WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN FINAL

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN FINAL"

Godwin Berry
5 years ago
Views:

1 MATCH NOTES: WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN CINCINNATI, OH, USA AUGUST 14-20, 2017 USD $2,836,904 PREMIER 5 WTA Website: facebook.com/wta Tournament Website: facebook.com/cincytennis WTA Communications: Estelle LaPorte (elaporte@wtatennis.com), Kate Goff (kgoff@wtatennis.com) WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN FINAL [4] GARBIÑE MUGURUZA (ESP #6) vs. [2] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #2) Muguruza leads 2-1 A LOOK AT THE FINALISTS PLAYER RANK NAT AGE CINCINNATI W-L (MD)* YTD W/L* CAREER W/L* YTD PRIZE $ CAREER PRIZE $^ YTD TITLES Simona Halep [2] 2 ROU ,409,692 18,870, Garbiñe Muguruza [4] 6 ESP ,871,732 13,954, *Includes current tournament / ^Does not include current tournament CAREER TITLES FINAL QUICK HITS On Sunday afternoon, Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza lock horns for the first time in over two years, with the Western & Southern Open title on the line Also up for grabs is the No.1 ranking, which after near misses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon Halep can finally claim with victory at the Lindner Family Tennis Center Should Halep triumph, she would ensure that for just the fifth time both the WTA and ATP World Tour No.1 rankings would change hands on the same date (Rafael Nadal is replacing Andy Murray as ATP No.1): Sept. 9, 1991 (Monica Seles and Stefan Edberg) April 10, 1995 (Stefanie Graf and Andre Agassi) July 5, 1999 (Lindsay Davenport and Andre Agassi) August 18, 2008 (Ana Ivanovic and Rafael Nadal) July 9, 2012 (Victoria Azarenka and Roger Federer) Halep is appearing in her second Cincinnati final, having finished runner-up to Williams in The last Romanian to win here was Magda Rurac in 1949 Muguruza, who is contesting her first final on American soil, is attempting to become the very first Spaniard to lift the title Both finalists have won a title this year: Halep (Madrid) and Muguruza (Wimbledon) Halep, is yet to drop a set the last player to win Cincinnati without losing a set was Vera Zvonareva in 2006 Muguruza, meanwhile, has dropped a couple en route to the final, saving three match points against Madison Keys in the last 16 and spending two hours and 20 minutes longer on court this week than Halep Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: 1

2 MATCH NOTES CINCINNATI - USA, OH Aug 14 - Aug 20, 2017 $2,836,904 PREMIER 5 [4] GARBIÑE MUGURUZA (ESP #6) vs. [2] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #2) Head to Head: GARBIÑE MUGURUZA leads STUTTGART CLAY I R16 SIMONA HALEP mins 2015 FED CUP WEEK 1 HARD I R1 GARBIÑE MUGURUZA n/a 2014 WUHAN HARD O R2 GARBIÑE MUGURUZA mins GARBIÑE MUGURUZA (23) $3,871,732 $13,954,897 1 / 4 0 / / / / WTA RANKING ROAD TO SINGAPORE LEADERBOARD DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) YTD PRIZE MONEY CAREER PRIZE MONEY SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) CINCINNATI W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * SIMONA HALEP (25) $3,409,692 $18,870,480 1 / 15 0 / / / / / YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 15-6 / / YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 3-1 / / 8-13 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-1 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 3-3 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 10-5 / * Updated entering 2017 Cincinnati F ROAD TO THE FINAL [4] GARBIÑE MUGURUZA (ESP #6) SF: d. [1] KAROLINA PLISKOVA (CZE #1) 6-3,6-2 (1h19) QF: d. [8] SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (RUS #8) 6-2,5-7,7-5 (2h45) R16: d. [16] MADISON KEYS (USA #17) 6-4,3-6,7-6(3) (2h18) R32: d. BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA (BRA #80) 6-2,6-0 (1h05) R64: BYE Total games: 95 Won/lost: Sets won/lost: 8-2 Total time on court: 7h27 Average time on court: 1h52 Average rank of opponent: 27 vs. [2] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #2) SF: d. SLOANE STEPHENS (USA #151) 6-2,6-1 (0h54) QF: d. [7] JOHANNA KONTA (GBR #7) 6-4,7-6(1) (1h49) R16: d. [15] ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA (LAT #16) 6-4,6-3 (1h18) R32: d. TAYLOR TOWNSEND (USA #134) 6-4,6-1 (1h06) R64: BYE Total games: 74 Won/lost: Sets won/lost: 8-0 Total time on court: 5h07 Average time on court: 1h17 Average rank of opponent: 77 Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

