Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships February 17 – 23, 2019 Women’S Tennis Association Match Notes
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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS FEBRUARY 17 – 23, 2019 WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION MATCH NOTES DUBAI, UAE | FEBRUARY 17 - 23, 2019 | USD $2,828,000 WTA PREMIER EVENT wtatennis.com | facebook.com/WTA | twitter.com/WTA | youtube.com/WTA Tournament Website: www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com | @DDFTennis | facebook.com/ddftennis WTA Communications: Alex Prior ([email protected]) DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS - FINAL BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #45) vs. [2] PETRA KVITOVA (CZE #4) Kvitova leads 3-0 Kvitova won pair’s most recent meeting en route to this year’s Sydney title... Bencic appearing in first Premier-level final since 2016 St. Petersburg... Kvitova has won more matches than any other player this season... Bencic bidding to be second Swiss woman to lift Dubai title after Hingis in 2001 THE FINALISTS PLAYER DUBAI W/L YTD W/L MD CAREER W/L YTD PRIZE $ CAREER PRIZE $ YTD TITLES CAREER TITLES [2] Petra Kvitova 10-5 17-3 415-192 1,701,505 29,043,712 1 26 Belinda Bencic 6-2 12-2 111-89 136,404 3,869,537 0 2 FINAL RECORDS PLAYER BEST DUBAI RESULT LAST FINAL REACHED CAREER FINAL W/L [2] Petra Kvitova WON (1): 2013 2019 Australian Open (R-UP) 26-8 Belinda Bencic FINAL (1): 2019 2018 Luxembourg (R-UP) 2-5 RECENT DUBAI FINALS YEAR CHAMPION FINALIST SCORE 2011 CAROLINE WOZNIACKI SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA 6-1 6-3 2012 AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA JULIA GOERGES 7-5 6-4 2013 PETRA KVITOVA SARA ERRANI 6-2 1-6 6-2 2014 VENUS WILLIAMS ALIZÉ CORNET 6-3 6-0 2015 SIMONA HALEP KAROLINA PLISKOVA 6-4 7-6(4) 2016 SARA ERRANI BARBORA STRYCOVA 6-0 6-2 2017 ELINA SVITOLINA CAROLINE WOZNIACKI 6-4 6-2 2018 ELINA SVITOLINA DARIA KASATKINA 6-4 6-0 SAP Tennis Analytics for Media is an online portal that provides real-time data and insights to media during every WTA event and across all devices. Please email [email protected] to request your individual login to grant access to SAP Tennis Analytics for Media. WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION MATCH NOTES CLOSING IN ON NO.1 NO SURPRISES At the Australian Open in January, Petra Kvitova was Belinda Bencic is the 10th unseeded woman to reach one win away from becoming WTA No.1 for the first time. the Dubai final. However, only two of the previous nine have ended up being crowned champion. On both of The Czech, who also come within touching distance these occasions - Venus Williams in 2014 and Sara of top spot seven years earlier, has closed the gap on Errani in 2016 - the winner was facing another unseeded Naomi Osaka with her performance this week. Indeed, player in the final: should she walk away with the title, the Czech would rise to No.2, just 951 points behind Osaka. PLAYER YEAR OPPONENT RESULT Svetlana Kuznetsova 2004 Justine Henin Runner-Up Belinda Bencic has also enjoyed a productive week on Jelena Jankovic 2005 Lindsay Davenport Runner-Up the rankings front, guaranteeing a return to the Top 30 Virginie Razzano 2009 Venus WIlliams Runner-Up for the first time since late 2016. She will be No.28 with a runner-up finish and No.23 by lifting the title. Julia Goerges 2012 Agnieszka Radwanska Runner-Up Venus Williams 2014 Alizé Cornet Champion Alizé Cornet 2014 Venus Williams Runner-Up GOOD OMEN... Sara Errani 2016 Barbora Strycova Champion Barbora Strycova 2016 Sara Errani Runner-Up In the summer of 2015, an 18-year-old Belinda Bencic Daria Kasatkina 2018 Elina Svitolina Runner-Up scattered a trail a seeds in her wake to lift the Rogers Cup in Toronto. MISS CONSISTENT That week, the Swiss beat Top 10 mainstays Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and in the final This weekend Petra Kvitova will contest her eighth WTA Simona Halep to earmark herself as the potential stan- final since the start of the 2018 season. dard bearer of the tour’s next wave of talent. During that time span, no other player on tour has ap- A similar story has unfolded in the desert this week, with peared in more finals than the Czech, whose only defeat Bencic accounting for three of the world’s Top 10 players came in three sets to Naomi Osaka at this January’s - Aryna Sabalenka, Elina Svitolina and once again Halep. Australian Open. Can she make it four on Saturday and lift another Premier 5 crown? PLAYER NO. OF FINALS WIN-LOSS Petra Kvitova 8 7-1 Simona Halep 7 3-4 Kiki Bertens 5 4-1 Aryna Sabalenka 5 3-2 HARD TO BEAT Eighteen of Petra Kvitova’s 26 career titles have come 16 on hard courts. Among active players, only five others Despite her injury woes, Be- linda Bencic owns 16 career have been more prolific on the surface: Top 10 wins. The most of any player on tour aged NO. OF HARD 21 or under PLAYER COURT