SERENA SCORES BIG IN CINCY TENNIS , NEW HAVEN PREVIEWS FOR CONNECTICUT OPEN

Written by: Staff on 17th August 2014

SERENA SCORES BIG IN CINCY TENNIS , NEW HAVEN PREVIEWS FOR CONNECTICUT OPEN

epa04358442 Serena Williams of the US poses with the winner's tropny after defeating Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the final match of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 17 August 2014. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Cincinnati

Singles – Final: (1) Serena Williams def. (9) Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-1

Ana Ivanovic had to be tired for this match — she had played two and three-quarter hours the evening before. She had perhaps been sick. And she was facing Serena Williams on an American hardcourt.

Facing difficulties like that, she was perhaps lucky to make it as close as she did. But there really wasn’t much to this. It took only an hour and two minutes, and Serena won an astounding 61% of the points.

In terms of rankings, it makes no difference. Serena was set to be #1, and Ivanovic #9, no matter what the outcome. But it’s big for Serena. She came at #4 in the Race — not bad, but certainly not Serena-esque. This takes her to #3, behind Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep — but a strong #3. If she can defend her U. S. Open title, she’ll gain the #1 spot in the Race. And even if she doesn’t, she picks up her fifth title of the year. And she finally wins Cincinnati.

Ana Ivanovic is still looking for her first high premier title since she won Roland Garros six years ago (she has the equivalent of some Premier 700s, but no Premier Fives). Still, she does rise to #9, and it appear she’s up to #6 in the WTA Race. It has been quite a while since she has qualified for the year-end Championships.

Doubles – Final: (7) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (6) Babos/Mladenovic 6-1 2-0, retired

When this match and the singles final started at almost the same time on two different courts, we couldn’t help but think that it was unfair that fans couldn’t watch both. That was before it turned into a disaster. It lasted only half an hour, and it wasn’t a very enjoyable half hour. They still don’t have a title as a team.

Kops-Jones/Spears not only have team titles, they have ten of them. Six of them are Premier events, including Birmingham this year, but this is only their second Premier Five (following the 2012 Pan Pacific). Believe it or not, they are now #3 in the WTA doubles Race. They stand lower in individual rankings, but with eight teams going to Singapore this year, it appears safe to say that they’re in.

New Haven

Because this is an event with a small field, and there is no place else for players to go this week, the qualifying is quite strong. And quite full of upsets. #7 seed Kaia Kanepi, struggling mightily to get into shape for the U. S. Open, was shocked 6-4 6-2 by Silvia Soler-Espinosa. Inconsistent #4 seed Mona Barthel lost to steadily-improving #11 Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6. And #3 Caroline Garcia suffered a two hour, 28 minute defeat to Irina-Camelia Begu. Also, Misaki Doi topped Annika Beck 7-6 2-6 7-6, and Timea Bacsinszky pulled the slightest of upsets by beating Francesca Schiavone (who was ranked one place higher last week) 6-2 7-5 — not really much of an upset, these days, given that Bacsinszky is rising and Schiavone falling.

On the other hand, top seed Peng Shuai had little trouble with Karin Knapp, reaching the main draw 6-3 6-3.

Singles – First Round: (6) Flavia Pennetta def. Klara Koukalova 6-1 6-3

Klara Koukalova was a semifinalist last year, so it looks as if this will cost her her Top Forty ranking.

Singles – First Round: Alison Riske def. Casey Dellacqua 6-1 6-4

A fairly substantial upset based on current rankings, but Alison Riske is from Pittsburg; she isn’t exactly playing at home, but she isn’t often much closer to it than this. We’d guess this will cost Casey Dellacqua her Top Thirty ranking, although it’s far too soon to be sure.

Singles – First Round: Camila Giorgi def. CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3 6-1

Surprisingly easy for Camila Giorgi, given how well CoCo Vandeweghe has been playing this summer. Giorgi would be getting close to earning a U. S. Open seed — were it not for the fact that it’s too late.

Singles – First Round: Ekaterina Makarova def. Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-3

Roberta Vinci lost her opener last year also, so this won’t cost her any more — but she isn’t rebuilding, either.

Doubles – First Round: Klepac/Soler-Espinosa def. (2) Peschke/Srebotnik 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Earlier this year it appeared Peschke/Srebotnik were re-developing their joint game. But that all seems to have faded lately. This is a frankly embarrassing loss, and makes us wonder if we’ll see Peschke/Srebotnik stick together past year-end.

Doubles – First Round: Jurak/Moulton-Levy def (4) H Chan/J Zheng 6-1 7-5

It just wasn’t a good day to be a seed….

Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 17, 2014

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 9430*

2..(2) HALEP …………. 6750

3..(3) Li ……………..6170

4..(4) KVITOVA ……….. 5806

5..(5) ARADWANSKA ………5590

6..(6) SHARAPOVA ……… 5335

7..(7) KERBER ………….4550

8..(8) BOUCHARD ………..4368

9.(11) IVANOVIC ………..4045

10..(9) JANKOVIC ………..3695

11.(12) WOZNIACKI ……… 3255

12.(14) PENNETTA ………..3074

13.(13) CIBULKOVA ……… 3002

14.(15) ERRANI ………….2885

15.(17) SAFAROVA ………..2825

16.(16) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2790

17.(10) Azarenka ………..2783

18.(18) MAKAROVA ………..2630

19.(19) PETKOVIC ………..2400

20.(20) VWILLIAMS ……… 2340

21.(24) KUZNETSOVA ………2010

22.(21) STEPHENS ………..1965

23.(23) CORNET ………….1930

24.(25) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1930

25.(22) STOSUR ………….1920

26.(27) MUGURUZA ………..1694

27.(29) LISICKI ……….. 1606

28.(28) KEYS ……………1605

29.(26) VINCI …………. 1492

30.(30) DELLACQUA ……… 1441

Draws

Cincinnati — Week of August 11, 2014

WINNER: Serena Williams

……………….3R……………..QF……….SF……….F

1 S Williams…….(1)S.Williams……Williams….Williams….Williams

13 Pennetta……..(13)Pennetta

[Barthel(LL)]……Stephens

8 Jankovic………(8)Jankovic……..Jankovic

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

14 Errani……….Lisicki

12 Wozniacki…….(12)Wozniacki……Wozniacki…Wozniacki

6 Kerber………..(6)Kerber

7 Bouchard………Kuznetsova

9 Ivanovic………(9)Ivanovic……..Ivanovic….Ivanovic…Ivanovic

15 Suarez Navarro..(15)Suarez Navarro

3 Kvitova……….Svitolina……….Svitolina

5 Sharapova……..(5)Sharapova…….Sharapova…Sharapova

11 Cibulkova…….Pavlyuchenkova

16 Safarova……..(16)Safarova

2 Halep…………(2)Halep………..Halep

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 S Williams…….WON TOURNAMENT

2 Halep…………lost QF (Sharapova)

3 Kvitova……….lost 2R (Svitolina)

4 A Radwanska……lost QF (Wozniacki)

5 Sharapova……..lost SF (Ivanovic)

6 Kerber………..lost 3R (Wozniacki)

7 Bouchard………lost 2R (Kuznetsova)

8 Jankovic………lost QF (S. Williams)

9 Ivanovic………lost F (S. Williams)

10 Azarenka……..WITHDREW (replaced by Barthel)

11 Cibulkova…….lost 1R (Pavlyuchenkova)

12 Wozniacki…….lost SF (S. Williams)

13 Pennetta……..lost 3R (S. Williams)

14 Errani……….lost 2R (Lisicki)

15 Suarez Navarro..lost 3R (Svitolina)

16 Safarova……..lost 3R (Halep)

New Haven — Week of August 18, 2014

1 Halep

–bye

Rybarikova

Soler-Espinosa (Q)

Riske

Dellacqua

Koukalova

6 Pennetta

4 Wozniacki

Bacsinszky (Q)

Giorgi

Vandeweghe

Peng (Q)

Svitolina

Muguruza

7 Errani

5 Cibulkova (WC)

Petkovic (WC)

Flipkens (WC)

Doi (Q)

Stosur (WC)

Nara

Jovanovski

3 Bouchard

8 Suarez Navarro

Begu (Q)

Zahlavova Strycova

Bencic (Q)

Makarova

Vinci

–bye

2 Kvitova

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

SUNDAY

Cincinnati

Singles – Final

(1) Serena Williams def. (9) Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-1

Doubles – Final

(7) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (6) Babos/Mladenovic 6-1 2-0, retired

New Haven

Qualifying – Final Round

(1) Peng Shuai def. Karin Knapp 6-3 6-3

Irina-Camelia Begu def. (3) (WC) Caroline Garcia 6-4 5-7 7-6(7-5)

(11) Belinda Bencic def. (4) Mona Barthel 6-3 7-6(8-6)

Silvia Soler-Espinosa def. (7) Kaia Kanepi 6-4 6-2

Misaki Doi def. Annika Beck 7-6(7-4) 2-6 7-6(7-3)

Timea Bacsinszky def. Francesca Schiavone 6-2 7-5

Singles – First Round

(6) Flavia Pennetta def. Klara Koukalova 6-1 6-3

Alison Riske def. Casey Dellacqua 6-1 6-4

Camila Giorgi def. CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3 6-1

Ekaterina Makarova def. Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-3

Doubles – First Round

Klepac/Soler-Espinosa def. (2) Peschke/Srebotnik 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Jurak/Moulton-Levy def (4) H Chan/J Zheng 6-1 7-5

Topics: Ana Ivanovic, Cincinnati, Cincy Tennis, Serena Williams, Tennis, Western & Southern Open, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

August 17, 2014 at 7:08 pm

@serenawilliams SCORES BIG IN @CincyTennis, NEW HAVEN PREVIEWS FOR @connecticutopen- http://t.co/FmMhpwFRCx #tennis #Cincinnati #NewHaven