WOMEN’S TENNIS NEWS OR YOU COULD CALL IT ANOTHER INJURY PLAGUED WEEK ON THE WTA TOUR

Written by: Staff on 7th October 2015

WOMEN'S TENNIS NEWS OR YOU COULD CALL IT ANOTHER INJURY PLAGUED WEEK ON THE WTA TOUR

epa04967594 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in action against Angelique Kerber of Germany during their third round match in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 07 October 2015. EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA |

* Muguruza one win away from #4

* Keys retires from match (and Race)

* Petkovic also out of Race after loss to Errani; Suarez Navarro, Wozniacki barely alive

BEIJING UPDATE

Singles – Second Round: (5) Garbine Muguruza def. (Q) Irina Falconi 6-2 6-1

After this match, the WTA announced that Garbine Muguruza was one win away from qualifying for Singapore. Which in fact means that she will qualify; there is still a way she could fall short, but the odds are so small that she doesn’t have to worry about it.

Which doesn’t mean that she should just stop trying now. For one thing, there is still the matter of where she will be seeded. For the moment, she is still #5 in the rankings. If she wins her next match, though, she will rise to a career high #4. She can’t really hope to get to #3 before Singapore (which would assure her the #2 seed there) — but with Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova both hurting, her chances of the #2 seed look pretty good even if she goes there ranked #4.

Singles – Third Round: (4) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (14) Madison Keys 6-3, retired

Madison Keys quit this match with a thigh injury. We don’t know if it’s bad enough to end her year, but we do know that it ends her prospects for Singapore. Agnieszka Radwanska, though, has herself back in a position to qualify — not clinched, but very much in contention. Keys will end the week with the same #19 ranking she came in with.

Madison Keys (L) of the USA and Agnieszka Radwanska (R) of Poland approach each other after their third round match was discontinued in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 07 October 2015. EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA

Singles – Third Round: (12) Timea Bacsinszky def. (7) Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4 4-6 7-5

That’s not quite curtains in the Race for Carla Suarez Navarro; she is still #11 in the standings. But she will need to play a lot better than she is playing if she wants to go anywhere. She won’t return to the Top Ten in the rankings this week, either; we show her at #11. Timea Bacsinszky is currently #16 in the rankings, and might still end up lower, but she still has an outside shot at Singapore. Who would have predicted that at the start of the year?

Singles – Third Round: (10) Angelique Kerber def. (8) Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-3

The good news for Caroline Wozniacki is that she is likely to rise from #11 to #10. The bad news is, she’s lower in the Race. She might be below the Top Fifteen by week’s end. Is she absolutely eliminated? Not quite yet, given the high chance of withdrawals. But she needs to win titles in both the remaining weeks of the season to have a shot, and frankly we’d guess (barring further withdrawals) that even that won’t be enough.

Angelique Kerber, though, is just about set. She’s #6 in the Race, just barely behind #5 Kvitova, and given that the #9 player will qualify, that’s just about an unassailable position. She has also clinched her Top Ten spot, and is likely to rise to #9. Win her next match and she might go as high as #6.

Singles – Third Round: Sara Errani def. (13) Andrea Petkovic 3-6 6-3 6-2

We’ve had to hedge some of our comments about Race qualifications, but in this case, no qualification is needed. Andrea Petkovic is out. She’ll be #20 in the rankings, lower in the Race, and won’t go to Singapore. Sara Errani, amazingly, is still alive, although just barely, and she will rise at least a little in the rankings — from #20 to #18.

Doubles – Second Round: (1) Hingis/Mirza def. Errani/Pennetta 1-6 6-4 10-6

A pretty historic match — Slam winners all over the place here. Once again Martina Hingis wins with this year’s doubles partner against last year’s doubles partner. That’s fourteen straight for Hingis/Mirza. Will Flavia Pennetta play another doubles match in her career? We don’t know.

Doubles – Second Round: (3) Dellacqua/Shvedova def. Arruabarrena/Klepac 6-1 6-2

Doubles – Second Round: (WC) Liang/Wang def. (5) Garcia/Srebotnik 7-6(7-3) 6-3

A pretty crummy loss for Garcia/Srebotnik, and one that probably means they won’t formally clinch for Singapore this week (unless it turns out that all the other contenders are skipping next week’s small events), but their situation is still pretty secure.

