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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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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WTA Championships: Sharapova, Williams, Radwanska start with victories

By Magdalena Stanislav

Agnieszka Radwanska stuns defending champion Petra Kvitova at WTA Championships 2012

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 24, 2012: Maria Sharapova of Russia, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Serena Williams of United States won their first matches at the year-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul on Tuesday.

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Maria Sharapova defeated Sara Errani by 6-3 6-2 in what was a repeat of the French Open final, Agnieszka Radwanska battered struggling titleholder Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic by 6-3 6-2, whereas Serena Williams made short work of Angelique Kerber by 6-4 6-1.

Serena Williams, who won Wimbledon and US Open titles, is looking in great form but won’t be able to surge towards the WTA world number one ranking as she had to sit out of the tennis action for the best part of the season owing to injuries but another feather in crown would be just the perfect motivation for her.

It is important to mention here that Serena Williams, who has won 15 Grand Slam titles, has ended WTA season as world number one only twice in her career and those came in 2002 and 2009.

Serena has featured in the Istanbul WTA Championships six times and won the title here twice in 2001 and 2009. Since winning her second title in Istanbul, the American top tennis ace is featuring in this tournament for the first time.

The TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships 2012 features two eight players in the world and this year Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani, and Li Na are participating in the event.

Maria Sharapova, Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova, and Agnieszka Radwanska are pooled in Whites Group while the other group has Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, and Li Na.

Playing in her first match since winning the US Open title, Serena Williams showed no signs of rustiness as she breezed to victory against Angelique Kerber. Talking to reporters after her victory, Serena Williams said, “Obviously, I would rather win majors. I've been No. 1 and I would love to be No. 1 again. I think maybe one day I will. We'll see. I just feel if I keep winning tournaments, majors, tournaments like this, and playing well and consistently, the ranking will come”.

Serena Williams may not have the chance to vie for the world number one spot but Maria Sharapova kept her in numbers game when she raced to 6-3 6-2 victory over Sara Errani in her first match of the competition.

Victoria Azarenka, who holds the top position in the WTA Tour Rankings, will feature in her first match at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships 2012 on Wednesday.

Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, who won the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships title last year, got off to a disappointing start against Agnieszka Radwanska on Tuesday.

Petra Kvitova, who entered into this tournament on a 25-match winning streak indoors, looked far from her best and seemed nervous like a rookie as she lost her first three games before recovering to draw at 3-3. However, Radwanska broke her again and sealed the deal in the first set.

After losing the first set, Petra Kvitova looked even more drained out against a fitter and steadier Agnieszka Radwanska as the Czech fell to her first loss in four matches against Radwanska and overall her second loss in 28 indoor matches in the last two years.

Agnieszka Radwanska told reporters after her impressive inaugural day show, “I am just happy that I could play my best tennis today and close that match in two sets. It's a good start”.

Petra Kvitova, who had won the WTA Championships last year without losing a single match, told reporters, “I was nervous all match. I had a lot of errors”.

All is not lost for Petra Kvitova as the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships 2012 tournament has a round-robin format and she has two more matches to get her a place in the last-four.

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Victoria Azarenka cruises into last-16 in Pan Pacific Open

By Liu Shiwen

TOKYO, Japan (TheSportsNEXT) September 25, 2012: World number one Victoria Azarenka needed only 63 minutes to win her second round match at the Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday.

Azarenka defeated Tamira Paszek of Austria by 6-1 6-1 to enter the third round of the tournament.

In another match, Li Na of China shrugged off a nasty cough to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia by 7-5 4-6 6-2.

Sara Errani of Italy also enjoyed victorious day in Tokyo as she got the better of Johanna Larsson of Sweden by 6-3 7-6 to set date with Marion Bartoli of France who beat Julia Goerges of Germany by 6-2 7-5.

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