Madrid: Cibulkova Interview
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her win in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her win in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Venus Williams is through to her first Australian Open semifinal since 2003 without dropping a set after powering past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 7-6(3).
“It’s wonderful to be here to start the year out with this,” an emotional Venus told the crowd on Rod Laver Arena. “I want to go further! I’m not happy just with this, but I’m just happy to be in the position to go further.”
Venus was made to work for every point by the No.24-seeded Pavlyuchenkova, who was into her first Australian Open quarterfinal and looking for a career-first Grand Slam semifinal appearance.
QFs are about to begin with @NastiaPav taking on @Venuseswilliams #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/e85sXfJP5G
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2017
Pavlyuchenkova punished Venus’ vulnerable second serve throughout the match, and the American found herself trailing down a break twice in both sets. But the experience of the seven-time Grand Slam champion showed in the big moments, and she broke back each time as Pavlyuchenkova faltered.
“I just think I wasn’t fresh enough to really go for the serves,” the Russian explained later in press. “I knew that I had to serve good because she’s very aggressive on the baseline and return. I was kind of putting a bit of pressure on myself on the serve. That’s why the percentage went low.”
Venus stayed aggressive throughout the hour and forty-seven minute affair, hitting 35 winners to Pavlyuchenkova’s 17 and striking 29 unforced errors against 32. She was a force at the net as well, winning 81% of the 16 points finished at the net.
The victory is Venus’ 50th win at the Australian Open, and, at 36 years old, she becomes the oldest player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Martina Navratilova in 1994 Wimbledon.
“I have a lot to give to the game,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I feel like I have a lot of great tennis in me. So any time you feel that way, you continue.
“Why not? I have nothing to lose, literally.”
Venus will play the unseeded CoCo Vandeweghe for a spot in the final after the American knocked out No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets.
“To have that thought that there’s going to be at least one U.S. player in the final is great for American tennis,” Venus said.
“I’m sure she’s going to want to be in her first final. I’m going to want to be in only my second final here. So it’s going to be a well-contested match.”
“I'm just so excited that I have an opportunity to play again.” @Venuseswilliams #AusOpen #Venus pic.twitter.com/nlmCO654vQ
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2017
With only one of the top eight advancing to the quarterfinals in Madrid, the seeds didn’t fare well in the Spanish capital. The upsets, indeed, were akin to Dubai.
So what does Rome hold? More of the same?
Here’s a look at the draw, which is highlighted by the return of 21-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams.
First quarter: Williams’ tough road
In her first clay court tournament of 2016 — and her first tournament overall since Miami — the draw gods seemingly did Serena no favors.
Following a bye, the World No.1 begins with an ‘Anna,’ either Anna-Lena Friedsam or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. While the ranking dictates Schmiedlova will progress, the Slovak is enduring a difficult campaign after a breakthrough 2015. If Friedsam progresses, she’ll be buoyed by grabbing a set off Williams at the French Open last year.
Then a slew of Grand Slam champs or finalists could come, with Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Simona Halep all in the mix. It was, of course, twice Rome finalist Kuznetsova who stunned Williams at the Miami Open, the event the latter adores. (Victoria Azarenka and Roberta Vinci feature in Williams’ half, too.)
Daria Gavrilova truly announced herself to the tennis world in Rome 12 months ago, battling through tough matches to reach the semis as a qualifier. Struggling for a few months after flourishing at home in Melbourne, she regained some momentum in Madrid.
Halep — speaking of players recapturing momentum — and Gavrilova could clash in the second round.
Prediction: Kuznetsova
Second quarter: How is Vika feeling?
Azarenka entered Madrid with a long winning streak. She left Madrid with the streak intact. Unfortunately for Azarenka, a back injury ruled out the former No.1 ahead of her third-round tussle with rising American Louisa Chirico.
Just how is the back now? With the French Open around the corner and little time between Rome and Madrid, Azarenka could be forgiven for erring on the side of caution at the Foro Italico.
Her probable first-round foe is Irina-Camelia Begu, part of the Romanian contingent that thrived in Madrid. When they tangled a year ago in Rome, Begu extended the Belarusian to three sets. The third round might bring Karolina Pliskova, who was upset in Madrid by Christina McHale.
With their game styles — and personalities — Italians Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci are firm fan favorites. But with Vinci suggesting this is her last year on the circuit and wildcard Schiavone turning 36 in June, is this the last appearance for both in Rome?
How Vinci, then, would dearly love to turn it around in Rome. She has suffered three straight defeats there and lost her opener in four of the past five seasons. Johanna Konta figures to be the seventh seed’s opponent in the second round.
And how the home fans would love to see Schiavone, who starts against Prague winner Lucie Safarova, and Vinci meet in the third round.
Prediction: Vinci
Third quarter: Last year’s finalist
Samantha Stosur certainly played well in her victory over Carla Suárez Navarro in Madrid, yet the Spaniard was hampered because of illness. If she has sufficiently recovered, Suarez Navarro is the favorite to emerge from her quarter.
Not only did Suárez Navarro appear in the final a year ago — when she was close to ousting Maria Sharapova in straight sets — but there were quarterfinal showings on her previous two trips to Rome.
