Tennis Frontier

Author: Kiu Kaffi

  • WTA: Week No. 2

    WTA: Week No. 2

    Heather Watson Petra Kvitova

    The second week of the season included a Premier-level event in Sydney, and an International-level event in Hobart. They were the final warm-ups to the Australian Open in Melbourne.

    Our own Correspondent Margaret McAleer watched as Petra Kvitova scored her 15 WTA title in Sydney. She faced fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova in the final and won in two straight tiebreaks, dodging a late surge by Karolina in the second set. Final score: 7-6(5), 7-6(6).

    Kvitova has now scored the most points during the first two weeks of the season, with 590. Currently ranked No. 4, she has an outside chance of becoming No. 1 if she wins the Australian Open, and Serena Williams has an early exit.

    Also, it’s worth noting that Simona Halep withdrew from Sydney due to illness.

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    Click here to discuss the Sydney tournament in the discussion forum.

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    Surprise results came out of a rainy and windy Hobart. Heather Watson became the first British woman in 30 years to score her second WTA title. She overcame a shaky first set to defeat American qualifier Madison Brengle. Final score: 6-3, 6-4. Watson did not drop a set during her run to victory, beating three seeded players, and winning the title on her first match point.

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    Click here to discuss the Hobart tournament in the discussion forum.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis / VOXSPORTSdotNET

  • Roger Federer Joins Elite 1,000 Match Winner Club

    Roger Federer Joins Elite 1,000 Match Winner Club

    Roger Federer

    Today’s final in Brisbane brought Roger Federer the chance to win his 1,000th match. It also meant he could add win his 83rd title — the most of all active players. With a three-set victory over Milos Raonic, Federer earned all of above. He now joins only two other players who have achieved this feat in the Open Era: Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071).

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    Click here to discuss Roger Federer’s Brisbane win in the discussion forum.

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    Going into the Australian Open, the 33 year old is also now firmly seated at No. 2 in the world, ahead of Rafael Nadal and trailing only Novak Djokovic, both multiple Slam winners. Roger Federer has been in the Top 10 since October of 2002. He also has a tour leading 17 Grand Slam titles though he hasn’t won a Major since 2012. (He last won the Australian Open in 2010.)

    Considering he posted a 73-12 record in 2014, Federer is now projected to get past Ivan Lendl late this year or early next year.

    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

  • WTA: Week No. 1

    WTA: Week No. 1

    Maria Sharapova Venus Williams Simona Halep

    The 2015 tennis season started with multiple events in different cities. Brisbane, Auckland, and Perth in Australia, plus Shenzhen in China were all hosting events. All this serving as warm-up to the first Grand Slam of 2015 in Melbourne, Australia.

    The first title of the season went to one of the oldest players on tour. Venus Williams scored her 46th career title in Auckland in a drama-filled three-set encounter against Caroline Wozniacki. The two former world No. 1’s delighted a packed crowd on a bright, windy, sunny afternoon for close to two hours. The final score was 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in favor of Venus.

    Ana Ivanovic was in the same position as Venus, but she was competing in Brisbane, the only Premier-level event of the week, though Ana was the second seed and across the net was the top seed again. Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic delivered and made the final in a dream match-up. Both former No. 1’s fought for 2 and 1/2 hours before Maria finished first in the three-set match. The first set alone took over an hour. Final score:  6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.

    With Li Na’s retirement, Shenzhen was left without a defending champion in its third year of existance but WTA delivered two Top 10 stars in the form of Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova. In the end, the two stars delivered. Simona Halep won her first title of 2015, and her ninth overall in a little over an hour via straight sets; Petra Kvitova lost the semifinals to eventual runner-up Timea Bacsinszky.

  • Serena Superb in Singapore

    Serena Superb in Singapore

    2014 Singapore WTA Finals Winner – Serena Williams

    The WTA Finals, as it’s termed now, featured world No. 1 Serena Williams against the top Romanian, No. 4 seed Simona Halep.  This was the first time Simona Halep made the trip to the year-end championship, whereas Serena was looking for her third WTA Finals title in a row.

    Williams needed just 1 hour and 9 minutes to defeat Halep with a score of 6-3, 6-0.  The match was close early in the first set but at 3-3 Serena took the next nine games to close it in a hurry.

    The inaugural event in Singapore, where the year-end championship dubbed WTA Finals was held this year and shall be for next four years, was more than just the competition between the top eight ladies in tennis; this was a spectacle of show, passion, mishaps, missed opportunities, triumph, and of course defeat.  It was obvious from the beginning this will be a championship like none before since it all started at a packed 21st Century resort’s shopping center.

    In addition to the regular competition, this year the WTA added mini-events titled “Rising Stars” and “Future Stars”, as well as legends matches, stretching the show to 10 days.

    Round Robin competition brought many surprises.  Both top seeds suffered losses and only one made the semifinals.  At the end, No. 4 seed, Simona Halep, and No. 8 seed, Caroline Wozniacki, led their respective groups.

