Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska claimed the Auckland WTA title with a straight-sets victory over Yanina Wickmayer.
Radwanska triumphed over the third-seeded Belgian 6-4, 6-4.
It is Radwanska's 11th WTA title and the victory will serve as the ideal preparation for her Sydney International campaign beginning next week.
Tags: tennis, sport, new-zealand First posted January 05, 2013 14:16:39The first big name has fallen at the Sydney International with women's fifth seed Petra Kvitova sent packing after a heavy first round loss to Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.
Kvitova's Australian Open preparations took a significant hit as world number 15 Cibulkova raced to a 6-1, 6-1 win in little more than an hour at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre on Sunday.
Czech Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, was ousted by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the Brisbane International and will head into the Open amid a worrying form slump.
Earlier, former world number one Caroline Wozniacki put her Open preparations back on track with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska.
After beginning 2013 poorly with a shock first-round loss to qualifier Ksenia Pervak at the Brisbane International, the Dane rediscovered her form in a powerful display.
With boyfriend and world golf number one Rory McIlroy watching on from the stands, Wozniacki needed just 26 minutes to take the first set and was largely untroubled in closing out the match in tough conditions.
"It was quite hot out there, especially towards the end of the second set you could really feel it was starting to heat up," Wozniacki said.
"I'm just happy to get the first win of the season under my belt and just move on."
The seventh seed will next face either German Julia Goerges or a qualifier in the second round.
But Wozniacki will part ways with McIlroy, with the Northern Irishman to fly out on Sunday night after 10 days in Australia to commence preparations for the Abu Dhabi golf championship later this month.
In other matches, Australian Olivia Rogowska lost to Russia's Maria Kirilenko in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, while another Russian, Ekaterina Makarova, beat American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4. 4-6, 6-1.
AAP
Tags: sport, tennis, sydney-2000, nsw, australia First posted January 06, 2013 15:58:22Samantha Stosur is refusing to blame untimely foot surgery or home-town pressures as she races the clock to be ready for the Australian Open.
Stosur's mistake-riddled first-round exit from the Brisbane International has left the fallen grand slam champion with just one tournament and 13 days to rediscover her A game for the Melbourne Park major.
But the world number nine defiantly maintains a fortnight is ample time to save her summer.
"I'm going to think positive and think that it is," Stosur said before heading south for the Sydney International starting on Sunday.
"I know that panicking doesn't help anyone get a good result or feel better.
"All that I've got to do - it sounds really easy - is go out there and practise really hard and do the right things like I always try and do and really believe that's what's going to make a difference.
"There is no magic dust that's going to make anything go away or fix it overnight or anything."
Stosur flayed 48 unforced errors - effectively two a game - in her 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 loss to the 41st-ranked Sofia Arvidsson under the bright lights of Pat Rafter Arena on Monday night.
The 2011 US Open champion preferred not to dwell, though, or offer meaningless excuses.
"Actually, I think part of it you could put down to being a bit rusty and it's the first match the year," she said.
Stosur readily admits suffocating public expectations cruelled her last summer campaign - when she crashed out in the first round in Melbourne - but says high hopes come with the territory.
"I'm not the first player to have their home grand slam and not perform," she said.
"There have been a few Australians and French players, you name it. It's a tough thing. But it is one of those things.
"Would I rather have a grand slam in my country than not? I would."
Stosur also denied deliberately delaying surgery to have a bone spur removed until after the WTA Championships in November, an operation which prevented the Queenslander from full-scale running until only a fortnight ago.
"There just wasn't an opportunity. I hadn't seen a surgeon or spoken to anyone," she said.
"It was one of those things where I couldn't do anything about it.
"I didn't even totally know what was going on at that point in time until I came home and saw the correct people.
"Then once I had seen the surgeon and done that, I made my decision in about five hours and I was in the next day. I didn't let things linger once I knew."
AAP
Tags: tennis, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia First posted January 01, 2013 13:22:28Lleyton Hewitt showed vintage form as he humbled Juan Martin Del Potro 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Kooyong Classic, just days ahead of the start of the Australian Open.
Hewitt, who stood number one in the world more than a decade ago, rolled back the clock with his comprehensive win in 66 minutes, duplicating his Kooyong title from 2011 at the eight-man special event.
The 31-year-old dominated for most of the contest under cloudy skies and in windy conditions at the Kooyong Stadium - the former home of the Open.
The unseeded veteran who holds Wimbledon and US Open titles, will be a danger-man in the grand slam draw at Melbourne Park when play begins on Monday.
"Juan Martin is a fantastic competitor," said Hewitt, who called the Argentine "one of my best mates on the tour. We always train together.
"He's one of the best and I'm sure it won't be long before he's pushing at the top three or four in the world."
Hewitt, who beat three top-15 players in his Kooyong run, begins at the Australian Open against Serb eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic.
Hewitt also paid homage to the club: "This is the home of Australian tennis, there have been so many great Davis Cup ties played here."
Hewitt raced through the opening set in 27 minutes, reaching a 3-1 lead after just 16 minutes. The Australian finished off the set on a first set point as Del Potro fired a forehand long.
Del Potro made a stab at a rally in the second set, breaking Hewitt for 3-4 at one point and levelling at 4-4 soon after.
But Hewitt stayed in control, moving to 5-4 and finishing a game later on a second match point, a stinging forehand return winner.
Tomas Berdych lifted his game to claim third place through a 6-3, 6-2 win over Marcos Baghdatis, winning in just under an hour.
The performance was a vast improvement for the sixth-ranked Czech after losing in straight sets to Hewitt earlier in the week.
Berdych had complained of not feeling his game on court, but had solved his problem by Saturday's match.
"It's good to get in a match before Monday, everything in your game is important at this point," said the Czech.