3 MATCH NOTES CINCINNATI - USA, OH Aug 14 - Aug 20, 2017 $2,836,904 PREMIER 5 CINCINNATI Tournament History * Qualifying match GARBIÑE MUGURUZA 2016 SF L - KAROLINA PLISKOVA (CZE #17) QF W - TIMEA BABOS (HUN #41) R16 W - ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS #18) R2 W - COCO VANDEWEGHE (USA #33) 7-6(4) 6-2 R1 BYE 2015 R1 L - YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA (KAZ #106) (0) 2014 R1 L - ANNIKA BECK (GER #66) R1* L - MADISON KEYS (USA #158) 7-6(5) SIMONA HALEP 2016 SF L - ANGELIQUE KERBER (GER #2) QF W - AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (POL #5) R16 W - DARIA GAVRILOVA (AUS #47) R2 W - ANNIKA BECK (GER #44) R1 BYE 2015 F L - SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #1) (5) SF W - JELENA JANKOVIC (SRB #25) QF W - ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS #34) 7-6(3) 6-2 R16 W - ANDREA PETKOVIC (GER #17) R2 W - KRISTINA MLADENOVIC (FRA #40) R BYE QF L - MARIA SHARAPOVA (RUS #6) R16 W - LUCIE SAFAROVA (CZE #17) R2 W - KIRSTEN FLIPKENS (BEL #54) R BYE QF L - SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #1) R16 W - SAMANTHA STOSUR (AUS #11) R2 W - MARION BARTOLI (FRA #7) R1 W - SU-WEI HSIEH (TPE #42) 6-7(5) R1 L - ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES (ESP #38) R2* L - SORANA CIRSTEA (ROU #74) R1* W - LIGA DEKMEIJERE (LAT #753) MUGURUZA: Cincinnati Making fourth main draw appearance at Western & Southern Open (fifth overall) Has advanced to first final on American soil, having previously fallen at the semifinal stage on a couple of occasions last year at Cincinnati (l. Ka.Pliskova) and earlier this month at Stanford (l.keys) She has avenged both defeats this week, saving three match points against Keys in R16 and then breaking World No.1 Ka.Pliskova four times in Saturday s SF Now owns four career wins over a reigning No.1, having also defeated Kerber at 2017 Wimbledon and S.Williams at both 2014 Roland Garros and 2016 Roland Garros Faces Halep in today s final; leads their head to head record 2 1, winning both encounters on hard courts at 2014 Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

