Women Tennis Update – Baku

Written by: Staff on 24th July 2012

Women Tennis Update - Baku

epa03142663 Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan returns a shot during her match against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA 12 March 2012. EPA/PAUL BUCK |

Baku

Singles – First Round: Julia Cohen def. (1) Ksenia Pervak 6-4 3-6 3-2 retired (heat illness)

Ksenia Pervak had had trouble in the doubles the day before, so this isn’t a big surprise — but it means that no one ranked above #70 is left in the draw!

Singles – First Round: (2) Alexandra Panova def. (Q) Sacha Jones 7-5 7-6(9-7)

With Ksenia Pervak out, and three other seeds, this event obviously represents a big opportunity for Alexandra Panova. The flip side is, she didn’t look too good in her last Big Chance tournament, at Bogota.

Singles – First Round: (5) Bojana Jovanovski def. Lesia Tsurenko 6-3 2-6 6-3

Bojana Jovanovski will probably need one more win to stay Top Hundred.

Singles – First Round: (6) Nina Bratchikova def. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2 6-4

Patricia Mayr-Achleitner stays stuck around #150.

Singles – First Round: Olga Puchkova def. (7) Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3 7-6(14-12)

Olga Puchkova has pretty good weapons, and for a time she managed to hit the Top Fifty. But she suffered a bad case of tennis-father-itis, and everything collapsed. This was her first WTA match since Kuala Lumpur, and her first WTA win since Quebec City 2008. If she can somehow win her next match, it will be her first back-to-back wins since Quebec City 2007.

Singles – First Round: Magdalena Rybarikova def. (8) Eva Birnerova 6-1 6-1

Magdalena Rybarikova came here ranked just four places behind Eva Birnerova (#114 versus #110 — yes, we have a seed here ranked below #100. Three of them, in fact). And Rybarikova is also one of the few players here with substantial WTA experience. So this is no big surprise.

Singles – First Round: Laura Pous-Tio def. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 6-1 2-0 retired (elbow)

Two retirements in the first eight matches on Tuesday. And these are players who, because they rarely go deep in tournaments, don’t play a huge number of matches. Ouch.

Singles – First Round: Sandra Zaniewska def. Elina Svitolina 6-1 7-6(7-4)

That’s the first WTA win for Sandra Zaniewska, in only her second WTA event (her first was Wimbledon, where she lost to Peng).

Singles – First Round: Estrella Cabeza Candela def. (WC) Ekaterine Gorgodze 6-1 6-1

That’s the first WTA match for #537 Gorgodze, who doesn’t even have many Challenger results. So we can’t tell you much about what this means.

Singles – First Round: Marta Domachowska def. Caroline Garcia 1-6 7-5 6-0

Another “first since”: This is the first WTA win for Marta Domachowska since Istanbul 2009.

Singles – First Round: Alberta Brianti def. Zarina Diyas 6-3 6-1

Alberta Brianti came here ranked #111, which means she’s ranked as high as the lower seeds. Indeed, she’s in the part of the draw vacated by Akgul Amanmuradova, so for practical purposes, Brianti is a seed now.

Doubles – First Round: Garcia/Smolina def. Lertcheewakarn/Zhou walkover (Lertcheewakarn: Right Elbow Injury)

Topics: Baku tennis news, Ksenia Pervak, Sports, Tennis News