WOMENS TENNIS Update : EVERYTHING THATS HAPPENING Around the World ,O.K. mostly It’s The Asian Swing

Written by: Staff on 19th September 2014

WOMENS TENNIS Update : EVERYTHING THATS HAPPENING Around the World ,O.K. mostly It's The Asian Swing |

TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS

Pan Pacific/Tokyo

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) Angelique Kerber def. (6) Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-0
It doesn’t matter if this event is a high premier or a low, Angelique Kerber likes it. She’s back in the semifinal, and that earns her enough points that she will, for the moment at least, move ahead of Eugenie Bouchard. She leaves Dominika Cibulkova still at #13.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (2) Caroline Wozniacki def. (8) Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-3
Although Kerber has moved past Eugenie Bouchard, she hasn’t yet clinched the #7 ranking, because Caroline Wozniacki still has a shot (although, for the moment, she is still only #9 in safe points). Carla Suarez Navarro will remain at #19, which is where she came in.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) Ana Ivanovic def. (7) Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-2
Quite a nice day for the top seeds, none of whom lost more than three games in a set. But Ana Ivanovic cannot rise above #10 this week. She leaves Lucie Safarova still at #15.

Singles – Quarterfinal: Garbine Muguruza def. Casey Dellacqua 3-6 7-6(7-5) 6-3
That clinches it: Garbine Muguruza is Top 25. It appears she’ll be at least #22. Casey Dellacqua will probably be #27.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Black/Mirza def. Jankovic/Parra Santonja 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Muguruza/Suarez Navarro def. (2) Kops-Jones/Spears 6-4 6-3
One of these days, Muguruza/Suarez Navarro are going to get their doubles rankings into the Top Fifteen. They clearly belong there — at least when playing together; they aren’t that strong with other partners. Despite the seedings, we wouldn’t consider this an ups

Seoul

Singles – Quarterfinal: (5) Varvara Lepchenko def. (1) Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-2
Whatever it is that Varvara Lepchenko does to Agnieszka Radwanska, it’s too bad she can’t do it to others. This is her second win over Radwanska since Wimbledon. Which means that Lepchenko will rise to probably #36. But Radwanska, last year’s champion, will fall from #5 to #6. Maybe. That’s if Li Na is still on the rankings next week. On Friday, Li — who is in line to move back up to #5 — announced her retirement. For more on this, see the Feature.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (2) Karolina Pliskova def. (Q) Nicole Gibbs 6-3 6-4
Back-to-back semifinals for Karolina Pliskova. For the moment, she’s still stuck at #32, and she needs a title to go higher, but she is clearly in the best form of her career.

Singles – Quarterfinal: Christina McHale def. (4) Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2 2-0, retired
There goes Magdalena Rybarikova’s chance to return to the Top Forty. It appears she will remain #41. Christina McHale is up to #51 in safe points; a final will make her Top Fifty.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (WC) Maria Kirilenko def. (6) Kaia Kanepi 6-7(3-7) 6-2 6-3
Kaia Kanepi loses her chance to rise above #45, but Maria Kirilenko is doing something she has’t done all year: Moving up dramatically in the rankings. She’ll rise from #155 to around #138. And she is in her first semifinal in more than a year.

Doubles – Semifinal: Barthel/Minella def. C Chan/Hsu 4-6 6-4 10-6

Guangzhou

Singles – Semifinal: (2) Alize Cornet def. Timea Bacsinszky 6-1 7-6(7-5)
Alize Cornet seems to have found her secret for success: Play a lot of weak events and go deep. She is now the obvious favorite to win the title here, which would put her in a tie for the #20 ranking — but she won’t really be tested; she will do it without having faced a Top Fifty player.

Singles – Semifinal: Monica Niculescu def. (WC) Wang Yafan 6-0 6-2
Wang Yafan finally meets reality, but it was quite a WTA debut! The win should put Monica Niculescu in the Top Fifty — we show her at #49 in safe points.

Doubles – Semifinal: Cornet/Linette def. (1) Doi/Xu 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-5)
A great event for Alize Cornet, obviously, but what a strange event….

Doubles – Semifinal: Chuang/Liang def. (2) Klepac/Torro-Flor 7-6(7-2) 5-7 12-10

FAREWELL TO LI NA

It was a long road to success for Li Na, who abruptly announced her retirement from professional tennis on Friday at 32. In her departing letter, posted on social media, she noted that, “I didn’t think I could ever be a Grand Slam champion” and “I wasn’t supposed to be here.”

