womens tennis association match nteswtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/matchnotes/2019/1081_4.pdfs.williams)...

WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATIONMATCH NOTES

ZHUHAI, CHINA | OCTOBER 22-27, 2019 | $2,419,844

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HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI - DAY 4

[2] SOFIA KENIN (USA #12) vs. [11] KAROLINA MUCHOVA (CZE #26)First meeting

Kenin has won 38 matches on hard courts in 2019, more than any other player on tour... Muchova is coming off SF run at Moscow... Winner will advance to last four

First meeting Zheng needs to win seven games to advance to the SF... Martic reached here in China, last month at

Zhengzhou... Zheng bidding to become the third Chinese player in tournament’s history to reach the SF

[5] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #15) vs. [12] SAISAI ZHENG (CHN #40)

Mertens leads 2-1 Mertens saved a match point during victory over Sabalenka at 2018 Montreal... Sabalenka owns 30-7

record in tour-level matches in China... Pair will be playing doubles at next week’s WTA Finals in Shenzhen

[4] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #14) vs. [6] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #18)

ZHUHAI - CHINA | Oct 22 - Oct 27, 2019 | $2,419,844 | CH

MATCH NOTES

[2] SOFIA KENIN (USA #12) vs. [11] KAROLINA MUCHOVA (CZE #26)

Head to Head: First meeting

SOFIA KENIN 12 12

14-11-1998 (20) $1,735,217 $2,616,692

3 / 3 2 / 2

49-21 / 69-42 17-11 / 26-18

13-7 / 17-9

KAROLINA MUCHOVA 26 26

21-08-1996 (23) $934,515

$1,194,382

1 / 1 0 / 0

1-0 27-12 / 29-14

8-6 / 9-7 7-3 / 7-3

1-0

17-8 / 19-10 38-14 / 53-28 1-1 / 2-3 1-3 / 1-3

WTA RANKING

PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD

DATE OF BIRTH (AGE)

YTD PRIZE MONEY

CAREER PRIZE MONEY

SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER)

DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER)

ZHUHAI W-L (MD) *

YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) *

YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) *

YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) *

YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) *

YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) *

5-9 / 7-12 1-6 / 1-6 11-11 / 14-20 4-7 / 5-8

YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) *


YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 2-5 / 2-6 1-2 / 1-2

* Including 2019 Zhuhai RR results

[2] SOFIA KENIN (USA #12)

RR: d. [7] ALISON RISKE (USA #19) 6-4,6-4 (1h14)

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

[11] KAROLINA MUCHOVA (CZE #26)

RR: d. [7] ALISON RISKE (USA #19) 2-6,6-2,7-5 (1h58)

ZHUHAI Tournament History "-Q" Qualifying match

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from

VSSOFIA KENIN

KAROLINA MUCHOVA

ZHUHAI ZHUHAI• Making Zhuhai debut• Broke serve twice in tight opening match win over

No.19 Riske - 49th main draw win of the season - only Bertens (53),Barty (52) and Ka.Pliskova (50) have posted more

• Marked third time there has been an all-nation clash at Zhuhai after V.Williams d. Keys in 2015 and Kvito-va d. Strycova in 2016

• Faces Muchova today with the winner reaching SF • Leads the tour for hard court wins in 2019 (38),

ahead of Andreescu (34)• Has been involved in 28 three-set matches in

2019 (17-11 record); tied with Bencic for third most three-set matches played, trailing Bertens (29) and Ka.Pliskova (30)

• In 2019 has won the most tie-breaks on tour with a 13-7 record and at 20 total tie-breaks played, trails Bertens (23) who holds the top spot

• Contesting Zhuhai ranked at a career-high No.12 (first achieved October 21, 2019). This time last year was No.49

• Currently the second-highest ranked American after No.9 S.Williams

• Has reached all three career hard court finals this year, winning Hobart and Guangzhou and finishing R-Up at Acapulco

• Coming off reaching maiden Premier-level SF, at Moscow (l. Pavlyuchenkova)

• Made 1r exit at Beijing (I. Keys)• Claimed maiden WTA title at Seoul (d. Linette in F)• Posted 3r appearance at Flushing Meadows (I. even-

tual R-Up S.Williams)• Made QF showing at the Bronx (I. eventual champi-

on Linette)• Reached career best Grand Slam result with Wimble-

don QF (I. Svitolina). Defeated No.3 Ka.Pliskova in Rl6 for first Top 10 victory of career, recovered from 5-3 down in the final setto win 13-11 in 3hrs 19min

• Opened grass court season with 1r exit at ‘s-Herto-genbosch (I. eventual champion Riske)

• Fell 2r at Roland Garros on main draw debut (d. Kontaveit, I. Begu)

• Finished R-Up in Prague (I. qualifier Tiechmann)• Made 2r at Monterrey (I. Kerber) and came through

qualifying in Miami to reach R16 (d. Hibino, I. Kerber)• Came through qualifying to reach maiden Premier

QF at Doha (I. Svitolina)• Qualified at the Australian Open, falling to Ka.Plisko-

va in 1r• 2019 Australian Open marked her second main draw

appearance at the majors (following 2018 US Open)• Kicked off 2019 season at Brisbane, making qualify-

ing exit (I. Potapova after holding 2MP)

• Reached 3r at Beijing (l. Svitolina)• Made R16 showing at Wuhan (l. Barty)• Began Asian swing with QF showing at Zhengzhou (l.

