Haelp & Niculescu Team Up To Showcase Hidden Talent
Simona Halep has many gifts on the court, as she proved with her battling season-opening win over Jelena Jankovic, but she has a few hidden talents off the court too.
Simona Halep has many gifts on the court, as she proved with her battling season-opening win over Jelena Jankovic, but she has a few hidden talents off the court too.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Following the Saturday’s Australian Open final, the WTA has unveiled the first Road To Singapore leaderboard, with Angelique Kerber vaulting to the top.
The Road To Singapore is the year-long journey to the WTA’s crown jewel event, the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and Kerber, who just won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, has kicked off at No.1. Runner-up Serena Williams is in the No.2 position.
Defending WTA Finals champion Agnieszka Radwanska has launched a great start to her title defense – winning the Shenzhen Open and reaching the semifinal at the Australian Open to round out the top 3 on the Road to Singapore. How has winning the WTA Finals prepared Radwanska for continued success in 2016? Watch the video above to hear from the champion herself.
A pair of familiar faces sit atop the doubles leaderboard; the team of co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their third straight major title – along with titles at the Brisbane International and Apia International Sydney – to start the year at No.1. Australian Open finalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka are No.2.
The Top 8 singles and doubles players on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard will qualify for the $7 million 2016 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Here’s who else is in the Top 8 of the first Road to Singapore leaderboard:
Asia Muhammad was born into a family of athletes. Her parents played basketball; her brother Shabazz plays for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. Muhammad chose tennis, and almost instantly became a star on the junior circuit.
“I started having really good results, beating the top college players,” she told WTA Insider after beating Donna Vekic for just her second career WTA main draw win at the Brisbane International. “When I was younger, they had the rankings, and I started to beat them pretty badly. I started to think, “Why not? School is always going to be here.” My dad went to USC, and so that’s where I was going to go; it was always a dream, but if I want to do this, I need to start now.
“People sometimes ask me if I regret not going to school, and I honestly say no. My best friend went to USC, so I’ve still gone there to hang out, but I don’t regret it at all.”
At her last two junior tournaments, Muhammad earned wins over the likes of Heather Watson and Kristina Mladenovic, but the American admitted her all-court game took time to develop as she transitioned onto the senior level.
“In the beginning, I was always tall, so I was more of a power player. When I was 10, my coach Tim Blinkiron – who’s in Vegas and is Australian – right from the beginning, he had me volleying. Now, I’m so thankful for that, because the older you get, the tougher it is to try and do that. He’s always had me volleying, playing mini-tennis against boys, just for my hands.
“He’s always known what he wanted my game to be; I’ve trailed behind, not really trusting in it. But now, I’m getting to that stage where I know what I need to do and working on it. It’s there, but I just need to trust in it and do that.”
At 25 years old, Muhammad sees herself as a late bloomer in the vein of Samantha Stosur, one whose early investments could pay off big in the next few years.
“I think a lot of players who play like me had their successes later too, and it came with doubles first. I think doubles is a huge part of helping my singles with all the volleying.”
Muhammad is already a Top 50 doubles player, winning two titles in the last two years, and ended the 2016 season partnering Nicole Gibbs to reach the final of a WTA 125K in Hawaii. The pair joined up with other rising Americans like Shelby Rogers and Kayla Day for a pre-season bootcamp in Carson, California – courtesy of the United States Tennis Association.
“This was definitely my best pre-season of my career so far. Nicole and I would do fitness every day together and really push each other. That was very crucial to my pre-season training. I wasn’t in Vegas – that’s where I live – and I just knew I wanted something with a lot of structure, and that’s what you’re going to get there. We played a lot of tennis, had fitness every day, had amazing fitness trainers and physios helping us. It had everything there, and that helped a lot.
“That was the biggest difference, knowing myself and that I need to have structure, and then finding that and staying and sticking with that.”
Getting to know herself as a player and athlete has already paid dividends in Australia, where Muhammad enjoys ordering the local lattes.
“It’s definitely been up and down,” she said looking back on her career thus far. “I was one of the up and coming juniors, doing really well. I got stuck a little, trying to figure things out with my game. I try to move forward, and do a lot of different things. I think that takes a little bit longer to put all of that together because there’s a lot of moving parts.
“How I try to play takes a lot of guts, so I would get stuck not doing it, and then trying. That would make me feel all over the place. But this year, I just want to have consistent plays, doing the right things on the court no matter what.
