Siniakova maintains a straight sets upset over Muguruza at Wuhan Open

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Garbine Muguruza gave it her all but couldn’t beat away the competition at the Wuhan Open early Thursday morning. Katerina Siniakova was determined to win her match against the Spaniard and put everything down to win 7-6(3), 7-6(1) on Centre Court at the Wuhan Optical Valley International Tennis Centre. It became her tenth top 20 win of her career and one to advance her to the quarterfinals.

The two met in their one and only meeting five years ago where they spanned three sets with the Spaniard gaining the upper hand in the decider. While it was a first round match, it made this one important as the Czech remained the last unseeded player with the chance to become the seventh of the tournament to advance. She got another massive win taking down Caroline Garcia in three sets that made her the dark horse to defeat. Muguruza had yet to face anyone strong in the tournament making her quest to make it back to the round of eight for a third year.

Siniakova opened with a good service hold before she was taken on a ride she couldn’t control. Muguruza continued to beat down the 22 year old who briefly had the lead but saw the Spaniard force deuce. The Czech blew two more break points prior to the world number 12 holding serve. She consolidated it with a break in the third earning a break on deuce before going on a runaway path. It was soon 4-1 with a double break in hand for the 24 year old who pressured Siniakova to commit a double fault in the game.

She continued her fall down the hill as the Spaniard conducted another victory to put the Czech on the edge of going a set down. She somehow saved a service game ending Muguruza’s five game winning streak. She made the smart decision to call down Ian Hughes to figure out how to come back from the three game deficit that stood. He gave her enough positive words and confidence to break in the eighth. Her short success didn’t take much away on the speedy returns from Muguruza who forced deuce with a smash and Siniakova away from returning it.

Despite battling for the AD point, she couldn’t lock it down giving Siniakova a third straight victory. Her last chance to conclude the set in regulation came in the tenth on serve where she landed an ace after being 0-30 down. It was the only point she earned as Siniakova completed the comeback to get more games in play. Muguruza was intent on changing up the pace to get back going her way doing so with a great set of hits on Siniakova that gave her the 6-5 lead.

The Czech fought back to make sure she had another chance and clinched it in the 12^th setting up the tiebreak that she was destined to win. Muguruza’s game began to let her down again giving Siniakova all the comfort of stretching her lead to 5-1 with the set in reach. A challenge that went against the Spaniard gave the 22 year old four set points which she needed just two to get it done in 65 minutes.

The Czech started the second set with two consecutive wins before Muguruza got on the board. It was then that she called out coach Sam Sumyk who told her to come in and work out the points that she is losing and find a way to win during those moments. She delivered well on the break scoring a break to love before a hold in the fifth had her back in fine form. Siniakova called out her coach again who told her to commit to the shots and get the control back.

It had clearly slipped away from her as Muguruza gained a second double break of the match winning four straight to get a shot at forcing a decider. Siniakova made sure not to give another game away and worked out a break from her end to sit a game back of turning the tables on the Spaniard. A hold put her to the good where the score was level at four all with every point counting to take the lead in hand. Muguruza put in a lot of energy on the returns of the first point she found a chance to beat Siniakova at.

She didn’t get the start she wanted as she found herself down 15-40 but climbed back to force deuce. The game got away from her by the narrowest of margins as Siniakova won on a challenge while on the AD point to serve for the match in the tenth. Muguruza wasn’t ready to give up and proved her worth by taking a 30-0 run to start the game. It was soon evened up by the 22 year old who played the next key point well until a line drive from the Spaniard set up a break point opportunity. A long rally ended in a crosscourt return from Muguruza to force the set further on.

She was again under the gun with big hits just going too far giving Siniakova two break points before another went down the line wide. The Czech made the opening rally difficult for Muguruza who committed another forehand error landing wide. She came in just enough on court to secure the second point but was trounced by the same attack by the 24 year old. A ball into the net from the 14^th seed forced deuce for Siniakova but gained the first AD point to pressure her opponent. A good challenge on a ball that she saw was out was confirmed by hawk eye to be true enabling a second tiebreak between the two.

Like the end of the first set, Siniakova gained the comfortability with three easy points as the former number one began to unravel. The Czech set up for a shot which wrongfooted the Spaniard for a 5-0 rout. A line drive scored Muguruza a winner ending the 22 year old’s winning streak but needed more improvements. An error gave Siniakova her first match point which came on a volley right in front of the net that just got over. Muguruza tried to get to it before the second bounce but couldn’t get the racket in place that ended her tournament run in two hours and eight minutes.

