Brisbane: Thursday Highlights
Highlights from the quarterfinal round action at the Brisbane International.
Highlights from the quarterfinal round action at the Brisbane International.
SHENZHEN, China – A day after securing a return to World No.4 – just in time for a Top 4 seed at the Australian Open – Agnieszka Radwanska won the 18th WTA title of her career at the Shenzhen Open.
By reaching the final at the International-level event, Radwanska secured herself of passing Maria Sharapova for No.4 on the WTA Rankings, which guarantees her a coveted Top 4 seed in Melbourne.
And as if that weren’t enough, the No.1-seeded Pole played near-flawless tennis to win the title on Saturday afternoon, cruising past Alison Riske in the final in an hour and 16 minutes, 6-3, 6-2.
“I think Alison was really playing solid tennis today,” Radwanska said. “She has a very powerful game from the baseline – I was really struggling from the baseline. I was really in a lot of trouble there.
“But my serve really helped me today. Also in the deciding points I was a little bit better, and I think that’s why the score was the way it was – it made it look easier than the actual match was.”
Radwanska has now won 22 of 26 matches since the US Open, picking up her 15th through 18th WTA titles at Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Tianjin, the WTA Finals and Shenzhen. She’s now 18-7 in WTA finals.
The former World No.2 is hoping to come back to Shenzhen – and not just to defend the title.
“It was my first time here, but I actually didn’t have much time to see the city. I came here pretty late. Each night I was enjoying different dinners, but didn’t have much time to enjoy the city.
“So I think because of that, I really have to come back here to Shenzhen!”
Radwanska will now head to Sydney for one last round of matches before the Australian Open.
“It’s the beginning of the year, so we’re all fresh compared to the end of the year. I’m feeling good,” Radwanska commented. “Also I have a bye there, so I’ll have a couple of days off right now.”
The doubles final took place afterwards and saw Vania King and Monica Niculescu upset No.1-seeded all-Chinese pair Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai in straight sets in an hour and 11 minutes, 6-1, 6-4.
This was King and Niculescu’s first WTA doubles title together, but they now have 20 WTA doubles titles between them – King now has 15, including two Grand Slams, while Niculescu now has five.
???✈️?????? https://t.co/6wL5Sqi4yD
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) January 9, 2016
The many, many volunteers who keep the Shenzhen Open running smoothly got a treat at the $500,000 event this week – an exclusive autograph session with semifinalist Anna-Lena Friedsam.
BRISBANE, Australia – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 10th WTA doubles title together in Brisbane and have now won 26 matches in a row – the longest doubles winning streak in 22 years.
Saturday’s final was a tight affair early on, as Hingis and Mirza’s opponents in the final, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic, rebounded from a 2-0 deficit with four games of their own to build a 4-2 lead. But the No.1-seeded Swiss-Indian combo flipped the script completely from there, rattling off 11 of the last 13 games of the match to get by the German wildcard pairing in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1.
“They’re obviously very good players, so we knew we had to come out and play our best,” Mirza said. “We let the lead go a little bit after 2-0, and we were both trying to find our form again on the court. It was big we broke on the deuce point at 6-5, and after that the tide really changed in our favor.”
Though she came out on the losing end, Kerber still made history – she’s the first player in the tournament’s history to reach both the singles and doubles finals. She was runner-up in singles too.
“It wasn’t my night tonight. I lost two finals,” she said at the trophy ceremony. “But it was still a great week, and congratulations to Sania and Martina – you are the best, good luck in Melbourne!”
And so, Hingis and Mirza’s winning streak lives on – at 26 matches in a row it’s the longest doubles winning streak since Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva won 28 matches in a row together in 1994.
Hingis and Mirza also hit double digit WTA doubles titles together – Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and WTA Finals in 2015, and now Brisbane.
Even more impressive? Hingis and Mirza are actually 10-1 in WTA doubles finals together.
They’re playing again this week coming up, at the Apia International Sydney – again as top seeds.
“Every match at the beginning of the season is a good match, just trying to get that confidence going,” Hingis said. “It’s great we already have this Brisbane title in our pockets, and we’re really looking forward to Sydney. We’ll get a couple days off before we play and then we will start again.
