WTA Jan 11-18: Sydney & Hobart

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Apia Int'l, Sydney, AUS
Int'l Tennis Ctr, Olympic Park
PREMIER 700 $731,000 30m/48q/16d
outdoor: hard
Live Scores
draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP
pics: T.com | Y!: sports - news | WTA
Sydney: radar
n3 S Halep, n4 P Kvitova
n5 A Radwanska, n8 C Wozniacki

Moorilla Int'l, Hobart, Tasmania, AUS
INTL $250,000 32m/32q/16d
outdoor: hard
Live Scores
draws: WTA: Q - main - D - OOP
pics: T.com - ESPN | WTA
Hobart: radar
n29 C Dellacqua, n32 Z Diyas
n33 C Giorgi, n35 S Stephens

tourney archive:

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Sydney:

#4 Petra Kvitova
6'0" 154lb LH 2H-BH

Hobart:

#50 Heather Watson
5' 7" 138lb RH 2H-BH

On Friday at Sydney, Australia, in the final of the Apia International, the 2014 Wimbledon and New Haven champion, 24 year old 2nd seeded #4 (career high: #2) Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, defeated the 2014 champion at Linz and Seoul, 22 year old seeded #23 (last week; this week at a new career high: #27) Karolina Pliskova from Louny, Czech Republic, 7-6(5), 7-6(6) (Petra is shown holding the glassware after the match).

Petra's prize is $124,000; Karolina's prize is $66,400.

Petra said: "I'm glad I can stand here as the winner of this tournament. For me, this week will always give me great memories in my mind." WTA story

Karolina said: "Congratulations to Petra. She had an amazing week. She was playing very well today and was definitely the better player out there, so I wish her good luck in Melbourne next week. But it was a good week for me before Melbourne too. I hope to come back next year."

Petra and Karolina had met only once before, last year on the a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the 3rd round at Wuhan, when Petra defeated Karolina 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

On Saturday at Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in the final of the ASB Classic, the 2012 champion at Osaka, 22 year old #50 (career high: #39) Heather Watson from Guernsey, England, defeated 24 year old qualifier #91 Madison Brengle from Dover, Delaware, 6-3, 6-4 (Heather is shown holding the woodwork after the match).

Heather's prize is $43,000; Madison's prize is $21,400.

Heather said: "I'm obviously very happy. It was tough conditions again today, very windy. And I knew Madison would be tough. We know each other very well on and off the court, and we practice a lot in Florida. I knew it would be a tough one today. And it really was my toughest match of the week. I was happy I stayed mentally strong and managed to get ahead and hold my nerve at the end." WTA story

Heather and Madison had met only once before, in 2010 on an indoor carpet in qualifying at Quebec City, when Heather defeated Madison 6-1, 6-3.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Sydney & Hobart

s=seed, n=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser
ranks are for the previous week
How do players get into the "draw"?

Medibank International, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

tourney time:

= GMT +11 hours
= US EDT +16 hours
= US PDT +19 hours

Australia News

Sydney: The main draw for Sydney has 8 seeds, with 2 1st-round byes.

There are 6 qualifiers in the main draw.

Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.

Int'l Tennis Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, AUS Latitude: -33.854985 Longitude: 151.072665

2015: Young ladies looking good at the player party in Sydney on Sunday included
Caro Wozniacki, Simona Halep, Kate Makarova, Garbi Muguruza and Elina Svitolina...

Sydney, 1st Rd, Sun-Mon noon
losers' prize: $5,580 US; points: 1
Sunday: rain delayed start of play
n5 s3 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d n18 Alize Cornet FRA 6-3, 6-2 Mon

Agnieszka's backhand drive

*n26 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d n8 s4 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-4, 1-1 retired—left wrist injury Mon
n9 s5 Angelique Kerber GER d n92 q Lesia Tsurenko UKR 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 Mon

Angelique following a backhand

n10 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d n28 Elina Svitolina UKR 7-6(1), 6-2 Mon

Kate's backhand drive

Kate said: "I'm feeling pretty happy about winning my first match of the year. Elina is in great shape these days and had a great result last week in Brisbane, and it was especially tough in the first set with the conditions. We were both really fighting out there. It was a really tough match." WTA story

n11 s7 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d n67 q Kristen Mladenovic FRA 6-2, 6-2 Mon
*n37 q Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d n12 s8 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-3, 7-6(4) Mon
*n70 wc Jarmila Gajdosova AUS d n13 Andrea Petkovic GER 6-1, 7-6(5) ppd-Mon
*n20 Garbine Muguruza ESP d n14 Sara Errani ITA 6-0, 7-5 Mon

