Women Tennis Update – Kuala Lumpur,Florianopolis, and Acapulco Thursday, February 28, 2013

Written by: Staff on 27th February 2013

Women Tennis Update - Kuala Lumpur,Florianopolis, and Acapulco Thursday, February 28, 2013

epa03373034 CAPTION CORRECTION: CORRECTING ID OF PLAYER Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US hits a return to Venus Williams of the US during their match on the second day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 28 August 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/JASON SZENES |

Kuala Lumpur

The Story So Far:

TUESDAY: (WC) Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. (6) Donna Vekic 6-3 4-6 6-2

After Monday’s washout, they managed only four main draw matches on Tuesday, involving only two Top Hundred players. This was the big upset; Bethanie Mattek-Sands came in ranked 104 places behind Donna Vekic. But the experience gap almost equalled the rankings gap, and that gap went the other way. Vekic should stay Top Hundred, but given that more points are coming on this week than going off, her margin might be small.

Wednesday:

Singles – Qualifying – Second Round: (2) Akgul Amanmuradova def. (12) Ana Savic 4-6 6-4 7-6(13-11)

Singles – First Round: Qiang Wang def. (1) Caroline Wozniacki 2-6 7-6(7-1) 6-1

Um. Right. Wang Qiang is ranked #186 and had never won a WTA match. No further comment, except the obvious one that Caroline Wozniacki has to cross a lot of time zones to get to Indian Wells, and nothing she did here could affect her #10 ranking.

Singles – First Round: (3/W) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Vera Dushevina 2-6 6-3 7-6(8-6)

No points yet for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; she needs a quarterfinal to earn anything, and at least a semifinal to make any real difference.

Singles – First Round: (4) Ayumi Morita def. Cagla Buyukakcay 6-1 6-1

Ayumi Morita needs one more win to defend her points.

Singles – First Round: (7) Eleni Daniilidou def. Yuliya Beygelzimer 2-6 6-4 6-3

It will tell you how far Eleni Daniilidou has fallen that this was even close.

Singles – First Round: Zarina Diyas def. (8) Kristyna Pliskova 6-7(5-7) 6-1 7-5

No big surprise that Kristyna Pliskova was upset; she may have been seeded, but still, she came in at #99.

Singles – First Round: Shuai Zhang def. Aslina An Ping Chua 6-0 6-1

Not a fun debut for Chua.

Singles – First Round: Akgul Amanmuradova def. Kai-Chen Chang 6-1 6-3

A nice day for Akgul Amanmuradova, who finished off a qualifying win, won this, then won in doubles.

Singles – First Round: Ashleigh Barty def. Chanel Simmonds 6-4 6-2

Simmonds was another making her WTA debut. At least hers was vaguely respectable.

Singles – First Round: Luksika Kumkhum def. Olivia Rogowska 3-6 6-1 6-2

More evidence that Luksika Kumkhum is a player to keep your eyes on.

Singles – First Round: Nudnida Luangnam def. Saisai Zheng 6-3 6-7(1-7) 6-2

Nudnida Luangnam breaks a three match WTA losing streak; this is her first win since Guangzhou in September.

Singles – First Round: Ying-Ying Duan def. Marta Sirotkina 6-3 4-6 7-6(14-12)

Duan Ying-Ying has only three WTA events, but has won her opener in all of them.

Doubles – First Round: (2) Aoyama/Chang def. Brianti/Klepac 7-5 6-7(7-9) 10-8

Doubles – First Round: (3) Buryachol/H Chan def. Yuari/Selvarajoo 6-1 6-1

Doubles – First Round: Kumkhum/Sema def. Kichenok/Kichenok 6-4 7-6(7-5)

Doubles – First Round: Pliskova/Pliskova def. Beygelzimer/Rogowska 6-3 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Domachowska/Rosolska def. Hsieh/Kao 6-1 6-1

Doubles – First Round: Amanmuradova/Rodionova def. Adamczak/Wongteanchai 6-3 6-4

Florianopolis

The Story So Far:

MONDAY: Melinda Czink def. (2) Yaroslava Shvedova 2-6 6-4 6-2

This (probably brief) revival of Melinda Czink’s career as an upset artist means no Top Thirty spot for Yaroslava Shvedova.

