Heather Watson Wins WTA Monterrey

Heather Watson picked up her third WTA title after defefeating Kirsten Flipkens 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.Heather Watson is the new Abierto Monterrey Afirme champion after defeating Kirsten Flipkens in a hard-fought and emotional 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win. The win for Watson improves her win-loss record in WTA finals to 3-0, previously picking up titles in Osaka and Hobart.

Watson Downs Wozniacki in Monterrey Quarterfinals

Heather Watson produced her best tennis of the season to defeat Caroline Wozniacki and take a place in the semifinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme.
A battle between two of the WTA's sprightliest movers produced no shortage of entertaining exchanges, yet it was Watson, not the former No.1 on the other side of the net, setting the tone.
In a sparkling display, Watson took the game to Wozniacki from the off, eventually getting her reward with a break in the penultimate game of the opening set. Even a slow start to the second failed to discourage the Briton as she came roaring back, a couple of heavy-duty forehands kick-starting a run of four straight games.
Wozniacki, as ever, battled gamely to end, but she had no answer to her opponent's inspired tennis, spraying a forehand wide to slip to a 7-5, 6-4 defeat.
"I'm very happy with how I played today. I thought I played very well - I needed to against Caroline because she's a great player - and I had to fight to the end because I knew she would," Watson said during her on-court interview. "I just took it point by point and didn't look too far ahead.
"I think one of her main traits is that she is such a fighter. She makes a lot of balls and makes you really win it. I knew I was going to have to finish a lot of points today, come to net and not be too passive."
Meeting Watson for a place in the final will be either Caroline Garcia or Pauline Parmentier.
On the other side of the draw, hopes for an all-British final were dashed when Kirsten Flipkens upset No.4 seed Johanna Konta, 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1. Her reward is a meeting with another unseeded player, Anett Kontaveit, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Nicole Gibbs.

Source: WTA Tennis

Sara Errani Knocked out of Abierto Monterrey Afirme

Top seed Sara Errani was dumped out of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme in the second round by Estonian Anett Kontaveit.
Italian Errani, who survived a big scare in the first round, was comprehensively beaten 6-1 6-3 in under an hour by the world number 91.
Errani, ranked 17 in the world, had her serve broken three times in each set by Kontaveit, who had failed to progress past the first round in her last two tournaments.
Kontaveit's quarter-final opponent will be qualifier Nicole Gibbs, who was leading fellow American Christina McHale 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (4/7) 3-0 when the latter retired.
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki made no mistake in her second round match as she battled to a 6-4 6-4 victory against Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
The Dane took four of the five break points she earned to set up a last-eight meeting with Britain's Heather Watson.
France's Caroline Garcia, the fifth seed, will meet compatriot Pauline Parmentier in the quarter-finals after beating Israeli qualifier Julia Glushko 6-1 6-2.
Parmentier followed up her first-round victory against third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova by seeing off Monica Puig 6-3 6-4.

Source: WTA Tennis

Wozniacki Reaches Quarterfinals

No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki dodged a tough second-round challenge from Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme 6-4, 6-4.
No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki dodged a stern second-round challenge from Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme 6-4, 6-4.
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"It was very tough," Wozniacki said after the match. "[Lucic-Baroni] plays really strong and really hard from the baseline and I didn't have much time to get ready for my shots. So yeah, I'm very happy to be through."
Wozniacki found herself in trouble early on - she quickly found herself down 4-2 in the first set, overpowered by Lucic-Baroni's heavy groundstrokes and returns. After a word with her coach, Wozniacki came back with more aggression, winning the next four games to take back the set 6-4.
The pair contested a tight second set, holding serves and trading breaks at 3-3, staying level until Wozniacki sealed the match with a final break to Lucic-Baroni's serve as the Croatian sent a forehand wide.
"I think I just kept my head cool and just got that extra ball back, try to get a little extra pop in my shots when she was attacking me," Wozniacki said of her first-set comeback. "I got a lot of returns back and I kept the ball deep."
Wozniacki is set to face Britain's Heather Watson in the Monterrey quarterfinals.
Earlier in the evening, No.1 seed Sara Errani was no match for the inspired performance of 20-year-old Anett Kontaveit, who sent her packing 6-1, 6-3.
Kontaveit's first-round win over Cibulkova - a former Australian Open finalist - fired a warning shot to her Monterrey rivals, and although Errani had never played against her she knew to expect a challenge.
"No, I have seen her on television in a couple of games but I don't know her," Errani said ahead of their match. "I have seen her play very well, hit the ball very hard, but let's see."
Errani was confounded by Kontaveit's short-angled forehands and pace, and once the Estonian found her footing in the match there was no looking back. After Errani's service hold in the first game of the set, Kontaveit won the next six to win the first set 6-1 in barely 22 minutes. Errani's troubles continued in the second set; though Errani broke Kontaveit's serve twice, the 20-year-old kept the pressure on and kept the points short, marching to a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
A pair of qualifiers also made their way to the quarterfinals. Nicole Gibbs is through to face Errani after a seesaw match against Christina McHale, who was forced to retire at 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 3-0 due to dizziness. Pauline Parmentier defeated Monica Puig 6-3, 6-4 and she's set to face the No.5 seed and Fed Cup teammate Caroline Garcia in the next round.
"It's going to be a funny match because we are really good friends," Parmentier said of the all-French quarterfinal. "We played the Fed Cup together a few weeks ago and we are close.
"I hope it's going to be a good match because sometimes when you play a player from your own country it's like so-so, but I hope for me it's good."

Source: WTA Tennis