4 Wuhan and whilst on Fed Cup duty in 2015 Owns 8 13 career record against Top 5 players, with wins coming over No.1 S.Williams (2014 Roland Garros), No.2 Halep (2014 Wuhan), No.3 Halep (2015 Fed Cup), No.1 S.Williams (2015 Roland Garros), No.5 Wozniacki (2015 Wimbledon), No.5 Kvitova (2015 WTA Finals), No.1 Kerber (2017 Wimbledon) and No.1 Ka.Pliskova (2017 Cincinnati) Is appearing in eighth career final (4 3 win loss record) and first outside of the majors since 2015 Beijing (d. Bacsinszky in F) Bidding for 39th win of 2017 only Wozniacki (48), Svitolina (45), Ka.Pliskova (42) and Halep (39) have more. Also the WTA leader in prize money this season with $3,871,732 Route to the final has taken 7hr 27min over 2hr longer than Halep (5hr 7min) Season Followed up Wimbledon title with semifinal showing in Stanford (l. eventual champion, Keys) and quarterfinal in Toronto (l. eventual champion Svitolina) Playing third tournament since winning second Grand Slam title, at Wimbledon (d. V.Williams in F) Added this to 2016 Roland Garros triumph to become one of eight active players have won two or more major titles (also S.Williams 23, V.Williams 7, Sharapova 5, Azarenka 2, Kerber 2, Kuznetsova 2 and Kvitova 2) Dropped only one set at All England Club, during 2hr 20min R16 encounter against No.1 Kerber. Registered 300th match win (at all levels) with final victory over V.Williams Ranked No.15 entering 2017 Wimbledon (July 3, 2017) her lowest ranking for two years (No.20 on June 29, 2015). Rose to No.5 by lifting the title and is No.6 at present (August 14, 2017) Heading into Wimbledon, made SF run at Birmingham (l. Barty, which was first SF on grass since 2015 Wimbledon) and 2r exit at Eastbourne (after 1r bye, l. Strycova 61 60) Clay court swing culminated in reaching R16 at Roland Garros (as defending champion, l. Mladenovic) Arrived in Paris after SF run at Rome defeated V.Williams in QF, forced to retire vs. eventual champion Svitolina w/neck injury at 1 4 down. Suffered back to back opening match losses at Stuttgart (after 1r bye, l. Kontaveit) and Madrid (l. Bacsinszky in 1r) On North American hard courts this spring, reached QF at Indian Wells (l. Ka.Pliskova) and was forced to retire w/heat related illness vs. eventual R Up Wozniacki in R16 at Miami During Middle Eastern swing, fell in 2r at both Doha (l. Zhang) and Dubai (after 1r bye, ret. vs. Bondarenko w/left Achilles injury) Began 2017 season strongly with SF run at Brisbane ret. vs. Cornet trailing 4 1 (w/right thigh injury). Was first SF since Cincinnati last August (l. eventual champion Ka.Pliskova) and second since run to final at Roland Garros Followed this up by reaching QF at Australian Open (l. Vandeweghe) for first time after R16 efforts in 2014 and 2015 In February, represented Spain in Fed Cup World Group loss to Czech Republic, going 1 1 in singles (d. Strycova, l. Ka.Pliskova)

5 Grand Slam History 2017 Wimbledon marked 19th Grand Slam main draw appearance. Is a two time Grand Slam champion, winning the titles at 2017 Wimbledon (d. V.Williams in F) and at 2016 Roland Garros (d. S.Williams in F, and dropping just one set en route to lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen) Is one of 27 women in the Open Era to win multiple Grand Slams. Owns a 2 1 record in Grand Slam final matches to date (also finishing R Up at 2015 Wimbledon) One of five women to defeat S.Williams in a Grand Slam final (also V.Williams, Sharapova, Kerber and Stosur) Is the second player to face both Williams sisters in the final of the same major (also Hingis, at US Open in 1997 d. V.Williams, and 1999 l. S.Williams) Became only player to defeat both Williams sisters in Grand Slam final, at Roland Garros (d. S.Williams in 2016) and Wimbledon (d. V.Williams in 2017) Became the first Spanish woman to win Roland Garros since 1998, when Sánchez Vicario defeated Seles in the final. Also the 45th woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title At 2015 Wimbledon, became first Spaniard to reach Wimbledon final since Sánchez Vicario (1996) and first Spanish woman to reach any Grand Slam singles final since Conchita Martínez at 2000 Roland Garros (l. Pierce) Is one of seven women (also Bouchard, Halep, Kvitova, Ostapenko, Ka.Pliskova and Wozniacki) born in the 1990s to make a Grand Slam final At Australian Open, best result is QF in 2017 (l. Vandeweghe) and at US Open has reached 2r twice ( ) Career Posted second Top 10 season finish in 2016, at No.7 Finished 2016 season with second consecutive appearance at WTA Finals in Singapore went 1 2 in round robin play and did not progress to SF 2016 season highlight was winning maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. Rose to career high ranking of No.2 as a result. Was first Spanish woman to be ranked in Top 2 since Sánchez Vicario in December 1996 (as No.2) In other Grand Slam play in 2016, reached 3r at Australian Open (l. Strycova) and fell 2r at both Wimbledon (l. qualifier Cepelova) and US Open (as No.3 seed, l. Sevastova) Other notable results in 2016 included SF runs at Rome (l. eventual R Up Keys was first time winning three consecutive matches since 2015 WTA Finals) and Cincinnati (l. eventual champion Ka.Pliskova) and made QF at Doha (l. Petkovic) and Tokyo [PPO] (l. Sevastova) Enjoyed breakout season in 2015, ending the year ranked No.3 and reaching first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon Made Top 10 rankings debut after 2015 Wimbledon; one of six players to enter the elite bracket in 2015 also Makarova, Suárez Navarro, Safarova, Ka.Pliskova and Bacsinszky In 2015, became first Spanish player to compete at the WTA Finals in singles since 2001 (Sánchez Vicario) and reached doubles final (w/suárez Navarro, l. Hingis/Mirza)

