Prague: Petra Kvitova regards this weekend's Fed Cup final as her last chance to salvage a year which has been a big comedown after her stellar 2011. Kvitova led the Czech Republic last year to its first Fed Cup title in 23 years, and this weekend she will help defend that crown at home against Serbia.
Despite withdrawing midway through last week's elite WTA Championships with bronchitis, she said on Wednesday she hoped "to be 100 percent fit on Saturday" for the opening singles. "We expect her to play," Czech captain Petr Pala said.
She and the doubles team are the keys to the Czech's chances, but Kvitova will start with question marks over her fitness and form. In a season plagued by injuries and illnesses, she has dropped from being ranked No. 2 to No. 8. She failed to successfully retain any of the six titles she won in 2011, including Wimbledon and the WTA Championships, but won two tour events and reached the semifinals at the Australian and French Opens.
"Of course, I didn't win any Grand Slam," she said. "But I'm so happy that I'm here and I was able to be in the top eight in Istanbul. So, I think it's a good season and we try, all of us, to play our best and to win this trophy again." Kvitova has been struggling in the last two months, in particular, with just one win in her last three WTA events....
12:03 AM, Nov 01, 2012
Istanbul: Her year filled with titles and trophies over, Serena Williams can at last admit it: This was a title she had her eye on. Not that any more evidence of her all-consuming, powerful game was needed, but Williams gave it anyway. She dismissed Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 Sunday to win the WTA Championships for the third time and finish the year with another title, but not the top ranking....
11:15 PM, Oct 28, 2012
Istanbul: Serena Willliams cruised into the final of the WTA Championships by beating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday and will play Maria Sharapova for her third title at the event. Sharapova beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2 in the second semi-final, a day after Azarenka had made sure of finishing the year as the top-ranked player. Sharapova will finish No. 2 even if she beats Williams in Sunday's...
11:08 PM, Oct 27, 2012
Istanbul: Victoria Azarenka wrapped up the season-ending No. 1 position in the world by beating Li Na 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Friday in the WTA Championships. Azarenka secured a spot in the semi-finals and will next play Maria Sharapova. "It's kind of difficult to believe that a little girl from Belarus is on that list," said Azarenka, from Belarus. "It's really incredible achievement. When I started to play tennis I...
01:00 PM, Oct 27, 2012
Istanbul: Li Na defeated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to retain a slim chance of advancing at the WTA Championships. Li's first win in two round-robin matches means she can still reach the semifinals, depending on other results in her Red Group. The fifth-ranked Kerber, making her first appearance in the season finale, bowed out after losing all three of her matches. She played more than three...
12:07 AM, Oct 26, 2012
Istanbul: Victoria Azarenka moved a step closer to securing the year-end number one ranking with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 win over Germany's Angelique Kerber at the WTA Championships on Wednesday. Azarenka needed three hours and six minutes to repel Kerber but Maria Sharapova's 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win over Agnieszka Radwanska took even longer to complete, the three hours and 12 minutes contest ending at 02:12 on Thursday morning. In another...
09:05 AM, Oct 25, 2012
Istanbul: Defending champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from the WTA Championships due to a viral illness and will be replaced by Samantha Stosur, tournament officials announced on Wednesday. The world number six was able to play her first match in the White group on Tuesday but was toppled 6-3 6-2 by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in a contest that saw the Czech commit a whopping 41 unforced errors. Australian Stosur will...
05:56 PM, Oct 24, 2012
Istanbul: Aggression powered Maria Sharapova to victory over Italy's Sara Errani in her opening match at the USD 4.9 million WTA championships here, the Russian said. In a repeat of their only previous meeting in June's French Open final, Sharapova emerged victorious by a score of 6-3, 6-2 against Errani on Tuesday. Cautious play allowed Errani to control the start of the match, when the first four games all went...
04:12 PM, Oct 24, 2012
Istanbul: With the year-end top ranking out of reach, Serena Williams will settle for the title at the WTA Championships. In her first match since winning the U.S. Open in September, Williams defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-1 Tuesday to start round-robin play in the season-ending event featuring the top eight players in the world. "Obviously, I would rather win majors. I've been No. 1 and I would love to be...
08:35 AM, Oct 24, 2012
Istanbul: Agnieszka Radwanska defeated titleholder Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2 to start round-robin play at the WTA Championships on Tuesday. Kvitova entered the match with a 25-match winning streak indoors but she was in trouble early, losing the first three games. Although she recovered to tie at 3-all, Radwanska broke serve again and served out the set. Kvitova dropped her first two service games of the second, and broke back once....
