Tennis News

SHENZHEN, China – A day after making a winning comeback to the tennis court at the Shenzhen Open, Eugenie Bouchard backed it up to reach her first WTA quarterfinal in almost a year.

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On Tuesday, Bouchard played her first complete match since suffering her concussion at the US Open, and she was a winner, rallying from 4-2 down in the third set to edge Donna Vekic, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.

The No.6-seeded Canadian had a much simpler day at the office on Wednesday, dropping serve in the first game of the match but then reeling off 12 of the next 17 games to roll past American qualifier Nicole Gibbs, 6-4, 6-2, breaking serve one last time to win after just 67 minutes on the court.

“It was a solid match from me. I think I was able to improve off of my first round,” Bouchard said.

“But first and foremost I was able to play another whole match healthy, with no pain and no symptoms.”

Bouchard is now through to her first WTA quarterfinal since last year’s Australian Open.

And the Canadian, a former World No.5 and Wimbledon finalist, doesn’t want to stop here.

“Every match that I play gives me a little bit more confidence,” she said. “I know it’s a long road back to recovery and to being back to where I was and even better, so I’m ready for that long journey.

“But, you know, if it’s a little step I can take every day, then I’m happy with that.”

The tournament’s No.1 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, followed Bouchard onto center court – and into the quarterfinals as well – after a close finish, closing out China’s own Zhang Shuai, 6-1, 7-5.

Radwanska, who’s coming off a fantastic fall season that brought her three WTA titles – including the WTA Finals in Singapore – and took her back to World No.5, has now won 19 of her last 23 matches.

It was a rough day for the other seeds in action, though, with No.3 seed Irina-Camelia Begu retiring down 7-5, 3-2 to Anna-Lena Friedsam due to a right knee injury, No.4 seed Monica Niculescu falling to Timea Babos, 6-1, 6-4, and No.7 seed Zarina Diyas succumbing to Katerina Siniakova, 6-0, 6-4.

First time using a selfie stick ? thank you for staying after the match guys #ilovechina pic.twitter.com/uinuGZruzn

— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) January 6, 2016

BRISBANE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka survived some tense moments early on but then absolutely powered through to the quarterfinals of the $1,000,000 Brisbane International on Wednesday.

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Facing unheralded lucky loser Ysaline Bonaventure, who replaced Simona Halep in the draw, Azarenka had some trouble early on – she dropped serve in the opening game and then, a few games later, had to battle for more than 16 minutes to break back, but she eventually did, evening it to 2-all.

From there the Belarusian ruthlessly powered past the Belgian, reeling off 10 of the next 13 games – and winning 12 of the last 13 points of the match – to prevail in an hour and 27 minutes, 6-3, 6-2.

“I think the beginning was definitely really tough,” Azarenka said after the match. “She played very well, and it’s also a little bit of a moment of adaptation when you don’t know who you’re playing. But I’m glad I could stay strong and turn it around at the beginning. It wasn’t going my way at first, for sure.

“Just to feel the momentum shift in the match was important, in the beginning of the year, and for me especially since I haven’t played in a while. It’s good to go through those moments. I’m happy the way I was looking for a solution, trying to stay in the moment, and fighting to take control back to me.”

Awaiting Azarenka in the quarters will be No.8 seed Roberta Vinci, who won through on Tuesday.

Azarenka has beaten Vinci in straight sets in all three of their previous meetings, but they haven’t played since 2012, and Vinci is on fire – she’s gone from No.43 to No.15 in the last four months.

“We’ve played quite a few times, but it’s been a while since we last played,” Azarenka said of the US Open finalist. “She’s still a very aggressive player. I think she has a lot to offer, and variety, and the slice is only one component of her game. It’ll be important to really just focus on my own game.”

Three more players snapped up quarterfinal berths at the Premier-level event during the day session, most notably No.4 seed Angelique Kerber, who cruised past Madison Brengle in 61 minutes, 6-3, 6-0.

Other winners were Andrea Petkovic, who edged fellow former Top 10 player Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5, 6-4, and American qualifier Samantha Crawford, who surprised No.7 seed Belinda Bencic, 7-5, 7-5.

Crawford – who hit 13 aces in the match – didn’t just score her first Top 20 win over the No.14-ranked Bencic, it was actually her first Top 50 win (she had never beaten anyone higher than No.59 before).

Dabbing is all the rage in the NFL, and now @vika7 has brought it to tennis #BrisbaneTennis #dab
https://t.co/c76OtVpmAS

— Brisbane Intl (@BrisbaneTennis) January 6, 2016

BRISBANE, Australia – No.2 seed Garbiñe Muguruza became the latest casualty at the Brisbane International when she was forced to retire from her second round meeting with Varvara Lepchenko on Wednesday evening.

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Following on from the last-minute withdrawals of Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep, the path to the title lay wide open, but Muguruza saw her chance of silverware scuppered when she aggravated a long-standing foot injury.

“I started to feel it at 3-3, something like that,” Muguruza said in her post-match press conference. “But it’s just a pain that sometimes you have in the foot, especially when you’re starting to compete and to run a lot.”

Visibly struggling for the remainder of the set, in which she coughed up 27 unforced errors, Muguruza played through the pain barrier, fending off four set points before finally succumbing in a tense tie-break. Despite lengthy treatment during the changeover, it was quickly apparent that her resistance would not last much longer, admitting defeat after Lepchenko held serve the following game.

The Spaniard remains optimistic that the injury, which she carried over from the previous campaign, will not jeopardize her chances at the upcoming Australian Open.