6 Owns 4 3 career record in singles finals in addition to 2017 Wimbledon, won 2016 Roland Garros, 2015 Beijing and 2014 Hobart (as qualifier, d. Koukalova in F, did not drop a set en route) Made WTA main draw debut at Miami in 2012, defeating No.9 Zvonareva for first Top 10 win of career Other Information At upcoming US Open, will debut new Adidas tennis line designed by musician Pharrell Williams Began playing tennis at age three; first memory of the sport was playing with her brothers Mother, Scarlet is from Venezuela and father, José Antonio, is from Spain Coached by Sam Sumyk. Also worked with Conchita Martínez during Wimbledon title run HALEP: Cincinnati Making sixth appearance at Cincinnati, where she has now reached her second final in the past three years Finished R Up in 2015 (l. S.Williams in F) Four wins en route to this year s final have taken her season total to 39 only Wozniacki (48), Svitolina (45) and Ka.Pliskova (42) have won more Posted her quickest win of the week in Saturday s SF, reeling off the final six games to overcome wildcard Stephens in 54 minutes Is yet to drop a set this week the last player to win Cincinnati without losing a set was Zvonareva in 2006 Faces No.6 Muguruza today; owns 3 3 record against Top 10 players in 2017, defeating No.6 Svitolina and No.3 Ka.Pliskova (both at Roland Garros) and No.7 Konta (Cincinnati) Is contesting her 26th career final (10 15 record) and first on hard courts since last year in Montréal (d. Keys) Is attempting to become the first Cincinnati women's champion from Romania since Magda Rurac in 1949 Has reached the QF or better at 10 consecutive tournaments last failed to do so at Indian Wells in March Will claim World No.1 ranking from Ka.Pliskova by winning the title. Would be the 24th woman to do so and first from Romania 2R 3R QF SF R UP WIN Points PLISKOVA HALEP

7 Has come within one win of claiming top spot on two occasions already this summer in the final at Roland Garros (l. Ostapenko) and in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (l. Konta) This is the second straight year the No. 1 ranking has been on the line in the Western & Southern Open final. Last year, Kerber would have taken top spot, but fell in the final to Ka.Pliskova Should Halep win today s final, she would ensure that for just the fifth time both the WTA and ATP World Tour No.1 rankings would change hands on the same date (Rafael Nadal is replacing Andy Murray as ATP No.1). The other occasions this happened were: Sept. 9, 1991 (Monica Seles and Stefan Edberg) April 10, 1995 (Stefanie Graf and Andre Agassi) July 5, 1999 (Lindsay Davenport and Andre Agassi) August 18, 2008 (Ana Ivanovic and Rafael Nadal) July 9, 2012 (Victoria Azarenka and Roger Federer) Season Last week in Toronto, made fifth SF appearance of season (l. eventual champion Svitolina) In first tournament of US Open Series reached QF at Washington DC (ret. in third set vs. eventual champion Makarova w/heat illness) Before this, made grass court QFs at Wimbledon (l. Konta) and Eastbourne (l. Wozniacki in 3s), narrowly missing out on claiming the No.1 ranking on both occasions Finished R Up at Roland Garros (l. Ostapenko in 3s, having led with game point). Record in career singles finals now stands at Could have ascended to top spot with victory over Ostapenko in Roland Garros final; despite loss, returned to previous career high rank of No.2, a position she first ascended to on August 11, 2014 and most recently held the week beginning January 18, 2016 Entered Paris after reaching finals in consecutive weeks firstly defending Madrid title (d. Mladenovic in F) and then R Up at Rome (l. Svitolina in F). Struggled w/right ankle injury in lead up to Roland Garros after a fall in Rome final 2017 Mutua Madrid Open crown was also third WTA Premier Mandatory title, having also won at 2015 Indian Wells and 2016 Madrid Posted SF showing at Stuttgart (l. eventual champion Siegemund) marked first SF of season Claimed wins over Konta and Watson during Romania s 3 2 Fed Cup World Group II play off victory over Great Britain in April. Lost dead doubles rubber w/niculescu vs. Rae/Robson Reached QF at 2017 Miami (l. eventual champion Konta) and 3r at Indian Wells (l. Mladenovic) after skipping Middle East Swing due to a left knee injury same injury that forced withdrawal from QF vs. Vikhlyantseva at St Petersburg Made 1r exit at Australian Open for second successive year (l. Rogers in 2017, l. Zhang in 2016, who was 0 14 at Grand Slams entering match and ranked No.133 at the time) Opened 2017 season at Shenzhen, with 2r exit (d. Jankovic in 1r, l. eventual champion Siniakova) Spent pre season training with coach Darren Cahill in Adelaide

