WTA Tour winners: Lamens storms to maiden title
DUTCH qualifier Suzan Lamens is officially a WTA Tour title winner after defeating fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell in a comprehensive 72-minute rout at the Japan Open overnight. Lamens had a tournament to remember, with the world number 125 ending up favourite in the final despite being a qualifier, destroying Birrell 6-0 6-4. There was always […]
Around the Tour: Upstaged in Antwerp; upsets galore
THERE was no shortage of upsets across multiple ATP and WTA Tour events overnight, but the major results came in Antwerp where three of the lower ranked players took out the top three seeds. In what was a dismantling day, number one seed Alex de Minaur, number two seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and number three seed […]
Around the Tour: Saito strikes in Osaka
PROMISING Japanese teenager Sara Saito is through to the quarter finals on WTA debut in her home tournament. The 18-year-old and former junior world number two upset talented fifth seed Elina Avanesyan to book her place in the last eight of the WTA Tour Japan Open. Saito had to work hard early, saving two set […]
Around the Tour: Ito crafts third straight upset
ADMITTING she has not got “any power” and she is “skinny”, Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito has made a name for herself in Osaka. The 188th ranked Japanese hope knows where her strengths and weaknesses lie, and focuses on what she can do, rather than she cannot, leading her to a quarter finals appearance in the […]
Around the Tour: Saito strikes on debut in Osaka
JAPANESE teenager Sara Saito had a WTA Tour debut to remember, picking up an upset win over Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in Osaka overnight. The junior girls world number two earned a wildcard into the WTA 250 event and played her first main draw match against the 22-year-old world number 62, coming away with the […]
Around the Tour: Mirra magic as Kenin curbed
IN THE wake of the respective WTA and ATP Tour 1000 events in Wuhan and Shanghai that were won by tournament top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner respectively, a lot of the lower ranked players headed to tournaments across the globe. In today’s Around the Tour, we take a look at the sole 500 […]
Sabalenka shrugs off Zheng for Wuhan three-peat
A RARE three-peat of Wuhan Open titles will feature in world number two Aryna Sabalenka‘s trophy cabinet after the top seed defeated local hope Qinwen Zheng in a hard-fought WTA Tour 1000 final overnight. The Belarusian had her tightest encounter with China’s top player yet, winning 6-3 5-7 6-3 in two hours and 40 minutes. […]
Zheng zips into Wuhan quarters
PROVIDING a local chance in the final four, fifth seed Qinwen Zheng overcame Leylah Fernandez for the first time in three meetings. The Chinese hope has reached the last eight in her past three tournaments, being the US Open, China Open and now Wuhan Open, the latest coming from a huge 5-7 6-3 6-0 triumph […]
Experienced Erika wins battle of the Andreevas
DESPITE being ranked 51 spots lower in the world and only reaching the main draw of the Wuhan Open due to a lucky loser spot, Erika Andreeva crushed younger sister Mirra in the pair’s first ever professional match against one another. Three years her senior, Erika had won 33 of 57 matches coming into Wuhan, […]
Tenacious Tomova fends off match points in Wuhan
BULGARIAN 29-year-old Viktoriya Tomova has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after surving four match points against during a frantic second set tiebreaker to defeat young American Ashlyn Krueger in Wuhan overnight. The WTA Tour 1000 event’s second day saw the world number 48 come back from 3-6 down in the second set tiebreaker […]
