Tough day at Strasbourg sees tiebreakers aplenty
DAY three of the Internationaux de Strasbourg saw the beginning of the Round of 16, with the two top seeds of the day in second seed Elina Svitolina and fifth seed Elena Rybakina heading through to the quarter finals. Qualifier Zhang Shuai and Jil Teichmann joined the duo in the next round after respective wins, […]
Horror day on clay for US as seeds stumble ahead of Roland Garros
IF you were a United States fan turning in to watch your competitors run around on the clay at the Strasbourg International, then by the end of the first round you would have been deeply disappointed. All five American hopes were bundled out in the first round, including seeds Amanda Anisimova and Sloane Stephens. Both […]
Thigh injury ends Pliskova’s Rome run as Halep claims title
WORLD number two Simona Halep has had the perfect lead-up to Roland Garros by claiming her first Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a win over an injured Karolina Pliskova. The Romanian was announced the winner after Pliskova was forced to retire early in the second set with a thigh injury. In her third Rome final – […]
Top two seeds in Halep and Pliskova to do battle for Rome title
TWO huge battles were the talk of the town at the WTA Tour’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia, fittingly seeing the top two seeds in Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova proceed into the final. With two seeded battles going ahead, neither player got away with easy wins although Pliskova certainly came away with the quicker victory. Halep […]
Clay court stars book final four spots in Rome
TWO Roland Garros champions, last year’s runner-up and a regular performer on clay have all won their respective quarters finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Top two seeds, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova advanced through to the semi-finals, to now take on their respective opponents, Garbine Muguruza and Marketa Vondrousova who also booked impressive wins. […]
Putintseva survives against Rybakina in come-from-behind all-Kazakh triumph
YULIA Putintseva has stunned the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a remarkable come-from-behind victory over fellow Kazakh, Elena Rybakina. The world number 30 faced a 4-6 2-5 deficit against the world number 18 and 10th seed, but found a way to fight back and win 4-6 7-6 6-2 to book her spot in the quarter finals. […]
Clay courters continue run as Berrettini last Italian standing in quarter finals
MATTEO Berrettini was the sole Italian to win his third round match after a record four players from the home nation made their way through to the final 16 at the Rome Masters. Berrettini indeed ended the run of one of them, knocking off compatriot Stefano Travaglia in two tiebreakers, 7-6 7-6. The first tiebreaker […]
Kenin outclassed by relentless Azarenka
A HUGE upset was the story of the day at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, with third seed Sofia Kenin going down in straight sets to in-form Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. While Azarenka has been in excellent form, making two straight finals in New York – winning one by default – it was not the fact that […]
Top seeds return convincingly to Rome International
THE beginning of the Italian Open Round of 32 saw a couple of intriguing results, and while all seeds bar one head through to the Round of 16, there were very little straightforward matches played out. Also on day five, Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams went head to head in a delayed first round match, […]
Muguruza reigns over Stephens despite rain delay, Kerber out in straight sets
THE second day of Internazionali BNL d’Italia Round of 64 action saw just the one seed lose to a lower ranked opposition in what was a fairly predictable end to the first round. Of the four seeds on court, it was former world number one Angelique Kerber who went down to Czech talent Katerina Sinakova […]
