Birrell bolts into Brisbane quarters
NEW AUSSIE number one Kimberly Birrell is in career-best form and producing in her home state, with the German-born Queenslander cracking into double-digit rankings for the first time. The 26-year-old achieved the feat with yet another big win, this time over world number 35 Anastasia Potapova at the Brisbane International. Reaching the biggest quarter final […]
Armenian upset: Avanesyan battles past Badosa in Brisbane
ALMOST 12 months after knocking off Top 10 talent Maria Sakkari at Melbourne Park aligned to Russia, now-Armenian aligned Elina Avanesyan produced an equally eye-catching performance with a three-set victory over former world number three and fourth seed, Paula Badosa to reach the third round of the Brisbane International. A capable player with powerful ground […]
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: All-Russian final set for Ningbo
THOUGH the Japan Open in Osaka got washed out, there was still plenty of semi-finals action taking place across both the WTA and ATP Tours overnight. The WTA 500 final contestants in Ningbo were determined, with an all-Russian duo scheduled for the decider in fifth seed Daria Kasatkina and unseeded teenager Mirra Andreeva winning their […]
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: 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: 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 […]
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 […]
Sabalenka’s winning streak Much-ova
ALL INCREDIBLE things must come to an end, and that was the case overnight as world number two Aryna Sabalenka‘s 15-game winning streak was brought to an abrupt end at the hands of Karolina Muchova. The Czech talent needed a massive two hours and 46 minutes before finally getting past the top seed in the […]
