Sharapova suffers injury at Shenzhen Open

Maria Sharapova had to throw in the towel ending her run at the Shenzhen Open Friday. The 31 year old suffered a left leg injury during her quarterfinal match against Aryna Sabalenka calling it quits midway through the second set. With the retirement, it allowed the top seed to continue on making her way to the semifinals for the first time at the tournament.

After an unfortunate end to her opponent’s terrific fight on Wednesday, Sharapova got a pass in what was nearly her demise at the tournament. The 31-year-old veteran was on the verge of forcing a third set but Xinyu Wang suffered an injury to her leg resulting in her retirement. It set a second meeting against the 20-year-old Belorussian who held Ekaterina Alexandrova to three-game wins in straight sets. With her history against Sharapova being very close in their last competition, the world number 13 looked to even the series and record a personal best in her second consecutive quarterfinal at Shenzhen.

She came out of the blocks quick as a flash against Sharapova scoring a serve to love before consolidating it with a break. Sabalenka had to fight a little harder in the third but even after Sharapova forced deuce, the Belorussian gained the AD point to go up 3-0. Sharapova got on the board warmed up in the fourth to end Sabalenka winning ways.

It was short for the tennis vet as she gave into the Belorussian’s offense who earned her back the three-game margin. The 31-year-old called down Tomas Hogstedt who asked Sharapova to get into another gear and if her issues were still bothering her to call the physio. Another game got away from Sharapova who was having some sort of issue while giving free points to Sabalenka.

She served at 5-1 getting deep with the Russian who put everything in trying to break the Belorussian and win another one. Despite her attempts gaining three break point attempts, the 31-year-old couldn’t lock down the opportunity ending 32 minutes. The trainer was called to the court for Sharapova to check out her left leg. She took an off-court medical timeout that took less than ten minutes until she returned to the court.

The second set got underway with her showing some power in her serve that helped keep Sabalenka back to lead. The got into a lengthy draw in the second going four breaks before the 20-year-old contained her service game. It took a lot of effort from the fifth seed who struggled in the third losing control of her core strength to break under pressure. The top seed also made some mistakes to keep the score level after four.

After another battle for control in the fifth, it was clear that Sharapova was in physical pain which she ended up losing after two breaks of deuce. When Sabalenka clinched a 4-2 lead, Sharapova called it quits and retired from play bringing an end to the 1 hour and 20 minutes on the court. The 31-year-old couldn’t deal with the pain in her leg that became just too much.

It certainly put a question mark on whether the 2008 winner and three-time finalist of the Australian Open would be better in time. While she went on the mend, the world number 13 march into Saturday’s semifinal awaiting the winner between Monica Niculescu and Yafan Wang.

Goerges defeats Bouchard in epic three setter at ASB Classic

Julia Goerges had a wild match on her hands but came out victorious at the ASB Classic Friday. In a terrific fight from Eugenie Bouchard, the German overcome a loss in the opening set to win the next two with a tiebreak at the end of a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) match on center court at the ASB Tennis Arena. The victory kept the world number 14’s hopes alive for back to back titles in the event.

The rivalry heated up since their semifinal match at the Luxembourg Open that got the German even in the series with the Canadian. Goerges went on to take the title there marking the sixth in her career. As defending champion in Auckland, the 30-year-old wanted nothing more than to keep her positive situation alive and well with the final match close.

Bouchard received a wakeup call from coach Michael Joyce during her match with Bibiane Schoofs needing to change her attitude. It worked out as a comeback in the decider moved her to the round of eight. With her facing Goerges, it was likely that the 24-year-old superstar would stay in check to try and move forward and get another victory.

She got into trouble on serve falling behind as Goerges gained break point chances. Bouchard climbed back to force deuce and held during the second break. They remained on serve until the fourth when Bouchard gained three break points holding just one to widen the gap. A hold for the 24-year-old made it 4-1 forcing Goerges to call down her coach who told her to adjust and find her way to dealing back the hits. Joyce had Bouchard’s attention as he told her of some weaknesses seen in the German and to go after it.

Goerges knew that she had to get back into the set quick and did so despite having to overcome a short deficit. She continued to battle but with Bouchard still winning service games, the 30-year-old found herself down a set. Bouchard gained two set points on her second attempt to close the first in 46 minutes. It was a key improvement for the Canadian winning nearly 80 percent of points on the first serve that devastated her opponent’s return game.

It was not apparent of her feeling defeated as Goerges started the set with a pair of aces before putting down a winner to hold serve. Bouchard followed along but the moment was clearly in the hands of the German who wasn’t intent on not falling out of the tournament. A terrific hold in the fourth from Bouchard took a little bit away from Goerges’ attacks on the return. The situation was becoming tense as the German picked up the pace on serve wasting no time to secure the hold.

With the lead in hand, the world number 14 went after Bouchard heavily to get the first break holding Bouchard back. A shutout in the seventh caused the Canadian to call down her coach who tried to keep her positive with a third set looming. The wind had been a factor in the last couple of games making it difficult for Bouchard to handle the returns. It gave Goerges an easy service game in the ninth to force a decider after 1 hour and 19 minutes.

