ST. PETERSBURG LADIES TROPHY - DAY 2 FEATURED MATCH-UPS

Transcription

1 MATCH NOTES: ST. PETERSBURG LADIES TROPHY ST. PETERSBURG, RUS JANUARY 29- FEBRUARY 4, 2018 USD WTA Website: Tournament Website: WTA Communications: facebook.com/wta facebook.com/formulatx Chris Whitmore Adam Lincoln ST. PETERSBURG LADIES TROPHY - DAY 2 FEATURED MATCH-UPS Sibur Arena [5] JULIA GOERGES (GER #12) vs. MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #62) First meeting Both players are making their St. Petersburg debut Goerges enters play after winning the title in Aukland in her first tournament of 2018 Sakkari is looking for her first win of the new season [Q] ROBERTA VINCI (ITA #147) vs. [Q] TEREZA MARTINCOVA (CZE #146) First meeting Vinci returns for her third ladies trophy as a former champion in 2016 her six wins are the most for any player in the tournament s three-year history Martincova will be making her 2018 main draw debut after falling to Kumkhum in Australian Open qualifying [WC] VERA ZVONAREVA (RUS #197) vs. KIKI BERTENS (NED #28) First meeting Zvonareva will be making her 2018 main draw debut her first year competing in St. Petersburg Bertens returns for her second attempt at the title after falling in the first round last year Reached third round of Australian Open before losing to Wozniacki [Q] VIKTORIA KUZMOVA (SVK #122) vs. [8] DARIA KASATKINA (RUS #23) First meeting Kasatkina returns for a third time with her highest world rank to date a semifinalist in 2016, she has four career wins in St. Petersburg Kuzmova is making her tournament debut and is one of three teens contesting this week s draw SORANA CIRSTEA (ROU #36) vs. DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK #26) Cibulkova leads 4-1 Cibulkova is making her third appearance in St. Petersburg Returning as a former semifinalist in 2017 and quarterfinalist in 2016 Cirstea will play in her first ladies trophy her first tournament in Russia since 2009 Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: 1

2 MATCH NOTES ST. PETERSBURG - RUSSIA Jan 29 - Feb 04, 2018 $799,000 PREMIER [5] JULIA GOERGES (GER #12) vs. MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #62) Head to Head: 0-0 JULIA GOERGES (29) $111,286 $6,746,361 1 / 5 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) ST. PETERSBURG W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * MARIA SAKKARI (22) $51,167 $990,795 0 / 0 0 / / / / / / YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-0 / / 8-17 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / 1-7 Rnd Result Duration. d.. 0 mins * Updated entering St. Petersburg 1r ST. PETERSBURG Tournament Performance * Qualifying match Rnd Result Duration. d.. 0 mins ST. PETERSBURG Tournament History * Qualifying match Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

3 GOERGES: St. Petersburg Making tournament debut in St. Petersburg this week Playing 2018 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on a career-high ranking of No.12. This time last year was No.57 Would need to advance to semifinals this week to have a chance at cracking into Top 10 for first time in career Owns a 15-1 record dating back to 2017 Moscow in October 15-match win streak included three titles (Moscow, Zhuhai and Auckland) before ending in 2r of Australian Open Squares off against No.62 Sakkari for the first time in today s opening round Owns a record against opponents ranked outside the Top 50, including a mark since the start of 2017 season Leads the ace race thus far this season, firing 61 in just seven matches the fewest matches played of the Top 10 ace leaders Won 35 matches on hard courts in 2017 only Wozniacki (41) and Ka.Pliskova (39) had more wins on the surface Season Coming off 2r exit at Australian Open (l. Cornet) Began 2018 campaign with fifth title of career at Auckland (d.wozniacki in F) extended title streak to three, having previously won Moscow and Zhuhai to close 2017 season Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marked 40th Grand Slam main draw appearance. Has reached R16 but never further on five occasions, at Australian Open ( and 2015), Roland Garros (2015) and US Open (2017) Best result at Wimbledon were 3r appearances in Made main draw debut at 2007 US Open, coming through qualifying before losing to eventual champion Henin in 1r In doubles, is a three time semifinalist, at Australian Open (2015 w/groenefeld and 2016 w/ka.pliskova) and Wimbledon (2016 w/ka.pliskova) Reached first Grand Slam final of any kind at 2014 Roland Garros, finishing runner-up in mixed doubles (w/zimonjic; l. Groenefeld/Rojer) Career Posted then-career-high ranking and best year-end finish in 2017, at No.14. Second Top 20 finish of career (also No.18 in 2012) Reached a career-high five finals across last season, winning Moscow (d. Kasatkina in F) and biggest title of career at WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai (d. Vandeweghe in F). Finished R-Up at Mallorca (l. Sevastova), Bucharest (l. Begu) and Washington, DC (l. Makarova) Moscow title was first since 2011 Stuttgart, having also won 2010 Bad Gastein By winning 2017 Moscow, overtook Kerber to become German No.1 and also returned to Top 20 for first time since February 2013 Hit 412 aces across 2017 season. Only two other players have reached the 400 ace mark in a season: S.Williams ( ) and Ka.Pliskova ( ) Opened 2016 by reaching first WTA singles final in nearly four years, finishing runner-up at Auckland (l. Stephens). Was first final since 2012 Dubai Enjoyed best doubles season to date in 2016, reaching final at Indian Wells (w/ka. Pliskova) and qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time. Set new career-high doubles rank of No.12 on August 22, 2016 In 2011, posted wins over World No.1 Wozniacki in consecutive weeks (Stuttgart final and Madrid) Made WTA main draw debut as a qualifier at 2007 Doha

