St. Petersburg: Ivanovic Interview
An interview with Ana Ivanovic after her quarterfinal win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
An interview with Ana Ivanovic after her quarterfinal win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her win in the final round of the Western & Southern Open.
The WTA World No.1 Ranking will be on the line at this year’s US Open. Can Serena Williams extend her stay atop the WTA Rankings and make history?
Only 21 players have occupied the No.1 ranking since the computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. Will we see a new player take hold of the No.1 spot for the first time in three years?
wtatennis.com breaks down the No.1 scenarios ahead of the US Open:
Serena Eyes Another Record: Williams enters the US Open as the WTA World No.1-ranked player, a distinction she has held since February 18, 2013. Through the two weeks at the US Open, Williams will extend her streak to 186 consecutive weeks, tying the WTA record for most consecutive weeks at No.1 held by Stefanie Graf (186 weeks, August 17, 1987 through March 10, 1991).
Williams currently holds a 190-point advantage over Kerber in the rankings. However, to break the record, Williams will need to at least reach the semifinals and possibly advance further. Williams is defending 780 points at the US Open as she advanced to the semifinals last year before Roberta Vinci stopped her run.
As Kerber progresses, though, Williams will need to advance further:
– If Kerber reaches the quarterfinals at the US Open, then Williams will need to reach the final to have a chance at keeping the No.1 ranking.
– If Williams wins the US Open, she will secure the No.1 ranking, regardless of any other results.
– A championship match showdown between Williams and Kerber, the Top 2 seeds, would see the winner walk away not only with the trophy, but the No.1 ranking.
Williams’ ranking points have come from seven tournaments in the last 52 weeks – 2015 US Open (780), Australian Open (1300), Indian Wells (650), Miami (120), Rome (900), Roland Garros (1300) and Wimbledon (2000).
What Will It Take For Kerber To Become World No.1?: Angelique Kerber is bidding to become the 22nd player to hold the WTA World No.1 Ranking since the computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. The German came within one win of unseating Williams at No.1 in Cincinnati, but fell short in the final against Karolina Pliskova.
Last year, Kerber lost to Victoria Azarenka in the third round at the US Open and as a result is only defending 130 points in Flushing Meadows.
Kerber will have a 460-point advantage from the start of the tournament. An early exit would not necessarily prevent her from moving to No.1.
Kerber consistently has reached the final four at the tour’s biggest events with six finals appearances this year, winning the title at Australian Open and Stuttgart, finishing as runner-up at Brisbane, Wimbledon and Cincinnati. (She also reached the final at the Olympic Games, although that does not count towards ranking points). As a result, Kerber’s ranking has been on a steady incline after finishing 2015 at No.10.
Muguruza Also Has A Chance: One of three Grand Slam champions this year, Muguruza will need to reach the final at the US Open to have a chance of overtaking the No.1 ranking. Should she win her second Grand Slam title of the year, the Spaniard would take claim to the No.1 spot unless Kerber also reaches the final.
First Grand Slam Title Could Vault Radwanska To The Top: To have a chance at moving to No.1, Agnieszka Radwanska would need to win the US Open, although if she is able to win the title in New Haven this week, a run to the finals could potentially be enough.
Petra Kvitova has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Connecticut Open.
NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Defending champion Petra Kvitova kept her bid for a fourth Connecticut Open title firmly on track as she powered past Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Much like in her previous match, it took a few games for Kvitova to get going and find her rhythm against Bouchard. The Czech surrendered the first break to give Bouchard a 3-1 lead in the first set. But losing serve first just served to galvanize the No.6 seed, who broke back immediately and reeled off 10 straight games to put herself up a set and 5-0.
Kvitova closed out the match after just over an hour and advanced to her fifth consecutive New Haven quarterfinal. It was also Kvitova’s tenth win in a row in New Haven, improving her record at the tournament to an impressive 17-2.
With the win Kvitova sets up a quarterfinal clash with Ekaterina Makarova, an opponent she’s all too familiar with. This will be the fourth time they’ll have met this year, with Makarova owning wins at Miami and Wimbledon and Kvitova getting her revenge at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.
“I feel like I meet Ekaterina every week, it’s really funny,” Kvitova said of the matchup. “I remember one year we played here as well and I beat her. So I hope that I can take some of the good memories from here and try to play my best again.”
Fencing with water bottles is how we recover ? See you tomorrow @connecticutopen ? pic.twitter.com/3X6HrKIxjQ
— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) August 25, 2016
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza before her opening round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Julia Goerges after her win in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Nicole Gibbs is feeling pretty good about her score in the WTA Frame Challenge! Find out how she did right here on wtatennis.com.
DUBAI, UAE – World No.47 Barbora Strycova employed her brand of unpredictable tennis to power past Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and reach her sixth career WTA final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Watch live action from Dubai & Rio de Janeiro this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
She was up against a very familiar opponent in the day’s second semifinal: Strycova and Garcia have played each other four times, with Strycova winning their last three matches in straight sets, including a first-round encounter earlier this year at the Australian Open.
The players started out this encounter very evenly-matched – and they stayed that way for most of the match.
Garcia played her trademark aggressive all-court game, sending Strycova on the defensive early on until the Czech grabbed the first break of the match at 3-2. Garcia used all of her weapons – even throwing in some serving and volleying – but Strycova’s unpredictable style was just too full of surprises, a two-handed backhand slice drop shot throwing Garcia completely off kilter and bringing up the break.
