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The Serena Williams Stats You Need

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Next week at Roland Garros, Serena Williams resumes her relentless march towards tennis history. But before she embarks on her bid for a 22nd Grand Slam crown, here are some noteworthy numbers on the WTA’s indomitable World No.1.

Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam singles titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 291 (Navratilova 306, Evert 299)
~ Serena is trying to win her fourth Roland Garros title (won it in 2002, 2013 and 2015); a fourth title would tie her with Justine Henin and Helen Wills-Moody on the all-time leaderboard
~ This is Serena’s 21st time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 20)
~ Serena is 61-1 in Grand Slam first round matches (only loss: Razzano at 2012 Roland Garros)

Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-5 in Grand Slam singles finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (l. Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (l. Kerber)
~ Serena has won 31 of her last 35 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha, 2013 Cincinnati, 2016 Indian Wells & Kerber at 2016 Australian Open)

Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 285d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)

Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 171st & 172nd straight weeks at No.1 during the Roland Garros fortnight (second-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186)
~ Serena is spending her 294th & 295th career weeks at No.1 during the Roland Garros fortnight (second-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($76.5M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.8M) 
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 70 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)

Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:

Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)

Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 232-19 (.924)
WTA titles: 29
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 15 (.533)
vs Top 10: 56-6 (.903)

Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 189-16
WTA titles: 23 of 33
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 12
vs Top 10: 41-4 (.911)

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

It’s time to vote for March’s WTA Player of the Month!

Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, April 7.

March 2017 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists

Elena Vesnina: The 30-year-old Russian capped her career renaissance with a maiden Premier Mandatory title at the BNP Paribas Open. Vesnina bulldozed an impressive field that included soon-to-be World No.1 Angelique Kerber, former World No.1 Venus Williams, and an on-fire Kristina Mladenovic before dispatching countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova in what will go down as one of the best matches of the season. The win brought her up to a career-high ranking of No.13.

Johanna Konta: The British No.1 made a breakthrough of her own; reaching her second Premier Mandatory final out of the last three, she struck gold at the Miami Open, defeating Williams and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to take home her biggest title yet, moving up to a career-high of No.7.

Caroline Wozniacki: Speaking of Wozniacki, the Dane did herself proud during the Sunshine Swing, reaching the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, and rolling into her first final in Miami – her third of the season – to complete a box set of Premier Mandatory final appearances.

Karolina Pliskova: The Czech powerhouse continued her blistering start to 2017 by reaching back-to-back semifinals in Indian Wells and Miami, avenging her Australian Open loss to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the quarterfinals of the latter.

Venus Williams: The five-time Wimbledon winner backed up her run to the Melbourne final in style, losing only to the eventual champion in each of Indian Wells and Miami, knocking out World No.1 Kerber in Crandon Park.

POTM

2017 Winners

January: Serena Williams
February: Elina Svitolina

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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Safarova Beats The Rain In Paris

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – No.10 seed Lucie Safarova made the most of an interrupted schedule on Sunday to defeat the recently returning Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-0, 6-2, to reach the second round of the French Open. Not long after the 2015 finalist’s win, play was canceled due to rain.

Safarova was one of only five women to complete their first round matches, joining Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Viktorija Golubic and Hsieh Su-Wei before stormy weather held serve and kept top seeds like Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza from making their 2015 French Open debuts.

“It’s nice to have the match finished,” said Safarova, who won the first seven games of the match before the first wave of inclement weather covered the clay courts. “Obviously now I have two days off, which I can train, hopefully, and get back to my routine.

“But I don’t think it does a huge impact in the draw results. I mean, obviously today it’s tough conditions because of the rain and delays and the balls are quite heavy, but it’s same for everyone.”

Diatchenko was playing her first major tournament since having to retire in the first round of the US Open due to an Achilles injury; the Russian returned last week to win a Challenger doubles title with Galina Voskoboeva, but was still struggling with her rhythm on Sunday, hitting 27 unforced errors and nine double faults.

“It’s really nice to be back,” the defending doubles champion with Bethanie Mattek-Sands remarked in her post-match press conference. “I’m excited. Obviously a lot of great memories from last year. To be back here on-site, playing on the same courts, brings a lot of nice feelings.”

Playing a clean match with 11 winners and 12 unforced errors, Safarova enjoyed her second win since food poisoning forced her to pull out of the Mutua Madrid Open; her season had already gotten off to a late start due to injuries and a bacterial infection causing a bout with reactive arthritis.

“I had a lot of health issues last half year, so I’m just really happy to be playing and to be here. Each match I face, I will try to win and we will see.”

Safarova advanced under the wire on Court Suzanne Lenglen, as a drizzle threatened to send her off court a second time, but the former World No.5 duly served out the match and booked a second round meeting with Golubic, who needed three sets to take out Alison Riske, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

Play is set to resume on Monday and will feature No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska as she takes on Bojana Jovanovski, Muguruza and Halep, and the completion of three matches which were rained out, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nicole Gibbs, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who lead Yaroslava Shvedova, Heather Watson, and Cagla Buyukakcay, respectively.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Laura Siegemund outlasted an in-form Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5, to win her second three-setter in three days and sail into the third round of the Volvo Car Open.

“I have no idea!” she said during her on-court interview when asked how she pulled off the win over the 2004 champion. “It was a really good match; it was going up and down. I just tried to believe in my game, and if I was down, I told myself I was going to get more chances.”

Siegemund reached the quarterfinals last year in Charleston, kicking off an impressive clay court campaign that led her into the finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at home in Stuttgart.

Against Venus, the German veteran was hardly overawed by the five-time Wimbledon winner, who was coming off strong results at the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open, where she reached the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.

