Birmingham
Singles – Quarterfinal: Alison Riske def. (5) Sabine Lisicki 7-6(7-2) 2-6 6-4
These two were tied at 2-2 in the third on Friday when they had to halt the match due to darkness. So what happened? They came back on Saturday, played three games — and had things halted by rain. But, happily, it was a short rain delay. And Alison Riske was pretty much in control after that. Which meant that the top six seeds were out of the draw here. For Sabine Lisicki, that means no Top Twenty spot.
What in the world is there to say about Alison Riske? She still hasn’t managed to win a WTA match at any event other than Birmingham — but she now has 11 wins in four tries at this particular event!
Singles – Semifinal: Donna Vekic def. (16) Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6(7-5) 1-6 6-3
There seems to be some sort of rule around here that, the more rain there is, the longer the matches take. It makes for some very late evenings…. Still, Donna Vekic managed to eventually serve this out. She leaves Magdalena Rybarikova at #43. Vekic herself is up to around #65.
Singles – Semifinal: Daniela Hantuchova def. Alison Riske 5-7 6-1 6-4
Maybe Alison Riske does something that causes rain delays? She certainly has faced her share this week. Including in this match. And the pause certainly didn’t do her any good, since Daniela Hantuchova seemed stronger after the delay. Hantuchova is up to probably #53; a title would put her back in the Top Fifty.
Doubles – Semifinal: (3) Barty/Dellacqua def. Barthel/Mladenovic 6-3 6-2
It will truly be fascinating to see how Barty/Dellacqua do at Wimbledon. They seem to work together very well, and they evidently like grass.
And they look like a good bet to win, since they’re in the final. They’re two deep in unfinished doubles matches. Expect some walkovers tomorrow.
Nurnberg
Singles – Final: (7) Simona Halep def. (WC) Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3
Simona Halep had real trouble serving this out, but other than that, it was pretty routine. Of course, that first title is never easy, especially when one has lost three previous finals (Fes 2010, Fes 2011, Brussels 2012). But this is looking like a breakthrough year for Halep, since this follows on a Rome semifinal. She is now 16-11 this year, and we show her ranking rising to probably #45. We’ll have to see how she does away from clay, but things certainly look promising for her.
Andrea Petkovic’s winning streak ends at nine, but she is firmly back in the Top Hundred, and appears finally to be her old self again. She looks ready to climb fast after this.
Doubles – Final: Olaru/Solovyeva def. (1) Groenefeld/Peschke 2-6 7-6(7-3) 11-9
This week’s Great Seed Jinx continues. Being a high seed has been generally disastrous. This may be the biggest shock of all, though. Raluca Olaru has a couple of past titles (Tashkent 2008 with Savchuk and Acapulco 2011 with Koryttseva), but those were pretty weak. And Solovyeva’s only previous title was Baku 2012, which was absurdly weak. To beat a strong team like this can only be labelled “Amazing.” It may well be a career-extending for Raluca Olaru.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
Women’s Look Forward: Eastbourne, ‘s-Hertogenbosch
And to think there was a time when it seemed no one wanted to play Eastbourne!
Those days are long gone. The field is packed with top players. So much so that red-hot Jamie Hampton found herself stuck in the qualifying. (At least in the initial draw. She could still move up.) Madison Keys is in the qualifying, too.
Eastbourne in fact has six of the Top Ten. Sadly, the four missing players include all of the top three, and four of the top five: Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, and Sara Errani. Agnieszka Radwanska, a past champion, is the #1 seed. Li Na is #2. Angelique Kerber, last year’s finalist, is #3. Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is #4 — not only is it a strong field, it’s a field with good grass credentials. #5 seed Caroline Wozniacki is also a past champion. Maria Kirilenko is #6, although she is the one seed here who really doesn’t like grass much. Ana Ivanovic has the #7 seed, with last year’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Nadia Petrova #8.
And most of them are likely to be pushed hard. Radwanska has a pretty trivial draw, but Petrova opens against Samantha Stosur (talk about a big-serving battle!), then Lucie Safarova or Klara Zakopalova. Kerber starts against Sorana Cirstea, then could face past champion Ekaterina Makarova. Wozniacki starts against defending champion Tamira Paszek, then Laura Robson. Kirilenko and Kvitova opens easy draws, but Ivanovic starts against Elena Vesnina, then Varvara Lepchenko or Heather Watson. Li probably won’t be challenged too fiercely by Alize Cornet in the first round, given Cornet’s poor grass history, but then comes Marion Bartoli, another former Eastbourne champion who has also been a Wimbledon finalist.