MANY OF THE PLYERS ARE SUFFERING FROM THE BAD AIR, EVEN WHILE WEARING MASKS MOST OF THE DAY …

Photo by @matteksands via Instagram.

NEXT WEEK IN TENNIS

Linz (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Karolina Pliskova

Hong Kong (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Sabine Lisicki

Tianjin (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Alison Riske

STATS AND FACTS

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of October 7, 2015

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWilliams ……… 11285

2..(2) HALEP …………. 6580

3..(3) Sharapova ……… 4691

4..(4) KVITOVA ……….. 3860

5..(5) MUGURUZA ………..3810*

6..(6) Safarova ………..3405

7..(7) PENNETTA ………..3372*

8..(8) ARADWANSKA ………3340*

9.(10) KERBER ………….3330*

10.(11) WOZNIACKI ……… 3151

11.(12) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..3075

12.(14) VWILLIAMS ……… 2982

13..(9) KAPLISKOVA ………2950

14.(13) BENCIC ………….2900

15.(15) IVANOVIC ………..2875*

16.(17) BACSINSZKY ………2722*

17.(16) VINCI …………. 2655*

18.(20) ERRANI ………….2525*

19.(19) KEYS ……………2495

20.(21) PETKOVIC ………..2445

21.(18) SVITOLINA ……… 2410

22.(22) Azarenka ………..2276

23.(23) Makarova ………..2250

24.(24) JANKOVIC ………..2125

25.(26) BEGU ……………1880

26.(27) SCHMIEDLOVA ……. 1791

27.(28) MLADENOVIC ………1760

28.(25) STOSUR ………….1755

29.(29) STEPHENS ………..1715

30.(32) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1660*

Draws

Beijing — Week of October 4

……………….3R…………………QF

1 Halep…………Mattek-Sands(Q)

15 Vinci………..(15)Vinci

11 Bencic……….Lucic-Baroni

5 Muguruza………(5)Muguruzza

4 A Radwanska……(4)A.Radwanska………Radwanska

14 Keys…………(14)Keys

10 Kerber……….(10)Kerber………….Kerber

8 Wozniacki……..(8)Wozniacki

6 Ivanovic………(6)Ivanovic

9 Ka Pliskova……Kuznetsova

16 Svitolina…….Pavlyuchenkova

3 Pennetta………(3)Pennetta

7 Suarez Navarro…(7)Suarez Navarro

12 Bacsinszky……(12)Bacsinszky………Bacsinszky

13 Petkovic……..(13)Petkovic

2 Kvitova……….Errani……………..Errani

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Halep…………lost 1R (Arruabarrena)

2 Kvitova……….lost 1R (Errani)

3 Pennetta

4 A Radwanska

5 Muguruza

6 Ivanovic

7 Suarez Navarro…lost 3R (Bacsinszky)

8 Wozniacki……..lost 3R (Kerber)

9 Ka Pliskova……lost 1R (Stephens)

10 Kerber

11 Bencic……….WITHDREW from 2R

12 Bacsinszky

13 Petkovic……..lost 3R (Errani)

14 Keys…………lost 3R (Radwanska)

15 Vinci

16 Svitolina…….lost 2R (Pavlyuchenkova)

SCORES

WEDNESDAY

Beijing

Singles – Second Round

(5) Garbine Muguruza def. (Q) Irina Falconi 6-2 6-1

Singles – Third Round

(4) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (14) Madison Keys 6-3, retired

(12) Timea Bacsinszky def. (7) Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4 4-6 7-5

(10) Angelique Kerber def. (8) Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-3

Sara Errani def. (13) Andrea Petkovic 3-6 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Second Round

(1) Hingis/Mirza def. Errani/Pennetta 1-6 6-4 10-6

(3) Dellacqua/Shvedova def. Arruabarrena/Klepac 6-1 6-2

(WC) Liang/Wang def. (5) Garcia/Srebotnik 7-6(7-3) 6-3

***

Content Via Bob LARSON TENNIS NEWS SERVICE

Topics: Beijing, China Open, Ladies tennis, Sports, Tennis, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

October 7, 2015 at 11:52 am

WOMEN’S #TENNIS NEWS OR YOU COULD CALL IT ANOTHER INJURY PLAGUED WEEK ON THE #WTA TOUR- http://t.co/D1UdQUcST0 #Beijing #ChinaOpen @WTA