deep in the cross court to ease through the first set.
Gavrilova opened the second set with a confidence-boosting hold of serve, but as Halep continued to chip away with her all-court coverage, her high octane game began to wilt and she surrendered another break. Gavrilova broke back at 2-2, but Halep continuing to bully her around the court, dragging her from line to line and pocketing the point with a forehand winner, catching the Australian out of position time and time again.
Halep sealed the straight sets victory with an ace and moved into the quarterfinals after just 53 minutes, extending her winning streak to 12 consecutive matches. She hit 18 winners to 14 unforced errors, compared to 7 winners and 19 unforced for Gavrilova.
She will play the winner of the match between No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and No.10 seed Johanna Konta.
.@Simona_Halep gives @CincyTennis fans a shoutout! ??? https://t.co/fktLL7qK5k
— WTA (@WTA) August 18, 2016
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her win in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska won the last nine games of a late-night third round encounter with No.10 seed Johanna Konta, 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-0, to complete the quarterfinal line-up at the Western & Southern Open.
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“She’s a great player,” Radwanska said during her on-court interview. “We never played before, but I’ve seen many of her matches, and she’s played great tennis. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it was an exciting match playing together for the first time. I’m just so happy with the win.”
Konta needed to reach the semifinals in Cincinnati to have a chance of making her long-awaited Top 10 debut, and appeared on course to keep that dream alive when she reeled off the last seven points of the first set tie-break.
“It was a very tight match in the beginning. The tie-break slipped away too quickly, that’s for sure.”
Flick lob from @ARadwanska! ? https://t.co/0EUn8aOrGp
— WTA (@WTA) August 19, 2016
A tired looking Radwanska trailed the Brit 4-3 on serve in the second set but somehow caught fire when it mattered most, hitting 27 winners throughout the three-setter to 31 unforced errors, and converting six of her 10 break point opportunities.
What was the Pole’s secret to success as Thursday night became Friday morning?
“I was able to break at the end of the second set, and I think I started to play better tennis and much more aggressive. I think I woke up because I had eight ladies dancing in front of me; that just woke me up!”
Shutting Konta out after midnight, Radwanska booked the last remaining spot in the quarterfinals, where she’ll play No.3 seed Simona Halep, who is riding a 12-match winning streak.
“I’m just very happy to make the quarterfinals here, especially since it’s always a strong tournament with no easy matches,” she said after the match. “Andrea, Johanna in the first two matches, and now Simona in the next match. I just hope I can play the same good tennis tomorrow.
“I think against Simona, I have nothing to lose; she’s having a great season and playing really good tennis. I’m just going to go out and enjoy.
“But first, rest tonight!”
How did @ARadwanska pull out the win?
Eight dancing ladies @CincyTennis! ???? https://t.co/4JktDPxOWW
— WTA (@WTA) August 19, 2016
The WTA Frame Challenge is back! Watch Dominika Cibulkova give it a shot, right here on wtatennis.com.
PHOENIX, AZ, USA – A whirlwind homecoming for Olympic Gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands took her out to the ball game and out to the crowd on Wednesday, throwing the first pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Treated to a night of peanuts and crackerjacks, there’s no telling whether the American Olympian cares if she’ll ever get back as she spent the game rooting for the home team, who beat the New York Mets, 13-5.
Check out Mattek-Sands at the old ball game on the Diamondbacks’ official Facebook page and right here on wtatennis.com!
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Highlights from first and second round action at the Western & Southern Open.