4 Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Germany in 2005 German Fed Cup team 2008, Other Information German Fed Cup team 2008, Born in Bad Oldesloe. Father is Klaus, mother is Inge; older sister is Maike Began playing tennis aged 6. Tennis idol growing up was Martina Hingis Coached by Michael Geserer and Matthias Mischka SAKKARI: St. Petersburg Making tournament debut this week Contesting this week s tournament at No.62 in rankings, up 29 spots from No.91 at this time last year Takes on No.12 Goerges for the first time in today s 1r action Bidding for first victory of 2018 and second career win against Top 20 opponent (d. No.6 Wozniacki at 2017 Wuhan Open) A win today would help her break the $1 million prize money threshold for her career Owns a 15-8 record vs. German opponents, including 6-3 on hardcourts Season Fell in 1r action at Australian Open (l.siniakova) Began 2018 season with 1r exit at Shenzhen (l.kovinic) followed by 1r qualifying defeat at Sydney (l. Cepede Royg) Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marked ninth Grand Slam main draw appearance Has reached 3r at three of the four majors at 2017 Australian Open (l. Lucic-Baroni), 2017 Wimbledon (l. Konta) and 2017 US Open (l. V.Williams) Only main draw appearance at Roland Garros ended in 1r defeat to Suárez Navarro in r run at 2017 Australian Open saw her become first Greek woman to reach the 3r at a Slam since Daniilidou at 2005 Wimbledon (l. Pennetta) At 2016 Australian Open, reaching 2r, (d. Y.Wang, l. Suárez Navarro) became the first woman from Greece to win a main draw match at a Slam since Daniilidou d. Ka.Pliskova at 2013 Australian Open Career Registered second-consecutive Top 100 year-end finish in 2017, finishing at No.52 the highest year-end finish by a Greek player since Daniilidou in 2007 (No.43) and the only Greek player to record a Top 100 finish in the last seven years (since No.90 Daniilidou in 2011) Notched career-best win and first Top 10 victory of career over No.6 Wozniacki en route to first WTA SF of career at 2017 Wuhan Open became just second qualifier to reach Premier-level SF in 2017 (Mertens at New Haven)

5 Enjoyed a career year at the majors, progressing to 3r for first time on three different occasions: Australian Open (l. Lucic Baroni), Wimbledon (l. Konta) and US Open (l. V.Williams) Broke into Top 50 for first time at No.49 on October 9, 2017 Reached first career WTA QF at 2016 Istanbul after qualifying to enter main draw (l. Kovinic) at the time, achieved best win by ranking defeating No.34 Schmiedlova in 1r Elsewhere, played mainly ITF for first half of 2016 season, falling in qualifying at Brisbane, Hobart, Rio de Janeiro, Monterrey, Indian Wells, Madrid and Roland Garros before making 2r at Wimbledon main draw (d. S.Zheng, l. V.Williams in 3s). After Wimbledon, only other main draw win in 2016 came in 2r showing at Tashkent (d. Schmiedlova, l. Flipkens) Also played main draw again at 2016 Gstaad (l. Kontaveit in 1r), New Haven (as qualifier. L. Rodina 1r), Tokyo [Japan Open] (l. Putintseva), Seoul (l. S.Zhang) and Hong Kong (l. World No.1 Kerber) Opened 2016 by falling in qualifying at Brisbane and Hobart and 2r 2016 Australian Open (posted first Grand Slam main draw win vs. Y.Wang, l. Suarez Navarro) Owns seven ITF Circuit singles titles and five in doubles Made WTA qualifying debut at 2012 Palermo Made debut on ITF Circuit in 2010 at $10k ITF/Mytilino GRE. Owns seven singles and five doubles titles on ITF Circuit Other Information Recently hired former ATP pro Thomas Johansson as her coach Born and grew up in Athens, Greece, before moving to Barcelona aged 18 has trained there for two years Mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulou, was tennis player too, however didn t start because of her just liked the sport. Tried karate and gymnastics but was thrown out of class for laughing too much

6 MATCH NOTES ST. PETERSBURG - RUSSIA Jan 29 - Feb 04, 2018 $799,000 PREMIER [Q] ROBERTA VINCI (ITA #147) vs. [Q] TEREZA MARTINCOVA (CZE #146) Head to Head: First meeting ROBERTA VINCI (34) $5,691 $11,775,493 0 / 10 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) ST. PETERSBURG W-L (MD) * TEREZA MARTINCOVA (23) $8,190 $264,693 0 / 0 0 / / / / / YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 0-0 / / / / / YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-0 / / 4-31 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / 1-1 * Updated entering 2018 St. Petersburg 1r Result ST. PETERSBURG Tournament History * Qualifying match ROBERTA VINCI 2017 QF L - KRISTINA MLADENOVIC (FRA #51) R16 W - ANDREA PETKOVIC (GER #52) R1 W - TIMEA BABOS (HUN #30) F W - BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #11) SF W - ANA IVANOVIC (SRB #20) QF W - TIMEA BABOS (HUN #51) 7-6(3) (4) R16 W - YANINA WICKMAYER (BEL #55) (2) R1 BYE TEREZA MARTINCOVA 2017 R1* W - OLESYA PERVUSHINA (RUS #381) R16* L - LAURA SIEGEMUND (GER #87) R1* W - BARBORA KREJCIKOVA (CZE #189) Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

