Siniakova Shocks Former Champ Halep In Shenzhen
Katerina Siniakova sprung the first major surprise of this year’s Shenzhen Open by knocking out former champion Simona Halep.
Katerina Siniakova sprung the first major surprise of this year’s Shenzhen Open by knocking out former champion Simona Halep.
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
SHENZHEN, China – Alison Riske exacted revenge for her defeat in last year’s final with victory over Agnieszka Radwanska at the Shenzhen Open on Thursday.
In a topsy-turvy encounter, Riske maintained her composure brilliantly to run out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 winner. In the semifinals she will face either Camila Giorgi or Wang Qiang.
.@Riske4rewards has done it!!
The American reaches the #ShenzhenOpen Semifinals with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 win over defending champion Radwanska! pic.twitter.com/MaLQcQVnT8
— WTA (@WTA) January 5, 2017
“I was just kind of focusing on one point at a time, and I know that’s what Aga does – she’s there for every single point – so I felt that I had to match her in that regard,” Riske said in her post-match press conference. “I also tried to keep my energy high, and I think that I did a good job of that today.”
Twelve months ago, Radwanska capped a dominant week with a masterful performance against Riske – then ranked just inside the Top 100 – in a one-sided final. Since then, the American has made steady progress, finishing last year with another final in China and a career-best ranking of No.39.
Her improvements were immediately apparent in the rematch, bossing the exchanges to surge into a 5-0 lead. Radwanska roused herself to register a couple of games before the set’s end, then harnessed this momentum to level the match with some typically cerebral tennis.
Riske, though, refused to be stymied for long, calmly dispatching an overhead to break at the start of the decider. From then on, it was one-way traffic as the No.8 seed calmly closed out the biggest win of her career.
“The ultimate goal is to go one better than last year, but I can only look to the next match and I feel if I keep focusing on myself, my game, then who knows what can happen.”
LONDON, England – On Saturday afternoon Serena Williams tied Steffi Graf’s long-standing Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles with victory over Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final.
To celebrate the historic feat, wtatennis.com is going to run down 22 of the more memorable numbers from a truly remarkable career…
750,000 – The amount in dollars Serena received for winning her first major, the 1999 US Open; the prize money for victory at this year’s Wimbledon was around $2,590,000
346 – It has taken Serena 346 matches to win her 22 majors; Graf won her 22nd title (1999 Roland Garros) in her 303rd match
304 – Serena has the second-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 304 (Martina Navratilova 306)
83 – At all four Grand Slam tournaments, Serena has an 83% or better winning percentage: Australian Open (74-10, 88%), Roland Garros (60-12, 83%, Wimbledon 66-10, 90%), US Open (84-10, 89%)
79 – Serena has won nearly 79% of her 28 Grand Slam finals. Her only defeats came at the 2001 US Open (to Venus Williams), 2004 Wimbledon (to Maria Sharapova), 2008 Wimbledon (to Venus Williams), 2011 US Open (to Sam Stosur), 2016 Australian Open (to Kerber) and 2016 Roland Garros (to Garbiñe Muguruza). This is the second-best winning percentage in the Open Era after Court (11-1)
64 – Remarkably, Serena has won more than a third of the 64 Grand Slams that she has contested
30 – Nine of Serena’s 22 majors have come after turning 30; by winning the Wimbledon final, Williams (who is 34 years and 287 days old at the end of the tournament) also broke her own record as the oldest Open Era Grand Slam champion
22 – She has now equaled Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles and moved within touching distance of Margaret Court’s all-time leading tally of 24
20 – Since Serena lifted the 1999 US Open, 20 different women have tasted Grand Slam success
18 – The age Serena won her first Grand Slam title, at the 1999 US Open
16 – Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman in the Open Era at 16 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2016 Wimbledon (Chris Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
14 – Of her 22 Slam final victories, 14 have come in straight sets
12 – This fortnight Serena was playing her 22nd major as the No.1 seed. She has won 12 of them
9 – Nine of Serena’s Grand Slam titles have come alongside current coach Patrick Mouratoglou
8 – Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (Samantha Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (Kerber)
7 – Victory over Kerber brought Serena her seventh title at Wimbledon – her most successful Grand Slam venue; she has six titles at both the Australian and US Opens, and three at Roland Garros
6 – Serena has successfully defended major titles on six occasions during her career: 2003 Wimbledon, 2010 Australian Open, 2010 Wimbledon, 2013 US Open, 2014 US Open, 2016 Wimbledon
5 – Against Top 5-seeds at Grand Slams Serena has a better record than any other player in the Open Era (minimum five matches), winning 26 and losing just four
4 – On two separate occasions in her career, Serena has held all four Slams simultaneously – 2014 US Open to 2015 Wimbledon, and 2002 Roland Garros to 2003 Australian Open
3 – Third time’s a charm: before Saturday, the only woman in tennis history who had won the third major of a year after losing in the first two finals – as Williams has now done – was Navratilova in 1987
2 – Just two of Serena’s 22 major final wins have come over left-handers (2015 Roland Garros – Lucie Safarova, 2016 Wimbledon – Kerber)
1 – Serena’s only victory at a major as an unseeded player came at the 2007 Australian Open, when she had slipped to No.81 following a series of injuries.
