TENNIS NEWS AND RESULTS: SHARAPOVA WINS IN ACAPULCO, SERENA ATTENDS THE OSCARS, VENUS WINS IN DOHA

10sBalls.com comments

 

LADIES TENNIS RESULTS AND MORE FROM DOHA , Acapulco ( THE Mexican RIVIERA ) Serena attends the OSCARS AND ENJOYS HOLDING COMMONS STATUE. VENUS IS IN DOHA. FLIPPER FLIPKENS GOES THRU QUALIES AND IS MAINDRAW. SHE WAS LUCKY TO GET THAT WILDCARD INTO QUALIES. WILDCARDS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. TOURNEYS ALL NEED MORE WILDCARDS ! Bonus points would be nice. Double bonus points are even better. Congrats to Bethanie Mattek – Sands for winning her match thanks to a wc after hip surgery it’s nice to get a little lift up. (LJ)

 

TIDBITS :

 

* Halep pulls out of Doha, opening door for Kvitova to regain #3 ranking

* No return to Top Ten for Kerber after winning only three games against Azarenka

* Kuznetsova loses to Pennetta, will not return to Top 25

* Zahlavova Strycova beats Lisicki to edge closer to Top Twenty

* Venus edges Dellacqua; needs more to regain Top Fifteen spot

* Safarova leaves Stosur still around #25

* Begu withdraws from Acapulco

* Sharapova motors past Rogers despite suffering early break

* Wildcard poses no problem for Mattek-Sands; Brengle loses to Torro-Flor

 

DOHA RESULTS

 

Veteran Venus Williams quickly found form as she plays in the Gulf for a second straight week, opening with a comeback from a set down to beat Australian Casey Dellacqua 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. The 34-year-old Williams, seeded seventh, needed more than two hours to reach the second round

 

The American won a run of 12 or 14 games on the way to her win in 94 minutes. “I’ve been going non-stop this year actually,” said the winner. “I’ve played so much, and it’s only February. But so far I’m happy with how it’s going.”

 

Williams next faces Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, 7-5, 6-4. German hopes fell even further when eighth seed Angelique Kerber lost to comeback-bound former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, 6-0, 6-3. Azarenka has won now her last 11 matches in Qatar and took the title in 2012 and 2013, the last time she competed at the event.

 

Italy’s Flavia Pennetta rallied to defeat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Czech Lucie Safarova defeated Aussie Sam Stosur 7-6(3), 6-4 to post a seventh win in her past eight meetings with the former US open champion.

 

Acapulco

 

Maria Sharapova performed as expected, with the top seed making a winning start on her debut in Mexico. The No. 2 opened play with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of American Shelby Rogers after losing serve in the opening game but storming back against the youngster after an hour and a quarter. Sharapova wrapped it up with flair, winning the last seven points.

 

“I’ve been in many different situations in my career, and when you’re down, you have to change a few things and stay positive,” Sharapova said. “You just have to concentrate on one point at a time instead of the bigger result, and as the match went on I definitely felt more and more comfortable out there.

 

“Your first match at a new tournament is never easy. You’re getting used to all of the conditions, a new place and a new atmosphere. You’re also adjusting your game a little bit. The court here is quite different to the surfaces I’ve competed on so far this year, and the ball goes through the air because it’s much warmer.”

 

Other winners on opening day included Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Monica Puig, with the Puerto Rican defeating Tereza Smitkova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Spain’s María-Teresa Torró-Flor came from 5-3 down in the last two sets to beat eighth seed Madison Brengle 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.

 

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: TIE

Anna Schmiedlova — Moved 16 places, from #75 to #59

Wang Qiang — Moved 16 places, from #98 to #82

Schmiedlova made the Rio final to hit a career high. Wang qualified for Dubai and beat Kurumi Nara to reach the second round.

 

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

 

Leader: Karolina Pliskova — Moved 5 places, 28%, from #18 to #13

A Dubai final took Pliskova to yet another career high.

 

Runner-Up: TIE

Simona Halep — Moved 1 place, 25%, from #4 to #3

Sara Errani — Moved 4 places, 25%, from #16 to #12

Errani won Rio for one of her few few upward moves of recent months. Halep won Dubai to regain the #3 spot from Petra Kvitova — but possibly for only one week.

