Tennis News

Monica Puig came to the Olympic tennis event under the radar, but Puerto Rico’s top tennis talent blistered through a tough draw to take home her country’s first gold medal.

“I just saw an improvement every single match I played,” she said after the match. “In every match I got better and better. I started getting faster. I started getting more powerful. I started believing in myself even more. With every match that passed, I just continued to learn and continued to grow.

“I just achieved one of my biggest dreams.”

That dream nearly didn’t come true, as Olympic qualification came down to the wire for Puig, but once in the draw, she knocked out the game’s biggest names, including Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, and future No.1 Angelique Kerber in a thrilling three-set final.

“There’s no denying that tonight was nerve‑wracking for me. I just tried to keep as calm as possible. Inside, I was about, like, to explode at any minute. Both the semifinal and final were incredibly hard‑fought. I’m just so pleased with how I was able to keep my composure and come through.”

Here more from Puig in the WTA Insider Podcast:

The first Puerto Rican woman to medal – and the first Gold medalist from Puerto Rico – earned an astounding 350,000 votes to help earn her the mantle of August’s WTA Player of the Month!

Final Results for August’s WTA Player Of The Month

1. Monica Puig (97%)
2. Angelique Kerber (2%)
3. Karolina Pliskova (1%)

2016 WTA Player of the Month Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams
July: Simona Halep

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com 

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – WTA players made the most of their time away from the courts of the Alya WTA Malaysian Open on Tuesday, paying a visit to Permata Kurnia, a learning centre for autistic children aged 4-7.

Australian buddies Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty, who have teamed up in the doubles draw in Kuala Lumpur, were joined by wildcard Zheng Saisai and Malaysian player Theiviya Selvarajoo at the learning centre. Barty, who made the third round of the Australian Open in January after a recent hiatus from the sport, qualified for the singles main draw in Kuala Lumpur as well.

Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, serves as the patron of Permata Kurnia, where the motto reads: ‘Autism is Not a Tragedy, Ignorance Is.’

Accompanied by representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, the players chatted to the children and joined them for an impromptu music session – Barty strumming on the guitar and Zheng on the tambourine.

All photos: © Alya WTA Malaysian Open

TOKYO, Japan – Caroline Wozniacki overcame a mid-match blip to defeat 2015 runner-up Belinda Bencic in the opening round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Watch live action from Tokyo this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Continuing the form that took her to the US Open semifinals, Wozniacki raced through the first set before building a commanding lead in the second. However, with the finishing line in sight, Wozniacki, who lifted the title in the Japanese capital six years ago, wobbled before recomposing herself in the deciding set to close out a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory.

The result ended a run of four straight defeats for Wozniacki against the Swiss, including in the Tokyo semifinals 12 months ago, and her reward is a second-round meeting with No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro.

A strong serving display from Wozniacki, who backed up her usual metronomic groundstrokes with 10 aces, provided further reminder of her ability to contest at the business end of the WTA’s flagship events. The only cause for concern came when victory was in sight.

Leading 5-2, the former World No.1 came within two points of victory only to see Bencic escape this game, then pounce on a couple of inviting second serves to break back. As the Dane retreated into her defensive shell, Bencic prowled around the court with intent, clubbing a drive volley to move 6-5 ahead before serving out to love.

This was the signal for Wozniacki to take a bathroom pit-stop and when she returned so too did her focus. A resilient hold was followed by a break, Bencic ending a lengthy exchange with a forehand into the tape. This time there would be no coming back, a run of four unanswered games emphatically quashing her young opponent’s hopes.

Also advancing in the bottom half of the draw were Barbora Strycova and Magda Linette. Strycova ruthlessly ended the run of qualifier Varatchaya Wongteanchai, 6-1, 6-1, while Linette, a qualifier herself, fought back to defeat teenage wildcard Olesya Pervushina, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

SEOUL, South Korea – No.5 seed Monica Niculescu was the only seeded player to advance on Day 6 at the Korea Open Tennis after a spate of upsets saw defending champion Irina-Camelia Begu, Kirsten Flipkens and Kristina Mladenovic bow out in the second round.

Niculescu faced off against Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova for a spot into the Seoul quarterfinals. The Romanian had little trouble seeing off Schmiedlova, breaking her serve three times in each set to advance in an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 victory in just over an hour and a half.

But the rest of the field wasn’t so lucky, and chaos reigned after Niculescu left the court at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center.

Patricia Maria Tig dodged all of Kirsten Flipkens’ Seoul-ful hot shots on her way to a 6-4, 6-4 upset over the No.6 seed. She books a quarterfinal clash with Sara Sorribes Tormo, who came back from a set down to upset No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The day of surprises ended with the biggest shock of the day, as the No.102 ranked Jana Cepelova ousted the defending champion and top seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.