* Still no luck for Kerber at the Really Big Ones; loses to Radwanska
* Ivanovic, Bacsinszky still alive in Race; Errani out; Muguruza keeps winning
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.
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 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
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)
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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