* 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
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.
Photo by @matteksands via Instagram.
Linz (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Karolina Pliskova
Hong Kong (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Sabine Lisicki
Tianjin (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Alison Riske
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)
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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