Tennis News

NEW YORK, NY, USA – With defending champion Flavia Pennetta retiring from tennis at the end of last season, there will be a new champion in Flushing Meadows this year. But will it be a familiar face? Top seed Serena Williams comes into the US Open seeking her seventh title, a record-breaking 23rd major crown, while several former champions loom in the draw as well, like Samantha Stosur, Venus Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. But with the No.1 ranking also at stake, will fellow top seeds Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska make their mark?

Read on to delve into the US Open résumés of all the Top 16 seeds…

1. Serena Williams (USA)
17th appearance (84-10)
Best result: Champion (2001-2002, 2008, 2012-2014)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (22): 1999 US Open, 2002 French Open, 2002 Wimbledon, 2002 US Open, 2003 Australian Open, 2003 Wimbledon, 2005 Australian Open, 2007 Australian Open, 2008 US Open, 2009 Australian Open, 2009 Wimbledon, 2010 Australian Open, 2010 Wimbledon, 2012 Wimbledon, 2012 US Open, 2013 French Open, 2013 US Open, 2014 US Open, 2015 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, 2015 Wimbledon, 2016 Wimbledon

2. Angelique Kerber (GER)
9th appearance (16-8)
Best result: Semifinal (2011)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (1): 2016 Australian Open

3. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
4th appearance (1-3)
Best result: Second round (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (1): 2016 French Open

4. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
11th appearance (19-10)
Best result: Fourth round (2007-2008, 2012-2013)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2012 Wimbledon

5. Simona Halep (ROU)
7th appearance (12-6)
Best result: Semifinal (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2014 French Open

6. Venus Williams (USA)
17th appearance (69-15)
Best result: Champion (2000-2001)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (7): 2000 Wimbledon, 2000 US Open, 2001 Wimbledon, 2001 US Open, 2005 Wimbledon, 2007 Wimbledon, 2008 Wimbledon

7. Roberta Vinci (ITA)
14th appearance (19-13)
Best result: Final (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2015 US Open

8. Madison Keys (USA)
5th appearance (5-4)
Best result: Fourth round (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Semifinal (1): 2015 Australian Open

9. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
14th appearance (33-12)
Best result: Champion (2004)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (2): 2004 US Open, 2009 French Open

10. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
4th appearance (2-3)
Best result: Third round (2014)
Best Grand Slam result: Third round (3): 2014 US Open, 2015 Australian Open, 2016 Australian Open

11. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)
9th appearance (11-8)
Best result: Quarterfinal (2013)
Best Grand Slam result: Quarterfinal (5): 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, 2013 US Open, 2014 French Open, 2016 Australian Open

12. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
9th appearance (12-8)
Best result: Quarterfinal (2010)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2014 Australian Open

13. Johanna Konta (GBR)
4th appearance (4-3)
Best result: Fourth round (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Semifinal (1): 2016 Australian Open

14. Petra Kvitova (CZE)
9th appearance (16-8)
Best result: Quarterfinal (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (2): 2011 Wimbledon, 2014 Wimbledon

15. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
8th appearance (4-7)
Best result: Third round (2008)
Best Grand Slam result: Semifinal (1): 2015 French Open

16. Samantha Stosur (AUS)
13th appearance (21-11)
Best result: Champion (2011)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (1): 2011 US Open

DUBAI, UAE – Kateryna Bondarenko is through to the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after No.5 seed Garbiñe Muguruza was forced to withdraw due to a left achilles injury while trailing 4-1 in the opening set.

“It’s good that I’m through, but it wasn’t really a win,” Bonadarenko said after the match. “She retired.”

Muguruza suffered a shock defeat last week Doha to Zhang Shuai, and looked to be struggling with her timing early on, double faulting to hand her opponent the immediate break.

At the first changeover, Muguruza called for the physio but opted not to take an injury timeout before being broken again.

“When I finished in Doha, because of the rain, a lot of people played two matches, including me,” Muguruza explained. “The second one was very tough, and I remember that as soon as I went, after the match, to my room, I started to have a pain in my left Achilles.

“The next morning was even more painful. I have been carried this since that day. And here, I have been training but on and off, honestly, because of the pain. Some days it was a little bit better, some days it was a little bit worse. It was just hard for me to serve, especially, and to just move side to side today on the court.

A lack of mobility clearly apparent, Muguruza decided that the best way back into the match was to hit her way out of trouble. But with the score at 4-1 in the first set, she decided that it wasn’t worth continuing.

“I can’t see anything right now. I have to do some kind of MRI.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s like something big, hopefully, but it’s very irritated and it’s really bothering me every time I have to run on the court.”

.@GarbiMuguruza retires in the opening set.

Kateryna Bondarenko advances to @DDFTennis Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/zVW98VFLPo

— WTA (@WTA) February 21, 2017

Muguruza’s retirement means that Bondarenko, who has never been past the second round, will now face either Viktorija Golubic or Caroline Wozniacki.

Click here to learn more about Muguruza’s injury courtesy of WTA Insider.

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska ended lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens’ dream run at the Connecticut Open, winning 6-1, 6-4 to book a semifinal against defending champion Petra Kvitova.

Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Flipkens became one of two lucky losers to reach the semifinals after replacing the ailing Lesia Tsurenko and powering past Belinda Bencic and Caroline Garcia, but she just didn’t have enough in her arsenal of slices and volleys to grab her first win over the World No.4.

Radwanska dug from her own bag of tricks against Flipkens, switching up the pace between line to line rallies and killer dropshots.

But the Belgian didn’t roll over, and produced some spectacular tennis – and razor sharp shot-making – to earn the break right back and level the match at 2-1.

This rally from @FlipperKF and @ARadwanska ? #CTOpen16 pic.twitter.com/DKSevPxqjk

— WTA (@WTA) August 25, 2016

 It was the last game Flipkens would win for a while, though, as Radwanska’s cerebral style of point construction kept her seemingly always a step ahead. She rattled off five games in a row to take the set and an early break in the second.

Finally finding her footing late in the match, Flipkens rallied to get the break back and began to meet Radwanska blow for blow, creating for some incredible rallies.

TWEENER SPOTTING! ?

But really, how AWESOME was that rally?! #CTOpen16 pic.twitter.com/PN5DPFqkoO

— WTA (@WTA) August 26, 2016

“It’s always entertaining for us, as well, playing rallies like this,” Radwanska said of the rally above. “Of course, she’s a very tricky opponent. You can really expect from her those kind of shots. Very good touch, very good hands. We had a lot of matches with rallies like this.”

Radwanska just stayed more consistent throughout and finally earned the decisive break at 5-4, taking the match after an hour and 22 minutes. The top seeded player hit 25 winners to 16 unforced errors – a high number for the usually tidy Radwanska – against Flipkens’ 21 winners and 27 unforced errors.

With the victory Radwanska is through to her first semifinal at the Connecticut Open, where three-time champion Petra Kvitova awaits across the net.  

“I’m just very happy to make the first semifinal,” Radwanska said. “Especially that it’s a very strong tournament. It means I had a couple of good matches, a couple of good wins.

“Well, I guess now I have really nothing to lose, especially I’m playing Petra next.”