7 VINCI: St. Petersburg Making third main draw appearance at St. Petersburg. Returns as a former champion at the inaugural staging of the event in 2016 (d. Bencic in F). Made QF run in 2017 (l. eventual champion Mladenovic) Overcame three rounds of qualifying to enter main draw this week (d. Watson, Kovinic and Petkovic) Faces fellow qualifier Martincova today in their career first meeting. Bidding for first tour-level win since 2017 Cincinnati (d. Babos in 1r, l. Sevastova in 2r) Last win over a Czech player came against Krejcikova at 2016 Nurnberg. Has gone 0-7 vs. such players since this victory Enters 2018 St. Petersburg ranked at No.147 her lowest held ranking since August 25, 2008 when ranked No.164 Sole Italian representative competing this week in St. Petersburg Season Opened 2018 season at Australian Open, falling in opening round of qualifying (l. Blinkova) Grand Slam History 2017 US Open marked 52nd Grand Slam main draw appearance the ninth most outings among active players At 2015 US Open became the second-oldest first-time Grand Slam finalist at 32 years, 6 months, after her fellow finalist, Pennetta, who was 33 years, 6 months. The all-italian showdown was the first time two Italian women had met in a Grand Slam final in the Open Era Became third unseeded player to advance to the US Open final, after V.Williams in 1997 (R-Up) and Clijsters in 2009 (champion). En route to the final, Vinci ended WTA World No.1 S.Williams 33-match Grand Slam winning streak at the SF stage, ending her bid for the calendar year Grand Slam. It was the Italian s second career victory over a World No.1 (after Wozniacki at 2011 Toronto) US Open remains sole major where she has advanced to last eight or better in singles Has made R16 at both Roland Garros (2013) and Wimbledon ( ) and reached 3r at Australian Open on four occasions (2006, 2010, 2013, 2016) Completed career doubles Grand Slam by winning 2014 Wimbledon title (w/errani); pair won five Grand Slam doubles titles from eight finals 2012 Roland Garros, 2012 US Open, Australian Open, 2014 Wimbledon Career Ended 2017 at No.111 her first non-top 100 finish since 2006 (finished at No.102) 2017 marked her 20th season since making her WTA debut (1998 Palermo, in qualifying Season highlight in 2017 was reaching three QFs: Brisbane (l. eventual champion Ka.Pliskova), St. Petersburg (l. eventual champion Mladenovic) and Mallorca (l. Garcia) Best win by ranking in 2017 was over No.25 Kasatkina in 1r at Madrid (l. eventual champion Halep in 2r in 3s) Made fourth non-consecutive Top 20 finish in 2016 (at No.18) Season highlight in 2016 was making Top 10 debut the week of Doha (February 22, 2016). At 33 years and 4 days old, is oldest Top 10 debutant in WTA history. Became fourth Italian to debut in world s Top 10 (after Pennetta, Schiavone and Errani). Went on to post career-high singles ranking of No.7 (May 9, 2016) Won 10th career singles title and first at Premier level at 2016 St. Petersburg. Owns a 10-5 record in singles finals. St Petersburg win marked her first singles title since winning 2013 Palermo

8 Other notable results in 2016 saw QF runs at Brisbane (l. Azarenka), Doha (l. A.Radwanska), Stuttgart (l. Siegemund), New Haven (l. Larsson) and US Open (l. eventual champion Kerber). Subsequently qualified for WTA Elite Trophy-Zhuhai, losing both group stage matches (l. Strycova, eventual champion Kvitova) and failed to progress Represented Italy at the 2016 Olympics in singles (l. Schmiedlova in 1r) and doubles (w/errani, l. Safarova/Strycova in QF) Owns three career wins vs. Top 2 ranked opponents: No.1 Wozniacki (2011 Toronto), No.2 A.Radwanska (2012 US Open) and No.1 S.Williams (2015 US Open) Holds 15 wins vs. Top 10 opponents: No.10 Myskina (2005 Eastbourne), No.10 Schnyder (2005 Luxembourg), No.10 Pennetta (2009 Tokyo), No.1 Wozniacki (2011 Toronto), No.7 Kerber (2012 Montreal), No.2 A.Radwanska (2012 US Open), No.6 Kerber (2013 Dubai), No.9 Stosur (2013 Dubai), No.8 Kvitova (2013 Katowice), No.8 Kvitova (Fed Cup), No.6 Errani (2013 Palermo), No.6 Errani (2013 Cincinnati), No.6 A.Radwanska (2014 Beijing), No.1 S.Williams (2015 US Open) and No.4 Kvitova (2015 Wuhan) Won 25th career doubles title at 2015 Auckland (w/errani); team announced the end of their partnership during 2015 Indian Wells (while both ranked No.1). Re-united to represent Italy at 2016 Rio Olympics Team of Errani/Vinci qualified for WTA Finals three straight years, , but dropped opener on each occasion; Vinci also qualified for the season finale in 2001 (w/testud) In total, spent 110 weeks as doubles world No.1 (seventh on all-time list for weeks in top spot) Member of Italian Fed Cup team that won the competition four times (2006, 2009, 2010, 2013) Other Information Coached by Francesco Cina Father, Angelo, is an accountant; mother, Luisa, is a homemaker MARTINCOVA: St. Petersburg: Making main draw debut at St. Petersburg as a qualifier (defeated Frolova, Kr.Pliskova and Lapko in qualifying) Fell in qualifying in 2016 and 2017 Faces No.147 Vinci today. A win today would mark best-by-ranking since clinching first Top 20 win over then-no.20 Garcia at 2017 Gstaad in July (career record vs. Top 20 opponents stands at 1-1) Looking for first tour-level win since 2017 Nanchang (d. Kudryavtseva in 1r, l. eventual champion Peng in 2r) One of three Czechs competing this week in St. Petersburg also Kvitova and Siniakova Season: Enters 2018 St. Petersburg following 2r exit at $60k ITF/Andrezieux-Boutheon-FRA (l. Schoofs) Made back-to-back qualifying exits at Shenzhen (l. J.Lu) and Australian Open (l. Kumkhum) Grand Slam History: Made Grand Slam main draw debut at 2017 US Open (as qualifier, l. Garcia) Fell in qualifying at the majors on eight occasions, including at 2018 Australian Open Career: Ended 2017 ranked No.140 for career best year-end finish

