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Wickmayer Wins Washington Two Times

Posted by Admin on July 25, 2016
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Wickmayer Wins Washington Two Times
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

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Yanina Wickmayer (Photo: Christopher Levy, @Tennis_Shots)

Yanina Wickmayer won’t soon forget her 2016 trip to Washington. Almost 24 hours after winning the Citi Open doubles title with Monica Niculescu of Romania, she prevailed in straight sets in the singles final against Lauren Davis, 6-4, 6-2.

Thefinal was sparsely attended, as a result of the intense heat in Washington, where fans had just sweated through an ATP final of over two hours and a long trophy presentation.

Wickmayer got the early break in the first, but Davis hung on after that, resulting for a 6-4 finish. In the second, Wickmayer raced out to a 3-0 lead while looking the worse of the two as far as exhaustion. She stalled for time, walking deliberately slowly, and at one point took a rather long break to speak to the chair about having a ball kid get a trash can in case she needed to vomit.

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Yanina Wickmayer (Photo: Christopher Levy, @Tennis_Shots)

The sprightly Davis attempted to take advantage of the situation, as she naturally should. She broke Wickmayer at 1-5 and  it was just a matter of whether Wickmayer had a service game left in her. She did, and swept Washington in the process. Throughout the week, she beat Madison Brengle, Shuai Zhang, Kiki Mladenovic and Yulia Putintseva to reach the final.

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Lauren Davis Had a Tremendous Week

Davis had an amazing week, taking out Shelby Rogers, Monica Puig, Camila Giorgi and Jessica Pegula to reach her first WTA tour level final. She told Tennis Atlantic that she wants to end 2016 in the top 50 or 60. She was ranked #122 last week, but has now moved up to #104 in the rankings. It could happen if she keeps playing the way she did in D.C.

 

 

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.@CitiOpen Finalist @WickyTennis Looks for Title Number Five

Posted by Admin on July 23, 2016
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Citi Open Finalist Yanina Wickmayer Looks For Title Number Five
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

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WASHINGTON (July 23)—Yanina Wickmayer broke early in the first and second set before a small crowd in brutal heat at Citi Open in Washington today to advance to tomorrow’s WTA final, 6-4, 6-2 over Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva had three double faults and no aces and found herself down 5-1 to Wickmayer in the first before breaking back and hitting 4 aces in the final four games. Wickmayer held on to hold serve when it mattered most, at 5-4.

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Though clearly in an early match haze, Putintseva seemed composed by the end of the first, and there were expectations that the match would tighten up. After a long first service game by Putintseva to begin the second set, Wickmayer came up with the break and was not letting Putintseva back in this one. Putintseva only managed to win about 20% of her return points. That’s not good enough to advance to a final.

Wickmayer will face either American Jesse Pegula or American Lauren Davis in tomorrow’s final, so she won’t be a crowd favorite. Her title match experience and four titles will make her a prohibitive favorite to become the 2016 Citi Open Women’s Champion.

 

 

Freaky Friday @CitiOpen as Top Seeds Lose

Posted by Admin on July 22, 2016
Posted in: ATP, Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Freaky Friday at Citi Open as Top Seeds Lose
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

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Fridays can be a little sad at a tennis tournament. You notice the almost-bare practice courts, fewer players passing by, and mostly, less fans zigging and zagging their way through the grounds en route to a match on a far-flung court. Everyone, it seems, is now inside the Stadium and Grandstand watching a limited number of matches of paramount importance.

Well, this Friday had a few surprises on the court. Freaky Friday, as it were.

The women were relegated and cursed to spend all match eternity away from Stadium Court, and so they battled it out on Grandstand 1. Top men’s seed John Isner fizzled on Stadium, and you could feel the hot winds of change blowing through the Washington tournament.

Top Seed Sam Stosur felt the freak the hardest, as she was stunned by Jessica Pegula in straight sets. Pegula survived a first set tiebreak before going into Beast Mode in the second, and the former US Open champion was reduced to rubble, 7-6(4), 6-3, by the #173-ranked Pegula, who moves on to face….

Lauren Davis?

That’s right. The #122, who told me yesterday that she wanted to be in the top 50 at year’s end, sure sounds prescient now after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Camila Giorgi. She’s on a mission.

Yanina Wickmayer was the first on to the semis today, with a turnaround 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kiki Mladenovic in 2:11 under sunny skies in 91-degree heat. Wickmayer went on to play doubles after the win. And she won again, telling me that the conditions weren’t the worst she’d seen. “We have”, she replied. “A lot of times it is humid and hot conditions and that’s just how it is. I guess it’s for both of us. Your opponent has to deal with the same conditions. We just have to hang in there and stay positive.”

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Wickmayer (Photo: @Tennis_Shots, Christopher Levy)

Awaiting Wickmayer will be Yulia Putintseva, a winner over Risa Ozaki in straights, 6-4, 6-2 in 86 torturous minutes. Putintseva, who hit a career high ranking of 35 in June, is playing excellent stateside tennis in 2016. Wickmayer has a 1-0 head to head with Putintseva.

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Putintseva !

