EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
* Kirilenko shocked by Date-Krumm in Seoul; Radwanska advances
* Cornet, Robson, Puig join upset parade in Guangzhou; no seeds left
TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS
Seoul
Singles – Second Round: (1) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Estrella Cabeza Candela 6-2 6-1
Agnieszka Radwanska is cruising, but it really doesn’t make any difference; she needs a title to add any points at all, and even that won’t affect her ranking.
Singles – Second Round: Kimiko Date-Krumm def. (2) Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-1
Maria Kirilenko really doesn’t seem to like the early part of the Asian swing. Last year, she retired from her opener; this year, she collapsed in the second round. This means she will not rise above her current #19. And what a crazy tournament — despite being quite weak, the only seeds left are #1 Radwanska and #3 Pavlyuchenkova.
Singles – Second Round: Su Jeong Jang def. Ons Jabeur 1-6 6-4 6-1
Quite an event for Jang, a wildcard ranked #540 and with relatively little experience. She has now more than doubled her points; this will take her from #540 to around #350.
Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Kops-Jones/Spears def. Beygelzimer/Piter 4-6 6-0 10-2
Doubles – Quarterfinal: (3) Aoyama/Moulton-Levy def. Dominguez Lino/Watson 7-5 6-2
Doubles – Quarterfinal: Chan/Xu def. Sema/Sema 2-6 6-4 10-4
Guangzhou
Singles – Quarterfinal: Yvonne Meusburger def. (2) Alize Cornet 6-4 6-1
This place is even more jinxed than Seoul! Alize Cornet might rise to #28, but that is as high as she will go.
Singles – Second Round: Zheng Jie def. (3) Laura Robson 1-6 7-6(8-6) 6-2
Talk about a terrible time for a rain delay: Set point in the second set! But that’s when it came, and when they resumed, Zheng Jie was able to force the match to a third set — and dominate that set. That means that Robson, the defending finalist, will fall to probably #39. Zheng will probably rise to at least #52.
Singles – Quarterfinal: Vania King def. (8) Monica Puig 1-6 7-5 7-6(7-5)
This is amazing — we haven’t seen this sort of form from Vania King in years. She leaves Monica Puig still below #45. King, who was down to #124, is up to around #105. And she might even go deeper — there are no seeds left in the field.
Singles – Quarterfinal: Zhang Shuai def. Johanna Konta 7-5 6-3
And the Chinese flags keep flying…. This should put Zhang Shuai in the Top Hundred.
Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Hsieh/Peng def. Buryachok/Ka. Pliskova 6-4 6-1
As the Feature shows, Hsieh/Peng are firmly in the WTA Doubles Race, but are far from secure. So they have real motivation to do well here.
Doubles – Quarterfinal: (2) Lepchenko/S Zheng def. Dolonc/Jurak 6-4 6-3
Doubles – Quarterfinal: Chan/Chan def. (4) Babos/Govortsova 4-6 6-4 10-8
Not really much of an upset — the Chans would be ranked higher if it weren’t for the elder sister’s many injuries.
TODAY’S FEATURE
Race You There
The WTA season still has most of two months to run, but other than the Istanbul Championships, there are only three Premier events left: Beijing, Pan Pacific, and Moscow. Less than 2500 points. In other words, the WTA Race to Istanbul is in its final laps.
Because we’re so close, let’s spend some time looking at the Race, handicapping who is likely to make it to the year-end Championships. For starters, here are the Race Top Twenty entering this week:
1..S. Williams…11040
2..Azarenka…….7670
3..Sharapova……5891
4..A. Radwanska…5176
5..Li………….4990
6..Errani………4170
7..Kvitova……..3260
8..Bartoli……..3173
9..Jankovic…….3155
10..Vinci……….3150
11..Stephens…….3046
12..Kerber………2696
13..Lisicki……..2691
14..Wozniacki……2657
15..Halep……….2615
16..Suarez Navarro.2585
17..Kirilenko……2471
18..Flipkens…….2382
19..Ivanovic…….2273
20..Cirstea……..2130
Marion Bartoli of course will not play (and will surely end up below #8 anyway). The maximum anyone can still earn is about 2400 points. So anyone more than 2400 points behind Jelena Jankovic is out (in practice if perhaps not in theory, because of course a top player could still play an International event; it’s just that it’s probably counterproductive in practice). It’s interesting to note that, although that gave us a cutoff around #18 last year, this year it gives us a cutoff below the Top Fifty in the Race. The points are so concentrated in the top players’ hands that everyone else is all clumped together. In practice, to be sure, we can cut things off around #30, because the players down there aren’t going to win all three big events! Indeed, it seems pretty clear that the players who qualify will all be among the twenty players listed above.
What that means in practice is that we can qualify Serena Williams, Azarenka, Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Li. Also, Errani seems safe even though she isn’t mathematically clinched.
But notice the spots below that. From #7 Kvitova to #11 Stevens is only a little more than 200 points — too small to amount to anything. Then comes a big gap, but then another clump of players from #12 Kerber to #17 Kirilenko (meaning that Kirilenko’s loss in Seoul matters; it didn’t affect her ranking, but it could cost her in the Race). They can’t all qualify, but if someone in that block can win one of the high premier titles (Pan Pacific or Beijing), she’ll be right in the thick of things. In other words, even though six players are set, we still have quite a battle for the last two spots.