9 Advanced to first tour-level SF at 2017 Gstaad, earning career first Top 20 win over then-no.20 Garcia Earned a career high singles ranking of No.114 following 2r run at 2017 Nanchang (l. eventual champion Peng) Win-loss record at tour-level in 2017 was 5-7, including three wins at Gstaad and 2r runs at Monterrey (d. McHale, l. Boserup) and Nanchang (d. Kudryavtseva, l. Peng) In 2015, reached first WTA QF at Florianopolis (l. Mattek-Sands) Made WTA qualifying and main draw debut at 2013 Nurnberg (l. Cabeza Candela in 1r) Owns two singles titles on the ITF Circuit at 2014 $10k ITF/Heraklion-GRE and 2015 $25k ITF/Lenzerheide-SUI Continues to play a mix of WTA and ITF Circuit events Other Information: Coached by Daniel Vanek

10 MATCH NOTES ST. PETERSBURG - RUSSIA Jan 29 - Feb 04, 2018 $799,000 PREMIER [WC] VERA ZVONAREVA (RUS #197) vs. KIKI BERTENS (NED #28) Head to Head: 0-0 VERA ZVONAREVA (33) $6,345 $13,576,777 0 / 12 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) ST. PETERSBURG W-L (MD) * KIKI BERTENS (26) $160,153 $3,518,589 0 / 4 1 / / / / / YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 3-3 / / / / / YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-0 / / / YTD / CAREER TOP 50 W-L (MD & Q) * YTD / CAREER TOP 100 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-3 / / * Updated entering 2018 St. Petersburg 1r ST. PETERSBURG Tournament Performance * Qualifying match Rnd Result Duration Rnd Result Duration. d.. 0 mins. d.. 0 mins ST. PETERSBURG Tournament History * Qualifying match KIKI BERTENS 2017 R1 L - ANNIKA BECK (GER #67) Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

11 ZVONAREVA: St. Petersburg Making tournament debut in St. Petersburg this week At 33 years old (September 7, 1984), is the oldest player contesting this year s draw One of a tournament-leading six Russians competing in the tournament (also Kasatkina, Makarova, Pavlyuchenkova, Potapova and Vesnina) Owns a career mark when playing in her home country of Russia (includes WTA main draw events and Fed Cup) Also participating in doubles, with partner Timea Bacsinszky Debuting in main draw of WTA event for first time this season, as a wildcard Takes on No.28 Bertens for the first time in today s opening round Holds a career record vs. Top 50 opponents Seeking first Top 30 win since 2015 Shenzhen (d. No.22 Shuai) Is undefeated (2-0) against players from Netherlands Season Coming off 1r qualifying exit at Australian Open (l. Kalinskaya) Began 2018 campaign with QF showing at ITF 25k in Playford, Australia (l. Bouzkova) Grand Slam History 2014 Wimbledon marked the 40th and most recent main draw appearance at a Grand Slam Reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals in 2010 as runner-up at both Wimbledon (l. S.Williams) and US Open (l. Clijsters) At 2010 Wimbledon, became third Russian to reach Wimbledon final (Morozova, Sharapova) and second lowest-ranked finalist (No.21). At the time, only three players (Tauziat, Garrison and Schiavone) had played more majors before reaching first final Is a two-time semifinalist at Australian Open (2009 and 2011) and advanced to first-career major QF at 2003 Roland Garros In doubles, she has won four Grand Slam titles, with two coming in women s doubles, the first one at the 2006 US Open (w/dechy), and the other at 2012 Australian Open (w/kuznetsova). Her other two came in mixed doubles at 2004 US Open (w/b.bryan) and 2006 Wimbledon (w/ram) Career Returned to the tour in 2017 following a two-year hiatus, finishing with a year-end ranking of No.204 Comeback season was highlighted by ITF 15k title at Sharm El Sheikh, runner-up finish at 125k event at Dalian (l. Kozlova) and a SF finish at International-level tournament in Tashkent (l. eventual champion K.Bondarenko) Prior to her return to the game, her last results surfaced in 2015 highlighted by QF appearances at Shenzhen Open (l. Bacsinszky via ret.) and PTT Pattaya Open (l. Erakovic) A 2013 shoulder injury sidelined her for a year and a half prior to returning for another injury-stricken season in best result was 3r finish at 2014 Wimbledon (l. Diyas) Has won 12 career WTA singles titles (most recent 2011 Baku); biggest title to date is 2009 Indian Wells Finished ranked in Top 10 four consecutive years ( ), including a year-end No.2 ranking in 2010 became fifth Russian to rank in Top 2 in October 2010 and held No.2 for 14 weeks (Oct. 25, 2010 to Jan. 30, 2011) Has four wins vs. World No.1s: Maria Sharapova (2007 Indian Wells), Jelena Jankovic (2008 WTA Championships) and Caroline Wozniacki, twice (2011 Doha and WTA Championships) Participated at WTA Championships six times in career (2004, ; includes 2009 as alternate); reached final in 2009 (l. V.Williams)

