Indian Wells: Kvitova vs. Gibbs
Petra Kvitova takes on Nicole Gibbs in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Petra Kvitova takes on Nicole Gibbs in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Former WTA World No.3 (in both singles and doubles) Nadia Petrova has announced her retirement from professional tennis after a 19-year career.
“Tennis has given me so much,” Petrova told WTA Insider. “It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures. My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful.”
The 34-year-old from Russia concludes a career which saw her clinch 13 WTA singles and 24 WTA doubles titles, reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, advance to two Grand Slam doubles finals and win the WTA Finals doubles title on two occasions.
Check out Petrova’s full statement below and click here to read WTA Insider’s exclusive interview with the two-time French Open semifinalist.
Tennis has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was pretty much everything I did on a daily basis and the little time I had off, I would spend with my loved ones. I suppose when the time comes to say goodbye, it becomes bitter sweet. It’s confusing, somewhat painful, scary yet also gratifying. I’ve decided to turn the page and move on to another stage in my life and I’m ready to do it. Tennis has given me so much. It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures.
My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful. My career has been great, obviously with highs and lows. We all know I was plagued with many injuries which made some of my calendar years challenging. Unfortunately that’s part of an athlete’s life and we all learn how to deal with that. We fall and then we get back up and keep going. Then there comes a time, no matter what you do, say or feel, nothing is ever enough. Your body lets you know it’s had enough. In 2013, when I lost my mother, emotionally I was a mess. On top of that, I was dealing with a hip injury which affected a good portion of the year. I made the decision to take some personal time to heal physically and emotionally. Hopefully that would help me once I decided to step back on court. In February 2014, I tried playing to see how I felt. My mind was still everywhere but on the court and my body was just not responding. It was painful. Painful because I felt useless and the player I was once, was no longer there.
I took more time and when I decided to start training again, my body felt good but once I was aggressively doing court work, it started to break down again. I had to start facing the inevitable and that was that my career had come to an end. To be able to compete at a high level with these top players, I had to be in the best shape and if my hip was not holding up, there was no way I could move on. After many failed attempts of trying to make a come back, I came to the realization that maybe it was time to turn the page and say goodbye to tennis competitively. I would be starting a new chapter in my life, exploring other interest and keeping myself occupied but most importantly spending my time with my loved ones. Making up for lost time.
I said to myself.. “I want to start a family, I want to be home more and I want to enjoy a lot of the things I never had time for while I was on the road”. So although it’s been unfortunate that I was unable to overcome this last injury and compete again, I’m excited for what’s to come and be a part of tennis in the future with other aspects of the sport. I’ve been blessed that Tennis has been such a huge part of my life professionally for the past 15 years. I want to thank every single one of you who has made it possible along the way. Whether that’s been sponsors, tournament staff, WTA, my travel team (which consisted of my coach, trainer, physio and manager), friends and family.. Thank you all. Last but not least MY FANS!! You have been my motivation, my back bone and the reason why I hadn’t given up sooner. Without fans, there wouldn’t be tennis. You all make the sport. Thank you all so much for believing in me and helping me through out my entire career.
Without any further delay, I’d like to make it known that I’m officially retiring from the sport. I plan to stay involved in tennis in the near future. I will be devoting a lot of my time to the sport through charity work which I will make known soon. I may no longer be competing but I will never be far from a court. My heart will always belong there.
Thank you all for making my career so memorable.
Nadia P
An interview with Serena Williams after her win in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open.
SYDNEY, Australia – Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska eased past qualifier Duan Ying-Ying and into the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney on Wednesday evening.
At last week’s Shenzhen Open, Radwanska saved three match points to defeat Duan in a tougher-than-expected season opener. This time around it was a far more straightforward outing, the No.2 seed completing a 6-3, 6-2 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.
“Sometimes you play people two or three weeks in a row, like Caroline and I had last year in Asia, but I’m definitely more happy with this performance than in Shenzhen,” Radwanska said in her on-court interview. “It’s another semifinal here, so I’m very happy with that.
“I was warming up at 4pm and it was still very hot, so I was a little bit lucky to play this evening. I was watching the first match here and it was unbelievably hot – the guys were playing amazingly.”
Despite the more hospitable conditions, both players made heavy weather of holding onto their serve early on. But after a succession of breaks, Radwanska finally put some daylight between the two, opening up a 5-3 lead before calmly serving out the set.
.@ARadwanska takes the first set 6-3! #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/4JRVJczZYf
— WTA (@WTA) January 11, 2017
Unlike in Shenzhen, there was to be no Duan comeback, Radwanska rattling off the first four games of the second set to ease her way into the last four.
