New Haven
American sixth seed Sloane Stephens began her final week of US Open preparation with a defeat of Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 6-4 while there was no luck for Romanian Sorona Cirstea. The Montreal finalist against Serena Williams lasted only three games before retiring to lose 3-0 against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who split with coach Martin Hingis in the spring. Russian Ekaterina Makarova spoiled the return of Aleksandra Wozniak 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5) as the Canadian played for the first time since Miami last March.
There was a win for Italian Karin Knapp over Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 while Monica Puig defeated Cincinnati doubles winner Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan 7-6(4), 6-1. Hsieh had to make a fast turnaround to get from Sunday’s final to the east coast for her opening match in singles a day later. German Julia Goerges stared with a defeat of Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 4-6 7-5.
Eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova continued with a run of poor form, going down to Czech Klara Zakopalova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 while Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro put out Italian fifth seed Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-3. Russian Elena Vesnina advanced when Ayumi Morita retired injured trailing 2-0. Simona Halep, winner of three titles since June, started with a defeat of Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-1.
Fourth seed and multiple champion Caroline Wozniacki advanced as Peng Shuai quit to hand over a 2-6, 3-1 win. American Alison Riske beat Swiss Stefanie Voegele 7-5, 6-1.
THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
New Haven (Premier/Hard). Defending Champion: Petra Kvitova
NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
U. S. Open (Slam/Hard). Defending Champion: Serena Williams
RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 19, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank….Name…………..Points
1 (1) SWilliams 12260
2 (2) Azarenka 9505
3 (3) Sharapova 8766
4 (4) RAadwanska 6335
5 (5) ERRANI 5125*
6 (6) Li 4825
7 (7) Bartoli 4246
8 (8) WOZNIACKI 3490*
9 (10) KERBER 3420*
10 (13) Stosur 3210
11 (11) Jankovic 3125
12 (9) KVITOVA 3090*
13 (12) VINCI 3065
14 (14) Flipkens 2961
15 (15) Ivanovic 2940
16 (17) STEPHENS 2865*
17 (16) Kirilenko 2620
18 (18) LISICKI 2615*
19 (20) SUAREZ NAVARRO 2375*
20 (19) CIBULKOVA 2281
21 (21) CIRSTEA 2250
22 (22) Petrova 2212
23 (24) VESNINA 2067*
24 (23) HALEP 2040*
25 (25) Hampton 1881
26 (26) MAKAROVA 1875*
27 (27) Kanepi 1781
28 (28) Cornet 1730
29 (29) Kuznetsova 1679
30 (31) Rybarikova 1575
DRAWS
New Haven — Week of August 19
1 Errani
–bye
Makarova
Wozniak
Halep
Hantuchova (WC)
Suarez Navarro
5 Vinci
4 Wozniacki
Peng
Knapp (Q)
Svitolina (LL)
Jovanovski
Goerges (WC)
Schmiedlova (Q)
6 Stephens (WC)
7 Lisicki
Mladenovic
Pavlyuchenkova
Cirstea
Riske (Q)
Voegele (Q)
U Radwanska
3 Kvitova
8 Cibulkova
Zakopalova
Puig (Q)
Hsieh
Vesnina
Morita (Q)
–bye
2 Kerber
MONDAY
New Haven
Singles – First Round
(4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Peng Shuai (CHN) 26 31 ret. (dizziness)
Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (5) Roberta Vinci (ITA) 75 63
(6/WC) Sloane Stephens (USA) d. (Q) Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) 64 64
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) d. (8) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 36 63 63
Simona Halep (ROU) d. (WC) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 62 61
Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. (Q) Ayumi Morita (JPN) 20 ret. (low back injury)
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 62 26 76(5)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 30 ret. (abdominal injury)
(Q) Monica Puig (PUR) d. Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) 76(4) 61
(Q) Karin Knapp (ITA) d. (LL) Elina Svitolina (UKR) 63 64
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) d. (Q) Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 75 61
(WC) Julia Goerges (GER) d. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 62 46 75
Doubles – First Round
(3) Mirza/Zheng (IND/CHN) d. Kalashnikova/Rosolska (GEO/POL) 63 36 108 (Match TB)
****
Winston-Salem
The tournament suffered a body blow at the box office as top seed Tomas Berdych and No. 3 Cincinnati finalist and local boy John Isner both withdrew with injures in order to make sure they are fit for next week’s US Open.
Berdych claimed a shoulder problem while Isner, winner of both previous editions of the event played near his boyhood home, called it all off due to a hip injury he suffered last week in Cincinnati. “It’s really unfortunate I have to withdraw from the Winston-Salem Open, one of my favorite tournaments of the year,” said Isner.
“I’ve had so much success playing in front of great crowds as well as my friends and family. This was a really tough decision but with injuries taking me out of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, I need to fully heal prior to the US Open.”
