WTA

Jelena Ostapenko and Karolina Pliskova reach the quarter finals at Eastbourne

Published

4 years ago

27/06/2018

Last year’s Roland Garros champion and number 5 seed Jelena Ostapenko cruised past Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1 6-2 to reach the quarter final at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

Buzarnescu, who reached the final in Birmingham last week and beat Jelena Ostapenko in Doha last week, received a medical time-out to treat a shoulder injury.

Ostapenko earned her first break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead at deuce. Buzarnescu broke straight back in the third game. Ostapenko went up a double break in the fourth and sixth games to close out the first set 6-1.

Ostapenko went up a double break to open up a 4-1 lead. Buzarnescu pulled one of the breaks back to claw her back to 2-4, but Ostapenko sealed the win with another break and a hold of serve at deuce in the final game to seal the second set 6-2.

Ostapenko hit 24 winners to 17 unforced errors and converted six of her nine break points to set up a quarter final against Agnieszka Radwanska, who received a walkover to advance to the quarter final after Petra Kvitova pulled out of the match due to a harmstring injury.

Ostapenko met Radwanska just once at the 2016 Connecticut Open, where the Pole prevailed in straight sets.

“It was another great match for me. I played well and served well. Some moments were tough because she can can be so solid and not miss anything, but I am very pleased with the game I played today. Buzarnescu has been playing well this season. I played against her in Doha and learned a lot from that match. I prepared well for this one, and tried to play aggressively today”, said Ostapenko.

Ostapenko, who won the Wimbledon Junior title in 2014, lost to five-time champion Venus Williams in two tough sets in the quarter finals at the All England Club.

“It’s my first event on grass this year. I enjoy my time on grass because it’s so nice. I am enjoying my week in Eastbourne and I am looking to my next week”, said Ostapenko.

Defending champion and former world number 1 Karolina Pliskova beat her compatriot Barbora Strycova 6-3 6-4 after surviving a two-set battle.

Pliskova led 3-1 in their previous four head-to-head matches, but Strycova beat her countrywoman at Eastbourne in 2016 and pushed her to three sets at last January’s Australian Open.

Pliskova and Strycova traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games of the first set, but Pliskova reeled off six consecutive games to build up a set and double break lead at 6-3 3-0. Strycova pulled one of the breaks back in the fourth game and earned three break point chances as she was trailing 3-4. Strykova saved two match points and managed to hold her serve at deuce, but Pliskova served out for the match with an ace. Pliskova will face Aryna Sabalenka, who clinched two consecutive upset wins against Julia Goerges and Elise Mertens.

“Even though it was 6-3 6-4, I don’t think it was easy, she played some tricky shots and slices, so it’s always tough on grass. I am glad I got through. I feel much better now tahn last week in Birmingham. I am happy it’s improving match by match. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. I think I can serve better than I did today, but today was enough, so hopefully I can improve. I don’t feel any pressure here because I played a final one year, won the title the next. I feel good at this tournament. Every year I play good tennis. I love to play here and I enjoy the city. People always come to support me, which is amazing. Hopefully I can stay longer”, said Pliskova.

Latest news

Former Finalist Marketa Vondrousova To Miss French Open Following Surgery

The Olympic silver medallist will miss a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in two-and-a-half years.

Published

2 days ago

17/05/2022

Adam Addicott

Image via https://twitter.com/WTA_insider

Czech world No.35 Marketa Vondrousova has pulled out of next week’s French Open after undergoing what she describes as a ‘small surgery.’

Vondrousova, who reached the final at Roland Garros back in 2019, underwent a procedure on her left wrist after experiencing recurring pain. She decided to do so following a medical consultation and will be soon going through rehab. It will be the first Grand Slam event she has missed since the 2019 US Open which she also withdrew from due to a wrist injury.