Radwanska lifted the title in 2012, and standing between her and a return to the final is marathon woman Barbora Strycova. Earlier in the day, Strycova withstood the worst of the midday sun to win an epic encounter against Caroline Wozniacki. “Like I said, she was playing unbelievable tennis and she’s really on fire. Last year she also played amazing tennis. I’m just expecting a good match and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
“It's funny when you see your picture (when) walking down the corridor” @ARadwanska on seeing her 2012 champion photo behind the scenes pic.twitter.com/ywMZcAh66K
— Apia Intl Sydney (@SydneyTennis) January 11, 2017
Simona Halep had the shot of the night on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
Johanna Konta made short work of Eugenie Bouchard to take her place in the final of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Victoria Azarenka after her win in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open.
SYDNEY, Australia – Timea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova hit through top seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova, 6-4, 6-4, to win their first title as a pair at the Apia International Sydney.
Babos and Pavlyuchenkova were playing just their second event together, playing just once at the end of last season in Moscow. Babos ended her seven-month partnership with Yaroslava Shvedova after the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“I think at least we found a good balance on this,” Babos said after the match. “It was definitely a great week. We beat some really good teams, the best teams, the last two, three rounds.
“To start like this, our partnership together is important and promising.”
Pavlyuchenkova, by contrast, had opted to focus on singles for most of 2016, though the former Singapore alternate is more than capable on the doubles court.
“It’s amazing, because Timea, she’s more experienced in doubles,” said the Russian. “She has a lot more titles and done great in the Grand Slams, as well.
“I’m really happy, because it’s also nice to win a title in doubles. I feel like we had also been playing really good together.”
.@NastiaPav/@TimeaBabos playing strong! ?
Take a 6-4, 3-0 lead over Mirza/Strycova! #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/rLEFFMwdQW
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
Mirza teamed up with Strycova last summer, and the duo were playing their first event of 2017 together after the former No.1 paired with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win the Brisbane International, passing the top spot to her good friend after 91 weeks leading the WTA rankings.
Champs! ?@NastiaPav/@TimeaBabos win @SydneyTennis Doubles title!
Defeat Mirza/Strycova 6-4, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/ZyRBmWo2QE
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
The first set came down to just one break of serve, whereas the second featured four.
“We just went out there and tried to do our game, tried to dictate and play how we always played before and tried, like Timea said, to enjoy and not put too much pressure,” added Pavlyuchenkova.
Babos and Pavlyuchenkova raced out to a 3-0 double break lead in the second set, and though Mirza and Strycova twice clawed the deficit down to one, the unseeded team emerged victorious after one hour and 14 minutes of play. For the fast-rising Hungarian youngster, it was her second title in Sydney.
“This was actually my first year when I played singles here,” said Babos. “Last year I only played doubles. It’s a great tournament. In general, Australia [is] one of my favorite countries if not the favorite. So I really enjoy being here. It’s great atmosphere.”
.@NastiaPav and @TimeaBabos strike a pose with their new @SydneyTennis trophies! ? ? pic.twitter.com/8dhFP412Js
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
Agnieszka Radwanska has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
WUHAN, China – Dominika Cibulkova completed her arduous journey to the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final with a thrilling victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova
Watch live action from Wuhan on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
After over two and half hours of thrilling tennis, Cibulkova added the finishing touch to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory by thumping a backhand onto the baseline. In the final she will face the winner of Friday’s evening session, Petra Kvitova.
“It feels great. I’m really tired right now, but the feeling to be in the final is unbelievable, and that’s why I love it,” Cibulkova said. “It’s just a great win for me today.”
Cibulkova’s path to the final has been far from straightforward. Rain earlier in the week forced the Slovak to play both her last 16 and quarterfinal matches on Thursday, making the level of play against Kuznetsova all the more remarkable.
“I would say that nothing has been easy here. I’ve had really tough matches from the first round so you don’t expect anything easy from this tournament. I’m really looking forward to another final and I want to keep going, keep playing like this,” Cibulkova added.
Didn't expect Cibulkova to have enough left in the tank for a performance like that. Love her attitude+it's another final @wuhanopentennis
— Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) 30 September 2016
Outthought and outfought in the first set, Cibulkova went back to the drawing board at the start of the second. Her change of tack reaped immediate dividends, bookending a trademark drive volley with a couple of perfectly executed drop shots to break in the opening game.
“I have my notes with me [on court] for a couple of years now and it’s helping me, so it’s nothing new for me but it’s something that keeps me focused and helps me remember things to do – it’s just a reminder for me. But it helped me today.”
While this advantage did not last for long, the tide was turning, Cibulkova taking four of the last five games to force a decider.
With the contest in the balance, Cibulkova somehow managed to summon her best tennis. Serving at 4-4, 15-30, she finished a series of energy sapping points with spectacular winners to edge ahead. This sequence seemed to drain the belief from Kuznetsova, who soon found herself staring at three match points. One was enough, Cibulkova pouncing on an inviting serve to reach her fifth final of the season.
The result not only guarantees a return to the Top 10 but also boosts her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time. She will now occupy one of the eight qualification spots on Monday, regardless of the result in the final.
