Women Tennis News Update – Australian Open 01-16-13

Written by: Staff on 16th January 2013

Women Tennis News Update - Australian Open 01-16-13

epa03534438 Maria Sharapova of Russia in action during her first round match against Olga Puchkova of Russia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 14 January 2013. EPA/MARK DADSWELL AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Australian Open

Singles – Second Round: (2) Maria Sharapova def. Misaki Doi 6-0 6-0

Two double-bagels in a row for Maria Sharapova…. For a player talking about being injured, she is doing amazingly well.

Singles – Second Round: (4) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3 6-3

Eleven straight wins for Agnieszka Radwanska; one more, or a loss by Angelique Kerber, would clinch the #4 ranking for her. Irina-Camelia Begu puts herself in the Top Hundred.

Singles – Second Round: (5) Angelique Kerber def. Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-1

This makes very little difference for Angelique Kerber; the main effect is to leave Lucie Hradecka still below the Top Fifty.

Singles – Second Round: (6) Li Na def. Olga Govortsova 6-2 7-5

Olga Govortsova remains below the Top Fifty. Li Na will almost certainly be #6.

Singles – Second Round: Zheng Jie def. (9) Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 7-5

Toward the end of this, Zheng Jie was simply out-running a much-hobbled Samantha Stosur. At least Stosur will get to rest her leg after this. She won’t be rising above #9.

Singles – Second Round: (11) Marion Bartoli def. Vesna Dolonc 7-5 6-0

Marion Bartoli moves a little closer to clinching the #10 ranking.

Singles – Second Round: (13) Ana Ivanovic def. Chan Yung-Jan 7-5 1-6 6-4

Ana Ivanovic still needs two more wins to rise in the rankings.

Singles – Second Round: Valeria Savinykh def. (15) Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(8-6) 6-4

A couple of years ago, Valeria Savinykh was posting enough good Challenger results that we thought she might be going places. But she never arrived. Maybe she’s finally getting that game back. Dominika Cibulkova probably won’t fall much, but she certainly loses her faint shot at the Top Ten.

Singles – Second Round: (18) Julia Goerges def. Romina Oprandi 6-3 6-2

This was enlivened, if that’s the right word, by a half-dozen foot fault calls against Romina Oprandi, all coming from the same part of the court. That, and her other problems in this match, will cause her to fall to around #65.

Singles – Second Round: (19) Ekaterina Makarova def. Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-3 6-3

Ekaterina Makarova still needs two more wins to defend her points, but this might be enough to keep her Top Thirty. We’d guess she’ll need one more win, though.

Singles – Second Round: (22) Jelena Jankovic def. Maria Joao Koehler 2-6 7-6(7-5) 6-2

Jelena Jankovic needs one more win to defend her points and stay Top 25.

Singles – Second Round: Kirsten Flipkens def. (23) Klara Zakopalova 6-1 6-0

Absolutely no question now: Kirsten Flipkens is Top Forty. Klara Zakopalova loses her Top Twenty shot.

Singles – Second Round: (25) Venus Williams def. Alize Cornet 6-3 6-3

The Top Twenty is far from settled, but Venus Williams is up to #20 in safe points.

Singles – Second Round: (27) Sorana Cirstea def. Kristyna Pliskova 1-6 6-3 6-2

Sorana Cirstea defends her points, although her Top Thirty ranking isn’t quite safe yet.

Singles – Second Round: (30) Tamira Paszek def. Madison Keys 6-2 6-1

Tamira Paszek is close to making the Top 25.

Singles – Second Round: Heather Watson def. Ksenia Pervak 4-6 7-6(9-7) 6-2

Heather Watson will likely rise above #40.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Errani/Vinci def. Arvidsson/Larsson 7-6(7-3) 6-2

It was to be a pretty routine day for top seeds. As of now, we calculate the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) VINCI …………. 8950*

2..(2) ERRANI ………….8950*

3..(3) HLAVACKOVA ………7340*

4..(4) HRADECKA ………..7340*

5..(5) PETROVA ……….. 7255*

6..(7) KIRILENKO ……… 6430*

7..(6) RAYMOND ……….. 6405*

8..(8) HUBER …………. 6290*

9..(9) VESNINA ……….. 5280*

10.(10) LLAGOSTERA VIVES …5190*

Doubles – First Round: (2) Hlavackova/Hradecka def. Daniilidou/McHale 6-4 6-3

Doubles – First Round: (3) Kirilenko/Raymond def. Rosolska/Tanasugarn 6-2 1-6 6-4

Another hint that Kirilenko/Raymond may be less than the sum of their parts. Still, Kirilenko needs only one more win to defend her points; Raymond needs two.

Doubles – First Round: Soler-Espinosa/Suarez Navarro def. (10) Mattek-Sands/Mirza 7-6(7-4) 6-3

Not much we can do except indicate utter amazement. Sania Mirza, a semifinalist last year, will probably end up below #15.

Doubles – First Round: Aoyama/Falconi def. (11) King/Shvedova 6-3 5-7 7-6(7-2)

A truly tough event for King/Shvedova. Vania King will lose her Top Twenty spot; Shvedova will be even lower.

Doubles – First Round: (14) Grandin/Uhlirova def. Rajicic/Sanders 6-4 6-4

Doubles – First Round: (15) Hsieh/Peng def. Gajdosova/Zakopalova 6-1 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Barty/Dellacqua def. Hercog/Schiavone 6-2 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Craybas/Scheepers def. Fujiwara/Jugic-Salkic 6-1 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Czink/Jovanovski def. Halep/Rus 4-6 6-2 7-6(7-2)

Doubles – First Round: Date-Krumm/Parra Santonja def. Arruabarrena-Vecino/Dominguez Lino 4-6 6-3 6-2

We don’t know, but we rather suspect that is the longest doubles scoreline in history.

Doubles – First Round: Han/Zhou def. Klepac/Tatishvili 1-6 7-6(7-5) 7-5

Doubles – First Round: Johansson/Parmentier def. Bertens/Malek 7-6(9-7) 4-6 7-5

Doubles – First Round: Jurak/Marosi def. Kudryavtseva/Peer 6-0 6-3

As we saw in our preview, Alla Kudryavtseva has big doubles points to defend. Her singles ranking is already in the pits. It appears her doubles ranking will follow.

Doubles – First Round: Kuznetsova/Wickmayer def. Beck/Dekmeijere 6-1 2-6 6-1

Seven straight here for Svetlana Kuznetsova, with two different partners.

Doubles – First Round: Minella/Moulton-Levy def. Martic/Mladenovic 2-6 6-4 7-6(10-8)

Doubles – First Round: Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova def. Babos/Robson 6-2 6-4

Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Australian Open 2013, Kriten Flipkens, Li Na, Maria Sharapova, Sports, Tennis News, women tennis news, Zheng Jie