NEW MATCH-UP ALERT… The Sydney quarter-finals include a first career meeting between Belinda Bencic and Ekaterina Makarova. Bencic had a solid win in the second round against the Sydney GOAT, Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3 6-3. It was a far more straightforward match compared to her first round win over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 7-6(6) 1-6 6-4. In the…
All eight second round matches are on Tuesday’s order of play at the Apia International in Sydney. This includes the first outing in 2016 for Simona Halep who plays at not before 6pm local time against Caroline Garcia (see preview HERE). This post covers Jelena Jankovic v Sara Errani (1st up on Show Court 1)…
Once again, Simona Halep is set to play her first match of 2016; after pulling out of the Brisbane International last week with an achilles injury, the world number two will now play Caroline Garcia in Sydney. In an all-French first rounder, Garcia edged past her doubles partner, Kristina Mladenovic in a tight two…
An all-top 20 match-up opens up proceedings at the Apia International in Sydney on Monday with the world number 10, Angelique Kerber going up against the world number 19, Elina Svitolina. Kerber arrives in Sydney having reached the final of the Brisbane International with wins over Camila Giorgi, Madison Brengle, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Carla Suárez…
Well this is a new one… both my finalists for Sydney, Agnieszka Radwanska and Petra Kvitova, have pulled out of the tournament. Radwanska has officially pulled out with a left lower leg injury, while Kvitova still isn’t over the stomach virus. It may be a smart move from Radwanska to rest before Melbourne after winning…
This week represents the final opportunity for players to get match practice before the Australian Open with nine of the world’s top 15 choosing to play the Apia International in Sydney. Once again, it’s one of those draws that has produced many first round matches that… you cannot believe are first round matches. I’m fully…
The first week of the 2016 tennis season has been wacky to say the least. While four of the world’s top five WTA players have forced to withdraw/retire from tournaments this week, there have plenty of interesting moments and several players have snapped their opportunities and brightened their prospects for the Australian Open. Here’s a…
Victoria Azarenka has laid down the gauntlet in 2016, winning the Brisbane International, her first title since 2013 in Cincinnati. Azarenka defeated Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-1 in 73 minutes; in fact the Belarusian dropped just 17 games throughout the whole tournament in what was a dominant sweep through the draw. After their last match at the…
The first week of the 2016 tennis season has been especially chaotic with a flood of withdrawals and the top three seeds in Brisbane, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza and Maria Sharapova, all pulling out with injury. However, the week will end with what promises to be a FASCINATING finale to the 2016 Brisbane International between Victoria Azarenka…
What a week for Samantha Crawford… The 20-year-old American, currently ranked at number 142 in the world, has well and truly put herself on the map with a tremendous breakthrough week at the Brisbane International. Crawford came through three rounds of qualifying, knocking out the number one seed, Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round, followed by…
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