 

As far as I am concerned, this will be the real final. Although Poots has never won a WTA tour title and Wickmayer has four, these are solid top 50 players, unlike the participants in the other semifinal, the all-American one, who hope to break the top 100.

Everyone in the business of making money on this tournament wanted Sloane against Sam for the final. The television ratings, the re-tweets! It would’ve been great. I would call what they have on their hands a small marketing disaster, except for the fact that tournament organizers here have never really cared nearly as much about the women’s event for it to count as a disaster. Some hopes are raised as an all-American semifinal between Pegula and Davis tomorrow night will guarantee an American a spot in Sunday’s final.

With just 4 WTA titles combined among the semifinalists all belonging to Wickmayer, this ‘disaster’ also represents an opportunity for three young women to come away with a maiden title. Where were you when Jessica Pegula won her first WTA title? And where will you be when Poots or Davis nabs hers?

You might be in Washington.

Stosur, Wozniacki, Wickmayer Advance @CitiOpen In Rain-Delayed Session

Posted by Admin on July 18, 2016
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Stosur, Wozniacki, Wickmayer Advance at  Citi Open In Rain-Delayed Session
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

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#1 Seed Sam Stosur

WASHINGTON (June 18)—Sam Stosur came out swinging today under the Washington sun. She won 91% of her first-service points against Alla Kudryavtseva in a 6-3, 6-0, 57-minute breezer and the #1 seed sent a message. “I’m off to a great start here, but the conditions are so different from where I’ve just come” she said.  As she said that, a heavy wind gust hit the media center and rocked the interview tent. And as soon as the press conference was over, a heavy rain hit the grounds.  The #1 seed, Stosur will now face Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.

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#7 Seed Wickmayer Didn’t Disappoint

Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer is playing some of her best tennis right now, and she dispatched an always difficult first round opponent in Madison Brengle, who hails from Delaware just two hours away.

“For me, it was tough in the beginning to hang in there to keep fighting for every point,” Wickmayer told Tennis Atlantic in an exclusive interview after the match. “She makes you work hard, so I just tried to stay focused, to stay positive and try to play as aggressively as I could and I think I did that well, especially in the second set. I served well and I think I put a lot of pressure on her game.”

She’ll meet Shuai Zhang on Wednesday.

Those two matches, which started at 1:50 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively, were the only tennis at Citi Open until after 7:00 p.m. after the rain finally relented.

In the second half of the rain-segmented day, Shuai Zhang dispatched fellow countrywoman and Lucky Loser Lin Zhu, 7-5, 6-4. Later, Jessica Pegula walloped Aleksandra Wozniak 6-2, 6-2. That hit she took before the match with the other Woz, Caroline, apparently did the Canadian little good. For Caro, she whisked past Hiroko Kuwata, 6-1, 6-1 in one hour and will compete in the marquee 2nd round match-up of this tournament when she takes on Sam Stosur on Wednesday.

Qualifying Faves Advance @NewHavenOpen; Monday Night of Champions, Order of Play, Results #NHO13

Posted by Admin on August 17, 2013
Posted in: New Haven Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Qualifying Favorites Advance to Main Draw @NewHavenOpen; Monday Night of Champions #NHO13

Yanina Wickmayer

Yanina Wickmayer

The weather was stunning for mid-August in Connecticut, and the favorites carried Saturday at the New Haven Open. Yanina Wickmayer, Alison Riske, Ayumi Morita, Elina Svitolina, Mariana Duque-Marino, Anna Schmiedlova, Annika Beck, Karin Knapp, Stefanie Voegele, Yaroslava Shvedova, Monica Puig, Caroline Garcia all advanced to qualifying finals. Tomorrow, that’s right, tomorrow, as in Sunday, kicks off main draw action. Sabine “Boom-Boom” Lisicki is on the marquee.

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But Monday will be the whole Enchilada. It’s been dubbed as Champion’s Night by tournament organizers, and it is unprecedented. How many tourneys do you see where the top seeds don’t hit the courts until Wednesday, nearly halfway through the marathon? Not in New Haven, honey. Monday’s day session will feature Sloane Stephens, but Monday night will find you back-to-back matches featuring 4X Champ Caroline Wozniacki and 2012 Title Taker Petra Kvitova.

Alison Riske

Alison Riske

NEW HAVEN OPEN AT YALE PRESENTED BY FIRST NIAGARA – NEW HAVEN, USA
$ 690,000.00
AUGUST 16 – AUGUST 24, 2013

RESULTS – AUGUST 17, 2013 Women’s Qualifying Singles – Second Round
Qualifying – E Svitolina (UKR) d J Cepelova (SVK) 63 63
Qualifying – A Beck (GER) d F Pennetta (ITA) 36 62 00 Retired
Qualifying – S Voegele (SUI) d A Cadantu (ROU) 62 60
Qualifying – M Puig (PUR) d S Arvidsson (SWE) 62 52 Retired
Qualifying – A Morita (JPN) d A Medina Garrigues (ESP) 63 62
Qualifying – Y Wickmayer (BEL) d O Puchkova (RUS) 36 61 63
Qualifying – K Knapp (ITA) d [WC] A Mueller (USA) 36 76(0) 62
Qualifying – C Garcia (FRA) d T Pironkova (BUL) 67(5) 76(2) 63
Qualifying – A Riske (USA) d I Begu (ROU) 26 76(2) 62
Qualifying – M Duque-Marino (COL) d A Hlavackova (CZE) 75 75
Qualifying – A Schmiedlova (SVK) d S Zhang (CHN) 64 63
Qualifying – Y Shvedova (KAZ) d Y Duan (CHN) 76(6) 64