“The last few weeks were not easy, I have been experiencing recurring pain in my wrist,” Vondrousova wrote in an Instagram post published on Monday. “After seeing a couple of doctors I decided to get this small surgery done to be able to play pain-free.”
“Staying positive through the recovery and can’t wait to be back on the court soon,” she added.

The 22-year-old last played on Tour at the Stuttgart Open where she lost in the first round to Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur. So far this season she has achieved a win-loss record of 13-5 with her best run being to the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships as a qualifier. Vondrousova also reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and defeated Emma Raducanu in the Billie Jean Cup.

A former junior world No.1, Vondrousova has been ranked as high as 14th in the world. So far in her career, she has won just one WTA title which was back in 2017 at the Lugano Open in Switzerland. However, she has reached the final at another four events with the last being at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She has scored a total of six wins over top 10 players.

Another player in doubt for the French Open is defending champion Barbora Krejcikova who hasn’t played a match on the Tour since February. The world No.2 has been sidelined from action due to an elbow injury but remains on the entry list for the Grand Slam which will begin on Sunday.

The French Open draw will take place on Thursday.

Latest news

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina Announces Pregnancy

Tennis’ power couple are set to become parents later this year.

Published

3 days ago

15/05/2022

Adam Addicott

Former world No.3 Elina Svitoliva has announced that she is expecting a baby girl in October on social media.

The 27-year-old made the announcement on Sunday morning with a picture of her and her husband, French tennis star Gael Monfils. Known by some as the sports ‘power couple,’ the two tied the knot last July in Geneva ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games after first going public about their relationship in 2019. They even have their own Instagram account called ‘g.e.m.s. life’ which has more than 139,000 followers.

“With a heart full of love and happiness, we are delighted to announce that we are expecting a baby girl in October,” the couple wrote on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/ElinaSvitolina/status/1525778313918177280

Svitolina hadn’t played on the Tour since losing to Heather Watson at the Miami Open in March after deciding to take time away from the sport due to events happening in her home country. Russia launched a military operation against Ukraine earlier this year which has claimed thousands of lives. Svitolina is one of the sport’s most outspoken players regarding the conflict. She has previously spoken out against the decision to ban Russian and Belarussian athletes from Wimbledon by arguing that they should be allowed to participate if they condemn the actions of their home countries.

“We don’t want them banned completely,” Svitolina told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.
“If players don’t speak out against the Russian government then it is the right thing to ban them.”

Prior to announcing her pregnancy, Svitolina has achieved a win-loss record of 5-8 on the Tour this season with her best runs being to the third round of the Australian Open and the quarter-finals of a WTA event in Monterrey.

During her career, the Ukrainian has won 16 WTA titles and reached the semi-finals of two Grand Slams during 2019.

Latest news

Bianca Andreescu reaches Rome quarterfinals after beating Petra Martic

The Canadian was able to get by her Croatian opponent in straight sets on Thursday afternoon in the Italian capital.

Published

6 days ago

13/05/2022

Elias Laradi

Photo by Roberto Dell’Olivo

Bianca Andreescu is through to the quaterfinals of the Italian Open being played at the Foro Italico in Rome after beating Petra Martic in 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 45 minutes.

The Toronto native served four aces and won 76% of her first serve points in a match that was pretty straight forward for the world number 90 who makes her first quaterfinal this season.

During the first set both players did a good job holding serve and it was pretty tight until 4-4 when the Canadian was able to convert and served out the first set to take a 1-0 lead.

Andreescu was hungry for the early break in the second set and she got it but the Croat broke right back the following game to level the set at 2-2. She was then put on the defensive as the world number 47 started putting pressure on the Canadian but Andreescu was able to save two breakpoints before being able to hold serve to make it 3-3.

The next game Martic produced a poor service game and the 2019 US Open champ took full advantage, getting the break and that one break was enough for her to serve out the match.

Her reward for reaching the quarterfinals a date with the world number one Iga Swiatek who had no issues beating the Minsk native Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-1.

This will be their first ever meeting on the WTA Tour.