“Maybe it’s taken me until 25 to really figure that out, but there’s nothing wrong with that; I’m only competing against myself. I’m really happy, healthy, and in a really good spot now. Everything that’s happened so far, I feel like that’s helped me get to where I need to get.”
Muhammad takes on World No.6 Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday morning.
More quick hits from Muhammad…
On growing up in a family of athletes…
It’s good because my mom and dad played basketball, my brothers played basketball. My brother Shabazz, who plays in the NBA, is so supportive. He’s literally my biggest fan; when he comes to watch me play, he gets so into it and wants me to do so well. But it’s also good because when I’m away from tennis, I can watch him play, and it’s a break. My whole family play sports, and so they understand the life and are really supportive.
From a young age, we were all so competitive. I used to play basketball against my brothers, and back when I was taller than them, I could beat them and push them around. But we went from being really competitive at a young age to just being so supportive of one another. We want each other to do well, like if I have a good win and Shabazz has a good game, it’s such a great day for us to be able to do it as a team even if we’re not playing the same sport.
On debating individual vs. team sports with her family…
We’ve definitely had disagreements with that, because, just for example, when you’re playing the first set of a match and get nervous or struggling, you can’t time out, sub, or do anything like that. I tell them how lucky they are to be able to do things like that, and that I’m out there by myself. Luckily, you have a partner to help you in doubles, but we’ve disagreed about things like that. I tell them, ‘You can go sit on the bench for a little; I can’t!’
On playing tennis with Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf in Las Vegas…
I think the thing that really helped was that my cousin and I were both living in Vegas, and we both started playing at the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club. Andre and Steffi would come out and were so nice; they would hit with us and everything. I just like the environment and the people around. It was a really good vibe.
On who she calls for dinner at tournaments…
Lately it’s been the American girls; I’ve been hanging out with Christina McHale a lot because we’re playing doubles. I also hang out with Samantha Crawford, Nicole Gibbs. We’ll do dinners and it’s just easy. We want each other to do well, and so it’s easy to hang out and talk about things. They understand; not only did I spend the pre-season with most of them, I grew up with them as well. Christina and I grew up traveling together in juniors. It’s crazy.
On the last song she listened to…
Can I look? Let’s see. It was Starboy by The Weeknd.
All photos courtesy of Tennis Photo Network and Getty Images.
BRISBANE, Australia – World No.6 Karolina Pliskova made quick work of American qualifier Asia Muhammad, winning in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International for the first time.
The 25-year-old American, who scored just the second WTA main draw win of her career in the last round against wildcard Donna Vekic, fought gamely against Pliskova but couldn’t find a way through, falling 6-1, 6-4.
It was Muhammad’s first match against a Top 10 player – in fact, it was the first time she’d faced a player ranked inside the Top 50 – and it showed during the big moments. Her all-court game kept her in the points with Pliskova, but she couldn’t manage to bring up a break point against the Czech’s booming serve in the first set.
A little smirk from @KaPliskova after that finish ? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/zxwG0GXGap
— WTA (@WTA) January 3, 2017
The American found her footing in the second, staying within touching distance of the World No.6 for much of the set. But the big-hitting Pliskova found her way through, slowly but surely chipping away at Muhammad and cutting off her angles until the Czech got the break to serve for the match at 5-3.
Muhammad took advantage of an uncharacteristically loose service game from Pliskova – a pair of errors to fall behind 0-30 and a double fault on break point – to wrench the advantage away.
Her heroics were short-lived, however, as the always-cool Pliskova calmly broke once more to take the match after an hour and fourteen minutes on court.
Pliskova awaits the winner between No.8 seed Roberta Vinci and Misaki Doi.
Also in action today in Brisbane, Australia’s own Destanee Aiava thrilled the local crowd by dealing a huge upset to American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The 16-year-old Australian, ranked No.387 and also a qualifier, shocked Mattek-Sands 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round.
Meanwhile, Alizé Cornet is through to the quarterfinals after a tidy victory over Christina Mchale, 6-2, 6-1.
SHENZHEN, China – Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska eased into the Shenzhen Open quarterfinals with a quick-fire win over Sorana Cirstea on Tuesday.
The previous evening Radwanska had come perilously close to a shock defeat against wildcard Duan Ying Ying, but endured no such scare this time around, wrapping up a 6-0, 6-3 victory in an hour and 19 minutes.
“After a match like yesterday, there’s always less pressure today because you know you could have gone home already,” Radwanska said. “I think I was playing much better today, more confident and everything was smoother on court and that’s why the score was like that.”
