TENNIS – It has been a bad week for top seeds at the WTA Charleston, but a good one for the youngsters. Three under-21 players have reached the semi-finals at the Family Circle Cup, including No.6 seed Eugenie Bouchard and it’s the first time since 2008 that this happens in a Premier-level tournament. Joshua Bosco
The Canadian player, ranked No.20 in the world, defeated No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic in a three setter to advance to her first Premier semi-final; it’s good news for Bouchard, who was experiencing a slight slump, having won only four matches in four tournaments since reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open earlier this year.
If Bouchard now advances to the final she will pass Sloane Stephens, another young WTA prospect, in the rankings but she’ll have to beat Andrea Petkovic on the way, and it won’t be an easy task for her: the German is in great form this week, having allowed No.4 seed Sabine Lisicki just one game in their third round match and then beating Lucie Safarova in the quarterfinals. Bouchard and Petkovic have met twice in their careers, in 2011 and 2013, with the German leading the Head2Head 2-0.
In the other half of the draw, Serena William’s conqueror Jana Cepelova will play qualifier Belinda Bencic in an “unseeded” semi-final. After beating Serena in the second round, Cepelova battled past No.13 seed Vesnina and No.12 seed Hantuchova to get to the last four, while Bencic got past Elina Svitolina and World No.11 Sara Errani in two three-set matches.
Things haven’t been going well for seeded players in Monterrey either: just four seeds got through the first round and only two of them have reached the semi-finals.
In the bottom half, No.2 & No.3 seeds Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki will play for a place in the final after they both completed three-set wins over their quarterfinal opponents: Ivanovic beat No.6 seed Rybarikova 6-1 0-6 6-2 while Wozniacki fought back from a set down to defeat Karolina Pliskova 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3.
In the top half World No.98 Kimiko Date-Krumm, the oldest player in the Top 100 at 43 years old, will face a player 23 years her junior, Jovana Jaksic, who made her WTA tour debut here in Monterrey last year.
