Stosur, Azarenka to face off in Qatar final

Updated February 19, 2012 07:38:41

Samantha Stosur advanced to her first final of the year when her French rival Marion Bartoli retired with a foot problem in the second set of their semi-final clash at the Qatar Open.

After losing the first set 6-3, Bartoli was serving in the first game of the second when she pulled out with Stosur on break point at 40-30.

Stosur will take on top seed Victoria Azarenka in the final.

"You always want to win a match playing the full match out and winning match point," Stosur said.

"So any player will always take it if you play a set or two sets, but of course in the nature of the sport, you want to be able to finish it."

Azarenka overcame a second set injury scare to thrash Aginezska Radwanska 6-2, 6-4.

Azarenka won despite having court side treatment on her left foot immediately after Radwanska broke back in the second game of the second set.

The world number one was in apparent pain as she had her foot strapped, and for a few minutes it looked like she too would call it quits like Bartoli did an hour earlier.

But after a near eight-minute delay Azarenka came back with renewed determination that left Radwanska completely at her mercy.

After the scores were tied at 2-2, Azarenka won three games in a row to lead 5-2 and although Radwanska herself had a break and retained her serve to close in at 4-5, the Australian Open champ was not letting the opportunity slip by, winning the tenth game 40-0 with a forehand down the line to reach her third final of the season.

"Honestly, I don't know how I managed to pull it off," she said.

"I had to concentrate very hard on every point, but I am happy that I made it," added Azarenka, who took her winning streak this year to 16 to equal the now retired Justine Henin's record set in 2004.

Earlier Bartoli decided to call off her bid for a first title in Doha after losing the first set 6-3 to Stosur.

"Well, actually it started yesterday during the match against Lucie (Safarova)," Bartoli said.

"In the third set I really felt like my right calf was starting to cramp, and I really had to make sure I finished that third set very quickly, because I was really feeling the cramp coming in on the calf.

"I had a lot of treatment yesterday after the match. Today when I started to warm up, I still felt it. So I knew I was not 100% going to the match. That was for sure."

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, qatar, australia

First posted February 19, 2012 07:24:41

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Stosur into Qatar final four

Updated February 18, 2012 08:44:29

Samantha Stosur staved off a determined comeback by Romania's Monica Niculescu to book a spot in the final four at the Qatar Open.

The Australian third seed advanced to her first semi-final of the year with the 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win.

Stosur, the reigning US Open champion, won in a little short of two hours after totally losing her momentum in the second set and surviving a tough spell in the third when Niculescu took three games in a row to level at 3-3.

Niculescu had a wonderful opportunity to break Stosur in the seventh game when she was leading 30-0, but sent an easy volley long after a lengthy rally to give the Australian the opening she was looking for.

World number one Victoria Azarenka won her 15th consecutive match of the season to also make the semi-finals, a year after she almost quit the sport.

The Belarusian star defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-0, 6-4 to stay on course for a third title this year, after victories at Sydney and the Australian Open.

Azarenka lost in the first round to Daniela Hantuchova in Doha last year, and after another lacklustre show in Dubai, where she was beaten by Flavio Pennetta, she had become so demoralised that she even considered quitting the sport for good.

"Last year by this time I was a little bit of a mess. I couldn't control any of my emotions, and I didn't really enjoy playing tennis," she added.

"I lost a really, really bad match here and a few before that. It was just not fun for me to do, because I'm the type of player that plays with a lot of passion, a lot of desire.

"Every time I was stepping on the court, it was a misery to me. So I just told my mom, I don't want to play anymore because it's not fun.

"She's like 'You know what? I think maybe you're tired, you're burned out. Just come home and see what happens'.

"And then a few long talks with my grandmother and I kinda bounced back. I realised there are more important things in life than just losing a tennis match."

France's Marion Bartoli defeated in-form Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Bartoli ended Safarova's giant-killing run, but not before conceding the second set, and gave credit to her fitness.

"The turning point was my fitness," the Frenchwoman said.

"I was fitter than her and that helped me win the match."

Safarova had knocked out former world number one Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the last eight.

In the night match, fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland thrashed Christina McHale of the United States 6-1, 6-1 to set up a semi-final clash with Azarenka.

The other semi-final will be played between Stosur and Bartoli.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, qatar, australia

First posted February 18, 2012 08:44:29

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Azarenka thrashes Stosur in Qatar Open

Updated February 20, 2012 15:25:00

World number one Victoria Azarenka extended her domination over Australia's Samantha Stosur to win her third successive title of the year at the WTA Qatar Open on Sunday.

Azarenka showed no signs of discomfort from her overnight injury scare in the semi-finals against Agnieszka Radwanska by beating Stosur 6-1, 6-2 in a one-sided final to extend her unbeaten streak in 2012 to 17 matches.

