Tennis News

Kateryna Bondarenko left the WTA tour in 2012, thinking she had accomplished everything she could in a sport where she had been a Top 30 singles player, Australian Open doubles champion, and US Open quarterfinalist.

Four years and one daughter later, who’d’ve thought the Ukrainian veteran would back and close to breaking new ground in Melbourne?

“Yesterday, before I went to sleep, I was thinking about how I’d never passed the second round at the Australian Open,” she told WTA Insider.

She actually reached the third round once before, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009. But the 29-year-old woke up on Wednesday morning and did it again, getting her revenge on the former No.2 and Apia International Sydney champion, 6-1, 7-5, to reach her first third round at any major tournament since 2011.

“It’s amazing. I didn’t think I’d come back because in 2012, I was already tired of tennis and I decided to stop.

“Then I got pregnant, so definitely I decided to stop.”

One half of Ukraine’s preeminent tennis sister act, Kateryna and Alona Bondarenko played some of their best tennis in the late 2000s, coming together to capture the Australian Open women’s doubles trophy in 2008 and backing it up with a run to the semifinals of the French Open a few months later.

Alona had the higher career-best singles ranking when she retired (No.19), but Kateryna had the better Grand Slam finish, upsetting former No.1 Ana Ivanovic in a thrilling three-setter on Louis Armstrong Stadium and double bageling Gisela Dulko en route to her first major quarterfinal at the US Open.

“The tour has become even stronger; if you don’t practice all day, you won’t be able to play a normal match on the court because everyone is getting stronger. Every year, it’s stronger and faster.”

Bondarenko played the last match of what she considers her “first career” in Flushing back in 2012; she got married and gave birth to daughter Karina soon after. It wasn’t long, however, before she felt the urge to return to the game.

“I missed tennis so much and it was boring at home, doing nothing. The emotion when you win a match or even a point is great. You miss these emotions.

“So I decided to play tennis again. I didn’t think that I could make it because in the 25Ks, I was losing in the first round – passing through the qualifying, but still losing first round. I was thinking, ‘Ok, why did I start again?’

“Now when I have a good result, it’s just amazing to be a good player again.”

Eighteen months into her comeback, the former World No.29 re-entered the Top 100 thanks to a solid run at the US Open that took her through qualifying and into a quality second round encounter with No.2 seed Simona Halep.

“Before, I was just focusing on myself and all my thoughts were on the match, and that’s it. Now it’s kind of different, better, because now I always have my husband and daughter. I have to take care of them and I also have to practice all the time.

“It’s a little bit difficult but still it’s nice to have them with me.”

One of the few traveling mothers on tour, Bondarenko admits it’s not always easy, but at nearly three years old, her daughter is enjoying the ride, and between herself, her husband and a plethora of relatives, a veritable village is on hand to help her raise her child.

“She’s always by my side, always with me. We travel to every tournament together with my husband. Most of the time, we take somebody to take care of my daughter because mu husband goes with me to the court for practice and matches. It’s good to travel with the whole family.

“She likes to travel. We’ll tell her, ‘We’re going to go to America and then Australia,’ and then when we’re in America she says, ‘Now I want to go to Australia!’ As long as she’s with her parents, she likes it.”

Back in position to reach the second week of Grand Slam tournaments, Bondarenko doesn’t see herself as an inspiration, but rather believes her balancing act has made her an even tougher competitor eager to keep up with an ever-improving WTA cohort.

“It’s difficult to start over; I don’t think many people could do what I’ve done.”

Photos courtesy of Christopher Levy and Getty Images.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Agnieszka Radwanska held off Eugenie Bouchard at the Australian Open on Wednesday night. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova continued their collision course.

In arguably the most anticipated second round match-up of the tournament, Radwanska – the form player by far since the US Open, winning more matches and more titles than anyone on the tour, took on Bouchard – a breakthrough star in 2014 who’s been back at her best this year after a tough 2015.

Bouchard came out harder, stepping inside the baseline time and time again and ripping her huge groundstrokes into the corners to build a 4-2 lead. But Radwanska held her ground, clawing back to take the set, 6-4 – she ripped a huge forehand winner on her fifth set point to seal the one set lead.

And she continued to pile it on in the second set, breaking again in the very first game and never really looking back, one last Bouchard error giving the No.4-seeded Radwanska the win, 6-4, 6-2.

“That was a great challenge for me to play somebody like Eugenie in the second round. Definitely not an easy draw. But I think I was doing everything right today,” Radwanska said after the match.

“I hadn’t played against her for a while, but I think she’s definitely playing better now than last season. I think she’s on a good way to come back, and she’s definitely playing much better tennis out there.

“I think in a couple of months we’re going to see her going deeper in the Grand Slams.”

