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Konta: WTA Most Improved Player Of The Year

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – Johanna Konta has been overwhelmingly voted as 2016 WTA Most Improved Player Of The Year.

Konta has enjoyed her best season to date, starting at the Australian Open, where she became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Jo Durie in 1983. She went on to match Durie in ranking as well as result, finally ending the drought of British women in the Top 10 after reaching the final of the China Open, a Premier Mandatory event.

In between, Konta captured her first WTA title at the Bank of the West Classic, stunning former No.1 and Stanford champion Venus Williams in three scintillating sets. In 10 matches against Top 10 players, Konta won six encounters, and also has a 12-2 record in tie-breaks – the second best on the tour this season.

Her achievements have not gone unnoticed and she received 40 votes, ahead of Monica Puig with five, Kiki Bertens with three and Laura Siegemund with one.

WTA Most Improved Player Winners
2016: Johanna Konta
2015: Timea Bacsinszky
2014: Eugenie Bouchard
2013: Simona Halep
2012: Sara Errani
2011: Petra Kvitova
2010: Francesca Schiavone
2009: Yanina Wickmayer
2008: Dinara Safina
2007: Ana Ivanovic
2006: Jelena Jankovic
2005: Ana Ivanovic

Complete listing of the historical WTA Awards.

 

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Halep Hoping To Build On 2016 Rebound

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Simona Halep

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.2
Year-End Ranking: No.4
Season Highlights: Madrid, Bucharest, Montréal Champion, Singapore RR
Best Major Result: QF (Wimbledon, US Open)

2017 Outlook

An injury-addled off-season left Halep unprepared for the season to come, and tough losses at the Australian Open and Middle East left many to question what was to come next from the former World No.2

Halep began to slowly silence the doubters by March, reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami, and truly soared once she hit her beloved clay, winning her second Premier Mandatory title at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Romanian star credited the success at one of her favorite tournaments – run by fellow Romanian Ion Tiriac – with a new approach alongisde coach Darren Cahill.

“I had many days training with Darren,” she explained to WTA Insider. “I wanted that. I asked him when he made the schedule in January that I wanted this week to prepare with him here in Madrid. So I knew what I want to do.

“It’s much better to come a few days earlier. You feel the courts, you feel the atmosphere of the tournament, and you feel like you are into it already when the tournament starts.”

Halep continued to feel the courts this summer, winning two more titles at home in Bucharest and Montréal, where she also paired Monica Niculescu to reach the doubles final.

“It was very different because I’m not used to playing doubles,” she said in her Rogers Cup Champions Corner. “I got a little bit tired in the end. But it also helped me to play some doubles matches because I practiced the return, the serve. That helped me a lot in singles; I had tough opponents there. It’s been a great week.”

The former French Open finalist played one of her most impressive matches in Flushing, pushing then-World No.1 Serena Williams to the brink at the US Open.

“It was tough,” she said of the loss. “It is tough. I’m a little bit sad, but I have just to take the positives, because I have a lot going ahead.”

For the youngest woman in the Top 4, there is certainly still more ahead, and plenty more to come in 2017.

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Kerber & Halep Drawn Together In WTA Finals

Kerber & Halep Drawn Together In WTA Finals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep have been drawn in the same group for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, which starts on Sunday.

The German, who will finish the year as World No.1, is seeded top for the tournament and she has avoided an early meeting with defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska.

Kerber, who is bidding to qualify from the round robin stage of the WTA Finals for the first time, has been drawn in the Red Group, alongside Halep, the winner of three titles in 2016, Dominika Cibulkova, whose late-season from carried her into the tournament and Madison Keys, who has reached a career high of World No.7 this year.

The Red Group

Radwanksa, who defeated Petra Kvitova in last year’s final, leads the White Group, which also features Garbiñe Muguruza, who won her first-ever Grand Slam at the French Open in June. Karolina Pliskova, who was defeated by Kerber in the final of the US Open, is the final known player in the group, with one place yet to be determined.

That spot will be filled by the Brit Johanna Konta unless Svetlana Kuznetsova wins the Kremlin Cup. The Russian plays Elina Svitolina in the semi-final in Moscow later on Friday.

Read: Kerber, Radwanska Lead Red & White Groups In WTA Finals Round Robin Draw

The White Group

Official WTA Finals Mobile App, Created by SAP

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Can Radwanska Make A Major Impression In 2017?

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Agnieszka Radwanska

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.5
Year-End Ranking: No.3
Season Highlights: Title at Shenzhen, New Haven, Beijing
Best Major Result: SF (Australian Open)

2017 Outlook

Having made her big breakthrough with victory at last year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, 2016 saw Agnieszka Radwanska consolidate her place at the very top of the tennis tree.

The Pole set the tone for another campaign characterized by its consistency in January, triumphing at Shenzhen before reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open where her winning run was finally halted by an on-song Serena Williams.

This good form continued throughout the year, but a major breakthrough proved elusive until Beijing, where she outclassed the high-flying Johanna Konta to collect a third Premier Mandatory crown. Despite playing herself into form at the perfect moment, there was to be no repeat in Singapore, her reign ended by a comprehensive semifinal defeat to Angelique Kerber.

Aside from at Melbourne Park, she was unable to make it beyond the last 16 at the majors, and the principal question surrounding Radwanska in 2017 will be whether she can defuse the game’s big hitters to go deep into a 128-player draw. To date, the 27-year-old’s only Grand Slam final came at Wimbledon in 2012, yet the recent success of fellow counterpuncher Angelique Kerber offers hope that a return is within her grasp.

