Azarenka's Tiny New Assistant Coach
Victoria Azarenka teased a new addition to her coaching team as the former World No.1 remains optimistic of a comeback after giving birth to her first child.
Victoria Azarenka teased a new addition to her coaching team as the former World No.1 remains optimistic of a comeback after giving birth to her first child.
The 2016 Grand Slam season is in the books, but there is still plenty of tennis before the WTA’s grand finale at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Top tier tournaments in Tokyo, Wuhan, and Beijing will help determine the remaining spots for Singapore. Who has already qualified and who has the edge heading into the Asian Swing?
“With only 40 days to go until the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, the Road to Singapore is really heating up now with the best players putting in all their final efforts to secure a prized spot among the greatest eight,” said Melissa Pine, Vice-President of WTA Asia-Pacific and Tournament Director of the WTA Finals. “Women’s tennis is truly exciting at the moment and I am sure that this year’s WTA Finals will feature some of the most thrilling action on court. It is definitely going to be a great time for all the fans!”
KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Tour Championships
Prize Money: $7,000,000
Draw Size: 8 main draw singles (round robin)/8 main draw doubles (knockout)
Main Draw Ceremony: Friday, October 21
First Day of Main Draw: Sunday, October 23, 5pm
Singles Final: Sunday, October 30, NB 7.30pm
Doubles Final: Sunday, October 30, 4pm
MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@WTAFinalsSG – The official tournament Twitter for the WTA Finals
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #WTAFinals and #WTA.
OPENING DAY ACTION:
This year, fans can look forward to the new Family Day At The Tennis festivities which will complement the scintillating action on Center Court on opening day. Session 1 ticket-holders will be given a Family Day At The Tennis Passport which they can use to earn themselves incentives and prizes such as front-row tickets, fast-track access to special activities, and a meet and greet with WTA legends, while attempting various activities and challenges at the all-new Fan Village.
QUALIFICATION UPDATE:
– Top 2 on the WTA rankings, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber became the first two women to qualify for Singapore; leading the Road to Singapore leaderboard for most of 2016, Serena and Kerber contested two of the three Grand Slam finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon championships. The two will be making their 13th and fourth WTA Finals appearances respectively; Serena has won the title five times.
– By winning her second Grand Slam title at the US Open, Kerber moves up to No.1 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.
– Three doubles teams have already qualified. Australian Open champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza were the first women to qualify for Singapore, followed by French Open champions Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. Olympic Gold medalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina became the third team to qualify after reaching the semifinals of the US Open.
– Hingis and Mirza are defending champions and plan to play Singapore despite splitting after the Rogers Cup, while Garcia and Mladenovic will be making their first apperance as a team after debuting in 2015 with different partners. By reaching the US Open final, the French will take over the No.1 ranking on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.
MAKAROVA AND VESNINA QUALIFY FOR SINGAPORE:
– Makarova and Vesnina were forced to withdraw from the WTA Finals last year, but have qualified twice before, reaching the finals in 2013. The Russians rode a 13-match winning streak into the US Open semifinals with a title at the Rogers Cup before Rio. Learn more about Makarova and Vesnina’s qualification story here.
SINGAPORE IN SIGHT FOR BUCIE?
– Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova were the second team to qualify for Singapore last year, but have played just six events in 2016 due to Safarova’s struggles with illness and injury. Still, the captured their their major title as a pair at the US Open, moving up to No.7 on the RTS leaderboard.
LOOKING AHEAD: THE ASIAN SWING
Six spots in singles and five spots in doubles will be decided during the WTA tour’s final stretch of the 2016 season. The first major tournament of the Asian Swing is the Premier-level Toray Pan Pacific Open, won by defending WTA Finals champion Agnieszka Radwanska last year. From there, the tour heads to China for back-to-back weeks at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open (won by Venus Williams) and the Premier Mandatory China Open (won by French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza).
Here is the current RTS leaderboard in singles and doubles; who will qualify next?
Who were the last women to complete the Sunshine Double? Find out as SAP takes you Behind The Numbers at Indian Wells and Miami.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska before her opening round match at the Qatar Total Open.
QUÉBEC CITY, Canada – Alla Kudryavtseva took out top seed and hometown favorite Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 6-3, to advance into her second WTA quarterfinal of 2016 at the Coupe Banque Nationale.
“The crowd was amazing; it was a sold out match today, and it was very nice to play singles in a full stadium,” she told WTA Insider after the match. “We started with some good points. I was in trouble in the second game, but I was able to come up with good shots on break points.
“From then on, I kind of rolled – talk about being in the zone! – I was hitting my shots very well, and it was just working. It was just electric and I love how engaged the crowd was – though sadly, they were engaged against me! But it was still nice to have the full house atmosphere, and by the end I really felt like they appreciated the level of tennis I was playing.”