Ka.Pliskova) before lifting third career title at Guang-zhou (d. Stosur in F); rose to career-high No.17 following Guangzhou (September 23, 2019)

• North American hard court season ended with 3r run at US Open (l. Keys)

• Made back-to-back SF runs at Cincinnati (l. eventual champion Keys) and Toronto (l. eventual champion Andreescu); broke into Top 20 following Cincinnati

• Scored four Top 10 wins across Toronto and Cincin-nati, defeating No.7 Svitolina at both tournaments, as well as No.1 Osaka (Cincinnati via ret. w/left knee injury) and No.1 Barty (Toronto) for her first Top 5 up-sets – youngest American to defeat a reigning No.1 in eight years (McHale d. Wozniacki at Cincinnati)

• Produced 2r showing at Washington, DC (l. Davis)• Highlight of grass court season was lifting second

career title, at Mallorca (d. Bencic in F after saving 3MP; beat No.11 Sevastova and No.20 Mertens en route). Also fell 1r at Eastbourne (l. Stosur) and 2r at Wimbledon (l. Yastremska)

• Reached R16 for first time at a Slam at Roland Gar-ros (d. S.Williams in 3r, l. eventual champion Barty)

• Making debut appearance at Zhuhai - one of seven debutantes in draw

• Recovered from 3-1 down in the third set to upset No.19 Riske in opening round robin match on Thurs-day. Has now won 17 of last 22 matches

• Faces No.12 Kenin in second round robin match. In addition to Riske, three other Top 20 wins in 2019 were over No.17 Kontaveit (Roland Garros), No.20 Kontaveit (Wimbledon) and No.3 Ka.Pliskova (Wim-bledon)

• Only Czech in the draw. A Czech has made the Zhuhai final twice (Ka.Pliskova - R-Up in 2015 and Kvitova - WON in 2016)

• Contesting 2019 Zhuhai on career-high ranking of No.26, which she posted on Monday October 21; by contrast, was No.141 this time last year

SEASON

SEASON

CAREER MILESTONES• Ended 2018 ranked No.145, her first Top 200 season

(up from her previous best of No.208 in 2016)• 2018 season highlight was making Grand Slam main

draw debut at US Open (as qualifier, I. Barty in 3r)

VS

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

SOFIA KENIN

KAROLINA MUCHOVA

SEASON CONT.

PERSONAL

CAREER CONT.

CAREER MILESTONES

• Also contested WTA qualifying in 2018 at Stuttgart, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Luxembourg

• Reached three ITF Circuit finals in 2018, including back-to-back finals at $25k ITF/Altenkirchen-GER (I. Dart) and $60k ITF/Croissy-Beauborg-FRA (I. Blinkova)

• Also reached the final at $80k ITF/Olomouc-CZE (I. Ferro)

• Claimed maiden WTA title at 2019 Seoul (d. Linette in F)

• Made WTA main draw debut at 2017 Seoul (as quali-fier, I. Hon). Also contested qualifying at ‘s-Hertogen-bosch and Tokyo [Japan Open] and finished R-Up at one ITF Circuit event

• Won second career ITF Circuit title in 2016 and post-ed 39-18 win-loss record; at tour-level fell in qualify-ing at US Open

• On ITF Circuit has won two titles in singles and one in doubles

• Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Croatia in 2013

• 2019 US Open marked fifth Grand Slam main draw of her career

• Earned career best result with QF appearance at 2019 Wimbledon defeating No.20 Kontaveit and No.3 Ka.Pliskova en route (I. Svitolina) Reached 3r at 2018 US Open in her main draw debut at the majors (as qualifier, I. Barty in 3r) and 2019 (I. R-Up S.Williams)

• Fell 2r at 2019 Roland Garros and 1rat 2019 Austra-lian Open

• Earned USDS156,000 in prize money during last year’s Flushing Meadows run, more than doubling her career total

• Previously fell in qualifying at US Open in 2016, and Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2018

• Born in city of Olomouc in eastern Czech Republic, but moved to train in Prague this year

• Started playing tennis at aged seven with dad, a former professional footballer in Czech Republic

• Roger Federer was tennis idol growing up• Coached by Emil Miske

• Made 1r exit at Strasbourg (l. Paquet) after R16 showing at Rome (d. No.14 Keys in 2r, l. eventual champion Ka.Pliskova)

• Fell 1r at Madrid (l. Kvitova)• Scored career first Fed Cup win against Bacsinszky

in April at Fed Cup playoff victory over Switzerland• Made 2r at Charleston (l. Puig); win over Lisicki in 1r

was first career tour-level victory on clay• Posted 2r showings at Indian Wells (l. Svitolina) and

