Bertens stuns Barty in WTA Finals
Federer withdraws from Paris Masters as Cilic, Tsonga progress
SHENZHEN: Late entry Kiki Bertens stunned world number one Ashleigh Barty with a comeback three-set victory to shake-up the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen yesterday. All four players can still qualify from Red Group after Belinda Bencic’s three-set victory over Petra Kvitova in the later match.
Bertens looked in deep trouble at a set and break down, but turned the tide with ruthless returning and aggressive play at the net to overwhelm a deflated Barty, who could have sealed a spot in the semi-finals with victory.
The world No.10 won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes in a see-saw match featuring 12 breaks of serve. “Of course you’re always ready to play, but I did not see it coming today,” Bertens said of her late call-up. “In the beginning I was struggling. As the match continued, I felt better and better.”
Bertens was a late replacement for world No.3 Naomi Osaka, who earlier in the day withdrew from the roundrobin tournament due to a shoulder injury.
She appeared nervous under the bright lights dropping her first three service games and Barty, who has locked up the year-end No.1 ranking, pounced to run away with the first set. Barty then endured her own service woes against an increasingly aggressive Bertens, who showcased a soft touch at the net. A slumping Barty had her serve broken five times through the second and third sets as Bertens stormed to her first victory over the Australian.
Barty lamented letting slip her early lead. “I wasn’t able to execute as cleanly when I was up in the score line,” she said. Bertens, who made the semi-finals of last year’s edition, continued her strong form after making the finals in Zhuhai last week and the semi-finals of the China Open earlier in the month, when she lost a three-set thriller to Barty. In the later match, Bencic fought back from a second set spiral to beat Petra Kvitova 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in one hour and 47 minutes. It kept her tournament hopes alive after she had lost her opening match to Barty.
“I was proud that I was able to block away her big shots,” Bencic said. “I was happy that at the end I was able to keep calm.”
Kvitova’s serve went off the boil as she fell away badly in the first set to lose five straight games. A double fault was a fitting way for the Czech to hand Bencic the first set.
But the match flipped in the second set with Kvitova, the 2011 WTA Finals champion, rediscovering her lethal serve to force a decider.
The twists continued in the third set with Bencic breaking in the third game as a flustered Kvitova slammed her racquet on the ground. The Swiss failed to capitalise in the next game but grabbed the decisive break in the ninth before confidently closing it out on serve.
Winless Kvitova plays Barty tomorrow and Bencic meets Bertens to determine the winners from Red Group.
Meanwhile in Paris, Roger Federer withdrew from the Paris Masters in order to “pace” himself for the next year, while Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the second round.
World number three Federer claimed his 10th Basel title on Sunday but decided to skip the final Masters event of the season at Bercy Arena. “I am extremely disappointed to have to pull out of the Paris Masters,” he said in a statement. “I have to pace myself since I want to play as long as possible on the ATP Tour.
“I am sorry for my French fans who I will see next year at Roland Garros.” Tournament director Guy Forget said he was “disappointed” with Federer’s late decision to withdraw. The 38-year-old Federer had warned on Sunday after beating Alex de Minaur at the Swiss Indoors that he may skip the trip to the French capital.
“My fitness is fine, I’m happy with how I feel,” he said. “I just don’t know if I should play next week. I’ll figure it out with the team.” The 20-time Grand Slam champion returned to the Paris Masters last year for the first time since 2015 and reached the semi-finals where he lost a three-set thriller to Novak Djokovic, who is top seed ahead of Rafael Nadal in the French capital this year.
Former US Open champion Cilic was one of the first unseeded players to book his spot in the last 32 with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. Croatian Cilic, who has failed to reach a final this season and has slipped to 24th in the world rankings, will next face threetime Grand Slam title-winner Stan Wawrinka. Tsonga, who was the last Frenchman to win the Paris Masters title in 2008, battled back from a set down to defeat in-form Russian Andrey Rublev 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. The 34-year-old, who has risen to world number 35 after ending an injuryplagued 2018 at 239th, saved four break points in a dramatic deciding set in front of a partisan crowd. — AFP