EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
* Radwanska, Pavlyuchenkova cruise in Seoul
* Schiavone returns to Top Fifty
* King to face Zhang in Guangzhou final
TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS
Seoul
Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Vera Dushevina 6-2 6-0
Agnieszka Radwanska isn’t earning any points — but she isn’t expending any real effort, either, by the looks of things, so maybe it balances out.
Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 6-2
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the only other seed in the draw, is adding points. This will let her return to the Top Thirty.
Singles – Quarterfinal: Lara Arruabarrena def. Su Jeong Jang 6-0 6-4
Lara Arruabarrena will edge back into the Top Hundred as a result of this win.
Singles – Quarterfinal: Francesca Schiavone def. Kimiko Date-Krumm 4-6 6-4 6-4
There isn’t much rankings gap between these two, so perhaps it’s fitting that this was the day’s only close match. This will put Francesca Schiavone back in the Top Fifty — probably #47.
Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (4) Husarova/Parra Santonja 6-3 6-2
Kops-Jones/Spears were last year’s champions, and here they are back in the final. Evidently they like this place.
Guangzhou
Singles – Semifinal: Vania King def. Zheng Jie 3-6 7-5 6-3
Zheng Jie falls just short of a return to the Top Fifty. But what a return to form for Vania King! This will take her from #124 to around #90.
Singles – Semifinal: Zhang Shuai def. Yvonne Meusburger 6-1 6-1
Who would have thought it — two finalists both ranked below #100! At least, they were before this week. Zhang Shuai, who came in at #112, should be close to #85. And she gets to play a final, and in China, no less.
Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Hsieh/Peng def. Chan/Chan 7-6(7-1) 6-3
A little closer to the WTA Championships for Hsieh/Peng….
Doubles – Semifinal: (3) King/Voskoboeva def. (2) Lepchenko/S Zheng 7-6(7-1) 6-3
Vania King can do no wrong around here. Now she just has to find enough energy for the final.
TODAY’S FEATURE
Women’s Look Forward: Pan Pacific
For a Premier Five, Tokyo is really suffering a lot of defections.
Maybe it’s just that it’s the end of the year. Maybe it’s because it’s the Asian swing. Whatever it is, top players are dropping like flies. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are out. Li Na isn’t playing. Defending champion Nadia Petrova is missing. Sabine Lisicki just announced her withdrawal. Maria Kirilenko isn’t here. That gives us the unusual sight of players ranked below #20 seeded at a High Premier event.
In this field, #1 seed Victoria Azarenka is the obvious favorite — especially since #2 Agnieszka Radwanska has been tiring herself out in Seoul. In the absence of any other Top Five players, Sara Errani has the #3 seed, with Caroline Wozniacki #4. (In other words, we’re missing four of the top eight — although one of them, Marion Bartoli, is retired.) Angelique Kerber is #5, with Jelena Jankovic #6; she is the last Top Ten player. #7 Petra Kvitova and #8 Roberta Vinci have the last two byes.
Sloane Stephens is #9, her best-ever seeding in a high premier event, with Carla Suarez Navarro #10, Ana Ivanovic #11, Samantha Stosur #12, Simona Halep #13, and Kirsten Flipkens #14. That gives us fourteen of the Top Twenty; #15 Sorana Cirstea and #16 Dominika Cibulkova are below that mark. (Ekaterina Makarova, who would have been seeded ahead of Cibulkova, is also absent.)
Below that, things are actually pretty strong. It’s just the top players who are missing. Azarenka will have to open against Mona Barthel or Venus Williams. Halep starts against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has done well in Seoul, then Elena Vesnina (the top unseeded player) or Andrea Petkovic. Stephens has a relatively soft draw, but Jankovic will likely open against Laura Robson, while Errani will probably have to start against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Suarez Navarro opens against Madison Keys, then probably Peng Shuai. Lucie Safarova is in Vinci’s part of the draw; Stosur opens against Alize Cornet. Wozniacki’s draw is full of veterans; she’ll open against Flavia Pennetta or Daniela Hantuchova. And Agnieszka Radwanska will likely start against Francesca Schiavone. She might face sister Urszula after that.
The Rankings
It’s obviously a bad week for Nadia Petrova to miss, since she was last year’s champion. Agnieszka Radwanska was the finalist; Angelique Kerber and Samantha Stosur were the semifinalists. Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Sara Errani, and Maria Sharapova made the quarterfinal.
It’s not going to matter at the top. Serena Williams has an insurmountable lead. It will be about a 2000 point gap even if Victoria Azarenka wins Tokyo. Agnieszka Radwanska should stay #4, although her lead over Li Na could fall enough that she’ll be in danger in Beijing. Li will keep the #5 spot. Errani is safe at #6. Marion Bartoli could lose #7. but so what? The interest starts at #8, especially since #8 Wozniacki and #9 Kerber have points to defend. Kvitova, Vinci, and Stephens all have good Top Ten chances — maybe better than Kerber’s; the German will surely be out if she loses early.
Because there is a big gap between #13 Stephens and #14 Suarez Navarro, those thirteen are sure to stay Top Fifteen. But Lisicki is in real danger of falling out. Stosur could fall to around #20.
