Around the Tours: Chinese teen continues run
CHINESE teenage Qinwen Zheng continued her remarkable run in Melbourne to reach a quarter final at the event. In what was only her fifth main draw match of her career – she made her WTA Tour main draw debut in Palermo last July – she was able to get past the always tough Vera Zvonareva […]
Around the Tours: Barty overruns Coco
WORLD number one Ash Barty produced a strong comeback to put away teenage prodigy Coco Gauff in three sets at the Adelaide International last night. In one of the matches of the day, Gauff took the first set against the rusty Australian, and went 4-2 up seemingly set to advance to the quarter finals. Instead, […]
Around the Tours: Osaka wins tough upon return
JAPANESE star Naomi Osaka has made a winning return to the WTA Tour in Melbourne, getting up in a tight three-set win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. It was the perfect start for Osaka, perhaps not the most dominant of performances, but she blew out the cobwebs and came away with the win. Cornet is a […]
Around the Tour: Hon stuns Kvitova in Adelaide
AUSTRALIAN wildcard Priscilla Hon has taken out Czech star Petra Kvitova in a stunning night match at the Adelaide International. The 263rd ranked Hon was a heavy underdog against the 17th ranked Kvitova and former world number two, but battled hard to run away with the contest in the third set. The 31-year-old Czech is […]
Five WTA Grand Slam winners land in Adelaide
A BLOCKBUSTER top half of the draw for the Adelaide International will see a massive five WTA Grand Slam winners contest for semi-finals spots. Alongside the return of world number one Ash Barty, the likes of Iga Swiatek (fifth seed), Sofia Kenin (sixth seed), Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka have all been placed in the […]
Billie Jean King Cup day one wrap: Day 1 – Canada stuns France as Belgium wins opening tie
CANADA has stunned reigning champions France on the opening day of the Billie Jean King Cup despite being heavily understrength for the clash. The North American nation was without Bianca Andreescu or Leylah Fernandez, but just found a way to topple the world number ones who chose not to use second ranked player Caroline Garcia. […]
WTA Tour Player Focus: Paula Badosa
SPANIARD Paula Badosa is rapidly becoming one of the WTA Tours’ brightest names. Recently crowned as victorious at this years’ Indian Wells tournament, the 23-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise going from a rank of 70 to a career-high of 13 in less than a year. Originally hailing from Begur, Spain, Badosa has garnered comparisons […]
2021 Billie Jean King Cup preview: Group B
AFTER completing our team-by-team previews ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup, Draft Central now focuses the attention on the Group-by-Group previews. Over the next four days we will run through the four groups and who is anticipated to progress, the stars, and the ones to watch in each of the groups. GROUP B TEAMS […]
2021 Billie Jean King Cup nation preview: Australia
THE WTA Tour’s most prestigious team event is less than a month away, and Draft Central is counting down the days until it kicks off by previewing each team individually. Starting with the lowest ranked nation through to the highest one, we take a look at each squad, their fixtures, and what they might be […]
2021 Billie Jean King Cup nation preview: USA
THE WTA Tour’s most prestigious team event is less than a month away, and Draft Central is counting down the days until it kicks off by previewing each team individually. Starting with the lowest ranked nation through to the highest one, we take a look at each squad, their fixtures, and what they might be […]