MONDAY: Monica Niculescu def. (6) Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7 7-6(9-7) 6-1

Not really a big upset based on current rankings. The real surprise is that Medina Garrigues didn’t play Acapulco. Perhaps she should have.

TUESDAY: Olga Puchkova def. (3) Kirsten Flipkens 2-6 6-4 6-4

Kirsten Flipkens loses another Top Thirty chance. This won’t suffice to put Olga Puchkova in the Top Hundred, but she is getting close.

TUESDAY: Jana Cepelova def. (8) Annika Beck 7-6(8-6) 6-4

These two are both promising, relatively young players. Beck has been having better results, but the gap isn’t large.

Wednesday:

Singles – Second Round: (1) Venus Williams def. Garbine Muguruza 6-4 2-6 7-5

This was even scarier than it looked; Venus Williams trailed in the third set. But she has a big edge in experience, and pulled it out. That lets her earn enough points to clinch her Top Twenty spot.

Singles – Second Round: Timea Babos def. (4) Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-2

There seems to be some sort of strange rule that Timea Babos only has good results for a few weeks around mid-February (see the Feature for her 2012 February results). If she can just make this last into, say, early April, she might get somewhere…. She leaves Chanelle Scheepers still around #60.

Singles – Second Round: (5) Magdalena Rybarikova def. Beatriz Garcia Vidagany 6-4 3-6 6-4

One more win and Magdalena Rybarikova is Top Fifty.

Singles – Second Round: (7) Kristina Mladenovic def. Tatjana Malek 6-2 6-1

Kristina Mladenovic is the only seed left in the bottom half, so this looks like a big chance for her.

Singles – Second Round: Olga Puchkova def. Caroline Garcia 3-6 6-3 6-3

This may finally suffice to put Olga Puchkova back in the Top Hundred.

Singles – Second Round: Monica Niculescu def. Tereza Mrdeza 6-1 6-1

Monica Niculescu is up to around #70.

Singles – Second Round: Melinda Czink def. Beatriz Haddad Maia 1-6 6-2 7-6(7-3)

This should assure that Melinda Czink stays Top Hundred.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Medina Garrigues/Shvedova def. Molinero/Perez .6-1 6-1

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (3) Babos/Date-Krumm def. Peer/Scheepers .6-2 6-2

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Barrois/Malek def. Forte/Haddad Maia .6-3 6-2

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Keothavong/Savinykh def. Alves/Lucic-Baroni 6-2 1-6 11-9

Acapulco

The Story So Far:

MONDAY: (7) Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. Flavia Pennetta 7-5 6-3

This is only the second event of Flavia Pennetta’s comeback, so perhaps this is no surprise, but she was a finalist last year. Her ranking will be falling even lower….

Wednesday:

Singles – Second Round: (1) Sara Errani def. Eugenie Bouchard 7-6(7-4) 6-2

This is all very well for Sara Errani, but she can’t earn any points here and will remain at #8. Guaranteed.

Singles – Second Round: Silvia Soler-Espinosa def. (4) Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 2-1, retired

Irina-Camelia Begu was defending semifinalist points, so she can bid the Top Fifty goodbye.

Singles – Second Round: (6/WC) Francesca Schiavone def. Sesil Karatantcheva 6-3 6-4

This just might put Francesca Schiavone back in the Top Fifty, though.

Doubles – First Round: Falconi/Tomljanovic def. (1) Minella/Moulton-Levy .6-2 7-5

Topics: Acapulco, BETHANIE Mattek-Sands, Donna Vekic, Florianopolis, Kuala Lumpur, Lourdes Dominguez, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News