Today’s Women’s News (09/18) – Seoul & Guangzhou

Written by: Staff on 18th September 2012

Today's Women's News (09/18) - Seoul & Guangzhou |

Seoul

Singles – First Round: (1) Caroline Wozniacki def. Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2

As you will read in today’s Feature, Caroline Wozniacki is just barely on the fringes of the WTA Race. This might help a little. But it helps her ranking not at all.

Singles – First Round: (3) Kaia Kanepi def. (WC) Han Sung-Hee 6-1 6-0

Kaia Kanepi was obviously very lucky in her draw. But still, this is a nice start to her comeback! Two more wins would likely put her in the Top Fifteen.

Singles – First Round: Silvia Soler-Espinosa def. (5) Julia Goerges 1-6 7-6(7-5) 6-2

There is a slight chance that this will cost Julia Goerges her Top Twenty spot.

Singles – First Round: (6) Varvara Lepchenko def. Camila Giorgi 6-2 7-6(7-1)

If Goerges does fall out of the Top Twenty, it will likely be Varvara Lepchenko who replaces her. It’s not clear how meaningful this result is, though; Camila Giorgi was unable to play last week.

Singles – First Round: (7) Klara Zakopalova def. Garbine Muguruza 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-1)

Klara Zakopalova is defending semifinalist points, so she still needs one more win to clinch her Top Thirty spot.

Singles – First Round: (8) Ekaterina Makarova def. Polona Hercog 6-4 6-1

One more win would almost guarantee a Top 25 ranking for Ekaterina Makarova — but struggling Polona Hercog loses semifinal points and will lose several more ranking spots.

Singles – First Round: Anabel Medina Garrigues def. (Q) Sesil Karatantcheva 6-4 6-4

From now on, the points count for Anabel Medina Garrigues, but she’ll need two more wins to move significantly.

Singles – First Round: Magdalena Rybarikova def. Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-4 6-3

Magdalena Rybarikova is defending finalist points, so even with this win, she is in the #70 range. As for Kimiko Date-Krumm, this year has been so bad that we can’t help but wonder if the Pan Pacific will be her last event.

Singles – First Round: Kiki Bertens def. Vania King 6-3 6-1

Vania King was defending quarterfinalist points and will probably end up below #60.

Singles – First Round: Galina Voskoboeva def. (WC) Hong Hyun Hui 6-1 6-2

Galina Voskoboeva is another player defending finalist points, so she really needed this.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Jamie Hampton def. Romina Oprandi 5-7 6-3 6-2

Romina Oprandi just fell out of the Top Sixty last week, and this obviously means she won’t make it back.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Caroline Garcia def. Alexandra Cadantu 6-2 6-3

Alexandra Cadantu remains stuck around #85.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Kops-Jones/Spears def. Castano/Hrdinova 6-0 7-5

Kops-Jones/Spears have just the faintest of chances to qualify for Istanbul, so every easy win is good news for them. But we emphasize that their chances are extremely faint.

Doubles – First Round: Paszek/Zakopalova def. (WC) Choi/Jun 6-4 6-2

Doubles – First Round: Daniilidou/Moulton-Levy def. Fujiwara/Lertcheewakarn 6-2 6-4

Guangzhou

Singles – First Round: Chang Kai-Chen def. (1) Marion Bartoli 4-3 retired (Gastrointestinal Illness)

Marion Bartoli is in contention for Istanbul, so this is rather bad news for her. It’s not so much the points — she wasn’t likely to earn enough here to matter — as the fact that her preparations for the Pan Pacific and Beijing will be affected. Those events matter.

Singles – First Round: (2) Zheng Jie def. Chan Yung-Jan 5-3 retired (Dizziness)

Let’s hope this event doesn’t turn out to be a plague tournament. The indications so far are rather discouraging.

Singles – First Round: (3) Sorana Cirstea def. (Q) Hu Yue-Yue 6-2 7-5

Sorana Cirstea is defending a bunch of Challenger points, so she needs at least a semifinal, and very possibly a final, to stay Top Thirty.

Singles – First Round: (4) Urszula Radwanska def. Melinda Czink 7-6(7-1) 6-2

Urszula Radwanska needs one more win to defend her points and stay Top Forty.

Singles – First Round: Mathilde Johansson def. (6) Monica Niculescu 7-5 6-2

Monica Niculescu again struggles as she tries to recover her form. She wil remain around #45.

Singles – First Round: (7) Peng Shuai def. Ayumi Morita 7-6(7-3) 6-0

Peng Shuai needs one more win before the points start counting; if she manages that, she might rise to #45.

Singles – First Round: (8) Alize Cornet def. Alexandra Panova 6-3 1-1 retired (Heat Illness)

Nothing that counts yet for Alize Cornet, but anything else she does will count toward her total. And she is small enough that the heat may not bother her as much as some of the other players.

Singles – First Round: Hsieh Su-Wei def. Nina Bratchikova 7-5 6-3

A couple more wins and Hsieh Su-Wei will be Top Fifty.

Singles – First Round: Olga Govortsova def. (Q) Zarina Diyas 7-5 6-2

Olga Govortsova is also just a few dozen points below the Top Fifty.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Nudnina Luangnam def. Jarmila Gajdosova 6-7(5-7) 6-4 6-2

These are the matches Jarmila Gajdosova must win if she wants to re-establish herself in the Top Hundred!

Singles – First Round: (WC) Zheng Saisai def. Julia Cohen 7-6(7-1) 7-5

Julia Cohen also loses the chance to clinch a Top Hundred spot, although she is close enough that she, unlike Gajdosova, has an outside chance at making it this week.

Singles – First Round: (WC) Duan Ying-Ying def. (Q) Luksika Kumkhum 6-2 6-1

Just making it through qualifying puts Luksika Kumkhum close to #200, but we would guess she will fall just short.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Gajdosova/Niculescu def. Savinykh/Xu 6-1 7-5

Interesting and odd that Gajdosova/Niculescu, who are in incredibly poor singles form, seem able to win in doubles.

Doubles – First Round: (3) Tanasugarn/Zhang def. Sema/Sema 6-1 6-2