TENNIS NEWS – LADIES GRASS RESULTS AS WELL AS A LOOK AT THE FIRST ROUND MATCH UPS FOR BIRMINGHAM

Written by: Staff on 13th June 2015

TENNIS NEWS - LADIES GRASS RESULTS AS WELL AS A LOOK AT THE FIRST ROUND MATCH UPS FOR BIRMINGHAM

Swiss Belinda Bencic in action during her match against Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals of the Topshelf Tennis tournament in Rosmalen, the Netherlands, 13 June 2015. EPA/ANDRE DE HEUS |

‘s-Hertogenbosch

Singles – Semifinal: (4) Belinda Bencic def. (2) Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-3

Still no sign that Jelena Jankovic is coming to like grass. She loses her chance to rise above #29. For Belinda Bencic, though, this brings many opportunities. This might take her as high as #31; she can’t go higher this week. Still, that makes a Wimbledon seed extremely likely. And she will get the chance to go for her first-ever singles title. After a slow start to the year, she definitely seems to have broken her slump!

Singles – Semifinal: (5) Camila Giorgi def. Kiki Bertens 6-2 6-4

Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in action against Camila Giorgi of Italy during the semi finals of the Topshelf Open tennis tournament in Rosmalen, Netherlands, 13 June 2015. EPA/SANDER KONING

This was a battle of grass-lovers; Camila Giorgi’s career record on the surface is now 13-7, and she has won at least one match at her last five straight grass events. By contrast, she has a record of just below 50% on all other surfaces combined. Kiki Bertens historically hasn’t shown much fondness for grass — she came here at 1-5 on the stuff — but at least she was a local. It took her to only the third semifinal of her career, but she remains below #100. Giorgi, on the other hand, is up to co-#33 in safe points; a title woud give her sole possession of the #33 spot. Even if she loses, her chances of a Wimbledon seed are starting to look pretty good. Perhaps fortunately, given her 0-3 record in finals.

Doubles – Final: Muhammad/Siegemund def. (3) Jankovic/Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 7-5

Talk about a crummy day for Jelena Jankovic…. Two matches, no sets won — and if she lost to a fairly strong opponent in singles, the situation was entirely different in doubles. Neither Asia Muhammad nor Laura Siegemund had ever won a WTA title of any kind, and they came here with a combined rank of #225. Clearly a big day for them! Siegemund, already at a career-high #95, ought to rise to around #70; Muhammad, #130, will be around #90, ten or so spots above her career high.

Nottingham

Don’t be surprised if there are some bailouts in Nottingham on Sunday. After Friday’s schedule was left incomplete, there were no matches at all on Saturday due to the weather. So Ana Konjuh and Sachia Vickery still have to play their quarterfinal, then comes both semifinals, then the final. Plus doubles. What are the odds of Konjuh or Vickery managing to survive all that?

BIRMINGHAM

Women’s Look Forward: Birmingham

It has been a couple of years since Birmingham upgraded to Premier status. But this is the year it gets the real upgrade: The perfect spot in the calendar, starting a week after the end of Roland Garros, ending a week before Wimbledon.

The result is a mixed bag. This may be a great time in the calendar, but Birmingham is in England’s equivalent of the Rust Belt; it isn’t as attractive as Eastbourne — a city which has been a resort for a century and a half. Even though the top eight seeds get byes, there are only two Top Eight players — #1 Simona Halep and #2 Ana Ivanovic. Below that, though, the draw is fairly dense. Carla Suarez Navarro is #3 and in Halep’s half; her backhand ought to be a real weapon on grass, although she hasn’t really shown it yet. Angelique Kerber is #4, and our last Top Ten player; grass has been a good surface for her in the past.

Eugenie Bouchard is trying yet again to get back in form; she took a wildcard to earn the #5 seed, and is in Halep’s quarter (which really seems like good news for Halep). Karolina Pliskova, whose serve alone should make her a significant factor on grass, is #6 and in Suarez Navarro’s quarter. Kerber seems to have gotten the German quarter; the other seed in her section is #7 Andrea Petkovic. Sabine Lisicki, whose best surface is certainly grass, is #8 and in Ivanovic’s quarter. The remaining seeds, who do not have byes, are #9 Garbine Muguruza, drawn against Lisicki; #10 Barbora Strycova, in Bouchard’s section; #11 Alize Cornet, in line to face Petkovic; #12 Victoria Azarenka, who unfortunately is in Pliskova’s part of the draw, since both of them probably are capable of going deep here; #13 Svetlana Kuznetsova, drawn against Suarez Navarro; #14 Irina-Camelia Begu, who would face Ivanovic; #15 Jelena Jankovic, who is in on a wildcard and is in Kerber’s section (and who doesn’t seem like much of a threat given how she played in ‘s-Hertogenbosch); and #16 Caroline Garcia, drawn against Halep.

