The 2018 Korea Open is a women's professional tennis tournament to be played on hard courts. It is be the 15th edition of the tournament, and part of the 2018 WTA Tour. It takes place in Seoul, South Korea between 17 and 23 September 2018.
So happy to have arrived at the Korea Open week! I was there in spite of rain to cheer for the Romanian players, Irina Begu and Raluca Olaru. Begu lost to Sakkari in the quarter-finals, and in the doubles matches Begu and Olaru lost to the Taiwanese pair Hsieh/Hsieh.
1. Hana Cupid Japan Women's Open, Hiroshima, Japan
ABOUT
The 2018 Japan Women's Open is a women'stennistournament played onoutdoor hard courts. It is the tenth edition of theJapan Women's Open, and part of theWTA International tournamentsof the2018 WTA Tour. It is held at the Regional Park Tennis Stadium inHiroshima, Japan, from September 10 through September 16, 2018. This is the first year that the tournament is held in Hiroshima.
The end of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year is at the corner, and yes, as usual, the women's tournament is full of surprises. We will first have a look at what happened to the players in Top 8, and then shortly analyze the semifinals. Below, you can see how the Top 8 looked before the start of US Open. The standings are changing, of course, and at the end of this article you can check a live update of how the rankings are changing exactly.
Now were are these players now in the US Open? Well, they are all out. Let's see in which stages did they leave the tournament. We will start from those who were eliminated early on in the competition.
THE TOP 8 PLAYERS AND HOW THEY LEFT THE US OPEN
Simona Halep (Romania), no 1, out in the 1st Round (128강전)
She is without doubt the most successful player of 2018 so far, that's why she leads the rankings. Halep played 13 tournaments so far ths year, and reached at least quarterfinals in at 10 of them. She played 6 finals, among which she won 3 (Shenzen, Roland Garros, Rogers Cup) and was defeated in other 3 (Australian Open, Rome, Cininnati). So the Romanian managed to play 2 Grand Slam finals, but lost at Wimbledon in the 3rd round and at US Open in the 1st round. She was given as favorite at winning the American Open this year but she had a very strong opponent in Kaia Kanepi, no 44, from Estonia, 2-6 4-6. Halep is the first female player in history to lose in the first round at US Open as number one. That's also something to be proud of, isn't it? Very interesting how things will finish this year for Halep. Can she end the year as number one? If she does, she will become the second player after Serena Williams to finish the season as number one in two consecutive years. Now, that's really something to be proud of! Go, Simona!
Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark), no 2, out in the 2nd Round (64강전)
Caro has not been playing great in the second part of this season, and even her no 2 spot is now in danger. She was defeated by Ukrainean Lesia Tsurenko, current no 36, 4-6 2-6. What is going on with these top players losing so early to lower ranked ones?
Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), no 5, out in the 3rd Round (32강전)
Kvitova had a great year too, having won some top tournaments. She climbed so much in the rankings, and if she does a good job for the reast of the year, she might end up in the Top 5 of 2018. World no 20, the young hope of Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka, defeated Kvitova in two sets, 7-5 6-1.
Angelique Kerber(Germany), no 4, out in the 3rd Round (32강전)
Kerber reached to this position in the rankings for playing great in all past three Grand Slams of the year. Semifinals at Australian Open, quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and winner at Wimbledon. A former champion in 2016 here at US Open, this time she was defeated by world no 29, Slovkian Dominika Cibulkova, score 6-3 3-6 3-6. Thanks to her performances this year however, she might end up replacing Woniacki as no 2, or who knows, she could even go past Halep and become the year end new number one. Good luck, Angelique!
Caroline Garcia (France), no 6, out in the 3rd Round (32강전)
Garcia started playing a very good tennis since the Asian season last year. She won the Beijing Open and entered Top 8. Her constancy, doubled by some failures of players like Muguruza or Ostapenko who were not able to defend their titles from last year, kept Garcia among the best players in the women's tour. Let's see if she can play her best tennis again, after this US Open is done. Here, she lost to world no 30, Spanish Carla Suarez Navarro, 7-5 4-6 6(4)-7(7).
Elina Svitolina (Ukraine), no 7, out in the 4th Round (16강전)
Svitolina had a good start of the year, she played well in the Middle East in spring, winning the Dubai Open, and playing the final in Qatar, then she won the Italian Open. She practically managed to defend the titles she won last year, thus we can still see her among the top players. Current no 19, Latvian Anastasija Sevastova defended her in 3 sets, 6-3 1-6 6-0.
Sloane Stephens (USA), no 3, out in the quarterfinals (준준결승)
Stephens jumped up in Top 5 after her final at Roland Garros, where she lost to Simona Halep. She had the 2000 points from last year victory here at US Open. Not being able to defend her points, she now sees a fall in the rankings, and this might cost her a lot. If she plays well for the rest of the season, she has a chance of finishing the year in Top 8. I have a feeling that she will. She has played great in the last 4 months or so. Here, she los to Sevastova, 2-6 3-6.
Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), no 8, out in the quarterfinals (준준결승)
Another caroline! Tennis loves carolines and the Top 8 loves them even more. I'm giving special cheers to those who can name at least 5 carolines who are currently playing in the women's tournament now :D. Jokes, jokes, but Karolina lost to who else than Serena Williams, score 4-6 3-6. She was pretty constant this year reaching the higher stages in the tournaments she played, and won the title in Sttutgart earlier this year. Her spot inthe Top 8 is in danger though. She is also a player to be with the eyes on during the last part of this season.
THE SEMIFINALS AT US OPEN 2018
1. Serena Williams (no 17, USA) vs Anastasija Sevastova (no 19, Latvia)
The two players never met before, this is their first match together. Sevastova defeated 2 big names on her road to the semifinals, Svitolina and Stephens, the latter being the last year 's champion. Serena eliminated Pliskova, Kanepi and Venus Williams among others. Even if the American had a slower start this season after her year off, she began playing better this past summer, reaching the Wimbledon final, which she lost against Angelique Kerber.
2. Madison Keys (no 14, USA) vs Naomi Osaka (no 20, Japan)
Keys was the runner up last year, and she is doing a great work defending her points. She will meet Osaka Naomi, the surprise of 2018. She won Indian Wells in spring, but after that she did not play that well. However, we see her again now, far in a Grand Slam, the best result of her career. Keys and Osaka met 3 times before, and each time the American has won.