Nadia Petrova is already below #25 — meaning she would have been unseeded here even had she been able to play. It appears she will be falling out of the Top Fifty.
THIS WEEK IN TENNIS
THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
Seoul (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Caroline Wozniacki
Guangzhou (International/Hard). Defending Champion: Hsieh Su-Wei
NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
Pan Pacific (Premier Five/Hard). Defending Champion: Nadia Petrova
STATS AND FACTS
RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of September 20, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank….Name…………..Points
1..(1) SWilliams ………12260
2..(2) Azarenka ………..9505
3..(3) Sharapova ……… 7866
4..(4) ARADWANSKA ………6335*
5..(5) Li ……………..5565
6..(6) Errani ………….4325
7..(7) Bartoli ……….. 3746
8..(8) Wozniacki ……… 3565
9..(9) Kerber ………….3420
10.(10) Jankovic ………..3245
11.(11) Kvitova ……….. 3170
12.(12) Vinci …………. 3065
13.(13) Stephens ………..3045
14.(14) Suarez Navarro …..2775
15.(15) Lisicki ……….. 2770
16.(16) Ivanovic ………..2720
17.(17) Stosur ………….2715
18.(18) Halep …………. 2630
19.(19) KIRILENKO ……… 2620
20.(20) Flipkens ………..2556
21.(22) CIRSTEA ……….. 2180
22.(21) Makarova ………..2146
23.(23) Cibulkova ……… 2126
24.(24) Vesnina ……….. 2125
25.(25) Hampton ……….. 2005
26.(27) Petrova ……….. 1908
27.(28) Kuznetsova ………1839
28.(29) CORNET ………….1790
29.(26) Kanepi ………….1741
30.(32) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1690
DRAWS
Seoul — Week of September 15
………………..QF……………..SF
1 A Radwanska…….(1)A.Radwanska…..Radwanska
8 Beck…………..Dushevina
4 Zakopalova……..Jang(QC)
5 Svitolina………Arruabarrena…….Arruabarrena
6 Goerges………..Begu
3 Pavlyuchenkova….(3)Pavlyuchenkova..Pavlyuchenkova
7 Petkovic……….Schiavone……….Schiavone
2 Kirilenko………Date-Krumm
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 A Radwanska
2 Kirilenko……..lost 2R (Date-Krumm)
3 Pavlyuchenkova
4 Zakopalova…….lost 1R (Jang)
5 Svitolina……..lost 1R (Arruabarrena)
6 Goerges……….lost 2R (Begu)
7 Petkovic………lost 1R (Schiavone)
8 Beck………….lost 2R (Dushevina)
Guangzhou — Week of September 15
……………..QF…………SF………..F
1 Cirstea……..King……….King………King
8 Puig………..(8)Puig
3 Robson………(3)Robson
7 Lepchenko……J.Zheng…….Zheng
6 Hsieh……….Zhang………Zhang……..Zhang
4 Peng………..Konta
5 U Radwanska….Meusburger….Meusburger
2 Cornet………(2)Cornet
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Cirstea………lost 1R (Jovanovski)
2 Cornet……….lost QF (Meusburger)
3 Robson……….lost QF (J. Zheng)
4 Peng…………lost 2R (Konta)
5 U Radwanska…..lost 1R (Dolonc)
6 Hsieh………..lost 2R (Zhang)
7 Lepchenko…….lost 1R (Babos)
8 Puig…………lost QF (King)
Pan Pacific — Week of September 20
1 Azarenka
–bye
Barthel
V Williams
Petkovic
Vesnina
Pavlyuchenkova
13 Halep
9 Stephens
Voegele
Bouchard
Puig
Morita
Robson
–bye
6 Jankovic
3 Errani
–bye
Kuznetsova
Qualifier
Doi (WC)
Lepchenko
Goerges
15 Cirstea
10 Suarez Navarro
Keys
Peng
Qualifier
Bencic (WC)
Qualifier
–bye
7 Kvitova
8 Vinci
–bye
Qualifier
Safarova
Qualifier
Date-Krumm
Cornet
12 Stosur
14 Flipkens
Qualifier
Rybarikova
Hsieh
Pennetta
Hantuchova
–bye
4 Wozniacki
5 Kerber
–bye
Qualifier
Zakopalova
Svitolina
Nara (WC)
Beck
11 Ivanovic
16 Cibulkova
U Radwanska
Mladenovic
Qualifier
Wozniak
Schiavone
–bye
2 A Radwanska
SCORES
FRIDAY
Seoul
Singles – Quarterfinal
(1) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Vera Dushevina 6-2 6-0
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 6-2
Lara Arruabarrena def. Su Jeong Jang 6-0 6-4
Francesca Schiavone def. Kimiko Date-Krumm 4-6 6-4 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
(1) Kops-Jones/Spears def. (4) Husarova/Parra Santonja 6-3 6-2
Guangzhou
Singles – Semifinal
Vania King def. Jie Zheng 3-6 7-5 6-3
Shuai Zhang def. Yvonne Meusburger 6-1 6-1
Doubles – Semifinal
(1) Hsieh/Peng def. Chan/Chan 7-6(7-1) 6-3
(3) King/Voskoboeva def. (2) Lepchenko/S Zheng 7-6(7-1) 6-3
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