Serena Sweeps Istanbul

Written by: on 27th October 2013
WTA Championships in Istanbul
Serena Sweeps Istanbul

epa03927239 Serena Williams of the US holds her trophy after defeating Na Li of China in the final match for the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 27 October 2013. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU  |

****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******

 

* Serena comes from behind to beat Li

* Hsieh/Peng win Istanbul, close in on #1

****** TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS ******

 

Istanbul

 

Singles – Final: (1) Serena Williams def. (4) Li Na 2-6 6-3 6-0

Initially it seemed that Serena Williams was the one with the physical problems. Then — Li Na turned into the player who hadn’t even won a set against Serena since 2009. Afterward, the champion said, “I can’t believe I won, I was so tired. Did I really win? It’s really awesome — it’s such a special moment….”

What can we say about Serena? Eleven titles this year, in sixteen events. A record of 76-4.(95) plus a withdrawal. She has won her last eighteen straight matches. Only once did she go more than one tournament without a title. She leads the contest for #1 by more than 5000 points. She was undefeated on clay, historically her worst surface, and indoors (where, admittedly, she played only the one event). She’s… Serena.

Li Na is still looking for her first title here, but she did well enough to reach #3. That’s not only a career high for her, it is listed as a career high for any Asian player.

Doubles – Final: (2) Hsieh/Peng def. Makarova/Vesnina 6-4 7-5

So many chances blown by the Russians! They led by a break in the second set. They had break chances in the eleventh game of that set. And couldn’t take them, and then were broken themselves in the next year. A sad way to end the year.

But what a season for Hsieh/Peng! They end up with five titles: Rome, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, Guangzhou, and Istanbul. That’s four Premier Fives or better. It also gives them a surface sweep — Rome on clay, Wimbledon on grass, Cincinnati (and Guangzhou) on hard, and Istanbul indoors.

And — it will probably give them the #1 ranking next year. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) ERRANI ………….8080

1..(1) VINCI …………. 8080

3..(4) HSIEH …………. 7815*

4..(5) PENG ……………7815*

5..(6) VESNINA ……….. 7220

6..(3) SREBOTNIK ……… 7145

7..(8) MAKAROVA ………..7021

8..(7) PETROVA ……….. 6565

9..(9) Mirza …………. 5565

10.(10) Dellacqua ……… 5356

And Errani/Vinci won the Australian Open, and Paris, and Doha — and nothing since then, so they have most of their points early in the year. Hsieh/Peng lost in the Australian Open Round of Sixteen, and they don’t have anything else to defend until the Indian Wells semifinal. If they can just reach the Australian Open semifinal, they should be #1/#2 no matter what Errani/Vinci do. And if Errani/Vinci fail to defend, that’s it.

Unless, of course, Makarova/Vesnina get into the act. They didn’t win the title (perhaps Makarova’s wrist acted up again), but they end the year at #5 and #7, within about a thousand points of #1, and with lots of room to add points — Vesnina has only 14 events and Makarova 12. They lost in the Australian Open semifinal, so they too have a shot at #1 with a title. And even if they don’t make it, they had a fine year in 2013, with titles at Indian Wells and Roland Garros. Too bad they won’t get a chance to show their stuff in the Fed Cup final.

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

Women’s Look Forward: Sofia

 

At Istanbul, everyone was a veteran. At Sofia, we have plenty of rookies.

That includes the top seed. Caroline Wozniacki, as the Istanbul alternate, chose not to play, and Roberta Vinci decided to concentrate on Fed Cup. So Simona Halep, winner of five titles in 2013, is the #1 seed. Ana Ivanovic, who is in on a wildcard, ends up with the #2 seed. Maria Kirilenko is #3, Samantha Stosur #4, Elena Vesnina #5, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova #6, Alize Cornet #7, and wildcard Tsvetana Pironkova #8.

