TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS
U. S. Open
Singles – Second Round: (1) Serena Williams def. Galina Voskoboeva 6-3 6-0
Yes, Serena did start a little slowly. But it wasn’t a problem for long!
Singles – Second Round: (2) Victoria Azarenka def. Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3 6-1
Not much we can say except that at least it wasn’t a double bagel for Victoria Azarenka’s opponent this time.
Singles – Second Round: (6) Caroline Wozniacki def. Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-2
This brings us close to something we haven’t seen much lately: Caroline Wozniacki moving up the rankings. If she wins her next match, she will move past Marion Bartoli into the #7 spot.
Singles – Second Round: Flavia Pennetta def. (4) Sara Errani 6-3 6-1
Could Flavia Pennetta be sending Sara Errani a message to respect her elders? It’s a pretty big blow to last year’s semifinalist; Errani — who admitted that she wasn’t feeling happy on the court — falls from #5 to #6. Pennetta will rise to around #70.
Singles – Second Round: (7) Petra Kvitova def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-4
Petra Kvitova is in real danger of losing her Top Ten ranking this week; she just barely leads Jelena Jankovic. But, for once, she seems to be alert to the need to play her best.
Singles – Second Round: (8) Angelique Kerber def. Eugenie Bouchard 6-4 2-6 6-3
Nothing comes easily for Angelique Kerber these days, but she needs only one more win to defend her points. She leaves Eugenie Bouchard probably just below the Top Fifty.
Singles – Second Round: (9) Jelena Jankovic def. Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-2
Jelena Jankovic just isn’t the player you want to face when you’re trying for a comeback…. Jankovic is making a real drive to hit the Top Ten.
Singles – Second Round: (10) Roberta Vinci def. Lucie Safarova 4-6 6-1 6-2
Lucie Safarova made the third round last year; this is going to drop her to not much above #50.
Singles – Second Round: (13) Ana Ivanovic def. Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2 6-1
Ana Ivanovic is only halfway to defending her points; she is still in grave danger of losing her Top Fifteen spot. But at least she is winning easily. Keep this up and she might have a chance of maintaining her ranking.
Singles – Second Round: (14) Maria Kirilenko def. Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-3 6-1
Maria Kirilenko defends her points; two more wins would likely put her in the Top Fifteen.
Singles – Second Round: (16) Sabine Lisicki def. Paula Ormaechea 6-2 6-3
Sabine Lisicki isn’t defending anything, so there is a good chance this will make her Top Fifteen.
Singles – Second Round: Kurumi Nara def. (19) Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-1
This was the day’s first “huh?” match, especially given how well Sorana Cirstea had been playing lately. She blows her chance to hit the Top Twenty.
Singles – Second Round: (21) Simona Halep def. Donna Vekic 6-2 6-1
Donna Vekic will be around #60.
Singles – Second Round: Karin Knapp def. (22) Elena Vesnina 6-1 6-4
Wouldn’t you know that Elena Vesnina’s jitters returned in the week when she was going for the Top Twenty…. It appears she’ll stay near the bottom of the Top 25.
Singles – Second Round: (24) Ekaterina Makarova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 6-4
Loss or no loss, it looks as if Bethanie Mattek-Sands is back in the Top Fifty.
Singles – Second Round: (25) Kaia Kanepi def. Anna Schmiedlova 6-4 6-1
Kaia Kanepi looked pretty rusty in her first match, but she seems to be over that. She is making a Top 25 run.
Singles – Second Round: (26) Alize Cornet def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-2
This will likely suffice to keep Alize Cornet Top Thirty, although it’s not absolutely settled yet.
Singles – Second Round: (27) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Peng Shuai 6-1 4-6 6-4
Peng Shuai was suffering cramps in the third set, and this is the result. She had a real chance otherwise; Svetlana Kuznetsova was not at her best. But Peng will have to settle for #35 or slightly below.
Singles – Second Round: Alison Riske def. (28) Mona Barthel 6-4 6-2
This is truly proving a breakthrough year for Alison Riske. She leaves Mona Barthel at or sightly below #30.
Singles – Second Round: Camila Giorgi def. Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4 7-6(10-8)
Hsieh Su-Wei will remain stuck just above #40.
Singles – Second Round: Julia Glushko def. Sachia Vickery 7-5 6-3
Talk about a big chance for Julia Glushko; she faces an unseeded opponent next. And just getting this far has her up to around #100. At this rate, she might replace Shahar Peer as Israel’s #1 soon.
Singles – Second Round: Christina McHale def. Elina Svitolina 6-4 3-6 7-5
Christina McHale has picked a very good time to finally come back to life. We’d guess Elina Svitolina will be Top Forty despite the loss — but just barely.
Singles – Second Round: Yaroslava Shvedova def. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2 6-3
If Yaroslava Shvedova can win her next match, she’ll rise above #70. Problem is, that match is against Serena Williams.
Doubles – First Round: (6) Groenefeld/Peschke def. Chan/Chan 3-6 6-2 6-3
Given how close this was, it makes you wonder what might have happened if Chan Yung-Jan weren’t so newly back from injury.