TITLES Serena Williams 46 Venus Williams 31 BAD OMEN... Caroline Wozniacki 24 Maria Sharapova 20 Petra Kvitova is bidding to be the first No.2 seed to win Victoria Azarenka 19 the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The No.2 Petra Kvitova 18 seed has lost twice in the final, Amelie Mauresmo in 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova 14 and Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2008. MATCH NOTES DUBAI - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | Feb 17 - Feb 23, 2019 | $2,828,000 | PREMIER 5 BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #45) vs. [2] PETRA KVITOVA (CZE #4) Head to Head: PETRA KVITOVA leads 3-0 2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN HARD O R3 PETRA KVITOVA 6-1 6-4 68 mins 2018 FED CUP WEEK 1 HARD I R1 PETRA KVITOVA 6-2 6-4 83 mins 2013 TOKYO HARD O R2 PETRA KVITOVA 7-5 6-4 81 mins BELINDA BENCIC PETRA KVITOVA 45 WTA RANKING 4 20 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 2 10-03-1997 (21) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 08-03-1990 (28) $136,404 YTD PRIZE MONEY $1,701,505 $3,869,537 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $29,043,712 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 2 1 / 26 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 2 0 / 0 DUBAI W-L (MD) * 6-2 10-5 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 12-2 / 111-89 17-3 / 415-192 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 6-1 / 42-25 5-1 / 125-78 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 4-1 / 29-23 5-4 / 83-61 YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 12-2 / 77-63 17-3 / 280-134 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 1-1 / 11-8 1-0 / 45-14 1-0 / 8-6 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-1 / 25-31 3-1 / 16-15 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-1 / 53-51 3-1 / 21-32 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 4-2 / 103-86 * Updated entering Dubai final ROAD TO THE FINAL BELINDA BENCIC (SUI #45) [2] PETRA KVITOVA (CZE #4) SF: d. [6] ELINA SVITOLINA (UKR #6) 6-2,3-6,7-6(3) (1h58) SF: d. SU-WEI HSIEH (TPE #31) 3-6,6-2,6-4 (2h09) QF: d. [3] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #2) 4-6,6-4,6-2 (2h17) QF: d. VIKTORIA KUZMOVA (SVK #46) 6-4,6-0 (1h02) R16: d. [8] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #9) 6-4,2-6,7-6(7) (2h26) R16: d. JENNIFER BRADY (USA #117) 7-5,1-6,6-3 (2h12) R32: d. STEFANIE VOEGELE (SUI #83) 6-1,6-1 (0h52) R32: d. KATERINA SINIAKOVA (CZE #44) 6-7(3),6-4,6-4 (2h34) R64: d. LUCIE HRADECKA (CZE #456) 6-4,7-6(6) (1h40) R64: BYE Total games: 126 Total games: 104 Won/lost: 72-54 Won/lost: 59-45 Sets won/lost: 10-3 Sets won/lost: 8-3 Total time on court: 9h13 Total time on court: 7h57 Average time on court: 1h51 Average time on court: 1h59 Average rank of opponent: 111 Average rank of opponent: 60 Insights Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA from MATCH NOTES DUBAI - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | Feb 17 - Feb 23, 2019 | $2,828,000 | PREMIER 5 DUBAI Tournament History BELINDA BENCIC PETRA KVITOVA 2016 2016 R1 L - JELENA JANKOVIC (SRB #20) 4-6 7-5 6-4 R16 L - MADISON BRENGLE (USA #60) 0-6 7-6(1) 6-3 2015 2015 R2 L - VENUS WILLIAMS (USA #11) 6-1 6-2 R16 L - CARLA SUÁREZ NAVARRO (ESP #13) 6-3 4-6 6-3 2014 R16 L - CARLA SUÁREZ NAVARRO (ESP #16) 1-6 6-4 7-6(4) 2013 F W - SARA ERRANI (ITA #7) 6-2 1-6 6-1 2011 R1 L - AYUMI MORITA (JPN #57) 7-6(2) 7-6(3) 2009 R1 L - JULIA SCHRUFF (GER #148) 6-3 2-6 6-4 Insights Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA from BELINDA PETRA BENCIC VS KVITOVA DUBAI DUBAI • Making third appearance at Dubai Duty Free Tennis • Making first main draw appearance in Dubai since Championships, where she is through to the final for 2016 (l. Brengle) and seventh overall the first time • Won title in 2013 (d. Errani in F); also beat No.4 • Prior to this year, only previous win at the tournament A.Radwanska and No.10 Wozniacki en route came over Knapp in 2015 (l. defending champion • Following 1r bye, fought back from 7-6(3) 5-3 down V.Williams in 2r) to beat compatriot Siniakova in 2r on Tuesday • Beat qualifier Hradecka in 1r, then lucky loser Voege- • Recovered from losing five games in a row to even- le in 2r tually see off qualifier Brady in R16 • Saved 6mp to upset No.9 Sabalenka in R16 • Won 25 of last 31 points to see off Kuzmova in QF • Upset No.3 Halep in QF - her eighth Top 5 win and • Fought back to beat Hsieh in SF, her 17th win of the first since No.5 V.Williams at 2018 Australian Open season - the most of any player on tour (followed by • Recovered from 5-3 down in the final set to beat Ka.Pliskova 13-3) No.6 Svitolina in SF - ended the Ukrainian’s • Has struck 17 aces this week to take season total to 12-match winning streak in Dubai 96 (only Bertens - 112 and Ka.Pliskova - 101 have • Faces No.4 Kvitova today in first Premier-level final struck more) since 2016 St.