THE LATEST TENNIS NEWS – WTA LADIES RACE HEATS UP

Written by: Staff on 9th October 2015

THE LATEST TENNIS NEWS - WTA LADIES RACE HEATS UP

epa04970075 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in action against Angelique Kerber of Germany during their quarterfinal match in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 09 October 2015. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG |

* Still no luck for Kerber at the Really Big Ones; loses to Radwanska

* Ivanovic, Bacsinszky still alive in Race; Errani out; Muguruza keeps winning

BEIJING

Singles – Quarterfinal: (4) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (10) Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-4

This was the day’s Really Big Contest, because it was the match where both players still had serious Singapore chances. Sadly for Angelique Kerber, she has won almost everything this year except the really big events. So… deja vu. She still looks like she will qualify for Singapore, but she won’t clinch this week. And she won’t go higher than #9. Agnieszka Radwanska, though, will rise to at least #7 and very possibly #6. She could even hit the Top Five with a title.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (5) Garbine Muguruza def. (Q) Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1 7-5

Garbine Muguruza is not looking like a player who couldn’t even finish the Wuhan final last week. This makes it back-to-back High Premier semifinals. She hasn’t actually clinched the #4 ranking yet — Agnieszka Radwanska could still pass her with a title. But any other outcome and Muguruza is #4. Indeed, if the Spaniard can win the title, we show her just one point away from passing Maria Sharapova to reach #3. That #2 seed at Singapore is beckoning….

Singles – Quarterfinal: (6) Ana Ivanovic def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 7-5

At this point, it really looks like our Singapore qualifiers will be Serena Williams (will not play), Halep, Sharapova, Muguruza, Kvitova, Safarova, Kerber, Radwanska, and Pennetta, but Ana Ivanovic isn’t going quietly. If nothing else, she is up .to #11 in the rankings, and a final would put her back in the Top Ten. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova it appears will be #29.

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in action against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia during their quarter final match for the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 09 October 2015. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Singles – Quarterfinal: (12) Timea Bacsinszky def. Sara Errani 0-6 6-3 7-5

Timea Bacsinszky isn’t going out of the Race quietly, either; we’d call her the last surviving player. Which means she needs a miracle, but it’s mathematically possible. Unlike for Sara Errani, who is done. At least Errani rises from #20 to #18. That’s a bigger move than Bacsinszky has managed so far; even though these are all free points for her, we show her rising only from #17 to #16! But she and Ivanovic face each other next. The winner will be Top Ten, meaning no Top Ten spot for Caroline Wozniacki.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Hingis/Mirza def. (WC) Liang/Wang 6-2 6-3

Sixteen straight for Hingis/Mirza. Looks like we know who will be this year’s Doubles Team of the Year, even if they lose in Singapore.

Doubles – Semifinal: (6) Chan/Chan def. (3) Dellacqua/Shvedova 6-3 6-7(5-7) 12-10

This was the match no one wanted to finish. We lost track of how many match points the players had on serve, but both sides had them. Finally Chan/Chan got a match point on the return of serve, and managed to convert. Which is big for their Singapore chances; they aren’t clinched, but it seems very likely. Maybe that was their little extra bit of motivation; Dellacqua/Shvedova, after all, have already clinched.

The WTA, incidentally, announced on Friday that Garcia/Srebotnik have clinched (strange, given that nothing that happened changed their qualification status, except presumably that the computer re-ran the numbers). That gives us six qualified teams, Hingis/Mirza, Mattek-Sands/Safarova, Dellacqua/Shvedova, Makarova/Vesnina, Babos/Mladenovic, and Garcia/Srebotnik. The Chans look likely to be the seventh; Kops-Jones/Spears, Muguruza/Suarez Navarro, and Hlavackova/Hradecka are the other competitors still alive. At least pending the release of next week’s draws. Based on the qualifying, the events will be weak (Linz is perhaps a partial exception), but the doubles fields may not correlate with the weak singles fields.

* THIS WEEK IN TENNIS

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:

Beijing (Premier Mandatory/Hard). Defending Champion: Maria Sharapova

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:

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

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

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

Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland in action against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain during their third round match of the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 07 October 2015. EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA

STATS AND FACTS

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of October 9, 2015

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWilliams ……… 11285

2..(2) HALEP …………. 6580

3..(3) Sharapova ……… 4691

4..(5) MUGURUZA ………..4080*

5..(4) KVITOVA ……….. 3860

6..(8) ARADWANSKA ………3515*

7..(6) Safarova ………..3405

8..(7) PENNETTA ………..3372

9.(10) KERBER ………….3330

10.(11) WOZNIACKI ……… 3151

11.(15) IVANOVIC ………..3145*

12.(12) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..3075

13.(14) VWILLIAMS ……… 2982

14..(9) KAPLISKOVA ………2950

15.(13) BENCIC ………….2900

16.(17) BACSINSZKY ………2897*

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.(32) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1755

30.(29) STEPHENS ………..1715

Draws

Beijing — Week of October 4

……………….3R……………….QF……………SF

1 Halep…………Mattek-Sands(Q)……Mattek-Sands

15 Vinci………..(15)Vinci

11 Bencic……….Lucic-Baroni

5 Muguruza………(5)Muguruza……….Muguruza………Muguruza

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

14 Keys…………(14)Keys

10 Kerber……….(10)Kerber………..Kerber

8 Wozniacki……..(8)Wozniacki

6 Ivanovic………(6)Ivanovic……….Ivanovic………Ivanovic

9 Ka Pliskova……Kuznetsova

16 Svitolina…….Pavlyuchenkova…….Pavlyuchenkova

3 Pennetta………(3)Pennetta

7 Suarez Navarro…(7)Suarez Navarro

12 Bacsinszky……(12)Bacsinszky…….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………lost 3R (Pavlyuchenkova)

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……….lost QF (Radwanska)

11 Bencic……….WITHDREW from 2R

12 Bacsinszky

13 Petkovic……..lost 3R (Errani)

14 Keys…………lost 3R (Radwanska)

15 Vinci………..lost 3R (Mattek-Sands)

16 Svitolina…….lost 2R (Pavlyuchenkova)

SCORES

FRIDAY

Beijing

Singles – Quarterfinal

(4) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (10) Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-4

(5) Garbine Muguruza def. (Q) Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1 7-5

(6) Ana Ivanovic def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 7-5

(12) Timea Bacsinszky def. Sara Errani 0-6 6-3 7-5

Doubles – Semifinal

(1) Hingis/Mirza def. (WC) Liang/Wang 6-2 6-3

(6) Chan/Chan def. (3) Dellacqua/Shvedova 6-3 6-7(5-7) 12-10

Content via Bob LARSON Tennis News wire

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

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10sBalls_com says:

October 9, 2015 at 10:19 am

THE LATEST #TENNIS NEWS – @WTA LADIES RACE HEATS UP- http://t.co/yQ2B0XJjGs #WTA #Beijing #ChinaOpen2015