Miami (after 1r bye, l. Andreescu)• Finished R-Up at Acapulco (l. Wang in F)• Advanced to R16 at Dubai (l. Kuzmova)• Part of US team that lost to Australia in Fed Cup

World Group first round (l. singles rubber to Barty)• Made 2r at Australian Open (l. Halep after leading

4-2 in final set)• Lifted maiden career title at Hobart (d. Schmiedlova

in F) without dropping a set• Opened 2019 season with 2r exit at Auckland (l. Kuz-

mova); won maiden WTA doubles title w/Bouchard

• Broke into the Top 100 on March 19, 2018, Top 50 on October 8, 2018 and Top 20 on August 19, 2019

• Advanced to first WTA level SF in 2018 at Mallorca as a qualifier, also reaching this stage later in the season at Québec City

• Represented the USA in their 3-0 Fed Cup final de-feat to the Czech Republic in November 2018

• Opened 2018 with first tour-level QF at Auckland• Holds 7-12 career record vs. Top 10 opponents,

having defeated No.6 Garcia (2018 Mallorca), No.10 Goerges (2018 Wuhan), No.10 S.Williams (2019 Roland Garros), No.1 Barty (2019 Toronto), No.7 Svitolina (both at 2019 Toronto and 2019 Cincinnati) and No.1 Osaka (2019 Cincinnati)

• Compiled 47-28 record (all levels) in 2017, finishing at a career-high No.113. Campaign highlighted by 3r run at US Open, 2r at Québec City (l. Safarova) and one ITF Circuit title

• On ITF Circuit owns four singles and two doubles titles

• Played first matches on ITF Circuit in March 2013• Climbed as high as No.2 in the ITF Junior Rankings• Represented the US at the 2014 Youth Olympic

Games and competed at the 2016 ITF Junior Mas-ters, both held in China

VSSOFIA KENIN

KAROLINA MUCHOVA

• Produced best Grand Slam result by reaching R16 at Roland Garros (l. eventual champion Barty); in 3r became first American to defeat S.Williams at the majors since Stephens at 2013 Australian Open QF

• Made Slam main draw debut at 2015 US Open as a wildcard – received for being crowned USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion. Fell 1r to Duque Mariño

• Reached 3r at 2017 US Open as a wildcard (l. Sharapova), in what was only fourth tour-level main draw outing. Repeated feat in 2018 (l. Ka.Pliskova) and again in 2019 (l. Keys)

• Made 2r at Australian Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2018-19

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

PERSONAL• Born in Moscow, moved to New York as a baby

before family settled in Florida. Now resides in Pem-broke Pines, Florida, where she was home-schooled

• Known as ‘Sonya’• Coached by father Alexander Kenin with support

Lorenzo Cava; trains at ProWorld Academy in Delray Beach, Florida

• Best tennis memory is playing idol Maria Sharapova on Arthur Ashe (US Open 2017)

• If not a tennis player would be a fashion designer• Dream doubles partners would be Serena Williams

and Grigor Dimitrov• Good friends with CiCi Bellis and Katie Swan• Likes rap music, especially Drake• Treat food is Froyo - cookies and cream with Her-

shey’s on top


MATCH NOTES

[5] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #15) vs. [12] SAISAI ZHENG (CHN #40)

Head to Head: First meeting

PETRA MARTIC 15 15

19-01-1991 (28) $1,773,381 $4,707,886

1 / 1 0 / 0

34-17 / 124-121 16-3 / 54-32 4-6 / 29-28

SAISAI ZHENG 40 40

05-02-1994 (25) $1,016,939 $3,379,787

1 / 1 1 / 4

1-2 21-22 / 70-104

8-5 / 24-29 11-3 / 21-11

0-1

18-15 / 61-76 13-12 / 64-74 2-1 / 8-9 0-1 / 5-5

WTA RANKING


DATE OF BIRTH (AGE)

YTD PRIZE MONEY

CAREER PRIZE MONEY



ZHUHAI W-L (MD) *






1-8 / 4-28 1-4 / 5-10 4-11 / 15-45 3-9 / 9-22





[5] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #15)

RR: L - [3] MADISON KEYS (USA #13) 6-3,6-4 (1h10)

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

[12] SAISAI ZHENG (CHN #40)

RR: d. [3] MADISON KEYS (USA #13) 6-4,6-2 (1h31)

"-Q" Qualifying match


from

VSPETRA MARTIC

ZHENGSAISAI

ZHUHAI ZHUHAI

SEASON

SEASON

• Making debut appearance at WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai

• Fell to Keys during first round robin match, however, is still in contention to advance to SF

• Must win today’s match against wildcard Zheng while conceding just six games or fewer to book SF spot

• Is first Croatian player to contest singles at WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai

• Has won 16 three-set matches in 2019 - only four players on tour have won more (Bencic – 19, Ka.Plis-kova – 18, Barty – 17 and Kenin - 17)

• Playing Zhuhai at a career-high ranking of No.15

• Lost to Mertens in 1r at Beijing • Reached QF at Wuhan (l. Barty)• Finished R-Up at Zhengzhou (d. No.13 Sabalenka

in QF, l. Ka.Pliskova); record in WTA singles finals is now 1-3

• Reached R16 for the first time at US Open (l. S.Wil-liams)