Madison Brengle had a hilarious exchange with her coach during an on-court coaching break in her match against Serena Williams at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
BUCHAREST, Romania – Aliaksandra Sasnovich snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at the Bucharest Open on Monday.
Watch live action from Bucharest this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
A contest lasting nearly two-and-a-half hours eventually went the way of Sasnovich, who fended off a match point to knock out the defending champion, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
After a bright start, the match looked to be slipping away from Sasnovich when Schmiedlova romped through the second then opened up a 5-2 lead in the decider. However, the No.3 seed was unable to deliver the knockout blow, coming within a point of victory when serving for the match.
Liberated by the apparent hopelessness of the situation, Sasnovich threw off the shackles, unleashing a courageous forehand winner to reach the sanctuary of deuce, then breaking back when Schmiedlova sent a nervous second serve into the net. A few games later she had a match point of her own, firing an ace out wide to complete the escape.
“It was tough today because I had 5-2 in third set and I had a match point so it’s disappointing and really sad I didn’t win,” Schmiedlova said. “I need to win some matches and I just need to go from first round to second round, to do as many matches as I can.
“I was hoping to get back to it but it didn’t happen today but I hope it’s going to be better next time.”
Also advancing to the second round were Cagla Buyukakcay, who beat Kristina Kucova, 6-0, 7-5, and Vania King, a 7-6(4), 6-0 winner over Paula Kania.
Katerina Siniakova continued her giant-killing run at the Shenzhen Open, knocking out No.3 seed Johanna Konta to reach her third career WTA final.
GSTAAD, Switzerland – UNAIDS has appointed Timea Bacsinszky, top seed at the Ladies Championship Gstaad, as a Global Advocate for Young People.
Bacsinszky will work to ensure that young people have access to the information and services needed to protect themselves from becoming infected with HIV and will encourage young people to get tested for the virus and seek immediate treatment if necessary to keep them alive and well.
“My generation has never known a world without HIV, but we have the power to change this for future generations,” said Bacsinszky. “Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require commitment and perseverance to get the job done and this will only happen if we break down the stigma that still surrounds HIV.
“In tennis we are all equal on court – no matter what our nationality, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is. It is just you and your opponent. The rules of the game are the same for both players. Working with UNAIDS made me realize that in many countries, young people living with HIV/AIDS do not have equal rights and opportunities.
“Oftentimes, young people do not have access to relevant HIV prevention services, voluntary HIV testing, affordable treatment, and high quality care and support services. Or else, the fear of stigma and discrimination discourages them from disclosing their HIV status, which undermines their ability and willingness to access and adhere to treatment.
“If we want to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 we need to change this and I want to be part of that change – by lending my voice to spread the word about the needs of young people most affected by HIV, promoting HIV testing via social media channels and engaging young people in the AIDS response.”
Bacsinszky is supporting the UNAIDS #ProTESTHIV campaign, which encourages young people to become actively involved in promoting HIV testing and linkage to care and treatment services. People can find more information at protesthiv.org.
“Timea Bacsinszky’s energy and dedication on the tennis court are very clear,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “These are valuable qualities that will help to mobilize young people to join the global movement in response to HIV and become the generation to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.”
There are 36.7 million people living with HIV globally, 3.9 million of whom are young people aged 15 to 24. Young people are especially vulnerable to HIV infection. In 2015, there were an estimated 670 000 new HIV infections worldwide among young people aged 15 to 24, with young women accounting for 58% of new infections among this age group.
UNAIDS is the main charitable beneficiary of the Women’s Tennis Association Ladies Championship Gstaad in 2016.
All photos courtesy of the Ladies Championship Gstaad.
France won their second Hopman Cup trophy after Kristina Mladenovic and Richard Gasquet partnered to defeat CoCo Vandeweghe and Jack Sock of the United States in the final in Perth.
On this episode of Behind The Tour we take you inside the daily routine of our groundskeepers at Birmingham as they make sure the courts stay in top shape.