World No.1 Ash Barty May Skip WTA Finals Over ‘Ridiculous’ Conditions, Says Coach - UBITENNIS
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World No.1 Ash Barty May Skip WTA Finals Over ‘Ridiculous’ Conditions, Says Coach

The decision to move the event to Mexico could result is the loss of the wortld No.1.

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2 years ago

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Ashleigh Barty (AUS) celebrates defeating Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) in the fourth round of the Ladies' Singles on No.1 Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 7 Monday 05/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Florian Eisele

The season-ending WTA Finals could take place without the world’s highest ranked player due to the change of venue and its conditions, according to her coach.

 

Ash Barty is the reigning champion of the event, which was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is usually held in the Chinese city of Shenzhen but this year’s edition has been relocated to South America. Earlier this week the WTA confirmed that it will be hosted in Guadalajara, Mexico during the early part of November.

Reacting to the latest development, the mentor of reigning Wimbledon champion Barty has hit out of the new location. Craig Tyzzer has voiced his concern over the decision to use pressure-less balls at the event which will be played at high altitude. Going as far as describing the situation as ‘ridiculous.’

“We only just found out it’s in Mexico at 1500 metres (above sea level) and they’re using pressure-less balls,” Tyzzer told the Australian Associated Press.
“Pressure-less balls absolutely fly. It’s a ball that, if you use it in normal conditions, it doesn’t bounce. It’s not the greatest advertisement for the best girls in the world to be playing something they’ve never done before.’
“In conditions they’ve never played, in a country they don’t play and at altitude, I just feel it’s ridiculous. As a spectacle, it’s just frightening.”

Guadalajara already hosts a WTA 250 event during the first quarter of the season. In this year’s tournament no top 20 players were present in the main draw which was won by Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

Barty is currently taking a break from the Tour following her third round loss at the US Open. Tyzzer said the chances of the world No.1 playing in the WTA Finals is up in the air due to the current travel restrictions in place. When Barty returns to her native Australia she is required to spend two weeks in isolation. Therefore the later she leaves it to go home, the less time she will have to prepare during the off-season.

“Indian Wells (next month) is still on the radar but she just needs a rest. So I told her to just get away and have a holiday,” he said.
“It certainly isn’t easy for us to get there and to play that event in Mexico and then to come back and have to do two (more) weeks (in quarantine) and then your summer is sort of ruined as well. It’s a decision we’ll have to sit and mull over quite a bit.”

So far this season Barty has registered a win-loss record of 42-7 and has won a total of five Tour titles. Besides Wimbledon, she has also triumphed at two Premier Mandatory and two Premier 700 events.

The WTA Finals features the eight highest ranked players in the world with a multi-million dollar prize money pool. This year will be the first time in it’s 49-year history that the tournament will take place in South America before returning to the scheduled home of Shenzhen in 2022.

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Ludmila Samsonova beats Tatjana Maria to reach the second round in Tokyo

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Number 7 seed Liudmila Samsonova cruised past former Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria 6- 0 6-2 in just 62 minutes to reach the second round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Samsonova has extended her lead to 2-0 in her head-to-head matches against Maria. 

 

Samsonova has now all six matches and all 12 sets she has played in Tokyo, where she claimed the fourth title of her career on her debut at this tournament last year. 

Samsonova dropped just three points on her serve and broke three times to take a bagel win in the 25-minute first set. Maria won her first game  of the match before missing two break point chances. Samsonova broke twice in the third and fifth games and held on her serve to close out the second set 6-2. 

This year’s Rome finalist Anhelina Kalinina cruised past Ashlyn Krueger 6-3 6-1. Kalinina ended Krueger’s five match winning streak. Krueger recently won her first WTA title in Osaka.

Kalinina set up a match against Caroline Garcia, who reached the semifinals in Guadalajara. 

Cristina Bucsa cruised past Japanese Rina Raigo 6-1 6-2 with three breaks in the first set and two breaks in the second set. Bucsa will take on number 2 seed Jessica Pegula. 

Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama beat her compatriot Nao Hibino 6-2 6-4 setting up number 1 seed and four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek. Elena Rybakina, 2021 Wimbledon champion, withdrew from the tournament due to illness and has been replaced by Japanese lucky loser Himeno Sakatsume.

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Alexander Zverev beats Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final at the Chengdu Open

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16 hours ago

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25/09/2023

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Alexander Zverev saved all five break points he faced in his 6-3 7-6 (7-2) win over Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final at the Chengdu Open. 

 

Zverev hit 10 aces and four aces in the first set. The German player earned two breaks in the first and ninth games to win the opening set 6-3. 

Zverev saved three break points in the third game of the second set to hold serve at deuce. Both players went on serve in the next games en route to the tie-break. Zverev earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2. 

Zverev improved to 7-1 in his head-to-head matches against Dimitrov. The German player will play the 32nd ATP Tour final of his career and his 21st hardcourt championships match. He is aiming to win his 21st title. He won his only ATP 500 title of the season in his native city Hamburg.  

Earlier this week Zverev beat Pavel Kotov and Miomir Kecmanovic in three sets in his first two matches. 

“For sure it was the best match I have played in Chengdu. Even though I think yesterday’s match was a very high level and Kecmanovic was playing extremely well. I am very happy to be in the final, that’s what I came for and hopefully it’s going to be another high-level match tomorrow”, said Zverev.

 The German player has a record of 45 to 21 this season and is currently seventh in the ATP Race to Turin. 

Zverev will face Roman Safiulin, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-3 to reach his first ATP Tour final. 

The first set went on serve until the sixth game when Safiulin was not able to convert a break point. The Russian player broke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and held his final service game to seal the first set 6-3. 

Musetti fended off a break point in the fifth game of the second set. Safiulin broke serve in a very long eighth game as Musetti hit backhand into the net. 

Safiulin emerged last year at the start of the season and climbed into the top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career. He reached his first quarter final at Grand Slam level at Wimbledon last July. 

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Karen Khachanov beats Sebastian Korda in Zhuhai to reach his first final of the season

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25/09/2023

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Karen Khachanov beat Sebastian Korda 7-5 6-4 in 1 hour and 47 minutes to advance to his first final of the season in Zhuhai. 

 

Khachanov broke in the fifth game at deuce of the opening set to take a 3-2 lead. Korda broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Khachanov earned the crucial break at 5-5 as Korda could not find the net with a drop shot. 

Khachanov went up a 3-0 lead with a double break in the second set. Korda pulled one break back in the sixth game for 2-4. Khachanov won his final two service games to close out the second set 6-4. 

Khachanov improved to 3-2 in his five head-to-head matches against Korda. 

Khachanov was playing just his fourth match since his quarter final at Roland Garros, where he suffered a back injury in his back. He lost in the first round at the US Open, but he won three matches against Alex Bolt, Mackenzie McDonald and Korda. 

Khachanov is chasing his first title since 2018 and the fifth trophy of his career. He won a title on Chinese soil in Chengdu in 2016.  

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