The cutoff for seeding was just a little below #30, which is pretty impressive for an event with sixteen seeds; it obviously leaves room for some pretty strong unseeded players. Garcia’s second round might be against CoCo Vandeweghe, who last year won ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Bouchard will open against either Kristina Mladenovic or Alison Riske; given how much Riske likes grass and how strong Mladenovic is in doubles (which usually spells good grass skills), it doesn’t look likely that Bouchard will break her slump here. Kuznetsova’s second round could be against Heather Watson. Azarenka’s draw is awful; first Varvara Lepchenko, then either Camila Giorgi or Zarina Diyas — all three of whom just missed seeding. Jankovic could face Casey Dellacqua, who has an Australian’s love for grass, in round two. Kerber is likely to play her second round against grass-loving Tsvetana Pironkova. Lisicki will open against either Belinda Bencic, hot off reaching the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final, or one-time Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. And Begu is likely to open against Daniela Hantuchova.

The Rankings

Because of the change in the calendar, what is coming off this week is not Birmingham 2014 but Eastbourne and ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2014. The title at Eastbourne went to Madison Keys — whom we note is not in action this week. Angelique Kerber was finalist; Caroline Wozniacki (also not in action) and Heather Watson were semifinalists. CoCo Vandeweghe won ‘s-Hertogenbosch, over Zheng Jie (whose singles career seems to be over, since she isn’t even in the Birmingham qualifying); Magdalena Rybarikova and Klara Koukalova were semifinalists.

Keys will probably fall to about #22. Kerber could end up around #12 or #13, meaning that Bouchard could return to the Top Ten even if she has another bad event. Vandeweghe might end up around #50. Zheng… is going to have to play Challengers if she wants to get into any future singles events. Wozniacki is safe at #5; Watson is in danger of losing her Top Fifty spot.

It’s worth reminding ourselves that the rankings after Birmingham will be used to seed Wimbledon. Which makes it surprising that more top players didn’t turn out. It turns out that there isn’t much chance for movement at the top — but could they have known that when they planned their schedules? Serena Williams is safe at #1, and will be safe there even after Wimbledon. Petra Kvitova’s #2 ranking will be in big danger at Wimbledon, but for now her lead on Halep is safe. Halep will stay #3, Sharapova #4, Wozniacki #5. The first possible move is at #6; Ana Ivanovic could re-take that spot from Lucie Safarova if she can hold her seed. Of course, #6 versus #7 is a difference that makes no difference. But the difference between #8 and #9 is important, and there is a chance that Carla Suarez Navarro could take the #8 spot from Ekaterina Makarova, although she’ll need a title to do it.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in action against Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan during their first round match of the Topshelf Open tennis tournament in Rosmalen, Netherlands, 09 June 2015. EPA/KOEN SUYK

We already mentioned the possibility of Bouchard returning to the Top Ten. But that isn’t sure; Kerber could hold on if she can reach the final, or Pliskova has a shot if she can reach the final (or possibly the semifinal). With Agnieszka Radwanska not playing, it looks as if those twelve — Serena, Kvitova, Halep, Sharapova, Wozniacki, Safarova, Ivanovic, Makarova, Suarez Navarro, Kerber, Bouchard, and Pliskova — are safe in the Top Twelve. #13-#16 will likely be Radwanska, Petkovic, Bacsinszky, and Venus Williams; the only player with a shot at that tier appears to be Lisicki, and even she would need a title. It’s really too early to tell who will be in the #17-#24 block. The real interest is probably at the bottom of the seeding list anyway; right now, Strycova, Jankovic, Begu, Garcia, and Bencic have the last five seeds, but the next players in line — Diyas, Giorgi, Vandeweghe, and Vinci — are all in Birmingham. Vandeweghe doesn’t have much chance due to all those points she has to defend, but the others are all real contenders.

THIS WEEKS DRAWS

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:

‘s-Hertogenbosch (International/Grass). Defending Champion: CoCo Vandeweghe

Nottingham (International/Grass). Defending Champion: New Event

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:

Birmingham (Premier/Grass). Defending Champion: Ana Ivanovic

RANKINGS.

