The Race to Singapore Continues / The Race For Number One Heats Up

Written by: on 11th October 2014
The Race to Singapore Continues / The Race For Number One Heats Up   |

Tour Tidbits :

* Peng latest high seed to retire; Bencic, Riske make Tianjin final
* Diyas to try for first career title against defending Osaka champion Stosur
* Pliskova edges Friedsam to move close to Sofia clinch; will face Giorgi

 TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS , SCORES , UPDATES ,RESULTS :

Linz

Singles – Semifinal: (7) Karolina Pliskova def. (Q) Anna-Lena Friedsam 2-6 6-3 6-3
Karolina Pliskova may have gotten lucky here; Anna-Lena Friedsam needed help from the trainer in the second set. And, in the third, it looked as if she remembered that she was playing in her first WTA final; she blew a break lead. She’ll still hit a career high. As will Karolina Pliskova; her previous best was #29, and this will take her to #27. She stands high on the list of candidates for Sofia; we’d guess she’ll make it whether she wins or loses the final, but a title would seem to make it a slam dunk.

Singles – Semifinal: Camila Giorgi def. Karin Knapp 6-4 6-2
We’ve long known that Camila Giorgi is a very talented player with consistency problems. But she likes traditional surfaces better than modern. To see her do so well on an indoor court may be a promising sign even if you ignore the effect on her ranking. Which we probably shouldn’t, because she’s up to probably #39. She leaves Karin Knapp just below the Top Fifty.

Doubles – Semifinal: Beck/Garcia def. (2) Erakovic/Medina Garrigues 6-2 6-3

Osaka

Singles – Semifinal: (1) Samantha Stosur def. (3) Elina Svitolina 7-6(8-6) 6-2
And so Elina Svitolina finally made the Top Thirty, but just barely; we show her at #29. Samantha Stosur is at #19, and will be #18 if she can defend her title. Also, if she wins the title, she will qualify for the Sofia Other Year-End Championships.

Singles – Semifinal: (5) Zarina Diyas def. Luksika Kumkhum 6-2 7-5
If you haven’t been paying attention to Zarina Diyas, it really is time to start. She’s now up to #34, and she’s going for her first title, which would make her at least #33. Win or lose, it looks as if she’ll be earning her first Slam seed at next year’s Australian Open. And she’s still only twenty years old.

Doubles – Semifinal: Arruabarrena/Maria def. (4) Jurak/Moulton-Levy 6-3 6-4

Tianjin

Singles – Semifinal: (3) Belinda Bencic def. (2) Peng Shuai 3-1, retired
What a week! Consider the record of the top seeds at each of this week’s tournaments. At Linz, #1 Bouchard and #2 Ivanovic pulled out of their second rounds. At Osaka, #2 Keys retired from her quarterfinal although #1 Stosur is still going. And, here, #1 Jelena Jankovic lost easily in her second round to a player ranked 98 places below her, plus #2 Peng retired. Even if we accept the Jankovic collapse as legitimate (after all, it ended her year), that’s four of six Top Two seeds who did not play to the end! For Peng Shuai, that means she will stay at #22 in the rankings. Belinda Bencic, although she gets a chance at a title, has hardly budged in the rankings; #35 coming in, she is up to #33 in safe points, but would end up at #34 if she loses the final here and Zarina Diyas wins Osaka. On the other hand, if Bencic wins the final, she’ll rise to #32.

Singles – Semifinal: (6) Alison Riske def. Zheng Saisai 6-0 6-1
When reality caught up with Zheng Saisai, it really caught up hard…. Still, she is safe in the Top Hundred, and will get direct entry into the Australian Open. With this, Alison Riske is up to #50 in safe points, and a title would make her probably #44. And we are sure to have a first-time titleist; neither Belinda Bencic nor Riske has ever won a WTA title in either singles or doubles. For Bencic, it might be particularly big, because she has an outside shot at playing Sofia; Riske is ranked too low for that to be a possibility.