Meanwhile, another blockbuster match-up – Williams against Sharapova – continued to materialize, as the No.1-seeded Williams routed Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-1, 6-2 (read more here) and the No.5-seeded Sharapova powered past Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-2, 6-1 (read more here).

Williams and Sharapova will square off in the quarterfinals should they win two more rounds.

A big upset took place in the late night match, with Daria Gavrilova – now playing under the Aussie flag – weathering the power of Petra Kvitova to surprise the No.6 seed, 6-4, 6-4 (read more here).

It was a solid day for the rest of the seeded players, with No.10 seed Carla Suárez Navarro battling back to beat Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2, No.12 seed Belinda Bencic defeating Timea Babos, 6-3, 6-3, No.13 seed Roberta Vinci carving out a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Irina Falconi, and No.28 seed Kristina Mladenovic hitting through American qualifier Nicole Gibbs, 6-1, 7-6(4).

There was another upset, though, with Kateryna Bondarenko holding off a late surge to take out No.23 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 7-5. Kuznetsova was coming off a title run at the lead-up in Sydney.

And on the outside courts, Kristyna Pliskova – twin sister of Karolina Pliskova – was making history, ripping 31 aces, the most aces in a single match in WTA history (the previous record was 27).

The Czech lefty ended up succumbing to Monica Puig in the end, however, 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7.

.@MonicaAce93 saves FIVE match points & fends off #WTA record 31 ACES!

Edges Kr.Pliskova 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/BBLC9TZR3h

— WTA (@WTA) January 20, 2016

Dominika Cibulkova has long played David to a tour of Goliaths. The Slovakian dynamo found fertile soil early in her career and promptly began planting seeds; her garden is a veritable who’s who of the game’s biggest and brightest.

She rode that role right into a Singapore debut, where she broke new ground by winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, stunning then-No.1 Angelique Kerber in the championship match.

Starting 2017 in full bloom therefore marks a colossal shift for Cibulkova, who is suddenly tasked with preventing the very chaos she once strived to create.

“I felt good in Australia but this is a new position for me, being World No.5,” she said during All-Access Hour at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “I really have to work on myself every day, especially mentally.

“There are some players who come onto the court a bit differently against you. They have nothing to lose and want to beat you. This is something I’m really trying to adjust to, that and the expectations – not just my own, but also those of the people around me.”

Expectation undoubtedly bogged her down in Brisbane and Sydney, but it was after a run to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy that the wilting Slovak decided to reassess, stepping down from her perennial spot on the Fed Cup team.

“I got really negative on the court in St. Petersburg,” she said of her loss to Yulia Putintseva, “and that was my biggest disappointment from that match; maybe the expectation got too big for me.

“It’s good that I didn’t play Fed Cup so I could really have time to prepare for Doha. It helped me a lot and that’s why I played so well there. I’d always feel tired after a tie, but that’s something you have to accept if you decide to play Fed Cup. You have to know you won’t be completely ready for the next tournament.”

Cibulkova has been an absolute stalwart in national competition – playing a whopping 21 ties in 12 years – and admitted the annual decision to compete often adversely affected her schedule.

“It would be easier if the event could all take place at a reasonable date, but, for example, last week Slovakia played Italy on clay. That wouldn’t make sense for my schedule at all.

“Now that I’m older and more mature, I see that my career isn’t going to last forever. Right now, I feel like I can get my best ranking and reach my best results. I have to selfish.”

That desire for further introspection led her to step up her work with sports psychologist Radko Sevcík, who joined her team about two years ago and has been crucial to improving her big match mindset.

“I had my mental coach with me in Doha and we talked a lot about different things, how I should approach practices and matches, and how to be more positive on the court.”

The positivity paid off; Cibulkova reached the final four at the Qatar Total Open – the first of her career – and earned her 400th career match win in impressive style over an old nemesis.

“I felt good on the court. I beat Samantha Stosur, whom I’d never beaten before in my career. That gave me much more confidence, and even though I lost to Karolina Pliskova, it was a great match and I was really close to winning.

“After Doha, I feel like I’m playing really well.”

The first big test of that assertion will come early; Cibulkova will kick off Dubai campaign against Ekaterina Makarova, who won their most recent meeting at this year’s Australian Open.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

1. Angelique Kerber flipped a switch: The Australian Open champion leaves Australia with a 12-1 record to start the season, with her sole loss coming in the Brisbane International final to Victoria Azarenka. Just a few weeks later she defiantly avenged that lost, knocking Azarenka out of Melbourne in straight sets, and then topped the other tournament favorite, top seed Serena Williams, in three sets to win her first major title.