Down match point in the second set, Venus fought back and broke Siegemund as she served for the match, eventually powering through the ensuing tiebreak to level the match.

“I had a hard time finding an aggressive game at the beginning of the third set, playing really short, and she plays really well when she can put pressure on you. It was an amazing performance from her as well,” said Siegemund.

Siegemund twice pulled back from a break in the third, and saved two match points of her own as Venus served for the match at 5-4, reeling off the final three games to reach the round of 16.

“I tried my best to think this could be the best match she’ll ever play in her life, honestly,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I basically won the match but still lost.

“I really played the best game I could. I pretty much hit winners, but she hit winners back on me, and I just didn’t have any answers for that. I don’t know much more that I could do. I mean, there were some errors I made in the beginning, but when push came to shove, I feel like I did the right things, but somehow inexplicably came up empty.”

In all, the two played phenomenal offense throughout, each hitting more winners than errors, with Siegemund leading Venus 52 to 45, and hitting 41 unforced errors to Venus’ 39.

“It gives me a lot of confidence, because I was pretty unlucky this year,” Siegemund said. “I’ve had a lot of these kinds of matches, but I was losing them, and you start to doubt.

“Now, I feel very confident on clay, and I think I showed I still have some good tennis in my hands.”

Up next for Siegemund will be the winner of the match between doubles partners Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

 

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Rogers Bolts Into Second Round

Rogers Bolts Into Second Round

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Shelby Rogers woke up on Monday morning full of excitement and adrenaline. Sure, the 23-year-old South Carolina native was looking forward to taking on No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the French Open, but that wasn’t what she was amped about.

Rogers is a huge Tampa Bay Lightning fan and she woke up to the news her boys were a game away from the Stanley Cup Final.

“My Bolts are doing so well right now!” Rogers said, as she lit up at the mere mention of the NHL playoffs. “They’re going home with a 3-2 lead [over the Pittsburgh Penguins]. I’m so pumped.”

Rogers’ Monday would only get better. Ranked No.108, she pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day at Roland Garros, beating Pliskova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round in Paris for the second time in her career. Rogers falls into the growing category of young Americans who are loving European red clay, and she was happy to avenge a tough loss to the Czech earlier this year in Indian Wells.

“I definitely like my chances better on clay, that’s for sure,” Rogers said.

Shelby Rogers

“I think it helps my kick serve for sure. Moving is really fun on it. The points are always a little more versatile, you do a lot of different things. It’s a little bit slower so I do think I can hit through the court but I have a little bit more time to pick my shots.

“It’s a lot of fun, for sure.”

So how closely has Rogers been keeping tabs on the Lightning while she’s been in Europe? She’s doing as much as she can.

“I can’t watch the games because they’re so late,” she said. “They’re like at 3AM and that’s not very good match prep.

“But I woke up this morning and I was all fired up because they got the win in overtime. I was retweeting all the goals. I’m such a nerd. They’re probably like, ‘This girl needs to stop stalking us.'”

But how does a South Carolina native who now trains in Los Angeles become such a rabid Tampa Bay fan?

“I trained at [the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida] for about a year when I was younger,” Rogers explained. “That was the only thing I did there that was fun. I became a huge fan. I love hockey. I think it’s one of the best sports [to watch] live. It’s so much fun and I’ve just been a fan every since.”

“I just love the aggression of it. I love the atmosphere at the games. I love that you can get rowdy and shout and the players love that. It’s just a really fast paced fun sport to watch. I grew up going to a lot of games. We have a team in South Carolina called the Sting Rays, and I grew up going to those. It’s just something different, something unique.”

Rogers plays No.49 Elena Vesnina in the second round. Vesnina beat Madison Brengle, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round.

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Radwanska Rolls Past Garcia

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska fought off Caroline Garcia and a voracious French crowd to advance into the third round of the French Open, 6-2, 6-4.

“I think I play really good two matches. Especially this one. I think this was really a tough one,” Radwanska said in her post-match press conference.

“I’m just very pleased that I could close that match in two sets, that’s for sure.”

All three of Radwanska’s previous encounters with Garcia had gone the distance, but the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion recovered from an early break to race out to a set and 4-1 lead before Garcia began sinking her teeth into the match.

Breaking serve twice to get within a game of leveling the set, Garcia threw in back-to-back double faults to throw a lifeline to Radwanska, who gladly took it to advance in 95 minutes.

“I’m very sorry,” a despondent Garcia said after the match. “I’m very sorry that I couldn’t really play the way I wish I would have played. I was able to play a few balls, but most of the match I just wasn’t there. Not enough. I wasn’t able to hit the ball. I wanted to hit it, and, well, just not the right game.

“I’m disappointed. I can play better. But it was a wonderful moment. It was very emotional. The public supporting me helped me coming back in the match when I thought it was over.

“I think they believed more in me than I believed in myself.”

Up next for the No.2 seed is No.30 seed Barbora Strycova. The Czech veteran is in the midst of a career year, having already reached the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Despite losing her last nine main draw matches at Roland Garros – dating back to 2004 – Strycova edged out clay court specialist Polona Hercog 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round on the terre battue for the first time in her career.

Radwanska has yet to drop a set against Strycova, though all four of their matches were on hardcourts, and the last was a little under two years ago at the Rogers Cup.

“I think I’m not really thinking about expectations or second week,” Radwanska said when asked about looking ahead to her next match. “I think taking match by match, and I’m just very happy to be in the third round.

“Of course now it’s not going to be easier. She’s playing great tennis, especially on clay. For sure another tough match.

“I’m healthy, in one piece, and I’m just ready for the next one.”

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