In doubles, where only four teams qualify, Errani/Vinci are set; they lead the #2 team of Petrova/Srebotnik by some 1200 points. But Petrova/Srebotnik have less than a 200 point lead on #3 Makarova/Vesnina, They lead #4 Hsieh/Peng by 600, and Hsieh/Peng are playing this week. #5 Barty/Dellacqua are 700 behind that, with Groenfeld/Peschke and Hradecka/Hlavackova pretty close behind. Then comes a 1300 point gap. So those seven teams are the only contenders. Things look pretty good for Petrova/Srebotnik and Makarova/Vesnina, but they aren’t quite safe yet. Hsieh/Peng are still in real danger, and the fight for the alternate spot may not be settled until Moscow.
THIS WEEK IN TENNIS
THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
Seoul (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Caroline Wozniacki
Guangzhou (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Hsieh Su-Wei
NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
Pan Pacific (Premier Five/Hard). Defending Champion: Nadia Petrova
STATS AND FACTS
RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of September 19, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank….Name…………..Points
1..(1) SWilliams ……… 12260
2..(2) Azarenka ………..9505
3..(3) Sharapova ……… 7866
4..(4) ARADWANSKA ………6335*
5..(5) Li ……………..5565
6..(6) Errani ………….4325
7..(7) Bartoli ……….. 3746
8..(8) Wozniacki ……… 3565
9..(9) Kerber ………….3420
10.(10) Jankovic ………..3245
11.(11) Kvitova ……….. 3170
12.(12) Vinci …………. 3065
13.(13) Stephens ………..3045
14.(14) Suarez Navarro …..2775
15.(15) Lisicki ……….. 2770
16.(16) Ivanovic ………..2720
17.(17) Stosur ………….2715
18.(18) Halep …………. 2630
19.(19) KIRILENKO ……… 2620
20.(20) Flipkens ………..2556
21.(22) CIRSTEA ……….. 2180
22.(21) Makarova ………..2146
23.(23) Cibulkova ……… 2126
24.(24) Vesnina ……….. 2125
25.(25) Hampton ……….. 2005
26.(27) Petrova ……….. 1908
27.(28) Kuznetsova ………1839
28.(29) CORNET ………….1790
29.(26) Kanepi ………….1741
30.(30) Hantuchova ………1680
DRAWS
Seoul — Week of September 15
………………..QF
1 A Radwanska…….(1)A.Radwanska
8 Beck…………..Dushevina
4 Zakopalova……..Jang(QC)
5 Svitolina………Arruabarrena
6 Goerges………..Begu
3 Pavlyuchenkova….(3)Pavlyuchenkova
7 Petkovic……….Schavone
2 Kirilenko………Date-Krumm
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 A Radwanska
2 Kirilenko……..lost 2R (Date-Krumm)
3 Pavlyuchenkova
4 Zakopalova…….lost 1R (Jang)
5 Svitolina……..lost 1R (Arruabarrena)
6 Goerges……….lost 2R (Begu)
7 Petkovic………lost 1R (Schiavone)
8 Beck………….lost 2R (Dushevina)
Guangzhou — Week of September 15
……………..QF…………SF
1 Cirstea……..King……….King
8 Puig………..(8)Puig
3 Robson………(3)Robson
7 Lepchenko……J.Zheng…….Zheng
6 Hsieh……….Zhang………Zhang
4 Peng………..Konta
5 U Radwanska….Meusburger….Meusburger
2 Cornet………(2)Cornet
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Cirstea………lost 1R (Jovanovski)
2 Cornet……….lost QF (Meusburger)
3 Robson……….lost QF (J. Zheng)
4 Peng…………lost 2R (Konta)
5 U Radwanska…..lost 1R (Dolonc)
6 Hsieh………..lost 2R (Zhang)
7 Lepchenko…….lost 1R (Babos)
8 Puig…………lost QF (King)
SCORES
THURSDAY
Seoul
Singles – Second Round
(1) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Estrella Cabeza Candela 6-2 6-1
Kimiko Date-Krumm def. (2) Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-1
Su Jeong Jang def. Ons Jabeur 1-6 6-4 6-1
Doubles – Quarterfinal
(1) Kops-Jones/Spears def. Beygelzimer/Piter 4-6 6-0 10-2
(3) Aoyama/Moulton-Levy def. Dominguez Lino/Watson 7-5 6-2
Chan/Xu def. Sema/Sema 2-6 6-4 10-4
Guangzhou
Singles – Quarterfinal
Yvonne Meusburger def. (2) Alize Cornet 6-4 6-1
Jie Zheng def. (3) Laura Robson 1-6 7-6(8-6) 6-2
Vania King def. (8) Monica Puig 1-6 7-5 7-6(7-5)
Shuai Zhang def. Johanna Konta 7-5 6-3
Doubles – Quarterfinal
(1) Hsieh/Peng def. Buryachok/Ka. Pliskova 6-4 6-1
(2) Lepchenko/S Zheng def. Dolonc/Jurak 6-4 6-3
Chan/Chan def. (4) Babos/Govortsova 4-6 6-4 10-8
Topics: 10sballs, Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Kirilenko, Sports, Tennis, Wta