WTA Oct 30-Nov 4: Sofia
Tournament of Champions Sofia, BUL
PREMIER $750,000 12RR/0q/0d
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draws: WTA: S - OOP
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Sofia: weather - map - news
n11 Caroline Wozniacki won Seoul
n13 Nadia Petrova won 's-Hertogenbosch
n15 wild card Maria Kirilenko RUS
n16 Roberta Vinci won Dallas
n25 Su-Wei Hsieh won KL & Guangzhou
n29 Jie Zheng won Auckland
n32 Daniela Hantuchova won Pattaya
n44 wild card Tsvetana Pironkova BUL
alt n41 Sofia Arvidsson won Memphis
alt n43 Alize Cornet won Bad Gastein
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Sofia:
#11 Caroline Wozniacki
5' 10" 128lb RH 2H-BH |
Sofia:
#13 Nadia Petrova
5'10¼" 143lb RH 2H-BH |
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On Sunday at Sofia, Bulgaria, in the final of the 2012
WTA Tournament of Champions,
this year's champion at Tokyo & 's-Hertogenbosch, 30 year old 2nd seeded #13 (career high: #3)
Nadia Petrova of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco),
defeated
the 2012 champion at Moscow and Seoul, 22 year old top seeded #11 (and former #1)
Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco),
6-2, 6-1 (Caroline is shown during the match; Nadia is shown hoisting the very large hardware afterward).
Nadia's prize is $270,000; Caroline's prize is $145,000.
Nadia said: "I had to win in two sets, because I already played three marathon matches in the tournament. I needed to play this last one smart and keep it short... Caroline is a very consistent tennis player and she shows more patience than her opponents, so for me today it was very important just to keep her guessing, to mix it up so she doesn’t know what’s really coming from my side."
postmatch interview
Caroline was slowed a bit by a calf injury. But,
Caroline said: "My injury wasn’t the main reason of my loss today. I tried to show my best tennis, but Nadia was very strong. She served excellent and she didn’t give me a chance. In the second set I tried to force her to move more, but I was rushing with my shots and I made a lot of mistakes."
tourney story
Caroline still leads Nadia 4-2 in
career matches. Their previous meeting was 2011 on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the 2nd round at Doha, when Caro defeated Nadia 6-3, 6-2.
Nadia is now 13-11 in WTA singles finals. After winning no titles in 2009 and 2010, she won at College Park last year and at Tokyo and 's-Hertogenbosch this year. Nadia's 2012 singles match record is 39-19.
Caroline is now 20-12 in WTA singles finals. She won this year at Moscow and Seoul, and last year at Dubai, Indian Wells, Charleston, Brussels, Copenhagen, and New Haven. Caro has a 50-21 singles match record this season.
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2012 WTA Tournament of Champions
Round Robin Standings:
name in bold = clinched place in semifinals
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| Serdika Group | matches
W-L | sets
W-L |
| #11 s1 Caroline Wozniacki | 3-0 | 6-1 |
| #16 s4 Roberta Vinci | 2-1 | 4-2 |
| #25 s5 Su-Wei Hsieh | 1-2 | 2-5 |
| #32 s7 Daniela Hantuchova | 0-3 | 2-6 |
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| Sredets Group | matches
W-L | sets
W-L |
| #13 s2 Nadia Petrova | 3-0 | 6-2 |
| #44 s8 Tsvetana Pironkova | 1-2 | 3-5 |
| #15 s3 Maria Kirilenko withdrew due to respiratory illness | 1-1 | 3-2 |
| #41 Sofia Arvidsson replaced Kirilenko | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| #29 s6 Jie Zheng | 0-3 | 1-5 |
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| | 1st Alternate: n41 Sofia Arvidsson 2nd Alternate: n43 Alize Cornet
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The WTA Tournament of Champions System:
The six highest-ranked players who have won at least one International (NOT Premier ) class title during the current season (and who wish to attend) are selected for singles play in the WTA Tournament of Champions.
2 groups play in a round-robin format (12 matches), with two winners from each group becoming semifinalists who play off on Saturday. In the semis, the player who finishes first in each group will play the second place finisher from the other group.
If players win the same number of matches, the winner of their head-to-head match in the round robin is placed higher in the standings. 3-way ties will be resolved first by the percentage of sets won, then by the percentage of games won.
