Sara Errani keeps SF battle alive at WTA Championships

By Magdalena Stanislav

Sara Errani keeps the competition warm at WTA Championships

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012: Sara Errani of Italy kept her hopes of making it into WTA Championships Semi-Finals alive on Thursday when she outlasted Samantha Stosur of Australia in three sets by 6-3 2-6 6-0 in Istanbul.

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Samantha Stosur, who replaced Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic after she had to pull out of the season-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships due to viral illness, couldn’t stand the challenge posed by her Italian opponent, especially in the third set where she could never offer a fight.

The victory for Sara Errani has added colors to the final day of the round-robin matches on Friday when two matches will decide the two semi-finalists as Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have already qualified into last-four stage.

Sara Errani showed good control on her game in the opening set and raced to victory by 6-3 but Sam Stosur responded really well to the situation and won the second set 6-2 with an aggressive game plan which woke the Italian up in the third set and she made no further mistakes and won the penultimate set by 6-0.

Sara Errani told reporters after her impressive victory, "In the beginning she was making a lot of unforced errors, but in the second set she was playing amazing. I was just trying to stay focused and aggressive today and I think the third set was better for me."

Sam Stosur could never face the pressure against Sara Errani as she committed seven double faults as well as 49 unforced errors in the match.

Sam Stosur told reporters, “I really wanted to try and play a good match tonight and be at least one match up, but obviously the result wasn't quite that way. It was a little bit up and down - in the second set I got off to a good lead and then was able to hold onto that and win the set, and then I had a break point in the first game of the third and missed a return, and then it was like all the energy went out of me. I certainly dug myself into too much of a hole to try and get out."

Sara Errani had praise for her Australian opponent when she stated, “Sam is a great player but I was ready today. I'm happy I won and that I'm still in the tournament - I hope I can play well tomorrow too and maybe win, I don't know, we'll see how it goes."

Sara Errani will take on world number five Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in her final round-robin match at the WTA Championships which is very much a quarter-final for both the players as the winner of this match will proceed into knockout stage.

Sara said of Agnieszka Radwanska, "She's a very strong player. I know her and we have played before. It will be a tough match and we will see what happens."

In another mouth-watering showdown on Friday, Victoria Azarenka and Li Na will battle it out for a place in the last-four.

The first match on Friday is a dead-rubber between Maria Sharapova and Sam Stosur because the result will have no effect on the standings in the White Group. 

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WTA Championships: Li Na stays alive; Angelique Kerber signs out

By Magdalena Stanislav

Li Na keeps her chances alive at WTA Championships

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012:Li Na of China get off the mark in the WTA Championships on Thursday when she outpaced Angelique Kerber of Germany in straight sets by 6-4 6-3 to stay alive in the competition.

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Li Na can still qualify for the semi-finals of the year-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships but she will have to not only win her final round-robin match but also wait for the other results.

End of the Road for
Angelique Kerber at
WTA Championships

After falling miserably to Serena Williams in her first match of the competition, Li Na showed glimpses of her top game which took her to French Open title last year.

After trailing Angelique Kerber 4-2 in the first set, Li Na smashed back into form and won nine of the next 10 games to surge to 6-4 5-1 lead but the German ace still had some energy and fight left in her as she reduced the lead to 5-3 in the second set before the Chinese putting together another perfect service game to seal the deal at 6-3 with the help of a ferocious ace.

The match lasted for an hour and 25 minutes where Li Na hit her fourth love hold in 10 service games.

Talking to reporters after her victory, Li Na said, “I had my first match yesterday but felt much, much better today - I was more focused and concentrated on the court. Angelique is very good in defense. My coach, Carlos, was telling me before the match to use more topspin and open the court - I knew I had to change the space to win today."

With this victory, Li Na has improved her head-to-head record against Angelique Kerber to 6-1. Li Na mostly enjoys playing against the lefties as compared to righties and some of her biggest victories have come against the players who predominantly use left hand.

During last five years, Li Na has won 34 matches against the lefties as against only five defeats which came to Sybille Bammer (Rome in 2009), Petra Kvitova (Madrid in 2011), Kerber (Indian Wells in 2012), Kvitova again (Montréal in 2012) and Laura Robson (US Open in 2012). Moreover, Li Na was able to push three of these five losses down to the wire.

Angelique Kerber, who was featuring in the year-ending event for the first time, signed out of the WTA Championships after her third straight loss but she had some positives to mention when she told reporters, “It was very nice to be here - I really enjoyed my week and also my three matches. I take a lot of experience from here and I think it will bring me to another level next year, so I'm really happy I was part of the WTA Championships. And the organization and the crowd were unbelievable”.

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Unstoppable Serena Williams sinks Victoria Azarenka at WTA Championships

By Magdalena Stanislav

Who can stop American tennis queen from winning at WTA Championships?

