Pro Tennis Tour News – Women

Written by: Staff on 8th January 2014

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

Pro Tennis Tour News - Women

epa03729052 Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA in action during her fourth round match against Maria Kirilenko of Russia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 03 June 2013. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******

* Errani latest Pironkova upset victim in Sydney

* Kvitova beats countrywoman Safarova; Mattek-Sands retires

* Defending champion Vesnina retires in Hobart; finalist Barthel upset

****** TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS ******

Editors Note: So sorry to see that Bethanie had to retire. She played so well all week. She barely got a day off ! She played thru the qualifying rounds and also along the way she took out the number one seed. All your friends @10sballs.com wish you a speedy recovery for your 2014 Auzzie Open ! Is it true that Lady Gaga is coming to watch you play in person this year ? Design a new outfit ? Love the new Babolat racket . Love those Asics shoes. Whose clothes are you wearing ? Great to see “Flipper” Kirsten Flipkens having a good run in Hobart. The tour still misses her coach in 2013 , Max Braeckman .. Just one of those guys that’s makes the grind of travel so much more pleasant. He was the genius that coached Xavier Malisse and put together the doubles team of the X Man and Dolgopolov to play together at Indian wells in 2011. Max and Jack Reader put the team together. Great to see Michaela Krajicek having a comeback.

Sydney

Singles – Quarterfinal: (2) Petra Kvitova def. Lucie Safarova 7-6(7-4) 6-2

So far, at least, no collapses for Petra Kvitova in 2014. She can’t rise above #6 this week, but she’ll have a pretty good Top Five chance in Melbourne. She leaves Lucie Safarova probably #26.

Singles – Quarterfinal: Tsvetana Pironkova def. (3) Sara Errani 7-6(7-2) 6-3

Tsvetana Pironkova seems to have only two places where she succeeds: Grass, plus Australia. She’s now very firmly back in the Top Hundred; she leaves Sara Errani at #7.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (5) Angelique Kerber def. Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-4

Angelique Kerber keeps alive her faint hopes of reaching #8; she needs a title to make it. Carla Suarez Navarro will stay at #16.

Singles – Quarterfinal: Madison Keys def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-2, retired

How sadly typical of Bethanie Mattek-Sands’s career…. She’ll have to settle for being #40. Madison Keys was defending big points, so she hasn’t moved much yet (the new points table is hurting her), but another win could take her to probably #32.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Errani/Vinci def. H Chan/Huber 6-3 6-2

A tough draw, but still, Liezel Huber is not having a good year.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Babos/Safarova def. (2) Peschke/Srebotnik 7-5 6-4

Speaking of bad years, the Peschke/Srebotnik reunion so far is looking like a real stinkeroo. And Katarina Srebotnik earned most of her points early in the year with Nadia Petrova (including the Sydney title last year); she looks to be in real trouble.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova def. Gajdosova/Tomljanovic 3-6 6-4 10-1

Hobart

Singles – Second Round: (1) Samantha Stosur def. Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 2-6 7-6(9-7)

Samantha Stosur can’t seem to buy an easy match — both of her matches so far have been three-setters, and she’s played three tiebreaks, despite pretty feeble opposition. But she’s still standing, and has a shot at #15 if she can win the title.

Singles – Second Round: (2) Kirsten Flipkens def. Storm Sanders 4-6 7-6(7-3) 7-6(7-5)

By the looks of things, Australia has a new hope in Storm Sanders. Let’s hope this doesn’t cost Kirsten Flipkens; she needs one more win to defend her points.

Singles – Second Round: Estrella Cabeza Candela def. (3) Elena Vesnina 4-6 6-2 4-1, retired

Elena Vesnina had to skip last week’s events due to injury, so this isn’t a big surprise. But she was the defending champion, so she will fall from #24 to no better than #28.

Singles – Second Round: Monica Niculescu def. (6) Mona Barthel 7-6(7-5) 6-1

There goes our defending finalist, too. That will drop Mona Barthel from #35 to #38 or lower.

Singles – Second Round: (7) Klara Zakopalova def. Zhang Shuai 6-1 6-2

Zhang Shaui would have clinched a Top Fifty spot had she won this. As it is, it’s still possible she could earn the #50 ranking, but it’s far from a sure thing.

