ANA IVANOVIC BEATS WOZNIACKI , FLIPKENS BEATS SCHIAVONE , GODDESS VENUS WILLIAMS LOSES IN 3 , NEEDS TO WIN IN STRAIGHT SETS

Written by: Staff on 21st September 2014

ANA IVANOVIC BEATS WOZNIACKI , FLIPKENS BEATS SCHIAVONE , GODDESS VENUS WILLIAMS LOSES IN 3 , NEEDS TO WIN IN STRAIGHT SETS

epa04409990 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia shows off the winner's trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to win the singles final of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 21 September 2014. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA |

WTA TENNIS Asian Swing

NEWS From All Around Including WUHAN

VENUS LOSES AFTER HAVING A MATCHPOINT

VICTORIA AZARENKA ENDS HER 2014 SEASON

VIKA NEEDS TO HEAL TO START 2015 FRESH

Pan Pacific/Tokyo

Singles – Final: (3) Ana Ivanovic def. (2) Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 7-6(7-2)

Caroline Wozniacki briefly built a 3-1 lead in the second set. That was the only part of the match to really seem competitive. Otherwise, Ana Ivanovic was in almost complete charge. It took her an hour and 39 minutes to win her fourth title of the season, following Auckland, Monterrey, and Birmingham. What’s more, two of those titles (this one and Birmingham) are Premier events. This is the first time in her career that she has won four titles in a year (although, obviously, she has won far bigger titles in the past). It brings her to fifteen titles in all.

Ironically, it doesn’t help her ranking; #10 she came in, and #10 she remains; the gap between #9 and #10 was huge. But it’s now small, and Ivanovic is up to #5 in points this year, and with Li Na out of the running, Ivanovic seems all but sure to qualify for Singapore. Expect her to finish the year a lot higher than #10!

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns a shot against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia during the singles final of the Pan Pacific Open women’s tennis tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 21 September 2014. Ivanovic won the singles title in the Pan Pacific Open tennis. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

Caroline Wozniacki was #7 win or lose. A win would have improved her chances of climbing at Beijing; that seems much less likely to happen now. Still, she’s up to 43 wins this year, compared to just 39 in all of last year. She too has a good Singapore shot. Things are definitely looking up for her, even if it won’t show for a few more weeks.

Seoul

Singles – Final: (2) Karolina Pliskova def. (5) Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-7(7-9) 6-2

Karolina Pliskova had reached three other finals this year, and lost all of them. For a while, it looked as if she just might go 0-4. But having lost the second set tiebreak, she went up 4-0 in the final set, and that was plenty of margin for victory, though it took her two hours and eleven minutes.

We made an error yesterday. Pliskova, despite the title, rises only to #31. Still, that will be another career high. And she has almost nothing left to defend this year (a second round at Luxembourg, plus a qualifying second round at Beijing). It looks as if she’s just earned herself an Australian Open seed. And she’s now up to 37 wins this year. That’s not Tour-leading by any means (Serena Williams has 45, Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska 41, and Simona Halep 40, plus we saw above that Caroline Wozniacki has 43) — but it’s more than Petra Kvitova’s 30 or Li Na’s 29. It really looks as if Pliskova could go a lot higher, especially after back-to-back finals.

Varvara Lepchenko was playing her first WTA final, and comes away still without a title. She’s 28, so this might have been her best-ever chance. Still, we show her rising from #43 to #35. She might have a shot at an Australian Open seed, too; all she has to defend between now and then is a Beijing second round.

Doubles – Final: Arruabarrena/Begu def. Barthel/Minella 6-3 6-3

Not exactly the high drama of the singles final, but still, it’s career title #3 for Lara Arruabarrena, and #4 for Irina-Camelia Begu. In both cases, it’s the first time the winner has taken two titles in one year; Begu also won Rio with Irigoyen, and Arruabarrena won Bogota with Garcia. Arruabarrena also can claim her first career title away from clay.

Wuhan

In addition to all the on-court news, there was off-court drama here. Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the tournament due to her ongoing foot injury; she is replaced by Lucky Loser Annika Beck. But Azarenka isn’t just through for the week; she is through for the year. She has concluded that she needs to take more time off in order to fully heal.

The good news is, she doesn’t have much left to defend this year; she lost her openers at the 2013 Pan Pacific and Beijing; her only substantial result was a round robin win at the year-end Championships. Still, that represents enough points that it appears she will end the year below the Top Thirty — and with a lot of points to defend at Brisbane and the Australian Open. She may well not be seeded in Melbourne. Talk about a painful injury….

Singles – First Round: (13) Ekaterina Makarova def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova didn’t even play after the U. S. Open last year, so these are all free points for her. She can’t possibly make the Top Ten this week, but at the rate she’s going, it’s still just barely within her grasp this year — meaning that she might be a Singapore alternate. And she’s going to Singapore anyway for the doubles. Bojana Jovanovski will probably remain around #40.

