Tennis News

STRASBOURG, France – World No.6 Karolina Pliskova will open the Czech Republic’s Fed Cup defense against Kristina Mladenovic on Saturday afternoon.

The draw, held at Maison de la Region and carried out by Paralympic wheelchair doubles champion Nicolas Peifer, contained few surprises, pairing Czech No.1 Pliskova and French No.2 Mladenovic in the first rubber, with Petra Kvitova and Caroline Garcia facing off in the second.

The Czechs have dominated the Fed Cup in recent years, lifting the trophy in four of the past five years. Is it a record that compares favorably with many of the other dominant sides in the competition’s history. Indeed, should Pliskova and Kvitova spearhead them to victory over a gifted French side, then they will cement their place alongside the great Australian and United States teams of years gone by.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Australians reigned supreme, Margaret Court and company winning seven of the first 12 titles. This was followed by the golden age of American tennis, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King integral to a group that won the cup on seven consecutive occasions.

Check out photos from the draw for the #FedCupFinal on our Facebook page: https://t.co/ntiKRdmxNX pic.twitter.com/yG4Di4BL8e

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) November 11, 2016

Fast forward to the 21st century and Czech captain Petr Pala has forged another dynasty, founded on tremendous team spirit and no little talent. And even away from the fortresses of Prague and Ostrava, they are a formidable proposition.

Pliskova has enjoyed the best season of her career, winning a couple of titles and reaching the US Open final to cement a place in the Top 10. Despite being overtaken in the rankings by Pliskova, two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova remains an integral cog, arriving in Strasbourg fresh from dominant victories at the big Asian events in Wuhan and Zhuhai. She will be further buoyed by her record against, Garcia, whom she has beaten in two of their three meetings.

The Czechs are not the only ones playing for a piece of history. French captain Amélie Mauresmo is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Court, King and Evert by winning the Fed Cup as both player and captain, and certainly has the players to spring an upset.

? Très contente d'être à Strasbourg pour la finale de #FedCup #TeamFranceTennis #J-2 pic.twitter.com/eJFSKuUadE

— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) November 10, 2016

Garcia has enjoyed a quietly impressive year on tour, titles in Strasbourg and Mallorca helping her close in on the Top 20. Alongside Mladenovic she enjoyed an even more impressive doubles campaign, highlighted by a memorable victory on home soil at Roland Garros, forging an understanding that could prove decisive should the tie reach the decisive doubles rubber on Sunday.

Pliskova and Garcia, who have split their two career encounters, will step out in front of an expected capacity crowd at the 6,077-seat Rhénus Sport indoor arena at 2pm.

THE WINNERS:

No.2 seed Roberta Vinci won the battle of youth vs. experience at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, defeating 18-year-old Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3 for her 10th career title, and her first on the WTA Premier level. Vinci had previously announced plans to retire after this year but with another title under her belt, the veteran was singing a slightly different tune when asked if she planned to play a few more years.

“No, two, three years, no,” said Vinci. “One more, but maybe. Why not?”

Read the match review and watch highlights.

Taiwan Open top seed Venus Williams defeated the always-dangerous Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-2, to win her 49th career title. Williams didn’t lose a set through five matches in Kaohsiung, and will hold on to her current ranking of No.11 by virtue of winning the title.

“I’ve had so much success in Asia,” Williams said after the match, having won her last two titles at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “I feel like it’s very lucky to play here.”

Read the match review and watch highlights.

GAME, SET MATCH: WTA Insider

Game: Veterans hold off the youth brigade.

There has been much talk about the 2016 setting up as a year of transition on the WTA, with more and more new and young faces making a splash at the season’s early tournaments. But when it comes trophies, the veterans continue to reign supreme. This week it was Venus Williams putting a winless January behind her to win her first title of the season (and 49th overall) at the Taiwan Open. And she did it without dropping a set.

Over at the inaugural St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, Roberta Vinci was putting her own retirement announcement in doubt, as she took out Ana Ivanovic and top-seed Belinda Bencic to win her first title in nearly three years. At the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai last year, the 33-year-old Italian told reporters 2016 would be her final season. But as she continues to play the best tennis of her career – she’s up to No.12 and a Top 10 debut is calling her name – she told me the idea of hanging up her racket at the end of the year isn’t on her mind. She just wants to enjoy what she’s doing right now.

Set: Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina lead the teen bump.

At the start of last week, the stories going into the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and Taiwan Open surrounded the youth on display at both tournaments. For the most part, those stories held up. 18-year-old Belinda Bencic did well in her first tournament as a top seed, advancing to the St. Petersburg final and ensuring a Top 10 debut on Monday. Her junior rival Daria Kasatkina justified her hype as well, making her second WTA semifinal in her last five events. Kasatkina will move up to a career-high No.45 on Monday. Bencic and Kasatkina are the only two teenagers in the Top 50.

Over in Taiwan, 19-year-old Elizaveta Kulichkova has already made five WTA quarterfinals in her short career, after beating No.68 Zarina Diyas to make the quarterfinals in Kaohsiung.

Get to know Kasatkina and Kulichkova in the WTA Insider Podcast.

Match: Hingis and Mirza chasing Novotna and Sukova.