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012:Serena Williams of United States continued to dominate the top players in the world as she decimated world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus by a comfortable margin of 6-4 6-4 at the WTA Championships in Istanbul on Thursday.

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With her ninth straight victory against the Belarusian, Serena Williams, who has already qualified for the WTA Championships semi-finals, improved her head-to-head record against Victoria Azarenka to 11-1.

Victoria Azarenka can still end the current season on top of the WTA Tour Rankings if she wins her final round-robin match at the WTA Championships, which has world’s top eight players competing for the final title of the year.

Serena Williams, who missed much of the tennis action in 2012, can end up at world number three position and she looked great right from the start of her match against Victoria Azarenka as she raced to victory in straight sets.

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Maria Sharapova cruises into WTA Championships semis

By Magdalena Stanislav

Maria Sharapova keeps her cool to stay in the hunt.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012: Maria Sharapova of Russia stayed upright in a nerve-wrecking match against Agnieszka Radwanska to storm her way into semi-finals of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul on Wednesday.

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In the second consecutive WTA Championships match which lasted for over three hours, Maria Sharapova battled hard to eventually defeat Agnieszka Radwanska by 5-7 7-5 7-5.

The marathon match, which ended at 2:12am local time, lasted for three hours and 12 minutes.

Agnieszka Radwanska used her subtle style of tennis and made variety and redirection of pace at work in the first set and eventually won it by 7-5.

She raced to a 4-2 lead in the second set as Maria Sharapova started running out of options but to play more aggressive brand of tennis and went on the offense.

Maria Sharapova told reporters, "I was a little bit frustrated early on. I wasn't doing the right things and she was doing all the right things, and making me make mistakes. I was just trying to hang in there."

Maria Sharapova clawed her way back in the second set and as she got accustomed to her aggression and Radwanska’s subtle play she got better and won the second and third set by identical margin of 7-5.

The aggression of Maria Sharapova was evident by the statistics which stated her to hit 66 winners to 64 errors while on the other hand Agnieszka Radwanska could manage 18 winners to 19 errors.

Talking about her energy levels, the Russian former world number one said, "It was a very physical match with so many ups and downs - I wasn't playing my best tennis, but I kept fighting. And when you win when you're not at your best, it gives you extra motivation to do better in the next one."

The workaholic display of aggressive Sharapova made her win praise of Agnieszka Radwanska who told reporters, "It was a great match, and all the sets were very tight. I had my chance in the second set, but when you don't use your chances against a top player, a great player, it's hard to come back and win."

Sharapova also had praise for her opponent when she said, “There's a reason why she's No.4 in the world. Her capability of anticipating where the ball goes and getting it back - and no matter if it's a hard shot or a low slice with no pace, she makes you work for it. She did until the end. I found a way to get through the points, which isn't easy."

Talking about her semi-final qualification, Maria Sharapova said, "I'm happy to get to that stage - the goal is always to get out of your group. I was injured last year and didn't play very well, so to be in the semifinals this year makes me very proud, and especially given the way I fought tonight."

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have now qualified for the Semi-Finals of the WTA Championships. Serena Williams entered the last-four by dint of Victoria Azarenka taking three sets to beat Angelique Kerber.

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams are the only players to have won the WTA Championships title previously after Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, defending champion, pulled out of the tournament owing to viral illness.

Maria Sharapova has won the WTA Championships title once in 2004 while Serena Williams has won it twice in 2001 and 2009.

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Serena Williams storms past Li Na at WTA Championships

By Magdalena Stanislav

Serena Williams posted 28th win in 29 matches against Li Na at WTA Championships

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 24, 2012: Serena Williams of United States won her second straight match at the WTA Championships 2012 on Wednesday when she edged out Li Na of China by 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 in Istanbul.

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Serena Williams, who found her serve erratic right throughout the match, especially in the opening set, found it hard to fight against her faults and Li Na at the same time but the woman with the tough character avoided all the challenges to register a rather easy victory in the end.

Serena Williams hit six double-faults and could only win 51 percent of the points upon first serve and eventually sealed the deal on her third match point.

Li Na also had a struggling outing as there were eight breaks in the first set and three more in the second with both players struggling for rhythm dearly.

With this victory, Serena Williams has now won 28 of her last 29 matches and is enjoying a sound phase in her career where she clinched the Grand Slam titles of Wimbledon and US Open and won London 2012 Women’s Tennis Gold to put icing on the cake.

Despite of her glittering year, the lack of fitness has left her in a position where she can only fight for finishing as world number two in the WTA Tour Rankings, in case she wins at WTA Championships.

In the other matches scheduled for Wednesday, world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will face off against Angelique Kerber while Maria Sharapova of Russia will take on Agnieszka Radwanska in the final encounter of the night.

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