WTA Championships Diary: Grunting issue rears its head as Stosur upsets Sharapova in Istanbul

Tenth time lucky: Sam Stosur defeated Maria Sharapova for the first time in Istanbul

To grunt or not to grunt

Grunting has become the issue of the day once again after Caroline Wozniacki revealed that from her point of view, when opponents grunt, it disguises the way they’ve hit the ball, and how hard they’ve hit it. The WTA is committed to finding a way to tackle the grunting issue, but crucially catching it early when players are still young before it becomes embedded in their style of play.

What do you think? Will that work? Or is it something we're going to have to live with.

Speaking of noise, one of a rather different sort is Petra Kvitova’s who screeches like a swooping eagle every time she wins a point. It’s extraordinary. The Wimbledon champion delivered a topsy turvy performance to beat Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4, afterwards admitting that she was very nervous.

Nobody beats Sam Stosur 10 times in a row…

At least not Maria Sharapova. Stosur produced a true ‘winning ugly’ performance in a way, her strengths nullified by the slower court, to beat the Russian 6-1, 7-5 for the first time in her career. Sharapova produced 30 unforced errors to Stosur’s 18, and is clearly not 100%. But still. It was a big win for the Aussie.  “To win without using your best strengths I think is a big bonus,” Stosur said.

Still on top

Caroline Wozniacki delivered a virtuoso Caroline Wozniacki performance, winning a match she was expected to win, despite looking for most of it like she might lose it during her 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska. Wozniacki had three set points to win the first set, squandered them, but gritted her way through the next two, urged on by some exuberant on court coaching from father Piotr Wozniacki. Whatever anyone thinks about Wozniacki’s style of play, there’s no denying the girl can fight till she’s flat on the floor.

Winning the numbers game

Both Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva confessed to being “impressed” by the numbers of fans who had flocked to the opening day yesterday. With attendance surpassing 10,000, the fans were not only in their seats, but also fully engaged with what was going on the court, producing tuneful, and some not so tuneful, chants throughout all three matches.

“Pretty incredible,” said Sharapova about the atmosphere. “Yeah, I mean, to see I think it was like about 10,000 people out there, so enthusiastic and you never quite know what to expect when you come to a new place and a new city at an event like this. And I think that the attention that the tournament has got and the respect that the players have received has been really incredible. It's really nice to see.”

Multi-linguals

Credit to the umpires, who may well be dressed rather like air hosts and hostesses, but have seemingly mastered the Turkish language after just one day.

 Coming up…

Sam Stosur v Victoria Azarenka

Another bout of ‘I have never’ for Stosur, who is yet to beat the Belarusian. This is their fifth meeting, all of which have been on hard courts, but they have never played indoors, so perhaps that will make a difference. Stosur should be high on confidence after beating Sharapova yesterday, but will that make it easier or harder for her to pull off a repeat? I think Azarenka might have too much for her.

 Maria Sharapova v Li Na

Sharapova did not look her best by any means yesterday, but the fact that she has still made it to No 2 in the world this year shows that it’s certainly still there. Li on the other hand is the first to admit she hasn’t been hitting a ball in the court lately. So this could be interesting. Sharapova leads the head to head 5-3, and should really make it 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki v Vera Zvonareva

Tied at 4-4 in their head to head, the last time these two met, Zvonareva came out on top, in the Doha final. But whether she has the weapons to break down Wozniacki remains to be seen. As she proved last night, the Dane can run and run from Europe to Asia and back again, so the smart money would be on her.

Catchphrase

“I think if there is any court that Radwanska likes, that’s slow. So I’m not sure what the complaint is about.”

A gentle dig from Sharapova about Radwanska’s court speed preference. The Pole had said she found the court a bit slow.

The daily click

Highlights from day one…

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WTA Championships Diary: Petra Kvitova the favourite as stars gather in Istanbul for season finale

The stars of the WTA at the official draw ceremony

Action stations

Today marks the first day of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, the WTA's season ending crown jewel, which brings together the top singles players and doubles teams of the year. Here are a few bits and bobbles in the run-up to the season finale…

Surviving adversity

The preparations for Istanbul's first stint as host of the year-end Championships were dealt a bit of a shudder when the 7.2 earthquake hit the Van region of Eastern Turkey on Sunday morning, as almost 1,000 buildings collapsed killing hundreds. With the players sending their best wishes to all those affected, the official player party and various other promotional activities were cancelled.