Garbi driving a backhand

*n21 Samantha Stosur AUS d n15 Lucie Safarova CZE 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 ppd-Mon

Samantha following a forehand

n17 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d n27 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) Mon
n22 Shuai Peng CHN d n24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 1-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 Mon
n23 Karolina Pliskova CZE d n97 q Polona Hercog SLO 6-4, 6-4 Mon
*n30 Madison Keys USA d n25 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-4, 6-4 Sun
*n231 wc Daria Gavrilova RUS d n31 Belinda Bencic SUI 6-3, 6-0 Sun

Sydney, 2nd Rd, Tue 11am
losers' prize: $10,220 US; points: 55
Tuesday: rain delayed play
n4 s2 Petra Kvitova CZE d n22 Shuai Peng CHN 6-1, 7-5

Petra driving a backhand

Petra said: "Against Peng, you never know how the match will go, and I'm just glad that I kept to my game plan and that I'm through. It's important for me to have some matches under my belt before the Australian Open." WTA story

*n20 Garbine Muguruza ESP d n5 s3 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2

Garbi driving a forehand

Garbi said: "I played [Aga] two times before and I lost. I was like, 'Okay, this time I want to win.' For me to have won this match, I feel like I've improved a lot. When I play against her I really have to concentrate and play my game, because she makes me play different styles and drop shots. So I'm really glad I could win against her." WTA story

n9 s5 Angelique Kerber GER d n231 wc Daria Gavrilova RUS 6(6)-7, 7-6(2), 6-3

Due to rain delay, this match was not completed until 3:10am on Wednesday morning.

*n17 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d n10 s6 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
*n70 wc Jarmila Gajdosova AUS d n11 s7 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
*n26 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d n21 Samantha Stosur AUS 7-6(1), 6-2

Barbora launching a backhand

n23 Karolina Pliskova CZE d n96 LL Nicole Gibbs USA 6-0, 6-0
*n37 q Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d n30 Madison Keys USA 4-6, 4-1 retired—right shoulder injury

Sydney, QFs, Wed 330pm
losers' prize: $19,050 US; points: 100
n4 s2 Petra Kvitova CZE d n70 wc Jarmila Gajdosova AUS 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Petra's backhand drive

Petra lost to her semifinal opponent, Tsvetana Pironkova, in last year's Sydney semis. Petra said: "I think it's unusual actually to play her again in the same round. It's funny. We will see how it will go. It will be a good chance for revenge. Pironkova always plays great here, so it's going to be tough for me." WTA story

n9 s5 Angelique Kerber GER d n20 Garbine Muguruza ESP 0-6, 6-1, 6-4

Angelique said: "It was like I wasn't even on the court in the first set. I was always one or two steps too slow. But then I woke up and started moving better. Tomorrow I will try to make my warm-up a little bit better and a little bit longer so I won't lost the first set 6-0!"

*n23 Karolina Pliskova CZE d n17 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 4-6, 6-4, 6-0

Karolina said: "I've improved my movement on the court and my serve as well, and I'm more solid than I was aside from the serve, so overall I'm a better player and can beat the top players." WTA story

*n37 q Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d n26 B Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-4, 6-1

Tsvetana driving a backhand

Despite winning the Sydney title last year, Tsvetana was not granted a wild card for this year's tourney, and had to win her way through qualifying.

Tsveti said: "To be honest, I didn't really believe that I could go this far again starting from the qualies. The qualifying draw is much harder nowadays, and this is a very strong tournament. So I'm incredibly happy that I'm still here, and I will just try to do it again."

Sydney, SFs, Thu 330pm
losers' prize: $35,455 US; points: 185
n4 s2 Petra Kvitova CZE d n37 q Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 7-5, 6-1

Petra after winning a point

Tsvetana had won 14 consecutive matches at Sydney, including going through qualifying in both 2014 & 2015. Petra said: "I am glad I played how I need to play: aggressively, going forward, attacking the ball early, and just playing my game. I served well, so was very important today. That helps me." WTA story

About the final, Petra said: "[Karolina] is playing really risky, going for the winners. That's what I will do tomorrow as well. You know, we just practice [together] in off‑season... It's always difficult to play a Czech girl. I'm just glad that she's doing so well. I'm just really looking forward for the final. I hope it's going to be a very nice final."

