WTA Stars Come Together For Turkey
Led by Cagla Buyukakcay and Ipek Soylu, the WTA family shares their support for Turkey in light of the attack in Turkey; here are a collection of tweets from players, past and present.
Led by Cagla Buyukakcay and Ipek Soylu, the WTA family shares their support for Turkey in light of the attack in Turkey; here are a collection of tweets from players, past and present.
Annika Beck snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to end British No.2 Heather Watson’s Wimbledon hopes for another year.
Qualifier Jana Cepelova pulled off a stunning upset for the second straight year at the All England Club, ousting French Open champ and No.2 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets.
SINGAPORE – Before taking the court at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, we grabbed Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis, Kristina Mladenovic, Carolina Garcia and more doubles partners for a hilarious challenge.
They might be serious competitors on the court, but off of it, who can keep a straight face against their doubles partner in a staring contest?
Check out the video below to find out, and look out for Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ sure-fire strategy for making Lucie Safarova laugh!
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her round-robin defeat at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
SINGAPORE – Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska returned to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by continuing her mastery of Karolina Pliskova.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
Following a slow start, Radwanska found her range to prevail, 7-5, 6-3, in a topsy-turvy encounter and set up a semifinal against World No.1 Angelique Kerber.
“She definitely served brutal today. All I could do was just wait for the break point,” Radwanska told on-court interviewer Andrew Krasny afterwards. “A very tight match and I’m just happy I could do my best at the important moments.
“You’re just waiting and praying that the first serve is not going to be in. She’s definitely one of the best or even the best server on tour and every break matters.”
Radwanska went into the contest having never lost a set to Pliskova in six previous meetings. However, it was the Czech that made the early running, surging into a 4-2 lead and holding a point for an insurance break, only to fire fractionally wide.
The next game, demons of past encounters came back to haunt her, an errant forehand presenting the Pole with the chance to draw level. She gratefully accepted, springing up to punch an inviting second serve down the line. Soon afterwards her comeback was complete, the No.2 seed producing another pin-point return to wrap up the set.
A glorious forehand return gives @ARadwanska set 1, 7-5 #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/AUdcHpDSRx
— WTA (@WTA) October 28, 2016
These momentum shifts continued into the second, Pliskova pegging back an early Radwanska surge. At 3-3, she had the opportunity to consolidate her dominance only for the Pole to stave off the threat of a break with some cat-like reflexes at the net.
This proved to be Pliskova’s last stand, an errant smash the following game giving Radwanska the opportunity to serve for the match. It was a gift she gratefully accepted, setting up a Saturday showdown with Kerber.
“It’s the semis so I really have nothing to lose, especially as I’m going to play the best player of this season,” Radwanska added. “She’s been playing amazing tennis all year, on every surface. Hopefully I can play even better than today.”
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her semifinal win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova after their semifinal win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
World No.1 Angelique Kerber admitted she was disappointed to miss out on the WTA Finals title – but she is already looking ahead to more exciting opportunities next year.
“I am a little bit disappointed after the loss, but for sure I gave everything,” she said in her post-match press conference at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“It was a tough year with a lot of matches. When I’m looking back it was one of my best years. When I go home now I will think about the best moments and the positive emotions.”
Kerber admitted that she had not played her best tennis, and praised the aggression of Dominika Cibulkova, who beat her 6-3, 6-4.
She agreed that 2016 had been physically and mentally grueling, with a packed schedule, but, as she pointed out, she also had plenty of highlights.
“I had a lot of matches, a lot of tough matches – but also a lot of great finals, a lot of great memories [that] I received this year,” she said, before adding with a smile: “Of course, now I’m ready for the vacation.”
After a short break, she will be ready to begin her 2017 campaign – when she will be defending her top-ranking status against a returning Serena Williams.
“I am looking forward to next year, for sure,” she said. “I’m also looking forward to playing again against Serena – and against all the other tough opponents.”
LONDON, England – Serena and Venus Williams capped off a satisfying day at Wimbledon by teaming up to defeat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in an entertaining doubles encounter.
A busy afternoon for the family began with Venus taking on Yaroslava Shvedova on No.1 Court. No sooner had she secured a place in her first major semifinal since 2010 then the Williams clan were hot-footing it to Centre Court in time to see little sister take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Serena kept her quest for history on track with a straightforward win over the Russian, leaving a couple of hours to ready herself for the evening’s doubles date.
Four summers ago, the sisters overcame Hlavackova and Hradecka in competitive finals at both Wimbledon and the Olympics. Once again the Czechs gave a good account of themselves, and once again they were left disappointed when Venus swatted away a backhand volley to close out a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
“The schedule’s challenging. I won’t deny. Especially with the weather, that sort of thing,” Venus said. “Thankfully it’s been better the last few days. We love the doubles. There’s been so many doubles titles. That’s been very special for us. We’re going to give it everything we got.”
Joining them in the last eight are compatriots Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears. Taking on the gifted yet inexperienced pairing of Daria Gavrilova and Daria Kasatkina, Atawo and Spears were in control throughout, dominating on serve and closing out a 6-3, 6-3 victory in just over an hour.
“We love playing on the grass together, and I think that our strategy of covering the net a bit more than other teams bothered them a bit and they never really got into a groove,” Atawo said.
“We practice these sort of situations a lot. We practice our communication during the points. It really does comes down to practice.”
In the draw’s outstanding second-round encounter, No.4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina returned for a third set shoot-out with Annika Beck and Yanina Wickmayer.
Twenty-four hours earlier Vesnina had edged out her long-time partner in a titanic fourth-round singles battle. Back on the same side of the net, there was no lingering ill-feeling as the Russians completed their comeback win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.