Doubles – First Round: (7) Kops-Jones/Spears def. Grandin/Jurak 6-1 6-3
Doubles – First Round: (8) Barty/Dellacqua def. Cirstea/Wickmayer 6-4 6-1
Given what they did in Australia, Barty/Dellacqua may be one of our leading stealth teams here.
Doubles – First Round: (10) Mirza/J Zheng def. Beck/Puig 6-2 6-2
Doubles – First Round: (11) Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova def. Cibulkova/Niculescu 6-2 6-1
Doubles – First Round: (12) Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova def. Govortsova/Minella 6-3 3-6 6-1
Doubles – First Round: (13) Black/Erakovic def. Dominguez Lino/Peer 6-4 7-6(7-4)
Doubles – First Round: (14) Mladenovic/Voskoboeva def. Birnerova/Voegele 6-2 7-5
Doubles – First Round: (15) Jankovic/Lucic-Baroni def. Buryachok/Knapp 6-2 6-3
Doubles – First Round: (16) Medina Garrigues/Pennetta def. Kleybanova/McHale 6-4 6-4
Doubles – First Round: Babos/Schiavone def. Kalashnikova/Rosolska 7-6(7-5) 6-2
Doubles – First Round: Cetkovska/Flipkens def. Bouchard/Husarova 6-2 6-1
Doubles – First Round: Cornet/Garcia def. Burdette/Townsend 6-4 1-6 6-1
Doubles – First Round: Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Shvedova/Zhang 7-5 6-3
Doubles – First Round: Lepchenko/S Zheng def. Arvidsson/Kanepi 6-3 6-3
Doubles – First Round: Williams/Williams def. Soler-Espinosa/Suarez Navarro 6-7(5-7) 6-0 6-3
There can’t have been many people who expected this to be close. But the Williams Sisters have not done well in doubles in the last year — their best result is a quarterfinal.
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: Alison Riske — Moved 14 places, from #95 to #81.
Riske, who until this summer seemed to be a pure grass player, qualified for New Haven and made the second round. She’s doing well at the U. S. Open, too.
Runner-Up:
Monica Puig — Moved 6 places, from #50 to #44
Puig too qualified for New Haven and made the second round.
Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)
Leader: Simona Halep — Moved 4 places, 17%, from #23 to #19
It may not be much of a percentage move, but Halep won New Haven for her first Premier title.
Runner-Up: Samantha Stosur — moved 2 places, 15%, from #13 to #11.
Stosur didn’t even play last week, but she moves up because Jelena Jankovic and Roberta Vinci lost points. She’ll be losing that ground after the U. S. Open, however.
Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)
Loser: Olga Govortsova — Dropped 13 places, from #75 to #82
Last year, Govortsova qualified for New Haven and made the quarterfinal. This year, with Dallas off the calendar, there were fewer WTA main draw spots — and Govortsova didn’t get one.
Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)
Loser: Govortsova, ranking increased 17%.
Ranking Notes
A pretty quiet week — note that there were no moves of as much as 20%. There weren’t many of as much as 15% — Govortsova was the only player to fall as much as 15%. Halep, Stosur, and Riske (up 15%) were the only players to rise more than 12%, and the only other player to rise more than 10% was Puig (up 12%).
Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”
These are subjective picks!
Clearly Halep. She had the biggest move, she hit a career high (Top Twenty for the first time), and she earned her first big title.
THIS WEEK IN TENNIS
THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
U. S. Open (Slam/Hard). Defending Champion: Serena Williams
NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
U. S. Open (Slam/Hard). Defending Champion: Serena Williams
STATS AND FACTS
RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 29, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank….Name…………….Points
1..(1) SWILLIAMS…………10420*
2..(2) AZARENKA…………..8265*
3..(3) Sharapova………….7866
4..(4) ARADWANSKA…………6215*
5..(6) LI………………..4825*
6..(5) ERRANI…………….4325
7..(7) Bartoli……………3746
8..(8) WOZNIACKI………….3645*
9..(9) KERBER…………….3300*
10.(10) KVITOVA……………3170*
11.(12) JANKOVIC…………..3125*
12.(16) STEPHENS…………..2925*
13.(14) FLIPKENS…………..2806
14.(18) LISICKI……………2770*
15.(13) VINCI……………..2725*
16.(11) STOSUR…………….2715
17.(17) KIRILENKO………….2620*
18.(15) IVANOVIC…………..2600*
19.(19) HALEP……………..2510*
20.(20) SUAREZ NAVARRO……..2435*
21.(22) CIRSTEA……………2250
22.(21) CIBULKOVA………….2126
