Tennis

New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Prajnesh Gunneswaran will have to wait for his second title of the season on the ATP Challenger circuit as he finished runner-up at the Ningbo Challenger in China after playing his heart out in the final against Thomas Fabbiano.After losing a close first set, Prajnesh won the second but eventually lost a marathon summit clash 6-7(4) 6-4 3-6 after battling hard for almost three hours against the Italian, who is ranked 131 but reached a career-high 70 last year.Prajnesh saved five match points in the third set but not converting eight break points in the opening set cost him dear.The 28-year-old Indian, ranked 170, was playing his second final of the season on the Challenger circuit having won the Kunming Challenger in April this year.The Indian left-hander earned 65 ranking points and pocketed USD 12,720 as prize money for his effort NEWS Press Trust of India (PTI) is a news agency in India … [Read more...] about Prajnesh ends runner-up at Ningbo Challenger

News 12   //    21 Oct 2018, 16:59 IST SHARE Elina Svitolina ended her long losing streak against Petra Kvitova with a masterful straight-sets victory in the opening match of the WTA Finals.Svitolina suffered seven consecutive defeats at the hands of Kvitova after beating the Czech in their first encounter four years ago, but ended that sequence with a 6-3 6-3 victory in Singapore on Sunday.Kvitova had not dropped a set against Svitolina since 2015, yet it was the sixth seed who got off to a flyer in the White Group.The world number seven from Ukraine, thrashed 6-2 6-0 by Caroline Wozniacki in her WTA Finals debut last year, won four games in a row to take the first set and claimed the only break of the second to seal an impressive victory.Kvitova's serve let her down and she made 29 unforced errors to Svitolina's 11, leaving her with work to do if she is to advance from a group that also includes defending champion Wozniacki and Karolina … [Read more...] about Dominant Svitolina ends Kvitova hoodoo in Singapore

Feature 8   //    21 Oct 2018, 16:11 IST SHARE The year ending WTA finals is all set to start-off on October 21st as the world's leading women tennis players battle it out as they test their skills after a long and gruelling season which has seen 4 different women win at each of the 4 Grand Slam Majors. No surprises then that in each of the last 3 years, the WTA Finals has thrown up a surprise winner each time. Pole Agnieszka Radwanska won in 2015, 2016 saw Dominika Cibulkova emerge victoriously and Dane Caroline Wozniacki took the title in 2017. From how things have panned out over the course of the season one can expect the unexpected in the WTA Finals and each of the 8 women one can say have an equal chance at grabbing the headlines. Irrespective of whether one views the showpiece event as a Grand Slam equivalent or just an icing on the cake after an arduous season, we can surely expect some terrific tennis over the course of the week. World Number 1 … [Read more...] about Women’s tennis : Preview of the WTA Finals 2018

The season-ending women's tennis tournament WTA Finals will be played between October 21 and 27 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Top eight singles players will be participating in this final event.WTA Finals 2018 previewThe current world No. 1 Simona Halep, the reigning French Open champion, has guaranteed she would be ending the year as the top-ranked player but the Romanian won't be there in Singapore as she had to withdraw from the upcoming tournament due to a back injury.So, this year it will be hard to choose the favourite at the year-ending tournament, as three of the eight finalists are making their WTA finals debut in Singapore and fans will miss those players, who dominated the court over the years.The eight players have been drawn into two groups of four each as follows Red Group1. Angelique KerberWhite Group2. Caroline WozniackiWTA Finals formatEach player will be featuring in a single-legged round-robin group stage format. The top two players from each group will enter in … [Read more...] about WTA Finals Singapore 2018: Check live streaming details, schedule and preview

Preview 12   //    21 Oct 2018, 12:45 IST SHARE Two former champions will hope to make a statement as the WTA Finals 2018 kicks off at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday, October 21. Petra Kvitova, who won this elite event seven years ago in 2011, is the one first up against Elina Svitolina as the quest to be crowned the season’s best begins with White Group action.Later in the day, the 2017 winner Caroline Wozniacki returns to the scene of her biggest triumph until this year’s Australian Open as she takes on Karolina Pliskova in a rematch of last year’s semi-final.It’s difficult to look past these two veterans in Sunday’s schedule, given their prowess and previous experience in battling the crème de la crème of WTA en route to the title. Both even have a winning record against their respective opponents.Kvitova’s mastery over Svitolina should make her the heavy favourite in Sunday’s first match. … [Read more...] about WTA Finals 2018: Preview and schedule for October 21, Where to watch and more