 

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

 

Loser: Kurumi Nara — Dropped 18 places, from #42 to #60

An interesting inversion here: Our biggest loser suffered her loss because of the action of our (co-)biggest gainer. Nara was last year’s Rio champion; this year, she lost her opener, to Wang. That puts Nara in almost exactly the same ranking spot as last year; she was #62 entering Rio 2014.

 

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

 

Loser: Venus Williams, ranking increased 6 places, 55%, from #11 to #17.

Venus, last year’s Dubai champion, this year lost in the Round of Sixteen.

 

Ranking Notes

 

With a very big event this week, it’s perhaps not surprising that we had a lot of fairly significant moves. Pliskova, up 28%. Errani and Halep, 25%. Schmiedlova, 21%. Johanna Larsson, up 19%, to #56. Garbine Muguruza finally made the Top Twenty; she rose 17%, to #20. And Wang gained 16%.

 

The downward moves were not quite as common but were even bigger. Venus, down 55%. Nara, down 43%. Petra Kvitova, down 33%, to #4, because of Halep’s gain. Alize Cornet, down 26%, to #24 — she didn’t have Serena to pick on this year. And Klara Koukalova, down 26%, to #58; last year’s Rio finalist is having a terrible year. She’ll likely be our biggest downward mover next week, when her Florianopolis title comes off.

 

BOBS TEAM Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

 

These are subjective picks!

 

Pliskova was our biggest mover, hit a career high, and had the best result of her career. She’s the obvious choice.

 

KEYWORDS: Movers Women Karolina Pliskova

 

THIS WEEK IN TENNIS

 

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:

Doha (Premier/Hard). Defending Champion: Simona Halep

Acapulco (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Dominika Cibulkova

 

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:

Monterrey (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Ana Ivanovic

Kuala Lumpur (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Donna Vekic

 

STATS AND FACTS

 

Rankings

 

Estimated WTA Rankings As of February 23, 2015

 

Rank &

Prior

Rank Name Points

1 (1) SWilliams 9592

2 (2) SHARAPOVA 8210*

3 (3) Halep 6571

4 (4) KVITOVA 6395*

5 (5) WOZNIACKI 4730*

6 (6) Ivanovic 4425

7 (7) Bouchard 4306

8 (8) ARADWANSKA 4025*

9 (9) MAKAROVA 3420*

10 (10) PETKOVIC 3150*

11 (11) KERBER 2650

12 (12) ERRANI 2641*

13 (13) KAPLISKOVA 2620*

14 (14) SUAREZ NAVARRO 2580*

15 (15) SAFAROVA 2580*

16 (16) PENNETTA 2560*

17 (17) VWILLIAMS 2420*

18 (19) Keys 2100

19 (21) Peng 2080

20 (22) ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA 2055*

21 (23) JANKOVIC 2030*

22 (20) MUGURUZA 2015*

23 (18) Cibulkova 1957

24 (24) CORNET 1925*

25 (25) STOSUR 1835

26 (26) KUZNETSOVA 1760

27 (27) SVITOLINA 1740*

28 (28) LISICKI 1651

29 (29) Lepchenko 1540

30 (31) DIYAS 1495*

Draws

 

Doha — Week of February 23

 

1 Kvitova

9 Suarez Navarro

5 Makarova

6 Petkovic

 

7 V Williams

4 A Radwanska

8 Kerber

3 Wozniacki (WC)

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Kvitova

2 Halep…………WITHDREW

3 Wozniacki (WC)

4 A Radwanska

5 Makarova

6 Petkovic

7 V Williams

8 Kerber……….lost 1R (Azarenka)

9 Suarez Navarro

Acapulco — Week of February 23

 

1 Sharapova

9 Hantuchova

3 Garcia

8 Brengle

 

7 Stephens

5 Bacsinszky

6 Vinci

2 Errani

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Sharapova

2 Errani

3 Garcia

4 Begu……….WITHDREW

5 Bacsinszky

6 Vinci

7 Stephens

8 Brengle…….lost 1R (Torro-Flor)

9 Hantuchova

 