12 Has won six doubles titles, including 2009 Indian Wells (w/azarenka), completing singles-doubles sweep Missed second half of 2005 season with left ankle injury; missed four months of 2007 with left wrist injury; also missed two months in 2009 due to a right ankle injury; had surgery to remove scar tissue in November 2009 Represented Russia in Olympics twice: 2008 Beijing (replaced Sharapova, won singles bronze) and 2012 London Other Information Coached by Alexei Filenkov Mother, Natalia, was an Olympic bronze medalist in field hockey (introduced her to tennis at age 6) Graduated from Russian State Academy of Physical Education and earned second degree in international economic relations at Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow Works with International Rett Syndrome Foundation to increase awareness and raise funds for research (Rett Syndrome is a nervous system disorder that leads to developmental reversals) In 2008, participated in UNESCO Regional Conference Political Involvement of Women in the Caucasus to contribute to the idea of giving women equal chances in life Got married in 2016 to Aleksandr Kucher and gave birth to her first child BERTENS: St. Petersburg Making second-consecutive appearance in St. Petersburg following 1r exit last year (l. Beck in three sets) Lone representative from Netherlands in this year s draw Takes on wildcard and former World No.2 Zvonareva in today s 1r Holds a mark vs. wildcards in her career and is vs. Russian opponents Season Coming off 3r run at Australian Open (l. eventual champion Wozniacki) Fell in 2r of singles (l. Muguruza) and advanced to QFs in doubles (w/larsson) at Sydney In opening tournament of season fell in 1r at Brisbane (l. Konjuh in straight sets); however, teamed up with compatriot Schuurs to win doubles title (d. Klepac/ Martínez Sánchez in F). Career record in doubles finals now stands at 10-4 Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marks 23rd Grand Slam main draw appearance Best result across the Slams came with SF run at 2016 Roland Garros (l. eventual R-Up S.Williams). Ranking jumped from No.58 to a then-career high of No.27 With 2016 SF result, became the first Dutch woman to reach the SF at Roland Garros since Marijke Schaar in 1971 (l. SF), and at any Slam since Betty Stove at 1977 US Open (l. SF) Contested 2017 Roland Garros on a career-high ranking of No.18 (May 29), and as No.18 seed, was highest seeding at a Slam Has reached 3r at Wimbledon in 2016 (l. Halep) at 2018 Australian Open Best result at US Open are two 2r runs on main draw debut in 2012 (l. Puchkova) and 2015 (l. S.Williams) Is a two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist in doubles, at 2015 Australian Open (w/larsson, l. Goerges/Groenefeld) and 2016 Roland Garros (w/larsson, l. eventual champions Garcia/Mladenovic)

13 Career Ended 2017 at No.31, down from career-best year-end finish of No.22 in 2016 Season highlight was winning titles at Nürnberg (as defending champion, d. Krejcikova in F) and Gstaad (d. Kontaveit in F, having finished R-Up there in 2016). Record in singles finals stands at 4-1 Was one of nine players to win at least two titles in 2017, along with Konta (Sydney, Miami), Muguruza (Wimbledon, Cincinnati), Ostapenko (Roland Garros, Seoul), Pavlyuchenkova (Monterrey, Rabat), Ka.Pliskova (Brisbane, Doha, Eastbourne), Siniakova (Shenzhen, Bastad), Svitolina (Taipei City, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome, Toronto) and Wozniacki (Tokyo [PPO], WTA Finals) Posted strong SF run at 2017 Rome (l. eventual R-Up Halep) and reached QF at Madrid (l. Sevastova), which marked first QF at Premier Mandatory level Added four WTA doubles titles to her haul in 2017: Auckland, Gstaad, Seoul and Linz (all w/larsson) Qualified for her first WTA Finals in Singapore in 2017 (w/larsson), advancing to the final (l. Babos/Sestini Hlavackova), defeating defending champions Makarova/Vesnina en route Earned a career-high doubles ranking of No.19 following Singapore run (October 30, 2017) Finished 2016 ranked No.22 in singles big jump in the rankings from her season-ending ranking of No.101 in 2015 Reached third WTA singles final at 2016 Gstaad (as qualifier, l. Golubic, d. No.17 Bacsinszky en route) In 2016, qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy and went 0-2 in singles falling to Svitolina and Vesnina Played on Netherlands Olympic team at 2016 Rio Olympics fell in 1r (l. Errani) Scored best result at a major at 2016 Roland Garros, reaching the SF (l. eventual R-Up S.Williams) Arrived in Paris having made a clean sweep of titles at 2016 Nürnberg, claiming the singles (as qualifier, d. Duque-Mariño) and doubles (w/larsson, d. Aoyama/Voracova). The last qualifier to win a singles title was Vandeweghe at 2014 s-hertogenbosch Of her three Top 10 wins in career, all have come on clay, and two at Roland Garros: No.3 Kerber and No.9 Bacsinszky (2016 Roland Garros) and No.7 Vinci (2016 Nürnberg) Dutch No.1, and only player from the Netherlands ranked in the Top 100 (as of January 15, 2018) Won her maiden career singles title at 2012 Fès as a qualifier (d. Pous-Tio in F) in just her second main draw appearance Owns 10 doubles titles: Hobart and Bastad in 2015, Nürnberg, Linz and Luxembourg in 2016, Auckland, Gstaad, Seoul, Linz (all w/larsson) and 2018 Brisbane (w/schuurs) On ITF Circuit, owns seven singles and 11 doubles titles Netherlands Fed Cup Team, , Played first event of career on ITF Circuit in the Netherlands in 2006 and made WTA main draw debut as a wildcard at 2011 s-hertogenbosch (l. 1r) Other Information Coached by Raemon Sluiter Parents are Rob and Doré; sisters are Joyce and Daisy Started playing at age 6. Tennis idol growing up was Kim Clijsters

