GUANGZHOU: Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko shrugged off her lowly world ranking of 80 to stun defending champion Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Saturday to claim the Guangzhou WTA title.
It was a second career title for the 27-year-old after her maiden trophy in Istanbul last year.
“I think today I played really good tennis, except maybe in the second set when I felt a little bit tired,” said Tsurenko who made the fourth round of the US Open last month for her best performance at the Slams.
“But I said to myself that I have to give it all in the final set, and I was fighting for each point. I had to give 100 percent to win this title.”
Wozniacki to face Osaka
Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki produced a spirited fightback to beat fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the Pan Pacific Open final on Saturday.
Awaiting the Dane in Sunday’s Tokyo final will be Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka, who continued her fairytale run with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Wozniacki, Pan Pacific champion six years ago, starts favorite as she goes in search of a 24th career title.
But she had to claw her way back from 3-1 down in both the second and third sets against Radwanska, finally ending the Pole’s resistance on her fourth match point by forcing her into a loose forehand she dumped tamely into the net.
At times it wasn’t pretty, but Wozniacki’s gritty display will give her confidence a further lift after battling back from a wretched run of injuries this year to reach the US Open semifinals earlier this month.
“It’s good to be back,” she told reporters after almost three hours on court.
“It’s always a grind when you’re injured to come back but you have to go with it. My body feels good and it’s nice the hard work is paying off.”
Wozniacki had seen her world-ranking plunge to 74th after suffering wrist and ankle trouble, her father even telling a Danish tabloid the 26-year-old could walk away from tennis.
Wawrinka, Zverev showdown
US Open champion Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev of Germany cruised into the Saint Petersburg Open final on Saturday beating Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and the Czech Thomas Berdych respectively.
Swiss top seed Wawrinka won his first ever meeting with the fourth seeded Bautista Agut 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 in one hour 50 minutes to set up a clash with the German teenager in the final.
The world No.3 produced a catalogue of 31 unforced errors but nevertheless took the opening set in a tiebreak after one hour 15 minutes on court.
In the second Wawrinka moved up a gear to race through the set into the final, courtesy of service breaks in the first and seventh games.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old fifth seeded Zverev, who is seeking his maiden ATP title here, beat third seed Berdych 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 20 minutes.
Berdych, currently ninth in the race to the London ATP Finals — which features the year’s top eight players — looked slightly rusty from the start and Zverev took the opening set in 35 minutes with a break in the fifth game.
The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first as Zverev broke early again and kept his lead through to close out his first ever win over Berdych in their fifth head-to-head meeting.
Thiem struggles into Metz final
World No.10 Dominic Thiem beat France’s Gilles Simon to reach the ATP Metz final on Saturday after a come-from-behind 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win.
It took the 23-year-old Austrian top seed two hours and 17 minutes to beat fourth seed Simon, and the victory sets up a final Sunday against Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
Pouille, who defeated Rafael Nadal on his way to the US Open quarter-finals last month, surprised Belgian second seed David Goffin 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.
Thiem, who remains on course to reach the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, will be playing in his sixth final of the season on Sunday.
Having already won on the clay of Buenos Aires and Nice, outdoor hard courts of Acapulco and grass of Stuttgart, he is seeking his first title on indoor hard.
Niculescu, Arruabarrena in to clash final
Fifth seed Monica Niculescu of Romania on Saturday sailed through to the Korea Open finals to take on Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena for the crown.
The 28-year-old Niculescu, currently the world No. 55, trounced third seed Shuai Zhang of China 6-0, 6-4 in 74 minutes.
Playing the first event since reaching the third round of the US Open this month, the 55th-ranked Niculescu remained almost perfect throughout the battle, displaying powerful and accurate shots against the 27-year-old Zhang, ranked 40.
The other semifinal saw Arruabarrena, ranked 90th, end the run of Romania’s Patricia Tig, ranked 135th, with a 6-1, 6-2 win.
