Women Tennis Update – Baku, Rankings

Written by: Staff on 23rd July 2012

Women Tennis Update - Baku, Rankings

epa02894262 Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia hits a return to Angelique Kerber of Germany during their third round match on the fifth day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 02 September 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

Baku

Singles – First Round: (3) Mandy Minella def. (Q) Wang Qiang 6-2 5-7 6-3

This may well put Mandy Minella above #80 — but, with no one in Baku ranked above #60, we will have to wait to be sure; Challengers are going to have a disproportionate effect on the rankings this week.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Aleksandra Krunic def. (4) Andrea Hlavackova 6-1 6-7(11-13) 6-4

This is only the third WTA event for Aleksandra Krunic — but, interestingly, she has won her opener at all of them.

Singles – First Round: Alla Kudryavtseva def. (WC) Kamilla Farhad 6-1 6-0

Alla Kudryavtseva defends her points — an important thing, given that she is down to #141!

Singles – First Round: Tamarine Tanasugarn def. (WC) Varvara Flink 3-6 6-3 6-2

Tamarine Tanasugarn earns her first WTA win since Pattaya City, but it was a lot harder than it probably should have been.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Valeria Solovieva def. Olga Savchuk 1-6 6-3 7-6(7-1)

This isn’t really much of an upset; Valeria Solovieva is ranked #225, Olga Savchuk #206. And Savchuk was defending points; Solovieva will be the higher-ranked next week.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Bratchikova/Panova def. Domachowska/Minella 6-3 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Cohen/Jones def. Jovanovski/Krunic 6-4 3-6 10-3 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: Dzehalevich/Puchkova def. Pervak/Tsurenko 6-2 6-3

Ksenia Pervak is our top singles seed. This looks unpromising.

Doubles – First Round: (WC) Flink/Mayr-Achleitner def. (WC) Farhad/Korashvili 6-1 6-3

Evidently having one local (Flink) on a team is better than having two (Farhad and Korashvili).

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

This Week’s Movers — Women

Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.

Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)

Leader: Polona Hercog — Moved 24 places, from #86 to #62.

Polona Hercog won Bastad to start her ranking moving upward for the first time this year.

Runner-Up: Johanna Larsson — Moved 12 places, from #104 to #92

Larsson came within a hair of depriving Hercog of the Bastad title, but she failed in the end. Still, she made the final and put herself back in the Top Hundred.

Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)

Leader: Hercog, cut ranking 28%.

Runner-Up: Larsson, cut ranking 12%.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

Loser: Irina-Camelia Begu — Dropped 12 places, from #67 to #79

Last year at this time, Begu won the Bucharest $100K+H Challenger.

Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)

Loser: Begu, ranking increased 18%.

Ranking Notes

It was a very quiet week, rankings-wise; note that Hercog is the only player to rise more than 12%. Begu and last year’s Baku finalist Ksenia Pervak (who fell 17%, to #68) were the only players to fall more than 15%.

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

These are subjective picks!

Hercog’s rise this week is arguably a calendar artifact — Bastad 2011 had come off a week before, so she is now back about where she was two weeks ago. But she is the only player to have a significant move. So she is the clear choice for the award.

Topics: Aleksandra Krunic, Alla Kudryavtseva, Baku tennis news, Mandy Minella, Sports, women tennis news