Daily Women Tennis Update – Budapest, Estoril

Written by: Resendiz on 2nd May 2012

Budapest

Singles – First Round: (1) Sara Errani def. Mandy Minella 6-1 6-1

A nice match for Sara Errani, but it’s the usual story for her: She needs a semifinal to add any points.

Singles – First Round: (2) Ksenia Pervak def. Vera Dushevina 6-1 5-7 7-6(8-6)

A tough start for Ksenia Pervak, considering that she needs a final to move in the rankings.

Singles – First Round: Alberta Brianti def. (8) Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 5-7 6-3

Is Irina-Camelia Begu turning into one of those players who can’t make the Top Fifty? It’s starting to look like it; she will remain around #55.

Singles – First Round: Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. (Q) Jasmina Tinjic 1-6 6-3 retired (Difficulty Breathing)

This very nearly guarantees that Barbora Zahlavova Strycova will rise above #60.

Singles – First Round: Alexandra Cadantu def. Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2 6-1

Alexandra Cadantu has a big enough sixteenth event score that this doesn’t help her much — but any additional wins could give her a substantial boost.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Akgul Amanmuradova def. Michaella Krajicek 6-3 3-6 7-6(8-6)

Historically, Akgul Amanmuradova hasn’t liked clay much — understandable, given that her one real weapon is her serve. But she seems to have adapted this year — maybe it gives her more time to cover her weak backhand. One more win would probably make her Top Hundred.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Melinda Czink def. (Q) Mervana Jugic-Salkic 6-7(3-7) 6-0 6-3

Melinda Czink still needs one more win to defend her points — a fairly significant need, given that she is down to #118.

Singles – First Round: Hsieh Su-Wei def. Timea Babos 6-7(4-7) 6-4 6-1

Hsieh Su-Wei’s comeback continues to gather momentum. This is pretty amazing, considering the surface and the fact that Timea Babos is Hungarian.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Grandin/Uhlirova def. Jeflea/Lefevre 6-1 6-3

Doubles – First Round: (2) Erakovic/Vesnina def. Czink/Jani 6-1 6-4

Doubles – First Round: (4) Chan/Fujiwara def. (WC) Arn/Babos walkover (Arn: Neck Injury)

Greta Arn came apart in singles on Monday, but finished her match. Guess we now know what the problem was….

Doubles – First Round: Dekmeijere/Kondratieva def. Hrdinova/Keothavong 6-2 6-3

Estoril

Singles – First Round: (2) Maria Kirilenko def. Elena Baltacha 7-6(8-6) 6-1

Maria Kirilenko’s Top Twenty spot is safe; if she can make it to the semifinal, she should rise to #16. But it seems that she is hurting.

Singles – First Round: (3) Anabel Medina Garrigues def. (Q) Kristina Barrois 6-4 6-1

The strange workings of the rankings this week guarantee that Anabel Medina Garrigues will rise in the rankings: She loses a first round loss (five points) from Madrid and gets to add back her seventeenth event points (70 points). So she is in the odd situation of needing a semifinal to add more points than she has already added. But, either way, she comes out ahead.

Singles – First Round: (4) Petra Cetkovska def. Alexandra Panova 6-2 6-1

Petra Cetkovska doesn’t add any points yet, but her Top Thirty ranking looks pretty safe.

Singles – First Round: (5) Zheng Jie def. Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-1

Zheng Jie is one of a crowd of players right around #30 all struggling to reach that mark. We’ll just have to see who lasts longest.

Singles – First Round: (6) Kaia Kanepi def. (LL) Sloane Stephens 6-1 6-0

Kaia Kanepi is also in that Top Thirty wannabe crowd. Nothing is settled yet — except that Yanina Wickmayer and Monica Niculescu are out.

Singles – First Round: (9) Polona Hercog def. Tamira Paszek 6-0 6-3

Tamira Paszek wasn’t defending anything, but because others have added points, this will cost her her Top Fifty spot.

Singles – First Round: Galina Voskoboeva def. Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1 6-4

This will likely take Galina Voskoboeva to around #45.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Heather Watson def. Lucie Hradecka 6-4 6-4

Quite a good win for Heather Watson, given the surface. She will probably rise above #110.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Karin Knapp def. Eleni Daniilidou 7-5 6-2

Karin Knapp might gain a spot or two as a result of this; probably not much more. But any more wins could help her substantially.

Singles – First Round: (WC) Maria Joao Koehler def. Ayumi Morita 6-1 7-5

There isn’t much we can say about this except, “Only on clay….”

Singles – First Round: Jarmila Gajdosova def. (Q) Maria Teresa Torro-Flor 6-3 6-1

With all due respect to Maria Teresa Torro-Flor for qualifying, this was basically free points for Jarmila Gajdosova. Which she needs, because she has 140 points coming off this week!

Doubles – First Round: Panova/Watson def. Barrois/Woehr 6-2 6-0

Doubles – First Round: Bratchikova/Jurak def. (WC) Ivanova/Koehler 7-6(9-7) 2-6 10-4 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: Kops-Jones/Spears def. (Alt) Cabeza Candela/Luz 7-6(7-2) 6-2

Kops-Jones/Spears were supposed to face top seeds Kirilenko/Petrova, but Maria Kirilenko pulled out with an ankle injury; we’ll have to see what happens to her in singles. The doubles draw remains fairly balanced; Kops-Jones/Spears are the top unseeded team based on this week’s rankings.

Topics: Alberta Brianti, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Ekaterina Makarova, Elena Baltacha, Kaia Kanepi, Ksenia Pervak, Maria Kirilenko, Petra Cetkovska, Sara Errani, Zheng Jie