Estimated WTA Rankings As of June 13, 2015

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWilliams ……… 11291

2..(2) Kvitova ……….. 6870

3..(3) Halep …………. 6130

4..(4) Sharapova ……… 5950

5..(5) Wozniacki ……… 5000

6..(7) Safarova ………..4055

7..(6) Ivanovic ………..3895

8..(8) Makarova ………..3620

9..(9) Suarez Navarro …..3345

10.(10) Kerber ………….3120

11.(11) BOUCHARD ………..3118

12.(12) KaPliskova ………3010

13.(13) ARADWANSKA ………2815*

14.(14) Petkovic ………..2660

15.(15) Bacsinszky ………2605

16.(16) VWilliams ……… 2586

17.(17) Svitolina ……… 2405

18.(18) Keys ……………2395

19.(19) Lisicki ……….. 2165

20.(20) Errani ………….2140

21.(21) Muguruza ………..2075

22.(23) Pennetta ………..1901

23.(24) Stosur ………….1900

24.(25) Cornet ………….1870

25.(26) Azarenka ………..1863

26.(27) Peng ……………1842

27.(28) Kuznetsova ………1758

28.(22) Strycova ………..1750

29.(30) JANKOVIC ………..1685

30.(29) Begu ……………1636

Draws

‘s-Hertogenbosch — Week of June 8

……………….QF…………….SF……..F

1 Bouchard (WC)….Shvedova

5 Giorgi………..(5)Giorgi………Giorgi….Giorgi

3 Vandeweghe…….(3)Vandeweghe

6 Pavlyuchenkova…Bertens………..Bertens

7 Mladenovic…….(7)Mladenovic

4 Bencic………..(4)Bencic………Bencic….Bencic

8 Larsson……….Beck

2 Jankovic………(2)Jankovic…….Jankovic

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Bouchard (WC)….lost 1R (Shvedova)

2 Jankovic………lost SF (Bencic)

3 Vandeweghe…….lost QF (Bertens)

4 Bencic

5 Giorgi

6 Pavlyuchenkova…lost 2R (Bertens)

7 Mladenovic…….lost QF (Bencic)

8 Larsson……….lost 1R (Koukalova)

Nottingham — Week of June 8

…………………QF………………SF

1 A Radwanska (WC)…(1)A.Radwanska(WC)..Radwanska

8 Tomljanovic……..Davis

3 Lepchenko……….Niculescu………..Niculescu

7 Rybarikova………Konta

5 Riske…………..(5)Riske…………Riske

4 Knapp…………..Wickmayer

6 Dellacqua……….Konjuh

2 Diyas…………..Vickery(Q)

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 A Radwanska (WC)

2 Diyas………….lost 2R (Vickery)

3 Lepchenko………lost 1R (Niculescu)

4 Knapp………….lost 1R (Wickmayer)

5 Riske

6 Dellacqua………lost 2R (Konjuh)

7 Rybarikova……..lost 1R (Konta)

8 Tomljanovic…….lost 1R (Davis)

Birmingham — Week of June 15

1 Halep

–bye

Broady (WC)

Tomljanovic

Vandeweghe

Qualifier

16 Garcia

10 Strycova

Niculescu

Tsurenko

Hradecka

Mladenovic

Riske

–bye

5 Bouchard (WC)

3 Suarez Navarro

–bye

Vinci

Qualifier

Watson

Qualifier

Knapp

13 Kuznetsova

12 Azarenka

Lepchenko

Giorgi

Diyas

Konta (WC)

Gajdosova

–bye

6 Ka Pliskova

7 Petkovic

–bye

Siniakova

Nara

Puig

Qualifier

McHale

11 Cornet

15 Jankovic (WC)

Smitkova

Dellacqua

Davis

Pironkova

Swan (WC)

–bye

4 Kerber

8 Lisicki

–bye

Lucic-Baroni

Bencic

Schmiedlova

Jovanovski

Rybarikova

9 Muguruza

14 Begu

Hantuchova

Cetkovska

Qualifier

–bye

2 Ivanovic

SCORES

SATURDAY

‘s-Hertogenbosch

Singles – Semifinal

(4) Belinda Bencic def. (2) Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-3

(5) Camila Giorgi def. Kiki Bertens 6-2 6-4

Doubles – Final

Muhammad/Siegemund def. (3) Jankovic/Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 7-5

Nottingham

No matches played

***

CONTENT VIA Bob LARSON TENNIS NEWS SERVICE.

Topics: Birmingham, Grass tennis, Nottingham, S Hertogenbosch, Sports, Tennis News, Wta

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June 13, 2015 at 7:41 pm

#TENNIS NEWS – LADIES GRASS RESULTS AS WELL AS A LOOK AT THE FIRST ROUND MATCH UPS FOR #BIRMINGHAM- http://t.co/pxJqhWAHri #WTA #grasstennis