14 MATCH NOTES ST. PETERSBURG - RUSSIA Jan 29 - Feb 04, 2018 $799,000 PREMIER [Q] VIKTORIA KUZMOVA (SVK #122) vs. [8] DARIA KASATKINA (RUS #23) Head to Head: First meeting VIKTORIA KUZMOVA (19) $49,519 $205,555 0 / 0 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) ST. PETERSBURG W-L (MD) * DARIA KASATKINA (20) $88,258 $2,383,911 0 / 1 0 / / / / / 2-4 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 1-3 / / / / / 0-0 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-0 / / 0-0 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / 0-1 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / 0-2 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / * Updated entering 2018 St. Petersburg 1r ST. PETERSBURG Tournament History * Qualifying match DARIA KASATKINA 2017 R16 L - NATALIA VIKHLYANTSEVA (RUS #115) 7-6(4) 6-2 R1 W - BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #80) SF L - BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #11) QF W - DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK #66) R16 W - LAURA SIEGEMUND (GER #87) R1 W - KIRSTEN FLIPKENS (BEL #69) Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

15 KUZMOVA: St. Petersburg Making debut appearance at St. Petersburg Overcame three rounds of qualifying to enter main draw this week (d. Anshba, Yastremska and Vikhlyantseva) Faces No.23 Kasatkina today. Bidding for first Top 50 win of career. Best win-by-ranking came against No.73 Rybarikova at 2016 $100k ITF/Trnava 2-SVK (via ret.) Competing this week at a career-high ranking of No.122 (as at January 29, 2018) At 19-years-old, is one of three teenagers competing this week, including Potapova (16) and Rybakina (18) One to two Slovaks in the main draw at 2018 St. Petersburg also Cibulkova Season Coming off 1r exit at $60k ITF/Andrezieux-Boutheon-FRA (l. Diatchenko) Made Grand Slam main draw debut at 2018 Australian (as qualifier, l. Mertens) Opened 2018 season with 2r run at Auckland (as qualifier, l. eventual champion Goerges) Has surpassed qualifying rounds on all attempts so far in 2018 (including Auckland, Australian Open and St. Petersburg) Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marked second Grand Slam main draw appearance (as qualifier, l. Mertens in 1r) Made main draw debut at the majors at 2017 US Open (as qualifier, l. V.Williams in 3s) Fell in qualifying at 2017 Roland Garros and Wimbledon In juniors, was runner-up at 2016 US Open and won the 2015 US Open doubles title (w/pospelova) Career Ended 2017 season ranked No.132 her first Top 200 year-end finish Advanced to the QF stage or better at 12 ITF events last year, including two titles at $25k ITF/Mildura-AUS and $25k ITF/Imola-ITA Highlight of 2017 season was earning first tour-level win at Linz over Friedsam (l. Maria in 2r) Fell in WTA qualifying on four occasions in 2017 Made tour-level main draw debut at 2017 US Open (as qualifier, l. V.Williams) Made WTA qualifying debut at 2016 Prague Holds 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Circuit Other Information Coached by Jan Sabovcik KASATKINA: St. Petersburg Making third main draw appearance at St. Petersburg. Best result here is reaching SF in 2016 (l. Bencic) Defeated Bencic in 1r in 2016 however, fell in 2r (l. Vikhlyantseva)

16 Faces No.122 Kuzmova today. Fell to a player ranked outside the Top 100 on two occasions in 2017, including here in St. Petersburg (l. No.115 Vikhlyantseva) and US Open (l. No.418 Kanepi) Since 2016, is 4-0 vs. Slovakian opponents, including wins over Hantuchova (2016 Indian Wells), Cibulkova (2016 St. Petersburg), Schmiedlova (2016 Australian Open) and Schmiedlova (2018 Australian Open) Competing this week at a career-high ranking of No.23 (as at January 29, 2018) One of seven Russians competing this week in St. Petersburg also Makarova, Pavlyuchenkova, Potapova, Rybakina, Vesnina and Zvonareva Season Enters 2018 St. Petersburg following a 2r run at Australian Open (l. Linette) Made back-to-back 1r exits at Brisbane (l. Kanepi) and Sydney (l. Strycova) Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marked 10th main draw appearance at a Grand Slam Achieved her best result at the majors at the US Open by making R16 in 2017 (l. Kanepi) Reached 3r on her main draw debuts at all of the majors 2015 US Open (l. Mladenovic), 2016 Australian Open (l. eventual champion S.Williams), 2016 Roland Garros (l. Bertens) and 2016 Wimbledon (l. V.Williams) In Juniors, lifted the 2014 Roland Garros singles trophy Career Ended 2017 at career-best No.24, up from No.27 in season was highlighted by capturing first WTA singles title in debut final at Charleston (d. Ostapenko). Became sixth teenager to be crowned champion there, joining Evert (1974), Austin (1979, 1980), Graf (1986, 1987, 1989), Hingis (1997, 1999) and Lisicki (2009). Defeated fellow teenager Ostapenko (also 19-year-old) in Charleston final, which marked first all-teenage final on tour since 2009 Linz (Wickmayer d. Kvitova) Prior to Charleston triumph, previous best showings at WTA events were SF on home soil, at 2015 Moscow and 2016 St Petersburg Reached second tour-level final at Moscow in 2017 (l. Goergs in F). Defeated No.18 Pavlyuchenkova in 1r, improving record vs. Top 20 ranked opponents to Scored first win over a reigning World No.1 over Kerber at 2017 Sydney; is now 1-1 vs. No.1 players (l. S.Williams at 2016 Australian Open 3r). Became the sixth teenager to defeat a world No.1: Teenager Ag Reigning No.1 Tournament Round Score Daria Kasatkina 19 Angelique Kerber 2017 Sydney R16 7-6(5) 6-2 Belinda Bencic 18 Serena Williams 2015 Toronto S Christina McHale 19 Caroline Wozniacki 2011 Cincinnati R Chang Kai-Chen 18 Dinara Safina 2009 Tokyo R32 7-6(5) Petra Kvitova 19 Dinara Safina 2009 US Open R (5) Victoria Azarenka 19 Serena Williams 2009 Miami F Reached two WTA doubles finals in 2017 at Tokyo [PPO] and Moscow (both w/gavrilova) 2016 highlights included reaching second WTA SF at St. Petersburg (l. eventual R-Up Bencic) and QF stage at Indian Wells (l. Ka.Pliskova), Charleston (l. eventual champion Stephens having held MPs), Montréal (l. Kerber), Rio Olympics (l. Keys) and Moscow (l. Goerges) 2015 saw her reach her first WTA SF at 2015 Moscow (l. Pavlyuchenkova, having recorded first Top 20 win over No.14 Suárez Navarro in QF)