23.(24) VESNINA……………2125
24.(26) HAMPTON……………2036*
25.(27) KANEPI…………….1941*
26.(23) PETROVA……………1937
27.(25) MAKAROVA…………..1935*
28.(29) KUZNETSOVA…………1839*
29.(28) CORNET…………….1790*
30.(34) BARTHEL……………1645
DRAWS
U. S. Open — Week of August 26
………………..3R
1 S Williams……..(1)SWilliams
29 Rybarikova…….Shvedova
23 Hampton……….(23)Hampton
15 Stephens………(15)Stephens
12 Flipkens………Zheng
18 Suarez Navarro…(18)Suarez Navarro
25 Kanepi………..(25)Kanepi
8 Kerber…………(8)Kerber
3 A Radwanska…….(3)A.Radwanska
32 Pavlyuchenkova…(32)Pavlyuchenkova
24 Makarova
16 Lisicki……….(16)Lisicki
9 Jankovic……….(9)Jankovic
19 Cirstea……….Nara
30 Robson………..(30)Robson
5 Li…………….(5)Li
6 Wozniacki
31 Zakopalova…….Giorgi
22 Vesnina……….Knapp
10 Vinci…………(10)Vinci
14 Kirilenko……..(14)Kirilenko
21 Halep…………(21)Halep
27 Kuznetsova…….(27)Kuznetsova
4 Errani…………Pennetta
7 Kvitova………..(7)Kvitova
28 Barthel……….Riske
20 Petrova……….Glushko
11 Stosur
13 Ivanovic………(13)Ivanovic
17 Cibulkova……..McHale
26 Cornet………..(26)Cornet
2 Azarenka……….(2)Azarenka
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 S Williams
2 Azarenka
3 A Radwanska
4 Errani…………….lost 2R (Pennetta)
5 Li
6 Wozniacki
7 Kvitova
8 Kerber
9 Jankovic
10 Vinci
11 Stosur…………..lost 1R (Duval)
12 Flipkens…………lost 1R (V. Williams)
13 Ivanovic
14 Kirilenko
15 Stephens
16 Lisicki
17 Cibulkova………..lost 1R (Svitolina)
18 Suarez Navarro
19 Cirstea………….lost 2R (Nara)
20 Petrova………….lost 1R (Glushko)
21 Halep
22 Vesnina………….lost 2R (Knapp)
23 Hampton
24 Makarova
25 Kanepi
26 Cornet
27 Kuznetsova
28 Barthel…………lost 2R (Riske)
29 Rybarikova………lost 1R (Mayr-Achleitner)
30 Robson
31 Zakopalova………lost 1R (Hsieh)
32 Pavlyuchenkova
SCORES
THURSDAY
U. S. Open
Singles – Second Round
(1) Serena Williams def. Galina Voskoboeva 6-3 6-0
(2) Victoria Azarenka def. Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3 6-1
Flavia Pennetta def. (4) Sara Errani 6-3 6-1
(6) Caroline Wozniacki def. Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-2
(7) Petra Kvitova def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-4
(8) Angelique Kerber def. Eugenie Bouchard 6-4 2-6 6-3
(9) Jelena Jankovic def. Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-2
(10) Roberta Vinci def. Lucie Safarova 4-6 6-1 6-2
(13) Ana Ivanovic def. Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2 6-1
(14) Maria Kirilenko def. Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-3 6-1
(16) Sabine Lisicki def. Paula Ormaechea 6-2 6-3
Kurumi Nara def. (19) Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-1
(21) Simona Halep def. Donna Vekic 6-2 6-1
Karin Knapp def. (22) Elena Vesnina 6-1 6-4
(24) Ekaterina Makarova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 6-4
(25) Kaia Kanepi def. Anna Schmiedlova 6-4 6-1
(26) Alize Cornet def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-2
(27) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Peng Shuai 6-1 4-6 6-4
Camila Giorgi def. Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4 7-6(10-8)
Julia Glushko def. Sachia Vickery 7-5 6-3
Alison Riske def. (28) Mona Barthel 6-4 6-2
Christina McHale def. Elina Svitolina 6-4 3-6 7-5
Yaroslava Shvedova def. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2 6-3
Doubles – First Round
(6) Groenefeld/Peschke def. Chan/Chan 3-6 6-2 6-3
(7) Kops-Jones/Spears def. Grandin/Jurak 6-1 6-3
(8) Barty/Dellacqua def. Cirstea/Wickmayer 6-4 6-1
(10) Mirza/J Zheng def. Beck/Puig 6-2 6-2
(11) Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova def. Cibulkova/Niculescu 6-2 6-1
(12) Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova def. Govortsova/Minella 6-3 3-6 6-1
(13) Black/Erakovic def. Dominguez Lino/Peer 6-4 7-6(7-4)
(14) Mladenovic/Voskoboeva def. Birnerova/Voegele 6-2 7-5
(15) Jankovic/Lucic-Baroni def. Buryachok/Knapp 6-2 6-3
(16) Medina Garrigues/Pennetta def. Kleybanova/McHale 6-4 6-4
Babos/Schiavone def. Kalashnikova/Rosolska 7-6(7-5) 6-2
Cetkovska/Flipkens def. Bouchard/Husarova 6-2 6-1
Cornet/Garcia def. Burdette/Townsend 6-4 1-6 6-1
Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Shvedova/Zhang 7-5 6-3
Lepchenko/S Zheng def. Arvidsson/Kanepi 6-3 6-3
Williams/Williams def. Soler-Espinosa/Suarez Navarro 6-7(5-7) 6-0 6-3
Topics: 10sballs, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, US Open, Victoria Azarenka, Wta