Dubai Tennis Championships: Carnage everywhere as Kenin, Svitolina and Bencic gone in first round
IN a remarkable day of upsets, three of the top five seeds are out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, including Australian Open winner, Sofia Kenin in her first WTA Tour match since her triumph at Melbourne Park. While she lost to Jelena Ostapenko in the Fed Cup, her last singles match for WTA […]
Dubai Tennis Championships: Jabeur continues 2020 form with win over Riske
A HUGE opening Round of 32 saw a number of upsets occur in the first WTA Premier event of February. The Dubai Tennis Championships welcomed back a familiar face in Kim Clijsters, with the Grand Slam winner returning to the WTA Tour circuit for the second time. While she ultimately ran into Australian Open runner-up […]
Bertens goes back-to-back in St Petersburg
DUTCHWOMAN and second seed, Kiki Bertens pulled no punches in a 6-1 6-3 smacking up-and-coming Kazakhstan talent, Elena Rybakina in the final of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy. The world number eight successfully defended her 2019 title in Russia, holding onto eighth spot and maintaining the gap on her nearest rival – Serena Williams. It […]
St Petersburg Ladies Trophy: Young gun Rybakina makes her third final in 2020, faces reigning champ
REIGNING champion Kiki Bertens will take on rising star, Elena Rybakina in the final of St Petersburg Ladies Trophy after the pair won their respective semi-finals. Rybakina made her way through to her third final of the year with a come-from-behind 3-6 7-5 6-1 victory over sixth seed, Maria Sakkari. Just a day after Sakkari […]
St Petersburg Ladies Trophy: Kvitova pulls out as Sakkari downs Bencic
ILLNESS has forced third seed, Petra Kvitova to forfeit her St Petersburg Ladies Trophy quarter final clash, allowing safe passage for Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova into the semi-finals. It was not the only result where the lower ranked player took home the win, as sixth seed Maria Sakkari bundled out number one seeded Swiss star, Belinda […]
St Petersburg Ladies Trophy: Dodin piles on more pain for sore Konta
JOHANNA Konta‘s winless streak on the WTA Tour stretched into its fifth month, having not won since the fourth round of the US Open last year. Having publicly announced her soreness this year, Konta was bundled out in the first round of Brisbane (Barbora Strycova) and Melbourne Park (Ons Jabeur), then bypassed Fed Cup in […]
St Petersburg Ladies Trophy: Young seeded talents through to next round
A COUPLE of the WTA Tour’s rising stars are through to the Round of 16 after wins in the opening round of action at St Petersburg. The WTA Premier event is the biggest event since the Australian Open for those on the tour, with sixth seed, Maria Sakkari and eighth seed, Elena Rybakina both booking […]
Fed Cup qualifiers wrap: Eight nations book spot in Finals
SIX of the eight seeded nations have booked a spot in the Fed Cup finals following the round’s qualifying action over the weekend. Plenty of top 20 WTA Tour players were running around the courts across the world in a number of tight contests. Fourth seed Germany was the only side to sweep the opponent […]
2020 St Petersburg preview: Past three champions to search for second crown in Russia
THREE former St Petersburg champions will battle it out next week in the first WTA Tour tournament since the conclusion of the Australian Open. Reigning champion, Kiki Bertens will hope to defend the crown against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova who triumphed in 2018. Meanwhile France’s Kristina Mladenovic is also attending the event which has 18 […]
2020 Fed Cup qualifiers preview: Nations load up on star talent
MUCH like the Davis Cup last year, the Fed Cup in 2020 has undergone a revamp with a World Cup-style tournament planned for Budapest in April. In it, 12 nations will compete for the title, with last year’s grand finalists, France and Australia automatically qualifying, as well as host nation Hungary, and wildcard Czech Republic […]