For most tennis players, to be young, gifted, and hard-working is to be told frequently about the success that’s within your grasp. When Li turned pro at 16 in 1999, however, there had only been a scattered handful of Asian players on the circuit, none of them Chinese — players like Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki (Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 1997), Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn (Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2008), or the United State’s Meilen Tu or, more visibly and successfully, perennial top-tenners Japan’s Kimiko Date (Wimbledon semifinalist in 1997) and Ai Sugiyama (two-time Slam singles quarterfinalist and winner of three Slam doubles titles).

Like Russia, China largely ignored tennis until it re-entered the Olympics in 1988, when, again like its Russian counterpart, the country began investing money to develop competitive players in the sport. When Beijing was granted the 2008 Summer Olympics in 2001, that provided a target. In the end, the doubles pair Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, who had also won the doubles titles at the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon, won the bronze medal rather than the gold the authorities doubtless hoped, but the process had created a generation of Chinese female tennis players. That year, 2008, saw a second break-through when Zheng made the Wimbledon semi-final. In 2010, Zheng and Li both made the Australian Open semi-finals; a year later, Li Na made the Australian final and won her first singles major title at the French Open.

In 1989, when Natasha Zvereva was 18, she took the enormous personal risk of telling U.S. commentator Bud Collins, on camera at Hilton Head, that the runner-up check he had just handed her was “just the paper” and openly stating that she wanted the Russian Tennis Federation to allow her to keep most of her prize money instead of the few hundred dollars a month she was allocated. A few days later, she signed a management contract with ProServe, Andrei Chesnokov joined her in her campaign, and the Federation had to change its rules. Many of the Chinese players have similarly sought freedom from their federation. In this, too, Li Na was one of the earliest pioneers: in the early 2000s, rather than concentrate on doubles, as the Chinese authorities demanded, she enrolled in journalism school instead. In 2005, she publicly criticized the Federation’s methods. Finally, in 2009, she and several others, including Zheng, broke away entirely to manage their own careers, choose their own coaches — and keep most of their prize money.

Unfortunately for Li, there was a third thread running through her career: knee troubles. She has long worn a brace to protect her right knee (in her departing letter, she called it “my tennis birthmark”), which has had three surgeries performed on it as well as weekly injections to prevent swelling. This year, however, it was her left knee that began troubling her, and in July it, too, was operated on. It was one surgery too far. Despite wanting to come back to play the inaugural tennis tournament in her home town, Wuhan, she realized it wasn’t going to happen.

Li retires with nine WTA singles titles, two Slams, $16,709,074 in prize money, and the knowledge that she has opened up an enormous new market for the sport.

Women’s Look Forward: Wuhan

What a way to celebrate China’s newest big event: On the very day they hold the draw for their new Premier Five, China’s best-ever player, Li Na, announces her retirement! On the other hand, Wuhan got just about everyone else — all nine of the non-Li Top Ten. This event, which now has the Premier Five license which the Pan Pacific has yielded, gives China the best one-two punch on the WTA other than Indian Wells-Miami: We have a Premier Five this week, then a Premier Mandatory. And it looks as if just about everyone will play both. Serena Williams is the #1 seed, with Simona Halep #2 — although her Race standing is lower; Halep really needs to get her game in gear. Petra Kvitova is #3 and in Halep’s half; Maria Sharapova is #4. Agnieszka Radwanska is #5 despite her bad loss in Seoul; she is in Kvitova’s quarter. Eugenie Bouchard, who has already lost the #7 ranking and could fall lower still, is #6 and in Serena’s quarter. #7 Angelique Kerber is #7 and in Halep’s quarter; #8 Caroline Wozniacki, who has the last bye, is in Sharapova’s quarter.

In the Round of Sixteen, it would be Serena against #15 Flavia Pennetta, just back from injury; Bouchard against #11 Sara Errani; Sharapova against her countrywoman, #13 Ekaterina Makarova; Wozniacki against #9 Ana Ivanovic in a rerun of what might be the Pan Pacific final; Radwanska against #10 Jelena Jankovic; Kvitova taking on #16 Andrea Petkovic; Kerber against #12 Dominika Cibulkova, whom she thrashed in the Pan Pacific; and Halep against #14 Lucie Safarova.

