Stuttgart WTA main draw

[Wozupniacki]

A very open field with half a dozen possible winners.
In form Azarenka has a relatively easy draw with good chances of making the final.
Similarly Schiavone has a relatively easy path to SF if she's in decent shape.
JJ on the other hand has a rough path with Kvitova first who's streaky but dangerous, then Petkovic who just beat her in Miami, followed by Caro who just beat her in Charleston.
Caro is very much the girl to beat right now. I have a feeling she won't go all out to win this one, though, but is more likely to focus on her next tournament, Madrid.
A very interesting 1R match is Stosur vs. Rome champion, Sanchez.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

tough small tourney

 

[NadalAgassi]

I could see Schiavone taking this one. I dont think Wozniacki can beat her on clay if they meet.

 

[jones101]

Wow, theres not really an easy match for any player, Im gonna go for Li or Azarenka

 

[Wozupniacki]

Monday, April 18, 2011

Center Court (from 13.00hrs)
1. Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Marion Bartoli
2. Kristina Barrois vs. Lucie Safarova (NB 15.00hrs)
3. Li Na vs. Anastasija Sevastova (NB 20.00hrs)

Court 1 (from 12.00hrs)
1. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Mariya Koryttseva (Singles Q Final)
2. Schruff/Werner vs. Lisicki/Stosur
3. Tamira Paszek vs. Zuzana Kucova (Singles Q Final)
4. Marosi/Woerle vs. Birnerova/Mircic

Court 2 (from 12.00hrs)
1. Beatriz García Vidagany vs. Michaella Krajicek (Singles Q Final)
2. Laine/Siegemund vs. Senoglu/Sfar
3. Ana Vrljic vs. Jamie Hampton (Singles Q Final)


French Open champion Francesca Schiavone pulled out of Stuttgart, which begins on Monday. The fourth-ranked Italian has been suffering from exhaustion. Yanina Wickmayer has also pulled out to rest her knee after losing her singles and doubles in Belgium's Fed Cup tie against the Czech Republic.

Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva are the tournament's top two seeds.—Matthew Cronin

It opens up Caro's part of the draw some but I'm disappointed. I really wanted to see what Fran has to show on clay this year.

 

[Wozupniacki]

I'm curious about who will move into Schiavones spot?
WTA rulebook page 72:

iii. Main Draw and Qualifying – After the Release of the Schedule
of Play
(a) Prior to the 1st Match of the Event
If a seed withdraws from the Main Draw or Qualifying after
the release of the schedule of play, the day preceding the
start of the event (singles or doubles), up until the commencement of the first match of the event involved:
(i) The next eligible seed takes the open spot, and
(ii) A Qualifier/Lucky Loser (or an Alternate Wild Card if
the withdrawal was from a Wild Card) takes the spot
created by her move

But who is "the next eligible seed"? Is it the player ranked just outside the seeds, Radwanska? Well see soon, I suppose.
If Schiavone had withdrawn before the release of the draw it'd be easier; all the seeds would've just been moved up one spot. But now that the draw's out I don't see them rearranging all the 3-8 seeds. It also suggests Schiavone was unsure until the last moment whether to play or not. I don't think she purposely throws a monkey wrench.

Edit: Now the story is Schiavone hasn't withdrawn anyway!

 

[WinNCash]

I'm curious about who will move into Schiavones spot?
WTA rulebook page 72:

iii. Main Draw and Qualifying – After the Release of the Schedule
of Play
(a) Prior to the 1st Match of the Event
If a seed withdraws from the Main Draw or Qualifying after
the release of the schedule of play, the day preceding the
start of the event (singles or doubles), up until the commencement of the first match of the event involved:
(i) The next eligible seed takes the open spot, and
(ii) A Qualifier/Lucky Loser (or an Alternate Wild Card if
the withdrawal was from a Wild Card) takes the spot
created by her move

But who is "the next eligible seed"? Is it the player ranked just outside the seeds, Radwanska? Well see soon, I suppose.
If Schiavone had withdrawn before the release of the draw it'd be easier; all the seeds would've just been moved up one spot. But now that the draw's out I don't see them rearranging all the 3-8 seeds. It also suggests Schiavone was unsure until the last moment whether to play or not. I don't think she purposely throws a monkey wrench.

Edit: Now the story is Schiavone hasn't withdrawn anyway!

