Today’s Women’s News (11/2) – Sofia & Taipei Challenger

Written by: Staff on 2nd November 2012

Today's Women's News (11/2) - Sofia & Taipei Challenger

epa03439730 Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden returns a ball to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during their semi final match at the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow, Russia, 20 October 2012. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY |

Sofia

Round Robin – Group Sredets: (Alt) Sofia Arvidsson def. (6) Zheng Jie 5-1, retired (upper respiratory illness)

That’s two players out with respiratory problems. Not a great omen for the later rounds. Of course, Zheng Jie had accomplished about all she could accomplish; it was already certain she would not reach the semifinal. She ended up losing all three matches — but she played them all. So she is last in her group, but she earns enough points for the losses that it appears she’ll earn enough points to rise to #25. Sofia Arvidsson also earns points, but of course cannot advance either.

Round Robin – Group Sredets: (2) Nadia Petrova def. (8/WC) Tsvetana Pironkova 5-7 6-1 6-3

This would have been a lot easier had Nadia Petrova lost.

The simple part is, Petrova went 3-0 and wins the group. But this group was the one where Maria Kirilenko pulled out. We ended up with three players with one win: Kirilenko, Pironkova, and (as we shall see below) Sofia Arvidsson. Of the three, however, only Pironkova played all three matches. So, by virtue mostly of survival, she advances. An odd situation. Because of the result of the above match, in which Zheng Jie pulled out, both players here knew they would be in the semifinal. They were playing for first and second in the group only. As it is, Petrova will face Roberta Vinci and Pironkova will have to take on Caroline Wozniacki.

Round Robin – Group Serdika: (5) Hsieh Su-Wei def. (7) Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 0-6 6-4

This match meant nothing, except to determine who was third in the group. Interestingly, the group standings exactly reflected the rankings: Hsieh gets the #3 spot, with Hantuchova #4. That means Hantuchova will end the year below the Top Thirty. Hsieh did well enough to end up at #25.

Taipei Challenger

As we had reported earlier, this event has mostly been good for seeds — but not for high seeds. #1 Peng Shuai lost her opener. #3 Ayumi Morita got hurt. And now #2 Olga Govortsova is out. She lost 6-0 6-2 to #5 Chang Kai-Chen. That will cost her some points, although it doesn’t appear her ranking will be much affected. Other quarterfinal winners are #4 Kristina Mladenovic, who beat #6 Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3 6-0, and Kurumi Nara; they join Misaki Doi, who had advanced earlier when Morita pulled out.