By winning the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza extended their streaks to 40 consecutive wins and nine straight titles. Their last loss came at the Western & Southern Open in August, where they fell to Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Chan (who won their first title of the year this weekend at home at the Taiwan Open). Hingis and Mirza are four wins away from catching Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova’s streak of 44 in 1990. What’s additionally impressive about Hingis and Mirza’s streak is that they’ve done it during the super tie-break era of doubles, which make the margins of victory so much smaller. Of their 40 straight wins, six came down to a super-tiebreak

But – and I say it again because we get asked this a lot – the longest doubles streak is still a long ways off. Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver won 109 straight matches between April 1983 to July 1985.

More on the SanTina Streak, which both women admit, they’re very well aware of.

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of February 15, 2016.

Daria Kasatkina (RUS), +18 (No.63 to 45): 18-year-old Kasatkina makes the week’s biggest ranking jump – after being named one to watch at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, she lived up to the hype by making the quarterfinals. She now reached a career-high ranking of No.45, breaking into the Top 50.  

Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE), +16 (No.81 to No.65): Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei found inspiration from playing in front of a home crowd at the Taiwan Open, reaching the semifinals to jump up 16 ranking spots. 

Misaki Doi (JPN), +9 (No.61 to No.52): Doi’s appearance in the Taiwan Open final boosted her ranking nine spots and puts her within striking distance of the Top 50.

Anastasija Sevastova (LAT), +9 (No.103 to No.95): Playing in the sixth WTA main draw tournament since her return to tennis last January, Sevastova’s run to the quarterfinals at the Taiwan Open sends her ranking back in the Top 100.

Belinda Bencic (SUI), +2 (No.11 to No.9): Bencic was the No.1 at a WTA tournament for the time in her career, and with her run to the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy final she is now into the WTA Top 10.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Premier | $1,734,900 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 15 – Saturday, February 20, 2016

Rio Open
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
International | $226,750 | Clay
Monday, February 15 – Sunday, February 21, 2016

Qatar Total Open
Doha, Qatar
Premier | $2,517,250 | Hard, Outdoors
Sunday, February 21 – Saturday, February 27, 2016

Abierto Mexicano TELCEL
Acapulco, Mexico
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 22 – Saturday, February 27, 2016

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES:

1. Serena Williams – Doha
2. Angelique Kerber – Doha
3. Simona Halep – Dubai, Doha
4. Agnieszka Radwanska – Doha
5. Garbiñe Muguruza – Dubai, Doha
6. Maria Sharapova – Doha
7. Flavia Pennetta – (retired)
8. Petra Kvitova – Dubai, Doha
9. Belinda Bencic – Dubai, Doha
10. Lucie Safarova – Doha
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Dubai, Doha
12. Venus Williams –
13. Roberta Vinci – Dubai, Doha
14. Karolina Pliskova – Dubai, Doha
15. Victoria Azarenka –
16. Timea Bacsinszky – Doha
17. Ana Ivanovic – Dubai
18. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Dubai, Doha
19. Caroline Wozniacki – Doha
20. Jelena Jankovic – Dubai, Doha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Annika Beck (GER) – February 16, 1994
Carina Witthoeft (GER) – February 16, 1995
Cara Black (ZIM) – February 17, 1979
Madison Keys (USA) – February 17, 1995
Roberta Vinci (ITA) – February 18, 1983
Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) – February 20, 1994

DUBAI, UAE – The first day of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships brought the first upset as CoCo Vandeweghe knocked out last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.

Watch live action from Dubai & Rio de Janeiro this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Unsurprisingly, given both players’ fearsome serves, break opportunities were few and far between in the opening set. However, once Vandeweghe had pinched that, it was one-way traffic, as she sailed through, 7-6(5), 6-1.

“Taking care of my service games was my main focus. And then in the tie-breaker, I mean, every point matters,” Vandeweghe said. “So when I had my opportunity, I was going to take it. Sometimes I messed up and other times I was successful. But I wasn’t going to allow her to dictate me in the tie-breaker. So that’s what I was thinking going in.”

The tie-break’s decisive crucial moment came when Vandeweghe turned defense to attack with a rifled backhand that brought up two set points. The No.6 seed managed to fend off the first, but could not complete the escape, pushing a backhand long on the following point. 

“Then the second set, getting that early break was really key. Then, you know, from there I just kind of went into a rhythm and continued to steamroll,” Vandeweghe added.

One former runner-up that did make it safely into the second round was Julia Goerges, who enjoyed an easier-than-expected outing against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Goerges, a finalist back in 2012, needed only 57 minutes to knock out the No.8 seed, 6-1, 6-0, and set up a meeting with either Barbora Strycova or Tsvetana Pironkova.

“A very solid performance but at the same time being aggressive and didn’t make that many mistakes,” Goerges said. “Well, I just didn’t give her any chance to get into the match and get into her rhythm, because if she has time she creates good balls and deep balls, and that’s what I tried to take away from her. That worked pretty well today.

“That’s what you’re working for, to play as consistent as possible and why you train every day, and it’s very satisfying to see the performance like this today.”

Also advancing on the opening day was Goerges’ fellow German, Andrea Petkovic. In four previous visits to Dubai, Petkovic has won just two main draw matches, but looked full of confidence in her opening outing this time, brushing aside the mercurial Camila Giorgi, 6-2, 6-1.