    Although routed in straight sets by Simona Halep in the Round Robin stage in one of the worst defeats of her career, Serena Williams returned the favor by only allowing three games in the final match, and none in the second set.

    Williams will retain her No. 1 ranking for the remainder of the year and beyond.  Halep improved to No. 3.

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    Click here to discuss the Serena Williams/Simona Halep final in the discussion forum.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): VOXSPORTSdotNET

  • Sharapova Bests Beijing

    Sharapova Bests Beijing

    Maria Sharapova

    Injuries were the early news of the last Premier mandatory event of 2014: the top two seeds both pulled out after quarterfinal match wins due to injuries, but the other two top seeds delivered.

    In a final that featured the top Russian against the top Czech, Maria Sharapova defeated Petra Kvitova in a three set victory. Final score: 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

    This was Maria’s first Beijing title.  It was also her first win on hard courts since 2013 in Indian Wells.  She now has four titles for 2014, which ties her with Petra, and only trailing Serena Williams, who has six.  The win also boosts Maria’s ranking to No. 2, the highest for the year, and ahead of Kvitova and Halep.

    In a match that featured lots of power hitting, but not many rallies, both players committed more unforced errors than they scored winners, both had five break of serves.  Sharapova only scored three more points than Kvitova in a contest that took 2 hours and 28 minutes.

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    Click here to read about Beijing 2014 in our discussion forum, which includes a complete list of daily scores.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

  • Nishikori Denies Raonic in Tokyo

    Nishikori Denies Raonic in Tokyo

    Kei Nishikori

    Tokyo brought defeat for the top two seeds in the first round, which was all the opening the third seed, Kei Nishikori of Japan, and the fourth seed, Milos Raonic of Canada, needed to march into the final.

    In a tight three sets, Nishikori beat Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, in a match which lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes.

    Tokyo has been good to Japan’s top player — this was Kei’s second title there.  He now has four titles in 2014, along with a Grand Slam final appearance at the US Open.  It’s safe to say these are Kei’s best career achievements.

    But there is more to be achieved.  Both Nishikori and Raonic are still fighting for the last five spots that are yet to be filled in the race to the year end championship in London.

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    Click here to discuss the Tokyo tournament in our Discussion Forum.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Sum_of_Marc

  • Kvitova Wondrous in Wuhan

    Kvitova Wondrous in Wuhan

    Petra Kvitova

    The inaugural Premier 5 event in Wuhan ended with a rematch of this year’s Wimbledon final: third seeded Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, defeated sixth seeded Eugenie Bouchard, of Canada, in straight sets — 6-3 6-4. The match lasted one hour and twenty minutes.

    This was Kvitova’s third title of the year and the fourteenth of her career. The win not only earned her $441,000 in prize money, but also 900 ranking points to gain her a spot in the year end championship. Kvitova is the fourth to qualify in the Race to Singapore. She follows Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Simona Halep. There are four more spots yet to be filled.

    Bouchard had no answers for Kvitova’s big lefty serve and forehand. Broken early at the beginning of each set, the Canadian was broken a total of three times, yet was only able to break the Czech’s serve once. This is the third straight loss of her career to Kvitova. However, on the strength of her appearance in the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, Bouchard will advance to No. 7 in the WTA rankings, bringing her one step closer to Singapore. The year end appearance will be the first for the 20-year-old, who is currently the youngest in the Top 10.

    Click here to read about Wuhan 2014 in our discussion forum, which includes a complete list of daily scores.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Kiu Kaffi

  • Ivanovic Takes Tokyo Title

    Ivanovic Takes Tokyo Title

    Ana Ivanovic

    In a battle between two former number one ranked players, third seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia defeated No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in a straight set match that took 1 hour and 40 minutes. The final score: 6-2, 7-6(2).

    Caroline, a former winner here in 2010 and a finalist in this year’s US Open, got ahead twice in the second set only to lose the lead and ultimately lose the match in a second set tiebreak.

    Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, added to her 51 match record win, a career best for her, by winning the WTA premier tournament, in which she did not drop a set. This is career title No. 15 for Ivanovic, and her fourth of the year. The win puts her ahead of Jelena Jankovic as the top Serbian player.

    The result puts both Ivanovic and Wozniacki ahead of Angelique Kerber in the race to the year end championship in Singapore, with the Serb occupying the sixth place in that race.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Christian Mesiano

  • US Open 2014 PhotoBlog (Kiu)

    US Open 2014 PhotoBlog (Kiu)

    Tennis Frontier Correspondent, Kiu Kaffi, was in New York City for the US Open.

  • Western & Southern Open 2014 PhotoBlog (Kiu) — Part II

    Western & Southern Open 2014 PhotoBlog (Kiu) — Part II

    Tennis Frontier Correspondent, Kiu Kaffi, is in Cincinnati for the Western & Southern Open.