Today’s Women’s News (4/29) – Stuttgart/Marrakech

Written by: Staff on 28th April 2013

Today's Women's News (4/29) - Stuttgart/Marrakech

epa03677014 Germany's Sabine Lisicki returns the ball to Serbia's Jelena Jankovic during their second round match at the WTA Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, 25 April 2013. EPA/BERND WEISSBROD |

Stuttgart

Singles – Final: (1) Maria Sharapova def. (2) Li Na 6-4 6-3

Who would have thought that Maria Sharapova’s easiest match here would be against a fellow Roland Garros winner, the next-highest-ranked player in the draw? Yet it was fairly routine, and Sharapova blew through the last few games.

It is only her second title of the year, but they have been an impressive pair: Indian Wells and Stuttgart. It doesn’t get much better than that, unless she wins a Slam. And, at the rate she’s going, that seems entirely possible; she was last year’s best clay player, and so far, she is this year’s also.

It doesn’t affect her ranking directly; since she merely defended her points, she remains #2. But her lead on #3 Victoria Azarenka is now some 1100 points. Odds are that Sharapova just earned herself the #2 Roland Garros seed.

Li Na would have been #5 even had she won. The bad news is, she is struggling for titles this year, and she loses the chance to gain on #4 Agnieszka Radwanska. If Sharapova just earned the #2 Paris seed, Li very likely lost her shot at #4.

Doubles – Final: (WC) Barthel/Lisicki def. Mattek-Sands/Mirza 6-4 7-5

The upsets continued to the very end.

There were fifteen doubles matches here, and nine of them resulted in upsets. This probably wasn’t the biggest, but it was substantial — Barthel/Lisicki came in ranked a combined #320, Mattek-Sands/Mirza #41.

There is something Sabine Lisicki really likes about this tournament. She has only two doubles titles. The other was also here, in 2011, with Samantha Stosur. At that, she’s doing better than Mona Barthel. This is Barthel’s first doubles title. She almost triples her doubles points; she’ll go from #254 to around #115. Lisicki will hit the Top Fifty.

Marrakech

Singles – Final: (6) Francesca Schiavone def. Lourdes Domingues Lino 6-1 6-3

Given the weakness of the field here, we wouldn’t want to promise that this means Francesca Schiavone is back. But you could see she was thrilled afterward. It’s her first title since Strasbourg, eleven months ago. The rankings effects are significant, too: She rises from #48 to probably #37. Maybe, just maybe, she can get a Roland Garros seed.

Lourdes Dominguez Lino probably can’t. But she does put herself in the Top Fifty. It’s her best result, in terms of points at least, since she won Bogota 2011.

Doubles – Final: (3) Babos/Minella def. (4) Martic/Mladenovic 6-3 6-1

Timea Babos is definitely becoming a doubles force. That’s four titles in the last twelve months, and three already this year: Birmingham 2012 with Hsieh, Bogota 2013 with Minella, Monterrey 2013 with Date-Krumm, and now this. Admittedly they’re all bottom-tier, but still, it’s four titles. And with partners generally not known for doubles. Babos is still stuck in the #40 range, but it really feels as if that will change. Mandy Minella should try to stick with her — the two titles with Babos are the only ones she has earned in her career.