She could, however, battle a player in form in the third round, in No.11 seed Timea Bacsinszky. Bacsinszky won a clay-court title in Morocco a week ago and proceeded to post two good wins in Madrid, over the former Top 10 duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Andrea Petkovic. Perhaps fatigue was a factor in her defeat to Halep, who the Swiss had toppled in Miami.
The two seeds lower down in the quarter, Elina Svitolina and Garbiñe Muguruza, are a combined 3-5 in their last eight encounters, which should raise the spirits of the unseeded in the vicinity, such as Makarova, Istanbul finalist Danka Kovinic and Kristina Mladenovic.
Prediction: Suárez Navarro
Fourth quarter: An early blockbuster?
As a two-time winner, three-time finalist and having advanced to the semifinals as recently as two years ago, Jelena Jankovic has enjoyed tremendous success in Rome. Perhaps Rome is where Jankovic’s season ignites following a shoulder injury and being diagnosed with a cyst on her thyroid gland.
Jankovic’s opener is interesting enough — against 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard. But if the Serb wins, she lands No.2 seed Angelique Kerber.
For the second year running, Kerber won in Stuttgart and exited in her first match in Madrid. This time it came against Barbora Strycova.
Who could Kerber potentially play in the third round? None other than the versatile Czech. Or it could be Sara Errani, who delighted the locals by landing in the final in 2014.
At the top of the quarter, Petra Kvitova — who downed Jankovic in Rome last year — draws either Madison Keys or Petkovic in the second round. Tough.
And Serena isn’t the lone member of the family to be making a return to action.
Venus is back and plays her fellow American with the big serve, CoCo Vandeweghe.
Prediction: Kerber
Semifinals: Kuznetsova, Kerber
Winner: Kerber
MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams is two victories away from a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title and a return to WTA World No.1 after moving into the Australian Open semifinals with a commanding win over Britain’s Johanna Konta, 6-2, 6-3.
With the victory Serena is through to her tenth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, a run stretching back to the 2014 US Open.
An even better omen for the American? She’s never been defeated at this stage of the Australian Open, having advanced to the final in the six previous times she’s reached the semifinals. This time, the promise of a return to the WTA No.1 ranking awaits should she claim her seventh Melbourne crown.
A walk that #Serena has done many times. Can Johanna #Konta cause another QF upset on RLA? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ll5twHthSK
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 25 de enero de 2017
Serena snapped up the last remaining semifinal spot after her much-awaited first-time clash against Britain’s No.1 Konta, who’s been in torrid form throughout the Australian summer.
Konta’s serve had been broken only twice in the entire tournament, but she quickly found herself on the back foot against Serena’s powerful returns, dropping serve twice in the opening set.
“I think it was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” the Brit described playing Serena for the first time. “I think there’s so many things I can learn from that, so many things I can look to improve on, also acknowledge some things that I did well.
“I think, credit to her, she played an almost perfect first set. I felt she really did incredibly well. She just showed and shows why she is who she is.”
Serena struggled with her own serve throughout the match as her normally powerful first serves – one of the hallmarks of her game – seemed to abandon her, giving Konta the first look at a break point in the third game of the first set. But when the serve failed Serena found other weapons to rely on, outpacing Konta from the baseline with some heavy ground strokes. A timely ace – Serena’s first of 10 in the match – bailed her out of trouble.
“My first serve wasn’t really great, but I’ve really been working on my second serve,” Serena explained later in press. “Hasn’t been great all tournament, so I’ve been kind of relying on my second serve. I’ve been relying on my groundstrokes, forehand, backhand. My returns have really picked up.
“All around, I feel like she’s a great all-around player. So I feel like I had to be on it all around today.”
With that early wobble behind her, Serena was all business as she steamrolled through the opening set, her forehand firing on all cylinders.
The American’s service woes put her in another early deficit in the final set, as Konta roared back from down 15-40 to break and open up a 3-1 lead. But the pressure from the 22-time Grand Slam champion never let up, who quickly broke back to establish parity, rattling off five games in a row to move into her 34th career Grand Slam semifinal.
“No matter what happens, someone 34 or older will be in the final.” @serenawilliams on playing #LucicBaroni in the SF #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/5qEATzXq26
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 25 de enero de 2017
Standing between Serena and the final is Mirjana Lucic-Baroni after the 34-year-old stunned No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The pair’s last match came almost two decades ago.
“It was in ’98, I remember,” Serena said of their Wimbledon match. “It was on Centre Court. That’s all I remember. I remember winning. I was so excited because I was so young. She obviously was super young, too.
“Honestly, we have totally different games now, the both of us. We both have gone through a lot. We both have survived, and here we are, which I think is a really remarkable story.”
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Follow along with the Mutua Madrid Open final between Simona Halep and Dominika Cibulkova live on wtatennis.com!
The 2016 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued in Madrid at the Mutua Madrid Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world. For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.
USANA Brand Ambassadors Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur, Kristina Mladenovic, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Monica Puig, and Zheng Saisai (Zheng Saisai and Caroline Wozniacki did not play in Madrid’s main draw) hit 21 of the 243 aces in the Caja Magica – raising a grand total of $1,320 throughout the week. Stosur hit the most with seven aces.
Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!
#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway
It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Last year there was a total of 258 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.
How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Madrid deadline is May 8th at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced May 16th
Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.
For full rules on how to enter, click here.
WTA Insider | The Insider team previews the ninth Grand Slam final between Venus and Serena Williams; who will emerge victorious at the Australian Open?
An interview with Eugenie Bouchard after her win in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Five Top-10 players will take to the clay in Rome on Wednesday as the Internazionali BNL d’Italia action heats up. We preview the action for you right here at WTATennis.com.
Wednesday, Second Round
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #46)
Head-to-head: Bouchard leads 2-1
Key Stat: Bouchard has never defeated a top-2 opponent.
World No. 2 Angelique Kerber’s clay court season was going along swimmingly until she was rudely knocked off by Barbora Strycova in the first round of Madrid last week. Kerber, who owns an impressive 9-2 record on clay this season with a title in Stuttgart, will look to get back on the horse Wednesday against Canada’s No.1, Eugenie Bouchard. Bouchard edged two-time Rome champion Jelena Jankovic in three sets on Tuesday to snap a two-match losing streak, but she’ll face a more difficult test in the proven, clay-savvy Kerber, who is a former Rome semifinalist.
Pick: Kerber in three
[3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #29)
Head-to-head: Tied, 2-2
Key Stat: Makarova owns a 1-6 record vs. the Top-5 on clay.
Garbiñe Muguruza has reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in each of the last two seasons, but the Spaniard is still searching for momentum on the red clay in 2016. That said, the 22-year-old superstar is not worried about her form after failing to win back-to-back matches at Stuttgart and Madrid. “I’m feeling good,” Muguruza told reporters in Rome over the weekend. “I think every time I go to a tournament I just try to forget everything that happened and start fresh, so I’m excited to be here.” Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova has also struggled to go deep in draws thus far this spring, but the former world No. 8 has 13 Top-10 wins on her resume and is always a dangerous opponent on any surface.
Pick: Muguruza in three
[6] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. Daria Gavrilova (AUS #32)
Head-to-head: Halep leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Halep won 12 of 13 sets en route to the Madrid title last week.
Is Simona Halep hitting her stride on the clay? It sure looks that way. The Romanian raced to the Madrid title last week and seems primed to become a major factor again this week in Rome. “Now I don’t feel tired so that means I was relaxed,” Halep told WTA insider Courtney Nguyen after winning the trophy in Madrid. “I was just with my mind to play tennis, not about the result or something else. Just enjoying and just showing what I have practiced.” Halep benefitted from arriving in Madrid early and having several days of practice before the tournament began, but in Rome she’ll have to turn around quickly to face a very tricky opponent in different conditions. Meanwhile Gavrilova, who turned so many heads when she reached the semifinals as a qualifier in Rome last year, is also finding her groove on the clay. She defeated Sabine Lisicki on Tuesday and upset Petra Kvitova last week at Madrid. Will Halep find her footing in Rome in time to keep Gavrilova from creating another Rome surprise?
Pick: Gavrilova in three
[4] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #6) vs. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #35)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads 5-0
Key Stat: Azarenka owns a 26-1 record in 2016.
Surging Victoria Azarenka finally hit a speed bump in 2016 when she was forced to pull out of Madrid ahead of the third round with a back injury. Though the injury appears to be minor, it’s worrisome to see Azarenka, who has been riddled with injuries over the last two seasons, endure more physical hardship. Will the WTA’s hottest player return fit as a fiddle in Rome? We’ll find out on Wednesday as she faces Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu for the sixth time. Azarenka has won the first five meetings with Begu, but more important than another win is Azarenka’s health. With Roland Garros less than two weeks away Azarenka will have to tread carefully if she is to head to Paris at full strength.
Pick: Azarenka in two
[5] Petra Kvitova (CZE# 9) vs. Madison Keys (USA #24)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Kvitova is a two-time quarterfinalist at Rome.
Petra Kvitova and Madison Keys will meet on a clay-court for the first time on Wednesday, and while it is the Czech that holds the 2-1 lifetime edge over Keys, it’s difficult to tell how things will play out on the slow-playing red clay of the Foro Italico. Kvitova has struggled to find her form all season, but she has had her moments on the clay this spring, notching her first Top-10 win of the season over Garbine Muguruza en route to a semifinal in Stuttgart. Keys has also been up and down in a season that has seen her struggle with a freak injury in January and encounter instability within her support staff of late. She worked with coach Mats Wilander for a brief spell in March before hiring Tommy Hogstedt to guide her just two weeks ago.
Pick: Kvitova in three
Around the Grounds: 19-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina will look to reach the third round on her Rome debut when she faces qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino on Court 4. In a battle of former Grand Slam champions, Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Sam Stosur on Court 1. 12th-seeded Venus Williams will face surging Hungarian Timea Babos in the last match of the day on Court Pietrangeli. Italy’s Roberta Vinci will face Johanna Konta in the last match of the day session on Court Centrale.
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor
Barbora Strycova takes on Eugenie Bouchard in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.