Singles – Second Round: Garbine Muguruza def. Yanina Wickmayer 4-1, retired

What a week for withdrawals…. But Garbine Muguruza has been playing very well; she might well have won this anyway. She’s up to #56, and another win would take her to around #53.

Talk about a crazy part of the draw, though: Muguruza’s opener was against a Lucky Loser who had replaced withdrawn seed Flavia Pennetta. She played Wickmayer, who won when Laura Robson retired, and then Wickmayer herself retired. So Muguruza is the only one in this part of the draw whose draw spot wasn’t directly influenced by injury.

Doubles – First Round: Arruabarrena/Soler-Espinosa def. Rogowska/Sanders 6-2 2-6 11-9

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (2) Raymond/Zhang def. Naydenova/Pereira 7-6(7-2) 6-2

Lisa Raymond is now 40 years old, and somehow still winning. Can someone talk her into playing Mixed with Daniel Nestor? That would pit the Nestor of the WTA with the Nestor of the ATP — who just happens to be named Nestor!

Australian Open

The seed list is out, and there are no surprises. We knew that Maria Kirilenko would not play, and all the other potential seeds are in the draw. So our seed list is as follows:

1. Serena Williams

2. Victoria Azarenka

3. Maria Sharapova

4. Li Na

5. Agnieszka Radwanska

6. Petra Kvitova

7. Sara Errani

8. Jelena Jankovic

9. Angelique Kerber

10. Caroline Wozniacki

11. Simona Halep

12. Roberta Vinci

13. Sloane Stephens

14. Ana Ivanonic

15. Sabine Lisicki

16. Carla Suarez-Navarro

17. Sam Stosur

18. Kirsten Flipkens

19. Svetlana Kuznetsova

20. Dominika Cibulkova

21. Sorana Cirstea

22. Ekaterina Makarova

23. Elena Vesnina

24. Kaia Kanepi

25. Alize Cornet

26. Lucie Safarova

27. Jamie Hampton

28. Flavia Pennetta

29. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

30. Eugenie Bouchard

31. Daniela Hantuchova

32. Magdalena Rybarikova

****** 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: Vania King — Moved 14 places, from #85 to #71.

King made the Shenzhen semifinal — and then withdrew.

Runner-Up: Barbora Zahlavova Strycova — Moved 11 places, from #94 to #83

Zahlavova Strycova made the Shenzhen quarterfinal — losing, ironically, to King.

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

Leader: Maria Sharapova — Moved 1 place, 25%, from #4 to #3

Sharapova made the Brisbane semifinal, and she had lots of room to add points, so she was able to overtake Li Na.

Runner-Up: Venus Williams — Moved 9 places, 19%, from #47 to #38

Venus made the Auckland final before losing to Ana Ivanovic.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

Loser: Lesia Tsurenko — Dropped 28 places, from #68 to #96

Last year’s shock Brisbane semifinalist this year lost her opener at Shenzhen.

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

Loser: Tsurenko, ranking increased 41%.

Ranking Notes

We have to start with a sort of a correction: The WTA removed Marion Bartoli from the rankings this week, which caused everyone below her to move up a spot. This of course made all our rankings predictions slightly off.

Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet week. Sharapova was the only player to rise as much as 20%. Venus rose 19%, Kaia Kanepi 17% (to #25), King 16%, and no one else rose as much as 15%. Tsurenko lost 41%, Li Na fell 33% (to #4) because of Sharapova’s gain, Yanina Wickmayer gave up 20% (to #61), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost 15% (to #30), and no one else fell as much as 10%.

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

These are subjective picks!

Sharapova had the biggest move by a substantial margin, and none of the other contenders did anything particularly noteworthy, so we’ll go with Sharapova.