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Tournament of Champions, Sofia, Bulgaria
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tourney time: = GMT +2 hours
= US ET +7 hours
= US PT +10 hours
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Bulgaria News
Sofia: At Sofia, the top 6 players who have won at least one International tourney during the year, and who did not play in singles at the WTA Championships, + 2 wild cards, will play.
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Tournament of Champions venue address: Armeec Arena, Blvd Asen Yordanov A, Sofia, Bulgaria +359 2 / 871 8171
2012: On Monday, October 29, in Sofia, the field of eight were all present for theTournament of Champions draw ceremony:
Tsvetana Pironkova, Hsieh Su-Wei, Roberta Vinci, Zheng Jie, Daniela Hantuchova, Caroline Wozniacki, Nadia Petrova, and Maria Kirilenko...
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Sofia Tournament of Champions round robin, Tue 3:50pm
n11 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d n25 s5 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6-2, 6-2
Caroline following a forehand, and Su-Wei fielding one
n16 s4 Roberta Vinci ITA d n32 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 6-2
Daniela serving, and Roberta watching her sliced backhand fly
Daniela said: "Well, unfortunately I didn't win today, but I thought Roberta played a really great match. She dominated in every department. In the first set she hardly made any mistakes. All the credit to her for the way she played, and I thought she really deserved to win.
"I couldn't find the answers to change the match around, but it's a match I have to learn from and move onto the next one. I have a day off now and I'll get on the practice court and work on the things I need to work on!" Sofia player blog by Daniela Hantuchova
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*n44 s8 wc Tsvetana Pironkova BUL d n29 s6 Jie Zheng CHN 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Tsveti ready to swat a forehand
Tsvetana said: "In the beginning I was very nervous. Nothing was working the way I wanted it to. I was just too tight. But after the first set and a few games in the second, I started to relax and play the way I wanted to. I think my serve was working well and helped me a lot - also my backhand, my movement, and my forehand too. Everything started working very well for me. I'm very happy!." WTA story
Jie said: "I started great in the first set, but then after the second set my timing wasn't as good. I had to be more aggressive. After I was down 3-0 in the third set I started moving [Tsvetana] around more, and I was coming back. I was close at 6-5 with her serving 15-30. I was two points away. But this is tennis. I still think it was a great match, and the crowd here was great, too."
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Sofia Tournament of Champions round robin, Wed 3:50pm
n11 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d n16 s4 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 6-1
Caroline after match point, in Dingyvision (aka Instagram)
Caroline said: "It was a difficult match in the sense that I had to really keep focused. [Roberta is] not a player where you get a lot of rhythm, with the slice on the backhand and the flat forehand, so I had to make sure I was just focusing on my own serve and returns, and just kept pushing her." WTA story
About her next opponent, Daniela Hantuchova, Caroline said: "Daniela plays very flat and deep and just goes for her shots. I just have to serve and return well and we'll see how it goes when we play tomorrow."
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n13 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d n29 s6 Jie Zheng CHN 6-3, 6-3
Jie about to swat a forehand, and Nadia following a backhand
Nadia said: "The score may look a little easy, but it didn't feel easy to me at all. I started well but I wasn't feeling great on my serve. I didn't really feel in control of my game, and [Jie] broke my serve three times in the first set alone, which was disappointing. But I'm happy with my returning, and I'm hoping to serve better tomorrow."
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n15 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS d n44 s8 wc Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-1, 6-4
Maria following a backhand
Maria said: "I had never played against Tsvetana before. I saw a couple of games when she played yesterday, but it's always different just seeing the player and actually playing them. I decided to just see how it went the first couple of games, and then figure out what to do from there. I did everything right in the first set, I think. Everything was tighter in the second set, but that's normal, and I'm happy I could finish it in straight sets." WTA story
Tsvetana said: "Maria played very well, she was the better player on the court and deserved the victory... Tomorrow I have a day off, which is good for me." tourney story
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Sofia Tournament of Champions round robin, Thu 3:50pm
n11 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d n32 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
Daniela serving, and Caro following a backhand
The victory put Caroline, 3-0 in matches and 6-1 in sets, into the semifinals as winner of the Serdika Group. In the semis on Saturday, Caro will face the 2nd place finisher in the Sredets Group. This will be the loser of Friday's match between Nadia Petrova and Tsvetana Pironkova.