Doubles – Semifinal: Cirstea/Klepac def. (3) Riske/Tomljanovic 6-4 6-4

 TODAY’S FEATURE

Women’s Look Forward: Moscow & Luxembourg

This year, amazingly, the women’s singles Race was settled at Beijing, and even the doubles Race was pretty well done despite the fact that twice as many teams were eligible as in recent years. Of course, someone could still pull out of Singapore (we know that Serena Williams has a bad knee) — but, as it turns out, the contest for the top alternate spot is also settled. And while the #1 alternate often plays, the #2 alternate doesn’t often get a chance. But a contest for the #2 alternate is what we have left, and so the WTA web site talked about that.

The WTA once said that there would be five contenders for that last alternate spot in Moscow. But Jelena Jankovic and Sara Errani are out, leaving us with at most three. Who just happen to be the top three seeds; there are no Top Ten players in Moscow at all. Dominika Cibulkova, who tried to make a comeback at Linz last week but couldn’t do much, is the #1 seed but may not be ready to be a threat. Ekaterina Makarova, the leader in the contest for that alternate spot (as well as being entered in the Singapore doubles and a lock for Sofia) is the #2 seed — she’s going to have a busy last few weeks of the season! Flavia Pennetta is the #3 seed and the last player with any Singapore hope at all; she’ll presumably also be playing the doubles with Martina Hingis in a last-ditch attempt to qualify in that. Lucie Safarova is the #4 seed and has the last bye; she is also the last Top 25 player. Svetlana Kuznetsova is #5 and in Safarova’s quarter; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is #6 and in Cibulkova’s. Karolina Pliskova, who is now ranked ahead of Pavlyuchenkova, is #7 and in Pennetta’s quarter; Caroline Garcia, who isn’t even Top Thirty, is #8. It is, frankly, a field that looks more like an International event than a Premier; you can tell that the Race is long over! Still, there are some fairly interesting unseeded players. Pennetta might have to open against her countrywoman Camila Giorgi, who did so well in Linz. Pliskova’s second round might be against Elena Vesnina, who has been having physical problems but would likely have been seeded here if she had been healthy all year. Kuznetsova opens against Klara Koukalova. Safarova might start against Ajla Tomljanovic. And Garcia’s second round is likely to be against Tsvetana Pironkova — although historically Moscow has one of the slowest courts of any indoor event, which will hurt Pironkova.

Luxembourg, the week’s second event, isn’t going to affect the Singapore draw at all. But it does have the interesting aspect that it is the last chance to qualify for the “other” year-end championships, at Sofia. The WTA has officially qualified Dominika Cibulkova, Ekaterina Makarova, and Andrea Petkovic. We can safely add Carla Suarez Navarro and Alize Cornet to that list; Garbine Muguruza also looks pretty safe. Sabine Lisicki and Karolina Pliskova, if our in-head estimates are right, are next on the list — but that means that, roughly, anyone in the Top 35 who can win Luxembourg might be able to qualify.

It’s interesting to note that Andrea Petkovic, the top player not to have a chance for Singapore, is the #1 seed here. It’s a draw where she should be able to do pretty well. Alize Cornet is #2, Sabine Lisicki #3, and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova #4, meaning that we have just three Top Thirty players. Varvara Lepchenko has the #5 seed, Roberta Vinci is #6, Kirsten Flipkens #7, and Monica Niculescu #8. There aren’t a lot of noteworthy unseeded players; Lisicki opens against Daniela Hantuchova, but Hantuchova’s form has been so poor this year that she probably isn’t a threat.

The Rankings

This is a wacky week, rankings-wise, because the WTA doesn’t just take off Moscow and Luxembourg. The two Championships from last year also come off, meaning that the Rankings after Moscow (roughly) correspond to the Race.

