Agnieszka Radwanska Wins 2016 China Open; Team Bucie On A Roll In Doubles

Agnieszka Radwanska (click to enlarge)

Agnieszka Radwanska was her usually precise and controlled self in winning the 2016 China Open. Keeping her unforced errors to a minimum, the Polish star defeated Johanna Konta, 6-4 6-2. For Aga, it marked her 2nd China Open title and 20th career singles title. She didn’t drop a set in winning the championship in Beijing and early on looked like she was going to easily dismiss Konta as she went out to a 5-2 first set lead. But you have to give Johanna credit for fighting back to 5-4 before Radwanska finally closed out the opening set. From there, the outcome was never in doubt. Aga will go on to the WTA Finals in Singapore, an event she won last year, while Konta moves into the last qualifying spot for the moment. There are still some possible changes in the next week that could affect whether Johanna is in Singapore as a main draw player or an alternate.

Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (click to enlarge)

Scheduling might prevent them from playing together as much as we fans would like, but when Team Bucie takes the court, winning usually follows. Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4 6-4, to capture the 2016 China Open doubles title. This is Team Bucie’s third straight championship, following wins at the US Open and Wuhan. Seeded 5th in Beijing, Safarova and Mattek-Sands will not be the top seed at the WTA Finals in Singapore, but they are clearly the hottest team going into the tournament.