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n13 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d n15 s3 Maria Kirilenko RUS 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3
Maria about to connect with a forehand, and Nadia ready to swat a high one
Nadia said: "In the beginning I couldn't understand why my shots were flying long so much. I was really making a lot of unforced errors that way, and it was frustrating. I've been changing a lot of racquets and I'm still trying to figure out which tension to use, because I didn't really have enough days to practice here before starting to play, but today I switched to a tighter tension and I'm happy I could fight through those circumstances and beat such a tough player." WTA story
After the match Maria withdrew from her remaining match on Friday due to upper respiratory illness.
Maria said: "I’m very sorry that I cannot to continue to play my matches here at the Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions. It was such an honor to receive the wildcard and I just want to thank tournament director Stefan Tzvetkov for giving me the chance to compete here in Sofia. Unfortunately with this illness I can’t finish the tournament as I’d have wished, but I’ve really enjoyed my time in Bulgaria and hope to be back." tourney story
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n16 s4 Roberta Vinci ITA d n25 s5 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 6-1, 6-2
The victory put Roberta into the semifinals as 2nd place finisher of the Serdika Group. In the semis on Saturday, Roberta will face the 1st place finisher in the Sredets Group. This will be the winner of Friday's match between Nadia Petrova and Tsvetana Pironkova.
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Sofia Tournament of Champions round robin, Fri 3:50pm WTA story
n13 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d n44 s8 wc Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Tsvetana about to swat a forehand, and Nadia driving a backhand
About playing Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals, Tsvetana said: "With each match I'm playing better and better, and I hope I can still keep improving tomorrow. It is going to be tough against Caroline, but I think I'll have my chances.
"The crowd has been amazing this week. They're getting bigger and bigger each day, which makes me very happy, and tomorrow we're expecting full capacity, so it'll be an amazing atmosphere out there. I'm very excited to play."
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n25 s5 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE d n32 s7 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 0-6, 6-4
Su-Wei said: "I played [Daniela] in Pattaya this year and it was tough. She has a great serve, great return and great volleys. I just tried to get every ball back and stay consistent, and just play my game."
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*n41 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d n29 s6 Jie Zheng CHN 5-1 retired—upper respiratory illness
Sofia said: "I was so excited yesterday when they told me I get to play. And it's a very nice arena, so I'm very happy I got a chance to play on it. Seeing my name on the court was funny."
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alternates prizes: $7,500 - RR no wins prizes: $35,000 US; points: 75 - RR 1 win 2 losses prizes: $50,000 US; points: 110
RR 2 wins 1 loss prizes: $65,000 US; points: 155 - RR 3 wins prizes: $80,000 US; points: 180
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Sofia, SFs, Sat
loser's prize: RR prize + $10,000 US
n11 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN d n44 s8 wc Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-4, 6-1
Tsveti and Caro driving backhands
Caroline said: "[Tsvetana] was playing well at the beginning. She had nothing to lose, and she was playing in front of her home crowd. It's never easy playing a player in front of their home crowd, but once I got used to her playing style, things got better for me. I'm happy to move through in straight sets today." WTA story
Tsvetana said: "I played 4 great matches, no matter what was their final score... I think that my level got lower in the second set and I also was physically exhausted, so I couldn’t play very good. As we can see, Wozniacki doesn’t make mistakes and she doesn’t make presents to anyone. If you want points, you have to wrest them out of her." tourney story
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n13 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d n16 s4 Roberta Vinci ITA 6(8)-7, 6-1, 6-4
Nadia ready to lightly tap a backhand
Roberta said: "Nadia played really well and served unbelievable, especially in the second set. It was a great match from both of us, but I think she played better on the important points, especially when I had break points."
Nadia said: "To win matches like this feels amazing... I'm going to let it all out tomorrow. It's the last match of the year then I'll be out of energy, and in the off-season I'll know I gave it my all."
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Sofia, Final, Sun 5:50pm
loser's prize: RR prize + $65,000 US; points: RR points + 75
winner's prize: RR prize + $190,000 US; points: RR points + 195
*n13 s2 Nadia Petrova RUS d n11 s1 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-2, 6-1
Nadia and Caro driving forehand and backhand, and Caroline congratulating Nadia after match point
Sofia, withdrawals/non-entries
n19 Kaia Kanepi won Estoril—right heel injury
n24 Venus Williams won Luxembourg
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See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2012 WTA Schedule with links & photos
WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.
