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WTA Abu Dhabi Daily Preview: The Singles and Doubles Semifinals

Published

3 years ago

12/01/2021

Maria Sakkari will return to the top 20 with a win on Tuesday (twitter.com/WTA)

Aryna Sabalenka is two matches away from her third consecutive WTA tour title. But standing in her way in today’s semifinals is Maria Sakkari, who has defeated two Major champions over the last two days.

The other singles semifinal features two unseeded, up-and-coming youngsters, who are both looking to reach their first career WTA final. In the doubles semifinals, the reigning US Open champions face last summer’s Lexington champions, and last year’s St. Petersburg champs take on the Australian Open singles champion and the Australian No.2, who are teaming together for the first time.

Aryna Sabalenka (4) vs. Maria Sakkari (9)

No one is hotter on tour than Sabalenka, who is on a 13-match winning streak. This run includes wins over Victoria Azarenka, Elise Mertens, and Elena Rybakina, who she defeated yesterday in three sets. However, no one has been more impressive this week than Sakkari, who in the last two rounds took out Sofia Kenin and Garbine Muguruza. Against Kenin yesterday, Sakkari claimed the last 10 games, and won 24 of 31 points in the third set. After yesterday’s match, Maria told the WTA that she connects her recent results with taking a bit of pace of her shots, as she was previously hitting too hard and struggling to control her power. Sabalenka and Sakkari have met four times over the last 18 months, all on hard courts. Sakkari won the first meeting two Augusts ago in Cincinnati, though Sabalenka has taken the last three. Even though Sakkari has already defeated two top 15 players in this tournament, her power game may be outdone by that of Sabalenka’s. While Sakkari is the better mover, overpowering an in-form Sabalenka is a tall task.

Veronika Kudermetova vs. Marta Kostyuk

Yesterday, 23-year-old Kudermetova defeated Elina Svitolina for the second consecutive time. Impressively, the Russian is now 5-3 against top 10 opposition. Her opposition today is currently ranked 99^th in the world, but Kostyuk made a splash three years ago at the Australian Open. The then-15-year-old came through qualifying to reach the third round in Melbourne, the youngest player to do so since Martina Hingis. The WTA has a great profile on Kostyuk here, which outlines the pressure the Ukranian felt after achieving success at such a young age. But after turning 18 last summer, Kostyuk is focused on letting that pressure go and focusing on the process rather than the results. Prior to this week, Marta only had two main-draw, tour-level wins, which occurred at the 2020 US Open, where she was narrowly defeated by eventual champion Naomi Osaka. This will be Kudermetova and Kostyuk’s first career meeting. The 38^th-ranked Kudermetova is the highest-ranked player Kostyuk has faced in this event, while Veronika has already taken down two top 10 seeds. When vying to reach your first WTA final, experience in high-profile matches is crucial, which makes Kudermetova the favorite on Tuesday.

Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:

Hayley Carter and Luisa Stefani (8) vs. Laura Siegemund and Verz Zvonareva. Carter and Stefani are an impressive 18-5 since last August. Siegemund and Zvonareva won the US Open in September, which was also their first event together as a team. They are 9-1 during their short stint together.

Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (5) vs. Sofia Kenin and Ajla Tomljanovic. The team from Japan have now reached three semifinals in their last four events, but have not advanced farther. Kenin and Tomljanovic have only dropped one set this week in their first tournament as a team.

Full order of play is here.

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Sara Errani comes back from one set down to beat Caroline Wozniacki in Madrid

Published

19 hours ago

25/04/2024

sampaolo

Former Roland Garros finalist Sara Errani came back from one set down to beat Caroline Wozniaki 3-6 7-5 7-5 in 2 hours and 48 minutes in the first round of the Madrid Mutua Open.

Wozniacki reached the Madrid final in its inaugural edition in 2019. Errani advanced to the semifinal at the Spanish tournament in 2021.

Errani set up a second round match against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. The Italian player leads 3-1 in her four head-to-head matches against her Brazilian opponent.

Errani, who is now ranked world number 100, reached her first semifinal since 2017 in Bogotà last April. She won three matches before losing to eventual champion Camila Osorio. Errani came through the qualifying round in Stuttgart and Madrid.

Wozniacki broke twice in the the third and fifth games to take a 4-1 lead. Errani pulled one break back in the sixth game for 2-4 in the sixth game. Wozniacki earned her third break to take a 5-2 lead. Errani broke back in the eighth game for 3-5. Wozniacki closed out the first set 6-3 with her fourth break.

