LADIES TENNIS NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA SINGLES & DOUBLES RESULTS. SHARAPOVA, HALEP, BOUCHARD ALL WIN

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2015

LADIES TENNIS NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA SINGLES & DOUBLES RESULTS. SHARAPOVA, HALEP, BOUCHARD ALL WIN

epa04582901 Simona Halep of Romania in action against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Barbara Walton |

****** TIdbits from down Under.

Australian Open

Singles – Fourth Round: (2) Maria Sharapova def. (21) Peng Shuai 6-3 6-0

After her early struggles, Maria Sharapova is definitely back on track, meaning that she still has at least a shot at earning the #1 ranking here. Peng Shuai hasn’t quite clinched her Top Twenty ranking, but it looks very likely.

Maria Sharapova of Russia in action against Peng Shuai of China in their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Narendra Shrestha

Singles – Fourth Round: (3) Simona Halep def. Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-2

This lets Simona Halep defend her points — and that means that she has also defended the #3 ranking. Petra Kvitova will remain stuck at #4. Yanina Wickmayer remains stuck below #65, but she seems finally to be coming back to life; her results here gained her more than a dozen ranking spots.

Simona Halep of Romania celebrates her win against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium during the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Singles – Fourth Round: (7) Eugenie Bouchard def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 5-7 6-2

This was strange; Eugenie Bouchard really did seem to be cruising until, suddenly, she wasn’t. But she recovered fairly quickly after a ragged second set. As a result, Irina-Camelia Begu will have to settle for probably the #34 ranking.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in action against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in their fourth round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer

Singles – Fourth Round: (10) Ekaterina Makarova def. Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova hasn’t yet clinched her Top Ten spot, but her chances now look good; she is more than 300 points ahead of Venus Williams, the only other player with any real chance for the #10 spot. That means Venus needs to make the semifinal to catch Makarova. And if Makarova can beat Halep in the quarterfinal, then Makarova will overtake Angelique Kerber and clinch a Top Ten ranking no matter what Venus does. Makarova is also contending for the position of “best combined singles and doubles ranking on the WTA” (a distinction currently held by Sara Errani; Peng Shuai and Flavia Pennetta are the only other players who could be considered serious contenders).

Doubles – Third Round: (3) Makarova/Vesnina def. Soler-Espinosa/Torro-Flor 6-1 6-2

A much more efficient win for the Russians than their last one, but they still have a lot to defend and are in danger of falling from co-#7 to co-#8 or lower. Still, Ekaterina Makarova did a good job of getting through a very long day quickly.

Doubles – Third Round: (5) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (12) Kudryavtseva/Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva will probably remain right around #20. Kops-Jones/Spears still need one more win to defend their points, but if they can do that, they just might hit the Top Ten. This time, let’s show the Top Fifteen to show where they stand:

1..(1) ERRANI ………….7800*

1..(1) VINCI …………. 7800*

3..(3) PENG ……………7640

4..(4) BLACK …………. 6625

5..(6) HSIEH …………. 6595

6..(5) MIRZA …………. 6510

7..(9) HINGIS ………….5215*

8..(7) MAKAROVA ………..4710*

8..(7) VESNINA ……….. 4710*

10.(14) PENNETTA ………..4310*

11.(12) KOPS-JONES ………4280*

11.(12) SPEARS ………….4280*

13.(11) SREBOTNIK ……… 4205*

14.(16) MUGURUZA ………..4045

15.(17) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..3895

Doubles – Third Round: Jans-Ignacik/Klepac def. (9) Hlavackova/Hradecka 7-6(7-5) 6-7(6-8) 6-2

Hlavackova and Hradecka seem to be alternating good and back matches. In Hlavackova’s case, this means she will be falling out of the Top Fifteen.

Doubles – Third Round: (13) Krajicek/Zahlavova Strycova def. Dabrowski/Rosolska 6-2 3-6 6-4

Doubles – Third Round: Bertens/Larsson def. Kuznetsova/Stosur 7-6(7-5) 6-3

Somehow you almost expect this of Kuznetsova/Stosur these days: They beat a seeded team, then lose to Bertens/Larsson.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (3) Mladenovic/Nestor def. Zahlavova Strycova/Bopanna 6-2 3-6 10-4

Mixed rankings would make Mladenovic/Nestor the #1 seeds here, so obviously this is no surprise. Interesting to see Daniel Nestor play such a close contest against his regular partner Rohan Bopanna, though.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (4) Hlavackova/Peya def. Kops-Jones/Lipsky 6-1 6-3

Hlavackova and Peya are both out of ordinary doubles, so this is some small consolation.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (7) Hingis/Paes def. Jovanovic/Thompson 6-2 7-6(7-2)

