Women Tennis Update – Doha,Dubai, and Memphis Monday, February 18, 2013

Written by: Staff on 17th February 2013

Women Tennis Update - Doha,Dubai, and Memphis Monday, February 18, 2013

epa03541795 Madison Keys of the US hits a forehand during her 3rd round match against Angelique Kerber of Germany at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2013. EPA/Barbara Walton |

Doha

Singles – Final: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. (2) Serena Williams 7-6(8-6) 2-6 6-3

This was a battle of the scrambling wounded. Victoria Azarenka had a bandage running up most of her leg; Serena Williams had both ankles taped. They’re both supposed to play Doha next week. It will be interesting to see if they manage it after this more than two hour battle.

They certainly both have reason to try, because we find ourselves with the #1 ranking still rather up in the air. Oh, Serena has it now; that isn’t the question. But the loss makes her hold on the top spot rather fragile. She could certainly use some more points. And Azarenka could use the chance to start regaining ground.

As it is, Azarenka has now won the two biggest titles of the year so far — Australian Open and Doha. It may not quite match what she did last year, but the certainly isn’t letting Serena rest on her laurels. The win means that the gap between them is less than 300 points.

Doubles – Final: (1) Errani/Vinci def. (2) Petrova/Srebotnik 2-6 6-3 10-6

What can we possibly say about Errani/Vinci that we haven’t already said? This is already their third title of the year, and all substantial — Australian Open, Paris, and Doha. They have eleven titles in the last twelve months, and a 64-9 record (87.7%). They’ve won 55% of the events they have entered. This year, they are 17-2 — and now have a thirteen match winning streak. We’d guess they are safe at #1 at least until the French Open.

Give Petrova/Srebotnik this much: They won Sydney, one of the few significant events not taken by Errani/Vinci. In fact, they beat Errani/Vinci on their way to the title. They are 9-2 this year, making them probably the second best team of 2013 so far. But it’s second best in a doubles universe with one dominant pair.

Dubai

It’s not often that we report on the second round of qualifying at an event — but then, it’s not often that a qualifying event is as strong as Dubai’s. Or was as strong, because seeds are going down fast. #1 Tamira Paszek pulled out before play even began — opening a door for Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has Paszek’s place in the qualifying final. She will face Anabel Medina Garrigues, who beat #5 qualifying seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the first qualifying round. #2 Carla Suarez Navarro is through to the qualifying final, there to face Daniela Hantuchova, who advanced when #8 Simona Halep pulled out. #3 Elena Vesnina is also out; she retired trailing Ekaterina Bychkova 7-5 3-1 (disturbing, given that Makarova/Vesnina are supposed to be the top doubles seeds here). Bychkova will face #7 seed Zheng Jie. #4 Urszula Radwanska made it successfully to the qualifying final; she will face Kurumi Nara, who beat #6 Christina McHale 6-4 2-6 6-3. So we have only three seeds — Suarez Navarro, Radwanska, and Zheng — in the qualifying final.

Memphis

Ideally, you would like to see qualifying full of young prospects trying to find out if they can compete with the big names. If so, the Memphis qualifying was half of what it should have been, as two promising youngsters made the main draw: #1 seed Madison Keys and #3 Jana Cepelova both won, over Alexa Glatch and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, respectively. Also qualifying were #6 Maria Sanchez and unseeded Claire Feuerstein.

The main draw saw Olga Puchkova once again fail in a Top Hundred bid; Melinda Czink beat her 4-6 6-3 6-3. Having an even bigger struggle was #4 Heather Watson, who edged Galina Voskoboeva 7-5 5-7 7-6. #7 Magdalena Rybarikova scored the event’s first easy win, beating Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-3 6-1. Then it was back to the marathons; Lauren Davis, who just won the Midland Challenger, backed it up be beating Ksenia Pervak 5-7 6-1 6-3 — but it took two hours and 42 minutes.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Jana Cepelova, Madison Keys, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, women tennis update