“Last year I felt it almost during the whole season. I felt it also in the pre-season a little bit, but especially here over the last few days, playing points, running more, more, more,” she said.

“I thought in the match I was going to be able to play with the pain, but it just got to a point where I’m like, ‘Hey it’s getting worse, so just stop and let’s treat it and hopefully it’s gone in couple of days.'”

Meeting Lepchenko, who had been leading 7-6(9), 1-0, for a place in the semifinals will be Muguruza’s doubles partner and fellow Spaniard, Carla Suárez Navarro.

“Carla’s a very tough opponent and she’s playing well so I’m expecting the best from her and I’ll have to fight for every ball,” Lepchenko said.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Caroline Wozniacki took tournament favorite to a whole new level at the ASB Classic on Wednesday night, dropping just two games to round out the quarterfinal line-up.

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The highest seed left after No.1 seed Venus Williams and No.2 seed Ana Ivanovic both succumbed to inspired underdogs on Tuesday, the No.3-seeded Wozniacki powered through to the quarterfinals of the International-level tournament with a ruthless 6-0, 6-2 victory against Christina McHale.

“It was a better start than yesterday,” Wozniacki said, having dug out of an early 4-0 hole in her first round match on Tuesday. “I got a little nervous in the end. It was going a little too well – I know she’s a good player, and I’ve had trouble against her in the past, and I blew a few match points at 5-0 and 5-1. But I just kept focusing on every point and I’m glad that I was able to finish it off in the end.”

And what worked so well for the two-time US Open finalist and former World No.1?

“I think I served well, returned pretty well, I think I had patience but came to the net and mixed it up well,” the Dane said. “Defense offense, offense defense – I think overall I did pretty well today.”

Two more of Wozniacki’s fellow seeds fell on Wednesday as well, with No.4 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova falling to Austrian qualifier – and two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist – Tamira Paszek, 6-2, 6-3, and No.7 seed Barbora Strycova losing out to fellow former Top 20 player Julia Goerges, 6-4, 7-6(7).

Sloane Stephens, the No.5 seed, managed to avoid the upset bug, though she did have a fight on her hands, rallying from a set down to outlast German up-and-comer Carina Witthoeft, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Other winners were Alexandra Dulgheru, Nao Hibino, Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens and British qualifier Naomi Broady, who had the most dramatic victory of the day, rallying from 5-2 down in the second set and 5-1 down in the third set to edge Latvian wildcard Jelena Ostapenko, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.

Broady also saved two match points – one serving 2-5 second set, one serving 3-5 third set.

The big-serving Brit, who had taken out Ivanovic a day before, rifled 21 aces against Ostapenko.

???????#fight #stillrolling #2016 #letsgo #asbclassic #auckland https://t.co/Qt6fhbL8R2

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

Drama. The 2016 WTA season already has plenty of it.

A day after notching the biggest win of her career, Britain’s Naomi Broady saved two match points and rallied from 5-2 down in the second set and 5-1 down in the final set to beat Jelena Ostapenko, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Powering down 21 aces, No.122 Broady saved a match point in both the second and third sets to make her second WTA quarterfinal (2015 Québec City). The win came less than 24 hours after she scored her first Top 20 win, beating No.2 seed Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-4 behind another top-notch serving performance, hitting 14 aces in the match and serving at 68%.

Beyond Broady’s gutsy comeback, which was aided by a nervous attempt to close the match by the 18-year-old Latvian wildcard – she served for the match three times – controversy nearly derailed the match late in the second set.

Ostapenko's controversial racquet throw that hit a ball boy. Broady wanted her disqualified for this. #ASBClassic pic.twitter.com/42cHofe3wM

— Max (@MGLovesTennis) January 6, 2016

At 2-2 in the tiebreaker, Ostapenko ran to chase down a backhand and flung her racket towards the backstop. The racquet bounced off the ground and hit a nearby ballboy. Broady was incensed, believing that Ostapenko should be defaulted from the match for hitting the ballboy. The chair umpire issued a code violation to Ostapenko and the Latvian then pled her case, arguing that the racket slipped out of her hand.

With tempers at a boil, Broady was able to hold onto her lead in the tie-break to force a third but quickly fell behind. Finding some of her best form, Ostapenko settled down and took control from the baseline, running the rangy Brit from side-to-side to open the court and earn errors.

But from 5-1 up, Ostapenko got tight. Her shots began to fall shorter, giving Broady plenty of chances to take big swings with her forehand. Ostapenko’s serve, already shaky for much of the match – she hit 13 double-faults to four aces – increasingly became a liability. From 5-1 down in the final frame, Broady reeled off six straight games to seal the upset.

The two continued to trade verbal volleys after the match, both during the handshake and afterwards. On-court microphones picked up Broady telling Ostapenko after the handshake, “You hit the ballboy with your racket!” before returning to the court to salute the crowd.

Don't mess with a girl from Stockport! https://t.co/LJ9F4T8aGj

— Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) January 6, 2016

Broady took to Twitter after the match to clarify her side of things:

1-Just to put the record straight,it was not me causing an argument after the match.I was told how terrible my behaviour was frm my opponent

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

2-Its hard to know when to stick up for yourself and when to keep your mouth shut. I'm human. We live and learn

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

3- thanks to everyone in the WTA community and on social media who support me. #ontothenextone

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

Needless to say, 2016 has not been short of fireworks. Broady plays Sloane Stephens in then quarterfinals after the American needed three sets to beat Carina Witthoeft, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.