Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza played their best match of the Australian Open on Wednesday, dropping just one game to No.13 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova to win a 35th straight match, and reach a third straight major final – having already captured titles at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Before they take on Silent Hs Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka for their first Australian Open title as a pair – Hingis’ first in women’s doubles since 2002 and fourth overall – they will find themselves under the rare circumstance of being on opposite sides of the net, as each hope to add a mixed doubles crown to their ever-growing trophy collection.

Top seed with partner Ivan Dodig, Mirza will play Hingis and Leander Paes, who are unseeded but defending champions at the Australian Open, in the quarterfinals of the mixed event. The pair have not played against one another since last year’s Apia International Sydney, when the Indian star partnered Bethanie Mattek-Sands to beat Hingis and former partner Flavia Pennetta en route to the title.

Inseparable since pairing up ahead of the BNP Paribas Open last spring, Santina have played 17 tournaments together, winning 11 times. From their initial three-title breakthrough in Indian Wells, Miami, and Charleston, the two capped their near-perfect season with a win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and have picked up where they left off in 2016, winning back-to-back titles in Brisbane and Sydney and losing only one set in Melbourne.

Handicapping their chances in mixed, Hingis has won four major titles to Mirza’s three. The Swiss Miss was a French Open title short of a mixed doubles Grand Slam in 2015, partnering Paes – with whom she plays for the Washington Kastles each summer for Mylan World TeamTennis – to win the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles.

Mirza’s most recent mixed doubles victory came in 2014 with Bruno Soares at the US Open, but she is also a former Australian Open mixed champion, pairing Mahesh Bhupati for the title in 2009.

Should Hingis emerge victorious on Thursday afternoon, the 20-time Grand Slam champion would remain in the hunt for non-calendar year Grand Slams in both women’s doubles and mixed, having already earned two legs of the box set at Wimbledon at the US Open.

MELBOURNE, Australia – The 2017 Australian Open begins on Monday in Melbourne, with World No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber headlining the first night session on Rod Laver Arena. What else do you need to know about your favorite WTA stars as the first Grand Slam tournament of the season gets underway?

1. Kerber contends for first-ever major title defense.
Kerber came away with an impressive haul of Grand Slam titles in 2016, bookending the season with wins Down Under and the US Open – taking the No.1 ranking at the latter. 2017 is a new ballgame for the German, who will seek to defend a major title for the first time in her career. Her first opponent is Lesia Tsurenko, with the likes of Eugenie Bouchard and Roberta Vinci looming in her section of the draw.

2. Serena could reclaim No.1 in Australia.
In the other half of the draw stands 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who is firmly in the hunt for her seventh Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy in Melbourne. The American would have to reach the final to have a chance at wresting the No.1 ranking from Kerber; click here to find out how it would all have to shake out.

3. Radwanska feeling in Grand Slam rhythm.
Armed with a new racquet, No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska is the high seed in Serena’s half of the draw, projecting a rematch of their 2016 semifinal encounter Down Under. Radwanska shrugged off a tough week in Shenzhen to reach the final at the Apia International Sydney, but has a potentially tricky opener against Tsvetana Pironkova. The Bulgarian beat Radwanska in their most recent meeting at last year’s French Open.

4. Halep in hot pursuit of first major title.
No.4 seed Simona Halep also started her year in Shenzhen, but arrived last week for some early preparation in Melbourne on the advice of coach Darren Cahill. The Romanian opens against American Shelby Rogers, and is aiming to build on her pair of quarterfinal appearances earned in 2014 and 2015. 

5. Cibulkova seeking Singapore stepping stone.
No.5 seed Dominika Cibulkova ended 2016 on an all-time high, winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and reaching a best-ever ranking of No.5. The Slovak’s biggest major success came in Melbourne, where she reached the final back in 2014.

6. Is this Pliskova’s breakthrough moment?
Karolina Pliskova fell before the second week in her first 17 Grand Slam appearances, but made up for lost time in style at the US Open, where she rolled past both Williams sisters en route to the final. The Czech looked just as tough in Brisbane to start 2017, winning the tournament alongside new coach David Kotyza and moving back up to a career-high of No.5.

7. Muguruza feeding off good Melbourne memories.
Garbiñe Muguruza enjoyed a strong start to the season before injury forced her to retire from the Brisbane International semifinals. Still, the the No.7 seed feels fit and fresh ahead of the Australian Open, starting off against New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic on Monday.

8. Kuznetsova rounds out Top 8.
Kuznetsova burned some serious rubber on the Road to Singapore last fall, narrowly qualifying to become the story of the tournament, reaching the semifinals. This year, Kuznetsova is feeling calm as she hopes to surpass the quarterfinals, her previous best finish in Australia.

9. Venus & Serena headline the doubles draw.
The Australian Open women’s doubles draw came out on Sunday, with Wimbledon winners Venus and Serena Williams coming in as the most dangerous floaters in the draw, seeded No.15. The pair could play No.2 seeds Lucie Safarova and new World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the third round.

10. No.1 up for grabs in Australia.
The singles No.1 isn’t the only ranking under threat at the Australian Open. Mattek-Sands narrowly took the top spot from Sania Mirza in Brisbane, ending the Indian star’s 91-week reign. But Elena Vesnina and the French team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic all have a shot of taking No.1 during the fortnight. Click here to find out how.

MELBOURNE, Australia – An ageless Venus Williams played remarkable tennis in the high heat of the Australian Open, knocking out a game Kateryna Kozlova, 7-6(5), 7-5.

“Girl, I don’t know,” Venus joked when asked how she got the job done during her on-court interview. “I know how to play tennis, and I like to think I’m good at this. She hasn’t had the years I’ve had, the grey hair I’m dyeing, the wrinkles I’m hiding.”

V never goes out of style.#ausopen pic.twitter.com/jUf4wJ9eeN

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2017

Seeded No.13, Venus was playing just her second match of 2017 after withdrawing from the ASB Classic due to right-arm pain, and was taking on a tricky opponent in Kozlova, who took her to three sets at the US Open last summer. In an ironic twist, the 22-year-old was born the same year Venus turned pro back in 1994.

“You’re trying to make me feel old!” joked Williams.

Kozlova served for the first set but the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s experience shone through when it mattered most, breaking the young Ukrainian to win the ensuing tie-break.

“Just from the warm-up it looked like she was just ready to go, hitting it solid,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I really have to give her a lot of credit for playing a match that was not a lot of errors and just relentless.

“I guess when I walk out there I have to expect that from my opponents and not an easy first round, but a great first round to get through, for sure.”

She twirls her way to 2R. Go #Venus #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/hzCSYDY3Jp

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2017

Venus appeared to struggle with the heat at times, relying on ice towels to keep cool during the changeovers.

“I’m a Floridian, so I’m pretty good with heat,” she admitted. “But obviously, if it’s going to be hot, I think with players, you can train in the heat the week before. This last week it was kind of cool, actually, a lot of the time. So it’s definitely a wildcard, like, total wildcard.”

Despite losing some momentum in the second set, the American rebounded to take the last three games of the match and advance into the second round after just over two hours.

Up next for the former World No.1 is either Stefanie Voegele or Kurumi Nara.

A wonderful start for #Venus #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/QVhFuaUdDg

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2017