Women Tennis Update – Doha,Dubai, and Memphis Monday, February 18, 2013

Written by: on 17th February 2013
Tennis Australian Open 2013
Women Tennis Update - Doha,Dubai, and Memphis Monday, February 18, 2013

epa03541795 Madison Keys of the US hits a forehand during her 3rd round match against Angelique Kerber of Germany at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2013. EPA/Barbara Walton  |

Doha

 

Singles – Final: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. (2) Serena Williams 7-6(8-6) 2-6 6-3

This was a battle of the scrambling wounded. Victoria Azarenka had a bandage running up most of her leg; Serena Williams had both ankles taped. They’re both supposed to play Doha next week. It will be interesting to see if they manage it after this more than two hour battle.

They certainly both have reason to try, because we find ourselves with the #1 ranking still rather up in the air. Oh, Serena has it now; that isn’t the question. But the loss makes her hold on the top spot rather fragile. She could certainly use some more points. And Azarenka could use the chance to start regaining ground.

As it is, Azarenka has now won the two biggest titles of the year so far — Australian Open and Doha. It may not quite match what she did last year, but the certainly isn’t letting Serena rest on her laurels. The win means that the gap between them is less than 300 points.

Doubles – Final: (1) Errani/Vinci def. (2) Petrova/Srebotnik 2-6 6-3 10-6

What can we possibly say about Errani/Vinci that we haven’t already said? This is already their third title of the year, and all substantial — Australian Open, Paris, and Doha. They have eleven titles in the last twelve months, and a 64-9 record (87.7%). They’ve won 55% of the events they have entered. This year, they are 17-2 — and now have a thirteen match winning streak. We’d guess they are safe at #1 at least until the French Open.

Give Petrova/Srebotnik this much: They won Sydney, one of the few significant events not taken by Errani/Vinci. In fact, they beat Errani/Vinci on their way to the title. They are 9-2 this year, making them probably the second best team of 2013 so far. But it’s second best in a doubles universe with one dominant pair.

Dubai

 

It’s not often that we report on the second round of qualifying at an event — but then, it’s not often that a qualifying event is as strong as Dubai’s. Or was as strong, because seeds are going down fast. #1 Tamira Paszek pulled out before play even began — opening a door for Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has Paszek’s place in the qualifying final. She will face Anabel Medina Garrigues, who beat #5 qualifying seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the first qualifying round. #2 Carla Suarez Navarro is through to the qualifying final, there to face Daniela Hantuchova, who advanced when #8 Simona Halep pulled out. #3 Elena Vesnina is also out; she retired trailing Ekaterina Bychkova 7-5 3-1 (disturbing, given that Makarova/Vesnina are supposed to be the top doubles seeds here). Bychkova will face #7 seed Zheng Jie. #4 Urszula Radwanska made it successfully to the qualifying final; she will face Kurumi Nara, who beat #6 Christina McHale 6-4 2-6 6-3. So we have only three seeds — Suarez Navarro, Radwanska, and Zheng — in the qualifying final.

Memphis

 

Ideally, you would like to see qualifying full of young prospects trying to find out if they can compete with the big names. If so, the Memphis qualifying was half of what it should have been, as two promising youngsters made the main draw: #1 seed Madison Keys and #3 Jana Cepelova both won, over Alexa Glatch and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, respectively. Also qualifying were #6 Maria Sanchez and unseeded Claire Feuerstein.

The main draw saw Olga Puchkova once again fail in a Top Hundred bid; Melinda Czink beat her 4-6 6-3 6-3. Having an even bigger struggle was #4 Heather Watson, who edged Galina Voskoboeva 7-5 5-7 7-6. #7 Magdalena Rybarikova scored the event’s first easy win, beating Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-3 6-1. Then it was back to the marathons; Lauren Davis, who just won the Midland Challenger, backed it up be beating Ksenia Pervak 5-7 6-1 6-3 — but it took two hours and 42 minutes.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.