USONP
Men’s Singles
Championship – Quarterfinals
[1] J Dadamo (USA) d D Gooch (RSA) 62 64
M Pecotic (CRO) d [3] P Daciek (USA) 63 62]
[4] C Boyce (USA) d E Orkin (USA) 63 62
T Larson (USA) d A Ball (USA) 62 63

USONP Women’s Singles
Championship – Quarterfinals
[1] M Hibi (JPN) d M Okruashvili (GEO) 62 61
[2] N Melichar (USA) d K Mckenna (USA) 64 63
L Graff (USA) d [3] N Kukharchuk (RUS) 67(3) 64 61
[4] P Porter (USA) d M Kelley (USA) 62 64

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013
STADIUM start 11:00 am
Qualifying – A Beck (GER) vs K Knapp (ITA) – WTA
Qualifying – M Puig (PUR) vs C Garcia (FRA) – WTA

Not Before 2:00 PM
[7] S Lisicki (GER) vs K Mladenovic (FRA) – WTA
N Grandin (RSA) / D Jurak (CRO) vs [2] A Medina Garrigues (ESP) / K Srebotnik (SLO) – WTA

GRANDSTAND start 12:30 pm
Qualifying – M Duque-Marino (COL) vs A Morita (JPN) – WTA
Qualifying – A Riske (USA) vs Y Wickmayer (BEL) – WTA
S Aoyama (JPN) / A Klepac (SLO) vs I Begu (ROU) / O Govortsova (BLR) – WTA

COURT 1 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – E Svitolina (UKR) vs A Schmiedlova (SVK) – WTA
Qualifying – S Voegele (SUI) vs Y Shvedova (KAZ) – WTA

Not Before 2:00 PM
H Chan (TPE) / J Husarova (SVK) vs L Hradecka (CZE) / K Zakopalova (CZE) – WTA

COURT 3 start 12:00 noon
L Graff (USA) vs [2] N Melichar (USA) – USONP
[4] C Boyce (USA) vs M Pecotic (CRO) – USONP
[1] M Hibi (JPN) vs [4] P Porter (USA) – USONP
[1] J Dadamo (USA) vs T Larson (USA) – USONP

—S. Fogleman

Family Circle Cup: Yanina, We’d Hardly Seen Ya #FCC2012

Posted by Admin on April 5, 2012
Posted in: Charleston, Family Circle Cup, WTA. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Wicky went out with a whimper yesterday

One of the personal disappointments of the week was Yanina Wickmayer’s relatively brief stay in the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. Way back when, a prediction was made on this blog that she was our dark horse for the tournament. After an impressive win over Vania King on Tuesday, Wickmayer bowed out to Yaroslav Shvedova yesterday. So it is Shvedova who will face Sabine Lisicki today instead. Maybe next year, Yanina. Expect to see her in the top 10 in the next couple of years.

Here’s practice video from Tuesday.

 

Family Circle Cup: Early Predictions #FCC2012 @FamilyCircleCup

Posted by Admin on March 26, 2012
Posted in: Charleston, Family Circle Cup. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Marion Bartoli

Seven of the women playing today in the Sony Ericsson Sweet 16 are headed to Charleston next week for the Family Circle Cup. Of the Charleston top seeds, only Vera Zvonareva, Jelena Jankovic and Julia Goerges have been eliminated from contention in Miami. Zvonareva looked terrible in a career-low loss to Muguruza-Blanco and Jankovic lost to Mona Barthel last week after having been bounced from Indian Wells two weeks earlier by Jamie Hampton. At least Julia Goerges doesn’t have to hang her head low after suffering defeat from Kim Clijsters in Key Biscayne.  Based on their most recent past performances, we’re definitely not picking Bepa or Jelena in our Family Circle Cup bracket.

It’s early, but I’d look for a Sony Ericsson semi-finalist to win it all in Charleston. Too often the winner (or finalist) of a two-week tournament is too weakened to make another run to raise a second consecutive trophy. 

Wicky is our Wild Card Picky

Sam Stosur, Marion Bartoli and Agnieszka Radwanska should all be able to make deep runs at Charleston given their recent play. Our wild card will be Yanina Wickmayer. She’s had her ups and downs of late, but it is good to see her playing in the second week of a tournament for the first time in a long time. Besides, she could put those 470 WTA points for the winner to the best use of all the contenders. 

The main draw selection show for Family Circle Cup will be covered at this site and tweeted @TennisEastCoast next Saturday from 3:00 p.m. EDT on the Grand Lawn of the Family Circle Tennis Center.