Her 11th year on tour will begin in Shenzhen, where prize money totaling $750,000 – the highest of any International event on the calendar – has enticed a stellar field. Joining Radwanska in the draw will be two other members of the Top 10, Simona Halep and Johanna Konta. After this, she will head to Sydney to finalize preparations for the Australian Open alongside Kerber and Dominika Cibulkova.

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SAP, WTA Honored at Sports Technology Awards

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The partnership of SAP and the WTA took home the award for Best Partnership, Single Sport, on Friday’s 2016 Sports Technology Awards.

The Sports Technology Awards celebrate breakthrough technologies in sports. The partnership between SAP and the WTA triumphed over other successful entities including WSC Sports/NBA and Toshiba/Rugby World Cup 2015.

In 2013, SAP and the WTA began working together to create solutions in order to elevate the sport for players, coaches and fans. Last year at the Bank of the West Classic, SAP and the WTA unveiled SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches, which gives coaches access to real-time performance data during live match play.

SAP and the WTA were also shortlisted for Best Use of Technology by a Sponsor. To see all winners and nominees from the 2016 Sports Technology Awards, click here.

To read more about SAP and the WTA partnership, click here.

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Falconi, Soler-Espinosa Battle In Bogota

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BOGOTA, Colombia – Irina Falconi and Sílvia Soler-Espinosa will meet for the first time as they face off on Sunday in the final of the Claro Open Colsanitas, after advancing past tough semifinal matchups in three-set battles.

The Ecuadorian-born American Falconi overcame a mid-match wobble to move past the on-fire Lara Arruabarrena, who had only dropped five games in the three matches leading up the semifinals. But the Spaniard couldn’t find any answers for Falconi’s dictating play or her short-angled inside out forehands in the day’s first semifinal match.

Arruabarrena quickly found herself down a set and 2-4, but she was able to bring herself back from the brink of defeat as Falconi’s groundstrokes misfired. The American held steady in the third set though, breaking early to get a lead ahead at 3-1, and hanging on to win the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 after almost two hours.

Falconi, who is into her first WTA final at the Claro Open Colsanitas, is set to face Soler-Espinosa for the title, who overcame a tough challenge from Brazil’s No.2, Paula Cristina Goncalves.

The 25-year-old from Sao Paolo has found great success on the South American red clay: she made her WTA main draw debut in Rio de Janeiro, where she made the quarterfinals and her semifinal appearance here in Bogota is her career best. By contrast, Soler-Espinosa came to Bogota having only won one match all year. She found her game on the red clay, and in the last round she ended Amra Sadikovic’s fairytale comeback – the Swiss retired in 2014 and reached the quarterfinals in her WTA return this week.

Goncalves found her usually reliable serves under fire early on. She lead the pack having hit 22 aces in three matches, but against Soler-Espinosa she was broken in the fifth game of the match, giving the Spaniard just enough of an edge to take the opening set. They stayed in touching distance during the second set, with Goncalves recovering from 2-4 down to force a tiebreak and send the match into a deciding set. But the tide turned as the Brazilian lost her serve in the longest game of the match to go down 2-4 again in the final set. Soler-Espinosa didn’t let her escape a second time, though, and booked her spot in the final 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2.

More to come…

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Radwanska Reflects On Singapore Success Ahead Of WTA Finals Return

Radwanska Reflects On Singapore Success Ahead Of WTA Finals Return

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska is rested and ready to to mount a strong title defense at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Currently ranked No.3 and in good form after winning the China Open two weeks ago, Radwanska says her career-best run to the title in Singapore last fall still feels like yesterday.

“Of course, it’s always great to be back in the place that you have a lot of good memories,” Radwanska told reporters during All-Access Hour on Saturday. “As you know, time flies, so I really feel like it was a week ago. It’s always great to come back, especially [as]I really hope that I can still play my best tennis here and try to do the same [as last year].”

While much of the focus on Radwanska’s recent surge has been on her success through Asia, her initial improvements began over the summer on North American hardcourts. She is 21-4 since the Olympic break, winning two titles at the Connecticut Open and Beijing. She comes into Singapore on an eight-match win streak.

“I think I had really great couple of weeks in Asia, so I’m feeling good. I’m pretty confident,” she said. “I just hope I can keep it up and really play the same good tennis that I was playing especially in the China Open.

“There is always a little bit more pressure when you really have to defend a big title, a lot of points. But on the other hand, when you’re Top 5, Top 10, you’re pretty much defending every week, more or less. So just trying not to really think about it and of course just try to repeat what I did last year.”

Radwanska will begin her campaign on Monday when the White Group gets underway, but as of Saturday morning she did not know who she would be playing. Radwanska is set to play the No.8 qualifier, which will be either Johanna Konta or Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian can knock Konta out of the eighth qualifying spot if she wins the Kremlin Cup on Saturday. The uncertainty shouldn’t bother the Pole. Tennis players regularly get less than 24 hours’ notice of their opponent during regular tournament weeks.

In addition to either Konta or Kuznetsova, Radwanska will also face Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza and US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova in round-robin play.

“I think it’s always very interesting because pretty much every match is 50/50 and you’re really going to see good tennis,” Radwanska said.

And will there be any more trick shots on tap in Singapore for the WTA’s Hot Shots leader? Radwanska explained the technique behind her signature style.

“Well, I think sometimes when you have this half a second to think what you going to do with the shot, I think most of the players maybe will hit as strong as possible,” she said. “I’m the one maybe just to want to do something else, because I can’t really hit as strong as the others. So that’s why I was always trying to do something else. Just use my hands.”

Official WTA Finals Mobile App, Created by SAP

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