Serena Announces Engagement To Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian
22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams took to Reddit, the platform co-founded by fiance Alexis Ohanian, to announce her engagement.
22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams took to Reddit, the platform co-founded by fiance Alexis Ohanian, to announce her engagement.
BRISBANE, Australia – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 10th WTA doubles title together in Brisbane and have now won 26 matches in a row – the longest doubles winning streak in 22 years.
Saturday’s final was a tight affair early on, as Hingis and Mirza’s opponents in the final, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic, rebounded from a 2-0 deficit with four games of their own to build a 4-2 lead. But the No.1-seeded Swiss-Indian combo flipped the script completely from there, rattling off 11 of the last 13 games of the match to get by the German wildcard pairing in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1.
“They’re obviously very good players, so we knew we had to come out and play our best,” Mirza said. “We let the lead go a little bit after 2-0, and we were both trying to find our form again on the court. It was big we broke on the deuce point at 6-5, and after that the tide really changed in our favor.”
Though she came out on the losing end, Kerber still made history – she’s the first player in the tournament’s history to reach both the singles and doubles finals. She was runner-up in singles too.
“It wasn’t my night tonight. I lost two finals,” she said at the trophy ceremony. “But it was still a great week, and congratulations to Sania and Martina – you are the best, good luck in Melbourne!”
And so, Hingis and Mirza’s winning streak lives on – at 26 matches in a row it’s the longest doubles winning streak since Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva won 28 matches in a row together in 1994.
Hingis and Mirza also hit double digit WTA doubles titles together – Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and WTA Finals in 2015, and now Brisbane.
Even more impressive? Hingis and Mirza are actually 10-1 in WTA doubles finals together.
They’re playing again this week coming up, at the Apia International Sydney – again as top seeds.
“Every match at the beginning of the season is a good match, just trying to get that confidence going,” Hingis said. “It’s great we already have this Brisbane title in our pockets, and we’re really looking forward to Sydney. We’ll get a couple days off before we play and then we will start again.
“I always have such great support in Australia so I really look forward to the next tournaments.”
#Hingis/#Mirza with their hardware! Their 10th tournament title together ?????????? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/eRsqqDOod8
— Brisbane Intl (@BrisbaneTennis) January 9, 2016
MONTRÉAL, Canada – No.10 seed Madison Keys edged past Venus Williams in a tight three sets to snap up one of the last quarterfinal spots in the Rogers Cup.
Watch live action from Montréal this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Keys has looked dominant in all of her matches so far in Montréal, her first tournament since her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon. Although she went into the match against Williams trailing 2-1 in their head to head, she had the added confidence of splitting their last two matches on hard courts – both of which were three-set battles.
“I’m excited,” the 21-year-old said yesterday at the prospect of playing Williams. “It’s always tough playing her.She’s obviously a great player.
“She did well last week, so it’s going to be a tough match. But I’m looking forward to it.”
Williams started out shaky in the opening set as her service woes reared their head once again. She’s struggled with normally trusty shot all tournament long, and in the first few games barely managed to crack the 90 miles per hour mark. Keys, a strong returner, took advantage of the lapse and stayed aggressive to take the opening set 6-1 in just 20 minutes.
“Her first serve was definitely slower than normal,” Keys acknowledged after the match. “But it was funny, her second serve was a lot slower, but because of the court it was bouncing a lot higher than normal. So while her first serve was a little easier to return, her second serve was really tough.”
Williams looked in trouble again in the second set as she quickly went down a break, but the 2014 champion shook off the disappointing start. Keys allowed more errors to spray from her racquet as Williams backed up her vulnerable serve with pinpoint groundstrokes – especially off of the forehand wing. She dominated the tiebreak to force a deciding set.
But after the enormous effort it took to get back on course, it just didn’t look like Williams had any more left in the tank for the final set. She couldn’t maintain her level, allowing Keys to get back to her attacking ways. Keys broke early on in the set and relied on her serve to keep her nose ahead until she took the match 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-3.
She’s set to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the next round, whose monumental effort against Agnieszka Radwanska earned her a spot in the quarterfinals.
“It’s going to be a tough match,” Keys said of her always-aggressive Russian opponent. “She’s always tricky because she definitely fights till the end and she’s going to hit a lot of winners.
“I think it will be similar to today, you know, kind of deciding when to just get the ball back in a good, neutral spot, or when to kind of pull the trigger and be a little bit more aggressive.”
BRISBANE, Australia – The first Premier-level event of the season starts in earnest at the Brisbane International, with five of the WTA Finals’ Elite Eight headlining the field.
The draw is out and here’s a rundown of how Angelique Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova and more are starting the first tournament of the 2017 season.
Click here for the complete Brisbane singles and doubles draws.
POSSIBLE QUARTERFINALS:
[1] Angelique Kerber vs [6] Elina SvitolinaEARLY MATCHES TO WATCH:
Monica Puig vs [6] Elina Svitolina: Two of the fastest rising stars on the tour will meet in the first round as Olympic gold medalist Puig takes on Zhuhai finalist Svitolina. Their head-to-head record is split at one apiece.
