Tennis News

Serena Williams

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.1
Year-End Ranking: No.2
Season Highlights: Title at Rome, Wimbledon
Best Major Result: Winner (Wimbledon), RU (Australian Open, Roland Garros)

2 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/rDUVjeUZHg

— WTA (@WTA) December 30, 2016

2017 Outlook

Serena Williams ended 2016 by reaching a major milestone. Will happiness off the court help the 35-year-old achieve more records on it?

On Wimbledon’s hallowed lawns, Serena drew level with Steffi Graf’s long-standing Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam victories. It was an emotional occasion and one that proved to be the highlight of an injury-affected campaign. “Wimbledon was good for me,” she told BeIN Sports during the off-season. “Obviously, I was really excited to win that this year. I had a lot of tough matches, but I went in there and played the best I could.”

At two of the season’s other showpiece events, Williams found herself in the unusual position of giving runner-up speeches, after losing out to Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian and French Opens.

The competitive fire still burns brightly, though, and despite the toll on her body, few would back against the American creating more history in 2017. And while she is hesitant to talk of numbers, there can be no doubting their significance.

“30 [major titles] is a lot, but my goal is just to go out there, do the best I can and be happy,” she said to BeIN. “The only way for me to do that is to win every single match; that doesn’t always happen and that’s something you have to understand and learn to deal with over the course of your career.”

The quest for the next begins in Auckland, where Williams will make her first appearance since a shock US Open semifinal defeat to Pliskova. After that, Melbourne, where history could well await.

BASTAD, Sweden – Johanna Larsson’s defense of her Ericsson Open title gathered further momentum following a brisk win over qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo on Thursday afternoon.

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The withdrawal of top seed Angelique Kerber earlier on removed one of the more significant obstacles between Larsson and a second title on home soil. However, in front of an appreciative home crowd she was never likely to take her eye off the ball, running out a 6-0, 6-3 winner in an hour and 20 minutes.

“I don’t feel more pressure, the same thing happened last year, but I don’t really think about it,” Larsson said when asked about Kerber’s unexpected exit. “I try to just focus on my own thing and it’s a very tough match coming up in the quarters so I’m just looking forward to that one.”

Sorribes Tormo has made only fleeting appearances at WTA events this year and her inexperience was laid bare early on, Larsson romping through the first set. In the second set, Sorribes Tormo gave a better account of herself, success in a terrific 23-shot exchange helping break the No.8 seed in the opening game.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, holding onto her own service games continued to be problematic. A couple of double faults handed the break right back, before Larsson put daylight between the two when she slung a serve out wide to register an increasingly rare hold the sixth game.

This cushion proved enough to get Larsson to the finishing line, and ace down the T taking her into a fifth quarterfinal in six years at Bastad Tennis Stadium.

There she is likely to face stiffer resistance, taking on No.4 seed Annika Beck, an impressive 6-2, 6-0 winner over Anastasija Sevastova. In the last second-round match, Julia Goerges fought back to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Back to back aces, nice finish by Johanna Larsson against @sara_sorribes pic.twitter.com/FC5Xw1hBdY

— Swedish Open Tennis (@swedish_open) 21 July 2016