Lighting Up The Night In Monterrey
The theme of the Abierto GNP Seguros player party was “glow in the dark,” and Caroline Garcia, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and plenty of WTA players were on hand to light up the night.
The theme of the Abierto GNP Seguros player party was “glow in the dark,” and Caroline Garcia, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and plenty of WTA players were on hand to light up the night.
Hear from Venus Williams before the start of the tournament.
WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen checks in from the Foro Italico in Rome where the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is already underway. She recaps the the weekend in Madrid, where Simona Halep capped off a big week for Romanian tennis by winning her first title of the season. Hear from Halep as she discusses her surprising week and how it all came together in the Champion’s Corner.
You’ll also hear from 30-year-old Czech veteran Barbora Strycova. The World No.38 joins the podcast to discuss her career, which was nearly ended by a failed drug test in 2012. After serving a six-moth ban for negligently ingesting a banned substance, Strycova came one match away from ending her career. It’s a good thing she didn’t.
Strycova candidly opens up about her ban — the lowest moment of her career — as well as her redemptive run to the 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinals. Self-aware, honest, and funny, it’s a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Halep on being reluctant to handicap her chances at the start of the week: It’s amazing that I could win this tournament. I feel that I had everything in my hands, every match. I felt that I played my best tennis in every match and kind of deserving the title because I won it. I didn’t receive presents during the matches. Day by day I believed more that I had a chance to win it.
At the beginning of the tournament it’s normal to feel that you hesitate a little bit because it’s just the start and you don’t know actually what’s going to happen in the first round because the first round is always the toughest in the tournament. And after my months before coming here, it was tough to believe I could win it.
Halep on the rise of her fellow Romanians: I didn’t read anything since a long time ago and I’m not going to start to read again. I heard a tough story about my joke about “the Easter present” about the second set [bagel against Irina-Camelia Begu]. They make everything negative so I’m not going to read.
But in my opinion it’s a big thing that many Romanians are playing in the last matches here in this tournament – also men’s doubles – so it’s a good point point for our country and maybe it will help our juniors.
Strycova on picking tennis over figure skating: At age 12, I had to decide if I wanted to stick with figure skating, because I was pretty good at it, or tennis. I chose tennis because it was my choice, and nobody was pushing it. I was last on the ice a year ago; I can do some small jumps but you have to be careful because you can fall down and break a leg! I love that sport, and I still like to listen to my favorite music and be on the ice, doing what I used to do when I was young. It’s really relaxing.
Strycova on whether her on-court intensity dates back to her childhood: Oh my god, so much! You would see such a crazy Bara, you would not believel I am so emotional. I’m intense. I love to win and hate to lose. Back then, I was crabby. On one side, I was very positive, but also very negative. I’d throw racquets, screaming, crying. My whole career, I’ve been fighting to be positive and calmer. But I need that sometimes, I just need to know how to deal with it, and make sure it’s not hurting you.
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CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Few can claim to be a more voracious reader than Andrea Petkovic, and the German sat down with Joel Drucker of Tennis Channel at the Volvo Car Open this week to put her skills to the ultimate test.
Petkovic, who is as much a Renaissance woman as she is a professional athlete, has a well-rounded range of interests that span from art and music to literature, which she called her escape in the sit-down with Drucker following her first round victory in Charleston.
“Some people escape with drugs and alcohol. For me, it’s literature,” the 29-year-old said.
The 2014 Volvo Car Open champion often gives followers and fans a glimpse into her eclectic world off the court on social media, whether it be by documenting visits to museums in her world travels, quoting Robert Frost on her Twitter account — or taking a book into the ice bath at the US Open.
Four of the German’s favorites authors — Ernest Hemingway, Saul Bellow, Friedrich Nietzsche and Leo Tolstoy — span generations and have few peers in the realm of literature, but just who would they be like if they picked up a racquet?
On Hemingway…
“He plays short points – really likes to go to net. Definitely would chip-charge. He’s tall, handsome – much like Patrick Rafter.”
On Bellow…
“He hits big, powerful shots – like Alexander Zverev. He’s a spectacular, hard-hitting player who loves the big sentence and brings lots of philosophical insight.”
On Nietzsche…
“He’s like Ivan Lendl. He’ll grind it out. He likes to suffer.”
On Tolstoy…
“A percentage player. He always plays the right shot – a baseliner, sort of like Caroline Wozniacki. Just a terrific all-around player.”
Stay tuned for part two from Tennis Channel, coming soon as the former World No.9 compares some of tennis’ greats, along with her peers and compatriots, to some of history’s best authors.
Eugenie Bouchard takes on Angelique Kerber in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Caroline Garcia has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
Irina-Camelia Begu produced her best performance of the year to upset No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Top seed and World No.1 Angelique Kerber reached her fourth quarterfinal of 2017 on Thursday, closing out the night session and a big-hitting Mandy Minella, 6-1, 6-3 at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
“It was a good match from me,” she said after the match. “I played very well, and was able to play aggressively from the first point. I enjoyed the match tonight.”