But even before Kerber got her hands on the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy, there were signs early in January that this was a different Kerber. A change in strings in the off-season gave her more pop on her strokes – particularly her serve – which she used effectively against Serena. She was also noticeably fitter, after a grueling off-season with her new trainer. And it was impossible to ignore how much more open Kerber was when discussing herself. Prior to Brisbane, she told the WTA her New Year’s Resolution was to get on Instagram, in hopes of giving fans more insight into her life on tour.

That mindset of opening up and putting herself out there has seeped into her press conferences, interviews, and on court. Kerber’s 2016 mantra has been to go out there and win matches, not wait for her opponent to give it to her. So far, so good.

2. Serena Williams remains the one to beat: Despite her loss in the Australian Open final, Serena exceeded my expectations with respect to her level at the start of the season. There were worries after her Hopman Cup withdrawal due to knee inflammation, but through six rounds in Melbourne absolutely no one was playing as well as Serena. That’s a very encouraging sign for her 2016 season.

As she chases Slam No. 22, it’s also worth noting just how much external and internal pressure she’s trying to handle. When Serena got to Slam No. 17 at the 2013 US Open it took her four more majors until she captured the Evert and Navratilova-tying No. 18 a year later. Prior to that she lost to Ana Ivanovic in Melbourne, Garbiñe Muguruza in Paris, and Alizé Cornet at Wimbledon.

3. Agnieszka Radwanska shows no signs of slowing down: No one beats Serena on a day she hits 18 winners to just 4 unforced errors in a 20 minute set. Radwanska conceded as much after her 6-0, 6-4 loss in the Australian Open semifinals. But the WTA Finals winner remains the winningest player on tour since the US Open last year — 26 wins, four titles — and leaves Australia with just one loss on the season.

4. Victoria Azarenka remains on the rise: After the first week in Melbourne, it seemed like everyone was ready to hit the fast forward button to the presumed final between Serena and Vika. The big record scratch late in the second week came at the hands of Kerber. The straight set loss to a player she had never lost to (6-0 vs. Kerber) was a disappointment, no doubt.

“I’m going to be disappointed today,” Azarenka said after the loss. “I’m going to be pissed off. I’m going to let myself have that.

“But overall it’s not going to affect me in any way because I know the work that I put through, it’s paying off. I just need to do more. I need to keep going to be even more consistent. I’ve shown good signs. I’ve shown good quality, way more consistent, physically much better. I need to assess a little bit what I can improve and keep moving direction forward.”

That was the pitch-perfect response from Azarenka in a difficult moment. She leaves Australia disappointed. But she also leaves incredibly hungry and encouraged. Watch out.

5. Injuries are just the worst: There’s no way of ignoring the injury plague that affected so many players in January. On one hand, some of the Chicken Little reactions to early season withdrawals were completely overblown. Serena, Kerber, Radwanska, and Maria Sharapova showed few signs of being hampered by injuries that forced them out of pre-Australian Open tournaments.

On the other hand, three key players – Simona Halep (achilles), Garbiñe Muguruza (foot), and Madison Keys (adductor) – remain hampered by long-standing, chronic frailties. These are not the kinds of injuries that just need a two week break to heal. How they manage their training and schedules going forward will be of much interest.

6. There will be more Grand Slam talk in 2016: Serena dominated the conversation in 2015 as she chased both the “Serena Slam” and the calendar Grand Slam through New York. But 2016 belongs to Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis.

With their third straight major title, “SanTina” can complete the non-Calendar Slam in May at the French Open. Clay remains their worst surface, but with the way they’ve dominated the tour over the last 12 months, that’s a lot like saying clay is Roger Federer’s worst surface. They’re still very good on it. If SanTina can snag the title at Roland Garros, the Grand Slam is well within their reach.

7. New faces to watch: The first week of the Australian Open belonged to the fresh new faces who went seed-hunting and notched milestone Slam results en masse. There were the trio of Russian youngsters – Margarita Gasparyan, Elizaveta Kulichkova, and Daria Kasatkina – all of whom made the third round or better in their Australian Open debuts and now have rankings that will get them into the main draw at more tour-level tournaments.

They may not hold Russian passports anymore, but Daria Gavrilova and Yulia Putintseva also had tournaments to remember, with the former knocking out Petra Kvitova to make the fourth round and the latter stunning Caroline Wozniacki to make the third round.

Finally, no discussion of January would be complete without Johanna Konta and Zhang Shuai. Konta is now up to No.28 in the rankings thanks to her run to the Australian Open semifinals and it will be interesting to see how she handles the increased spotlight and pressure that comes with being the No.1 Brit. The same goes for Zhang, who now finds herself in the surprising position of going from the brink of retirement to being the No.1 out of China at No.65.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.