The 22-year-old Arruabarrena advanced to the semifinals after brushing aside second seed Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-4, 6-0.
It was a second career title for the 27-year-old after her maiden trophy in Istanbul last year.
“I think today I played really good tennis, except maybe in the second set when I felt a little bit tired,” said Tsurenko who made the fourth round of the US Open last month for her best performance at the Slams.
“But I said to myself that I have to give it all in the final set, and I was fighting for each point. I had to give 100 percent to win this title.”
Wozniacki to face Osaka
Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki produced a spirited fightback to beat fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the Pan Pacific Open final on Saturday.
Awaiting the Dane in Sunday’s Tokyo final will be Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka, who continued her fairytale run with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Wozniacki, Pan Pacific champion six years ago, starts favorite as she goes in search of a 24th career title.
But she had to claw her way back from 3-1 down in both the second and third sets against Radwanska, finally ending the Pole’s resistance on her fourth match point by forcing her into a loose forehand she dumped tamely into the net.
At times it wasn’t pretty, but Wozniacki’s gritty display will give her confidence a further lift after battling back from a wretched run of injuries this year to reach the US Open semifinals earlier this month.
“It’s good to be back,” she told reporters after almost three hours on court.
“It’s always a grind when you’re injured to come back but you have to go with it. My body feels good and it’s nice the hard work is paying off.”
Wozniacki had seen her world-ranking plunge to 74th after suffering wrist and ankle trouble, her father even telling a Danish tabloid the 26-year-old could walk away from tennis.
Wawrinka, Zverev showdown
US Open champion Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev of Germany cruised into the Saint Petersburg Open final on Saturday beating Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and the Czech Thomas Berdych respectively.
Swiss top seed Wawrinka won his first ever meeting with the fourth seeded Bautista Agut 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 in one hour 50 minutes to set up a clash with the German teenager in the final.
The world No.3 produced a catalogue of 31 unforced errors but nevertheless took the opening set in a tiebreak after one hour 15 minutes on court.
In the second Wawrinka moved up a gear to race through the set into the final, courtesy of service breaks in the first and seventh games.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old fifth seeded Zverev, who is seeking his maiden ATP title here, beat third seed Berdych 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 20 minutes.
Berdych, currently ninth in the race to the London ATP Finals — which features the year’s top eight players — looked slightly rusty from the start and Zverev took the opening set in 35 minutes with a break in the fifth game.
The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first as Zverev broke early again and kept his lead through to close out his first ever win over Berdych in their fifth head-to-head meeting.
Thiem struggles into Metz final
World No.10 Dominic Thiem beat France’s Gilles Simon to reach the ATP Metz final on Saturday after a come-from-behind 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win.
It took the 23-year-old Austrian top seed two hours and 17 minutes to beat fourth seed Simon, and the victory sets up a final Sunday against Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
Pouille, who defeated Rafael Nadal on his way to the US Open quarter-finals last month, surprised Belgian second seed David Goffin 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.
Thiem, who remains on course to reach the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, will be playing in his sixth final of the season on Sunday.
Having already won on the clay of Buenos Aires and Nice, outdoor hard courts of Acapulco and grass of Stuttgart, he is seeking his first title on indoor hard.
Niculescu, Arruabarrena in to clash final
Fifth seed Monica Niculescu of Romania on Saturday sailed through to the Korea Open finals to take on Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena for the crown.
The 28-year-old Niculescu, currently the world No. 55, trounced third seed Shuai Zhang of China 6-0, 6-4 in 74 minutes.
Playing the first event since reaching the third round of the US Open this month, the 55th-ranked Niculescu remained almost perfect throughout the battle, displaying powerful and accurate shots against the 27-year-old Zhang, ranked 40.
The other semifinal saw Arruabarrena, ranked 90th, end the run of Romania’s Patricia Tig, ranked 135th, with a 6-1, 6-2 win.
The 22-year-old Arruabarrena advanced to the semifinals after brushing aside second seed Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-4, 6-0.
