Li Na couldn't be on the court to win the Wuhan Open, but she must have been pretty pleased that her friend, Petra Kvitova, could get the job done. Kvitova defeated Genie Bouchard 6-3, 6-4. Kvitova had to serve for the match twice, after Bouchard won a tense game when the Czech star served at 6-3, 5-3. In winning the brand new Wuhan title, Kvitova also became the fourth player to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Speaking of Li, Kvitova said: "... I know everybody wished to have Li Na here standing with us, but we will remember her with this trophy. I'm
just glad she's happy now; I hope she's going to be happy for the rest
of her life."
Also winning a title in Wuhan were Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta. They defeated Cara Black and Caroline Garcia 6-4, 5-7, 12-10 in the doubles final. They have reached two finals before (Eastbourne and the U.S. Open(, but this was the first time that Hingis and Pennetta have won a title as a team.
In Beijing: Kirsten Flipkens, Bojana Jovanovski and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova are already out in the opening round.
13 comments:
Bouchard by next year will dominate over players like Kvitova. She's improving rapidly and I predict she will win her first Slams in 2015.
Alas your clear bias for Great Hope Halep and Comeback Kvitova will be for not.
This is a one-woman blog, and is therefore filled with opinion and bias, all of which I hope is very clear!
I hope for the best for all three of them; I admired both Kvitova and Halep long before they moved up to the top 10, and I do have a special interest in both of them.
As for 2015--one thing I've learned is to stay away from predicting too much about the WTA.
I agree with you Diane, on not predicting the WTA. It seems someone breaks out and then you don't hear from her again, or someone starts slowly up, or someone booms out like Bouchard and Halep and actually Kvitova (try 2011).
To like or have a bias for Halep and Kvitova does not preclude an interest in Bouchard. You can like more than one player. I saw names like Azarenka, Halep and Kvitova while they were just starting out in the international tourneys. Since at that time it was difficult to see such players on ESPN or what not, I "watched" them on the results saw them move up from 1st rd to playing in finals. THis could be while they were still ranked below 100. So there is history with some players that make me want to continue rooting for them esp if when I finally get to see them I like their game. Sometimes what I don't like about tennis is the cult of the personality-people tend to focus on one player and get very possessive. But I find cause to like many different players and then have my favorites.
Thoughtful comment. And I like different players for different reasons: A-rad--her amazing game, Halep--her total game and her personality, Kvitova--her complete awesomeness!, Serena--her great talent and personal strength, Pennetta--her "Italian," Vika--her total coolness, etc. I've always liked and followed lots of different players. I find there's little to dislike among the top players (and sometimes, I especially like traits that others appear to dislike).
anonymous, i do believe u mean "naught"...
i hope the media doesn't get in bouchard's head like they did with wozniacki when she was #1...and sloane when she was on the rise. bouchard is definitely still finding her way. i was really surprised by her *lack* of timing when watching her play petra. whenever i see her dictate play and take the ball super early, i always applaud her for her timing...but against Petra...she could not get a good hit in. TONS of mishits. makes you think how much practice and repetition it takes for bouchard to get her rhythm. she couldn't adjust to petra's ball.
anyway... wish woz would wear something like this on the court: http://instagram.com/p/th2yUXN5ta/
also...i think that the biggest thing that the women's game is lacking right now is that no one really wants the #1 position. i feel like the stars of the game today want to win big titles, but don't want the #1 target on their back. and that's a shame bc it would be nice to have a rivalry.
altho...it has been fun to see the "nice" girls (kvitova, wozniacki, ivanovic) wage war on the "mean" girls (sharapova/bouchard)
That dress is beautiful! Caroline looks great in it.
Your point, Eric, about Bouchard's timing is a good one. Some of that has to do with Kvitova; when she's in the zone, she makes returning almost impossible because of her combination of power, speed and scary precision with those short points.
Bouchard is now at the point st which fine-tuning must be done. I remember when Petra was at that point--the raw talent was huge but it wasn't enough.
Genie has a lot going for her, and when you think that she can only get better--wow. The fact that she's already the object of a huge media frenzy (something I don't understand at all) can't possibly be helpful to her.
Diane, you didn't know? Blonde ambition rules the world.
Bias needs unfairness to be bias. If a person's reasons for favoring someone or something are well-grounded in disclosed facts, it is not bias. So, Diane, having articulated her reasons, is not biased in her comments about any of the girls mentioned. Yep.
Well, thanks, Doug :)
Tennis, as an individual sport, is also very much about personality. Sometimes we admire a player for her game and her skill, but maybe don't warm up to her personality, or vice versa, for that matter.
Yes. There was no unfairness in Diane's comments. What is more, this is a fan's likes. Bias is hurtful in some way or other. No harm here. No foul here. Diane has a right to her opinion about the players.
Most of us come here because we value Diane's opinion. If we wanted to read gushing puff pieces on the most marketable tennis "stars" we would stick to ESPN or sports illustrated.
Amen!
Women Who Serve has the coolest readers :)
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