Women Tennis Update – Rome Thursday, May 16, 2013

Written by: on 15th May 2013
Tennis WTA Qatar Ladies Open 2013
Women Tennis Update - Rome Thursday, May 16, 2013

epa03588885 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus returns the ball to Serena Williams of the USA during their final match of the WTA Qatar Ladies Open tennis tournament at the International Khalifa Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, 17 February 2013. EPA/STRINGER  |

Rome

 

Singles – Second Round: (2) Maria Sharapova def. Garbine Muguruza 6-2 6-2

Maria Sharapova no longer has any chance at the #1 Roland Garros seed, but she clearly still wants to show that she is the best clay player out there….

Singles – Second Round: (3) Victoria Azarenka def. Julia Goerges 6-2 6-0

It looks as if Victoria Azarenka has finally put her troubles behind her. It appears Julia Goerges will be right at #24, and hence earn the #24 Roland Garros seed. Interestingly, the bottom tier now appears to be all but set (#25-#32 will be Cirstea, Shvedova, Paszek, Lepchenko, Venus Williams, Cornet, Lisicki, and probably Safarova), and the top tiers are set (Serena Williams will be #1, Sharapova #2, Azarenka #3, Agnieszka Radwanska #4, and #5-#8 will be Errani, Li, Kerber, and Kvitova in some order), but nothing much is set in the tiers between.

Singles – Second Round: (5) Li Na def. Zheng Jie 6-3 6-1

Zheng Jie will end up right around #50, which is where she came in. Li Na keeps alive her hopes of retaining the #5 ranking, but she remains well behind Sara Errani in that contest…

Singles – Second Round: (7) Sara Errani def. Christina McHale 7-5 5-7 6-2

…and Errani isn’t giving Li much of an opening. Although she very nearly gave Christina McHale an opening, being broken twice while serving for the match in the second set. She leaves McHale still below #50.

Singles – Second Round: (9) Samantha Stosur def. Peng Shuai 7-6(7-5) 6-0

Samantha Stosur has a shot, if she wins her next match, at rising to #9. Which hardly matters. But she blocks Peng Shuai’s hopes for a Paris seed, which presumably does matter.

Singles – Second Round: (12) Maria Kirilenko def. Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-1

Varvara Lepchenko lasted long enough to put herself back in the Top Thirty and clinch her Roland Garros seed.

Singles – Second Round: (13) Roberta Vinci def. Nastassja Burnett 6-1 6-4

One more win would clinch Roberta Vinci’s Top Fifteen ranking. She appears to have already clinched a Top Sixteen Roland Garros seed.

Singles – Second Round: (14) Dominika Cibulkova def. Melanie Oudin 5-7 6-1 6-3

Dominika Cibulkova, on the other hand, could still lose her #16 seed. Especially if she struggles like this against players who don’t like clay much.

Singles – Second Round: (16) Sloane Stephens def. Kiki Bertens 4-6 6-3 6-2

Could it be that Sloane Stephens is finally getting herself un-stuck? Obviously everyone hopes so, but she hasn’t risen above #17 yet.

Singles – Second Round: Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-4

Lourdes Dominguez Lino made the main draw as a Lucky Loser when Angelique Kerber pulled out. Kerber loses the chance to rise above her current #7, Yanina Wickmayer loses her chance for a Top Forty spot — but Dominguez Lino is now up to around #44.

Singles – Second Round: Carla Suarez Navarro def. Romina Oprandi 6-4 6-2

It appears this will put Carla Suarez Navarro in the Top Twenty.

Singles – Second Round: Ayumi Morita def. Urszula Radwanska 6-3 6-1

Add Urszula Radwanska to the “no Paris seed” list; it appears she will end up at #37.

Singles – Second Round: Jelena Jankovic def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-0

Bojana Jovanovski will remain near the bottom of the Top Fifty. Jelena Jankovic keeps alive her faint hopes of a Top Sixteen seed in Paris.

Doubles – First Round: Raymond/Robson def. Kuznetsova/Pennetta 6-7(2-7) 6-4 10-7

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Flavia Pennetta have both had distinguished doubles careers, but Pennetta is a mess and Kuznetsova seems to lose her doubles skills at the drop of a hat.

Doubles – Second Round: (1) Errani/Vinci def. Mladenovic/Voskoboeva 7-5 6-4

Not even Kristina Mladenovic’s current hot form can deal with Errani/Vinci on an Italian court….

Doubles – Second Round: (6) Mattek-Sands/Mirza def. Schiavone/Stosur 6-4 6-3

Doubles – Second Round: Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Govortsova/Moulton-Levy 2-6 6-4 10-7

Doubles – Second Round: Hlavackova/Martic def. Castano/Duque-Marino 6-3 7-6(7-4)

Castano/Duque Marino were last-minute replacements for Makarova/Vesnina, who have both been a little fragile lately.

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

This Week’s Movers — Women

 

Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.

Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)

 

Leader: TIE.

Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor — Moved 13 places, from #86 to #73

Karin Knapp — Moved 13 places, from #113 to #100

Torro-Flor qualified for Madrid and made the second round. Knapp was the finalist at the Trnava $75K Challenger (won by Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who however is ranked too low to be a Mover).

Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)

 

Leader: Yaroslava Shvedova — Moved 8 places, 22%, from #36 to #28

Shvedova beat Caroline Wozniacki and Kirsten Flipkens at Madrid — but then had to pull out in the third round.

