Bertens shocks No. 1 Halep to win Cincinnati title

Dutch challenger Kiki Bertens profited from a third-set collapse by Simona Halep to score the biggest win of her career Sunday, beating the world number one 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 in the Cincinnati WTA final.

“This is the best day of my career, winning on a surface that you didn’t really like. That’s a great feeling,” Bertens said.

“I’m just so proud, and it’s such a great feeling to hold the trophy at the end of the week.”


Halep, who claimed the Montreal title a week ago and came into the final on a nine-match winning streak, ran out of reserves and was unable to stop the mounting Bertens momentum.

“I’ve lost three finals here, but maybe I will able to win one at this tournament because I love to play here,” said Halep, who fell to Serena Williams in the 2015 final of the hardcourt US Open tuneup and to Garbine Muguruza in the title match last year.

“I had match ball, so I was there,” Helep said. “I didn’t take my chance. In the third set I was empty and I couldn’t fight anymore.”

The upset took just over two hours and marked the 10th time this season that 17th-ranked Bertens has defeated a top 10 opponent.

“It was such a tough match, and after winning that second set I knew, anything is still possible — just keep on going,” said Bertens, who claimed a sixth career WTA title.

“Winning a title like this, my first hard court title, and against number one of the world, getting my career high on Monday … it’s  just coming everything together, I guess,” she added.

Bertens saved a Halep match point in the second-set tiebreaker to stay alive.

“I’m a little bit upset because I couldn’t manage better today, but that’s it. I’m like this, and I have to work more,” Halep said.


Halep had looked like ending a quick afternoon with a victory after breaking Bertens twice to sweep the first set.

But the 26-year-old Dutchwoman, who had considered retiring last season due to poor results, began to turn the tide in the second as she broke for a 3-1 lead.

Halep got that break back in the eighth game to make it 4-all, and took tighter control in the tiebreaker.

But Bertens won four games in the decider to take a 4-2 lead and quickly seized the set seconds after saving the match point.

Halep ‘exhausted’

Halep seriously faded in the final set, going down two breaks to trail 1-4.

Bertens kept up the pressure and advanced with a winner on her first match point, posting her second career win over Hale six years after beating her for the first time.

The depleted Halep is still entered as top seed in the upcoming WTA tournament in New Haven, which ends just two days prior to the start of the US Open in New York.

While not specifying if she will actually play, Halep said she would travel to Connecticut on Monday.

“For sure I need a little bit of rest because I’m exhausted.

“But also I take the positive from these two weeks,” she added. “It’s a great confidence (builder), and I’m looking forward actually for the next one to be better on court.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Williams wins at US Open to stay in No. 1 hunt; Konta out

NEW YORK — Venus Williams stayed in the crowded hunt for the No. 1 ranking — even though she had no idea that she has a shot at that spot.


Johanna Konta, a Wimbledon semifinalist just last month, dropped out of that chase with a first-round exit as the U.S. Open got started Monday.

The No. 9-seeded Williams overcame a mid-match lapse to pick up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory in Arthur Ashe Stadium against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia, a 19-year-old qualifier who is ranked 135th.

It was the first tour-level, main-draw match of Kuzmova’s career, and the 967th for Williams, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, in addition to her five Wimbledon championships. Williams is in her 19th U.S. Open; she reached the final in her 1997 debut, about eight months before Kuzmova was born.

“I had no idea what she looked like, who she was, anything. But she played amazing. She played well, served well, competed well. Definitely a match I had to earn,” said Williams, who at 37 is the oldest woman in the field. “I definitely wasn’t expecting or planning on dropping sets today. But things happen. That’s why we play the match, because you have to win the match. So it’s just all about regrouping. It’s the first round. You figure out what’s going on.”

She was up a set, plus a break in the second at 2-0, when she faltered. Kuzmova broke for 2-1, then pulled at even at 3-all before taking three games in a row to force a third set. But Williams righted herself there, breaking for a 2-0 lead, then digging out of a love-40 hole with five consecutive points for 3-0 and was on her way.

Williams entered the U.S. Open as one of eight women with a chance to rise atop the WTA rankings by tournament’s end.

Not that it was foremost on her mind. Indeed, she said she was unaware of that possibility.

“I just want to win, and if you get the win, you get the ranking,” said Williams, who was already at No. 1 in 2002.

Before the American’s match was over, that number of ranking contenders was reduced to seven, because the No. 7-seeded Konta was bounced by 78th-ranked Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“I don’t take anything for granted,” said Konta, who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon just last month. “I think it would be quite obnoxious of me to come in here expecting I have a right to be in second week.”

Konta, who lost to Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals, figured to be Britain’s best chance for a deep run these two weeks, because the country’s top male player, Andy Murray, withdrew on Saturday with an injured hip.

Instead, she was among a crop of seeded players on the way out the door at a tournament already missing several top names, including the biggest in women’s tennis: Williams’ older sister Serena, who is expecting a baby.