Samantha Stosur vs [4] Garbiñe Muguruza: Brisbane’s own Stosur’s first opponent at her home tournament will be Muguruza. Their head-to-head record is split at one win apiece, with the Spaniard defeating Stosur en route to her French Open title.
As the top two seeds, Kerber and Cibulkova received a bye into the second round. Kerber awaits the winner between Australian wildcard Ashleigh Barty and a qualifier, while Cibulkova will face either Laura Siegemund or Zhang Shuai.
Key information, where to watch and more: everything you need to know about Brisbane.
KERBER AND CIBULKOVA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL:
Should last year’s finalist Kerber advance to the quarterfinals, she could be looking at an early taste of revenge, with a potential encounter against Monica Puig – who defeated her in the final at the Olympic tennis event in Rio – or Elina Svitolina – who ousted her from the China Open.
It doesn’t get any easier from there, with her 2016 nemesis Karolina Pliskova or Roberta Vinci drawn as potential semifinal opponents.
For Cibulkova, a handful of dangerous floaters stand between her and the final. Elena Vesnina, who starts against the tricky Alizé Cornet, is a potential quarterfinal opponent, while the semifinals could hold Garbiñe Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
MELBOURNE, Australia – After winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals at the end of the 2015 season, Agnieszka Radwanska made a big declaration – that she would do everything in her power to win a Grand Slam title in 2016 (check out the full interview with CNN Open Court here).
But Radwanska hasn’t just been talking the talk of a future Grand Slam champion – she’s been walking the walk, big time. Since losing early at the US Open she’s been doing a heck of a lot of winning, capturing four of the six tournaments she’s played – Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Tianjin, the WTA Finals in Singapore and Shenzhen this past week – and putting together a more than impressive 22-4 record.
And by winning Shenzhen, Radwanska also secured a rise from No.5 to No.4 on the WTA Rankings, meaning she’ll have a Top 4 seed at the Australian Open, which, in turn, means she won’t have to play Serena Williams until at least the semifinals – a good break given she’s 0-8 against the World No.1.
But the question remains: Why could the Australian Open be Radwanska’s first Grand Slam title?
Well, there’s actually a very good reason Radwanska could make her breakthrough at the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific – she’s won 10 of her 18 career WTA titles in the Asia-Pacific**:
2016 – Shenzhen
2015 – Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Tianjin, WTA Finals [Singapore]2014 – Montréal
2013 – Auckland, Sydney, Seoul
2012 – Dubai, Miami, Brussels
2011 – Carlsbad, Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Beijing
2008 – Pattaya City, Istanbul, Eastbourne
2007 – Stockholm
Radwanska was asked why she always does so well in the Asia-Pacific during her week in Shenzhen.
“That’s a good question – I’m not sure!” she replied. “I’m always feeling good on the court here, and I’m always playing great tennis. And you can’t ignore the results – that’s really a lot of tournaments.
“Hopefully there will be even more tournaments to play in the Asia-Pacific in the future!”
Many would pick Wimbledon to be Radwanska’s best major – she reached her first Grand Slam final there in 2012, after all – but she’s been to the quarterfinals or better at the Australian Open just as many times as at Wimbledon (five). Her best result in Melbourne was the semifinals back in 2014.
Can the World No.4, a former World No.2, go all the way this time? Stay tuned on wtatennis.com!
** The general definition for Asia-Pacific is East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania
Simona Halep takes on Karolina Pliskova in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
BRISBANE, Australia – Alizé Cornet scored her first win of 2017 in dramatic fashion, coming back the brink of defeat to upset Elena Vesnina at the Brisbane International.
The No.7 seeded Russian, who enjoyed her first Top 20 season last year, got a rude awakening in the New Year in the form of a determined Cornet, who was two games away from defeat before mounting her comeback to advance 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
“It feels really great to win the first match of 2017, on the first of January, after a thriller match against Elena,” Cornet said after the victory.
“It was the worst scenario ever, 7-6 in the third, almost three hours of match. It was a big fight and I’m happy I’m through. I feel ready for the rest of the tournament.”
Vesnina took advantage of a shaky start from the Frenchwoman to build her momentum early on, quickly taking the opening set and building up a daunting 4-1 lead in the second. But the match turned on a dime as Cornet put the pressure on, drawing out the unforced errors from Vesnina’s racquet and rattling off five straight games to level the match.
.@AlizeCornet battles past Vesnina 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)!
Advances to @BrisbaneTennis Second round! pic.twitter.com/dnwV6rAOIC
— WTA (@WTA) January 1, 2017
With the heat rule in effect, the pair were back on court for a tense final set, staying even blow for blow and heading into a tiebreak. After two hours and thirty-seven minutes, an ill-timed drop shot from Vesnina – on her 65 unforced errors – didn’t make it over the net and gave Cornet match point and sent her into the second round.
Up next for Cornet is Christina McHale, who had a smoother road into the second round after cruising past Sara Errani in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
“First I have to think about recovering from this match, that’s the most important,” Cornet said. “Then I can think about the second round.
