2021 WTA Tour Qatar & Lyon previews
DESPITE losing four Grand Slam winners to-date, the 2021 WTA Tour Qatar Ladies Open still looms as a quality event to take place next week. Top five players, Ash Barty, Simona Halep and Sofia Kenin, as well as US Open winner Bianca Andreescu and Roland Garros runner-up Marketa Vondrosova all withdrew from the 500 tournament, […]
WTA 500 wraps: Barty Party rolls into final as other semi-finalists decided
IT was a massive day at the WTA 500 events as players squeezed in shortened matches to keep the tournaments on track after no play took place on Thursday. The Yarra Valley Classic and Gippsland Trophy semi-finals have been determined, whilst the quarter finalists are known in the Gippsland Trophy. Ash Barty is through to […]
WTA 500 wraps: Czechs fall as other top seeds advance
A HUGE day at Melbourne Park saw all three events – Yarra Valley Classic, Gippsland Trophy and Grampians Trophy – underway, in what was a largely predictable day, though did feature a number of upsets, particularly to top ranked Czechs. In the Yarra Valley Classic, the two top Czech players in the world – Karolina […]
WTA 500 wraps: Ash Barty returns to the court as 2020 Grand Slam champions make their mark
ANOTHER huge day at the two WTA 500 tournaments was had as the Round of 32 continued in the lead up to the Australian Open next week. Ash Barty made a triumphant return to the court at the Yarra Vally Classic for the first time since early 2020, while a number of seeds fell at the Gippsland […]
WTA 500 wraps: Seeds prevail as top players enter draws while Round of 64 continues
IT was a successful day across the board for the top echelon of international talent at both the Yarra Valley Classic and Gippsland Trophy, with just one seed falling at each of the two competitions. Both competitions played both the Round of 32 and 64 in a huge day of action, with plenty of tough […]
2021 Yarra Valley Classic WTA preview: Barty returns in star-studded tournament
WORLD number one Ash Barty will make her return to the WTA Tour after 10 months off, coming in as top seed at the brand new 2021 Yarra Valley Classic. The 54-player event will feature four Top 10 players, and 16 inside the Top 50, in what is expected to be an entertaining week of […]
WTA Abu Dhabi Round of 64 wrap: Top six through without a hitch, young guns also advance
OF the 16 seeds on show in the brand new WTA Abu Dhabi 500 event, 12 reached the second round. Kicking off 2021 in style, the top six seeds advanced without dropping a set, whilst 2020 in-form players, Anett Kontaveit and Jennifer Brady were amongst the seeds to fall in the opening round of play. […]
Is Kazakhstan an underrated tennis nation?
WHEN many think of strong up-and-coming tennis nations, countries such as the United States, Australia, Italy and Russia come to mind, but when it comes to quality over quantity and over both the ATP and WTA Tours, it is hard to discount Kazakhstan as an underrated nation. The country that is best known for the […]
Three of top four Linz seeds through to semis in one-sided day of action
IT was a speedy day of action at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament, with three of the top four seeds all booking their spots in the 2020 WTA Tour semi-finals of the International event. Raging tournament favourite, Aryna Sabalenka is into the last four with the only other two players capable of causing an […]
Seeds prevail in tight clashes to round out Linz Round of 16
THE Round of 16 continued at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz with another mostly predictable day on court as the first, second, fifth and sixth seeds all proceed through to the quarter finals, while Oceane Dodin defeated Sorana Cirstea to be the lowest ranked winner on Day 6. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka blew past Stefanie Voegele to continue her […]