While both had a great show of determination, the Czech had more left in the tank to withstand the 14^th seed and get into Thursday’s quarterfinal where she’ll face Anett Kontaveit from Estonia.

Puig ousts Wozniacki from Wuhan Open in straight sets

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Caroline Wozniacki suffered another tough loss at the hands of her rival at the Wuhan Open. Sitting one day short of her 25^th birthday, Monica Puig blasted away with a powerful volley of winners that took down the world number two in straight sets 7-6(10), 7-5 on Centre Court at the Wuhan Optical Valley International Tennis Centre. It was the second straight win over the Dane and her seventh top ten win of her career.

This was the first time since the match back in Miami where the fans took a beating to the support of Wozniacki which took a toll on her concentration in a three setter. The Dane continued to hold the series lead but a match remained the only margin between her and the Puerto Rican. Puig hadn’t had another strong game of that degree since making this one important to overcome being eliminated in yet another tournament. With a current four match winning streak, the soon to be 25 year old would try to pull off an upset.

She recovered from a short deficit to go for the break but had the second seed back on her forcing deuce. She avoided another break point before holding serve and remained under pressure. Puig didn’t make it easy in the second running the same path from the first that had Wozniacki battling back to force deuce again. She got it done on the first break as the unforced errors from Puig were racking up. It was soon 3-0 for the 28 year old who found some comfort on her service game that put Puig’s serve in trouble.

She had more than a dozen errors by the fourth that gave Wozniacki three break points. She saved every one of them landing winners that were out of reach for the world number two while increasing the first serve percentage. She put in a lot of effort to get the win that came to her after four breaks ending Wozniacki’s streak. The Dane tried to get things going with a hold of serve but failed on deuce where Puig held on the first break to sit a game down from leveling the score.

Wozniacki decided to take a coaching call from her father to try and remedy the situation and get back on track. Puig had upped the ante with her backhand coming together gaining confidence on serve in the sixth. With a love serve in hand, Puig went for the lead breaking Wozniacki’s service game on a second break point giving her three consecutive games. The momentum shift put the second seed on notice where she fought through every point to get to deuce and break back to even the score.

She delivered a big service game landing winners and an ace before forcing an error out of Puig to get the 5-4 hold. She couldn’t handle her opponent’s surging backhanded shots in the tenth that got her even pushing Wozniacki deeper in the set. A break in the 11^th gave her a chance to serve out the match where she aggressively attacked Wozniacki’s return but got her to deuce on a wide return. Another one gave the 28 year old a break point chance which came on a third error that went into the net.

A tiebreak was all that was left to determine a winner and it went to the brink between the two. Puig had an edge at one point when standing two points from the set. Wozniacki closed in to make it a tug of war where they split 18 points with no sign of a clear winner. A push for the tenth point went to the Puerto Rican who had set point and won it 11-9 concluding 1 hour and 18 minutes. The winners really came together for Puig who recorded 24 impacting the success of her first serve. With the lead in hand, the 24 year old would try to hold Wozniacki in a rare attempt to win in straight sets.

She held to open the second set which rattled the Dane on serve where she earned easy points on errors. Wozniacki followed suit before breaking the Puerto Rican in the third to take the lead. She secured another hold of serve before Puig answered with a service hold sitting a game down. She leveled the score and stayed that way to a four all tie where the tension began to rise. In the ninth, Puig gained an important hold that put Wozniacki on the edge of another exit from competition.

She struggled to keep the 24 year old at bay who forced deuce gaining match point attempts. Wozniacki killed off two that turned the tables of errors which ran heavily in the Dane’s way. Two key points gave her the win that leveled the score back at five apiece. While there was a temporary balance, Puig knew that she had to be strong on serve in the 11^th but was quickly 0-30 down. The Puerto Rican fought back to take control of the score and keep Wozniacki back to lead once again with the hope of ending it in the set.

She remained focused in the 12^th gaining three match points but had two blown with Wozniacki hitting hard ground strokes. The 28 year old saved every one of them to force deuce but couldn’t keep her back for long. On a third break and Puig’s seventh match point, she achieved the victory with a big return that ended the world number two in 2 hours and 24 minutes.

With a fifth straight win in tow, Puig will try to keep her winning ways alive and well as she faces China hopeful Qiang Wang in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Red Wings outscore Chicago 8-6

A game that turned into a shooting spree ended with the Red Wings being more than victorious at the United Center Tuesday. Detroit had Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Vanek score a pair that finished with an 8-6 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Jimmy Howard was the key to keeping his team ahead at all times making a total of 30 saves against Detroit’s Original Six rival. It was the fifth straight win for the Red Wings who continued their tear with the new talent and the veterans coming up big.