Radwanska and Cirstea have known each other since their early teenage years, and were meeting each other for the eighth time in the professional ranks. After cantering through the opening set, Radwanska found herself trailing 3-0 in the second. And she as forced to delve into her bag of tricks to avoid falling further behind before steadying the ship to chalk up a sixth win over the Romanian.
Cool as you like from @ARadwanska to save break point! pic.twitter.com/LMMCCpjaNJ
— WTA (@WTA) January 3, 2017
“I know Sorana for a long time, since junior days, so of course it’s different than when you play someone for the first time. Her ranking was up and down for a long time, but I know it doesn’t matter what her ranking is she can play very good tennis – she hits the ball very hard from both sides – and I prepared for that.
“The first set I was a bit lucky – it could have been a totally different score – and in the important moments I was taking my chances, and didn’t let go. At the beginning of the second set I lost some concentration, but it’s good that I came back.”
In the last eight, Radwanska will meet Alison Riske, whom she defeated in last year’s final. Riske was equally impressive in her 6-1, 6-1 second-round victory over Tsvetana Pironkova.
On Saturday a sellout crowd packed into the Rod Laver Arena to watch Angelique Kerber end Germany’s near 17-year wait for a Grand Slam champion. However, the attendance and Germany’s title tally weren’t the only noteworthy numbers from a fascinating month Down Under…
2,360 – Kerber leaves Australia sitting pretty atop the Road To Singapore leaderboard with 2,360 points. Last year, she didn’t pass this mark until the start of August.
1,698 – In January, a total of 1,698 aces were served in 276 main draw matches.
694 – Kerber spent 694 minutes on court en route to her Australian Open triumph.
194 – The number of minutes needed by Heather Watson to defeat Monica Niculescu in the second round of the Hobart International, making it the longest match of the season. Honorable mentions go to Yulia Putintseva and Caroline Wozniacki for their three hour, 12 minute effort at the Australian Open.
139 – Zhang Shuai started the year ranked No.139 but has since has risen 74 spots – the biggest jump of any player currently in the Top 100.
125 – The speed in miles per hour of the fastest serve at the Australian Open, unleashed by Serena Williams.
80.1 – Serena’s 120mph-plus deliveries helped her win 80.1% of the points on her first serve in January.
74 – Perhaps unsurprisingly, Serena had more racquets restrung than any other main draw player at the Australian Open, sending 74 to the stringer’s room.
54 – Maria Sharapova (five matches) and Serena Williams (seven matches) have each hit a WTA-leading 54 aces.
45 – Monica Puig has been the most upwardly mobile of any player currently ranked in the Top 50, rising 45 places (from No.92 to 47).
34 – Based on the rankings from February 2, 2016, there are currently 34 nations represented in the Top 100, led by the USA (12), Germany (10) and Russia (8).
13 – Kerber has played a WTA-leading 13 matches (12-1); her only loss came in the Brisbane final against former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka.
3 – Kerber also leads the way in the fledgling Road To Singapore leaderboard. Three of the Top 8 on the leaderboard following the 2015 Australian Open went on to compete in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
0 – Number of times Serena had lost a third set in a Grand Slam final going into her meeting with Kerber.
27-year-old Zhang Shuai had to win three matches just to qualify for the 2016 Australian Open. A player who had never won a Grand Slam main draw match in 14 previous attempts, Zhang drew the highest-ranked opponent possible in No.2 seed Simona Halep. What Zhang saw as an ending became a new beginning.
“The last few months my ranking was down to No.200, so it was very tough. I was feeling very sad every day. I almost retired.
“But so many people helped me: my coach, my parents, my team, also the national team. My sponsor, too, always tried to help me, and give me more motivation.”
Zhang blasted past Halep for one of the biggest wins of her career – after upsetting then World No.1 Dinara Safina at the China Open in 2009 – and won three more matches to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, losing a close match to Johanna Konta.
“In my heart I’m feel like I already win the tournament because I won seven match. Yeah, it doesn’t matter if I won or lost today. I’ll just keep going.”
Final Results for January’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month
1. Zhang Shuai (44%)
2. Johanna Konta (31%)
3. Daria Gavrilova (17%)
4. Daria Kasatkina (6%)
5. Samantha Crawford (2%)
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her win in the second round of the Western & Southern Open.
World Group I
Romania vs. Czech Republic (2-3)
Just as the Romanian team looked like it would pull off the biggest upset of its history, the defending Fed Cup champions came back from a 1-2 deficit to continue their historic run.