Of that list, only two were here last year: Kirilenko (who didn’t manage to finish) and Pironkova (who went 1-2 but nonetheless managed to reach the semifinal). Stosur played the previous version of the event, in Bali, in 2009; Pavlyuchenkova played in 2010; and Ivanovic played in 2010 and 2011, winning both times — but the format was different then. So, in a way, we have no former champions in the draw; no one here has won this event in this format (or this city). In fact, last year’s champion Nadia Petrova is retired!

We don’t have the groups yet, but since the rest is set, we thought we’d go ahead and give you this preview. After all, given the above, we don’t have much history to go by….

The Rankings

Sofia 2012 is already off, so whatever happens this week is a pure addition. But it isn’t a particularly big event — with a maximum of 375 points for the winner, it’s bigger than an International event but smaller than even the smallest Premier event. (In fact, it’s exactly half way between an International and the bottom Premier tier.) And, of course, most of these players have substantial sixteenth event scores. And none of them are Top Ten.

Halep could get surprisingly close. Win the title and she would be #11. The rest, of course, can’t go as high. Roughly speaking, a title would take Ivanovic to #15, Kirilenko to #15 or #16, Stosur to #16 or #17, Vesnina to perhaps #22, Pavlyuchenkova to around #23, Cornet to #23 or #24, and Pironkova to around #72.

KEYWORDS: Preview Sofia

******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********

 

THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:

Sofia (International Championships/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Nadia Petrova

Fed Cup Final

NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:

Challengers Only

************ STATS AND FACTS ************

 

**RANKINGS

 

Estimated WTA Rankings As of October 27, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior

Rank….Name…………..Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 13260*

2..(2) AZARENKA ………..8046

3..(5) LI ……………..6045

4..(3) Sharapova ……… 5891

5..(4) ARADWANSKA ………5890

6..(6) KVITOVA ……….. 4775

7..(7) ERRANI ………….4435

8..(8) JANKOVIC ………..4170

9..(9) KERBER ………….3965

10.(10) Wozniacki ……… 3520

11.(11) Stephens ………..3185

12.(12) Bartoli ……….. 3172

13.(13) Vinci …………. 3170

14.(14) Halep …………. 3085

15.(15) Lisicki ……….. 2920

16.(16) Ivanovic ………..2765

17.(17) Suarez Navarro …..2735

18.(18) Kirilenko ……… 2640

19.(19) Stosur ………….2580

20.(20) Flipkens ………..2495

21.(21) Kuznetsova ………2341

22.(22) Cirstea ……….. 2170

23.(23) Cibulkova ……… 2076

24.(24) Makarova ………..2066

25.(25) Vesnina ……….. 1920

26.(26) Pavlyuchenkova …..1890

27.(27) Cornet ………….1790

28.(28) Hampton ……….. 1781

29.(29) Safarova ………..1775

30.(30) Kanepi ………….1752

**DRAWS

 

Istanbul — Week of October 22

 

RED GROUP……….SWILL….ARADW….KVITO….KERBE….W/L….Sets

1 S. Williams……XXXXX….SWILL….SWILL….SWILL….3/0….6/0

6 Kvitova……….SWILL….KVITO….XXXXX….KVITO….2/1….4/4

8 Kerber………..SWILL….ARADW….KVITO….XXXXX….1/2….3/4

3 A. Radwanska…..SWILL….XXXXX….KVITO….KERBE….0/3….0/6

 

WHITE GROUP……..AZARE….LI…….ERRAN….JANKO….W/L….Sets

4 Li……………LI…….XXXXX….LI…….LI…….3/0….6/1

7 Jankovic………JANKO….LI…….ERRAN….XXXXX….1/2….3/4

5 Errani………..AZARE….Li…….XXXXX….ERRAN….1/2….2/4

2 Azarenka………XXXXX….LI…….AZARE….JANKO….1/2….2/4

 

SEMIFINAL…….FINAL……..WINNER

1 S Williams….Williams…..Williams

7 Jankovic

 

5 Kvitova

4 Li…………Li

******** SCORES ********

 

SUNDAY

Istanbul

Singles – Final

(1) Serena Williams def. (4) Li Na 2-6 6-3 6-0

Doubles – Final

(2) Hsieh/Peng def. Makarova/Vesnina 6-4 7-5

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