‘s-Hertogenbosch isn’t nearly as strong — Roberta Vinci is the #1 seed, and Dominika Cibulkova #2, so there are no Top Ten players — but it’s deep. Vinci faces the incredible challenge of opening against Kaia Kanepi, then either promising Annika Beck or Simona Halep, hot off her title in Nurnberg. Vinci’s quarterfinal opponent is supposed to be #6 Romina Oprandi — except that Oprandi has to open against Daniela Hantuchova. The #3 seed, Carla Suarez Navarro, has a decent draw, but her quarterfinal is against #8 Kristina Mladenovic, and Mladenovic has to start against grass-loving Tsvetana Pironkova. #7 Urszula Radwanska, who likes grass a lot, is likely to face another hot grass player, Magdalena Rybarikova, in the second round. #4 seed Kirsten Flipkens has to open against Francesca Schiavone, then perhaps wildcard Michaella Krajicek (no, we didn’t know she was still around, either). #5 Mona Barthel faces Lauren Davis in round two. It’s not a draw any of the seeds will want to take for granted.
The Rankings
Last year, the title at Eastbourne went to Tamira Paszek — the best result of her rather inconsistent career. Angelique Kerber was the finalist. Marion Bartoli and Klara Zakopalova where semifinalists. Oddly enough, the three top players in the draw last year — Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, and Caroline Wozniacki — all lost their openers (admittedly Radwanska lost to Pironkova and Kvitova to Makarova, grass-lovers both). Nadia Petrova won ‘s-Hertogenbosch, over Urszula Radwanska, with Kirsten Flipkens and Kim Clijsters the semifinalists. (Sad to say that Clijsters withdrew from the semifinal….)
Since the Top Three aren’t playing, and are far ahead of #4 Radwanska, there won’t be any movement at the top. Radwanska is safe at #4, too. But #5 Errani could lose her spot to Li Na if Li can make it to the final. There is just a chance that Kerber could lose the #7 spot to Kvitova, but only if she loses early and Kvitova does well. Kvitova will not fall below #8. Wozniacki and Kirilenko are contending for #9, but Wozniacki has a big lead and Kirilenko doesn’t like grass, so we doubt they will swap places. Kirilenko ought to be safe at #10.
Petrova could easily fall to around #15. Bartoli could end up below #15. Zakopalova might be below #35. Paszek’s Top Fifty ranking is in danger. Urszula Radwanska will likely fall out of the Top Forty. Kirsten Flipkens may well lose her Top Twenty spot.
KEYWORDS: Preview Eastbourne ‘s-Hertogenbosch
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
Birmingham (International/Grass). Defending Champion: Melanie Oudin
Nurnberg (International/Clay). Defending Champion: New Event (Cornet won Bad Gastein in this slot)
NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
Eastbourne (Premier/Grass). Defending Champion: Tamira Paszek
‘s-Hertogenbosch (International/Grass). Defending Champion: Nadia Petrova
************ STATS AND FACTS ************
**RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of June 15, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank….Name…………..Points
1..(1) SWilliams ……… 13615
2..(2) Azarenka ………..9625
3..(3) Sharapova ……… 9415
4..(4) ARadwanska ………6465
5..(5) Errani ………….5335
6..(6) Li ……………..5155
7..(7) Kerber ………….4915
8..(8) Kvitova ……….. 4435
9..(9) Wozniacki ……… 3565
10.(10) Kirilenko ……… 3436
11.(11) Vinci …………. 3060
12.(12) Ivanovic ………..2920
13.(13) Petrova ……….. 2910
14.(14) Stosur ………….2905
15.(15) Bartoli ……….. 2905
16.(16) JANKOVIC ………..2770
17.(17) Stephens ………..2530
18.(18) Cibulkova ……… 2140
