Dubai: Errani Interview
An interview with Sara Errani after her win in the quarterfinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Sara Errani after her win in the quarterfinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Fearless on the tennis court, Daria Gavrilova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands proved they weren’t scared of heights at iFly Dubai as they tried some indoor skydiving!
BRISBANE/AUCKLAND/SHENZHEN – The new year has barely begun, but the 2017 WTA season has begun in earnest, with a trio of tournaments taking place across the globe. World No.1 Angelique Kerber is one of four Top 10 players at the Brisbane International, while 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and sister Venus Williams take to the ASB Classic in Auckland. Farther north in China, defending champion and World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska is the top seed at the Shenzhen Open, drawn opposite to Simona Halep.
Check out the biggest storylines in the first week of the 2017 season:
1) Angelique Kerber begins her defense of top ranking.
The two-time Grand Slam champion ended her breakthrough season as No.1 in the world, and heads back to Brisbane to begin taking on challengers to her throne atop the sport. Kerber could open against wildcard and comeback kid Ashleigh Barty after a first round bye, with the likes of Eugenie Bouchard, No.6 seed Elina Svitolina, and No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova all looming in the top half of the draw.
Excited to finally return to Australia ?? with @ThaiAirways. See you Down Under ? #TeamAngie #IflyThai pic.twitter.com/O7jM0tlUZn
— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) December 30, 2016
2) Kerber could book a Singapore rematch with No.2 seed Cibulkova.
The 2016 season ended with Dominika Cibulkova stunning Kerber to win the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Up to a career-high ranking of No.5, the Slovak is seeded No.2 in Brisbane, and will open against either Laura Siegemund or Zhang Shuai after a first round bye. No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, and No.7 seed Elena Vesnina are all in her half.
3) Kuznetsova aims to keep up late-season momentum.
Speaking of Kuznetsova, the Russian bookended her 2016 with titles in Sydney and Moscow, the latter helping her book the final ticket to Singapore. Kuznetsova begins her first season in the Top 10 since 2010, and opens against young American Louisa Chirico.
4) Serena returns in Auckland.
Over in New Zealand, World No.2 Serena Williams plays her first tour-level match since the US Open at the ASB Classic. As the top seed, Serena takes on Pauline Parmentier in the first round, and could play No.4 seed Barbora Strycova in the semifinals.
5) The Williams sisters doubles feature.
On the other half of the draw is Serena’s sister Venus, a champion in Auckland back in 2015, who opens against local wildcard Jade Lewis. Along with the hopes of an all-Williams final, Venus and Serena are set to play doubles together for the first time since the Olympic tennis event.
6) Wozniacki opens against good friend Nicole Gibbs.
Caroline Wozniacki narrowly lost to Venus in Auckland’s championship match two years ago, and the former World No.1 aims to build on the late season surge that took her from World No.74 all the way back into the Top 20. Wozniacki drew Nicole Gibbs in her first round; the two spent a week together over the off-season to play an exhibition event:
Beautiful island ✅
(Nearly lethal) drone ✅
Amazing people ✅ pic.twitter.com/V2DBmz8PJO— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) November 18, 2016
7) Radwanska kicks off title defense against hometown favorite.
Agnieszka Radwanska kicked off 2016 on an impressive winning streaking, winning the Shenzhen Open and roaring into the Australian Open semifinals. Hoping to begin 2017 in similar style, the Pole needs to get past wildcard Duan Ying-Ying, with last year’s runner-up No.8 seed Alison Riske looming in the quarterfinals.
8) Halep takes on Jankovic to kick off her season.
On the other half of the draw is 2015 champion Simona Halep, who has the unenviable task of taking on a former No.1 in Jelena Jankovic to start her season. Jankovic suffered through an injury-addled 2016 season, but showed off some solid tennis last fall, reaching a final in Guangzhou.
Favourite #Christmas song? @JoKonta91 tackles our Christmas quiz! pic.twitter.com/M6OJxve1mb
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) December 24, 2016
9) Can Jo Konta make new milestones?
Johanna Konta is the third Top 10 player in Shenzhen, and the Brit plays her first tournament since hiring new coach Wim Fisette. Konta scribbled her name throughout the record books in 2016, and aims to continue at that high level in her first match against Cagla Buyukakcay.
10) Mirza pairs with No.1 rival Mattek-Sands in Brisbane.
The top doubles stars converge on Brisbane, with World No.1 Sania Mirza playing with former partner Bethanie-Mattek Sands. Mattek-Sands fell one match shy of unseating Mirza for No.1 in Singapore, losing in the final to Brisbane’s No.2 seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. In an ironic twist, the American has a shot to take No.1 again this week, but will need Mirza’s help to do it – by winning the title.
Highlights from the semifinals action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
BRISBANE, Australia – No.6 seed Elina Svitolina opened her 2017 season with a comfortable straight sets win over Monica Puig, easing into the second round at the Brisbane International.
