November 02, 2015
Petra, Maria, Aga, Aga, Aga – the hot shots just kept coming at the WTA Finals in Singapore last week. Catch up on all of them in one video right here on wtatennis.com.
Steffi Graf beat Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, who was ranked No.1 at the time, to win the 1995 French Open.
In a repeat, Graf defeated Sánchez-Vicario in the 1996 final, but this time it went to 10-8 third set.
Iva Majoli shocked the world by winning the 1997 title and ending Martina Hingis’ 37-0 start to the year.
In an emotional final between two WTA legends, Sánchez-Vicario beat Monica Seles for the 1998 title.
There were even more emotions as Graf won the 1999 title – her record 22nd and final Grand Slam title.
France’s Mary Pierce claimed her home Grand Slam title in 2000, beating Conchita Martínez in the final.
Jennifer Capriati won a 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 thriller against Kim Clijsters to claim the 2001 French Open.
Serena Williams beat sister Venus Williams for the 2002 title. It was the first leg of her Serena Slam.
In the first ever all-Belgian Grand Slam final, Justine Henin defeated Clijsters for the 2003 title.
Anastasia Myskina became Russia’s first Grand Slam champion, beating Elena Dementieva in the 2004 final.
Henin completed an immaculate 24-0 clay court season with her second French Open championship in 2005.
Henin defended that French Open championship in 2006. Martina Navratilova presented her the trophy.
Henin became the second player ever to capture three straight French Opens in 2007, after Monica Seles.
Ana Ivanovic emerged at the 2008 French Open, winning her first Grand Slam title and rising to No.1.
Kuznetsova added to her 2004 US Open crown with her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2009.
Francesca Schiavone had a fairytale fortnight in 2010, becoming Italy’s first ever Grand Slam champion.
And China’s Li Na downed Schiavone to become Asia’s first Grand Slam champion at the French Open in 2011.
Maria Sharapova completed an historic Career Grand Slam by capturing the French Open title in 2012.
After 11 years, Williams recaptured the French Open title in 2013, beating Sharapova in the title match.
Sharapova made the French Open the first Grand Slam she’d conquered twice by winning it again in 2014.
On Episode 6, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen recaps the icing on top of the phenomenal cake that was Venus Williams’ 2015 season, after the 35-year-old went undefeated to win the inaugural Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and vault herself up the rankings to finish at No.7, marking the first time she finished a season inside the Top 10 since 2010.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you’ll hear from Caroline Wozniacki, whose difficult season ended in Zhuhai with a freak accident an unexpected injury. You’ll also hear from US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci, who dropped a bombshell in Zhuhai when she announced next season will be her last.
And in the last segment, Courtney sits down with the Zhuhai finalists, Karolina Pliskova and Venus Williams, to talk about their surprising seasons.
An interview with Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza after their win in the doubles final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
It was a magical night at the glamorous City Hall in Nürnberg on Monday night.
The NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP has been throwing magical player parties for years…
This year’s theme for the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP player party was Diamonds & Dragons.
The diamonds referring to the glitzy element of the party, with stunning dresses and jewelry…
… and the dragons referring to the top product of the toy company that sponsored the player party.
WTA Rising Stars Tereza Smitkova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova positively shone on Monday night.
As did Italians Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp, the No.1 seeds in the doubles draw this week.
A pair of Germans shone too – WTA Rising Star Annika Beck and doubles specialist Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Japan’s Top 2 players were also at the event – Misaki Doi on the left, Kurumi Nara on the right.
As were two of the favorites for the title, namely German megastars Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki.
Beyond the red carpet there was a glamorous party going on, including a gourmet dinner…
… and games for the players, including the bean bag toss, which Kerber tried her hand at.
Lisicki is the only German to reach a Grand Slam final this millennium – at Wimbledon in 2013.
And Kerber is the only German to reach the Top 5 this millennium – she has been as high as No.5.
Stay tuned on wtatennis.com this week for all the latest from on and off of the court in Nürnberg!