Singles – First Round: (16) Andrea Petkovic def. (Q) Donna Vekic 5-7 6-1 6-2

Andrea Petkovic defends her result from last year’s Pan Pacific — which is perhaps just as well, because this was obviously a pretty tough match.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Karin Knapp def. (Q) Marina Erakovic 6-4 2-6 6-1

Karin Knapp last year had only three wins after the U. S. Open, all at International events. This effectively matches all those points. So she has nowhere to go but up for the rest of the year.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Zarina Diyas def. Klara Koukalova 6-4 6-7(7-9) 6-2

Although Zarina Diyas had to play qualifying here, she is Top Forty — just three spots below Klara Koukalova. This isn’t much of an upset, but it may well take Diyas to another career high. Indeed, at the rate she is going, she just might earn an Australian Open seed. And she doesn’t turn 21 until next month. It seems pretty clear that she will be the best native player Kazakhstan has ever produced.

Singles – First Round: Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Daniela Hantuchova 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-2)

Daniela Hantuchova lost her opener at the Pan Pacific last year, so this won’t cost her any more points — but she remains below #50. She’s had bad spells before, but she’s 31 now; her chances of another big comeback seem pretty slight.

Singles – First Round: Caroline Garcia def. Venus Williams 6-4 4-6 7-6(8-6)

This took two and a half hours, which is just what Venus Williams doesn’t need these days. That’s especially bad since she was defending semifinalist points. She is almost certain to lose her Top Twenty spot as a result of this — our rough guess is that she’ll be #21.

Singles – First Round: Elina Svitolina def. Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-3

This will leave Camila Giorgi still below the Top Forty.

Singles – First Round: Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Kurumi Nara 6-3 6-2

Last year, Kurumi Nara lost her opener at the Pan Pacific (to Svitolina), so she won’t lose much ground, but that will still leave her in the #35 range.

Singles – First Round: Alison Riske def. (WC) Xu Shilin 4-6 6-4 6-6, retired

Talk about disappointing for Xu Shilin! First chance for a WTA win — she’s only sixteen — and she had to retire. Which means she will stay around #500.

Singles – First Round: (WC) Kirsten Flipkens def. (Q) Francesca Schiavone 2-6 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Francesca Schiavone remains stuck far below the Top Fifty. How much longer will she be willing to play qualifying? After all, she’s a former Slam winner! You wonder how she felt about the fact that Kirsten Flipkens got a wildcard and she didn’t….

Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium returns a shot against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during their first round match of the Toray Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 16 September 2014. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA

Doubles – First Round: (5) Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Xu/Zhang 6-3 7-5

Doubles – First Round: Jurak/Moulton-Levy def. Dellacqua/Raymond 6-2 6-4

Casey Dellacqua needs a partner now that Ashleigh Barty is away from the game, but Lisa Raymond rarely does well in her first few events with a new partner. And one suspects that that problem will be even worse now that Raymond is 41.

TIdBITS 0f STATS & SCORES

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of September 21, 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..(9) WOZNIACKI ……… 4500

8..(8) KERBER ………….4480

9..(7) Bouchard ………..4433

10.(10) IVANOVIC ………..4180*

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

SCORES

SUNDAY

Pan Pacific/Tokyo

Singles – Final

(3) Ana Ivanovic def. (2) Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 7-6(7-2)

Seoul

Singles – Final

(2) Karolina Pliskova def. (5) Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-7(7-9) 6-2

Doubles – Final

Arruabarrena/Begu def. Barthel/Minella 6-3 6-3

Wuhan

Singles – First Round

(13) Ekaterina Makarova def. Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-2

(16) Andrea Petkovic def. (Q) Donna Vekic 5-7 6-1 6-2

(Q) Karin Knapp def. (Q) Marina Erakovic 6-4 2-6 6-1

(Q) Zarina Diyas def. Klara Koukalova 6-4 6-7(7-9) 6-2

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Daniela Hantuchova 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-2)

Caroline Garcia def. Venus Williams 6-4 4-6 7-6(8-6)

Elina Svitolina def. Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Kurumi Nara 6-3 6-2

Alison Riske def. (WC) Shilin Xu 4-6 6-4 6-6, retired

(WC) Kirsten Flipkens def. (Q) Francesca Schiavone 2-6 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Doubles – First Round

(5) Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Xu/Zhang 6-3 7-5

Jurak/Moulton-Levy def. Dellacqua/Raymond 6-2 6-4

Topics: Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Kirsten Flipkens, Pan Pacific, Seoul, Tennis Results, Tokyo, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Women's tennis, Wta, Wuhan

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10sBalls_com says:

September 21, 2014 at 8:25 pm

@AnaIvanovic BEATS @CaroWozniacki, @FlipperKF BEATS #SCHIAVONE, GODDESS @Venuseswilliams LOSES IN 3- http://t.co/ND0qZ1wQX7 #tennis #WTA