Bencic dethrones Svitolina at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship

Belinda Bencic was once again unstoppable at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championship Friday night. The Swiss star clinched her third top ten win in a row and denied Elina Svitolina a third title defense with a stunning three-set score 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) on center court at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Stadium. The victory clinches her a chance to move into the top 30 for the first time in years.

This match meant a lot for the two of them as they haven’t met in five years let alone on the hard court. With one running through the tournament with nothing to lose and the other sitting close to a third straight title defense, the match was a critical one for both careers.  Four years have gone by since a player in the WTA won three titles in a row at a single tournament putting Svitolina in a serious position to join a small group of players.

Bencic’s third appearance is becoming one she’ll never forget after pulling off big upsets against the world number nine and number two consecutively. In a season that has been a major improvement since 2015, the Swiss star would try to make it three upsets with the world number six standing in her way.

She didn’t let that bother her going after the breakpoint in the first. Though she had to play deuce, Bencic got through it to gain the first AD point. She delivered a serve to love gaining a footing against Svitolina who didn’t look comfortable yet. She held firmly to get on track in the set and dug into the fourth to hunt down a break chance. Bencic denied her that chance playing very good offensive tennis to stay two games up on the Ukrainian.

She attacked the serve of Svitolina that soon opened the gap wide causing the sixth seed to call out Andrew Bettles who told her what was going wrong and what to do to correct it. Bencic continued on with her task of opening up the court with tremendous ball strikes and accuracy. She took a commanding 5-1 lead that had the defending champion in trouble serving in the seventh. She managed a strong service game that shutout Bencic but there was a lot of ground to make up.

Bencic denied her that opportunity as she gained three set points to hold two of them ending a remarkable set for the 21-year-old in 27 minutes. She devastated the second serve of the Ukrainian who won 14 percent of points from it and was outscored 26-16. Bencic had eight winners that were her in form with her first and second service that had everything going the right way.

She came into the second easily recording return winners against the sixth seed who couldn’t let it continue. She broke back to love in the second before defending her serve in the third holding the first AD point. With a small letdown of power, the Swiss star called down her father and coach Ivan to keep her well rounded and focused on through every point. She held to even the score but watched the control slowly slip from her fingers.

A successive hold from Svitolina in the fifth soon let to a troubling service gave that saw Bencic commit a second double fault. It gave the Ukrainian triple break points making sure to secure the 4-2 lead. With some concern in the face of Bencic, she tried to rally back on the break back chance and got it to get back within reach. Svitolina called down Bettles who told her that she had to commit to taking control and contain a zone to increase the first serve percentage. A third straight break went into the hands of the 24-year-old who clearly had the momentum with a 5-3 stance in hand to serve for the set.

Svitolina made sure to lock down the set landing two aces but had to go to deuce to get it done. Two were in the books after an hour of play with a third going into action. Bencic’s first serve was all but out causing her enormous stress after it was over. During the set break, a slight confusion occurred when Bencic was denied a coaching call. The umpire denied her that opportunity until she realized that the Ukrainian left the court which she was only allowed to do once. With the rules bending, the Swiss star got the opportunity to speak with her dad who tried to keep her calm before the decider.

In what was the first third set played by Svitolina in the tournament, she dug in to challenge Bencic who had another double fault in her service game. She locked down to win but couldn’t find a way to become aggressive on the returns. It was the beginning of service holds that went six games with the Ukrainian gaining momentum. She pulled out all the stops to beat down Bencic in the seventh gaining three break points to hold two for the win.

Both players took coaching conferences with Svitolina receiving praise from Bettles while making sure she didn’t get negative going forward. Bencic kept his daughter in check as she was not out of it and that a break back would level her back. It was not meant to be as Bencic used her last challenge during game point in the eighth to see Svitolina take a 5-3 hold. The Swiss star was on the edge of defeat but held to force the sixth seed to serve for a spot back to the final.

In a sudden turn of luck, the 24-year-old had a lot of trouble giving Bencic free points that spanned seven points. With the triple break, Svitolina committed a double fault that put her in another deadlock at five-all and the Swiss on an eight-point streak. The defending champion put it to a stop but continued to face a serious fight from Bencic. She had to force deuce but got into trouble when the AD point went to the 21-year-old. She took the game on a forehand error from Svitolina that gave her another massive amount of leverage.

She went into her serve in the 12^th with heavy pressure on Svitolina but witnessed her opponent saving two match points to deuce. She saved a third with another crosscourt winner and when her time for the AD point came, it was a wide return from Bencic that pushed things to a tiebreak. Bencic made an early statement with a crosscourt winner before make it 2-0 on another one.

Bencic erred on serve to put Svitolina on the board but got a crosscourt on the line to gain back a two-point buffer. A long ball cut the margin in half for her 20^th forehand error but gained back the margin at 4-2. She couldn’t get the second serve to stay in allowing Svitolina to stay close in touch. She was saved as the sixth seed erred before a lob return went behind the Ukrainian to end another stunning end after 1 hour and 58 minutes.

“I kinda like erratic matches, I don’t know why,” Bencic joked during her on-court interview with Annabell Croft. “I feel like I’m playing better when I’m 3-5 down so probably should try next match as well.” Bencic had an up and down first serve percentage that found a way to surge at the right time scoring 20 of 31 from the first and seven of ten from the second. “I feel much freer and have nothing to lose so I think that’s why,” she said. Bencic will go into Saturday night facing Petra Kvitova who will do everything to stop the Swiss’ strength.

“I faced her at the Australian Open,” Bencic said about the Czech. “She’s in great form and she’s a great champion so it will be an honor to play the final against her and of course give my best and try to win it.”   

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.