Control became the order of the third set as Bouchard made sure to hold serve and go big to jump out ahead. With the wind dying down temporarily, the Canadian battled to deuce where she got it on the third break with a forehand error from Goerges. She continued making some wild shots that soon gave the 24-year-old a 3-0 run and a must needed conference with coach Michael Geserer.

The visit helped Goerges bringing back her strength on the forehand from the other side of the court which seemed to be the difference. Despite a second double fault, she held the fourth game, ending the winning streak of her opponent. Good court positioning and firm response from Goerges earned her another win to sit a game back after five. Bouchard called out her coach who told her to hang through the conditions and assuring her that she is doing well.

It was apparent that playing behind the covered part of the arena was the best to succeed with the wind still breezing on the court. The defending champion made adjustments to secure the sixth consolidating the previous game before hunting down another break. Bouchard denied her that chance in the seventh keeping herself in the lead. It was only for the moment as the German leveled to four all making every point crucial going forward.

They went to deuce in the ninth where a huge mistake from Goerges gave Bouchard the win on a ball landing long of the baseline. It was up to the 30-year-old to survive the match and the Canadian to force her into danger. The wind got faster putting the number two seed in trouble at times but took her time to record her 40^th winner of the match. She put the match at five-all sending Bouchard left and right during the rally before a final return didn’t stay in for the 24-year-old.

She made the final move of holding serve putting Goerges back in the hot seat to force a tiebreak. Goerges had Bouchard on the ropes in the opening rally but an overhand shot that she thought was going across instead went into the net. Bouchard nailed a crosscourt winner for 30-15 until Goerges notched her seventh ace. An eighth soon followed up but another error from the champ went into the net forcing deuce. A bad return gave Bouchard match point but a terrific crosscourt from Goerges brought it back to deuce.

They ended up in a tiebreak after the second deuce leaving nothing left but to win or lose. Goerges once again showed her strengths but couldn’t get far from Bouchard who restored a minibreak to sit at three all. The margin of a point separated the two players even as Goerges had match point. Bouchard avoided two of them to make it six points each with two needed to win the competition. In the end, it was Goerges who got the win on a hard-fought winner to conclude 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Both finished with a first serve over 70 percent indicating how hard the players fought. Despite the loss, Bouchard had more than 40 winners to her name letting her fans and the tennis world know that she was eager to compete at her current level. While she prepares for more of the Australian Open Series, the 2018 champion will go up against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia in the semifinals.

Wozniacki wins in straight sets at ASB Classic

Caroline Wozniacki happened to be in great shape to start the 2019 season at the ASB Classic Wednesday. After a delay in arriving at the tournament, the top seed came out on the court to deal herself a victory against Laura Siegemund in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 on center court at the ASB Arena.

The Dane and the German met for the first time in their careers making it an interesting star to the 2019 season for Wozniacki. Since her loss at Singapore to WTA champion Elina Svitolina, the world number three was revved up to get into the competition and express her strengths in full. Siegemund got the chance after losing out in qualifications but made the draw due to a withdraw. Although she hasn’t faced anyone in the top ten since Rome 2017, the 30-year-old would try to make her first match an important first step.

She attempted to get an early break chance on Wozniacki but the Dane kept her cool and secured her opening service hold. Siegemund made sure to keep in touch with the number one seed and held to make a statement. Wozniacki upped the ante and held in the third game before attacking the game of the German to take a 3-1 stance. She consolidated another hold for a 4-1 margin on Siegemund who called for her coach which she told about her wrist issue getting the racket wrong on the ball.

She recovered winning the next of her service games but the gap was too much to recover from against the top seed. Wozniacki made the ninth game an easy one reaching three set points to close out the first stanza in 41 minutes. The 28-year-old scored on 13 of 16 from the first serve that did a number against Siegemund who returned on 8 of 30 shots. With a lot needing to go better for the 30-year-old, she hoped for some major progress.

Wozniacki would not let her get it as she easily made the returns for winners gaining three break points. Siegemund gained back two but it did not result in a service hold. It instead turned into one way traffic for Wozniacki who steamrolled to a 3-0 lead looking to shut down the German. The 30-year-old wouldn’t let it go there and fought back in the fourth where she earned a double break to get on the board.

She consolidated another victory to sit a game down making a statement that she wasn’t not done playing. Wozniacki didn’t have the same feelings on the subject recording another break to sit 5-2 with the ball in hand for the match. The number one seed had a slight challenge but a failed attempt at break point from Siegemund ended her tournament with a hit back into the net ending 1 hour and 21 minutes.    

“I definitely felt rust out there,” Wozniacki said during her on court interview after the match. “The win and this being my first match back wasn’t the prettiest match but I just tried to hang in there so hopefully tomorrow’s gonna be better.” She’ll get set for a battle against qualifier Bianca Andreescu of Canada Thursday.