• Suffered 1r exits at Toronto (l. Di Lorenzo) and Cin-cinnati (l. Sabalenka)

• Enjoyed a successful grass-court campaign, reach-ing SF at Birmingham (l. Goerges) and advancing to R16 at Wimbledon (l. Svitolina). Went 6-2 on the surface, improving from last year’s 1-3 record

• Rose to then-career-high No.20 in the rankings fol-lowing Wimbledon showing (week of July 15, 2019)

• Reached first Slam QF of career at Roland Garros (l. Vondrousova); upset No.2 seed and No.2-ranked Ka.Pliskova in 3r to register fourth Top 10 win of career (and best by ranking)

• Ended clay court season with 15-3 record – joint-best on tour with Vondrousova

• Withdrew from Strasbourg w/back injury• Advanced to QF at Madrid, defeating Muguruza and

Kerber en route (l. Stephens)• Lifted maiden career WTA title at Istanbul (d. Von-

drousova in F)• In April, reached first Premier-level SF of career at

Charleston (l. Wozniacki)• During Sunshine Double made 1r exit at Indian Wells

(l. Linette) and reached 2r at Miami (d. S.Zhang, l. eventual R-Up Ka.Pliskova)

• Made 1r exit at Dubai (l. Siniakova)• Advanced to 3r at Australian Open (l. Stephens)• Fell 1r in season opener at Auckland (l. Kenin)

• Making second appearance at WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, as wildcard

• Fell in the round robin stage in her only other appear-ance here in 2015

• Defeated No.13 Keys in opening round robin match to claim third Top 20 win of the season, also defeat-ing No.12 Stephens (Beijing) and No.10 Sabalenka (San Jose)

• Faces No.15 Martic for the first time today; must win seven games to advance to maiden Zhuhai SF

• Enters tournament ranked No.40 (three spots off career-high ranking, achieved on August 19, 2019)

• During last year’s Asian swing, fell 2r at Hiroshima, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and Hong Kong, before lifting ITF Circuit title at $100K Suzhou-CHN

• Owns a fine record on home soil, in addition to three WTA 125K Series titles, she reached her maiden WTA final at 2018 Nanchang and has advanced to three further SFs

• Coming off 2r exit at Tianjin (l. Kudermetova)• Posted R16 run at China Open (l. Barty)• Opened Asian swing with QF run at Zhengzhou (l.

Tomljanovic) before 2r exit at Guangzhou (l. Paolini)• Suffered 1r exit at US Open (l. V.Williams)• Made 2r at Cincinnati (l. Sabalenka) and fell 1r at To-

ronto (l. Maria); rose to career-high ranking of No.37 after Cincinnati (August 19, 2019)

• Lifted maiden WTA singles title at San Jose; upset No.23 Anisimova, No.30 Sakkari and No.10 Sabalen-ka in the final to register her first Top 30 wins since May 2017 (No.10 Svitolina)

• Now owns five career Top 10 wins, having previously beaten No.6 Kvitova (via. ret at 2016 Shenzhen), No.2 Kerber (2016 Doha), No.5 A.Radwanska (2016 Olympics) and No.10 Svitolina (2017 Madrid)

• On grass, made 1r exits at Mallorca (l. Stosur), East-bourne (l. Vondrousova) and Wimbledon (l. Barty)

• Fell 1r at Roland Garros (l. Q.Wang); bounced back to reach doubles final (w/Duan, l. Babos/Mladenovic)

• Leading into Paris, suffered 1r exit at Rome (l.Mugu-ruza) and made 2r at Strasbourg (l. Kostyuk)

• Recorded best result at a Premier Mandatory event with R16 run at Madrid (l. Stephens)

• Won the new WTA 125K Series clay court event in Anning, China (d. Zhang in F)

• During the Sunshine Double, made 1r exits at Indian Wells (l. Mladenovic) and Miami (l. Siniakova)

• Advanced to QF at Acapulco (l. Andreescu)• Won doubles title at Acapulco w/Azarenka (d. Kraw-

czyk/Olmos in F); fourth career WTA doubles title• Made 2r exit at Dubai (l. Muguruza)

VS

CAREER MILESTONES

CAREER MILESTONES

PETRA MARTIC

ZHENGSAISAI

• Posted best season finish of career in 2018, at No.32, with a career-best 26-17 win-loss record

• Highlights of 2018 season included reaching second WTA singles final of career at Bucharest (l. Sevasto-va), QF at Indian Wells (d. No.6 Ostapenko, l. Halep) and R16 at Australian Open (l. Mertens)

• Also in 2018 won WTA 125K Series title at Chicago (d. Barthel in F)

• In 2017, notched first Top 20 win in nearly five years over No.13 Keys at Roland Garros – marked first match against a Top 20 player since 2015 Guang-zhou (l. No.2 Halep). Followed this by upsetting No.19 Sevastova in 3r

• In April 2017 played her first event after 10 months out with a back injury, coming through qualifying to win $25k ITF/Santa Margherita Di Pula-ITA (previous tournament was a loss to U.Radwanska in qualifying for 2016 Wimbledon)