There are plenty of strong unseeded players. Serena will likely open against Alize Cornet, who is in good form in Guanzhou. Bouchard’s opener might be against Peng Shuai, who suddenly finds herself China’s top active player in both singles and doubles. Sharapova will have to open against Svetlana Kuznetsova or Kurumi Nara (who isn’t as strong but who at least lives in this hemisphere). Ivanovic opens against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, then might face Casey Dellacqua — who might be particularly interested in singles now that her doubles partner Ashleigh Barty is taking a rest. Wozniacki will likely open against Carla Suarez Navarro, the #2 unseeded player. Radwanska may open against Venus Williams, the #1 unseeded player. Jankovic’s second round might be against Victoria Azarenka, who is in on a wildcard. Petkovic’s second round will be against either Samantha Stosur, the #3 unseeded player although she is in lousy form, or red-hot Karolina Pliskova. Kerber might open against Klara Koukalova. Cibulkova opens against Madison Keys, then Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (or Daniela Hantuchova, but Hantuchova hasn’t been any sort of threat lately). Safarova opens against Sabine Lisicki, then Elina Svitolina or Camila Giorgi. And Halep is likely to start against Garbine Muguruza.

The Rankings

This week marks a big change in tournament location, but not in tournament points. Last year at this time, the event was the Pan Pacific, but it was still a Premier Five. The title in Tokyo went to Petra Kvitova, over Angelique Kerber. Carline Wozniacki and Venus Williams were semifinalists; Eugenie Bouchard, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Lucie Safarova, and Agnieszka Radwanska were quarterfinalists. Of the rest of the current Top Ten, Serena did not play; Halep lost in the third round; Sharapova and Li did not play, and Ivanovic lost in the third round.

That obviously means no change at the top. Serena is going to stay #1 — she can come pretty close to clinching the year-end #1 here. We’d guess Halep will keep the #2 ranking, too, although that isn’t quite sure. Kvitova can’t pass her, but it’s just possible that Sharapova might, although she would probably need a title and Halep would have to lose before about the semifinal. Sharapova could easily pass Kvitova to reach the #3 ranking — Kvitova is a mere #6 in safe points, so she could easily fall.

Below that, things get vague, because we don’t know when Li will go off the rankings. If she does go off, then it seems effectively certain that the top five will be Serena, Halep, Kvitova, Sharapova, and Radwanska in some order.

Kerber could easily fall to #10, but it doesn’t look as if she’ll be lower (especially if Li goes off the rankings). Bouchard, Wozniacki, and Ivanovic also look safe in the Top Ten. We’d guess Jankovic will get the #10 spot (in a Li-less list), although that is not quite sure.

Venus Williams is in danger of losing her Top Twenty spot, especially if Li is not taken off the rankings; Lucie Safarova could fall below the Top Fifteen; Svetlana Kuznetsova, based on current form, is likely to end up outside the Top 25.

STATS AND FACTS

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of September 19, 2014

Rank & Prior Rank ...Name ............. Points 1..(1) SWilliams ......... 9430 2..(2) Halep ............. 6160 3..(3) Kvitova ........... 5926 4..(4) Sharapova ......... 5575 5..(6) Li .................5270 6..(5) ARADWANSKA .........5200 7..(8) KERBER .............4480* 8..(7) Bouchard ...........4433 9..(9) WOZNIACKI ......... 4380* 10.(10) IVANOVIC ...........3895* 11.(11) JANKOVIC ...........3655 12.(12) ERRANI .............3215 13.(13) CIBULKOVA ......... 3106 14.(14) Makarova ...........2845 15.(15) SAFAROVA ...........2785 16.(16) Pennetta ...........2651 17.(17) Petkovic ...........2525 18.(18) VWilliams ......... 2495 19.(19) SUAREZ NAVARRO .....2420 20.(20) STOSUR .............2110 21.(22) CORNET .............2010* 22.(26) MUGURUZA ...........1928* 23.(21) Peng ...............1905 24.(25) AZARENKA ...........1867 25.(23) KUZNETSOVA .........1860 26.(24) LISICKI ........... 1825 27.(30) DELLACQUA ......... 1720 28.(28) STEPHENS ...........1690 29.(29) KEYS ...............1670 30.(27) PAVLYUCHENKOVA .....1630

Draws

Pan Pacific — Week of September 15, 2014

................QF....................SF 1 Kerber........(1)Kerber.............Kerber 6 Cibulkova.....(6)Cibulkova 3 Ivanovic......(3)Ivanovic...........Ivanovic 7 Safarova......(7)Safarova

5 Errani………Dellacqua
4 Jankovic…….Muguruza…….……Muguruza
8 Suarez Navarro.(8)Suarez Navarro
2 Wozniacki……(2)Wozniacki………Wozniacki

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Kerber
2 Wozniacki
3 Ivanovic
4 Jankovic………lost 2R (Muguruza)
5 Errani………..lost 1R (Erakovic)
6 Cibulkova……..lost QF (Kerber)
7 Safarova………lot QF (Ivanovic)
8 Suarez Navarro…lost QF (Wozniacki)