19.(19) Suarez Navarro …..2095
20.(20) FLIPKENS ………..1978
21.(21) Pavlyuchenkova …..1950
22.(24) CIRSTEA ……….. 1760
23.(26) LISICKI ……….. 1750
24.(25) Peng ……………1685
25.(22) MAKAROVA ………..1682
26.(27) Kuznetsova ………1662
27.(28) Lepchenko ……… 1566
28.(30) SAFAROVA ………..1560
29.(29) PASZEK ………….1552
30.(23) CORNET ………….1545
**DRAWS
Birmingham — Week of May 10
………………3R……………..QF…………SF………….F
1 Flipkens……..(1)Flipkens
16 Rybarikova…..(16)Rybarikova…..Rybarikova….Rybarikova
10 Hsieh……….Keys……………Keys
6 Barthel………(6)Barthel
3 Cirstea………(3)Cirstea………Cirstea
13 Jovanovski…..(13)Jovanovski
11 Morita………Sanchez(Q)
8 U. Radwanska….Vekic…………..Vekic………Vekic………Vekic
5 Lisicki………(5)Lisicki………Lisicki
9 Wickmayer…….Lucic-Baroni
14 Watson………Kudryavtseva(Q)
4 Paszek……….Riske(Q)………..Riske………Riske
7 Robson……….Hantuchova………Hantuchova….Hantuchova….Hantuchova
12 Mladenovic…..(12)Mladenovic
15 Schiavone……(15)Schiavone……Schiavone
2 Makarova……..Erakovic
STATUS OF SEEDS
1 Flipkens……..lost 3R (Rybarikova)
2 Makarova……..lost 2R (Erakovic)
3 Cirstea………lost QF (Vekic)
4 Paszek……….lost 2R (Riske)
5 Lisicki………lost QF (Riske)
6 Barthel………lost 3R (Keys)
7 Robson……….lost 2R (Hantuchova)
8 U. Radwanska….lost 2R (Vekic)
9 Wickmayer…….lost 2R (Lucic-Baroni)
10 Hsieh……….lost 1R (Hampton)
11 Morita………lost 1R (Van Uytvanck)
12 Mladenovic…..lost 3R (Hantuchova)
13 Jovanovski…..lost 3R (Cirstea)
14 Watson………lost 2R (Kudryatvseva)
15 Schiavone……lost QF (Hantuchova)
16 Rybarikova
Nurnberg — Week of May 10
WINNER: Simona Halep
………………….QF……………….SF………..F
1 Jankovic (WC)…….(1)Jankovic……….Jankovic
6 Dominguez Lino……(6)Dominguez Lino
4 Goerges………….Petkovic………….Petkovic…..Petkovic
8 Beck…………….(8)Beck
7 Halep……………(7)Halep………….Halep……..Halep
3 Cornet…………..Voskoboeva
5 Safarova…………(5)Safarova……….Safarova
2 Zakopalova……….Hercog
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Jankovic (WC)……..lost SF (Petkovic)
2 Zakopalova………..lost 1R (Hercog)
3 Cornet……………lost 2R (Voskoboeva)
4 Goerges…………..lost 2R (Petkovic)
5 Safarova………….lost SF (Halep)
6 Dominguez Lino…….lost QF (Jankovic)
7 Halep…………….WON TOURNAMENT
8 Beck……………..lost QF (Beck)
Eastbourne — Week of May 17
1 A Radwanska
Qualifier
Konta (WC)
Hsieh
Zakopalova
Safarova
Stosur (WC)
8 Petrova
3 Kerber
Cirstea
Qualifier
Makarova
Qualifier
Robson
Paszek
5 Wozniacki
6 Kirilenko
Jovanovski
Baltacha (WC)
Qualifier
McHale
Wickmayer
Niculescu
4 Kvitova
7 Ivanovic
Vesnina
Lepchenko
Watson
Pennetta
Bartoli
Cornet
2 Li (WC)
‘s-Hertogenbosch — Week of May 17
1 Vinci
Kanepi
Beck
Halep
Voegele
Qualifier
Hantuchova (WC)
6 Oprandi
3 Suarez Navarro
Larsson
Arvidsson
Morita
Qualifier
Begu
Pironkova
8 Mladenovic
7 U Radwanska
Govortsova
Rybarikova
Rus (WC)
Krajicek (WC)
Soler-Espinosa
Schiavone
4 Flipkens
5 Barthel
Qualifier
Qualifier
Davis
Bertens
Medina Garrigues
Dominguez Lino
2 Cibulkova
******** SCORES ********
SATURDAY
Birmingham
Singles – Quarterfinal
Alison Riske def. (5) Sabine Lisicki 7-6(7-2) 2-6 6-4
Singles – Semifinal
Donna Vekic def. (16) Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6(7-5) 1-6 6-3
Daniela Hantuchova def. Alison Riske 5-7 6-1 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
(3) Barty/Dellacqua def. Barthel/Mladenovic 6-3 6-2
Nurnberg
Singles – Final
(7) Simona Halep def. (WC) Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3
Doubles – Final
Olaru/Solovyeva def. (1) Groenefeld/Peschke 2-6 7-6(7-3) 11-9
©Daily tennis news wire
Topics: Alison Riske, Andrea Petkovic, Birmingham, Nurnberg, Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, women tennis news