****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******
* Kleybanova rises above #200 with upset of Suarez Navarro in Moscow
* Kirilenko loses opener
* Petrova returns to action in doubles
* Bouchard loses Luxembourg opener; Safarova surprised by Beck
****** TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS ******
Moscow
Singles – First Round: (7) Samantha Stosur def. Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-1
Surprisingly easy for Samantha Stosur, particularly given that she just flew in from Osaka. Kaia Kanepi is usually stronger than that, when she is able to play. (Stosur in fact commented afterward that she had to start well because Kanepi is so good.) Kanepi will fall at least one ranking spot below her current #29, but at least she has the whole off season to try to get healthy. Stosur still has some 250 points to defend, so her Top Twenty spot is not yet secure, but her odds are looking better.
Singles – Second Round: (2) Roberta Vinci def. Elena Vesnina 2-6 6-1 6-4
Elena Vesnina had all sorts of chances in this two hour match, including the chance to get back the break in the final set. But she has a history of struggling on big points, and in this match, she had a very bad day in that regard. So much for home court advantage! That means she won’t rise above #25 this week, although there isn’t much chance that she will fall. And she will likely get a chance to add points at Sofia.
Singles – Second Round: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. (3) Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-3
When Angelique Kerber withdrew, Maria Kirilenko was promoted into the place of the #1 seed. Not that it did her any good; it merely forced her into an opening match against a fellow Russian who didn’t miss seeding by much. Kirilenko will fall from #16 to #18; Pavlyuchenkova — who is in contention for a spot in Sofia but probably needs to improve her ranking here — will rise from #30 to probably no worse than #27.
Singles – Second Round: Alisa Kleybanova def. (6) Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(7-2) 6-4
A very nice sign for Alisa Kleybanova, who increases her points by more than 50%; she will rise from #254 to around #185. And she earns the first quarterfinal of her comeback. Carla Suarez Navarro is currently #15 in safe points, but with a lot of players below her still having chances to add points this year; we would guess she will end the year a little below that mark.
Singles – Second Round: (8) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 7-5
Svetlana Kuznetsova is making a drive to end the year in the Top Twenty — this takes her to probably #21. But Sofia Arvidsson, who was defending semifinalist points, will fall from #109 to around #130; unless she can do something in a Challenger, she is going to be stuck in Australian Open qualifying.
Doubles – First Round: (3) Dushevina/Parra Santonja def. Garcia/Moulton-Levy 6-3 6-0
Doubles – First Round: (4) Huber/Rosolska def. Buryachok/Kalashnikova 6-2 7-6(7-5)
Doubles – First Round: Pavlyuchenkova/Shvedova def. Kleybanova/Voskoboeva 7-6(7-1) 6-4
Luxembourg
Singles – First Round: Andrea Petkovic def. (7) Eugenie Bouchard 2-6 7-5 6-1
Eugenie Bouchard had to cover a lot of time zones to get here, and she isn’t ranked much above Andrea Petkovic anyway, so this isn’t really much of a surprise. But it means that Bouchard will end the year at a ranking no better than her current #32. She might earn an Australian Open seed, but she will probably have to play the first week of 2014 to be sure of it.
Singles – First Round: Tereza Smitkova def. Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 6-1
A huge upset — more than 200 places separate these two. It has been a very bad end to what had started out as a good year for Kristina Mladenovic. She will end up somewhat below #45.
Singles – Second Round: Annika Beck def. (5) Lucie Safarova 6-2 4-6 6-4
And so ends a rather disappointing season for Lucie Safarova, who will be somewhat below the Top 25. Annika Beck is now about 80 points from the Top Fifty.
Singles – Second Round: (8) Bojana Jovanovski def. Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1 6-4
Bojana Jovanovski appears now to have clinched a year-end Top Forty spot.
Singles – Second Round: Katarzyna Piter def. Yanina Wickmayer 3-6 6-1 6-4
This is clearly turning into the best month of Katarzyna Piter’s career, with a second round at Linz last week, and now this. She ought to rise to around #125. Yanina Wickmayer will end the year right around #60.
Doubles – First Round: (1) Petrova/Srebotnik def. Daniilidou/Krunic 6-3 6-3
This has been a lost year for Nadia Petrova, who will end it below #100. But she obviously made it through this, which presumably means she will be able to play the doubles in Istanbul. So at least she gets a consolation prize.
Doubles – First Round: Dabrowski/Watson def. Slater/South 6-4 7-5
Doubles – First Round: Dekmeijere/McHale def. (WC) Minella/Voegele 2-6 6-3 10-4
Doubles – First Round: Raymond/Hercog def. Hsieh/Hsieh 6-2 6-7(5-7) 10-7
Doubles – Quarterfinal: Barrois/Thorpe def. Bogdan/Torro-Flor 6-4 6-3
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
This Week’s Movers — Women
Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.
Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)
Leader: Kurumi Nara — Moved 14 places, from #87 to #73.
Nara, who needed a wildcard to get into Osaka, shocked everyone by reaching the semifinal.
Runner-Up: Barbora Zahlavova Strycova — Moved 13 places, from #108 to #95
Zahlavova Strycova qualified for Osaka and made the quarterfinal.
Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)
Leader: Nara, cut ranking 16%
Runner-Up: Polona Hercog — Moved 10 places, 13%, from #79 to #69
Helped by a walkover over Sabine Lisicki, Hercog made the Osaka quarterfinal.
Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)
Loser: Heather Watson — Dropped 41 places, from #92 to #133
Last year’s Osaka winner has been injured and ineffective this year.
Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)
Loser: Watson, ranking increased 45%.
Ranking Notes
As you can see, it was a pretty quiet week in terms of upward moves. Not only did we not have any player rise as much as 20%, we have only five who rose as much as 10%: Nara (16%), Hercog (13%), Ana Ivanovic (13%, to #15), Zahlavova Strycova (12%), and Camila Giorgi (11%, to #93). Watson gave us one huge downward mover, but the only other player to fall more than 17% was Julia Goerges, who lost 29% (to #76).
Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”
These are subjective picks!
There isn’t much to choose from this week, so we’ll go with Nara as the biggest percentage mover (and biggest surprise).
KEYWORDS: Movers Women Nara
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE WTA:
Moscow (Premier/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Caroline Wozniacki
Luxembourg (International/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Venus Williams
NEXT WEEK ON THE WTA:
Istanbul (Championships/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Serena Williams
************ STATS AND FACTS ************
**RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of October 16, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank….Name…………..Points
1..(1) SWilliams ………12040
2..(2) Azarenka ………..7676
3..(3) Sharapova ……… 5891
4..(4) ARadwanska ………5890
5..(5) Li ……………..5120
6..(7) Kvitova ……….. 4315
7..(6) Errani ………….4190
8..(8) Jankovic ………..3860
9.(10) Kerber ………….3715
10..(9) WOZNIACKI ……… 3350*
11.(12) STEPHENS ………..3185*
12.(13) Bartoli ……….. 3172
13.(11) VINCI …………. 3170*
14.(15) LISICKI ……….. 2830*
15.(17) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2735
16.(18) Halep …………. 2685
17.(14) IVANOVIC ………..2675*
18.(16) KIRILENKO ……… 2611
19.(20) FLIPKENS ………..2495
20.(19) STOSUR ………….2320*
21.(23) KUZNETSOVA ………2261*
22.(22) Cirstea ……….. 2170
23.(21) CIBULKOVA ……… 2076
24.(24) Makarova ………..2066
25.(25) VESNINA ……….. 1960
26.(30) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1810*
27.(26) CORNET ………….1790*
28.(27) Hampton ……….. 1781
29.(28) SAFAROVA ………..1775
30.(29) KANEPI ………….1752
**DRAWS
Moscow — Week of October 15
……………….QF
3 Kirilenko……..Pavlyuchenkova
9 Cibulkova
5 Halep
6 Suarez Navarro…Kleybanova
7 Stosur
4 Ivanovic
8 Kuznetsova……(8)Kuznetsova
2 Vinci………..(2)Vinci
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Kerber………..WITHDREW
2 Vinci
3 Kirilenko……..lost 2R (Pavlyuchenkova)
4 Ivanovic
5 Halep
6 Suarez Navarro..lost 2R (Kleybanova)
7 Stosur
8 Kuznetsova
9 Cibulkova…….lost 1R (Dolonc)
Luxembourg — Week of October 15
…………….QF
1 Wozniacki
8 Jovanovski….(8)Jovanovski
3 Lisicki
7 Bouchard
5 Safarova……Beck
4 Flipkens……Piter(Q)
6 Barthel
2 Stephens
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Wozniacki
2 Stephens
3 Lisicki
4 Flipkens…..lost 1R (Piter)
5 Safarova…..lost 2R (Beck)
6 Barthel……lost 1R (Voegele)
7 Bouchard…..lost 1R (Petkovic)
8 Jovanovski
******** SCORES ********
WEDNESDAY
Moscow
Singles – First Round
(7) Samantha Stosur def. Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-1
Singles – Second Round
(2) Roberta Vinci def. Elena Vesnina 2-6 6-1 6-4
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. (3) Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-3
Alisa Kleybanova def. (6) Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(7-2) 6-4
(8) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 7-5
Doubles – First Round
(3) Dushevina/Parra Santonja def. Garcia/Moulton-Levy 6-3 6-0
(4) Huber/Rosolska def. Buryachok/Kalashnikova 6-2 7-6(7-5)
Pavlyuchenkova/Shvedova def. Kleybanova/Voskoboeva 7-6(7-1) 6-4
Luxembourg
Singles – First Round
Andrea Petkovic def. (7) Eugenie Bouchard 2-6 7-5 6-1
Tereza Smitkova def. Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 6-1
Singles – Second Round
Annika Beck def. (5) Lucie Safarova 6-2 4-6 6-4
(8) Bojana Jovanovski def. Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1 6-4
Katarzyna Piter def. Yanina Wickmayer 3-6 6-1 6-4
Doubles – First Round
(1) Petrova/Srebotnik def. Daniilidou/Krunic 6-3 6-3
Dabrowski/Watson def. Slater/South 6-4 7-5
Dekmeijere/McHale def. (WC) Minella/Voegele 2-6 6-3 10-4
Raymond/Hercog def. Hsieh/Hsieh 6-2 6-7(5-7) 10-7
Doubles – Quarterfinal
Barrois/Thorpe def. Bogdan/Torro-Flor 6-4 6-3
Topics: 10sballs, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Vesnina, Eugenie Bouchard, Kaia Kanepi, Li Na, Maria Kirilenko, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Roberta Vinci, Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka, Wta