Karolina Pliskova rose to the occasion and contributed to all three points of the team’s win. She came out swinging and scored the first point against Simona Halep, who had postponed nose surgery to support Romania in the tie. Romania’s Halep and Monica Niculescu grabbed the next two points, each scoring a win over Petra Kvitova making it. Pliskova got the Czechs on even footing with a win against Niculescu, before the fight was clinched in the deciding doubles rubber.
This team???thanks to everyone in this team amazing week again and also to all fans for supporting us♥️ pic.twitter.com/C6upqVLLUe
— Karolina Pliskova (@KaPliskova) February 7, 2016
Germany vs. Switzerland (2-3)
Belinda Bencic and Martina Hingis won the deciding point in the doubles rubber to beat Germany and send Switzerland into the Fed Cup semifinal for the first time in 18 years.
Playing as visitors in Leipzig Germany, Bencic held her nerve against two German heavyweights – No.23 Andrea Petkovic and Australian Open Champion Angelique Kerber – to win her two singles matches, putting Switzerland ahead 2-1 after Kerber defeated Timea Bacsinszky. Germany’s Annika Beck leveled the score at 2-2 with a victory over Bacsinszky, leaving the doubles match to decide the tie.
“It feels awesome next to Belinda to play with her now and [win] the deciding point,” Hingis told FedCup.com.
“It was tough at the beginning for me to be on the side bench for the first four matches, you are cheering them on and then you’ve got to go out. It took me a little while to get used to it but I feel I had great support from her.”
Switzerland will play the Czech Republic in the next round.
No matter what,together we are stronger! #SwissTeam ?? #TeamSpirit #WeHaveEachOthersBack ❤️ #united ?-U in April ?? pic.twitter.com/STFWFYqIMI
— Timea Bacsinszky (@TimeaOfficial) February 7, 2016
France vs. Italy (4-1)
Caroline Garcia dominated all her matches in singles and doubles, booking France’s spot in the final four for the second straight year.
Kristina Mladenovic put the home side in a tough spot, dropping the opening match against Italy’s Camila Giorgi, but Garcia leveled the tie with a win over Sara Errani. Mladenovic found redemption the next day by closing out Errani to put France ahead 2-1, before Garcia won the decisive point against Giorgi and sent France into the semifinals.
“I feel very happy, and it’s been a great week,” Garcia told FedCup.com after the victory. “It’s not every day you beat Italy 4-1. We are pretty proud.”
.@CaroGarcia's TWO WINS lead France back into #FedCup Semifinals!
Sets Semifinal vs the Netherlands! pic.twitter.com/sxxQ8ZpQpf
— WTA (@WTA) February 7, 2016
Russia vs. Netherlands (1-3)
Kiki Bertens pulled off two stunning upsets in Moscow to send last year’s finalists crashing out and put the Netherlands into their first Fed Cup semifinal since 1997.
She opened the tie with a straight sets win over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, before her countrywoman Richel Hogenkamp emerged victorious in a four-hour marathon match against Svetlana Kuznetsova to put the Netherlands ahead 2-0. Kuznetsova came back the next day but fell short against Bertens, giving the Dutch team an unassailable 3-0 lead and the group’s first semifinal berth. Makarova and Daria Katatkina claimed Russia’s only point in the doubles rubber.
“This is unbelievable,” Bertens told FedCup.com after the tie. “I don’t think anyone expected that we could win this tie, perhaps we even didn’t. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Netherlands is set to play France in the semifinals.
Netherlands is FIRST through to the #FedCup Semifinals! @KikiBertens def Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-4 & knocks out Russia! pic.twitter.com/kj7n3XPOKy
— WTA (@WTA) February 7, 2016
World Group II
The victories were more one-sided in World Group II for the USA and Spain, who both advanced with shutout victories.
Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens rattled off three straight-sets singles wins for the United States to seal the tie and give their country a place in the World Group play-offs. Spain booked their spot in a similar manner, with Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro sweeping their opponents in straight sets for a 3-0 victory over Serbia.
Sam Stosur powered Australia to a close 3-2 victory over Slovakia, winning her two singles matches over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Jana Cepelova before teaming up with Casey Dellacqua to claim the decisive point in doubles.
Belarus came back from a 1-2 deficit to win over Canada, booking their spot in the World Group II play-offs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich contributed to all three of Belarus’ points, winning two singles matches and the doubles decider with Olga Govortsova.
Barbora Strycova takes on Eugenie Bouchard in the first round of the Western & Southern Open.