On court with all 16 seeds handed byes into the second round, lesser name fought to fill in the gaps in the draw. American in early action split the difference, with former NCAA ace Steve Johnson defeating compatriot Bobby Reynolds 6-1, 6-2 and jack Sock unable to finish in a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 first-round loss to Belgian David Goffin. In a later session, 33-yar-old veteran James Blake schooled young gun Rhyne Williams 6-1, 7-6 in 72 minutes despite seven double-faults.
Spaniards reached the second round when Daniel Gimeno-Traver beat France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(6), 7-6(5) and Roberto Bautista-Agut put out Dane Frederik Nielsen 6-1, 6-3. Nicolas Mahut started with a win over pole Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 6-1 while Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania) defeated France’s Kenny De Schepper 7-6(3), 6-4. Guido Pella beat fellow Argentina Leonardo Mayer 7-6(5,) 7-6(4).
In the second round, American Sam Querrey, the sixth seed, began after a bye with a win against Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Lu Yen-Hsun upset 16th seed Pablo Andujar 6-4, 6-3.
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Winston-Salem (250/Hard). Defending Champion: John Isner
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
U. S. Open (Slam/Hard). Defending Champion: Andy Murray
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of August 19, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….10980
2..(2) Nadal…………..8860
3..(3) Murray………….8700
4..(4) Ferrer………….7210
5..(5) Berdych…………5075
6..(6) Del Potro……….4740
7..(7) Federer…………4695
8..(8) Tsonga………….3470
9..(9) Gasquet…………2625
10.(10) Wawrinka………..2610
11.(11) Raonic………….2555
12.(12) Nishikori……….2405
13.(13) Haas……………2185
14.(15) Janowicz………..2113
15.(16) Almagro…………2110
16.(17) Simon…………..2040
17.(14) Isner…………..2025
18.(18) Fognini…………2025
19.(19) Cilic…………..1805
20.(20) Anderson………..1740
21.(21) Tipsarevic………1685
22.(22) Robredo…………1620
23.(23) Seppi…………..1550
24.(24) Youzhny…………1475
25.(25) Kohlschreiber……1445
26.(26) Lopez…………..1435
27.(27) Paire…………..1415
28.(28) Dimitrov………..1375
29.(30) Verdasco………..1290
30.(31) Monaco………….1275
DRAWS
Winston Salem — Week of August 19
1 Berdych (WC)
–bye
Berankis
de Schepper
Nielsen (Q)
Bautista Agut
–bye
14 Klizan
11 Nieminen
–bye
Fish (WC)
Donskoy
Zemlja
Garcia-Lopez
–bye
6 Querrey
3 Isner
–bye
Bogomolov
Hanescu
Goffin (Q)
Sock
–bye
13 Tursunov
9 Melzer
–bye
de Bakker (Q)
Sijsling
Williams
Blake
–bye
5 Paire
7 Verdasco (WC)
–bye
Russell
Smyczek
Haase
Mannarino
–bye
12 Rosol
15 Monfils
–bye
L Mayer
Pella
Rufin
Istomin
–bye
4 Robredo
8 Monaco
–bye
Mahut
Kubot
Gimeno-Traver
Roger-Vasselin
–bye
10 Dolgopolov
16 Andujar
–bye
Bogaerts (WC)
Lu
Reynolds
Johnson (Q)
–bye
2 Seppi
MONDAY
Winston-Salem
Singles – Second Round
[6] S Querrey (USA) d G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 46 63 64
R Haase (NED) d [12] L Rosol (CZE) 64 36 75
Y Lu (TPE) d [16] P Andujar (ESP) 64 63
Singles – First Round
R Berankis (LTU) d K De Schepper (FRA) 76(3) 64
R Bautista Agut (ESP) d [Q] F Nielsen (DEN) 61 63
[Q] D Goffin (BEL) d J Sock (USA) 46 63 10 ret. (right leg)
[Q] T de Bakker (NED) d I Sijsling (NED) 36 64 64
J Blake (USA) d R Williams (USA) 61 75
T Smyczek (USA) d M Russell (USA) 64 67(6) 64
G Pella (ARG) d L Mayer (ARG) 76(5) 76(4)
G Rufin (FRA) d D Istomin (UZB) 64 36 63
N Mahut (FRA) d L Kubot (POL) 63 61
D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) d E Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 76(6) 76(5)
[Q] S Johnson (USA) d B Reynolds (USA) 61 62
Doubles – First Round
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / L Paes (IND) d J Knowle (AUT) / J Melzer (AUT) 61 36 10-2
T Huey (PHI) / D Inglot (GBR) d M Klizan (SVK) / M Mertinak (SVK) 26 63 10-8