Today’s Women’s News (09/28)

Written by: Staff on 28th September 2012

Today's Women's News (09/28)

epa03413304 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland returns the ball to Angelique Kerber of Germany during their semi final match of the Pan Pacific Open tennis in Tokyo, Japan, 28 September 2012. Radwanska later won the match 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the final. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA |

Pan Pacific

Singles – Semifinal: (3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (5) Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-1

That’s back-to-back finals here for Agnieszka Radwanska. Which means she will keep the #3 rankings — for one more week. She still has Beijing to defend…. Angelique Kerber remains at #6, and not a very strong #6, but she lasted long enough that her Istanbul spot appears certain.

Singles – Semifinal: (17) Nadia Petrova def. (8) Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2

That’s one way to justify a seed!

Nadia Petrova was seeded here only because her doubles partner Maria Kirilenko pulled out. Obviously Petrova did a fine job of justifying the promotion. And it finally means she is starting to move in the rankings. She is up to #15. Whereas Samantha Stosur stays stuck at #9 — and still #9 in the Race; Li Na still leads in the contest for the last spot in Istanbul. On the other hand, Stosur has made the Race a lot more interesting. Unfortunately, Stosur hurt herself in the match — believed to be an abdominal muscle strain — so her chances at Beijing may not be very good.

Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Groenefeld/Peschke def. Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova 1-6 6-1 10-7 (Match TB)

This is probably the best result by Anna-Lena Groenefeld since she decided to become a doubles specialist. Is she finally starting to recover her form? Obviously one event isn’t enough to really let us know….

Doubles – Semifinal: Kops-Jones/Spears def. Lisicki/Raymond 6-4 6-3

A blow to Lisa Raymond, who was last year’s champion with Liezel Huber. This could well be big news for Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova — if Hlavackova can get healthy.

It’s also big news for Kops-Jones/Spears, who have won seven straight and are starting to look as if they might be genuine Istanbul candidates after all. They are now firmly at #5 in the Race, and if they can win the title here, they will be close to #4 Kirilenko/Petrova.

Las Vegas Challenger

It was, finally, a truly good day to be a seed. The four who remained in the draw — #2 Lauren Davis, #4 Anastasia Rodionova (who beat her little sister), #7 Mallory Burdette, and #8 Heidi El Tabakh — all won. That makes Burdette 2-0 as a professional. Davis has now won six of her last seven matches, making the final at the Albuquerque $75K last week and reaching the quarterfinal in Las Vegas. Other Las Vegas quarterfinalists are Jessica Pegula, Shelby Rogers, Elena Bovina, and Adriana Perez — Perez being the one unfamiliar name on the list; perhaps she is a player to watch out for. If she can win her quarterfinal, anyway.