Halep Kicks Off Day 2 In NYC
WTA Insider | On the second day of the WTA Insider Live Blog, the top half of the draw begin their US Open campaigns, including Simona Halep and Serena Williams.
WTA Insider | On the second day of the WTA Insider Live Blog, the top half of the draw begin their US Open campaigns, including Simona Halep and Serena Williams.
Elina Svitolina talks through her win over Mandy Minella in the semifinals of the Taiwan Open.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Anastasija Sevastova held her nerve to pull off the win of her life at the US Open, dispatching No.3 seed and reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza, 7-5, 6-4.
“It still hasn’t settled in,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I mean, I’m tired mentally and it’s late. Normally I go to sleep at this time.
“It feels great, but it’s still not like I won the tournament. It’s only second round.”
Sevastova was a rising star back in 2011, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open at 20 years old. But injuries soon sapped the desire away from the young Latvian, who hung up her racquets two years later, and was off the tour for two years more.
“I was playing a little bit. I was doing some sparring. It was better, physically. I was still playing okay. That’s why I think I decided to try again to come back.
“But you never know. A lot of people are trying to come back, and sometimes it doesn’t work out. That’s why I wanted to start from the beginning, from the lowest level.”
Playing on the game’s biggest stage, Sevastova thrilled the Arthur Ashe crowd as she took the first set and raced out to a 5-1 lead in the second, holding two match points in the next game.
“I stopped thinking. I was thinking too much at 5-2, 5-3. Then I said, ‘Okay, I have one more chance at 5-4. She’s serving. I broke her before enough times, so I will try this one more time.’
“And still, even then it’s only 5-5. It’s still an open match like the first set.”
In 2015, she came out of retirement. Tonight, she beats a GS champ. #Sevastova d. #Muguruza 7-5, 6-4. @MBUSA #usopen https://t.co/a5xfmjm8XC
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2016
That positivity took the Latvian over the finish line, breaking serve to love to clinch the biggest upset thus far.
“I think it was a very tough match,” Muguruza said after the match. “I think I didn’t play well today. I think she also played well. Everything she was doing was working. Maybe at the last part of the match I could feel like I could have a chance to come back, but, in fact, it was like 50/50.
“So at the end she played well, and that’s it.”
Still, the Spaniard seemed to take the defeat in stride, joking about her less-than-stellar record at the US Open.
“I try to give my all. I try to fight on court. She was just better. I don’t know if it’s bad luck.
“But, well, I did my best result again! I’m just saying that.”
Up next for Sevastova is Kateryna Bondarenko, who won a dramatic 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-5 match over China’s Zheng Saisai earlier in the evening.
#Sevastova with the UPSET ? tonight. Hear the call ? as she defeats No. 3 #Muguruza. https://t.co/TUa8gGkyTL
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2016
An interview with Elina Svitolina after her win in the final of the Taiwan Open.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – As Caroline Wozniacki hurtled to all corners of the court before unleashing an unerringly accurate winner to close out her upset win over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Wednesday afternoon, it felt as if someone had wound back the clock.
The manner of the comeback drew instant parallels with two displays from the Dane’s pomp against the same player at the same venue. The first of these, during the a fourth round tussle seven years ago, came from a particularly perilous position, Wozniacki trailing the Russian 6-2, 4-1 only to somehow resuscitate her ailing challenge.
“Definitely I was a much different player back then. I love playing here at the Open. I have great memories here,” Wozniacki said. “I have had matches against Sveta so many times before here where she’s been killing literally on court 6-1, 4-1, and then I have managed to come back and win the match in three sets.
“It’s like, You know what? Just keep going, wait for your opportunity and your chance, and I did that today.”
In both 2009 and 2011, Wozniacki went on to reach the latter stages of the tournament; indeed, in 2009 she would come within one win of that elusive Grand Slam title, only to be denied by Kim Clijsters own fairytale run.
Two years ago, Wozniacki returned to the final once more, this time losing out to the imperious Serena Williams. Since then success has been rather thin on the ground, injuries sending her ranking tumbling down to No.74. However, the former World No.1 is not contemplating hanging up the racquets just yet.
