Aegon Classic, Birmingham, UK, WTA Premier

[Moxie]

DATE: 16 Jun - 25 Jun 2016
SURFACE: Grass
PRIZE MONEY: $819,940
FIELD SIZE: 32
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Madison Keys

Seeds:

The Tournament:

The Birmingham Classic, currently sponsored by Aegon and formerly known as the DFS Classic, is an International series women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tournament is played on outdoor grass courts. It is seen as a major warm up tournament for Wimbledon and a sister tournament to the men's Queen's Club Championships.

It was announced in January 2013 that the event would be upgraded to a Premier 500 level tournament from 2014 onwards.

The Players:

About Birmingham

Birmingham is the second largest city in England and located in the West Midlands region, with multiple Industrial Revolution-era landmarks that speak to its history as a manufacturing powerhouse. It's also home to an extensive network of canals, many of which radiate from Sherborne Wharf and are lined with trendy cafes and bars. In the city centre, the Victorian Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is known for pre-Raphaelite masterpieces.

 

[Moxie]

 

[Moxie]

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Kerber pulls out with left hamstring injury, draw is shuffled. Elina is #2 seed, Domi replaced Angie at top of draw as #3 seed.

Not many in top 10 in here, I count 3 with Angie out. It's a real opportunity for someone to steal 470 points.

#4 seed Konta is one of the top 10ers in here, she gets Tsurenko in the first round but they gave her Monday off.

Moday's order of play:

Monday, June, 19, 2017

Ann Jones Centre Court Starts At 11:00 am
Lauren Davis (USA) vs Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Followed By
Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)
Followed By
Heather Watson (GBR) vs Elina Svitolina (UKR)
Followed By
Alizé Cornet(FRA) vs Naomi Broady (GBR)

Court 1 Starts At 11:00 am
Camila Giorgi (ITA) vs Jana Fett (CRO)

Court 2 Starts At 11:00 am
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Ipek Soylu (TUR)
Followed By
Sachia Vickery (USA) vs Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS)

Court 3 Starts At 11:00 am
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) vs Tereza Smitkova (CZE)

3 doubles matches are also scheduled. Mugu and Domi are playing as partners.

 

[britbox]

A few interviews including Kerber on her withdrawal.

 

[Moxie]

Monday's results:

N. Osaka d. L. Davis 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)
B. Strycova d. Y. Putnseva 6-3, 6-3
E. Svitolina d. H. Watson 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
N. Broady d. A. Cornet 7-6(3), 6-0
C. Giorgi d. J. Fett 6-3, 6-4
S. Hsieh d. I. Soylu 6-3, 6-3
E. Kulichkova d. S. Vickery 6-0, 6-2
M. Vondrousova d. T. Smitkova 4-6, 7-5, 6-3

 

[britbox]

Results from the Birmingham Classic Women's Singles Round 1 matches on Tuesday

6-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Elizaveta Kulichkova (Russia) 6-3 3-6 6-4
Alison Riske (U.S.) beat Donna Vekic (Croatia) 6-2 7-6(2)
Zhang Shuai (China) beat Magda Linette (Poland) 7-5 7-5
Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat 3-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 5-7 7-6(7) 7-5
5-Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Duan Yingying (China) 6-3 7-6(2)
CoCo Vandeweghe (U.S.) beat Christina McHale (U.S.) 6-4 6-2
Ashleigh Barty (Australia) beat Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) 7-5 7-6(1)
9-Daria Gavrilova (Australia) beat Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan) 6-4 6-4
4-Johanna Konta (Britain) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-3 7-6(6)
Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) beat Nao Hibino (Japan) 7-5 7-5
Camila Giorgi (Italy) beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva (Russia) 6-3 7-6(4)
7-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat Tereza Smitkova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-3

Another poor day at the office for Dominika Cibulkova... although Safarova isn't really the first round opponent you'd want to be seeing.

 

[Moxie]

Cibulkova was close to winning that one. Tough first round, indeed.

 

[Moxie]

 

[kskate2]

Cibulkova was close to winning that one. Tough first round, indeed.

Cibulchoka is always close to winning some match and then gives it away. I cannot count how many times she's served for the match or had MP's only to lose.

 

[britbox]

Cibulchoka is always close to winning some match and then gives it away. I cannot count how many times she's served for the match or had MP's only to lose.

Yep... although I thought she might have got over the hump after Singapore... Not looking good this year - she's going to struggle to stay in the Top 20 at this rate.

 

[Moxie]

Results from the Birmingham Classic Women's Singles Round 2 matches on Wednesday

D. Gavrilova d. K. Siniakova 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
P. Kvitova d. N. Broady 6-2, 6-2
A. Barty d. B. Strycova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
L. Safarova d. N. Osaka 6-2, 6-4

 

[Moxie]

 

[Moxie]

Svitolina should get through, but I'm not sure about the others, given the nerves and pressure.

 

[britbox]

Good win for Ash Barty over Strycova. Ashleigh is hitting a purple patch right now.

On Thursday matches, Coco/Konta could be interesting and Garbine might have her hands full with Riske.

 

[tossip]

does anyone know where I can watch tennis on lineI used to watch on livescorehunter but that site is not allowing me to watch anything...fromsport is not very good...

 

[britbox]

Results from the Birmingham Classic Women's Singles Round 2 matches on Thursday

CoCo Vandeweghe (U.S.) beat 4-Johanna Konta (Britain) 6-1 6-3
5-Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Zhang Shuai (China) 6-4 7-6(3)
6-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Alison Riske (U.S.) 6-1 6-4
Camila Giorgi (Italy) beat 2-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 6-4 4-6 6-2

Convincing wins for Coco and Garbine. Svitolina bounced out by Giorgi in the surprise of the day.

 

[Moxie]

does anyone know where I can watch tennis on lineI used to watch on livescorehunter but that site is not allowing me to watch anything...fromsport is not very good...

Kskate has a good one, I think. Have you tried drakulastream.tv?

 

[Moxie]

 

[Moxie]

Mladenovic v. Kvitova is probably the match to watch tomorrow. If only we could watch them.