Strycova went on to win the next five games to take the opening set at 6-2 and go up 2-0 in the second.
Not to be outdone, the Frenchwoman held her nerve – and came up with some incredible service games – to win six of the next seven games to take the set 6-3 to level the match.
In the final set, the two were toe-to-toe, neither woman giving an inch: when Garcia broke to start the match, Strycova broke her right back; when Garcia held her serve at love, Strycova held serve at love in reply. They stayed deadlocked until Strycova finally broke for 5-3 – Garcia saved two break points to bring it to deuce, but after a 22-shot-rally Strycova emerged victorious. Serving for the match, Strycova erased both of Garcia’s break opportunities and sealed the match with an ace.
“I kept telling myself play your game and go for it – you have nothing to lose,” Strycova said after the match. “I wasn’t serving well the whole match but in that last game it was important that I pull it through.”
“That last game I was like, ‘Okay, pull something through. And then I made good serves. I’m so happy about it because it wasn’t easy match for me. But to be in the final it’s great.
Awaiting Strycova in the final is 2013 Dubai finalist Sara Errani, winner of the day’s first semifinal against Elina Svitolina. Errani leads their head-to-head record 5-1.
“We always have tough matches with Sara,” Strycova said of her opponent in the final. “Last time I lost from two match points.
“But it’s a final so I will enjoy it. Or I’ll try to enjoy it, actually.”
SINGAPORE – There’s squad goals, and then there’s the WTA Legends, who were out in full force on Thursday morning to take in the incredible view from the top of the Marina Bay Sands before Day 5 action began at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
WTA Finals Ambassadors Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Monica Seles Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Iva Majoli, and Mary Pierce took to the highest peak of the world-famous hotel to pose for a series of photos at the Marina Bay Sands’ SkyPark, offering sprawling views of the city; they later enjoyed some Singapore delicacies at Spago, hosted by Chef Joshua Brown.
“We have a clear day today, so I’ve never seen this far away,” noted Navratilova to WTA Insider. “It’s an amazing, bustling city. I drove around yesterday, went shopping at the Mustafa Centre that’s open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day; it was amazing. There’s so much energy here.”
#WTA Legends were introduced to Singaporean delicacy chicken rice by Chef Joshua Brown @marinabaysands when they're in town for #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/4nP2mPkcPr
— WTA Finals Singapore (@WTAFinalsSG) October 27, 2016
Navratilova has been on hand for much of the week, looking forward to the start of the doubles event, where eight teams will compete for a trophy named in her honor.
“It’ll be interesting because Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia had the best year, but mostly because Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis stopped playing together. They had a bit of a falling-out, but they’re playing here. That dynamic between Sania and Martina, how they get along, will be crucial.
“If they can put whatever happened between them behind and play good tennis – because doubles is a team sport, and you really need to play together – I’m looking forward to that more than anything.
“At their best, Hingis and Mirza are the favorites because they have the biggest weapons and know-how, how to play the points. But Mladenovic and Garcia would be a close second favorite.”
The WTA Legends convene for a Skypark photoshoot: pic.twitter.com/PwmqfQcqSv
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 27, 2016
Evert arrived on Wednesday night, but is in familiar territory, having visited Singapore three times before.
“Oh my god, it’s beautiful!” she enthused. “The tough thing is getting here; it’s a long way from Florida – 21 hours – but once you get here, it’s breathtakingly beautiful, especially the Marina Bay Sands.”
A longtime commentator for ESPN, the 18-time Grand Slam champion tagged Angelique Kerber as her Player of the Year, and the one most likely to lift the Billie Jean King Trophy at week’s end:
“Angelique Kerber’s impressed me, winning two Grand Slams. No one’s done that in so many years besides Serena Williams, really.
“She’s been playing some really great tennis, more aggressively. She’s really stepped it up with her game. Mentally, she’s gotten tougher, and she’s looking tough here too.”
.@28dolfan #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/PXToIho17v
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
Navratilova echoed her old rival’s sentiments on Kerber, but gave an honorable mention to No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the first of Singapore’s semifinalists following her three-set win over Karolina Pliskova.
“It’s great to see because a couple of years ago, we all thought she was probably done, that she was going to fade away and retire. She kept coming back and, lo and behold, played some of her best tennis this year.
“It’s really good to see her out there, still fighting, still enjoying it and competing so well, emotionally, mentally, and most of all, physically.”
.@greensolo9 #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/eSFMcxjh1V
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
Qualifying on the last day of the regular season, Kuznetsova’s effort completed the closest Road to Singapore leaderboard in WTA history. Evert believes the photo finish presented a strong case for just how tough the tour has become.
“It just shows the depth at the top. In previous years, you’d have Serena, and then a gap between her and the other women.
“Now, there’s no gap; the Top 8 are all relevant, and are all capable of winning this WTA Finals. I’m really happy to see that the depth is finally there again at the top of the game.”
.@kvittycat53 #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/LuKfXceawd
— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016
With this season nearly in the books, Evert is already looking ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2017.
“Let’s put it this way. Victoria Azarenka is going to have a baby in December and she’s thinking about coming back; that’ll be interesting. Serena’s always interesting; can she break Stefanie Graf’s record? They’re both at 22 right now, and how much longer is Serena going to be at the top of her game? Maria Sharapova’s coming back in April or May.
“There’s going to be a lot of big stories.”