17 QF run at 2015 Bad Gastein (as qualifier) was first time reaching last eight at WTA-level tournament Lifted maiden WTA doubles title at 2015 Moscow (w/vesnina) Won five singles titles on ITF Circuit in 2015, taking total to seven Made WTA qualifying debut at 2013 Moscow; made main draw debut as WC also at Moscow in 2014 (l. Riske 1r) Other Information Born and resides in Togliatty, Russia. Mother is Tatiana Timkovskaya and father is Sergey Kasatkin Began playing tennis at age six when older brother, Alexsandr Timkovskii, introduced her to the game; he is now her fitness trainer and travels with her Currently attending Sport College in Samara, Russia; three years into a five-year degree Loves football; favorite team is Barcelona FC Recently hired Philippe Dehaes as new coach, formerly coached by Vladimir Platenik since October 2014

18 MATCH NOTES ST. PETERSBURG - RUSSIA Jan 29 - Feb 04, 2018 $799,000 PREMIER SORANA CIRSTEA (ROU #36) vs. DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK #26) Head to Head: DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA leads MADRID CLAY O QF DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA mins 2013 STANFORD HARD O SF DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA mins 2012 STANFORD HARD O QF SORANA CIRSTEA 6-7(5) mins 2012 BARCELONA CLAY O SF DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA mins 2009 DUBAI HARD O R1 DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA mins SORANA CIRSTEA (27) $103,372 $4,395,888 0 / 1 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) ST. PETERSBURG W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (28) $66,494 $12,351,081 0 / 8 0 / / / / / / YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 2-2 / / / 4-17 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / / YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 2-0 / * Updated entering 2018 St. Petersburg 1r Result ST. PETERSBURG Tournament History * Qualifying match DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA 2017 SF L - YULIA PUTINTSEVA (KAZ #34) QF W - ELENA VESNINA (RUS #16) R16 W - DONNA VEKIC (CRO #88) R BYE QF L - DARIA KASATKINA (RUS #63) R16 W - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (DEN #18) R1 W - EVGENIYA RODINA (RUS #98) Follow WTA on Twitter: Facebook: YouTube: Insights from

19 CIRSTEA: St. Petersburg Making career first appearance at St. Petersburg - one of 13 players making their main draw debuts this year First time competing in Russia since retiring in 1r at 2009 Moscow (l. Niculescu) Faces No.26 Cibulkova today. Trails their career head-to-head 1-4 (1-2 on hardcourts), sole win coming in 2012 at Stanford A win today would mark her biggest of the season and first over a Top 30 opponent since victory over No.4 Ka.Pliskova (2017 Beijing) Enters play ranked No.36, her highest ranking since July 28, 2014 (No.35) Owns 7-6 career record against Slovakian opponents, 6-2 against Slovakians other than Cibulkova One of two Romanian players in the main draw (also Begu) Season Coming off 2r showing at Australian Open (l. Safarova). Has now reached at least the 2r in five straight Grand Slams Started 2018 season by reaching 2r at Brisbane (l. Sevastova) and falling 1r at Hobart (l Watson) Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marked 37th main draw appearance at a Grand Slam, reaching 2r (l. Safarova) Best showing at a major came at 2009 Roland Garros (QF, l. Stosur) At 2017 Australian Open, achieved second-best Slam result by reaching R16 (upset No.10 seed Suárez Navarro in 2r, l. Muguruza); her previous best result in Melbourne was reaching 3r in 2012 (l. Errani) and 2013 (l. Li); 1r win over Khromacheva in Melbourne was first Grand Slam main draw victory since 2014 US Open (d. Watson in 1r) Reached 3r at Wimbledon in 2009, 2012 and 2017; at US Open, also reached 3r in 2009 Career Posted fifth non-consecutive Top 50 finish in 2017, at No.37 (up from No.81 in 2016). Has now finished in Top 100 nine times in past 10 years, including Top 30 finishes in 2012 and season highlighted by SF showing at Nürnberg (l. Krejcikova) and QF runs at Istanbul, Madrid, Seoul, Beijing and Linz Also reached R16 at Australian Open first time advancing to that stage at a Slam since 2009 Roland Garros (QF, l. Stosur), her best Grand Slam result to date In 2016 played a mix of WTA and ITF events, improving ranking by 163 ranking places to No.81 in 2016 on comeback from shoulder injury, with highlights being a SF run at Rio de Janeiro (l. Rogers) and making QF at Premier Mandatory Madrid (as wildcard, l. eventual R-Up Cibulkova) and Mallorca (as qualifier, l. Jankovic) Reached biggest singles final of career at 2013 Toronto posted three Top 10 wins en route to final (No.10 Wozniacki, No.7 Kvitova and No.5 Li) before falling to No.1 S.Williams Won maiden WTA singles title at 2008 Tashkent (d. Lisicki in F) having been R-Up at 2007 Budapest (l. Dulko) Heading into 2018 season, owns four Top 5 victories: No.5 Jankovic (2009 Roland Garros), No.5 Stosur (2012 Australian Open), No.5 Li Na (2013 Toronto) and No.4 Ka.Pliskova (2017 Beijing) Posted career-high ranking of No.21 on August 21, 2013 Owns four WTA doubles titles, most recently at 2011 Dallas (w/brianti) from nine finals Member of Romania s Fed Cup team 2006, , and 2017; also part of Romanian Olympic Team 2008 and 2012 Made WTA main draw debut at 2006 Stockholm (l. Kanepi in 1r)