• In addition to title at 2019 Istanbul is a three-time singles R-Up, at 2012 Kuala Lumpur (ret. vs. Hsieh w/heat illness), 2018 Bucharest (l. Sevastova) and 2019 Zhengzhou (l. Ka.Pliskova)

• A four-time doubles runner-up, at 2012 Paris [In-doors], 2012 Bad Gastein, 2013 Marrakech (w/Mlad-enovic) and 2016 Monterrey (w/M.Sanchez)

• Won WTA 125K Series doubles title at Bol, Croatia in 2016 (w/Knoll)

• Made Top 100 debut on September 14, 2009 (after US Open; rose from No.137 to No.89) and enjoyed a Top 50 season in 2011, finishing at No.49

• Owns four career wins over Top 10 opponents, defeating No.8 Bartoli at 2012 Roland Garros, No.5 Kvitova at 2012 Tokyo [PPO], No.6 Ostapenko at 2018 Indian Wells and No.2 Ka.Pliskova at 2019 Roland Garros

• Member of Croatian Fed Cup Team 2008-2010, 2012, 2014

• Fell 1r on WTA main draw debut as a WC at 2007 Miami

• Made professional debut on ITF Circuit in Croatia in 2005

• Lifted maiden career title at 2019 San Jose; upset of Anisimova in SF was her 300th career win (all levels)

• Posted best year-end finish at No.46 in 2018 – first Top 50 finish of career, up from No.94 in 2017

• 2018 season highlights included maiden WTA singles final at Nanchang (ret. vs. Q.Wang w/abdominal pain) followed by SF run at Washington DC (l. Vekic)

• Has won three titles on the WTA 125K Series – 2015 Dalian, 2018 Zhengzhou and 2019 Anning – with each of those events being staged in China. Since the tournament level was introduced in 2012, Zheng has won more matches at WTA 125K Series events than any other WTA Player. She owns a 43-15 record at WTA 125K Series events; the next most wins belong to Luksika Kumkhum (31-16)

• Also won 11th ITF title in 2018 at $100k ITF/Su-zhou-CHN

• Registered five tour-level wins in 2017, as injury end-ed her season prematurely; right knee injury forced her to miss all tournaments after 2017 US Open

• Highlights of 2016 season included SF run at Not-tingham (d. Konta in 2r, l. Riske) and first Premier QF at Stanford (l. eventual champion Konta in 3s) and Doha, defeating No.2 Kerber in 2r; l. eventual runner-up Ostapenko

• In beating Kerber, became fourth Chinese woman to defeat a Top 2-ranked player, after Li Na (six wins), Zheng Jie (three wins) and Zhang Shuai (two wins)

• At Rio Olympics, reached 2r in singles (l. Kasatkina) and 2r in doubles (w/Xu, l. Errani/Vinci)

• In doubles, reached final at 2016 Shenzhen (w/Xu) and SF at 2016 Australian Open (w/Xu; l. Hlavacko-va/Hradecka). Was second SF at Australian Open – also 2013 (w/Lepchenko)

• Won first WTA Premier doubles title at 2015 Stan-ford (w/Xu); now owns four tour-level doubles titles, having also won at 2011 Guangzhou (w/Hsieh), 2015 Tianjin (w/Xu) and 2019 Acapulco (w/Azarenka)

• Owns five Top 10 wins, over No.6 Kvitova (via. ret at 2016 Shenzhen), No.2 Kerber (2016 Doha), No.5 A.Radwanska (2016 Olympics), No.10 Svitolina (2017 Madrid) and No.10 Sabalenka (2019 San Jose)

• Reached first WTA singles QF at Hong Kong in Sep-tember 2014, and first WTA SF at Tianjin in October 2014

SEASON CONT. • Represented China in Asia/Oceania Group I of the

Fed Cup in February, losing singles rubber to Diyas of Kazahkstan in 2-1 the promotional play-off

• Reached QF at Hua Hin (l. Tomljanovic) • Opened 2019 with 1r losses at Shenzhen (l. Parmen-

tier) and Australian Open (l. Muguruza)

GRAND SLAM HISTORY• Contested 31st Grand Slam main draw at 2019 US

Open, reaching R16 (l. S.Williams)• Advanced to first Grand Slam QF of career at 2019

Roland Garros (l. eventual runner-up Vondrousova)• Reached R16 on five previous occasions across the

Slams, at Wimbledon in 2017 (l. Rybarikova) and 2019 (l. Svitolina), Australian Open in 2018 (l. Mer-tens), Roland Garros in 2012 (l. Kerber) and 2017 (as qualifier, l. Svitolina after leading 5-2 in final set)

VSPETRA MARTIC

ZHENGSAISAI

GRAND SLAM CONT.

