WTA WEEK 6 REVIEW

Last week, there WTA events in Antwerp, Belgium and Pattaya, Thailand. There were some exciting matches with the semifinals and finals in Pattaya being three set affairs with Daniela Hantuchova taking the title. In Antwerp, Andrea Petkovic, unlike Eugenie Bouchard and Angelique Kerber, almost lost her first match but managed to win saving eight match points in the second set against Alison Van Uytvanck. She managed to take advantage of the situation by winning the title over Carla Suarez Navarro, who withdrew due to neck issues. This week, the ladies have moved on to Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dubai had a Sunday start which Alize Cornet managed to win over Kirsten Flipkens in three hours and ten minutes and in that match, Cornet bageled Flipkens in the first set and won the last six games of the match.

Player of the week is Daniela Hantuchova, who continued a theme of older players on tour winning events. Before season started, Carlos Rodriguez was hired as her coach. During the week she won  3 three set matches against Zarina Diyas, Marina Erakovic and Alja Tomljanovic, who won a three set semifinal match against Monica Puig to make the final.

 

Honorable mention

(1)    Andrea Petkovic – She continued her Fed Cup winning ways by taking the title in Antwerp. In the seven sets she played, five of them went to a tiebreaker where she won four of them. After the final walkover, she lost a one set exhibition to Kim Clijsters, who is the tournament director.

(2)    Francesca Schiavone – Making the quarterfinals in Antwerp starting off by playing in the qualification draw where she won a total of five matches capped off by losing only two games to Kerber in second round. When she defeated Kerber, it was her first win against a Top 10 player since making the finals at 2011 French Open. Also, since that 2011 French Open, she played two Top 20 players for the first time in the same tournament.