“I always have such great support in Australia so I really look forward to the next tournaments.”
#Hingis/#Mirza with their hardware! Their 10th tournament title together ?????????? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/eRsqqDOod8
— Brisbane Intl (@BrisbaneTennis) January 9, 2016
The Shenzhen Open takes a look back at Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard’s first matches of the 2016 season – watch highlights and interviews from the WTA stars here.
Daria Gavrilova’s Australia Green brought home the Hopman Cup title, sweeping Ukraine and ending the country’s 17-year wait for the trophy.
The newly-minted Australian – who last year was voted WTA Newcomer Of The Year – won the hearts of the exuberant home crowd with her gutsy performance against Elina Svitolina in the final. After winning the first set 6-4, Gavrilova found herself trailing behind 6-1 in the second-set tiebreak.
She went on to win seven straight points to secure the victory.
“I just literally told myself to settle down, just stop thinking of everything,” Gavrilova said after the win. “Just think about how to win every point.
“I just played free.”
Gavrilova’s Australia Green partner Nick Kyrgios went on to secure the title in the mixed-team event, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s singles rubber.
Though the Hopman Cup is Gavrilova’s first trophy for Australia, she’s earned herself another accolade, a rite of passage for every Australian athlete: an Aussie nickname. The crowd calls her “Dash” – a play on “Dasha,” the Russian nickname for “Daria,” and also a nod to the 21-year-old’s aggressive and unrelenting style of play.
“It means so much,” Gavrilova said of playing in the Hopman Cup.
“It’s just amazing that I got to represent Australia here.”
Thank you everyone for supporting us once again! Big thanks to @TennisAustralia ? @NickKyrgios you were amazing, thank you!
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) January 9, 2016
Samantha Crawford has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Look back at game-by-game coverage of the Brisbane International final between Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka right here on wtatennis.com!
Angelique Kerber takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
SHENZHEN, China – Agnieszka Radwanska kept her fantastic last few months going Friday, beating Anna-Lena Friedsam for a spot in the Shenzhen Open final – and in the Top 4 on the WTA Rankings.
Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
After jumping out to a 6-2, 2-0 lead, the No.1-seeded Radwanska faced some resistance from Friedsam, the unseeded German breaking back to even the second set, 2-2. But Radwanska got right back on the horse, breaking one last time for 3-2 then holding the rest of the way to win, 6-2, 6-4.
“I’ve been feeling good from the beginning of the year,” Radwanska said. “I’ve been playing some good tennis, especially here in Shenzhen this week, and now I have one more match to go to win here.”
Radwanska has now won 21 of her last 25 matches, a stretch that started right after the US Open and has brought her titles at Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Tianjin and the WTA Finals, and now a final here.
Radwanska is now into the 25th WTA final of her career – she’s 17-7 in her first 24 WTA finals.
And by reaching this final, Radwanska is projected to pass Maria Sharapova on the WTA Rankings come Monday, going from No.5 to No.4 – a move that has major, major implications, as it’s Monday’s WTA Rankings that will determine the seeds for the Australian Open, and a Top 4 seed is massive.
“Reaching the final here is great preparation for the Australian Open, and that’s a good projection too,” Radwanska, a former World No.2, said after being told of the ranking news. “First I’ll focus on winning here in Shenzhen, and then I’ll just try to play the same tennis in Sydney and in Melbourne.”
But back to Shenzhen, and waiting for Radwanska in the final will be Alison Riske, who won an all-unseeded semifinal against Timea Babos earlier in the day by the exact same scoreline, 6-2, 6-4.
“It was definitely a tough match for me,” Riske said. “Babos is a great competitor and a great player, so I had to be there on every point, and I’m excited that the match came out in my favor in the end.
“I’m also excited to be in the final – it’s a great start to a season to reach a final.”
Radwanska beat Riske in their only previous meeting, in her opening match at Indian Wells last year.
.@ARadwanska books a spot in her 25th #WTA final! Beats Friedsam 6-2, 6-4 at the #ShenzhenOpen! pic.twitter.com/Z83poGRtgI
— WTA (@WTA) January 8, 2016