PERSONAL

PERSONAL• Recently announced split from coach Sandra Za-

niewska• Mother’s name is Sandra Martic; she was a handball

player• Favorite city is Paris and favorite food is pancakes• Speaks Croatian and English

• Started playing tennis at age 8 at tennis academy where mother worked

• Coached by Goran Tosic• Proud mother of her puppy, Yuan Bao

• Owns main draw wins at three of the four majors, with Roland Garros the only Slam where she has yet to secure a main draw victory

• Reached 2r at Wimbledon for the first time in 2018 • Also advanced to 2r at US Open in 2014, 2016 and

2017, and Australian Open in 2016• In doubles, was R-Up at 2019 Roland Garros (w/

Duan, l. Babos/Mladenovic). Also reached SF at Australian Open in 2013 (w/Lepchenko l. Barty/Del-lacqua) and 2016 (w/Xu, l. Hlavackova/Hradecka)

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

CAREER CONT.• Selected by fans to participate in the 2014 WTA Ris-

ing Stars Invitational as part of the WTA Finals• Has enjoyed success on WTA 125K Series, high-

lighted by wins at 2015 Dalian, 2018 Zhengzhou and 2019 Anning; R-Up at 2013 Suzhou and 2018 Anning

• Made professional debut on ITF Circuit in 2008

• Was ranked No.290 during 2017 Roland Garros run – the lowest-ranked player to reach R16 at a Grand Slam since the unranked Henin finished R-Up at 2010 Australian Open (l. S.Williams). Since 1983, the only other player outside the Top 200 to reach R16 in Paris was No.279 Martínez in 1988

• Roland Garros exploits in 2017 ended run of seven 1r losses at the majors (did not contest main draw at any of the Slams in 2016)

• Made 2r on Grand Slam debut at 2009 Roland Gar-ros (as qualifier, l. Wozniak)


MATCH NOTES

[4] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #14) vs. [6] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #18)

Head to Head: ELISE MERTENS leads 2-1

2018 HARD O R16 ELISE MERTENS 133 mins2-6 7-6(1) 6-0 MONTREAL 2018 GRASS O R16 ARYNA SABALENKA 161 mins7-5 2-6 7-6(4) EASTBOURNE 2018 CLAY O F ELISE MERTENS 85 mins7-5 6-2 LUGANO

ARYNA SABALENKA 14 14

05-05-1998 (21) $2,594,687 $4,743,626

2 / 4 3 / 3

36-22 / 94-52 11-8 / 35-20 4-7 / 19-18

ELISE MERTENS 18 18

17-11-1995 (23) $2,567,900 $5,728,146

1 / 5 3 / 9 2-1

35-26 / 116-71 9-11 / 35-25 6-10 / 23-28

2-1

24-16 / 68-43 29-13 / 75-33 0-2 / 6-7 5-1 / 12-3

WTA RANKING


DATE OF BIRTH (AGE)

YTD PRIZE MONEY

CAREER PRIZE MONEY



ZHUHAI W-L (MD) *






2-5 / 10-10 3-6 / 6-15 3-5 / 19-15 7-13 / 13-33





[4] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #14)

RR: d. [9] MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #29) 6-3,6-4 (1h19)

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

[6] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #18)

RR: d. [9] MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #22) 6-2,3-6,6-1 (1h44)

2018


from

VSARYNASABALENKA

ELISE MERTENS

ZHUHAI ZHUHAI• Making second appearance at Zhuhai; defeated

eventual champion Barty but lost to Garcia during round-robin exit in 2018

• Won all 10 service games during opening match win over Sakkari in round robin stage on Tuesday

• Faces doubles partner and No.18 Mertens in second round robin match today. Winner will advance to SF

• Owns three Top 20 wins in 2019, over No.14 Wozni-acki (Eastbourne), No.8 Bertens and No.1 Barty (both at Wuhan)

• Has made QF or better in eight of her 10 tour-level appearances on Chinese soil; 2017 Tianjin (R-Up), 2018 Shenzhen (QF), 2018 Wuhan (WON), 2018 Beijing (QF), 2018 Tianjin (QF), 2018 Zhuhai (RR), 2019 Shenzhen (WON), 2019 Zhengzhou (QF), 2019 Wuhan (WON) and 2019 Beijing (2r)

• Has a 30-7 career record in tour-level matches in China. Defended Wuhan title, reached QF at Zheng-zhou and lost opening round match at Beijing during this year’s Asian swing

SEASON• Fell 2r at Beijing (after 1r bye, l. Kasatkina)• Became first player to successfully defended title

at Wuhan, defeating Riske in final. Also finished runner-up in doubles with Mertens (l. Duan/Kuder-metova in F)

• Made QF exit at Zhengzhou (l. eventual R-Up Martic)• Reached 2r at US Open (l. Putintseva); also won US

Open doubles title (w/Mertens)• Opened summer hard court season with R-Up finish

at San Jose (l. S.Zheng), 1r exit at Toronto (l. Pavly-uchenkova) and R16 loss at Cincinnati (l. Sakkari)

• Posted QF showing at Eastbourne (l. Bertens) before falling 1r at Wimbledon (l. Rybarikova)

• Suffered back-to-back 1r exits at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. Aiava) and Birmingham (l. Hsieh)

• Fell 2r at Roland Garros (l. Anisimova)• Reached SF at Strasbourg (l. eventual champion