It’s time to crown October’s WTA Shot Of The Month. There were some incredible shots to choose from this October, and we narrowed it down to the five best – have a look at the nominees in the above video and cast your vote for your favorite shot before voting ends Thursday at 11:59pm ET!
The winner will be announced Friday, November 13.
How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.
2015 WTA Shot of the Month Winners
September: Agnieszka Radwanska
August: Simona Halep
June: Ana Ivanovic
May: Agnieszka Radwanska
April: Angelique Kerber
March: Agnieszka Radwanska
February: Simona Halep
January: Maria Sharapova
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her win in the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Meet the Top 8 who will go for glory at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
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Maria Sharapova knew she had her work cut out for her in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Carla Suárez Navarro was playing the tennis of her life, beating three Top 10 players to make the final.
And the Spaniard had Sharapova on the ropes – she was two games from the victory leading 6-4, 5-5.
But Sharapova lifted her game right when it mattered most, reeling off eight of the next nine games.
At the end of the day the Russian was just too much, running away with it in the third, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Sharapova walked away with the milestone 35th WTA title of her illustrious and historic career.
It was also her third time winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia – she won it in 2011 and 2012 too.
She has now won 21 of her last 22 matches at the Premier event – the loss came to Ana Ivanovic in 2014.
Earlier, Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic beat Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the doubles final.
Babos and Mladenovic now have three WTA doubles titles this year, winning in Dubai and Marrakech too.
ZHUHAI, China – Venus Williams outslugged Karolina Pliskova to win her third WTA title of the year at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and make her long-awaited return to the Top 10.
The final was a hard-fought, hard-hitting affair, with Williams coming out sharper – she raced out to an early 4-1 lead – but Pliskova closing in to 4-all before Williams snuck out the opening set, 7-5.
The second set script was flipped. This time it was Pliskova who had the leads, going up 4-2 and, after Williams got the set back on serve, going up 4-2 in the ensuing tie-break. The Czech even brought up a set point at 6-5 in the breaker, ripping an inside out forehand that barely missed the sideline.
But like she’s done so many times on the biggest stages all around the world, the No.1-seeded Williams lifted her game one last time to finally close out the No.3-seeded Pliskova, rifling back-to-back forehand winners – including a huge passing shot on match point – to finish her off, 7-5, 7-6(6).
“Seven weeks here in Asia and now I feel like it’s my home!” Williams said afterwards. “I’m so excited to win the first trophy in Zhuhai. All the players felt so welcome here and we appreciated all of the enthusiasm. To see every seat filled for every match, that’s all the players and tournament hope for.
“Also congratulations to Karolina. She deserved to win too – I was really lucky to win at the end.”
“Even if I didn’t make it today, it was a great week,” Pliskova said. “Venus played an unbelievable match today. But I’m proud of how I played this week and hopefully we’ll have more matches like this.”
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner and former No.1, has now had her best season in a long time, winning three WTA titles at Auckland, Wuhan and Zhuhai (the first time she’s won three WTA titles in a season since 2008) and 41 matches (the most she’s won in a season since 50 in 2007).
The Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai is also the 48th WTA title of Williams’ career.
And last but certainly not least, Williams will now make a long-awaited return to the Top 10 on the WTA Rankings, the American’s first time in the game’s upper echelon in more than four and a half years.
“It’s a great thing to be Top 10 now with the level of the game, but I’m still very hungry. I’m ready for more,” Williams said in her presser. “I’ve had so many experiences in tennis that I still expect a lot from myself. So I’m very happy to be moving forward, but I also want to continue, and not stop here.”
Why is Williams’ return to the Top 10 on the WTA Rankings so significant? Here are seven reasons.
3rd title of 2015! ? ? Welcome back to the Top 10 @VenusesWilliams!! #WTAEliteTrophy https://t.co/oa4fuuerNv
— WTA (@WTA) November 8, 2015