Tennis News

MADRID, Spain – The No.5 seeded team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic struck once again in their burgeoning rivalry with World No.1 doubles team Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis. The Frenchwomen defeated Hingis and Mirza 6-4, 6-4 to claim the doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

Despite the French team being seeded No.5 in Madrid, they’ve emerged as a force to be reckoned with in 2016, reaching five finals in the eight tournaments they’ve played together. They’re also developing a fierce rivalry with Hingis and Mirza: the pairs have met twice before – both times in finals – and split their head to head record.

“It’s definitely great period for us,” Garcia said in the post-match press conference. “Three finals, three titles, and two times against No.1 in the world, Martina and Sania, and once against Bethanie and Lucie. So it’s only great matches every single time.

“Very, very happy with what we produced on the court today.”

Playing in their third final against each other, both teams came to the Caja Magica looking primed and ready, winning every match en route to the final in straight sets.

Hingis and Mirza found themselves down a double break straight out of the gate as the Frenchwomen surged ahead 3-0. The world’s leading pair – who own the third-best unbeaten run in WTA history at 41 matches – found a way to stem the tide and level the score at 3-3. But another late break from the French team put them ahead again and they took the set 6-4.

Another early break put Hingis and Mirza in trouble once again in the second set. Despite creating five chances to break the French team and get back on even ground, Garcia and Mladenovic saved every one. They took the second set 6-4 and claimed their third title of their doubles partnership.

Any plans for a celebration were cut short by the realities of a tennis player’s hectic schedule:

“We basically have 12 more minutes before catching our car to get to the airport,” Mladenovic said.

But still, they were able to treat themselves before heading off to Rome.

“The biggest reward was the first dessert of the week,” she added. “Here at buffet it’s amazing, and we are very proud – [we didn’t] touch any sweet things, which is very, very good.”

“But we did now,” Garcia grinned.

Every week on wtatennis.com we’ll bring you 10 Things To Know about the week – who’s playing, where and more. This week the Road To Singapore goes through the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

1) Serena Williams debuts on the dirt.
The World No.1 has won Rome three times in her career – including back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014 – but injuries and illness have kept her out of the first half of the clay court season. Still in search of her first title of the year, could it come this week? She might have to go through two of the most in-form players to do it, including No.6 seed Simona Halep and No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka. She also took a doubles wildcard with sister Venus Williams.

2) Simona Halep aims for a clay court double.
Halep looked have put her early-season demons to rest with an emphatic run to the Mutua Madrid Open title. Dropping just one set en route, the Romanian will return to the Top 5 in next week’s rankings; might she pull off a major upset over Williams in the quarterfinals?

3) Victoria Azarenka balancing niggling injuries.
The Belarusian withdrew from last week’s tournament in Madrid with a lower back injury she said she picked up in her first round win over Laura Robson. Looking to maintain a clean bill of health ahead of the French Open, Azarenka has already proven she can play solid tennis on clay this season – winning two crucial rubbers in Fed Cup in addition to two wins in Spain. Projected to face Williams in the semifinals, how far will the former No.1 go?

4) How will Angelique Kerber rebound from her early Madrid loss?
No.1 on the Road to Singapore standings, Kerber suffered a suprising loss to Barbora Strycova in Madrid – the German had previously never lost a set in four previous encounters. Already a winner on clay at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, outdoor clay remains the final frontier for the Australian Open champion, who has yet to pass the quarterfinals at the French Open. She is all but guaranteed a tricky opening round opponent in either Jelena Jankovic or Eugenie Bouchard.

5) Can Garcia and Mladenovic keep up their streak?
Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic have been unbeatable since the start of the clay court season; with three straight titles in Charleston, Stuttgart, and Madrid, the Frenchwomen have won 13 straight matches and have beaten reigning Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in back-to-back finals. Taking out Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova to win the Volvo Car Open, Garcia and Mladenovic are again seeded No.5 and could play Santina in yet another final.

6) Santina searches for a clay court title.
Hingis and Mirza have won a title on every surface but red clay – though their runs to the finals of Rome (2015), Stuttgart, and Madrid can’t be ignored. The pair are just one major trophy away from clinching a Santina Slam, and besides losses to Garcia and Mladenovic, have looked back to their best, losing just two games to Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva (who beat them in Indian Wells) in last week’s semifinals.

7) All eyes on the Spanish quarter.
Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro are set to face off in the quarterfinals following difficult homecomings in Madrid. Muguruza lost a heartbreaking three-setter to Irina-Camelia Begu, while Suárez Navarro was dealing with an illness as she too lost in three sets to Samantha Stosur. Two of the best clay courters on tour, how will Suárez Navarro – last year’s runner-up – fair in Rome against her countrywoman?

8) Vinci comes home.
Playing her first Italian event since reaching the US Open final, Roberta Vinci had muted expectations ahead of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, having only made it to the third round once in 11 appearances. Seeded No.7 this week, she will open against a qualifier or Johanna Konta, the British No.1 who enjoyed a breakout run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, but will be likely less comfortable on clay compared to her potential Italian opponent.

9) Kvitova on clay.
Armed with a new coach and new philiosophy, Petra Kvitova has played some of her best tennis on clay this season, reaching the semifinals in Stuttgart and the third round of Madrid before running into nemesis Daria Gavrilova. Opening against Madison Keys or Andrea Petkovic, the two-time Wimbledon champion is projected to face Kerber in the quarterfinals.

10) And see where you can watch action from Rome on TennisTV!

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.

ROME, Italy – 1999 champion Venus Williams got off to a winning start in her campaign at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a solid victory over fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-3.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

In her first match since the green clay of Charleston almost a month ago, the former No.1 was drawn against the big serving No.40 Vandeweghe in the first women’s match of the day at the Foro Italico. Even though they are familiar with each other as Fed Cup teammates, it was the pair’s first encounter.

“I have hit with her a little bit at Fed Cup but not really sure what to expect,” Williams said after the match. “I imagine that on the clay I have a little bit more advantage, just having played more matches on clay. I think that helped a lot.”

It took a while for both players to find their range in the first set. Neither of them able to really assert themselves during their service games with Williams serving at 44% and Vandeweghe at 50%. Williams kept pressuring the younger American with her net play and angles until she finally struck, breaking for 5-3. Vandeweghe broke right back, but Williams responded in kind to take the first set.

In the second set, Williams backed up an early break with a comfortable hold to get a 3-1 lead. She continued to jam up Vandeweghe with a punishing body serve, leaving her to wreak havoc on the open court.

Despite the stats initially skewing to Vandeweghe­’s favor, it was Williams who kept her head during the key points: she converted three of the five break chances that went her way, and Vandeweghe just one of five. Williams struck 13 winners and 16 unforced errors to Vandeweghe’s 20 and 27.

Also in the bottom half of the draw, a pair of qualifiers caused a shakeup by taking out two seeded players. Monica Puig weathered a mid-match surge from No.15 seed Elina Svitolina before advancing 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, and Heather Watson broke Italian hearts when she sent the No.14 seed packing in emphatic fashion, ousting the 2014 finalist 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.

Meanwhile Teliana Pereira, Ekaterina Makarova, Madison Keys and Barbora Strycova also made their way to the second round.

There's that @VenusesWilliams victory twirl ? #ibi16 pic.twitter.com/PMLeNcRP6D

— WTA (@WTA) May 9, 2016

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.