Old vs new

The week's field of eight players, seven of whom are from different nations, has quite an eclectic mix of year-end championships' experience. Top of the list is Maria Sharapova, who is making her fifth appearance, and won the whole thing in 2004. Next is Vera Zvonareva, who is on visit number four, then Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka both on number three, Sam Stosur is on appearance number two, and Agnieszka Radwanska is making her first proper visit, although she appeared as an alternate in 2008 and 2009. And there are two total first-timers – Petra Kvitova and Li Na.

Azarenka, Li and Stosur are joined by Sharapova in what is the White group, while Wozniacki, Radwanska, Zvonareva and Kvitova make up the Red group.

Boys in town

The WTA's leading ladies were joined by two sporting gods (forgive the artistic licence) over the weekend in the form of Rory McIlroy, Wozniacki's beau, and Sasha Vujacic, Sharapova's fiancee. Rory's visit was fleeting as he had to disappear back to the golfing world, but Sasha will be a more permanent fixture, which is good news for those wanting fist-pumping tips. He's playing for a Turkish basketball team during the NBA off-season, although is apparently nursing a broken finger.

Breezy in the Bosphorus

Gusty breezes are certainly not lacking in the straights of the Bosphorus, to the extent that Sunday's draw had its very own natural wind machine for the official photos of Sharapova and co. It's just as well the tennis is indoors, as otherwise we'd be seeing a lot of ball tosses.

Turkish people like…

Banks, barber shops and screeching tyres. And meat. Lots of it.

Here to stay

Congratulations to WTA CEO Stacey Allaster, who has signed on for another five years as the proverbial mother hen of women's tennis. May her hard work continue.

Joining up?

The jury still seems to be out on combined events and whether they work or not, but that hasn't stopped Allaster floating the idea that the WTA and ATP could look to hold their season-enders together. How it would work with the calendar, of course, remains to be seen, but it's an interesting proposition, and is all part of the drive towards greater cooperation. She also mentioned that the tours are seeking to align their broadcast rights from 2017.

Today's round robin matches

Petra Kvitova v Vera Zvonareva (Red group)

The honour of opening the very first WTA Championships in Turkey goes to Petra Kvitova, making her season finale debut. The wimbledon champion hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders since shocking Maria Sharapova to win Wimbledon. But she's dusted off her groundstrokes a bit in recent weeks, and received a huge confidence boost after winning Linz two weeks ago. That, and the way her game works on hard courts, has prompted the bookies to list the 21 year-old, newly invested as world No 3, as the favourite. But she'll have her work cut out against Vera Zvonareva, the epitome of hard court defence. Kvitova should edge it in two close sets to narrow her losing record against the Russian.

Caroline Wozniacki v Agnieszka Radwanska (Red group)

The battle of the Polish-borns. Wozniacki has her sights on that year-end No 1 ranking, but to get there, she'll have to do what she does best – stay solid from the back. She leads the head to head against her good buddy 4-1 but Radwanska is coming off a two-title tear in Tokyo and Beijing, and has lost just one match since the US Open. Still, a well-rested Wozniacki should be able to handle whatever comes out of the Radwanska tool kit.

Maria Sharapova v Samantha Stosur (White group)

As Sam rather cheerily aluded to, the Australian doesn't have the best record against the multi-Grand Slam champ. Stosur is yet to win a set in her nine previous meetings with the Russian, but all eyes will be on Sharapova's ankle, and whether it can stand up to shuttling side to side along the baseline in the face of Stosur's power. If she plays the sort of first-strike tennis that won her the US Open title, the Aussie has a shot. Still, if Sharapova's back in the zone after an extended break since Tokyo, it's likely to go her way.

Catch phrase

"East meets West"

You'll be hearing it a lot.

The daily click

The ebullient Ipek Senoglu takes you on a tour of the tournament..