*n23 Karolina Pliskova CZE d n9 s5 Angelique Kerber GER 6-3, 6-2

Karolina driving a forehand

Karolina said: "I was thinking about the matches [I played] against [Angelique] last year. Of course I'm trying to stay in my game plan and play my game and luckily I performed really well." WTA story

About the final, Karolina said: "I saw Petra, she's playing really good this week. She had also a few good matches. Also in Shenzhen she won some matches. So it would be tough to play her. I played her once, and like I said, she's never losing with Czech girls, so that would be really tough."

Sydney, Final, Fri 7:30pm
loser's prize: $66,400 US; points: 305
winner's prize: $124,000 US; points: 470
n4 s2 Petra Kvitova CZE d n23 Karolina Pliskova CZE 7-6(5), 7-6(6)

Petra after match point

Sydney, Doubles Final, Fri
losers' prize: $20,650 US
winners' prize: $39,000 US
Sania Mirza & Bethanie Mattek-Sands d s1 Raquel Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears 6-3, 6-3

Sydney, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 11 11am
losers' prizes: q1 $860 1pt; q2 $1,555 13pts; q3 $2,920 18pts; qualifier 25 points
n37 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d n96 Nicole Gibbs USA 6-3, 6-1
n67 Kristen Mladenovic FRA v n148 Johanna Konta GBR 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
n92 Lesia Tsurenko UKR v n120 Evgeniya Rodina RUS 0-6, 6-3, 6-4
n97 Polona Hercog SLO v n99 Timea Babos HUN 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2

Sydney, Withdrawals
n3 s1 Simona Halep ROU gastroenteritis

Morilla International, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

tourney time:

= GMT +11 hours
= US EDT +16 hours
= US PDT +19 hours

Australia News

Hobart: The main draw for Hobart has 8 seeds, with no 1st-round byes.

There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw.

Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Friday, qualifying finals are on Sunday.

Hobart, Tasmania, AUS Latitude: -42.873719 Longitude: 147.32908

2013: Sloane Stephens posed for pics at St. David's Park on Wednesday...

Hobart, 1st Rd, Sun 10am, Mon-Tue 11am
loser's prize: $1,925 US; points: 1
n29 s1 Casey Dellacqua AUS d n54 Lauren Davis USA 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 Mon

Casey fielding a forehand

Casey said: "Concentration has definitely got to get better for my part. I don't feel like there's anything wrong with the way I'm hitting the ball." WTA story

n32 s2 Zarina Diyas KAZ d n65 LL Silvia Soler Espinosa ESP 6-3, 6-4 Mon
n33 s3 Camila Giorgi ITA d n365 wc Storm Sanders AUS 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(6) Mon
n35 s5 Sloane Stephens USA d n46 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-4, 6-2 Sun
*n45 Kurumi Nara JPN d n39 s6 Klara Koukalova CZE 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 Sun
*n91 q Madison Brengle USA d n41 s7 Mona Barthel GER 6(6)-7, 7-5, 7-6(2) Mon
n43 s8 Alison Riske USA d n51 Christina McHale USA 6-4 retired—right shoulder injury Mon
n44 s9 Roberta Vinci ITA d n124 wc Olivia Rogowska AUS 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 Mon
*n140 q Kateryna Kozlova UKR d n49 Kirsten Flipkens BEL 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Mon
n50 Heather Watson GBR d n48 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 7-5, 6-1 Mon
n52 Kaia Kanepi EST d n59 Monica Puig PUR 6-4, 6-1 Sun
n55 Annika Beck GER d n57 Jana Cepelova SVK 6(4)-7, 7-5, 6-4 Mon
n53 Karin Knapp ITA d n63 Ajla Tomljanovic CRO 7-5, 6-2 Mon
n56 Bojana Jovanovski SRB d n60 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni CRO 5-2 retired—left leg injury Mon
n62 wc Daniela Hantuchova SVK d n139 q R Hogenkamp NED 7-6(10), 7-6(5) Mon
n71 q Johanna Larsson SWE d n97 Saisai Zheng CHN 3-6, 1-0 retired—left thigh injury Mon