Kudryavtseva has been ranked as high as No.56 in singles, and the doubles star has shown signs of possibly improving upon that career with a run to the quarterfinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg and a quality week of wins at the Rogers Cup. But it all came together for the Russian as she headlined the night session in Québec City as she saved three early break points to roar out to a set and double break lead, clinching the match two games later – setting up match point with a screaming forehand winner – in just over an hour.
“I don’t get to play indoors as much anymore now that I don’t train as much in Russia. But I put some good hours in, playing two doubles matches, and I think that helped me get used to the surface, the Center Court, and being in the groove of the tournament – not having too much of a break between my first and second round singles matches.
“Things kind of worked, and isn’t it nice when things just work out?”
Up next for the Russian is American nemesis Lauren Davis, a qualifier who has won each of their previous three meetings – a stat about which Kudryavtseva is keenly aware.
“Horrible match-up for me! Horrible! She beats me every time! But every week is different, and every match is different, different surface – although, we have actually played indoors before.
“But I’m just enjoying my time on the singles court right now, coming off a big win. I just hope to bring a good level tomorrow, and I’m sure things will work out if I do that.”
Earlier in the day, France’s Oceane Dodin reached her first WTA quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sachia Vickery, while Alison Van Uytvanck ended lucky loser Barbora Stefkova’s run in the second round, 6-4, 6-3. Finally, Jessica Pegula completed the quarterfinal line-up by defeating young Canadian hope Francoise Abanda, 7-6(2), 7-5.
Kudryavtseva sort avec le sourire après avoir battu Bouchard 6-2, 6-3 et Abanda rentre sur le terrain. #CoupeBN pic.twitter.com/dxySdHTLlo
— CoupeBanqueNationale (@CoupeBN) September 16, 2016
Watch as Caroline Wozniacki takes us through a Qatari tea ceremony and shares her favorite tea sweets!
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Qatar Total Open,
DOHA, Qatar – Zhang Shuai recorded one of the biggest wins of her career, overcoming No.5 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the last eight – her fourth on the Premier level – at the Qatar Total Open.
Muguruza, who was playing her second match of the day – overcoming Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay 6-3, 6-2 after their rain delayed match – quickly found herself in trouble against the Chinese No.1 – herself having to beat Timea Babos earlier in the afternoon – in the first meeting between the pair.
“I woke up thinking that I was going to have a very tough day,” Muguruza said after. “This morning I warm up at 9:00 in the morning. I played pretty good the first match. The second one, Zhang played very well. The conditions were difficult. There was a lot of wind. She was finding her shots. At the end I think was two points difference and they went to her.”
Thunderous hitting from the baseline saw Zhang secure back-to-back breaks of the former French Open champion’s serve for a surprise early 4-1 lead. Muguruza’s fighting spirit helped her break back to love and restore parity as a tight opening set went to a tie-break.
It was the impressive Zhang from there, nailing an impressive 83% of first serves to take the opener as Muguruza double faulted on set point.
.@zhangshuai121 claims an epic rally! @QatarTennis pic.twitter.com/oOgyNEfoAA
— WTA (@WTA) February 15, 2017
The second set followed a similarly tight pattern but this time it was Muguruza with the crucial break at 4-2 as Zhang hit a forehand long, the single break proving sufficient for the Spaniard to serve out and take the match to a deciding set.
The former Australian Open quarterfinalist staved off three break points before breaking herself with a forehand onto the line.
With Muguruza struggling on her second serve, Zhang broke yet again and consolidated for a 5-2 lead but the Spaniard is not a grand slam champion for nothing and roared back to level at 5-5.
What an upset!@zhangshuai121 ousts Muguruza 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5! #Qatar_Total_Open pic.twitter.com/00mkn0hr03
— WTA (@WTA) February 15, 2017
Zhang, making only her third appearance at Doha, was not to be denied and a further break at 6-5 sealed the win and her best showing to date. The win marked her fifth career Top 10 win and first of the season after previously earning wins over Dinara Safina, Petra Kvitova, and two over Simona Halep in 2016.
Up next for the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai semifinalist is either No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova or Caroline Garcia. Meanwhile Muguruza said she is looking forward to moving on to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“I think I’m going to go as soon as possible,” she said. “I want to go in Dubai, try to have a few days of training, recovery take it very seriously. I think Dubai is a big tournament this year for us. I want to do well there.”
Samantha Stosur was the latest player to send a seed out of the Qatar Total Open, beating eighth seed Barbora Strycova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Top seed and defending champion Irina-Camelia Begu made a confident start to the Korea Open, swatting aside wildcard Jang Su Jeong in little over an hour.