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Post by Admin on Sept 9, 2016 2:28:30 GMT
The US Open women's doubles final is set after No. 12 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova put on a nearly perfect performance in snapping the 13-match win streak of No. 4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, while top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic have yet to drop a set after defeating No. 6 seeds Martina Hingis and CoCo Vandeweghe. In the first match on the Grandstand on Friday, Mattek-Sands and Safarova defeated Makarova and Vesnina, 6-2, 7-6(4). The No. 12 seeds dropped just two points in racing out to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. The Russian team's approach of sticking to the baseline proved to be ineffective as Mattek-Sands continued to cross for winning volleys. Mattek-Sands and Safarova earned an additional break of serve at 5-2 to wrap up the opening set. Both teams traded service breaks in the first two games of the second set and eventually forced a tiebreak. Mattek-Sands and Safarova earned a mini-break off a forehand volley unforced error to lead 4-3 and held that slight edge the rest of the way, converting on their second match point and hugging in celebration.
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Post by Admin on Sept 11, 2016 1:34:34 GMT
After failing to reach the second week of a single major last year, the German won her second of the season Saturday at the US Open. She defeated No. 10 seed Karolina Pliskova in a smashing final 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The newly minted No. 1-ranked player, who this year made a commitment to being more assertive, has enjoyed a spectacular renaissance at the age of 28. Kerber becomes only the second woman to win her first two Grand Slam singles titles after turning 28, joining Li Na, who won the 2011 French Open at 29 and, three years later, the Australian Open. With Serena Williams turning 35 later this month, there are telling signs that her dominance is deteriorating. Kerber, the quintessential late bloomer, seems poised to play the role of perennial champion for the next several years. Patience was the virtue that rewarded Kerber in the end, as she came back from a 3-1 deficit in the third set. Afterward, she blew kisses to the crowd and sobbed, head in hands, on her changeover chair.
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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2016 2:30:51 GMT
Her face has adorned some of the water bottles at Flushing Meadows through an enduring contract with the official supplier. She also turned up at New York Fashion Week, which has been in full swing. Sharapova is bound to have kept abreast with what happened at the season’s final Grand Slam, which was won on Saturday night by Angelique Kerber in her latest chapter of Tales of the Unexpected. While the German pocketed an unlikely second Major title of the season, Sharapova’s next engagement is likely to be with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, who any week now are due to hear her appeal against a two-year ban for taking Meldonium.
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Post by Admin on Sept 22, 2016 1:10:14 GMT
Japanese wild card Naomi Osaka claimed the biggest scalp of her career on Wednesday, stunning Slovakian world No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova to storm into the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The 18-year-old power hitter, whose looks and playing style have drawn comparisons to her idol Serena Williams, roared back from a shaky start to win 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour at Ariake Colosseum. World No. 66 Osaka, who beat Japanese top player Misaki Doi in straight sets in the first round, will play either third seed and U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic or Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the last eight. Sixth-seeded Cibulkova is the highest-ranked player Osaka has ever beaten. Osaka was previously 2-4 against top-20 players, having beaten then No. 19 Samantha Stosur in 2014 at Stanford and then No. 18 Sara Errani at Miami this year. "I was nervous because I was playing against such a good player," Osaka said of Cibulkova, adding that "of course" she wanted to perform well in front of the Japanese crowd.
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Post by Admin on Sept 24, 2016 1:10:29 GMT
Japan's Naomi Osaka produced another explosive performance to beat Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and reach the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals on Friday. Osaka, born of a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, will face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the last four after her shock three-set victory over top seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain. The 18-year-old Osaka, who models her power game on her idol Serena Williams, reached the last four of a WTA tournament for the first time after a 6-3, 7-6 victory in Tokyo, finishing in style by smashing an ace down the centre line.
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