Errani broke serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. The 2012 Roland Garros finalist missed out on three set consecutive points at 5-4 and was broken from 40-0 up. Errani converted her fourth set point at 6-5 to send the match to the decider.

Both players traded breaks en route to 5-5, but Errani hit a backhand to earn her fourth break of the set to take a 6-5 lead. Errani served out the win on her second match point to clinch the second win in her sixth career head-to-head match against Wozniacki.

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Ex-No.2 Paula Badosa Vows To Continue Career Despite Back Injury

Published

1 day ago

24/04/2024

Adam Addicott

Paula Badosa says she will fight to prolong her career as a tennis player after doctors told her that ‘it would be complicated’ to continue playing.

The former world No.2 suffered a stress fracture in her back last year and continues to be affected by the issue. Due to the injury, she ended her 2023 season after Wimbledon and has already retired from matches three times on the Tour this season due to health issues. Although not all of those retirements were directly linked to her back problem. Her latest retirement was at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she managed to take a set off Aryna Sabalenka before having to call it quits in the decider.

Speaking to reporters in Madrid on Tuesday, Badosa confirmed that doctors have told her that she may need to have cortisone shots in order to continue playing tennis. Something the tennis star is still trying to get to grips with.

“I cried a lot and I’m still crying sometimes when I hear that and when I have talks with the doctors,” she said.
“But at the same time, I have this personality, this character that it’s like, ‘I will still get through it, I will still keep fighting’. I’m like that, I’m a little bit stubborn. But I think maybe that in this case can help.”

Badosa has won three WTA titles so far in her career with her best Grand Slam performance being a run to the quarter-finals of the 2021 French Open. She qualified for the 2021 WTA Finals where she reached the semi-final stage.

“Sometimes you just don’t want to accept what the doctor says and you’re like, ‘For sure they’re making a mistake’. I just try to stay positive,” she continued.
“There are some days that I wake up and I’m not feeling that well and I ask myself, ‘Is this worth it?'”

Badosa has undergone four hours of treatment every day heading into this week’s Madrid Open where she will play qualifier Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round. Maniero recently broke into the world’s top 100 and won the biggest title of her career at a Turkish WTA 125 event earlier this year.

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Anastasia Potapova beats Diana Schnaider to reach the second round in Madrid

Published

2 days ago

24/04/2024

sampaolo

Anastasia Potapova beat Diana Schnaider 7-5 6-4 to reach the second round at the Madrid Mutua Open.

Potapova earned an early break in the first game and held serve at love to take a 2-0 lead. Schnaider, who won a WTA Tour title in Hin Hin, saved a break point in the third game. Schnaider broke back in the 10^th game to draw level to 5-5. Potapova broke for the second time in the 11^th game and served out at 15 in the 12^thgame.

Potapova converted her third break point in the first game of the second set. Schnaider broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Potapova saved five break points in the sixth game to hold serve before breaking in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Schnaider broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Potapova broke for the third time in the ninth game and sealed the win on her first match point.

Wang Xiyu came back from one set down to beat Ana Bogdan 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2. Wan Xiyu set up a second round match against Iga Swiatek.

Wang Xiyu broke serve in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. The Chinese converted her sixth break point in the sixth game to open up a 5-1 lead. Bogdan pulled both breaks back to draw level to 5-5. Wang Xiyu opened up a 5-2 lead. Bogdan won five consecutive points to seal the tie-break 7-5. Wang Xiyu broke serve at 15 in the first game and held serve at 15 to open up a 2-0 lead. Bogdan broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Wang Xiyu saved a match point in the 10^th game. Wang Xiyu went up a mini-break, but Bogdan pulled back on serve both times. Wang Xiyu won the final three points to seal the tie-break 7-4.

Wang Xiyu went up a 4-0 lead with two breaks in the third game. Bogdan pulled one of the two breaks back in the sixth game. Wang Xiyu broke serve in the eighth game on her second match point.

Karolina Schmiedlova beat Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-4. Schmiedlova broke serve at love in the second game and held serve to 30 to open up a 3-0 lead. Schmiedlova served out the first set 6-3 after saving two break points in the ninth game.

Schmiedlova broke serve at love in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Kenin broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2 lead. Schmiedlova broke at love in the eighth game before saving three break points to take a 5-3 lead. The Slovakian player served out the win on her first match point.