The Red Wings first win on the road during the preseason became a great precedent for mixing up the roster that helped them defeat the Penguins 3-2. Rasmussen and Athanasiou scored their second goals on Sunday that makes coach Jeff Blashill pleased on his new players. With a second test occurring in Chicago, it gives them another opportunity to be successful while the Blackhawks search for a win after they managing to get a victory in Ottawa on Friday. Earning three days off gave them a shot to rest and finish the final three games with the home advantage.

It didn’t start well for them as Tomas Vanek scored 16 seconds into the first period with Athanasiou speeding the puck into the Blackhawks zone to start the attack in front of the net where Cam Ward had a lot in front of him missing on Vanek’s scoring chance. Chicago managed to even the game 1:35 later with Matthew Highmore getting his first with veteran Brent Seabrook driving a 55 footer from the boards that got in front of Howard before going off the stick of the 22-year-old center.

It gave Chicago a boost on pucks to the net of Howard as the Red Wings trailed for the first time in the preseason. After getting back on track, Athanasiou got hold of the puck to skate into the Chicago end where he delivered a wrister behind Ward to gain the lead back at 5:11. They remained in control for a majority of the period but still trailing on shots on goal. At 4:15, the Blackhawks got evened up at two-all with Dominik Kahun scoring is second with captain Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith assisting with an attack that beat Jimmy Howard in net for Detroit. The scored remained that way with Chicago outshooting Detroit 14-9.

Despite being behind on shots and wins from the faceoff, Detroit knew how to get pucks to the net and create chances to make Chicago’s night difficult. They made it 3-2 five minutes in with Darren Helm scoring on a rebound from Anthony Mantha’s scoring chance. Detroit let Chicago back to an even score giving them a power play due to a faceoff violation. Toews didn’t wait long to look for an opportunity which scored him his first of the preseason.

The fight for control of the score continued to go both ways with Detroit gaining back the lead with Mantha getting on the board with a huge assist from Dylan Larkin and the relentless skills of Joe Hicketts who picked up his first assist. Chicago had enough of the frustration and let out their feelings with Chris Kunitz getting into a fight with Justin Abdelkader who gave it right back. Filip Kronek got into the mix with Brandon Manning of the Blackhawks that saw a two men each in the box.

It didn’t faze Detroit from their primary goal which added another to the growing margin with Givani Smith scoring unassisted for his first. The game was slipping away from the Blackhawks who were down three goals due to a well-laid plan that Mantha put into motion. He looked for a shot but made a pass that had Chicago all over the place. It left Ward vulnerable which Athanasiou saw as an open net to score his second of the night.

Detroit woke up the Blackhawks to do something quickly while there was time on the clock and with the “C” on his chest, Toews came up with his second of the night beating Howard to bring the lead down to a pair. Their quest to make it a one-goal gap didn’t come to light but gave them a power play to begin the third with two minutes on the man advantage.

Before the offense could get started, the Blackhawks made a change in between the net where Anton Forsberg played for the final 20 minutes. Chicago got to work on the power play where Patrick Kane got in the Detroit zone sending a cross pass in front of Howard to find Nick Schmaltz for the shot that made it a one-goal lead for the Red Wings. They once again handed the Blackhawks a power play with Nicklas Kronwall getting called for hooking. After they managed to kill off the penalty, Helm put them back on the power play that had Detroit in trouble.

They avoided letting their lead get out of hand with Athanasiou getting control of the puck in the neutral zone before setting up Larkin with a ripper that made it 7-5. Frustrations were back for Chicago as Luke Witkowski laid out Highmore which Brandon Manning didn’t take lightly. He threw down with the Michigan native only to have a number of hits taken to the body before falling on the ice concluding the fight.

When the dust settled, the Red Wings still had the score until it changed again with the 13^th goal of the night. It went to Keith who drove a wrist shot that thread its way behind Howard getting a piece of the net. It was his first but not the one that would bring them any closer. Vanek took care of that by scoring on a push towards Forsberg adding his second of the night notching Detroit’s eighth.

It became too much for the Blackhawks to handle as they went forward to taking Forsberg out of the net in the final minutes of regulation. It only made it difficult as Detroit was more than willing to get another easy goal to end the night. Detroit took a total of 25 shots but did more on the hits that led to the three recorded fights in the game.

With another step in the right direction, they’ll march on to Boston in the third to last game before the regular season.