SCORES

 

MONDAY

 

Dubai

Singles – First Round

[7] V. Williams (USA) d C. Dellacqua (AUS) 36 62 61

[WC] V. Azarenka (BLR) d [8] A. Kerber (GER) 60 63

L. Safarova (CZE) d S. Stosur (AUS) 76(3) 64

B. Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d S. Lisicki (GER) 75 64

F. Pennetta (ITA) d S. Kuznetsova (RUS) 36 64 62

Doubles – First Round

[4] R. Kops-Jones (USA) / A. Spears (USA) d A. Klepac (SLO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) 76(2) 64Women’s

Qualifying Singles – Third Round

Qualifying – [6] [WC] K. Flipkens (BEL) d K. Kozlova (UKR) 63 64

Qualifying – S. Voegele (SUI) d Y. Putintseva (KAZ) 63 36 64

Qualifying – A. Dulgheru (ROU) d S. Zheng (CHN) 61 60

Qualifying – D. Gavrilova (RUS) d S. Hsieh (TPE) 16 63 64

 

Acapulco

Singles – First Round

[1] M. Sharapova (RUS) d S. Rogers (USA) 64 61

M. Torró-Flor (ESP) d [8] M. Brengle (USA) 26 75 75

B. Mattek-Sands (USA) d [WC] M. Zacarias (MEX) 62 61

M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) d L. Arruabarrena (ESP) 63 63

M. Puig (PUR) d T. Smitkova (CZE) 64 36 63

Doubles – First Round

[3] K. Bertens (NED) / J. Larsson (SWE) d K. Bondarenko (UKR) / I. Olaru (ROU) 62 46 10-6

Qualifying Singles – Third Round

Qualifying – [5] L. Hradecka (CZE) d S. Karatantcheva (BUL) 63 63

Qualifying – [6] R. Hogenkamp (NED) d M. Ninomiya (JPN) 36 61 76(4)

Qualifying – E. Bogdan (ROU) d [7] M. Duque-Mariño (COL) 64 46 76(1)

Qualifying – L. Chirico (USA) d R. Ozaki (JPN) 62 63

 

CONTENT VIA BOB LARSON TENNIS NEWS SERVICE.

Topics: Acapulco, Doha, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Tennis Results, Venus Williams, Wta

10sBalls Top Stories

• No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event
• 10SBALLS SHARES FAVORITE EPA TENNIS PHOTOS Of 2018
• THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ANY TENNIS PLAYER & FAN
• ATP MEN’S TENNIS • WILL IT MOVE FROM LONDON TO MANCHESTER OR TOKYO OR SINGAPORE? OR TURIN?
• ALIX RAMSAY WRITES TO “TENNIS SANTA CLAUS” WITH HER WISHES • ANDY MURRAY!
• CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE JACK KRAMER CLUB – DECEMBER 15 TO 22 2018 • UTR • ORACLE • AND AN AWESOME NEW TENNIS EVENT
• 10sBalls.com Shares Alix Ramsay’s Rambling On About Tennis and The Holidays
• ROGER FEDERER JOINED BY RAFA NADAL FOR THE 2019 LAVER CUP FESTIVITIES IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
• TENNIS PLAYERS’ UNION – IS IT NEEDED? BY MARK WINTERS
• Tennis News: Wilson’s Revolution Is Here – THE CLASH
• ROTTERDAM TENNIS TOURNEY DIRECTOR RICHARD KRAJICEK ANNOUNCES DAVID GOFFIN TO PLAY IN 2019 ABN AMRO
• JELENA VEMIC’S PHOTO GALLERY
• TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON • 10SBALLS REPORTS ON THE LAWN TENNIS WRITERS HOLIDAY LUNCHEON AT WIMBLEDON’S DEBENTURE CLUB
• 10sBalls.com Shares a Great Gift For A Tennis Player – The Functional Tennis Match Journal
• BNP PARIBAS TENNIS OPEN NAMED 2018 WTA PREMIER MANDATORY TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.