8 Grand Slam 2017 Wimbledon marked 29th Grand Slam main draw appearance. Is a two time Slam finalist, having finished runner up at Roland Garros in 2014 (l. Sharapova in 3s) and 2017 (l. Ostapenko in 3s) Has reached SF at US Open in 2015 (l. eventual champion Pennetta) and Wimbledon in 2014 (l. Bouchard) At the Australian Open advanced to QF in 2014 (l. eventual R Up Cibulkova) and 2015 (l. Makarova) Career Posted third straight Top 5 season finish in 2016, at No.4, down from career high No.2 in Season ending ranking had improved eight years in a row until season highlighted by three titles, at Madrid (d. Cibulkova in F for second title at Premier Mandatory level, after 2015 Indian Wells), Bucharest (d. Sevastova in F) and Montréal (d. Keys in F) Went on a 13 match winning streak thanks to titles at Bucharest (five wins) and Montréal (five wins) and SF run at Cincinnati (three wins). Was second longest streak of 2016, after Azarenka (16) Also reached the first WTA doubles final of her career at 2016 Montréal (w/niculescu, l. Makarova/Vesnina) Qualified for WTA Finals in Singapore for the third time, going 1 2 in round robin play d. Keys, l. Kerber and Cibulkova; did not progress to SF Also in 2016 reached SF at Sydney (l. eventual champion Kuznetsova), Cincinnati (l. eventual R Up Kerber) and Wuhan (l. eventual champion Kvitova) and back to back QF at Indian Wells (l. S.Williams) and Miami (l. Bacsinszky) At the Slams in 2016, made R16 at Roland Garros (l. Stosur) and posted QF runs at Wimbledon (l. eventual R Up Kerber) and US Open (l. S.Williams) Went 6 7 vs. Top 10 opponents in 2016, wins being over No.9 Kvitova (Fed Cup), No.9 Keys (Wimbledon and Wuhan), No.2 Kerber (Montréal), No.5 A.Radwanska (Cincinnati) and No.7 Keys (WTA Finals Singapore) Record vs. World No.1 players is 1 10, win coming at 2014 WTA Finals Singapore vs. S.Williams (RR stage) Career record vs. Top 5 players is 8 24, with wins coming over No.3 Ka.Pliskova (2017 Roland Garros), No.2 Kerber (2016 Montréal), No.5 A.Radwanska (2016 Cincinnati), No.5 Wozniacki (2015 Dubai), No.5 Bouchard (2014 WTA Finals), No.1 S.Williams (2014 WTA Finals), No.4 A.Radwanska (2014 Doha) and No.4 A.Radwanska (2013 Rome) Between May 2013 and August 2014, improved ranking from No.64 to as high as No.2 in the world, winning seven titles in this period Became third Romanian to break into the WTA Top 10 (after Ruzici, Spirlea) making Top 10 debut week of January 27, 2014; now highest ranked Romanian woman ever Romanian Fed Cup Team, 2010, 2012, Other Information Tennis idols are Justine Henin and Roger Federer Speaks Romanian and English Coached by Australian Darren Cahill. Formerly coached by Wim Fissette and Victor Ionita

CHINA OPEN - FINAL MATCH NOTES: CHINA OPEN BEIJING, CHINA SEPT 30 OCT 8, 2017 $6,381,679 PREMIER MANDATORY EVENT

CHINA OPEN - FINAL MATCH NOTES: CHINA OPEN BEIJING, CHINA SEPT 30 OCT 8, 2017 $6,381,679 PREMIER MANDATORY EVENT MATCH NOTES: CHINA OPEN BEIJING, CHINA SEPT 30 OCT 8, 2017 $6,381,679 PREMIER MANDATORY EVENT WTA Information: www.wtatennis.com @WTA facebook.com/wta Tournament Info: http://www.chinaopen.com.cn www.facebook.com/chinaopen