Yastremska)• Suffered back-to-back 1r exits at Madrid (l .Kuznetso-

va) and Rome (l. Cornet)• Was part of Belarus Fed Cup team that fell 3-2 to

Australia in World Group semifinal, in Brisbane. Went 1-1 in her singles rubbers (d. Stosur, l. Barty) and also lost the decisive doubles with Azarenka

• Made R16 in first clay court event of the season at Charleston (l. Puig)

• Suffered 2r exit at Miami (after 1r bye, l. Tomljanovic) after R16 run at Indian Wells (l. Kerber)

• Completed the ‘Sunshine Double’ by sweeping back-to-back doubles titles at Indian Wells and Miami and US Open (all w/Mertens)

• Making second appearance at Zhuhai, having fallen in round robin stage in 2018 (d. Kontaveit, l. Goerg-es)

• Broke serve seven times to defeat No.22 Sakkari in first Rose Group match on Wednesday

• Faces No.14 Sabalenka today; won pair’s most recent meeting, at 2018 Montreal, after saving 1mp in second set

• Has won three doubles titles w/Sabalenka in 2019 (Indian Wells, Miami and US Open)

• Next week, will contest the doubles competition w/Sabalenka at Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen

• Career highlights on hard courts include titles at Hobart in 2017 and 2018, and Doha in 2019, and SF at 2018 Australian Open

SEASON• Coming off 2r exit at Luxembourg (l. eventual cham-

pion Ostapenko)• Fell 2r at Wuhan (l. Kenin) and Beijing (l. Andreescu);

was also R-Up in doubles at Wuhan w/Sabalenka (l. Duan/Kudermetova)

• Lost to eventual champion Osaka in SF at Osaka• Advanced to QF at US Open for the first time (l.

eventual champion Andreescu in 3s); also won maiden major doubles title at Flushing Meadows w/Sabalenka (d. Azarenka/Barty in F)

• Fell 2r at San Jose (after 1r bye, l. No.178 Ahn - in terms of ranking, her worst loss in over two years), Toronto (l. S.Williams) and Cincinnati (l. Svitolina)

• Advanced to R16 at Wimbledon for the first time (l. Strycova, having led 6-4 5-2)

• Also posted R16 showing at Eastbourne (l. eventual champion Ka.Pliskova); win over Vondrousova in 2r was 100th at main draw level

• Made QF at Mallorca (l. eventual champion Kenin) and fell 1r at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. Alexandrova)

• Reached 3r at Roland Garros (l. No.12 Sevastova)• Exited 1r at both Madrid (l. Schmiedlova) and Rome

(l. V.Williams 7-6 in third set)• Reached QF during defense of Rabat title (l. eventu-

al champion Sakkari)• Fell 2r in first clay court event of 2019 at Charleston,

(after 1r bye, l. Kanepi in a topsy-turvy battle having bageled each other in the first two sets)

• Made 1r exit at Dubai (l. Zhu) followed by 3r runs at Indian Wells (l. Q.Wang) and Miami (l. Vondrousova)

• Completed ‘Sunshine Double’ in doubles (w/Sabalen-ka), lifting the back-to-back titles at Indian Wells (d. Krejcikova/Siniakova) and Miami (d. Stosur/Zhang)

• Won biggest title of career at Doha (d. No.3 Halep in final). Now owns 5-1 record in finals

• Also beat No.8 Bertens and No.6 Kerber in Doha, doubling career total Top 10 wins to six

VS

SEASON CONT. SEASON CONT.

ARYNASABALENKA

ELISE MERTENS

• Fell in R16 at Dubai (l. eventual champion Bencic)• Won both singles rubbers (d. Petkovic and Siege-

mund) during Belarus’ Fed Cup win over Germany• Made SF at St. Petersburg (l. eventual champion

Bertens); rose to career-high No.9 in the rankings following run in Russia (February 4, 2019)

• Reached 3r at Australian Open (l. Anisimova); made Top 10 debut after tournament (January 28)

• Opened 2019 season by lifting third title of career at Shenzhen (d. Riske in F) followed with 1r exit at Sydney (l. Kvitova)

CAREER MILESTONES• Won three titles in 2018 (Hobart, Rabat and Lugano),

one of six players on tour with three or more titles to their name last year - also Kvitova (5), Svitolina (4), Bertens (3), Halep (3) and Wozniacki (3)

• Posted 46 main draw match wins in 2018 – only Ka.Pliskova (49) and Kvitova (47) registered more. By contrast, prior to last season owned only 36 wins at this level across entire career

• In doubles in 2018, won four titles and reached QF at WTA Finals (w/Schuurs)

• Finished 2017 season at No.35, up from No.120 in 2016 – first Top 50 and Top 100 year-end finish

• 2017 season highlighted by first career singles title at Hobart (as a qualifier, d. Niculescu in F)

• Also in 2017, advanced to final at Istanbul (l. Svitoli-na) and made SF runs at Bastad (l. Wozniacki), New Haven (l. Cibulkova) and Luxembourg (l. Puig)