Crafty lob from @AngeliqueKerber! ? pic.twitter.com/vCBZcBAeTc
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
Minella has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, reaching the semifinals at the Taiwan Open and earning an impressive win over Kristyna Pliskova at the Miami Open, but came up against a firing Kerber in Monterrey.
The German dropped just three points behind her first serve and didn’t face a break point all match, converting four of the eight she earned on the reigning Bol Open winner.
Kerber has slowly recovered from a tough first quarter, reaching the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the quarterfinals in Miami, and is still looking for her first title of the year.
Up next for World No.1 is defending champion Heather Watson, who enjoyed a strong win over Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4, 6-1, earlier in the day.
Just too good from @AngeliqueKerber ? ? pic.twitter.com/My4Mjv1H4O
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
“I think it’ll be a good match; she won here last year and is the defending champion, so she knows the court and venue.
“I think I’ll have to play like today, play my game. I’m looking forward to playing against her.”
.@AngeliqueKerber races past Minella 6-1, 6-3!
Sets @Abierto_GNP Quarterfinal vs defending champ @HeatherWatson92! pic.twitter.com/hOrRPIwXRj
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
All photos courtesy of Abierto GNP Seguros.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – If Caroline Wozniacki scores just one more victory at the Volvo Car Open and defeats World No.66 Jelena Ostapenko, she’ll be rewarded with more than just a spot in the Charleston semifinals: she’ll be projected to break back into the Top 10 when the new WTA rankings come out, a happy ending to what has been an absolute rollercoaster last few years.
Wozniacki got her first taste of the Top 10 back in 2009, and has been a mainstay at the top of the rankings for the majority of her career – including a stint at World No.1, a ranking she held for 67 weeks.
In fact, from 2009 to 2014 she finished each year inside the Top 10, and her six year run had been the WTA’s longest active streak.
But a struggle with injuries and recovery derailed the Dane’s progress, causing her ranking to plummet to as low as No.74 during the 2016 US Open.
It was during that US Open fortnight that Wozniacki’s comeback came together; she entered the tournament unseeded and went on to reach the semifinals, knocking out the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys along the way.
Once she got going, Wozniacki never looked back, and in the 14 events since her ranking dipped to No.74, she’s put together a stunning run which includes titles at the 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, runner-up finishes at the 2017 Qatar Total Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Miami Open, and a semifinal finish at the US Open.
She’s reached the quarterfinals or better at 11 of her last 14 events and now, by virtue of her incredible consistency, Wozniacki sits one win away from a return to her beloved Top 10 – the first time she’ll be there since September 21, 2015.
It won’t be easy with Latvian teenager Ostapenko standing in her way; Wozniacki lost in straight sets the only previous match they’ve played at last year’s Connecticut Open. And due to extreme weather conditions in Charleston, Wozniacki found herself having to double up and play two matches on the same day to reach the quarterfinals.
“I think I’m well-prepared for tomorrow,” Wozniacki said after her win against Anastasia Rodionova. “I got some clay tennis in today and feel like I’m just going to go out there and have fun and do my best and see how it goes.
“I’m just playing right now. I had one practice session before the tournament started for me, and that was it. I just kind of run on experience and try and figure it out.”
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko stunned No.11 seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets to reach the final at the Volvo Car Open, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
With the victory Ostapenko is through to her third career final – and her first on clay – where he’ll face fellow-19-year-old Daria Kasatkina.
“It’s really nice to be in the third final, but first final on clay court, and especially here in Charleston,” Ostapenko told press after the match. “I’m really looking forward for tomorrow’s match.
“[Daria] kind of defensive player, and I think clay is her favorite surface, but I’m just going to try to stay consistent and be aggressive at the same time and just play my game.”
We're going three!
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni battles back to force a decider over Ostapenko 3-6, 7-5! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/2g3oMKIpc5
— WTA (@WTA) 8 de abril de 2017
Just one point made the difference between Ostapenko and Lucic-Baroni during the tense, two-hour-and-seven-minute encounter. The Latvian employed her aggressive, fearless tennis against Lucic-Baroni, changing the direction in the ball and keeping her opponent on the run with her heavy groundstrokes.
Ostapenko was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second, but Lucic-Baroni had other ideas and the Croat put together a mammoth struggle to deny Ostapenko and break her serve.
Jelena Ostapenko edges Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 5-7, 6-4!
Sets All-Teen @VolvoCarOpen Final vs @DKasatkina! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/ugpZVK2IAh
— WTA (@WTA) 8 de abril de 2017
She unleashed a barrage of winners against the Latvian, who had no response as Lucic-Baroni grabbed the next two games to take the match into a decider. But Ostapenko tamped down her nerves in the third and found her calm to make her way into her first final of 2017.
“I actually was quite emotional in the second set when I was 5-3 up and I couldn’t finish the set, but she liked when I was emotional,” Ostapenko admitted. “It kind of gave her confidence till then.
“In the third set I was just trying to be calm because I think it was tougher for her because I didn’t show any emotions, and it helped me, so I won the third set.”