Cincinnati 2016

[Lucas]

TOURNAMENT INFO

TOURNAMENT INFO

TIER: Premier
PRIZE MONEY: $2,503,250 SURFACE: Hard
DIRECTOR: Andre Silva
Since 1899, just 25 years after the first recorded playing of the sport in the United States, tennis tournaments have been staged in Cincinnati, and what is now known as the Western & Southern Open is the country's oldest professional tennis event still played in its original city.

An ATP tournament for most of its history, Cincinnati welcomed a WTA stop in 2004, and then in 2011 it became a joint event, with the men's and women's tournaments going on at the same time. It was named the WTA's Premier 5 Tournament Of The Year in 2014.

Part of the Emirates Airline US Open Series, the event is held about 20 miles north of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. It is the only tennis site in the nation outside of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to have four permanent stadiums - each of which has lights for night play.

Since 2002, Western & Southern Financial Group has been title sponsor of the tournament, benefitting Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Barrett Cancer Center and Tennis For City Youth. Champions include Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Jelena Jankovic, Li Na, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams.

[Lucas]

INSIDER DRAW ANALYSIS: CINCINNATI

Spoiler:

Serena Williams must advance to the quarterfinals to secure the No.1 ranking.

With the top spot on the WTA rankings in play this week, World No.1 Serena took a late wildcard into the tournament. The scenarios are simple. If Serena makes the quarterfinal she will hold onto the No.1 ranking heading into the US Open. If she loses before the quarterfinal stage, No.2 Angelique Kerber can overtake her by winning the title.

A two-time defending champion here, Serena leads the top half and she could open her tournament against the woman how knocked her out of the Olympic tennis event last week: Elina Svitolina. Svitolina would have to get past Christina McHale in the first round to book a rematch with the 22-time Grand Slam champion. Serena could then play either Karolina Pliskova or Jelena Ostapenko, with Svetlana Kuznetsova or Timea Bacsinszky looming in the quarterfinals.

Click here to check out the full draw.

As for Kerber, anything less than the title means she will remain at No.2 heading into New York. She is into the Gold Medal match at the Olympics, which will be played on Saturday, but as a Top 16 seed she'll have a bye into the second round. The question is how much will she have left in the tank?

Kerber will play either Kristina Mladenovic or a qualifier in the second round and could play either Sam Stosur or Barbora Strycova in the Round of 16.

Rio Redux.

Serena and Kvitova will both have an opportunity to avenge their Olympic losses. For Serena that could come in her first match against Svitolina, while Kvitova could play Monica Puig in her first match of the tournament. Puig, who is also into the Gold Medal match against Kerber, opens her tournament against American wildcard Louisa Chirico.

Simona Halep gets back to work.

After skipping Rio, Halep spent the week training with coach Darren Cahill and famed fitness trainer Gil Reyes. The Rogers Cup champion will look to continue her winning ways in Cincinnati. With a significant number of points on the line over the next four weeks - Halep made the final here last year and the semifinals of the US Open - defending those points would set up a significant rankings push in Asia this fall.

Halep has won 23 of her last 26 matches dating back to her title run at the Mutua Madrid Open, and she's currently riding a 10-match win streak. The No.3 seed here, she got the toughest draw of any of the top four seeds, landing in a quarter with No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. She will open her tournament against either Yulia Putintseva or a qualifier and could then face Belinda Bencic, who is returning from injury, or Caroline Garcia.

Agnieszka Radwanska has work to do.

The No.5 has not made a semifinal since April (Porsche Tennis Grand Prix) and has struggled to put together a confidence boosting run over the last few months. It won't be easy this week in Cincinnati, where she has never made it past the quarterfinals. She will play either Andrea Petkovic or Lucie Safarova in the second round, with Johanna Konta potentially looming in the third round. All that to get to a possible quarterfinal against Halep.

The qualifying draw is stacked.

The Cincinnati qualifying draw, which begins on Saturday, would be a strong International-level event in and of itself. The main draw cut-off was at No.41, meaning a host of top notch players will have to play their way into the main draw.

Eugenie Bouchard took a wildcard into qualifying, and she's alongside a list of exciting players like Alizé Cornet, Daria Gavrilova, Misaki Doi, Sabine Lisicki, Camila Giorgi, Sorana Cirstea and more. It will be a tough weekend of qualifying matches and the complexion of the draw could change dramatically depending on who makes it through and where they end up being placed.

Follow the qualifying draw here.

Top seeds in the top half: Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Dominika Cibulkova.

Top seeds in the bottom half: Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Roberta Vinci.

Projected quarterfinals: Serena Williams vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep vs. Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber vs. Carla Suárez Navarro.

First round matches to watch: Andrea Petkovic vs. Lucie Safarova, Elina Svitolina vs. Christina McHale, Sara Errani vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Louisa Chirico vs. Monica Puig.

