Petra Kvitova Leads Tennis Winners and Losers at Important Asian Swing
The WTA Tour featured several superstars and an epic duel between world No. 1 Angelique Kerber and two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.
It was the kind of match that could change the landscape of the WTA in the year ahead. Find out how Kvitova powered her way to the premier title at Wuhan, China.
Although the ATP played second fiddle, Tomas Berdych was a bright spot in his comeback for a title, and he has heated up race for the World Tour Finals. Who does he need to pass to get in for the seventh straight year?
There was another first-time title winner on the ATP tour, but there were also many flops.
Find out more in our weekly “Winners and Losers” column where we examine the latest trends and the biggest stars.
Winner: Dominika Cibulkova
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Slovakian star Dominika Cibulkova doesn’t need to hang her head after getting handed a pair of breadsticks (losing 6-1, 6-1) by streaking Petra Kvitova at the Wuhan final—the pint-sized star is poised to capitalize on her new career-high No. 8 ranking.
Cibulkova has been more consistent in 2016, even if she has been under the radar compared to the splash she made in getting to the 2014 Australian Open final. She was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon and finalist at Eastbourne, Madrid, Katowice and Acapulco.
Now the 27-year-old could get to Singapore for the first time in her career after moving into the No. 7 slot with razor-thin margins over Madison Keys and Carla Suarez Navarro. She’s even ahead of Venus Williams and Kvitova who are on the outside looking in.
So don’t count out Cibulkova—one of the most exciting players on tour—who scampers with excellent footwork and puts every ounce of her body into aggressive baseline strokes.
Could she upgrade into another Simona Halep? With Angelique Kerber peaking in her late 20s, maybe Cibulkova can become a top-five player.
Loser: Gabine Muguruza
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Nothing has worked lately for Garbine Muguruza, who lost her first match as the No. 2 seed at Wuhan to veteran Jelena Jankovic.
Although Muguruza is the French Open champion and set for Singapore as the No. 4 player in the world, it’s fair to measure her last four months as a big disappointment.
Maybe that’s why she’s suddenly wearing a bizarre, unsightly combination of an aqua-blue top and a sea-green flowing skirt. Anything to change the luck, but it’s a desperate measure or blind sense for fashion.
If she does go on to win Beijing this week, the downside is that we might be introduced to plenty of other mismatched color schemes.
Winner: Petra Kvitova
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Just when we lauded Angelique Kerber’s remarkable run to the No. 1 ranking, we wondered if Petra Kvitova was one of those who could be the next version of the German; a talented veteran who finally puts it all together.
As if fate had ordained such a possibility, Kvitova clashed with Kerber in Wuhan’s round of 16. The Czech not only won what could be an inspiring moment for her career, but it was the way she won, enduring over three hours against the world’s best defensive grinder.
Kvitova, so often prone to self-destructing errors, played like the world No. 1 and might have learned more about herself in how to patiently employ her powerful offensive gifts.
Kvitova then blasted Johanna Konta, Simona Halep and Dominika Cibulkova to seize the Wuhan trophy.
It’s not too late for Kvitova to break into the top eight for Singapore’s year-end finale. More importantly, she might build on the form that drove her to Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014. At age 26, she could be entering her own glorious peak in the year ahead.
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Loser: Karolina Pliskova
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It’s never easy for a young star to follow up a career-best run with consistent progress. After winning Cincinnati’s Western & Southern Open, and defeating Serena Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals and nearly winning the final, Karolina Pliskova’s powerful serve and groundstrokes were a strong statement for becoming a perennial contender for major titles.
At age 24, Pliskova could well be a major winner in the near future, but like anyone with potential, the competitive bumps and bruising losses are a sobering reminder of how much mental desire it takes to be a big winner. High achievements are often followed by deflating periods of upset losses.
Maybe that explains why Pliskova has lost both her matches since New York, one to a player outside the top 100 and last week to clay-courter Lucie Safarova, who matches up with her again at Beijing.
She also blew an easy path to the Wuhan final where the bottom of the bracket was lighter and had already shown the door to Garbine Muguruza.
Will Pliskova hang on to her ticket to Singapore? The answer will be clearer next week.