KEYWORDS: Movers Women Sharapova

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

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:

Sydney (Premier 700/Hard). Defending Champion: Agnieszka Radwanska

Hobart (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Elena Vesnina

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:

Australian Open (Slam/Hard). Defending Champion: Victoria Azarenka

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

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of January 8, 2014

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWilliams ……… 13260

2..(2) Azarenka ………..8151

3..(3) Sharapova ……… 6076

4..(4) Li ……………..5970

5..(5) ARADWANSKA ………5470

6..(6) KVITOVA ……….. 4835*

7..(7) ERRANI ………….4435

8..(8) JANKOVIC ………..4230

9..(9) KERBER ………….3950*

10.(10) WOZNIACKI ……… 3520

11.(11) HALEP …………. 3335

12.(12) VINCI …………. 3170

13.(13) Stephens ………..3075

14.(14) Ivanovic ………..3010

15.(15) Lisicki ……….. 2915

16.(16) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2775

17.(17) STOSUR ………….2675*

18.(18) Kirilenko ……… 2605

19.(19) FLIPKENS ………..2465*

20.(20) KUZNETSOVA ………2202

21.(22) CIRSTEA ……….. 2170

22.(23) MAKAROVA ………..2061

23.(25) KANEPI ………….1922

24.(21) CIBULKOVA ……… 1856

25.(26) CORNET ………….1840

26.(27) SAFAROVA ………..1775

27.(28) Hampton ……….. 1761

28.(24) VESNINA ……….. 1745

29.(29) Pennetta ………..1735

30.(30) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1715

Draws

Sydney (Premier)

…………….QF…………….SF

1 A. Radwanska..Mattek-Sands(Q)

7 Halep………Keys…………..Keys

4 Jankovic……Suarez Navarro

5 Kerber……..(5)Kerber………Kerber

[Lepchenko(LL)].Pironkova(Q)……Pironkova

3 Errani……..(3)Errani

6 Wozniacki…..Safarova

2 Kvitova…….(2)Kvitova……..Kvitova

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 A. Radwanska…lost 2R (Mattek-Sands)

2 Kvitova

3 Errani………lost QF (Pironkova)

4 Jankovic…….lost 1R (Makarova)

5 Kerber

6 Wozniacki……lost 2R (Safarova)

7 Halep……….lost 1R (Keys)

8 Stephens…….WITHDREW

Hobart (International)

………………QF

1 Stosur……….(1)Stosur

8 Jovanovski……(8)Jovanovski

4 Pavlyuchenkova..Riske

7 Zakopalova……(7)Zakopalova

6 Barthel………Niculescu

3 Vesnina………Cabeza Candela(Q)

[Mestach(LL)]…..Muguruza(Q)

2 Flipkens……..(2)Flipkens

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Stosur

2 Flipkens

3 Vesnina………..lost 2R (Cabeza Candela)

4 Pavlyuchenkova….lost 1R (Riske)

5 Pennetta……….WITHDREW (replaced by Mestach)

6 Barthel………..lost 2R (Niculescu)

7 Zakopalova

8 Jovanovski

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

WEDNESDAY

Sydney

Singles – Quarterfinal

(2) Petra Kvitova def. Lucie Safarova 7-6(7-4) 6-2

Tsvetana Pironkova def. (3) Sara Errani 7-6(7-2) 6-3

(5) Angelique Kerber def. Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-4

Madison Keys def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-2, retired

Doubles – Quarterfinal

(1) Errani/Vinci def. H Chan/Huber 6-3 6-2

Babos/Safarova def. (2) Peschke/Srebotnik 7-5 6-4

Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova def. Gajdosova/Tomljanovic 3-6 6-4 10-1

Hobart

Singles – Second Round

(1) Samantha Stosur def. Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 2-6 7-6(9-7)

(2) Kirsten Flipkens def. Storm Sanders 4-6 7-6(7-3) 7-6(7-5)

Estrella Cabeza Candela def. (3) Elena Vesnina 4-6 6-2 4-1, retired

Monica Niculescu def. (6) Mona Barthel 7-6(7-5) 6-1

(7) Klara Zakopalova def. Shuai Zhang 6-1 6-2

Garbine Muguruza def. Yanina Wickmayer 4-1, retired

Doubles – First Round

Arruabarrena/Soler-Espinosa def. Rogowska/Sanders 6-2 2-6 11-9

Doubles – Quarterfinal

(2) Raymond/Zhang def. Naydenova/Pereira 7-6(7-2) 6-2

Topics: 10sballs.com, Agniezska Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber, Australian Open, BETHANIE Mattek-Sands, Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Hobart, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Sabine Lisicki, Sara Errani, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, Sydney, Tennis, Tennis News, Venus Williams, Wta

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