“We always coach each other, pretty much,” Williams said.

While the most anticipated matchup of Day 1 was scheduled for Monday night — five-time major champion Maria Sharapova’s first Grand Slam action since her doping suspension, against No. 2 seed Simona Halep — the afternoon was filled with quite a few seeded players joining Konta on the way out.

For every victory by someone such as Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza or 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, there was a surprise or two.

The men’s seeded losers included No. 21 David Ferrer, who was the runner-up at the 2013 French Open, No. 25 Karen Khachanov and No. 32 Robin Hasse. On the women’s side, there as No. 21 Ana Konjuh, No. 24 Kiki Bertens and No. 32 Lauren Davis.

source: sports.inquirer.net

French teen Dodin reaches first WTA semifinal

French teen Oceane Dodin advanced to her first WTA semifinal on Friday by defeating Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 6-2, 6-4 in Quebec City.

The 19-year-old from Lille, who is ranked 132nd in the world, took only 76 minutes to win her quarterfinal and will now play for a place in Sunday’s final against 125th-ranked Julia Boserup.

Boserup eliminated fellow American Catherine Bellis 7-6 (7/0), 6-4 in an all-Californian quarter-final.

US qualifier Lauren Davis, the highest-ranked player remaining in the field at 104th, ousted Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Davis will next play Czech qualifier Tereza Martincova, who held on to beat American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).

Kudryavtseva had been the only remaining player in the field with a WTA title, having captured the 2010 Tashkent Open.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Bouchard confirms she’ll play in Rio

Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard will play at the Rio Olympics next month, after weighing the risks posed by the Zika virus and security concerns in Brazil.

“It was a hard decision for me and I definitely thought about all the pros and cons,” Bouchard told the media at the weekend as she prepared to play in the WTA hardcourt tournament in Montreal.

“But at the end of the day, I knew in my heart I didn’t want to be sitting at home watching the Olympics on TV. Also knowing I might have two or three Olympics in my career, I felt that the decision to go was the right one.”

Bouchard is currently ranked 42nd in the world.

Her compatriot Milos Raonic, Romania’s Simona Halep and Czechs Tomas Berdych and Karolina Pliskova have all decided not to play in Rio, with Zika among the biggest concerns.

The mosquito-borne virus has been leaked to birth defects and, more rarely, neurological problems.

The men’s golf competition in Rio has been even harder hit than tennis by the withdrawal of the world’s top players.

Top-ranked Australian Jason Day, Americans Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy have all elected to miss golf’s return to the Summer Games after 112 years.

source: sports.inquirer.net

No. 2 Murray narrows gap to No. 1 Djokovic in ATP rankings

LONDON — Andy Murray’s Wimbledon title has allowed him to make a dent in the still-substantial gap in the ATP rankings between him and No. 1 Novak Djokovic, last year’s champion at the All England Club.

Entering Wimbledon, Djokovic had nearly twice as many points as No. 2 Murray, 16,950 to 8,915. But after Djokovic’s loss in the third round, and Murray’s third Grand Slam trophy, the margin is 15,040 to 10,195 on Monday.

Serena Williams’ seventh title at Wimbledon and 22nd at a Grand Slam tournament keeps her at No. 1 in the WTA rankings, while runner-up Angelique Kerber jumps two spots to No. 2.

Williams’ sister Venus moves up one spot to No. 7 after reaching her first major semifinal since 2010.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Nadal back in Paris, no title to defend, no Federer to face

PARIS — Through the years, Rafael Nadal grew accustomed to a couple of givens at the French Open: He would arrive as the defending champion, and Roger Federer would be somewhere in the draw, often awaiting a showdown in the final.

This time around, neither is the case.

Federer withdrew a few days before Sunday’s start of the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, ending his record run of 65 consecutive major appearances.

“For the fans, for the tournament, for the world (of) tennis, in general, is … very negative news, no?” Nadal said.

Nadal won the title at Roland Garros every year from 2005-08 and from 2010-14 — a record nine in all, beating Federer in four of those finals — but returns to town trying to earn back the trophy after relinquishing it in 2015.

He is seeded fourth.

“It’s a tournament that I know I can play well,” said Nadal, who lost in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic a year ago. “If I am playing well, I know I can do good things.”

Nadal, who owns 14 major championships in all, could face No. 1 Djokovic in about two weeks in the semifinals — on what would be the Spaniard’s 30th birthday.

Asked about that milestone, Nadal waxed philosophical.

“You know, time never stops. Nobody stops the time,” he said. “That’s not a good thing, but at the same time, I am happy with my life. I enjoyed all these years on the tour, and I hope to keep enjoying the next couple of years.”

After dealing with health problems and a crisis of confidence last season, Nadal has been playing better on his favorite red clay of late.

He is 19-4 on the surface this season, including titles at Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Not bad, but not up to his old standards. In his past two tournaments, Nadal lost in the Madrid semifinals to Andy Murray, and the Rome quarterfinals to Djokovic.

