Sydney: Jankovic Interview
An interview with Jelena Jankovic after her win in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Jelena Jankovic after her win in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Friday’s shot of the day at the Rogers Cup.
DUBAI, UAE – Top seed Angelique Kerber came out on top of a much-anticipated Olympic rematch against Monica Puig, dispatching the Puerto Rican star, 6-2, 6-3 to reach her first quarterfinal at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“It’s tough to play against Monica,” she said during her on-court interview. “I know we we played a very good match in Rio and she deserved to win in the end; she played an unbelievable match. Today I was really happy with my performance; I was trying to stay focused and play my game. I’m happy to be in the next round here!”
“I was really not thinking too much about our final in Rio, because it was a completely totally different match than today,” she later elaborated in press.
“Tonight it was a new match, new challenge for me. So I was focusing more on the day today than looking back to the last match.”
Amazing court coverage from @AngeliqueKerber! ? #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/QVoUiO8QDr
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
Puig is in the midst of playing her best tennis since capturing Puerto Rico’s first gold medal, having reached the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open just last week. But Kerber made the best of a difficult draw to pull off some of her own best on Wednesday night, hitting 14 winners to just 12 unforced errors in the 65 minute match.
.@AngeliqueKerber smashes it past Puig! ?? pic.twitter.com/mcVBksNXVF
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
“I was trying to keep focusing on the next point, serve and move as well as I could.”
The unseeded Puig nonetheless acquitted herself well on the center court, hitting 20 winners, but a combination of 25 unforced errors and a zero for five break point conversion rate proved her undoing. Kerber, by contrast, broke serve four times, including on match point in the last game.
How did @AngeliqueKerber do this?! ? #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/xyg4vRezPT
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
“I never played so well here, so I think things have changed a little bit this year. I feel really good on the court and I’m looking forward to playing my first quarterfinal.”
It’s been a tough start to the season for Kerber, who fell in her opening match in Doha last week to Daria Kasatkina – her second loss to the young Russian this season – but admitted to feeling under the weather during the tour’s stormy week in Qatar.
“I was a little bit sick last week. So that’s why I’m happy that I found my rhythm again. Yeah, I’m enjoying the tennis on court again.
“I was not sure how I was feeling on court because of the last week, and that’s why that was a little bit different.
“I was trying to just go out here, to make the transition from like I was practicing to the match, because I was practicing good in the last few weeks and also in the last few months.”
Up next for the former World No.1 is Croatian teen Ana Konjuh, who recovered from a set and a break down to upset No.8 seed Elena Vesnina, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4); Kerber won their only previous meeting back in 2015 at the Bank of the West Classic.
“She plays well; we’ve played a few matches in the past and I know it’ll be another tough one, but I think I’m ready to go out and win my next match.”
.@AngeliqueKerber advances to @DDFTennis Quarterfinals!
Cruises past Puig 6-2, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/UndZ60qinu
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
Into the last eight in Dubai, Kerber is just three wins away from wresting hte top spot back from Australian Open champion Serena Williams, but you won’t catch Kerber thinking too much about that prospect.
“I’m taking things match by match. I’m just trying to focus on playing good tennis and enjoying this week.”
MELBOURNE, Australia – There were some major moves on the new WTA Rankings this week – Agnieszka Radwanska going from No.5 to No.4, Angelique Kerber from No.10 to No.7, and Victoria Azarenka from No.22 to No.16 after winning her first WTA title since 2013 at the Brisbane International.
With Top 4, Top 8 and Top 16 seeds so critical at majors, those moves couldn’t have come at a better time, as these rankings are the ones the seeds are made from for the first major of the year.
With that, here are the projected seeds for the Australian Open:
(1) Serena Williams (USA #1)
(2) Simona Halep (ROU #2)
(3) Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3)
(4) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #4)
(5) Maria Sharapova (RUS #5)
(6) Petra Kvitova (CZE #6)
(7) Angelique Kerber (GER #7)
(8) Venus Williams (USA #10)
(9) Karolina Pliskova (CZE #11)
(10) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP #12)
(11) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #13)
(12) Belinda Bencic (SUI #14)
(13) Roberta Vinci (ITA #15)
(14) Victoria Azarenka (BLR #16)
(15) Madison Keys (USA #17)
(16) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #18)
(17) Sara Errani (ITA #19)
(18) Elina Svitolina (UKR #20)
(19) Jelena Jankovic (SRB #21)
(20) Ana Ivanovic (SRB #22)
(21) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #23)
(22) Andrea Petkovic (GER #24)
(23) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #25)
(24) Sloane Stephens (USA #26)
(25) Samantha Stosur (AUS #27)
(26) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS #28)
(27) Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK #29)
(28) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #30)
(29) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #31)
(30) Sabine Lisicki (GER #32)
(31) Lesia Tsurenko (UKR #33)
(32) Caroline Garcia (FRA #34)
** Flavia Pennetta (ITA #8) and Lucie Safarova (CZE #9) would have been seeded but are not competing at the Australian Open due to retirement (Pennetta) and bacterial infection (Safarova).
Simona Halep takes on Angelique Kerber in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup.
“I am very happy how I played the last game – it was great,” the Latvian told press after winning in an hour and 21 minutes.
Anastasija Sevastova is first through to @DDFTennis Semifinals!