Potential second round matches to watch: Serena Williams vs. Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova vs. Jelena Ostapenko, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Petra Kvitova vs. Monica Puig, Johanna Konta vs. Ana Ivanovic, Belinda Bencic vs. Caroline Garcia, Simona Halep vs. Yulia Putintseva.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/5 ... cincinnati

[Lucas]

Serena Williams (USA, 1/WC) - bye
Elina Svitolina (Ukraina) - Christina McHale (USA)
Jelena Ostapenko (Łotwa) - Anna Schmiedlova (Słowacja)
Karolina Pliskova (Czechy, 15) - bye

Timea Bacsinszky (Szwajcaria, 12) wolny los
Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraina) - Q
Q - Q
Swietlana Kuzniecowa (Rosja, 7) -bye

Garbine Muguruza (Hiszpania, 4) - bye
Sara Errani (Włochy) - Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
Ekaterina Makarowa (Rosja) - Q
Anastasia Pavluczenkowa (Rosja, 16) - bye

Petra Kvitova (Czechy, 11) - bye
Monica Puig (Portoryko) - Louisa Chirico (USA, WC)
Q - Irina Begu (Rumunia)
Dominika Cibulkova (Słowacja, 8 ) - bye

Agnieszka Radwańska (Polska, 5) - bye
Andrea Petkovic (Niemcy) - Lucie Safarova (Czechy)
Q - Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)
Johanna Konta (Wielka Brytania, 10) - bye

Belinda Bencic (Szwajcaria, 13)- bye
Q - Caroline Garcia (Francja)
Julia Putintseva (Kazachstan) - Q
Simona Halep (Rumunia, 3) - bye

Roberta Vinci (Włochy, 6) - bye
Daria Kasatkina (Rosja) - Q
Kiki Bertens (Holandia) - Q
Carla Suarez (Hiszpania, 9) - bye

Samantha Stosur (Australia, 14)- bye
Barbora Strycova (Czechy) - Q
Q - Kristina Mladenovic (Francja)
Angelika Kerber (Niemcy, 2) - bye

[Lucas]

SERENA OUT OF CINCY

Top seed Serena Williams has pulled out of the Western & Southern Open due to shoulder inflammation

Angelique Kerber will become World No.1 IF she wins Western & Southern Open!

[Lucas]

VEKIC KNOCKS OUT IVANOVIC IN CINCY

Spoiler:

Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic snapped a six-month long losing streak to knock out 2014 finalist Ana Ivanovic out of the Western & Southern Open in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

"I'm very happy - I've played a great three matches and I'm happy to be through to the second round," Vekic said after the match.

The only previous time Vekic played Ivanovic, the match ended in a lopsided straight sets victory for the Serbian. But now with more experience, and with three matches in Cincinnati already under her belt in the qualifying rounds, Vekic came out looking more match fit and playing aggressively.

Vekic's big forehand gave Ivanovic plenty of trouble throughout the match. The Croat earned a double break lead early on to build a 5-1 lead. Though the former No.1 eventually looked to be finding her rhythm and even got a break back to cut into Vekic's lead, she wasn't able to keep the unforced errors out of her game and Vekic took the first set 6-4.

She opened the following set with another break, punching back an Ivanovic volley with a deep cross court forehand. A lackadaisical backhand from Ivanovic drifted just wide and gave Vekic her first match point, on Ivanovic's serve at 5-1, but the Serb held on after a pair of big serves and aggressive baseline play. Vekic took the match at the second time of asking, sealing it with a big inside-out forehand.

"I've played [Ivanovic] before and I know her," Vekic said. "I just played my best tennis tonight and it was enough - I'm happy."

Once ranked as high as No.62, Vekic has struggled with finding her form in recent months. With her win over Ivanovic, she's well on her way to finding it again. She's snapped a losing streak dating back to February - the 20-year-old hadn't won a WTA-level main draw match since her first round win in Doha.

She faces another big task ahead in the form of British No.1 Johanna Konta in the second round. The No.10 seeded Konta sits at a career-high ranking of World No.13 after a spate of great results that has seen her reach the quarterfinals or better in seven events so far this year.

"I'm just gonna get back out there on the practice court and try to keep up my level," Vekic said of the matchup. "Hopefully that'll be enough again."

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/5 ... c-in-cincy

[robpal]

Dwie wygrane dzielą Kerber od objęcia prowadzenia w rankingu WTA.

[Hankmoody]

Sporą dawkę tenisa sobie funduje ostatnio Niemka,
do tego Halep w formie, nie wróżę jej dziś zwyciestwa.

[lake]

Sklepanie Radwy to jeszcze nie jest wyznacznik formy. Trzęsie się tron Nosorożca. Chyba za bardzo zdeterminowana jest Kerber, żeby wypuścić taką szansę. A że pewnie zapłaci za to na USO to już jej problem.

[robpal]

A że pewnie zapłaci za to na USO to już jej problem.

Ma już w tym sezonie wygrane AO i finał Wimbla, wystarczy

[Hankmoody]

To zwyciestwo właśnie miałem na myśli . Oglądałem do deszczu, i teraz podczas reklam na AXNie, Rumunka co drugą piłkę wyrzuca pół metra w aut, zdecydowanie nie jest dziś sobą, może zaczęła właśnie trudne dni.

[robpal]

I już. Przyznam, że wizja detronizacji El Rhino mnie wręcz elektryzuje

[Hankmoody]

Ale zdaje się, że Rumunka lapała wiatr w żagle, ledwo to podwójne przełamanie starczylo.

[DUN I LOVE]

Rodaczka może jutro uratować Steffi.

Najwięcej tygodni z rzędu:
1. Steffi Graf 186
2. Serena Williams 183

[robpal]

Może zabrzmi to nieco górnolotnie. ale ostatni tak ważny mecz w WTA to chyba semi Sereny z Vinci

[DUN I LOVE]

Można gdzieś obejrzeć w TV ten arcyważny pojedynek?

Pliskova 6-3.

[Hankmoody]

Supertenis.
Bardzo mocno bije Czeszka, i na nieszczęście Kerber trafia. Nie ma co zbierać na tą chwilę.

[robpal]

Ma Pliskova w karierze te momenty (w przeciwieństwie do pewnej Niemki, są to całe turnieje, a nie pojedyncze mecze czy raczej sety), kiedy niespecjalnie jest się jak jej przeciwstawić. A na szybkim hardzie to już w ogóle.

[Mario]

Lubię Pliskovą, więc podwójnie się cieszę.