• Registered first Top 10 win of career over No.10 • Cibulkova in 1r at 2017 Beijing• Made WTA singles main draw debut at 2016 ‘s-Her-

togenbosch – made QF (as qualifier, l. Mladenovic)• Won first WTA title of any kind in doubles at 2016

Auckland (w/Mestach). Now has nine doubles titles – also 2017 Guangzhou (w/Schuurs), 2018 Hobart (w/Schuurs), 2018 Lugano (w/Flipkens), 2018 ‘s-Her-togenbosch (w/Schuurs), 2018 Wuhan (w/Schuurs), 2019 Indian Wells-Miami double (w/Sabalenka) and 2019 US Open (w/Sabalenka)

• Played first tour-level event of career at 2015 Ant-werp (fell in qualifying)

• Has 11 singles and 14 doubles titles on ITF Circuit • Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Belgium

in 2010

• Lost both singles rubbers during Belgium’s 3-1 home defeat to France in Liege (l. Cornet and Garcia)

• Made 3r at Australian Open (l. Keys)• Began season by falling 1r at Brisbane (l. Bertens)

and reaching QF at Sydney (l. Barty)• Tianjin, fell 1r at Wuhan and Beijing, and in RR at

Zhuhai• Career highlights on hard courts include titles at

Hobart in 2017 and 2018, and Doha in 2019, and SF at 2018 Australian Open

CAREER MILESTONES

• Enjoyed breakthrough season in 2018, lifting two titles, at New Haven (d. Suárez Navarro in F) and Wuhan (d. Kontaveit in F), winning 46 matches and finishing at No.11 in the rankings

• Also in 2018, was R-Up at Lugano (l. Mertens) and Eastbourne (l. Wozniacki), made SF at Cincinnati, reached five QFs and produced a career-best Grand Slam run to R16 at US Open

• Posted first Top 100 season finish in 2017, ending year at No.78. Season highlight was reaching first tour-level final at Tianjin (l. Sharapova) and making SF run at Tashkent (l. Babos)

• Made Grand Slam main draw debut 2017 Wim-bledon, falling in 2r (as qualifier, l. Witthoeft), and WTA main draw debut at 2017 Dubai (as qualifier, l. Ka.Bondarenko)

• Member of Belarus Fed Cup Team that advanced to competition final in 2017 – went 1-1 in singles and 0-1 in doubles as side lost to USA

• Scored first Top 20 win of career with defeat of No.13 Stephens during 2017 Fed Cup final in Minsk

• Rounded out season by lifting WTA 125k Series title at Mumbai (d. Jakupovic)

• Owns three WTA doubles titles – all coming along-side Mertens during 2019 season (Indian Wells, Miami and US Open)

• In 2016 rose nearly 400 places in the rankings, end-ing year at No.155

• WTA qualifying debut came at 2016 Rabat• Made debut on ITF Circuit in Minsk in 2012

VS

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

PERSONAL • Working with former coach Robbe Ceyssens having parted ways with David Taylor in March

• Earlier coaching history includes Belgian federation until early teens, as well as a year at the Mourato-glou Academy

• Is an animal lover, and has four dogs and a variety of birds as pets (pheasants, peacocks)

ARYNASABALENKA

ELISE MERTENS

GRAND SLAM HISTORY• Advanced to first Grand Slam SF of career at 2018

Australian Open (l. eventual champion Wozniacki)• Became first Belgian to reach a Slam SF since

Flipkens at 2013 Wimbledon; also the first to do so at Australian Open since 2012 (Kim Clijsters, SF)

• In 2018, also achieved best result at Roland Garros, with run to R16 (l eventual champion Halep)

• Deepest run at Wimbledon was to R16 in 2019 (l. Strycova despite leading 6-4 5-2), while at US Open made QF in 2019 (l. Andreescu)

• Won doubles title at 2019 US Open (w/Sabalenka, d. Azarenka/Barty in F). Also made SF at Roland Garros and QF at Wimbledon in 2019 (both w/Sa-balenka)

PERSONAL

• Contested ninth career Grand Slam main draw at 2019 US Open

• Advanced to R16 for first time at 2018 US Open (l. eventual champion Osaka in 3s)

• Best singles showing at Australian Open was 3r run in 2019 (l. Anisimova)

• First Grand Slam win came during 2r showing on Grand Slam debut at 2017 Wimbledon (as qualifier, d. Khromacheva, l.Witthoeft)

• Made 1r exit on next three major appearances, at 2018 Australian Open (l. Barty), 2018 Roland Garros (l. Bertens) and 2018 Wimbledon (l. Buzarnescu)

• Also fell in qualifying at 2016 and 2017 US Opens, 2017 Australian Open and 2017 Roland Garros

• Won career first Grand Slam title of any kind, in dou-bles at 2019 US Open (w/Mertens) – pair defeated Azarenka/Barty in final

• Coached by former ATP player Dmitry Tursunov since last summer

• Started playing aged six as an accident when father drove by local tennis courts

• Voted 2018 WTA Newcomer of the Year by interna-tional media

• Her favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo

womens tennis association match nteswtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/matchnotes/2019/1081_4.pdfs.williams)...

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