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Tag: Daria Kasatkina

  • Djokovic gets warm welcome in doubles loss at Adelaide

    Djokovic gets warm welcome in doubles loss at Adelaide

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    ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic lost his doubles match but received a warm welcome from the crowd at the Adelaide International on Monday.

    The 21-time major winner was deported from Australia a year ago after arriving unvaccinated against COVID-19 at a time when the country was still subject to strict quarantine regulations and proof of vaccination.

    His first match was a low-key doubles encounter alongside Vasek Pospisil, and the pair lost 4-6 6-3 (10-5) to Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar.

    Questions about how he would be received were quickly answered when Djokovic’s supporters flocked to the stadium to welcome him back.

    Djokovic begins his singles campaign on Tuesday against Constant Lestienne as he builds up to the Australian Open, where he is looking for a record-extending 10th title.

    Also Monday, Czech teenager Linda Noskova produced one of the first shocks of the 2023 season, beating eighth-ranked Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in the opening round.

    The 18-year-old Noskova came through a tough qualifying draw in which she beat world No. 58 Anna Kalinskaya and No. 43 Anastasia Potapova before achieving the biggest win of her career over third-seeded Kasatkina.

    The 102-ranked Noskova is competing in only her fifth main draw on the WTA Tour and had never played, let alone beaten, a top-10 player. She had been 0-2 against top-20 opponents.

    Her best win before Monday had been over 38th-ranked Alizé Cornet in the second round en route to the semifinals in Prague last July.

    Noskova took the first set comfortably in 46 minutes and broke to lead 4-3 in the second before Kasatkina broke back. She served for the match at 6-5 in but Kasatkina again fought back to take the set in a tiebreaker.

    But the Czech revived to win the deciding set and the match in just over 2-1/2 hours, finishing with a sweeping cross-court forehand on match point. She broke Kasatkina’s serve eight times overall, hit 57 winners off the ground and won 21 of the 24 points when she came to net.

    Kasatkina had an eventful 2022 season during which she broke back into the top 10. She also came out as gay and openly denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Noskova reached a ranking high of 87 in 2022 and qualified for the main draws at the French and U.S. Opens.

    “It’s been a lot of ups and downs but I think it was a really good season,” Noskova said. “I started around 300, I think, and then around 100 now, so it’s a pretty good progress.

    “Obviously I need to pick it up a little bit to get back into the (top) 100 but hopefully I’m going to achieve it this year.”

    Noskova now will face the winner of the match between Australia’s Priscilla Hon and American qualifier Claire Liu.

    Later, fourth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia beat Amanda Anisimova of the United States 6-3, 6-0.

    On the men’s side, Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan upset fifth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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    More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Sabalenka stuns Swiatek, faces Garcia for WTA Finals title

    Sabalenka stuns Swiatek, faces Garcia for WTA Finals title

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    FORT WORTH, Texas — Aryna Sabalenka stood stoically ever so briefly, before crouching for an emphatic fist pump to go with a scream.

    Yeah, the seventh-ranked woman in the eight-player WTA Finals couldn’t hide the emotion, because she knew exactly what she had done.

    Sabalenka ended world No. 1 Iga Swiatek’s 15-match winning streak against top-10 opponents, taking a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory in the semifinals of the season-ending event Sunday night.

    The stunner puts Sabalenka in final Monday night against No. 6 Caroline Garcia, who streamrolled Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 and can become just the second Frenchwoman to win WTA Finals after Amelie Mauresmo in 2005.

    Swiatek, the French Open and U.S. Open champion and runaway leader with eight tour victories, cruised through three round-robin victories, losing just 13 games to give her the longest winning run against top-10 opponents since Steffi Graf won 17 straight in 1987.

    Just like that, it was over when the 21-year-old from Poland lost the last five games against a player she had beaten in all four meetings this season.

    Sabalenka was No. 1 when she beat Swiatek in round-robin play at last year’s WTA Finals, but neither player made the semifinals.

    With that much out of the way for both, Sabalenka showed how comfortable she was on the temporary indoor hard court at Dickies Arena. Nine of her 10 career victories have come on hard courts.

    “I just want to make sure that every time she plays against me, she knows that she really has to work hard to get a win,” said Sabalenka, whose fourth loss this year to Swiatek was a three-setter in the U.S. Open semifinals. “Only because of this thinking, I was able to play at this amazing level tonight.”

    Swiatek fell behind one break in the final set with two wide forehands before another one put her down two breaks. Sabalenka gave herself a match point with her 12th and final ace, then hit another serve so good, Swiatek’s lunging return was wide and long.

    After a tour-best 67 victories and a 37-match unbeaten run from February to June that was the longest in women’s tennis in a quarter-century, this wasn’t quite the ending Swiatek had in mind.

    “In the third, I just started making mistakes from shots that I wouldn’t make mistakes usually,” Swiatek said. “At the beginning of the first set, I just wanted to be kind of focused. Maybe I didn’t realize soon enough that I should be more pepped up.”

    Garcia was playing just 24 hours after beating Daria Kasatkina in a tense 80-minute third set to secure the last spot in the semifinals, but needed just 74 minutes total for a career-best fourth victory over a top-five opponent this season.

    Garcia never trailed, dominating the fifth-ranked Sakkari in winners (21-8) and aces (6-0).

    “I don’t know,” Garcia said when asked where she found the energy to dominate after the quick turnaround. “Yesterday, I was a little bit tired, but it was nothing unusual after such a big match.”

    Garcia has advanced out of group play in both WTA Finals appearances. The 29-year-old lost in the semifinals in the eight-player event five years ago, which also was the most recent time a player older than Garcia reached the semis (Venus Williams).

    “I guess I’m five years older, maybe five years wiser,” said Garcia, who was No. 74 about this time last year. “You try to learn from everything. I’ve got a good team behind me, supporting me when I was a little bit doubting myself.”

    Sakkari also was among the five players who have reached the semis their first two times since the round-robin format was reintroduced in 2003. She lost in the semis last year.

    Garcia used a 120 mph ace to help erase a break chance for Sakkari and extend her lead to 4-0 in the second set.

    Garcia’s sixth and final ace answered a double fault that gave Sakkari another break point. Garcia closed out that game for a 5-1 lead on the way to a 3-0 career record against Sakkari.

    Sakkari had three straight-set victories in the tournament after coming in with just one win over a top-10 opponent this season.

    The 27-year-old from Greece never recovered after dropping her first set of the week, finishing with 11 more unforced errors (19) than winners.

    “Not taking away anything from her, I played a very average match from my side,” said Sakkari, who didn’t qualify for the WTA Finals until the final event of the regular season. “I wasn’t sharp. I wasn’t energized.”

    Defending doubles champs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova advanced to the title match with a 7-6(5), 6-2 semifinal victory over Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko.

    The Czech duo will play Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, 6-1, 6-1 winners over Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs.

    The event was moved to Texas from China over concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former government official there of sexual assault. Coronavirus restrictions also played a part in the decision. It’s the first WTA Finals in the U.S. since 2005.

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    AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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