Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska yesterday booked a spot at the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore after outclassing Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic to win the Tianjin Open in China.
The world No. 6 recorded a quick-fire 6-1, 6-2 win over the 20-year-old, who had never before been past the quarter-finals of a WTA event.
“I’m excited to play at the WTA Finals in Singapore this year,” Radwanska said after securing her 16th career title and second this year.
“I have good memories from playing in Singapore. The fans there are amazing, so I can’t wait to get out there and compete against the best players in the world,” she added.
She joins Romania’s Simona Halep, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, Russia’s Maria Sharapova and the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova in securing places in the eight-woman WTA Finals, which begin on Sunday.
HONG KONG OPEN
Reuters, HONG KONG
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic yesterday fought back from a set down to beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber to take the Hong Kong Tennis Open title.
The former world No. 1 triumphed 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 to claim her 15th WTA Title and second of the year.
Kerber needed a win to secure a place in the eight-woman end-of-season WTA Finals in Singapore next week and started brightly with an opening break as she took the set 6-3.
The second proved another tight affair, with three breaks of serve each before a tiebreak, which Jankovic edged 7-4 after both players excelled with returns.
Jankovic was buoyed by the success and found her serving rhythm in the decider, as Kerber failed to force a break point and collapsed as the Serb ran out a strong winner.
GENERALI LADIES LINZ
AP, LINZ, Austria
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a final against Anna-Lena Friedsam at the Generali Ladies Linz.
The seventh-seeded Russian is eyeing her eighth WTA title and first of the season, while Friedsam is to appear in her maiden final.
The 118th-ranked German beat Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the first semi-final.
Pavlyuchenkova, who was runner-up in Washington in August and is 7-4 in career finals, has never played Friedsam before.
The 29th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova, who was the only seeded player to make it beyond the second round of the Austrian indoor event, looked headed for a routine victory when leading Flipkens 6-3, 3-0.
However, after getting treatment for right shoulder problems, Flipkens won the next seven games to take the second set and a 1-0 lead in the last. Her Russian opponent then regained control of the match.
“It was a little bit tricky. It wasn’t easy,” Pavlyuchenkova said about Flipkens’ comeback after the medical timeout.
Friedsam did not concede a break point until leading 4-2 in the second set against Larsson, but then lost five games in a row. She trailed 5-3 in the final set, but took the last four games to close out the win.
“I don’t know how I won that match,” Friedsam said. “Nerves played a role. We both had our chances, but we didn’t take them.”
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