“I play against McHale, who is a very good player and had an easy first round win. I’m expecting a tough battle, but you know, this match really got me in the rhythm! I’m just ready to keep going.”
1st of january ✔
1st match of the season ✔
1st thriller ✔
1st win ✔ ??? !
Welcome to the 2017 season ? #BrisbaneInternational #lookingtired pic.twitter.com/mR3dTxdKsd— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) January 1, 2017
SYDNEY, Australia – Playing her first WTA match of the season, Karolina Pliskova was in fine form against wildcard Ana Ivanovic; the Czech star hit a whopping 14 aces to oust the former No.1, 6-4, 6-2.
Ivanovic was coming into Sydney after taking a surprisingly early loss at the ASB Classic; looking for some extra match play ahead of the Australian Open, the Serb came up against a red-hot Pliskova whom she had never beaten in two previous encounters. Though she managed to exchange breaks with Pliskova in the opening set, the 2008 French Open champion was unable to convert any of the four break point opportunities she had in the second, and fell in just under an hour and 20 minutes.
Up next for Pliskova is either qualifier Lara Arruabarrena or the unseeded and looming Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who reached the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International last week.
Earlier in the day, Caroline Garcia won her first WTA match of the season, but came in buoyed by three match wins earned at last week’s Hopman Cup. Garcia won an all-French encounter on Sunday, edging past Kristina Mladenovic, 7-6(4), 6-4. She’s slated to face top seed Simona Halep, who was forced to withdraw from Brisbane with an Achilles injury.
Two veterans also emerged victorious on Sunday; two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova cruised past local wildcard Tammi Patterson, 6-2, 6-0, in just over an hour.
“I felt a bit tense, but in the end I was better,” the famously blunt Kuznetsova told press after the match.
“I have to be really prepared to play an opponent who you’ve never seen and don’t know how they play. I try to think that it’s interesting to try to figure the player out.
“I prefer to know at least a little bit, but when you know a little bit, the coach will tell you how she hits this shot, or that shot, and you’ll have this, but when you go to the court and she plays completely the opposite. I don’t have to choose!”
Kuznetsova could potentially play former No.1 Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals; the Serb took out Coco Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-4.
“It’s the beginning of the season and I just want to get match tough again,” Jankovic said after the match. “I feel a little bit rusty. I have so many options in my head – I should play this or that – but it gets better over time, and it’s normal after not competing for a month and a half.
A Sydney finalist in 2007, the Serb had lost her last three matches to the American, having last beat her at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open.
“I lost to Coco the last few times we played; she has a big game and she doesn’t really let me play my game. If I’m able to absorb her power and move the ball around and not really give her two of the same ball, I’m in good shape.”
Jankovic will have a completely different opponent in the next round, one of Sara Errani or Carla Suárez Navarro.
2014 Sydney champion Tsvetana Pironkova was in fine form, defeating Lesia Tsurenko, 7-6(6), 6-2, and will play either No.8 seed Belinda Bencic or qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The only seed to lose on Sunday was No.6 seed Timea Bacsinszky, who faded after a strong opening set against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.
SHENZHEN, China – Johanna Konta began her first season as a Top 10 player in imperious form, dispatching Caga Buyukakcay, 6-2, 6-0, to advance into the second round of the Shenzhen Open.
“I’m really happy to have started the year again, and I’m really enjoying my time in Shenzhen,” Konta said after the match.
Konta finished 2016 the first British player ranked in the Top 10 in 33 years, when namesake Jo Durie ended the 1983 season ranked No.6.
Check out those wheels! ??@JoKonta91 is everywhere! #ShenzhenOpen pic.twitter.com/Y14uwUVgem
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Joining a trio of Top 10 players that includes defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska and 2015 winner Simona Halep, Konta acquitted herself well as the No.3 seed, needing just 56 minutes to defeat Buyukakcay, herself coming off a career-best season.
.@JoKonta91 starting ?!
Grabs opening set off Buyukakcay 6-2! #ShenzhenOpen pic.twitter.com/SKH3RMnSsB
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Buyukakcay became the first Turkish woman to win a title in WTA history at home last year in Istanbul, but had no answers to Konta’s big serving display, winning just nine points on the Brit’s first serve and losing serve six times in two sets.
“I felt I did a good job of staying present and enjoying every point I got to compete out there today. I’m looking forward to my next match!”
Up next for Konta is American veteran Vania King, who spent 2016 rebuilding her ranking after a back injury. King survived Green youngster Maria Sakkari, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, on Sunday.
.@JoKonta91 moves into #ShenzhenOpen second round after 6-2, 6-0 win over Buyukakcay! pic.twitter.com/Y187ReVeBq
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Earlier in the day, No.4 seed Timea Bacsinszky announced her withdrawal from Shenzhen due to an abdominal injury.
“I’m pretty sad about withdrawing today. I was looking forward to playing here again in Shenzhen because I have really good memories at this tournament. But for my own health and the beginning of the year, sometimes you have to be wise and think long term.”