Rome: Begu vs. Doi
Irina-Camelia Begu takes on Misaki Doi in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Irina-Camelia Begu takes on Misaki Doi in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
An interview with Serena Williams after her win in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Russia’s No.1 Svetlana Kuznetsova sealed her very first WTA victory in her hometown with a dominating performance over Daria Gavrilova at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Madison Keys has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Watch Venus Williams’ practice session on Day 3 of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Serena Williams takes on Madison Keys in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The Australian Open started and ended with Serena Williams, who not only won her seventh Australian Open title and returned to World No.1, but also won her 23rd Grand Slam title – breaking the Open Era record she’d heretofore shared with Stefanie Graf.
“It’s such a great feeling to have 23,” she said after defeating sister Venus Williams in the final. “It really feels great. I’ve been chasing it for a really long time. It feels like a really long time. When it got on my radar, I knew I had an opportunity to get there, and I’m here. I’m here.
“It’s a great feeling. No better place to do it than Melbourne.”
After tying Graf at Wimbledon, No.23 certainly got on her radar and was in imperious form Down Under, winning the title without losing a set through seven matches.
“My first Grand Slam started here, and getting to 23 here, but playing Venus, it’s stuff that legends are made of. I couldn’t have written a better story.
“I just feel like it was the right moment. Everything kind of happened. It hasn’t quite set in yet, but it’s really good.”
The legend lives on for Serena, and it certainly helped her earn her the mantle of January’s WTA Player of the Month!
Final Results for January’s WTA Player Of The Month
1. Serena Williams (46%)
2. Venus Williams (42%)
3. Johanna Konta (8%)
4. Karolina Pliskova (4%)
2016 WTA Player of the Month Winners
January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams
July: Simona Halep
August: Monica Puig
September: Petra Kvitova
October: Dominika Cibulkova
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Simona Halep was forced to withdraw from her St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy quarterfinal with Natalia Vikhlyantseva, citing a recurrance of the left knee pain suffered in Australia.
STRASBOURG, France – No.3 seed Samantha Stosur clinched a second set tie-break to sweep aside Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3, 7-6(3), to join Alla Kudryavtseva in the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Stosur recovered from an early break in the opening set, and the disappointment of missing the opportunity to end the match in the tenth game of the second.
“I served for it at 5-4 then lost serve,” she told wtatennis.com after the match. “You just need to knuckle down and keep focused, think about what had been working in the match and get back to those things.
“It would have been hard having been serving for the match then playing a third set, and I lost serve again at 6-5. Then it was all about a good start in the tie-break.”
Stosur had never dropped a set in her two previous matches against the former doubles No.1; the pattern held in the ensuing tie-break, which the 2011 US Open champion won to clinch the match in an hour and 37 minutes.
“I don’t remember the other encounters with Su-Wei. Just the scores. They were in different conditions. My coach had a look but two years is a pretty long time in tennis.
“It was another good match against a tricky opponent. It was closer than the score looked.”
Up next for the Aussie is No.10 seed Caroline Garcia, who eased past Jil Teichmann, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Kudryavtseva was the first into the final eight with a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Zarina Diyas. The Russian hadn’t reached a WTA quarterfinal since her run at last year’s Brisbane International as a lucky loser, and had to recover from a 5-3 final set deficit to defeat Diyas, and set up a match with either Alison Riske or No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, whose match was postponed due to darkness.
Elena Vesnina and Sloane Stephens were the last into the second round in Strasbourg on Tuesday; Vesnina was victorious in the fifth longest match of 2016, taking out Zheng Saisai, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(5), while Stephens captured a one-set shoot-out with Donna Vekic, completing a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Le soleil revient aux #IS2016 ! pic.twitter.com/SqFj1kB9Ig
— WTA Strasbourg (@WTA_Strasbourg) May 17, 2016