It's hard to imagine Schiavone exhausted after watching her at the AO... didn't think that was possible. Hahaha. Glad she is playing otherwise it was starting to look like a possible cupcake draw for Woz if she gets by Petko.

 

[WinNCash]

The real question is:


Will Li Na win a match?

 

[hugobosstachini]

^^ She finally did. Vika hopefully.

 

[Wozupniacki]

Monday, April 18, 2011

Singles - First Round
(6) Li Na (CHN) d. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 62 63
(8 ) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 64 61
(WC) Kristina Barrois (GER) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 61 64

Doubles - First Round
Laine/Siegemund (FIN/GER) d. Senoglu/Sfar (TUR/TUN) 36 76(2) 107
Marosi/Woerle (HUN/GER) d. Birnerova/Mircic (CZE/SRB) 63 64
(WC) Lisicki/Stosur (GER/AUS) d. (WC) Schruff/Werner (GER/GER) 61 64

Singles Qualifying - Final Round
(1) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) d. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) 67(3) 75 64
(3) Tamira Paszek (AUT) d. (8 ) Zuzana Kucova (SVK) 76(3) 62
(6) Jamie Hampton (USA) d. Ana Vrljic (CRO) 46 61 63
Michaella Krajicek (NED) d. Beatriz García Vidagany (ESP) 60 64


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Center Court (from 10.30hrs)
1. Samantha Stosur vs. María José Martínez Sánchez
2. Julia Goerges vs. Michaella Krajicek
3. Sabine Lisicki vs. Dominika Cibulkova
4. Andrea Petkovic vs. Tamira Paszek (NB 18.30hrs)
5. Beatriz García Vidagany vs. Jelena Jankovic
6. Diatchenko/Koryttseva vs. Grandin/Uhlirova

Court 1 (from 10.30hrs)
1. Alexandra Dulgheru vs. Daniela Hantuchova
2. Zuzana Kucova vs. Anna Chakvetadze (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Roberta Vinci
4. Jamie Hampton vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (NB 16.00hrs)
5. Huber/Martínez Sánchez vs. Kondratieva/Lefèvre
6. Goerges/Petkovic vs. Hantuchova/A.Radwanska (after suitable rest)
7. Jans/Rosolska vs. Chang/Krajicek

Court 2 (from 15.00hrs)
1. Barrois/Woehr vs. Chakvetadze/Dulgheru (after suitable rest)

 

[Love Game]

This sports center is rather big ... announcer said they brought in crushed brick close to that used in the FO ... According to Wiki, "Almost all red "clay" courts are made not of natural clay but of crushed brick that is packed to make the court. The crushed brick is then covered with a topping of other crushed particles. This type of surface does not absorb water easily and is the most common in Europe and Latin America."

​

 

[Love Game]

 

[bezs]

Petko sobbing into her towel after losing the first set.

 

[Fifth Set]

Petko sobbing into her towel after losing the first set.

Yeah, saw that on the Eurosport feed.

Turned into a pretty good match, with Petko winning in 3, but had not seen the Petko-waterworks before. What concerns me more than the emotion (which she seemed to harness into positive energy) is the pattern of slow starts. Against a player with just a slightly better serve (Paszek's was awful), that will cost her.

Only Petko can prevent Petko from reaching top 10 by end of year.

 

[Wozupniacki]

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Singles - First Round
(5) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) 75 61
(7) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (LL) Beatriz García Vidagany (ESP) 61 62
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (Q) Jamie Hampton (USA) 60 61
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (Q) Tamira Paszek (AUT) 36 62 62
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 63 64
Julia Goerges (GER) d. (Q) Michaella Krajicek (NED) 63 61
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 75 63
(LL) Zuzana Kucova (SVK) d. (Q) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 16 75 44 ret. (dizziness)
(WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 75 76(2)

Doubles - First Round
(1) Huber/Martínez Sánchez (USA/ESP) d. Kondratieva/Lefèvre (RUS/FRA) 60 63
Goerges/Petkovic (GER/GER) d. (2) Hantuchova/A.Radwanska (SVK/POL) w/o (Hantuchova: left thigh strain)
Diatchenko/Koryttseva (RUS/UKR) d. (3) Grandin/Uhlirova (RSA/CZE) 61 46 104
(4) Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) d. Chang/Krajicek (TPE/NED) 64 76(2)
Barrois/Woehr (GER/GER) d. Chakvetadze/Dulgheru (RUS/ROU) w/o (Chakvetadze: dizziness)



Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Center Court (from 10.30hrs)
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Vera Zvonareva
2. Francesca Schiavone vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
3. Li Na vs. Sabine Lisicki
4. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Zuzana Kucova
5. Andrea Petkovic vs. Jelena Jankovic (NB 18.30hrs)
6. Julia Goerges vs. Victoria Azarenka
7. Jans/Rosolska vs. Marosi/Woerle

Court 1 (from 12.00hrs)
1. Kristina Barrois vs. Marion Bartoli
2. Samantha Stosur vs. Daniela Hantuchova
3. Huber/Martínez Sánchez vs. Barrois/Woehr (after suitable rest)
4. Laine/Siegemund vs. Diatchenko/Koryttseva

 

[Love Game]

Tuesday Highlights of Stosur, Goerges, Lisicki, and Petkovic winning ...

http://www.wtatennis.com/video/20110419/stuttgart-tuesday-highlights_2256553_2342512

 

[bezs]

It seems like Lisicki has no official apparel sponsor, seen her in a Under Armour and Wilson dress and now a Nike dress that was worn by Sharapova.

 

[fundrazer]

It seems like Lisicki has no official apparel sponsor, seen her in a Under Armour and Wilson dress and now a Nike dress that was worn by Sharapova.

Yep, that is the case. Said in an interview that simply her adidas contract was up and she just wears whatever now. I think she looked quite nice in the Sharapova stuff.

 

[fundrazer]

On another note, is anyone sure what racquet Lisicki is using? Doesn't really look like a blade 98, it almost looks oversized. Oh and its not an 18*20

 

[Fifth Set]

I'm surprised that no brand has picked up a contract on Lisicki. Attractive girl playing well - what's not to like?

Anyway, Pekto-Janko on court now and it's another fascinating one. Petko's habit of slow starts continues. It's almost as if she's setting up the home crowd to get behind her in some big emotional push to get back into the match.

 

[bezs]

Petko is really taking it to JJ in the 2nd set

 

[Fifth Set]

Petko is really taking it to JJ in the 2nd set

Yeah, what do you make of these slow starts from Petko? Perhaps a warm up / mental readiness problem? Really quite baffling to me.

 

[bezs]

I guess she has to learn how to come out strong right from the start especially when she's facing more of the top players now that she's going deep into tournaments.

 

[Love Game]

Pets evens the score w/JJ, taking the second set 61

 

[bezs]

Petko is really crushing the ball

 

[Fifth Set]

Another comeback win for Petko. She will need to start faster against Caro.

If you look at the rankings, players between 10 and 19 are pretty tightly bunched.

What's more, many of those players are either not playing regularly (Williams sisters) or playing at an inconsistent level.

Basically, one very good run at a significant tournament (including possibly even this one) gets Petko into the top 10.

 

[Wozupniacki]

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Singles - Second Round
(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (LL) Zuzana Kucova (SVK) 61 62
(2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 36 64 62
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (3) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 61 63
Julia Goerges (GER) d. (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 46 ret.
(5) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 26 64
(WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. (6) Li Na (CHN) 64 75
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (7) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 36 61 63
(WC) Kristina Barrois (GER) d. (8 ) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 64 62

Doubles - Quarterfinals
Barrois/Woehr (GER/GER) d. (1) Huber/Martínez Sánchez (USA/ESP) 64 64
Marosi/Woerle (HUN/GER) d. (4) Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) 16 62 108
Diatchenko/Koryttseva (RUS/UKR) d. Laine/Siegemund (FIN/GER) 60 62

All 4 Germans won!


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Center Court (from 14.00hrs)
1. Samantha Stosur vs. Vera Zvonareva
2. Sabine Lisicki vs. Julia Goerges
3. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Andrea Petkovic (NB 18.00hrs)
4. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Kristina Barrois
5. Lisicki/Stosur vs. Goerges/Petkovic (after suitable rest)