To quickly summarize, Simona Halep won Moscow, over Samantha Stosur, with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova the semifinalists. Caroline Wozniacki took the Luxembourg title, over Annika Beck, with Sabine Lisicki and Stefanie Voegele semifinalists. Serena Williams won the Istanbul Championships, with Li Na the finalist and Jelena Jankovic (who, like Li, won’t be back) and Petra Kvitova the semifinalists. Poor Halep finds herself in the peculiar situation of having two titles come off, because she also won Sofia, over Samantha Stosur, with Ana Ivanovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova semifinalists.

It’s probably easiest to look at this by looking at the Race (omitting Li Na, who will surely go off the rankings soon). Serena is #1, 450 points ahead of Sharapova, who is 700 ahead of Kvitova. Halep is 200 points behind that. Bouchard in turn is 900 points behind that, 50 ahead of Radwanska and a hundred ahead of Ivanovic. Wozniacki is #8, another 350 points back, and Kerber 550 points behind that. Makarova is another 500 points behind that — just a hair too far behind to catch Kerber and earn the #1 Singapore alternate spot — then Cibulkova, Errani, Jankovic, Pennetta, and Petkovic. Which means we aren’t going to see any movement above #10 in the list. At #10, it’s possible; Makarova comes in less than 70 points ahead of Cibulkova, meaning that whichever lasts longer will probably be #10 and the #2 Singapore alternate.

 THIS WEEK IN TENNIS

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
Linz (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Angelique Kerber
Osaka (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Samantha Stosur
Tianjin (International/Hard). Defending Champion: New Event

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
Moscow (Premier/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Simona Halep
Luxembourg (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Caroline Wozniacki

 STATS AND FACTS

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of October 11, 2014


Rank &
Prior
Rank ...Name ............. Points
1..(1) SWilliams ......... 8645
2..(2) Sharapova ......... 6680
3..(3) Halep ............. 6246
4..(4) Kvitova ........... 6126
5..(5) Li .................5020
6..(7) ARadwanska .........4650
7..(6) BOUCHARD ...........4523
8..(8) IVANOVIC ...........4435
9..(9) Wozniacki ......... 4215
10.(10) Kerber .............3745
11.(11) Errani .............3085
12.(13) Makarova ...........2970
13.(14) JANKOVIC ...........2945
14.(12) CIBULKOVA ......... 2908
15.(15) Pennetta ...........2642
16.(16) PETKOVIC ...........2495
17.(17) Safarova ...........2460
18.(19) Suarez Navarro .....2370
19.(18) STOSUR .............2330*
20.(20) VWilliams ......... 2270
21.(21) Cornet .............2255
22.(22) PENG ...............2005
23.(23) Muguruza ...........1923
24.(24) Azarenka ...........1862
25.(25) LISICKI ........... 1835
26.(26) Kuznetsova .........1830
27.(30) KAPLISKOVA .........1730*
28.(27) Dellacqua ......... 1705
29.(31) SVITOLINA ......... 1655
30.(29) Pavlyuchenkova .....1640

Draws

Linz — Week of October 5, 2014


.......................QF..............SF..........F
1 Bouchard.............Pironkova
5 Lisicki (WC).........Knapp...........Knapp
4 Petkovic.............Giorgi..........Giorgi......Giorgi
8 Garcia...............Erakovic

6 Zahlavova Strycova...Voegele
3 Cibulkova............Friedsam(Q).....Friedsam
7 Ka Pliskova..........(7)Pliskova.....Pliskova....Pliskova
2 Ivanovic.............Brengle(Q)

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Bouchard............WITHDREW from 2R
2 Ivanovic............WITHDREW from 2R
3 Cibulkova...........lost 1R (Friedsam)
4 Petkovic............lost 1R (Giorgi)
5 Lisicki (WC)........lost 1R (Knapp)
6 Zahlavova Strycova..lost 1R (Voegele)
7 Ka Pliskova
8 Garcia..............lost 1R (Erakovic)

