Today’s Women’s News (10/02): Beijing

Written by: Staff on 2nd October 2012

Today's Women's News (10/02): Beijing

epa03410948 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus returns to Roberta Vinci of Italy during the third round match for the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 26 September 2012. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA |

Beijing

Singles – Second Round: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. Sabine Lisicki 6-4 6-2

Another small step toward the year-end #1 for Victoria Azarenka.

Singles – Second Round: (3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (WC) Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-3

A good start to Agnieszka Radwanska’s title defense, but she needs a lot more to stay #3.

Singles – Second Round: (5) Angelique Kerber def. (Q) Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino 6-2 6-0

Angelique Kerber won’t rise above #6 this week — but she is #5 in the Race, and has now qualified for Istanbul. She truly could end the year in the Top Five.

Singles – Second Round: (7) Li Na def. Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-2

Nadia Petrova will not rise above #14, and will not qualify for Istanbul (in singles, anyway). But this is big for Li Na, who adds some points to her Race total. The next result is even bigger for her:

Singles – Second Round: Julia Goerges def. (8) Samantha Stosur 7-6(7-2) 4-6 7-5

Samantha Stosur had a first round bye, so she earns no points for coming here. Which, for practical purposes, means that she is out of the Race. Not mathematically — not if Li Na loses soon and Stosur plays Osaka and Moscow (which she is scheduled to do). But in practice, she’s done. The side effect of that is to formally qualify Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova (both of whom clinched in practice some time ago), and to bring Sara Errani very close to a mathematical clinch.

Singles – Second Round: (9) Marion Bartoli def. (Q) Ayumi Morita 6-4 6-3

With Stosur out, Marion Bartoli becomes the main threat to Li’s place. She’s a long way back, but at least she’s still alive and can add points. And she is now the only seed in her quarter.

Singles – Second Round: (10) Caroline Wozniacki def. Hsieh Su-Wei 6-7(5-7) 7-6(7-3) 6-0

Caroline Wozniacki is still alive in the Race, too, at least theoretically — but she remains below the Top Ten in both Race and rankings. There doesn’t appear to be much hope in practice, especially given how tired she must be. And she hasn’t scheduled any more events this year, so she would need wildcards. Hsieh Su-Wei might hit the Top Thirty; it’s going to be a very close thing.

Singles – Second Round: Jelena Jankovic def. Monica Niculescu 6-2 6-1

Jelena Jankovic is now assured a return to the Top 25. But Monica Niculescu, last year’s semifinalist, loses about a third of her points; she will fall to around #70.

Singles – Second Round: Romina Oprandi def. (Q) Camila Giorgi 7-5 6-2

One more win would put Romina Oprandi above #60.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. (Q) Laura Robson 7-5 6-3

Laura Robson loses her chance to hit the Top Fifty. And this should have been a winnable match!

Doubles – First Round: (7) Groenefeld/Peschke def. Cornet/Date-Krumm 6-3 6-1

We thought Kimiko Date-Krumm might retire at Tokyo; she didn’t. But Osaka is next week….

Doubles – First Round: (8) Kops-Jones/Spears def. Castano/Razzano 6-7(3-7) 6-4 10-5 (Match TB)

Nine straight wins for Kops-Jones/Spears. The singles race may be almost over, but the doubles Race is looking very interesting indeed — Kops-Jones/Spears are now right on the tails of Kirilenko/Petrova in the contest for the fourth and last spot, and Kirilenko is hurting. This could well come down to Moscow.

Doubles – First Round: Hantuchova/Peng def. Govortsova/Niculescu 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Second Round: (3) Makarova/Vesnina def. (WC) Tang/Tian 6-2 6-3

We thought Makarova/Vesnina might still have a shot in the doubles Race. They don’t — one effect of not teaming up until mid-year. It will be interesting to see how well they can do next year, though.