Seoul — Week of September 15, 2014

..................QF...............SF 1 A. Radwanska....(1)A.Radwanska 5 Lepchenko.......(5)Lepchenko.....Lepchenko 4 Rybarikova......(4)Rybarikova 7 Garcia..........McHale...........McHale

6 Kanepi……….(6)Kanepi
3 Koukalova…….Kirilenko(WC).…Kirilenko
8 Watson……….Gibbs(Q)
2 Ka. Pliskova….(2)Ka.Pliskova…Pliskova

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 A. Radwanska…..lost QF (Lepchenko)
2 Ka. Pliskova
3 Koukalova……..lost 2R (Kirilenko)
4 Rybarikova…….lost QF (McHale)
5 Lepchenko
6 Kanepi………..lost QF (Kirilenko)
7 Garcia………..lost 1R (Barthel)
8 Watson………..lost 1R (Gibbs)

Guangzhou — Week of September 15, 2014

..............QF............SF...........F 1 Stosur......Y.Wang(WC)....Wang 7 Cepelova....K.Zhang(Q) 4 Jovanovski..Niculescu.....Niculescu....Niculescu 5 Diyas.......Puig

8 Beck……..Torro-Flor
3 Stephens….Bacsinszky….Bacsinszky
6 Vinci…….Hsieh(WC)
2 Cornet……(2)Cornet…..Cornet…….Cornet

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Stosur……….lost 1R (Y Wang)
2 Cornet
3 Stephens……..lost 1R (L Zhang)
4 Jovanovski……lost 1R (Niculescu)
5 Diyas………..lost 1R (L Zhang)
6 Vinci………..lost 1R (Zhu)
7 Cepelova……..lost 1R (K Zhang)
8 Beck…………lost 1R (Torro-Flor)

Wuhan — Week of September 22, 2014

1 S Williams --bye Cornet Oprandi Qualifier Flipkens (WC) Qualifier 15 Pennetta

11 Errani
Watson
Xu (WC)
Riske
Barthel
Peng
–bye
6 Bouchard

4 Sharapova
–bye
Kuznetsova
Nara
Qualifier
Qualifier
Jovanovski
13 Makarova

9 Ivanovic
Pavlyuchenkova
Vinci
Dellacqua
Suarez Navarro
K Zhang (WC)
–bye
8 Wozniacki

5 A Radwanska
–bye
V Williams
Garcia
Azarenka (WC)
Vandeweghe
McHale
10 Jankovic

16 Petkovic
Qualifier
Stosur
Ka Pliskova
Qualifier
Qualifier
–bye
3 Kvitova

7 Kerber
–bye
Koukalova
Qualifier
Zahlavova Strycova
Hantuchova
Keys
12 Cibulkova

14 Safarova
Lisicki
Svitolina
Giorgi
Muguruza
Torro-Flor (WC)
–bye
2 Halep

SCORES—-

FRIDAY

Pan Pacific/Tokyo Singles - Quarterfinal (1) Angelique Kerber def. (6) Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-0 (2) Caroline Wozniacki def. (8) Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-3 (3) Ana Ivanovic def. (7) Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-2 Garbine Muguruza def. Casey Dellacqua 3-6 7-6(7-5) 6-3 Doubles - Semifinal (1) Black/Mirza def. Jankovic/Parra Santonja 6-3 6-2 (4) Muguruza/Suarez Navarro def. (2) Kops-Jones/Spears 6-4 6-3

Seoul Singles - Quarterfinal (5) Varvara Lepchenko def. (1) Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-2 (2) Karolina Pliskova def. (Q) Nicole Gibbs 6-3 6-4 Christina Mchale def. (4) Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2 2-0, retired (WC) Maria Kirilenko def. (6) Kaia Kanepi 6-7(3-7) 6-2 6-3 Doubles - Semifinal Barthel/Minella def. C Chan/Hsu 4-6 6-4 10-6

Guangzhou Singles - Semifinal (2) Alize Cornet def. Timea Bacsinszky 6-1 7-6(7-5) Monica Niculescu def. (WC) Yafan Wang 6-0 6-2 Doubles - Semifinal Cornet/Linette def. (1) Doi/Xu 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-5) Chuang/Liang def. (2) Klepac/Torro-Flor 7-6(7-2) 5-7 12-1

Topics: Alize Cornet, Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Chinese tennis news, Li Na, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

September 19, 2014 at 6:18 pm

WOMENS #TENNIS Update : EVERYTHING THATS HAPPENING Around the World, O.K. mostly It’s The Asian Swing – http://t.co/3OntC4V5d7