Winner: Tomas Berdych
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While Dominic Thiem continues to lose in the opening stages of tournaments, Tomas Berdych has recovered from the appendicitis that kept him from competing in the U.S. Open. He won the Shenzhen title with a hard-fought victory over Richard Gasquet, and he inched closer to the No. 8 slot to qualify for the World Tour Finals in London.
"Five weeks ago I was in hospital, now I'm sitting here with the trophy," Berdych said, per the ATP World Tour. "Things are changing very quickly. Luckily for me, everything is going well, I'm feeling good, sitting here as a winner. I'm just taking all this as a bonus, that I can play and win some matches.
Berdych must finish ahead of one of the three players above him in the rankings. Gael Monfils has been playing well and is 485 points ahead of the Czech. The slumping Thiem is only 335 points ahead of Berdych, while Rafael Nadal is 330 points ahead.
Nadal will be the No. 2 seed at the China Open, and Thiem took a wild card where he will get the challenge to defeat young Alexander Zverev, who claimed his first ATP title one week ago.
Meanwhile, Berdych will be the No. 3 seed in Tokyo where he could possibly meet Monfils in the semifinals.
Loser: Dominic Thiem
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If the ATP year is a marathon and London’s World Tour Finals is the ultimate finish line, Dominic Thiem is limping along somewhere at the 25-mile mark long after hitting a summer wall.
Does he have enough strength to eke out one of the eight slots to the WTF, with Tomas Berdych charging back with the Shenzhen title?
Thiem has played in a whopping 27 tournaments in 2016, and he would have played more matches had injuries and fatigue not fried him in July. Since Wimbledon, he’s been 9-7 with respectable runs at the U.S. Open and Metz, but a lot of early losses everywhere else.
He split two matches at Chengdu despite being the No. 1 seed. This is not good enough for a top-10 player with designs to one day win major titles.
Up first is a blockbuster match against Alexander Zverev, a young rival who he defeated three times on clay last spring. He might not be favored this time, but he needs to win a few matches at Beijing to hold back Berdych and Rafael Nadal.
Winner: Karen Khachanov
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Who is Karen Khachanov? The 20-year-old Russian navigated the upset-laden bracket at Chengdu and won an ATP title a week after teenager Alexander Zverev won St. Petersburg.
Like his German tennis peer, Khachanov stands at 6’6” and is part of a promising group of prospects who are looking to make noise in a landscape dominated by the Big Four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
“I can't believe I won my first title," Khachanov said, per the ATP World Tour. "I am very happy. I have been working hard and I am happy to achieve my first goal.”
The Russian youngster grew up idolizing Marat Safin and somewhat resembles the two-time major winner, at least with a powerful serve and and groundstrokes. But only time will tell if he can hit with a backhand as powerful and precise as the mercurial Safin, a talented player who could have perhaps nabbed many more Grand Slam titles before Roger Federer came of age.
Like the other young prospects, Khachanov plays with little fear and is willing to attack and overpower his opponents rather than play with the philosophical defensive mindedness of the Big Four.
His first title is a nice hint at the future, and he moves close to the top 50 in the rankings, but he’s going to have to fight his way through a lot of mid-major draws before he can get the kind of seeding to compete well at big tournaments.
Losers: Disappointing ATP Seeds
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We close our column with our weekly report of high seeds who never took root:
- Dominic Thiem, Chengdu No. 1, ousted in his second match to Albert Ramos-Vinolas. We discussed his burned-out form in a previous slide.
- Nick Kyrgios, Chengdu No. 2, now on the tails side to his coin-flip randomness of highs and lows. He had match points in the second set of a tough opening match against veteran Kevin Anderson (who made his brief appearance in the top 10 nearly one year ago), but he collapsed 6-2 in the final set.
- Grigor Dimitrov, Chengdu No. 3, beat little Diego Schwartzman in his second match. The Bulgarian had a strong August but is fading down the stretch.
- David Goffin, Shenzhen No. 2, lost a three-setter in his opening match to veteran Malek Jaziri. This is a match that the Belgian would have won in his sleep last spring while rolling to the semifinals at Indian Wells and Miami.
- Bernard Tomic, Chengdu No. 4, out in his second match against Thomaz Bellucci. Losing matches is nothing new for the Australian, so it’s more surprising that he’s been ranked around the boundaries of the top 20.
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