Hobart, 2nd Rd, Tue-Wed 11am
loser's prize: $3,310 US; points: 30
Wednesday: WASHOUT postponed to Thursday due to rain
*n53 Karin Knapp ITA d n29 s1 Casey Dellacqua AUS 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 ppd-Thu
n32 s2 Zarina Diyas KAZ d n62 wc Daniela Hantuchova SVK 7-5, 6-1 ppd-Thu
n33 s3 Camila Giorgi ITA d n52 Kaia Kanepi EST walkover—illness
*n50 Heather Watson GBR d n35 s5 Sloane Stephens USA 6-3, 6-1 Tue

Heather after match point

n43 s8 Alison Riske USA d n56 Bojana Jovanovski SRB 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 ppd-Thu
n44 s9 Roberta Vinci ITA d n55 Annika Beck GER 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tue
n45 Kurumi Nara JPN d n71 q Johanna Larsson SWE 7-6(1), 6-4 Tue

Kurumi about to swat a backhand @tennis_shots

n91 q Madison Brengle USA d n140 q Kateryna Kozlova UKR 6-1, 7-6(8) ppd-Thu

Hobart, QFs, Thu 11am
loser's prize: $5,900 US; points: 60
*n43 s8 Alison Riske USA d n32 s2 Zarina Diyas KAZ 6-3, 6-0 Thu

Alison driving a backhand

Alison said: "I definitely had a little bit of a warm-up this morning since I played my second round match too. It was a good warm-up for me, and I'm very happy to move through." WTA story

*n45 Kurumi Nara JPN d n33 s3 Camila Giorgi ITA 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 Thu
*n50 Heather Watson GBR d n44 s9 Roberta Vinci ITA 7-6(0), 6-2 Thu

Heather serving

Heather said: "It was very tough there at the end. [Roberta] really stepped up her game. With great players like her, you have to win the match. You can't expect them to give it to you. I'm looking forward to my next match tomorrow."

*n91 q Madison Brengle USA d n53 Karin Knapp ITA 6(3)-7, 6-4, 6-4 Thu

Hobart, SFs, Fri 11am
loser's prize: $11,300 US; points: 110
Friday: many rain delays
n50 Heather Watson GBR d n43 s8 Alison Riske USA 6-3, 7-5

Heather driving a forehand

The match was interrupted by six rain delays. Heather said: "I'm very happy to finally get through today - it was tough. It's definitely not great conditions to play tennis and it was never going to be a very pretty match. I think the goal for Alison and me today was just to get the ball in." WTA story

*n91 q Madison Brengle USA d n45 Kurumi Nara JPN 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

Hobart, Final, Sat 2pm
loser's prize: $21,400 US; points: 180
winner's prize: $43,000 US; points: 280
n50 Heather Watson GBR d n91 q Madison Brengle USA 6-3, 6-4

Heather driving a backhand

Hobart, Doubles Final, Sat
loser's prize: $6,400 US
winner's prize: $12,300 US
Johanna Larsson & Kiki Bertens d Vitalia Diatchenko & Monica Niculescu 7-5, 6-3

Hobart, Qual Finals, Sun Jan 11 10am
losers' prizes: q1 $530 1pt; q2 $730 10pts; q3 $1,005 14pts; qualifier 18 points
*n91 Madison Brengle USA d n65 Silvia Soler Espinosa ESP 6-4, 6-3
n71 Johanna Larsson SWE d n119 Paula Ormaechea ARG 6-3, 6-3
*n139 Richel Hogenkamp NED d n132 Lin Zhu CHN 6-4, 6-3
n140 Kateryna Kozlova UKR d n173 Barbora Krejcikova CZE 6-0, 7-5

Hobart, Withdrawals
n35 s4 Varvara Lepchenko USA right ankle injury

The Morilla International, which had a Friday evening final for several years, changed back to a Saturday afternoon final in 2010. tourney story

(Jan 4, 2007) Both tourneys this week used the new WTA drawsheet form, which is not improved over the previous form in any way whatsoever, and is in fact much worse. Rankings are displayed only for the seeded players, and are not shown for the rest of the draw (the old form displayed the rankings of all participants). Why would we not want to know the player's rankings?

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2015 Sydney Apia International & Hobart Morilla International Women's Tennis Results (Sports - WTA Tennis)

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WTA Jan 11-18: Sydney & Hobart