“I think, you know, when you’re home for a big amount of time you realize that, you know, life goes on and you kind of get a rhythm at home. I was actually enjoying my time, making the most of the time that I had,” Wozniacki said about her time away from the tour this spring recovering from an ankle injury.
“I haven’t been able to be home for three months in a row for the last probably over 10 years. So, you know, if I have to look at the positive of things, that was a positive. But I always had in my head that I just have to keep working hard and I’ll come back and hopefully play strong and play well. I knew that it’s not easy to come back, and especially, you know, you are going to get tough draws. I’m a player that needs matches to kind of get into the tournament.
“But I wasn’t thinking about quitting. I mean, I know that I have a lot of opportunities, I have a lot of other interests, and my life is going to be good regardless. But, you know, I’m still young. Hopefully I have a few more years in me.”
UPSET ?: Out goes No. 9 Kuznetsova. Two-time #usopen finalist #Wozniacki is into the third round! @Chase https://t.co/WubDV9q2aI
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) 31 August 2016
Elina Svitolina thanks the fans after her win in the final of the Taiwan Open.
WTA Insider | In the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, Simona Halep leads Thursday’s order of play, likely under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Former World No.1 Maria Sharapova has picked up one of the wildcards for May’s Mutua Madrid Open as she plans her WTA comeback.
“Sharapova requested an invitation to play in the tournament and after considering it, we decided to give her a wildcard,” said Manolo Santana, the tournament director, in a statement.
“Maria is one of the best players of the last 15 years and also a past winner of our tournament. In Madrid she always plays well and I’m sure she will come back to the courts highly motivated and hoping to do well in her first tournaments.”
Sharapova, 29, last won the event in 2014, beating Simona Halep, 1-6 6-2 6-3, in the final.
“Sharapova is one of those players that all tennis fans want to see,” added Mutua Madrid Open CEO and President Gerard Tsobanian. “Her presence in the Caja Mágica is great news for the tournament, for the fans and also for the city of Madrid.”
The Russian makes her return to the tour in Stuttgart in April following her positive test for a banned substance in 2016.
Tickets and season tickets for the Mutua Madrid Open can be purchased at www.madrid-open.com and entradas.com.
Petra Kvitova has cut a relaxed figure so far at the US Open. So relaxed, in fact, that she is trialing an unconventional approach to practice.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Samantha Stosur is widely regarded as one of the most popular players on tour. And it is easy to understand why; magnanimous in defeat, honest to the press and generous with her time for other players, Stosur is not one for airs and graces.
One player who will testify to the above is Zhang Shuai. A regular practice partner of the Australian, Zhang sought her counsel at a particularly low ebb. In fact it was Stosur that talked the Chinese player out of hanging up the racquets for good, during a meal in Beijing last year.
The sisterly pep talk seemed to do the trick as just a few months later Zhang ended her long-running Grand Slam hoodoo by making it all the way through qualifying and into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
The 27-year-old looks capable of replicating this success at the US Open where she is through to the third round following a bittersweet upset of Stosur.
“She helped me a lot last year when I thought about retiring. She told me to keep going and not give up. She tried to help me by playing doubles,” Zhang said.
“It’s a tough feeling playing her and I feel sad for Sam. She always tries her best, she loves the game. I hope that next time we will meet later in the tournament.”
Zhang had lost her only previous meeting with Stosur, at Roland Garros this May, and admitted afterwards that it was a result she believed beyond her: “Before the match I didn’t think I could beat her because she was a champion of the US Open and she has very good serve and very good spinning forehand. It’s very tough to play her. She beat me in the French Open so this gives me a lot of confidence.”
Next up is another fearsome ball-striker, Yaroslava Shvedova, as Zhang attempts to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Peng Shuai and Li Na by reaching the second week in New York.
“I am very excited. I love New York. Now I want to focus on my tennis and not on the fact that I am the last Chinese woman left in the competition.”
Zhang Shuai floored to be in the 3R @usopen. “Usually when other people start the tournament I’m already in China,” referring to 1R history.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 2 September 2016