Welcome to the monthly review of the #WTATour on this blog.
Check out January's edition HERE.
The WTA Tour transits out of Australia as we headed towards the Middle East and we had six tournaments spread across three continents in the month of February. Within a blink of an eye, we are already done with 2/10 of the entire tennis season! Time passed so fast that we could not catch it back, but in March we can look forward to consecutive Premier Mandatory events in Indian Wells and Miami which is one of the main highlights of every tennis season.
Just a hint before reading the rest of the article: You will see Belinda Bencic’s name appear multiple times, she completely owned February!
Player of the Month: Belinda Bencic
How do you even describe #BelindaBencic’s run to the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships? It was just, out of the world, to say the least. For the second time in her career, the Swiss battled past four consecutive top-10 players to lift yet another Premier 5 title. After what she has been through in the past couple of years while battling injuries, this is an incredible feat for Bencic as she finally finds herself back in the top-30 after a long absence.
Saving six match points to triumph is not an easy feat but Bencic made it look as simple as ABC. And it was more outrageous considering her opponent was the world number nine Aryna Sabalenka and she even backed it up with a win over world number three Simona Halep, the Doha finalist.
Coming from 3-5 down in the decider against two-time defending champion Elina Svitolina, Bencic stole the limelight as she snapped the Ukrainian’s winning streak to seal her spot in the final. Against someone who had completely owned her previously, Bencic stunned second seed and Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova and survived a mid-match hiccup to triumph in three sets for the first WTA title of her comeback.
Honourable Mention: Elise Mertens (Doha champion)
Team of the Month (Doubles): Irina-Camelia Begu/Monica Niculescu
It was a rather quiet stretch of results for all the top doubles teams with Hsieh/Strycova and Chan/Chan lifting the biggest trophies this month in Dubai and Doha respectively. However, I personally feel that the honours of the best doubles team this month should go to the all-Romanian pairing of #IrinaCameliaBegu and #MonicaNiculescu.
They started February with a title at the Thailand Open before achieving what almost no one could do at Fed Cup. Carrying Romanian flags on their shoulders, they were selected for the crucial fifth and deciding doubles rubber in the tie against the Czech Republic with the scores tied at two-apiece. Going up against the top-ranked doubles pairing and two-time Major champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, Begu and Niculescu played the match of their lives and stunned the Czechs on their home ground with a terrific three-set win from a set down.
Honourable Mention: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (Dubai champions), Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan (Doha champions, Dubai semifinalists)
Breakthrough of the Month: Wang Yafan
#WangYafan has been grinding on the tour for the past few years and for such a hard worker like her, success is only a matter of time. The Chinese reached multiple WTA semifinals in the past but has been unable to break past that stage. The breakthrough finally came in Acapulco, and she sealed it in the best possible way.
She had to defeat the in-form and huge favourite Donna Vekic and recover from a set down to triumph, reaching her maiden tour-level final in some style. Wang will also rise to a new career-high ranking after the tournament.
Honourable Mention: Elise Mertens (First Premier title), Viktoria Kuzmova (saved MPs in two matches, reached maiden Premier 5 quarterfinal)
Biggest Disappointment of the Month: Daria Kasatkina
For the second consecutive month, I have listed #DariaKasatkina as the biggest bust of the month. During her recent tournaments, the Russian’s game has come under scrutiny and although she was able to grab her first win on the WTA Tour (which came against a player ranked outside the top-150), Kasatkina just looks like a completely different player as compared to the past.
Kasatkina, as a result, made the difficult decision to split with her coach Philippe Dehaes, known for his outstanding on-court prep talks which often had its effects on his disciple but things just were not working out in 2019 for Kasatkina who owns a poor 2-5 win-loss record heading into Indian Wells where she is the defending finalist. The Russian is projected to fall out of the top-20 if she were to be defeated in her opening match.
Honourable Mention: Angelique Kerber (lacklustre defeats in Doha and Dubai)
Best Performance in a match: Kvitova d. Kuzmova
Bang. A flawless performance from #PetraKvitova saw her blast past rising star #ViktoriaKuzmova in a straightforward quarterfinal match in Dubai. The afternoon heat was thought to be disastrous for the Czech, who suffers from asthma, but the Australian Open finalist put up her best performance in a while to beat the hard-hitting Slovak with a one-sided 6-4, 6-0 scoreline within just an hour of play.
Kuzmova saved match points against both Kiki Bertens and Sofia Kenin to reach her maiden Premier 5 quarterfinal while Kvitova slugged through early matches against Katerina Siniakova and Jennifer Brady. All signs were pointing towards a plausible upset but Kvitova was quick to downplay the upset alerts as “Peaktra” came into action, and she ultimately reached her third final of the year.
Honourable Mention: Bertens d. Sabalenka, Azarenka d. Collins
Best Match of the Month: Bencic d. Sabalenka
After winning the first set 6-4, #BelindaBencic found herself in all sorts of trouble against #ArynaSabalenka, who stormed out to a commanding 4-6, 6-2, 3-1 lead and earned multiple game points. Although the Swiss returned to level the scores, the Belarusian battled for a 5-3 lead and hope was scarce for the eventual champion.
However, the match was far from over as Bencic proceeded to save four match points to send the match into a nervy final-set tiebreak where she saved another two; ultimately claiming the marathon two-hour, 29-minute win over the powerful Sabalenka whose power was neutralized by Bencic’s ability to redirect the pace.
This win could well be the most important victory in the year for Bencic, who went on to produce a similar comeback against Elina Svitolina and lift the trophy in Dubai, which pushed her to the 23rd spot in the rankings.
Honourable Mention: Bertens d. Sabalenka, Halep d. Bouchard
Biggest Upset of the Month: Haddad Maia d. Stephens
There were multiple huge shocks in February but the biggest upset has to be qualifier #BeatrizHaddadMaia’s victory over #SloaneStephens in the second round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Currently ranked 172nd, the Brazilian was struggling with injuries after her breakthrough towards the end of 2017 but finally refound her top form this year.
Qualifying for the Australian Open main draw, Haddad Maia also stormed through the qualifying rounds in Acapulco and stunned world number four Sloane Stephens in straight sets having lost her serve on just one occasion. This was the first top-10 win of her career with her best win coming against #19 Samantha Stosur previously.
With her amazing win, Haddad Maia is projected to rise back into the world’s top-150.
Honourable Mention: Zvonareva d. Goerges, Mertens d. Halep
Best Comeback of the Month: Halep d. Svitolina
194 points were split evenly and there was little to separate #SimonaHalep and #ElinaSvitolina in a blockbuster semifinal clash at the Qatar Total Open. But there needs to be a winner in a match, and the Romanian dutifully converted her chances by producing a magnificent comeback which almost no one would have expected.
Svitolina fought from a set down to lead 4-1 in the decider, owning three break points for a double-break advantage which would have given her the golden opportunity to serve out the win. However, Halep spectacularly saved those break points and slithered her way back into contention — winning 21 of the last 28 points to rattle off five consecutive games and reach her first final of the year.
Honourable Mention: Bencic d. Sabalenka (saved six match points; down 3-5 in the final set), Bencic d. Svitolina (down 3-5 in the final set), Van Uytvanck d. Alexandrova (saved five match points; down 2-5 in the final set)
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