Doha: Suárez Navarro vs Bacsinszky
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Timea Bacsinszky in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Timea Bacsinszky in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, USA – It had been building for a few years – she won her first two Grand Slams at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2000, and then repeated at both in 2001 – but it all came together for the first time as Venus Williams finally got to No.1 fourteen years ago today in February 25, 2002.
After a 12-month period that saw her win 56 of 61 matches and nine titles – Miami, Hamburg, Wimbledon, San Diego, New Haven and the US Open in 2001, and Gold Coast, Paris and Antwerp in 2002 – Williams rose from No.2 to No.1 on February 25, 2002, overtaking Jennifer Capriati.
She became the 11th player to hold the top spot on the WTA computer rankings, but the achievement was even more special as Williams was also the first ever African-American player – male or female – to rank No.1 in the world in tennis.
“When you’re on a professional tour, you don’t aspire to be No. 3 or No. 2,” Williams said 14 years ago when asked about the milestone. “Normally you do your best to become the best. At this point, I am the best in the world, so that’s exciting and it’s going to be mine at least a week.”
“I think the best part is that I’ve enjoyed myself along the way and that I have not limited myself just to playing tennis or made myself believe that that’s the only thing in life. I’ve always been doing things at the same time and having a career. For me, that’s the best part.”
She would eventually spend a total of non-consecutive 11 weeks at the top spot in 2002 and claim a whopping 49 WTA singles titles to date in her career, including the Taiwan Open earlier this year.
A few more throwbacks to February 25, 2002…
No.1 song on Billboard Hot 100 singles: Always On Time by Ja Rule & Ashanti
No.1 album on Billboard 200 albums: J To Tha L-O!: The Remixes by Jennifer Lopez
No.1 movie at US Box Office: Queen Of The Damned
No.1 men’s tennis player: Lleyton Hewitt
Jelena Ostapenko takes on Petra Kvitova in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar – Jelena Ostapenko sprung the latest shock at this year’s Qatar Total Open, battling back to knock out No.5 seed Petra Kvitova.
Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Seeds have been falling like dominoes in the opening few rounds and Kvitova’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 defeat means that just four of the original 16 remain.
At last year’s Wimbledon, Ostapenko defeated Carla Suárez Navarro in a coming of age performance, imbuing her with the confidence to topple even bigger names. “It gave me kind of confidence that I can play at that level,” Ostapenko said when reminded afterwards of her win over the Spaniard. “Today, I’m just happy that I could play my best tennis.”
Kvitova started brightly enough, recovering from 3-1 down to take the opening set. But as the contest wore on, the Czech cut an increasingly passive figure on the court, spending more and more time pinned behind the baseline.
Ostapenko, meanwhile, continued to exhibit the fleet-footedness befitting a former ballroom dancer; at 2-2 in the second set she flew across the court to unleash a fizzing forehand that left Kvitova grounded and, more importantly, a break down.
The two-time Wimbledon champion did not win another game until midway through the decider and by that point the tide had well and truly turned. Showing no sign of nerves, the young Latvian confidently cruised to victory, breaking Kvitova for an eighth and final time.
Ostapenko’s positivity was born out in the numbers, outlanding the Czech 28 to 16 in the winners count. “I play more matches, get some wins and I think [confidence] comes from there,” Ostapenko added.
Her reward for this incredible performance is a meeting with another of the draw’s giant slayers, Zheng Saisai, who followed up her victory over top seed Angelique Kerber by knocking out Eugenie Bouchard, 7-6(1), 6-1.
“She’s had some really great wins this week,” Ostapenko said when asked about her quarterfinal foe. “I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can have a great match.”
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Monica Niculescu in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar – World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska recovered from a double break down to see off Monica Niculescu, 7-5, 6-1.
“I think she has the best hands on tour, very tricky player and very uncomfortable to play against,” Radwanska said of her opponent during her on-court interview. “I knew it was going to be tough and a long one. What can I say? She really made me play my best tennis, so I’m very happy to win that match in two sets.”
Grabbing the opening set, Radwanska played impeccable tennis throughout, striking 31 winners to just 15 unforced; Niculescu wasn’t too far behind with 24 winners and 32 errors.
“I think when you play someone like Monica, you know there will be a lot of weird shots all around the court, and every shot is going to be different.
“She had a lot of highlights herself!”
In her six appearances at the Qatar Total Open, Radwanska has reached the quarterfinals or better five times, but is still looking for her first final in Doha.
Asked about the increasing parity that the WTA has seen in 2016, the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion theorized that the upsets are part of what makes her tour so fun to watch.
“I think this is women’s tennis; you never know what’s going to happen! Every day, we’re playing different, but it makes us interesting. We’re always fun to watch, a lot of different scores, a lot of surprises on the way to the final.
“That’s the way we play!”
Up next for Radwanska is the winner of the third round between No.9 seed Roberta Vinci and wildcard Cagla Buyakakcay, who upset defending champion Lucie Safarova in her opening match.
“Women's tennis is full of surprises. You never know what's going to happen!” ? -@ARadwanska #WTA https://t.co/7raBSZChE6
— WTA (@WTA) February 24, 2016
Garbiñe Muguruza takes on Timea Babos in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
On this Episode 18, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and Web Editor David Kane reconvene to discuss the nutty happenings in the Middle East, which have seen a slew of upsets at both last week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and this week’s Qatar Total Open. Were the upsets anything more than one-offs and bad luck? Or are there deeper problems underlying the first two months of the season?
Courtney and David also bow down to this Golden Generation of Italian women and discuss their impact on the tour and the legacy they are set to leave behind. Last week saw Sara Errani and Francesca Schiavone win titles as well as Roberta Vinci become the oldest woman to ever make her Top 10 debut.
An interview with Roberta Vinci after her win in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
DOHA, Qatar – No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza played some of her best tennis of the year to dispatch Hungary’s Timea Babos, 6-2, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
“I think it was very tough,” she said during her on-court interview. “The second set, we were fighting like crazy. Timea started to play better and by the end of the match we were both very tight.
“But hey, I’m happy to win!”
Babos came into their third round encounter as the tour-leader in aces, but Muguruza stole the show on serve, hitting 10 aces of her own and 31 winners to just 22 unforced errors. Babos kept her side of the stat sheet even – 21 winners and 21 errors – but missed out on an opportunity to force a second set tie-break in the final game of the match, putting Muguruza into the last eight in Doha.
“Timea serves very strong, so I knew I had to be focused on my serve and hers as well. It was definitely one of the keys.”
Playing in Doha for just the second time in her career, Muguruza will play Andrea Petkovic for a spot in the semifinals; Petkovic closed out CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-4.
“I think the city is super fine. Doha looks great, and I’m really happy to be here and playing, finally!”
Earlier in the day, Elena Vesnina backed up her win over No.2 seed Simona Halep with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki; the win put Vesnina into her first Premier-level quarterfinal in nearly three years (Eastbourne 2013) and was just her second win over the Dane in eight prior encounters.
The last match of the day took place between No.9 seed Roberta Vinci and Turkish wildcard Cagla Buyukakcay; Vinci maintained her focus through a feline interruption to win, 7-5, 6-1.
#MuguIsBack pic.twitter.com/2kBcFof5Dh
— WTA (@WTA) February 24, 2016