Svitolina is enjoying a career-high ranking of No.14 and, with a new coaching team behind her, has already seen the benefits in the New Year. She needed an hour and 17 minutes to complete her 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Olympic champion.
Perfect passing shot from @ElinaSvitolina! ? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/6qHlQKCV2G
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Puig showed flashes of her world-beating form throughout the encounter, but played overly aggressive, trying to end the points too quickly and was waylaid by her own unforced errors. She hit 36 errors to Svitolina’s 17 over the course of two sets, compared to 13 winners against Svitolina’s 15.
Svitolina rode out the assault and replied with her brand of pace and defensive skills, breaking twice in each set and never looking to be in too much trouble.
.@ElinaSvitolina slides past Puig 6-3, 6-3 in @BrisbaneTennis first round! pic.twitter.com/1mtZSewJWD
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Awaiting Svitolina in the second round is Shelby Rogers, who opened her Brisbane account yesterday with a win over Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
More to follow…
Top 10 debuts on the WTA these days are like London buses: wait ages for one, then two come along at once.
Hot on the heels of Belinda Bencic onto the Top 10 bus is the evergreen Roberta Vinci, who – in spite of an early exit at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – hopped aboard on Monday.
Having closed in on the Top 10 with victory in St. Petersburg, Carla Suárez Navarro’s second-round loss in Dubai and the absences of Lucie Safarova and Venus Williams saw Vinci leapfrog her previous highest ranking of No.11.
It is the latest highlight of a remarkable return to form for Vinci, who last summer was ranked as low as No.58 before reviving her career with that run at the US Open.
The Italian, who turned 33 last week, is the 117th – and oldest – player to make their Top 10 debut and on Monday celebrated her ascent by dismissing Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the Qatar Total Open.
At the Australian Open, Vinci dropped hints on potential retirement dates, but with relatively few points to defend between now and August, this topic of conversation is likely to be shelved for the foreseeable future.
And Vinci is not the only upwardly mobile Italian.
Sara Errani (+5, No.22 to No.17): On Saturday, Sara Errani defeated Barbora Strycova in the Dubai final to lift the ninth, and most significant, title of her career. After slipping down the rankings following two wins in her first three tournaments of the year, the 28-year-old’s return to form takes her back into the Top 20.
Barbora Strycova (+9, No.47 to No.38): Errani’s victim in the final also enjoyed a productive week, victories over Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Garcia taking her back into the Top 40 for the first time since August.
Francesca Schavone (+38 No.132 to No.94): Having been an ever-present just shy of 15 years, last summer, Francesca Schiavone finally surrendered her place in the Top 100. However, at the Rio Open the 36-year-old rolled back the years to lift her first title since 2013 and jump back to No.94 in the rankings.
Shelby Rogers (+23, No.131 to No.108): Also enjoying a productive first outing of the year on clay was Shelby Rogers, who saw off No.8 seed Andreea Mitu and former World No.21 Sorana Cirstea before being edged out by Schiavone in the final.
Venus and Serena Williams kicked off the 2017 season in Auckland, but their first match at the ASB Classic went a little differently than usual as they took on a pair of rugby stars, the All Blacks’ Julian & Ardie Savea.
A sellout crowd gathered at the ASB Tennis Arena to watch the two sibling duos battle it out for a good cause.
Ardie gamely swapped out the rugby ball for a tennis racquet…
…while Julian opted for a jumbo racquet to even out the competition.
“I couldn’t stop laughing!” Venus said.
The brothers admitted to being “kind of star struck” before the event, which included No.3 seed Caroline Wozniacki.
After taking on the Savea brothers, the Williams sisters took to opposite sides of the court for a doubles face off.
Serena said: “I’ve never been in Auckland and so I’ve never had an opportunity to be first in the world to welcome in this New Year, so this is a new experience for me. The fact that I’m still having new experiences this deep into my career makes me feel really good.”
The siblings plus Wozniacki commemorated the match with a selfie with the ASB Tennis Arena crowd.
All the fun and games went toward a good cause, with $65,000 being raised to help with earthquake relief efforts for the people of Kaikoura.
Serena, Caroline and Venus are set to play their first matches of the season on Tuesday.
Serena will take on Pauline Parmentier, Caroline will take on Nicole Gibbs and Venus will take on New Zealand’s Jade Lewis.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Before taking to the court at the ASB Classic, some of the WTA’s biggest names glammed up and stepped out for the official player party on Monday.
Check out the video above to go behind the scenes at the Auckland Player Party with Venus Williams, Nicole Gibbs, Caroline Wozniacki, Lucie Safarova, Mandy Minella, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and more WTA stars!
And then check out some of the best photos from the red carpet, courtesy of Tennis Auckland:
An interview with Carla Suárez Navarro before the start of the Qatar Total Open.
Angelique Kerber has had a busy week in Brisbane, from getting down at the Brisbane International’s Kids Day to reaching the top of the Wheel of Brisbane!