09:31 PM, Oct 23, 2012
Istanbul: Caroline Wozniacki will top the WTA rankings for the second consecutive year but that does not make her the best player in the world, according to former men's number one Mats Wilander. The 21-year-old Dane failed to reach the semi-finals at the WTA Championships in Istanbul, after winning only one of her round-robin matches. She continued her poor record at the biggest events and Wilander believes Wimbledon champion Petra...
02:27 PM, Oct 31, 2011
Istanbul: Petra Kvitova provided further proof that she is the rising force in women's tennis when she beat Victoria Azarenka 7-5 4-6 6-3 to win the WTA Championships on Sunday. The 21-year-old Czech, who shot to fame by winning Wimbledon this year, produced a display of power and skill to finally overpower the gritty Azarenka and claim the $ 1.75 million jackpot after remaining undefeated at the year-ending event which...
11:50 PM, Oct 30, 2011
Istanbul: Czech left-hander Petra Kvitova stormed back from a set down to beat Samantha Stosur 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a topsy turvy semi-final at the WTA Championships on Saturday and is now one win away from collecting the $1.75 million jackpot. The 21-year-old Wimbledon champion, a debutant at the season-ending showpiece featuring the top eight women in the world after rising from 34th in the rankings in January, will face...
12:44 PM, Oct 30, 2011
Istanbul: Czech left-hander Petra Kvitova stormed back from a set down to beat Samantha Stosur 5-7 6-3 6-3 in a topsy turvy first semi-finals at the WTA Championships on Saturday and is now one win away from a dream end to a spectacular season. The 21-year-old Wimbledon champion, a debutant at the season-ending showpiece featuring the top eight women in the world after beginning the year ranked down in 34th...
09:54 PM, Oct 29, 2011
Istanbul: US Open winner Samantha Stosur destroyed China's Li Na 6-1, 6-0 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the season-ending WTA Championships for the second consecutive year. Their last White Group round-robin clash was effectively a decider to see which of the year's first-time grand slam champions would progress along with Victoria Azarenka of Belarus but it proved embarrassingly one-sided and was over in 66 minutes. Australian Stosur will...
11:29 PM, Oct 28, 2011
Istanbul: Petra Kvitova reached the semifinals of the WTA Championships on Thursday, dominating Caroline Wozniacki in a 6-4, 6-2 win that handed the top-ranked Dane her second loss at the season-ending tournament. Kvitova joined Victoria Azarenka in the final four, with the Belarusian having earned a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Li Na in the early match. In the day's late match, Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska beat sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva 1-6,...
03:13 PM, Oct 28, 2011
Istanbul: Victoria Azarenka did not mince her words when she was quizzed again about her on-court sound effects at the WTA Championships on Wednesday. The Belarussian's incessant groans after pretty much every ball she strikes irritate crowds and television viewers alike but world number one Caroline Wozniacki is the most high-profile player to call for quiet. "It's the way I've played since I was eight, it's part of my movement,...
05:15 PM, Oct 27, 2011
Istanbul: Caroline Wozniacki will end the year ranked world number one although her hopes of applying icing to the cake by winning the WTA Championships suffered a blow when she lost to Russia's Vera Zvonareva in her second round-robin match on Wednesday. The 21-year-old Dane was locked in combat with Zvonareva when news filtered through that Russian Maria Sharapova had withdrawn from the tournament with an ankle injury following a...
03:10 PM, Oct 27, 2011
Istanbul: Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki rallied to defeat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday in their opening round-robin match at the WTA Championships, while US Open winner Sam Stosur defeated Maria Sharapova 6-1, 7-5 for the first time in her career in the day's late match in the White Group. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who has an outside chance of de-throning Wozniacki, also began the group stage with...
11:05 AM, Oct 26, 2011
Moscow: Agnieszka Radwanska secured the last remaining spot in the season-ending WTA Championships without hitting a ball after Marion Bartoli retired from her Kremlin Cup quarter-final with an illness on Friday. Kremlin Cup organisers said the Frenchwoman was forced to withdraw from her match against Russia's Elena Vesnina after suffering from a viral infection. World number nine Bartoli was the only player with a chance of catching the eighth-ranked Pole,...
08:43 PM, Oct 21, 2011
