An update on Chennai, Doha and Shenzhen tennis tournaments as at 5 January 2013.
2012 Chennai champion Milos Raonic (photo taken at Wimbledon)
With so much to follow at the Brisbane International, the Hopman Cup and ASB Classic in Auckland it is easy to lose track of what’s happening in the other tournaments being played this week. Here is a brief recap of what has happened so far at the ATP events in Chennai and Doha and the WTA event in Shenzhen.
Aircel Chennai Open
Who’s playing?
The top seeded players are Tomas Berdych (1), Janko Tipsarevic (2), Marin Cilic (3) and Stanislas Wawrinka (4). Two of these players are past champions of this event Cilic (2009 and 2010) and Wawrinka (2011). Reigning champion, Milos Raonic, probably regrets not playing in Chennai this year after losing in his first match at the Brisbane International.
*** Updated results from Sunday 6 Jan ***
Final Sunday 6 Jan
- J Tipsarevic defeated R Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
Semi-finals Saturday 5 Jan
- J Tipsarevic defeated A Bedene 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
- R Bautista Agut v B Paire 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Quarterfinals Friday 4 Jan
- Benoit Paire defeated M Cilic 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
- Roberto Bautista Agut defeated T Berdych 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
- J Tipsarevic defeated Go Soeda 6-2, 6-4
- Aljaz Bedene defeated S Wawrinka 6-2, 7-6
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
Who’s playing?
David Ferrer is top seed, with Richard Gasquet (2), Philipp Kohlschreiber (3) and Mikhail Youzhny (4) the other principal seeds. Other players of note are Nikolay Davydenko, Gael Monfils, Viktor Troicki and Jeremy Chardy.
Last year’s champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is playing in the Hopman Cup instead in 2013. Davydenko is the only past champion (2010) in this year’s line-up.
*** Updated results from Saturday 5 Jan ***
Final Saturday 5 Jan
- R Gasquet defeated N Davydenko 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in 2h 30m 21s.
Prior to the final Gasquet leads 3-2 in matches against Davydenko. They played each other twice in 2012 splitting the matches. Gasquet won in Montpellier 6-3, 6-4 while Davydenko came out on top 7-5, 6-3 in Rotterdam.
Semi-finals Friday 4 Jan
- R Gasquet defeated Daniel Brands 7-5, 7-5
- N Davydenko defeated D Ferrer 6-2, 6-3
What has happened to notable players so far?
Kohlschreiber lost in the second round to Monfils, the latter was defeated by Brands in the quarterfinal. Brands beat Chardy in the first round and Mohamed Safwat in the second.
Youzhny fell in the second round to Davydenko
Lukas Lacko defeated Troicki in the second round before succumbing to Gasquet in the quarterfinal.
Shenzhen Longgang Gemdale Open
Who’s playing?
For this new tournament Na Li (1) leads the line-up. Other highly seeded players are Marion Bartoli (2), Su-Wei Hsieh (4) and Klara Zakopalova (5). Jelena Jankovic (3) withdraw and was replaced by Yi-Miao Zhou (lucky loser).
*** Updated results from Saturday 5 Jan ***
Final Saturday 5 Jan
- Na Li defeated K Zakopalova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in 2h 4m 7s.
Going into the final Zakopalova has a winning record (2-1) over Na Li. However, the most recent encounter saw Na Li come out on top 6-1, 6-0 at Indian Wells in 2012.
Semi-finals Friday 4 Jan
- Na Li defeated Shuai Peng 6-4, 6-0
- K Zakopalova defeated Monica Niculescu 6-1, 6-3
What has happened to notable players so far?
Bartoli lost in the quarterfinal to Zakopalova after previously beating Wing-Yau Chan and Stefanie Voegele. Zakopalova beat Andrea Hlavackova and Elina Svitolina to make the quarterfinal.
Hsieh lost to Annika Beck in the second round. Peng then defeated Beck in the quarterfinal.
Niculescu’s route to the semi-final saw her beat Salsai Zheng, Laura Robson and Yi-Miao Zhou.
Na Li beat Bojana Jovanovski in the quarterfinal and Julia Cohen and Mandy Minella before that.
Until next time
Grand Slam Gal
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