Osaka — Week of October 5, 2014


..............QF............SF............F
1 Stosur......(1)Stosur.....Stosur........Stosur
6 Watson......Putintseva
3 Svitolina...(3)Svitolina..Svitolina
8 Davis.......(8)Davis

5 Diyas.......(5)Diyas.......Diyas........Diyas
4 Vandeweghe..Konjuh
7 McHale......Kumkhum........Kumkhum
2 Keys........(2)Keys

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Stosur
2 Keys............lost QF (Kumkhum)
3 Svitolina.......lost SF (Stosur)
4 Vandeweghe......lost 2R (Vandeweghe)
5 Diyas
6 Watson..........lost 2R (Putintseva)
7 McHale..........lost 1R (Kumkhum)
8 Davis...........lost QF (Svitolina)

Tianjin — Week of October 5, 2014


...............QF...............SF......F
1 Jankovic.....S.Zheng..........Zheng
7 Puig.........Cirstea
4 Lepchenko....(4)Lepchenko
6 Riske........(6)Riske.........Riske...Riske

5 S Zhang......Hsieh
3 Bencic.......(3)Bencic........Bencic..Bencic
8 Tomljanovic..(8)Tomljanovic
2 Peng.........(2)Peng..........Peng

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Jankovic.......lost 2R (S. Zheng)
2 Peng...........lost SF (Bencic)
3 Bencic
4 Lepchenko......lost QF (Riske)
5 S Zhang........lost 2R (Hsieh)
6 Riske
7 Puig...........lost 1R (Hlavackova)
8 Tomljanovic....lost QF (Peng)

Moscow — Week of October 12, 2014


1 .Cibulkova
--bye
Govortsova
Qualifier
Riske
Kasatkina (WC)
Konjuh
6 Pavlyuchenkova

3 Pennetta
--bye
Qualifier
Giorgi
Vesnina
Qualifier
Mladenovic
7 Ka. Pliskova

5 Kuznetsova
Koukalova
Sasnovich
Qualifier
Panova
Tomljanovic
--bye
4 Safarova

8 Garcia
Krunic (WC)
Pironkova
Kovinic
Vekic
Begu
--bye
2 Makarova

Luxembourg — Week of October 12, 2014


1 Petkovic
Parmentier
Mayr-Achleitner
Knapp
Beck
Bacsinszky
Smitkova
6 Vinci

3 Lisicki
Hantuchova
Qualifier
Qualifier
Torro-Flor
Cepelova
Goerges
5 Lepchenko

7 Flipkens
Qualifier
Erakovic
Hercog
Voegele
van Uytvanck
Soler-Espinosa
4 Zahlavova Strycova

8 Niculescu
Lottner (WC)
Barthel
Minella (WC)
Bertens
Friedsam (SE)
Qualifier
2 Cornet

 SCORES

 

SATURDAY

Linz
Singles - Semifinal
(7) Karolina Pliskova def. (Q) Anna-Lena Friedsam 2-6 6-3 6-3
Camila Giorgi def. Karin Knapp 6-4 6-2
Doubles - Semifinal
Beck/Garcia def. (2) Erakovic/Medina Garrigues 6-2 6-3

Osaka
Singles - Semifinal
(1) Samantha Stosur def. (3) Elina Svitolina 7-6(8-6) 6-2
(5) Zarina Diyas def. Luksika Kumkhum 6-2 7-5
Doubles - Semifinal
Arruabarrena/Maria def. (4) Jurak/Moulton-Levy 6-3 6-4

Tianjin
Singles - Semifinal
(3) Belinda Bencic def. (2) Shuai Peng 3-1, retired
(6) Alison Riske def. Saisai Zheng 6-0 6-1
Doubles - Semifinal
Cirstea/Klepac def. (3) Riske/Tomljanovic 6-4 6-4

Content via Bob Larson Tennis

 

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