"I've rediscovered by game again, I think I found it today."
Berdych needed four match points to finally put away 2006 Melbourne Park finalist Baghdatis, with the Cypriot driving a ball into the net to end the contest.
Berdych begins his Australian Open campaign against American Michael Russell, who he last played in 2010.
"He's a very tough guy who gives everything on the court. He's a good fighter and doesn't give you any points for free," he said.
"I must be focussed on every point, he's a good challenge to start with in the first round."
AFP
Tags: tennis, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia First posted January 12, 2013 15:47:52World number three Andy Murray completed a successful defence of his Brisbane International title with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov at Pat Rafter Arena.
Murray triumphed 7-6 (7-0), 6-4, although the scoreline perhaps did not indicate the thorough examination of the US Open and Olympic champion carried out by the 48th-ranked Dimitrov.
The 21-year-old Bulgarian served notice he is a star of the future, breaking Murray’s serve in each set, but the experience of the Scot told when it counted and he proceeded to collect his 25th career title.
Murray will no doubt be pleased to have the Roy Emerson Trophy in his possession again, but it was hardly a convincing performance.
His seven aces were balanced with four double faults, his second serve often proving to be a weakness during the match.
Nevertheless, he is confident enough about his chances at the Australian Open, especially since he will arrive at Melbourne Park with a victory at a major under his belt.
“I do feel more relaxed one week out from a slam than previously, that’s for sure,” Murray said.
While there is rustiness to be removed from Murray’s game prior to the season’s opening major, credit must be given to Dimitrov for testing his opponent.
The 21-year-old was contesting his first ATP World Tour final and he displayed a powerful all-court game throughout the tournament.
Murray noted the improvement in Dimitrov’s game since they last met in 2011, highlighting his ability to “play a lot of different shots”.
“He has a lot of variety,” Murray said.
“He seems a bit stronger since I last played him ... and he seemed to enjoy the occasion.”
Dimitrov led the men’s draw for aces heading into the final and his confidence in his serve was on show when he won the opening game of the tournament decider.
A key moment of the first set followed in the next game when Dimitrov broke the Murray serve to lead 2-0, with two clean forehand winners illustrating the strength of his ground strokes.
His single-handed backhand also has the potential to become a weapon, while his work at the net on both the volley and smash was impressive, considering he is most at home on the baseline.
Dimitrov won his next service game for a 3-0 advantage before Murray finally got on the board to establish a pattern of games going on serve.
Leading 5-3, Dimitrov served for the set but the pressure exerted by Murray and some rash shot-making from his counterpart saw the latter earn two break points.
He converted on the second and set up a 5-5 scoreline by winning his service game, although Dimitrov did not concede any free points.
He fought back from 15-40 and saved game point on four occasions before Murray finally held serve amid great frustration.
Dimitrov moved ahead 6-5 in the next game prior to having a set point on the Murray serve, but the tournament’s top seed again found enough to hold and force the tie-break.
The saved set point seemed to inspire Murray, who sent down a thundering ace to close out the tie-break in emphatic fashion, winning 7-0.
The second set began in unremarkable fashion with games going on serve until the seventh.
Murray saved two break points before Dimitrov converted on his third to lead 4-3 but the score was level again the following game.
Dimitrov had led 30-0 on his serve prior to Murray reeling off four consecutive points to break with a brilliant passing shot.
He then served to love to lead 5-4 and the momentum he had quickly gained saw him again break Dimitrov to clinch the victory.
Tags: sport, tennis, brisbane-4000, qld First posted January 06, 2013 17:38:33Spain's David Ferrer has won the ATP tennis title in Auckland, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
It was the world number five's third consecutive Auckland title and fourth overall, equalling the record of Australian great Roy Emerson.
Ferrer won the match on Saturday in one hour 18 minutes but did not have everything his own way, having to come back from two breaks and set point down in the opening set.
Kohlschreiber did not lose a point in his first three service games and broke Ferrer in the third game, but he was unable to maintain the standard.
Ferrer was able to break back in the eighth game with some great returns, and though Kohlschreiber broke back immediately, the German failed to convert a set point on his serve and was broken after a series of errors.
Kohlschreiber paid for his mistakes in the tie-break, going down a mini-break early, and Ferrer closed it out 7-5 without losing a point on his serve.
The disappointment seemed to affect Kohlschreiber as his standard slipped in the second set.
A double fault gave Ferrer a break in the fourth game, and another break in the sixth game put Ferrer well on track.
The Spaniard won the match after Kohlschreiber skied a shot high into the stands on Ferrer's first match point.
Earlier, Colin Fleming of Scotland dedicated his doubles victory to his cancer-stricken former partner Ross Hutchins after winning the title in Auckland.
Fleming and Bruno Soares of Brazil, a first-time pairing, beat Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Frederik Nielsen of Denmark 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-2).
AAP
Tags: sport, tennis, new-zealand First posted January 12, 2013 14:52:28Serbian world number nine Janko Tipsarevic overcame early jitters to stave off Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut's challenge and win the Chennai Open.
The second-seeded Tipsarevic lost the first set but found his rhythm back to beat the unseeded Bautista-Agut 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in a first-time meeting.
The 28-year-old Tipsarevic, who went down to Milos Raonic in last year's marathon final in Chennai, won his fourth career ATP World Tour title in timely fashion with the Australian Open just over a week away.
"I think there's just one word to say and it's 'finally'," he said after winning his first title in Chennai in his sixth attempt.
"Last year, some of you may know, I could smell it, it was just there."
Bautista-Agut, who defeated top seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals, looked set for his first title at one stage but Tipsarevic fought back brilliantly to wrest control, exactly like he did against Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in the semi-final.
Reuters
Tags: tennis, sport, india First posted January 07, 2013 08:10:23