20 On ITF Circuit owns eight singles and nine doubles titles Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in 2004 Other Information Introduced to tennis at age four by mother Most admires Stefanie Graf Coached by Marius Comanescu CIBULKOVA: St. Petersburg Making third main draw appearance in St. Petersburg. Reached SF in 2017 (l. Putintseva) and QF in 2016 (l. Kasatkina) One of five players to have played in all three editions of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy (also Ostapenko, Kasatkina, 2016 champion Vinci and defending champion Mladenovic) Owns third most wins at St. Petersburg with four (along w/kasatkina), behind Vinci (6) and Mladenovic (5) Notched two Top 20 wins here over No.18 Wozniacki in 2016 and No.16 Elina Vesnina in 2017 Faces No.36 Cirstea today in their sixth career meeting, dropping just three of their 12 sets played Boasts a 12-3 record against Romanian opponents, only losses coming to Halep (2016, 2012) and Cirstea (2012) Season Enters 2018 St. Petersburg following a 1r exit at Australian Open (l. Kanepi) Reached QF in first tournament of the season at Sydney. Defeated No.15 Sevastova and No.17 Vesnina to score first Top 20 wins since defeating No.20 Pavlyuchenkova (2017 New Haven); went 2-3 vs. Top 20 players in 2017 Secured 350th career victory win 2r win over Vesnina in Sydney Grand Slam History 2018 Australian Open marked 41st main draw appearance at a Grand Slam Best result across the majors came with runner-up finish at 2014 Australian Open (l. Li). Defeated four seeds en route to final at Melbourne Park, including No.3 Sharapova and No.5 A.Radwanska to become first player representing Slovakia (male or female) to reach a Grand Slam singles final At Roland Garros, advanced to SF in 2009 (l. eventual R-Up Safina) and QF in 2012 (l. Stosur) Also a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2016 (l. Vesnina) and US Open in 2010 (l. Wozniacki) Career Posted eighth career Top 30 finish in 2017 (at No.26) following her debut Top 10 finish in 2016 (at No.5) 2017 was highlighted by R-Up finish at New Haven (l. Gavrilova in F). Record in WTA singles finals now stands at 8-11 (all but one title, 2016 Eastbourne, won on hardcourts or hard/indoors) Moved back into Top 10 after reaching the final in New Haven at No.10 At New Haven, posted second Top 20 win of season over No.20 Pavlyuchenkova in QF; previously, d. No.16 Vesnina at St Petersburg in February Won first WTA doubles title of career at 2017 s-hertogenbosch (w/flipkens)

21 Posted career-high ranking week of March 20, 2017 at No.4 following run to R16 at Indian Wells (l. Pavlyuchenkova) Capped 2016 by winning biggest title of career to date at WTA Finals in Singapore went 1-2 in group stage before defeating No.9 Kuznetsova in SF and World No.1 Kerber in final At No.7, became lowest seeded player to triumph at WTA Finals since No.7 seed V.Williams in 2008; first player to win WTA Finals on debut since Kvitova in 2011 Won 2016 WTA Comeback Player of the Year award ended 2015 ranked No.38 having been sidelined for four months with a left Achilles problem, with ranking dipping as low as No.66 in February 2016 Won career-high 53 matches in 2016 (previous best was 42 matches in 2011) Won a WTA-leading four singles titles in 2016 qualified for Singapore by virtue of lifting trophy at Linz (d. Golubic in F) after earlier wins at Katowice (d. Giorgi in F) and Eastbourne (d. Ka.Pliskova in F). In 2016 also reached finals at Acapulco (l. Stephens), Madrid (l. Halep) and Wuhan (l. Kvitova) Earlier titles came at 2011 Moscow, 2012 Carlsbad, 2013 Stanford, 2014 Acapulco Withdrew from Rio Olympics in singles and doubles (w/left calf injury) Owns 34 victories over Top 10 opponents (eight coming in 2016) including three over reigning World No.1s: Wozniacki at 2011 Wimbledon, Azarenka at 2012 Roland Garros and Kerber at 2016 WTA Finals Made Top 10 debut at No.10 on March 31, 2014 (after Miami) Broke into Top 20 on August 4, 2008 Made WTA qualifying debut at 2005 Rabat and main draw debut at 2006 Istanbul Other Information In February 2014 launched her own sportswear and accessories line, Domi, which incorporates her on court Slovak catch-cry Pome! ; proceeds go to her foundation which assists athletes and other notables in her native Slovakia who have fallen on tough times Married husband Michal Miso Navara in Bratislava in July 2016, after Wimbledon Coached by Matej Liptak