IT was a bit of a mixed bag of results across the WTA Tour’s two grass court events yesterday, with two seeds making their way through in each of the Viking Classic and Bett1Open quarter finals, whilst in the other two matches the underdog prevailed. In Berlin, fifth seed Belinda Bencic advanced through to the final four with a hard-fought three-set win over Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4 4-6 7-6, needing two hours and 31 minutes to dismiss her opponent.
The Swiss star will now face Frenchwoman Alize Cornet who stunned Grand Slam winner and sixth seed Garbine Muguruza in an epic contest, winning in a third set tiebreaker, 7-5. The overall match saw Cornet come from behind to post a 4-6 6-3 7-6 win over the Spanish seed in two hours and 40 minutes to claim her spot in the final four. Cornet won 76.6 per cent of his first serve points and broke twice from her two chances, whilst rallied hard against a solid Muguruza who broke twice form four chances, and won 67.9 and 70 per cent of her first and second serve points.
“It was a long match with a lot of emotion, especially in the tiebreak,” Cornet said post-match. “I can’t believe I made it at the end. She’s a champion, she never gives up. I should have gone for a it a bit more, I was waiting for a mistake and I was a bit tight – it’s normal. But I was very resilient too, I was always behind in the score in the third set but I kept grinding, I kept fighting to the end and it’s a really nice victory.
“I had a really tough clay season, I couldn’t play well and I don’t know why – but to play well on grass, it’s unexpected but beautiful.”
AFTER suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Canada 12 months ago, Italy has transformed from bridesmaid to the bride with a 2-0 victory over Slovakia in the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup overnight. Winning both the singles matches meaning there was no requirement to play the doubles, Italy showed it was the team […]
A TRUE underdog tale is emerging in Malaga with world number 10s Slovakia – expected to essentially make up the numbers coming into the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup Finals – reaching the decider for just the second time in the nation’s history. The small European country – least population of any nation at the […]
IT WAS far from easy for the Italian Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup side, with the reigning runners-up having to overcome a fierce challenge from Poland to books its place in the 2024 final. Having achieved the feat 12 months ago but fallen a win short of ultimate glory, the second ranked side will now […]
Reigning champs out as Brits bounce into BJK Cup semis
A NEW Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup champion will be crowned this week after reigning titleholders Canada were knocked out of the event overnight. Great Britain proved too strong for the North Americans, cruising to a 2-0 result to rubber stamp its entry into the final four and the chance to reach the deciding match. […]
SLOVAKIA proved too strong for reigning semi-finalists Australia in the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup overnight, denying the green and gold a place in the final four. After a tight first singles match, the Europeans easily destroyed Australia in the second with no need for the doubles and a spot in the semi-finals secured. Coming […]
WORLD number two Iga Swiatek is still working back to her best form but the Polish star did what she needed to do against the Czech Republic in order for her nation to reach the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup. Poland got past danger side Czech Republic with Swiatek coming in with […]
COMING off a huge WTA Finals in both the singles and doubles formats, world number four Jasmine Paolini did not slow down when representing her nation in the Billie Jean King Cup overnight. The Italian star steered Italy to a 2-1 victory over Japan, picking up straight sets wins in both the singles and doubles […]
GREAT Britain will have the chance to test itself against world number ones and reigning Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup champion Canada after sweeping Germany in the first round of the BJK Cup Finals overnight. Taking place in Malaga Spain, Great Britain needed just over three hours to secured the victory with a full-strength squad […]
DESPITE bringing a half-strength side to the Billie Jean King Cup, few would have predicted that super power tennis national the United States could not get past Slovakia in the first round of the knockout stage. However that was exactly the case with the world number fives suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to the 10th […]
Stay informed
If you like the content that Draft Central provides and don’t want to miss any of it, then sign up to our subscriber list where you can be emailed out the latest AFL Draft Guide or sport-specific magazines, as well as the option to sign up to a monthly newsletter.