Surprisingly close, considering the Australians’ lack of experience.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Dellacqua/Peers def. (8) Peschke/Matkowski 7-5 6-4

Here we have another blow to Mixed rankings, which would have promoted Peschke/Matkowski to #5. It has not been a good event for Mixed rankings so far. This may be another case where the amount of history included in the Mixed rankings is too much, since Peschke and Matkowski both seem to be in funks.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Raymond/Lindstedt def. An. Rodionova/Farah 6-3 6-2

Once again, both our winners are out of ordinary doubles. And they are probably both pretty hungry, Raymond because she’s in such lousy form and Lindstedt because he failed to defend his title in men’s doubles.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Chang/Zhang def. Groenefeld/Rojer 6-2 4-6 10-6

A huge upset by any ranking system imaginable….

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Klepac/Guccione def. Hradecka/Tecau 6-1 7-5

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: Madison Brengle — Moved 20 places, from #84 to #64.

Brengle made her first career final at Hobart, and is rewarded with a career high.

Madison Brengle of the US jubilates after winning against Irina Falconi of Italy in their second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer

Runner-Up: Tsvetana Pironkova — Moved 15 places, from #67 to #52

Pironkova made it back to the Sydney semifinal before losing to Petra Kvitova. There is an odd symmetry here: Over the space of two weeks, her ranking is down 15 places (from #37 to #52); over the span of one week, it’s up 15 (from #67 to #52).

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

Leader: Brengle, cut ranking 24%.

Runner-Up: Heather Watson — Moved 11 places, 22%, from #49 to #38

Watson beat Brengle in the Hobart final.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

Loser: Nine players lost three places

Because no events came off this week, no one lost any points. The only reason players fell in the rankings is because others passed them. So downward movement is pretty meaningless.

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

Loser: Ekaterina Makarova, ranking increased 1 place, 10%, from #10 to #11.

This isn’t anything Makarova did, of course; it’s merely that she and Dominika Cibulkova had identical results (Sydney second round), and Cibulkova had more room to add points, so Cibulkova passed Makarova. Barely. Makarova is all but certain to end up ranked higher after Melbourne.

Ranking Notes

Because this week saw points come on but not go off, the total number of points shifted was only half the usual quantity. This means fewer and smaller moves. On the downward side, as we see above, there were hardly any moves at all, and none more than 10%. On the up side, there were three substantial moves: Brengle gained just less than 24%, and Watson and Pironkova gained a hair more than 22%. Below them, there was almost nothing; Kurumi Nara rose 9%, to #43; Cibulkova rose 9%, to #10; and Karolina Pliskova rose 9%, to #20. Of course, for Pliskova, that represents her first time in the Top Twenty.

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

These are subjective picks!

The percentage numbers say that it has to be Brengle, Watson, or Pironkova, who all had effectively the same percentage moves. But Pironkova’s move is a calendar fluke. As between Brengle and Watson, Watson won their meeting, but she had the smaller move and she had won a title before. Brengle had the best result of her career and hit a career high. We’ll go with Brengle.