The Qatar Open was Azarenka's 11th title, 10 of them coming on hard courts.

She maintained her perfect record against the Australian whom she has beaten in five career clashes beginning in 2008; no match going to three sets.

Sunday's win also completed a remarkable 12 months for Azarenka who lost to Daniela Hantuchova in the first round in Doha in 2011, a defeat that led her to contemplate retirement before being talked out of it by her mother and grandmother.

"I am really proud of the way I played today," said Azarenka, fighting back tears.

"I was not 100 per cent after my fall yesterday and I knew I had to adjust my game and everything went according to plan."

Stosur, who was playing her first final of the year, was bidding for her fourth title, but Azarenka was too good for the world number five despite rarely hitting top gear.

The Australian Open champion broke Stosur in the third game of the first set from 40-all when the Aussie hit a ball long and then netted an easy volley.

Stosur again made crucial unforced errors in her next service game, putting a forehand into the net and then missing an easy smash before a powerful forehand return fetched Azarenka her second break.

The Belarusian then retained her serve to lead 5-1 and, following another error-ridden service game by Stosur, clinched the set with a fine volley.

The second set was also played along the same pattern as Stosur failed to reduce her errors and soon Azarenka had taken a stranglehold on the match by racing to a 3-0 lead.

And although the Australian managed to win two service games, Azarenka then broke her again in the eighth game to maintain a hundred per cent record in finals this year.

"Last year I lost in the first round and watched someone else lift this beautiful trophy," Azarenka said. "But now I have this for myself."

Third seed Stosur left the tournament as the first Australian woman to earn more than $US10 million in career prizemoney.

AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, qatar

First posted February 20, 2012 08:18:25

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Tsonga slips and slides to Qatar title

Updated January 08, 2012 12:07:39

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who reached the Australian Open final four years ago, gave himself a great build-up to this year's opening grand slam by capturing the eighth title of his career at the Qatar Open.

The world number four from France beat his 16th ranked compatriot Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-3 in a final with great shots and misses, delights and unexpected irritations, and an intriguing outcome when it seemed at one stage there might not be one at all.

In the process Tsonga showed again that he has the armoury to achieve his ambition of breaking into the big four, and did so in a contest between the two most exciting black male players since Yannick Noah retired a decade and a half ago.

"I tried to be more aggressive and be very competitive because against Roger (Federer), Rafa (Nadal) or Novak (Djokovic) that's what you have to do," Tsonga said.

"You have to be aggressive. I tried to do that this week and it worked."

However the on-off nature of the first set suggested Tsonga might not get the chance.

A sea fog swirled over the court and although visibility was more than adequate, the surface became slippery and uncertain.

"It was difficult. The surface was very slippery especially on the 'Qatar' sign painted on the court," added the 26-year-old Tsonga.

"It was dangerous but they did enough to make it OK."

After 15 minutes it was decided to start, but only eight minutes later, by which time Monfils had broken serve and then indicated his insecurity underfoot, they decided to stop again.

Nothing appeared to have changed in the conditions, nor had it during the 36 minutes delay, except that there had been mopping and drying operations, especially to large logos not far behind the baselines.

For a while Monfils had the advantage - better balanced and faster in movement, and more confident after his early lead. But it evaporated from the moment he tried to close out the set at 5-4.

Then Monfils delivered one uncertain service game, which Tsonga concluded with an approach and a spectacular jumping smash, and at 5-6, crucially, he delivered another.

Two missed volleys and two moderate second serves which Tsonga punished saw Monfils drop the game to love, and the set with it after three-quarters of an hour of actual play.

"It's always tough to play against Jo because he has a powerful game and the kind of game which (makes it) tough to manipulate him from the baseline," Monfils had said before the match.

"It's always tougher like this in the final against a friend."

One wondered whether his mind had been affected in this way during those important moments, and also when Tsonga took two heavy tumbles in the second set.

Monfils' emotions seemes as involved with this as anything else, although he did also bounce his racquet with passionate anger at one backhand driving error early in the second set.

Tsonga was more serene and became more sure of himself as the match went on, making the decisive breakthrough at 4-2 with some good returning and solid driving.

He consolidated that without alarms, and performed his familiar dynamic revolving war dance when he closed it out.

It celebrated becoming the first French winner of the title since Nicolas Escude eight years ago, and signalled him as a likely threat for 2012, even though he never had the chance to meet Federer at this tournament.

Tsonga was given a walk-over into the final by Federer, who was concerned to protect an ailing back for the Australian Open, starting in nine days.

AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, united-arab-emirates

First posted January 08, 2012 09:32:52

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