“A lot of tournaments in a row playing well,” said Nadal, who faces Sam Groth in the first round in Paris. “I need to just keep going.”

Other things to know about the French Open, which begins Sunday:

Serena’s ‘drought’

Much was made of Serena Williams’ title in Rome last weekend being her first trophy in nine months. She does not consider that gap a big deal.

“I guess when you win all the time, if you go a couple of tournaments and don’t win them, it’s like you’re in a drought,” Williams said.

She is the defending champion and seeded No. 1 at Roland Garros, and another title would be her 22nd at a Grand Slam tournament, equaling Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era, which started in 1968.

Security stepped up

From patdowns at entrance gates to a 25 percent rise in the number of security agents, there is an obvious increase in protective measures at the tournament, about six months after terrorist attacks around the French capital.

“I notice more security pretty much everywhere,” No. 2-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska said.

Olympic push

A Grand Slam tournament is a Grand Slam tournament, so there is plenty at stake as always over the next 15 days, but there is an added incentive for some players: the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The ATP and WTA rankings of June 6 — the day after the men’s final in Paris — will be the basis for Summer Games qualification.

Doping talk

Two recent events put the topic of performance-enhancing drugs on the table in tennis.

Maria Sharapova’s positive test for meldonium and provisional suspension are keeping her out of the field at a tournament she won in 2012 and 2014.

And Nadal filed a defamation lawsuit in Paris last month against France’s former minister for health and sport, Roselyne Bachelot, after she said on a television show the player’s seven-month injury absence in 2012 probably was due to a positive drug test.

Cheating

A report about whether tennis was doing enough to investigate possible corruption stirred things up at the start of the Australian Open in January.

While the chatter has mostly subsided, the French Open revoked the wild-card entry granted to a French player, Constant Lestienne, because the Tennis Integrity Unit said he violated a rule.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Porsche suspends ties with Sharapova

German luxury car manufacturers Porsche on Tuesday became the third big-name sponsor to distance themselves from Maria Sharapova after the tennis star admitted failing a drug test at the Australian Open.

“We regret the news about Maria Sharapova. Until more details are known and we can analyze the situation, we have decided to suspend planned activities (with her),” said Porsche in a statement.

The 28-year-old Sharapova, who has won five Grand Slam titles in her career, signed a three-year deal to be brand ambassador for Porsche in April 2013.

The Russian also won the WTA indoor tournament in Stuttgart, which is sponsored by the car manufacturers, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with the champion driving off in a brand-new sports car.

Porsche joins Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer and US sportswear giant Nike, who said they were halting their relationship with Sharapova.

Sharapova announced Monday that she had tested positive for Meldonium, a drug she said she had been taking since 2006 but was only added to the banned list this year.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Kerber, Raonic rise in rankings after Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia — Angelique Kerber’s upset win over Serena Williams at the Australian Open and Milos Raonic’s second Grand Slam semifinal appearance will ensure they’re the biggest movers among top players in projected rankings to be released this week.

Seventh-seeded Kerber’s three-set win on Saturday, which prevented Williams from securing her 22nd major title, is expected to result in the German player moving to No. 2 on the WTA Tour.

The rankings, expected to be released Monday, should show Williams at No. 1, Kerber at No. 2 and Simona Halep, who lost in the first round at Melbourne Park, dropping one spot to No. 3.

“She’s had a great month,” Williams said of Kerber. “She got to the finals in Brisbane. She won here. So, yeah. I was surprised and really happy for her. I’m like, ‘Whoa, No. 2.’ What’s after 2 is 1, so I guess I better be careful.”

Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Williams in the semifinals, remains at No. 4, while Garbine Muguruza drops two places to fifth.

Maria Sharapova, the 2015 finalist who lost to Williams in the quarterfinals this year, moves to sixth, followed by Flavia Pennetta, Carla Suarez Navarro, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova.

Safarova did not play in Melbourne due to a bacterial infection.

On the men’s side, Raonic, the 25-year-old Canadian who lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray, was expected to be biggest mover among the top 15 on the ATP Tour, improving three places to No. 11.

It was Raonic’s second major semifinal after losing to Roger Federer in the final four at Wimbledon in 2014.

Quarterfinalist David Ferrer moved to sixth place in a straight switch with Tomas Berdych, who slips down to eighth.

The top five remained unchanged. Six-time champion Novak Djokovic and five-time losing finalist Murray would have remained 1-2 regardless of the result of their Sunday night final, which Djokovic won in straight sets.

Federer, who lost to Djokovic in the semifinals, remains at No. 3, Stan Wawrinka at 4 and Rafael Nadal, a first-round loser to Fernando Verdasco in Melbourne, rounds out the top 5.

Following Ferrer is Japan’s Kei Nishikori, unchanged at 7 after losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moves to No. 9, replacing fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who drops to 10. Following Raonic is No. 12 John Isner of the United States.

source: sports.inquirer.net