Slides past Wang 6-4, 7-5! pic.twitter.com/Wh9AeknZ44
— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017
Currently ranked No.35, she will reach a career high on Monday after her campaign in Dubai.
Yet she had struggled to dominate this quarterfinal thanks to her opponent’s battling spirit, and it was Wang who struck first, breaking serve to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set.
The 26-year-old hit right back, though, and went on to take the first set – but Wang was not ready to give up. Even after falling behind by a break of serve in the second set, she clawed her way right back into it to level up at 5-5.
Despite the Chinese player’s determination, Sevastova eventually managed to serve it out on her third match point to secured herself a deserved semifinal berth against either CiCi Bellis or Caroline Wozniacki.
“I’m going to watch the match,” Sevastova added. “CiCi played an amazing match yesterday, Caroline has a perfect record against me…we’ll see how it is tomorrow.”
MELBOURNE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka’s revival at the Brisbane International, where she stormed to her first WTA title in almost two and a half years without losing a set, couldn’t have come at a better time, with her favorite Grand Slam – the Australian Open – just a matter of days away.
She’s hoping her journey back to the top of the tennis world will continue at the Happy Slam.
“I’m excited to follow my journey. I’m excited to live my journey,” Azarenka said. “It’s a great feeling. Stay in the moment, be present – I’m really enjoying this moment. I think it’s precious. So I just want to enjoy that and see how I feel tomorrow, see what I want to do, and just try to keep going.
“The focus is still very much on Melbourne. I’m going to do everything I can to prepare and feel the most comfortable to start the tournament. I can’t wait to be in Melbourne. I love the city.”
After three blockbuster seasons – she finished 2011 at No.3, 2012 at No.1 and 2013 at No.2 – the injury bug bit Azarenka hard, limiting her to just nine tournaments in 2014 and 14 in 2015, and at one point pushing her as far down as No.50 in the world, her lowest ranking since all the way back in 2007.
But the Brisbane title propelled her from No.22 to No.16 on this week’s WTA Rankings, not just guaranteeing her a Top 16 seed for the Australian Open, but her highest ranking since August 2014.
The former World No.1 isn’t calling this a comeback, though. “I don’t think there’s a name for it,” she told reporters in Brisbane. “I think it’s more for you guys to put as a headline. For me, it’s like you’re reading a book, and you just turn the page. That part of it was over – you just flip the page.
“I think that’s really exciting. And I can’t wait to read the next page.”
That next page will be written at the Australian Open, and it’s her best Grand Slam for a reason – she won her first two Grand Slam titles there in 2012 and 2013, beating Maria Sharapova and Li Na in those two finals, respectively, and even through her injury-marred seasons since then she still made it deep, reaching the quarterfinals in 2014 (falling to Agnieszka Radwanska) and the fourth round in 2015 (falling to Dominika Cibulkova). She’s also won 35 of her last 39 matches in Australia, period.
And given she’s been Serena Williams’ toughest match-up the last few years – she’s the last player to beat the World No.1 in a final, at Cincinnati in 2013, and she pushed her to three sets in all three of their meetings in 2015 – could a rejuvenated Belarusian be the one to stop Williams Down Under?
Tell us what you think: Can Azarenka win a third Australian Open crown this year?
MONTRÉAL, Canada – For the players taking part in the 2016 Rogers Cup, it was more than just ranking points and prize money at stake in the competition: there was an extra prize up for grabs for the tournament winners.
Extra motivation for @roberta_vinci @CoupeRogers: If you make the final you get tickets to @celinedion. She wants them.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) July 24, 2016
Though Roberta Vinci didn’t reach the final (and we didn’t get to hear her sing), plenty of WTA players were in attendance on to see Celine Dion’s triumphant return to Montréal, where she was kicking off the first of 10 concerts in the city.
Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova, who teamed up to win the Rogers Cup trophy in doubles, didn’t miss the chance to see the singer live, making sure to record every moment.
Amazing show #CelineDionMTL Thank you @CoupeRogers for the tickets?She is so real!!!❤️?#ofcoursetitanicsong pic.twitter.com/oOiI4KmhZq
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) August 1, 2016
#CelineDionMTL ??? pic.twitter.com/gzFftMzycd
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) August 1, 2016
Концерт #celindion Спасибо большое турниру rogers_cup за билеты! Это было очень круто, она такая… https://t.co/KR2gsgGofk
— Kate Makarova (@katemakarova1) August 1, 2016
The tournament’s other champion, Simona Halep, who featured in both the singles and doubles finals, was too exhausted to make the show. She wasn’t too cut up about it though, having already seen the Queen of Pop live a few months ago.
Q. If you make the final, you get tickets to a concert tonight.
SIMONA HALEP: You think I’m able to go? I have one more match. I saw Celine in March when I was in Vegas. I will see her soon, but not tonight.
Meanwhile, Canada’s No.1 Eugenie Bouchard was at the concert, too, and she nabbed the ultimate selfie with her iconic countrywoman before the show began.
QUEEN pic.twitter.com/jnOTErpKhR
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) July 31, 2016
Celine's voice makes me feel emotions I didn't know I had ??? pic.twitter.com/OJniYVmGpd
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) August 1, 2016
Highlights from all the quarterfinals action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Samantha Stosur takes on Daniela Hantuchova in the second round of the Apia International Sydney.