Stosur - Zvonareva: Stosur is 5-2 H2H. Sam is Vera's angstgegner. She hasn't beaten the Aussie for 7 years and isn't likely to tomorrow, either.
Lisicki - Goerges: Lisicki is 1-0 H2H. Julia is the higher ranked of the two but that's because Sabine is getting back from injury. I believe Sabine has a higher top level of the two and should win if her serve doesn't break down.
Radwanska - Barrois: First meeting. Despite Kristina beating Bartoli comfortably today I don't see her winning this. Aga eats players outside top 75 for breakfast.
Petkovic - Wozniacki: Petkovic is 1-0 H2H. This QF is the hardest one to call. They just played a 3-setter a few weeks ago in Miami where Andrea was a little less bad. Today she was pretty impressive in set 2 and most of set 3 against Jankovic. Caro's match wasn't transmitted so it's hard to say what game she's bringing this week. But like I mentioned earlier I don't think Caro is going all out to win this tournament so my guess is Andrea in 3 sets.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

great matchups on Thur

 

[Fifth Set]

Nice QF matchups. Very interesting tournament all around.

Anyone hear what happened to Azarenka?

 

[NadalAgassi]

I would not favor Sam over Vera right now, regardless of the head to head.

 

[Wozupniacki]

Anyone hear what happened to Azarenka?

Right shoulder injury.

 

[tenis1]

Petkorazzi now officially own Jankorazzi.

 

[Fifth Set]

Looks like all 4 QFs will be on Tennis Channel tmrw.

 

[cc0509]

Right shoulder injury.

She is the biggest joke. What is her story? Every 2nd or 3rd tournament she retires. I am just checking all the results for the day and I just saw she retired again.

 

[Fifth Set]

She is the biggest joke. What is her story? Every 2nd or 3rd tournament she retires. I am just checking all the results for the day and I just saw she retired again.

Vika has had a very strange pattern of late. Win an event, pull out of an event, win an event, pull out of an event...

 

[Love Game]

I wasn't sure Lisicki was up to beating Li, but she delighted Stuttgart crowd by doing just that ... Wednesday highlights ...

http://www.wtatennis.com/video/20110420/stuttgart-lisicki-vs-li_2256553_2343076

 

[bezs]

If Petko starts slow again doubt she will be able to pull off another comeback.

 

[Rorsach]

Did Zvonareva break so many strings that she had to resort to an old Babolat racquet she had in her bag?

 

[bezs]

Zvonareva has broken the string on a number of her rackets and went over to someone from her team in the stands to borrow a racket and its a Babolat instead of a Prince. :?

 

[Rorsach]

Strange thing is, it's been over an hour* since her first racquet went back to the stringers, it should be back by now?

* according to the comnmentators

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Mysterious shoulder injury after the third game... no doubt a stalling strategy.

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Could you imagine if the CEO of Prince was watching this live?? He'd be having a major cow, as he should!!

"We pay her $million a year... and we can't provide her a strung Prince frame"?????

 

[Rorsach]

And again with the strings. Back to the Babolat.

Perhaps she got a bad reel?

 

[Matmac]

And she breaks back with her coach's racquet... And completely different strings, too. If anyone ever asks how vital custom equipment is, this is the thread to direct them to.

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Just BROKE ANOTHER string job!! Back to the Babolat for a third time! What if those strings break??

"Excuse me Ms. Stosur, do you mind if I try out one of your sticks"?

 

[Rorsach]

Just BROKE ANOTHER string job!! Back to the Babolat for a third time! What if those strings break??

"Excuse me Ms. Stosur, do you mind if I try out one of your sticks"?

Exactly what i came to post.

I would almost pay to see that

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Zvonareva's Prince rackets has a design flaw that keeps breaking the strings

Vera Zvonareva's Prince rackets has a design flaw that keeps breaking the strings.

Zvonareva use Prince EXO3 Black rackets.

From her Rogers Cup interview a couple of weeks ago: http://www.rogerscup.com/women/engli...eva_aug_23.doc
Quote:

Q. At the end you seemed frustrated with your racquet?

VERA ZVONAREVA: I was having some issues with the racquets. The throat pieces, they keep breaking. If they break, my string always breaks in the throat of the racquet and then you cannot see if it is broken, and when you hit the ball it goes off. We are trying to fix the issue. It’s small things, but we’ll fix it. In the first match it broke three times. I know some other players were having the same problem. It doesn’t change anything about the game, but...

Again in her US Open semi-final against Wozniacki her strings broke what 4-5 times?

 

[bezs]

Stosur takes the 2nd set, Let's go Sammy!

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Back to another Prince... the countdown begins until it breaks... 1.. 2.. 3..

 

[bezs]

The Babolat people must be happy free publicity for them.