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of January 25, 2015

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 8016*

2..(2) SHARAPOVA ……… 7150*

3..(4) KVITOVA ……….. 6480

4..(3) HALEP …………. 6381*

5..(8) WOZNIACKI ……… 4565

6..(5) IVANOVIC ………..4425

7..(6) ARADWANSKA ………4270*

8..(7) BOUCHARD ………..4175*

9..(9) KERBER ………….3090

10.(11) MAKAROVA ………..2745*

11.(13) PETKOVIC ………..2735

12.(18) VWILLIAMS ……… 2600*

13.(14) ERRANI ………….2550

14.(12) PENNETTA ………..2441

15.(16) SAFAROVA ………..2425

16.(15) JANKOVIC ………..2360

17.(17) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2295

18.(19) CORNET ………….2125

19.(22) PENG ……………2080*

20.(20) KAPLISKOVA ………2015

21.(10) CIBULKOVA ……… 1947*

22.(23) ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA .1930

23.(24) MUGURUZA ………..1845*

24.(21) STOSUR ………….1835

25.(26) SVITOLINA ……… 1740

26.(27) KUZNETSOVA ………1701

27.(28) LISICKI ……….. 1592

28.(35) KEYS ……………1560*

29.(30) LEPCHENKO ……… 1540

30.(36) GARCIA ………….1461

Draws

Australian Open — Week of January 19

………………….2R…………….4R…………QF

1 S Williams……….(1)S.Williams…..S.Williams

26 Svitolina……….(26)Svitolina

24 Muguruza………..(24)Muguruza……Muguruza

15 Jankovic………..Bacsinszky

11 Cibulkova……….(11)Cibulkova…..Cibulkova

19 Cornet………….(19)Cornet

25 Zahlavova Strycova.(25)Zahlavova S

8 Wozniacki………..Azarenka……….Azarenka

4 Kvitova………….(4)Kvitova

29 Dellacqua……….Keys…………..Keys

20 Stosur………….Vandeweghe

13 Petkovic………..Brengle………..Brengle

12 Pennetta………..Giorgi

18 V Williams………(18)V.Williams….V.Williams

30 Lepchenko……….(30)Lepchenko

6 A Radwanska………(6)Radwanska……Radwanska

5 Ivanovic…………Hradecka(Q)

32 Bencic………….Goerges………..Goerges

22 Ka Pliskova……..(22)Pliskova

10 Makarova………..(10)Makarova……Makarova……Makarova

14 Errani………….(14)Errani

23 Pavlyuchenkova…..Wickmayer………Wickmayer

28 Lisicki…………Mattek-Sands

3 Halep……………(3)Halep……….Halep………Halep

7 Bouchard…………(7)Bouchard…….Bouchard……Bouchard

27 Kuznetsova………Garcia

17 Suarez Navarro…..Witthoeft

9 Kerber…………..Begu…………..Begu

16 Safarova………..Shvedova

21 Peng……………(21)Peng……….Peng

31 Diyas…………..(31)Diyas

2 Sharapova………..(2)Sharapova……Sharapova….Sharapova

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 S Williams

2 Sharapova

3 Halep

4 Kvitova…………..lost 3R (Keys)

5 Ivanovic………….lost 1R (Hradecka)

6 A Radwanska

7 Bouchard

8 Wozniacki…………lost 2R (Azarenka)

9 Kerber……………lost 1R (Begu)

10 Makarova

11 Cibulkova

12 Pennetta………….lost 1R (Giorgi)

13 Petkovic………….lost 1R (Brengle)

14 Errani……………lost 3R (Wickmayer)

15 Jankovic………….lost 1R (Bacsinszky)

16 Safarova………….lost 1R (Shvedova)

17 Suarez Navarro…….lost 1R (Witthoeft)

18 V Williams

19 Cornet……………lost 3R (Cibulkova)

20 Stosur……………lost 2R (Vandeweghe)

21 Peng……………..lost 4R (Sharapova)

22 Ka Pliskova……….lost 3R (Makarova)

23 Pavlyuchenkova…….lost 1R (Wickmayer)

24 Muguruza

25 Zahlavova Strycova…lost 3R (Azarenka)

26 Svitolina…………lost 3R (S. Willias)

27 Kuznetsova………..lost 1R (Garcia)

28 Lisicki…………..lost 1R (Mladenovic)

29 Dellacqua…………lost 2R (Keys)

30 Lepchenko…………lost 3R (A. Radwanska)

31 Diyas…………….lost 3R (Sharapova)

32 Bencic……………lost 1R (Goerges)

SCORES

SUNDAY

Australian Open

Singles – Fourth Round

(2) Maria Sharapova def. (21) Peng Shuai 6-3 6-0

(3) Simona Halep def. Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-2

(7) Eugenie Bouchard def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 5-7 6-2

(10) Ekaterina Makarova def. Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Third Round

(3) Makarova/Vesnina def. Soler-Espinosa/Torro-Flor 6-1 6-2

(5) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (12) Kudryavtseva/Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4

Jans-Ignacik/Klepac def. (9) Hlavackova/Hradecka 7-6(7-5) 6-7(6-8) 6-2

(13) Krajicek/Zahlavova Strycova def. Dabrowski/Rosolska 6-2 3-6 6-4

Bertens/Larsson def. Kuznetsova/Stosur 7-6(7-5) 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round

(3) Mladenovic/Nestor def. Zahlavova Strycova/Bopanna 6-2 3-6 10-4

(4) Hlavackova/Peya def. Kops-Jones/Lipsky 6-1 6-3

(7) Hingis/Paes def. Jovanovic/Thompson 6-2 7-6(7-2)

Dellacqua/Peers def. (8) Peschke/Matkowski 7-5 6-4

Raymond/Lindstedt def. An. Rodionova/Farah 6-3 6-2

Chang/Zhang def. Groenefeld/Rojer 6-2 4-6 10-6

Klepac/Guccione def. Hradecka/Tecau 6-1 7-5

Content via Bob Larson news service.

Topics: Australian Open, Genie Bouchard, Irina-Camelia Begu, Madison Brengle, Maria Sharapova, Melbourne, Peng Shuai, Simona Halep, Tennis, Wta, Yanina Wickmayer

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

January 25, 2015 at 5:13 pm

LADIES #TENNIS NEWS FROM #AUSTRALIA SINGLES & DOUBLES RESULTS @MariaSharapova, HALEP, @geniebouchard ALL WIN http://t.co/HZMsw2fn9S #AusOpen