Runner-Up: Kaia Kanepi — Moved 11 places, 22%, from #51 to #41

Kanepi made the Madrid quarterfinal before losing to Maria Sharapova.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

 

Loser: Lucie Hradecka — Dropped 56 places, from #57 to #113

Hradecka, a Madrid semifinalist last year, didn’t make the main draw this year. And she isn’t in the Rome draw, either….

Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)

 

Loser: Hradecka, ranking increased 98%.

Ranking Notes

 

It was a surprisingly quiet week, considering the size of the events. Note that no one rose more than 22% — and other than Shvedova and Kanepi, no one managed even a 20% move. Ana Ivanovic was third; she rose 19% (to #13). Ekaterina Makarova was fourth, with a 17% move (to #20). Torro-Flor rose 15%; every other move was less than that. Similarly on the down side; other than Hradecka’s disaster, the only player to slide as much as 20% was Yulia Putintseva (down 21%, to #108).

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

 

These are subjective picks!

There isn’t much to choose between Shvedova and Kanepi, so we’ll go with Shvedova as having the slightly higher percentage move.

KEYWORDS: Movers Women Shvedova

******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********

 

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:

Rome (Premier Five/Clay). Defending Champion: Maria Sharapova

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:

Brussels (Premier/Clay). Defending Champion: Agnieszka Radwanska

Strasbourg (INternational/Clay). Defending Champion: Francesca Schiavone

************ STATS AND FACTS ************

 

**RANKINGS

 

Estimated WTA Rankings As of May 15, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior

Rank….Name…………..Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 10945*

2..(2) SHARAPOVA ……… 9915*

3..(3) AZARENKA ………..8510*

4..(4) ARADWANSKA ………6475

5..(6) ERRANI ………….5640*

6..(5) LI ……………..5335*

7..(7) Kerber ………….5310

8..(8) KVITOVA ……….. 5175*

9..(9) WOZNIACKI ……… 3625

10.(10) STOSUR ………….3545*

11.(11) PETROVA ……….. 3065

12.(12) KIRILENKO ……… 3036*

13.(14) Bartoli ……….. 2845

14.(13) IVANOVIC ………..2800

15.(15) VINCI …………. 2785*

16.(16) CIBULKOVA ……… 2590*

17.(17) STEPHENS ………..2540*

18.(18) JANKOVIC ………..2400*

19.(19) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..2010

20.(22) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..1875*

21.(21) FLIPKENS ………..1872

22.(20) MAKAROVA ………..1815

23.(23) Zakopalova ………1745

24.(25) GOERGES ……….. 1605

25.(26) CIRSTEA ……….. 1595

26.(28) Shvedova ………..1572

27.(29) Paszek ………….1568

28.(31) LEPCHENKO ……… 1567

29.(24) VWILLIAMS ……… 1550

30.(30) CORNET ………….1530

**DRAWS

 

Rome — Week of May 13

 

………………..3R

1 S Williams……..(1)S.Williams

14 Cibulkova……..(14)Cibulkova

11 Petrova……….Suarez Navarro

[Dominguez Lino(LL)]Dominguez Lino

 

4 A Radwanska…….Halep

13 Vinci…………(13)Vinci

10 Wozniacki……..Jankovic

5 Li…………….(5)Li

 

8 Kvitova………..(8)Kvitova

9 Stosur…………(9)Stosur

15 Ivanovic………Morita

3 Azarenka……….(3)Azarenka

 

7 Errani…………(7)Errani

12 Kirilenko……..(12)Kirilenko

16 Stephens………(16)Stephens

2 Sharapova………(2)Sharapova

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 S Williams

2 Sharapova

3 Azarenka

4 A Radwanska…….lost 2R (Halep)

5 Li

6 Kerber…………WITHDREW (replaced by Dominguez Lino)

7 Errani

8 Kvitova

9 Stosur

10 Wozniacki…….lost 1R (Jovanovski)

11 Petrova………lost 1R (Suarez Navarro)

12 Kirilenko

13 Vinci

14 Cibulkova

15 Ivanovic……..lost 1R (U. Radwanska)

16 Stephens

******** SCORES ********

 

WEDNESDAY

Rome

Singles – Second Round

(2) Maria Sharapova def. Garbine Muguruza 6-2 6-2

(3) Victoria Azarenka def. Julia Goerges 6-2 6-0

(5) Na Li def. Jie Zheng 6-3 6-1

(7) Sara Errani def. Christina McHale 7-5 5-7 6-2

(9) Samantha Stosur def. Shuai Peng 7-6(7-5) 6-0

(12) Maria Kirilenko def. Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-1

(13) Roberta Vinci def. Nastassja Burnett 6-1 6-4

(14) Dominika Cibulkova def. Melanie Oudin 5-7 6-1 6-3

(16) Sloane Stephens def. Kiki Bertens 4-6 6-3 6-2

Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-4

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Romina Oprandi 6-4 6-2

Ayumi Morita def. Urszula Radwanska 6-3 6-1

Jelena Jankovic def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-0

Doubles – First Round

Raymond/Robson def. Kuznetsova/Pennetta 6-7(2-7) 6-4 10-7

Doubles – Second Round

(1) Errani/Vinci def. Mladenovic/Voskoboeva 7-5 6-4

(6) Mattek-Sands/Mirza def. Schiavone/Stosur 6-4 6-3

Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Govortsova/Moulton-Levy 2-6 6-4 10-7

Hlavackova/Martic def. Castano/Duque-Marino 6-3 7-6(7-4)

©Daily tennis news wire

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