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Notes & Netcords: August 15, 2016

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

THE WINNERS

Monica Puig made Olympic history for Puerto Rico on Saturday night, becoming the island’s first ever gold medalist after a rollercoaster win over World No.2 Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Puig has been the surprise of the Olympic tennis event, playing the best tennis of her career to reach the gold medal match and dealing out upsets to the likes of French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova along the way.

She now stands as the first athlete – male or female – to bring home a gold medal to Puerto Rico, ending a 68-year drought dating back to the island’s first appearance at an Olympic Games.

“This is for Puerto Rico. This is definitely for them,” Puig said. “They’re going through some tough times right now, and they needed this. I needed this.

“I think I united a nation. I just love where I come from.”

Read the full match recap | WTA Insider Live Blog: Game-by-game analysis

Four years after pairing up for the first time ahead of the Olympic tennis event in London, No.7 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina strike gold in Rio, taking out No.5 seeds and World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis and countrywoman Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4, 6-4.

“It’s incredible,” Vesnina said after the match. “Ever since I was a little girl, I was watching the Olympic Games, and it was such a dream just to come here and get a medal for Russia, for my country and in front of my dad. We’ve been through so much, and yet we were so good today.

“We stuck together and we believed til the end that we could win. It’s just incredible, I still can’t believe that we won the gold. It’s the best moment in my career, I swear!”

Makarova and Vesnina came to Rio having just won their first title of the season at the Rogers Cup, but not before enduring a nightmarish travel itinery that nearly left them late for the Opening Ceremonies. Once there, the Russian duo took care of business in efficient style, running through five wins without dropping a set over the opposition.

Read the full match recap here.

In a thrilling encounter between two tough American teams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands partnered Jack Sock to take out four-time gold medalist Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, 6-7(3), 6-1, 10-7 and win gold in mixed doubles of the Olympic tennis event.

“I’m still pretty emotional,” Mattek-Sands said after the match. “I think, going into this final, we knew the American national anthem was going to be played either way, but I was actually kind of surprised I was so emotional. It’s my first Olympics, first time being up on the podium. It’s hard to describe it in words, but I’m so excited having this guy next to me, we played awesome. It was a lot of fun this whole week.”

Read the full match recap here.

RANKING MOVERS
There were no WTA ranking points awarded at the Olympic tennis event for the week of August 15, 2016.

Click here to view the current rankings.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Western & Southern Open
Cincinnati, USA
Premier | $2,503,250 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 15 – Sunday, August 21

Connecticut Open
New Haven, USA
Premier | $695,900 | Hard, Outdoor
Sunday, August 21 – Saturday, August 27

US Open
New York, USA
Grand Slam | $ TBA | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 29 – Sunday, September 11

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Cincinnati, US Open
2. Angelique Kerber – Cincinnati, US Open
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Cincinnati, US Open
4. Simona Halep – Cincinnati, US Open
5. Agnieszka Radwanska – Cincinnati, US Open
6. Venus Williams – US Open
7. Victoria Azarenka
8. Roberta Vinci – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
9. Madison Keys – New Haven, US Open
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
11. Dominika Cibulkova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
12. Carla Suárez Navarro – Cincinnati, US Open
13. Johanna Konta – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
14. Petra Kvitova – New Haven, US Open
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
16. Samantha Stosur – Cincinnati, US Open
17. Karolina Pliskova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
18. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
19. Elina Svitolina – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
20. Barbora Strycova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) – August 17, 1989
Johanna Larsson (SWE) – August 17, 1988

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – WTA players made the most of their time away from the courts of the Alya WTA Malaysian Open on Tuesday, paying a visit to Permata Kurnia, a learning centre for autistic children aged 4-7.

Australian buddies Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty, who have teamed up in the doubles draw in Kuala Lumpur, were joined by wildcard Zheng Saisai and Malaysian player Theiviya Selvarajoo at the learning centre. Barty, who made the third round of the Australian Open in January after a recent hiatus from the sport, qualified for the singles main draw in Kuala Lumpur as well.

WTA Kuala Lumpur stars visit Permata Kurnia learning centre

Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, serves as the patron of Permata Kurnia, where the motto reads: ‘Autism is Not a Tragedy, Ignorance Is.’

Accompanied by representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, the players chatted to the children and joined them for an impromptu music session – Barty strumming on the guitar and Zheng on the tambourine.

WTA Kuala Lumpur players visit Permata Kurnia learning centre

All photos: © Alya WTA Malaysian Open

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Hingis & Mirza March Into Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Fifty-four minutes was all it took for Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza to brush aside Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova and take their place in the Australian Open final.

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Dominika Cibulkova’s boldest decision has a touch of romance to it. 

She and her then-boyfriend, Miso Navara, had been dating for a year when they decided that he would leave his job to travel on the tour with her.

“It was after one year, and we didn’t know how it was going to turn out,” she recalls in an exclusive WTA interview.

As she points out, it turned out pretty well: “We are together for seven years, we got married last year and we are one happy couple,” she beamed.

Dominika Cibulkova

Marriage proved a good omen for the 27-year-old, as she finished the year as the WTA World No.5, her highest year-end ranking. It capped a brilliant run of form for Cibulkova: her four WTA titles in 2016 were more than any other player and she picked up her 400th career WTA win in the quarterfinals at 2017 Doha. And last season, she ended the year in spectacular style, winning the biggest title of her career so far at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Cibulkova was marking International Women’s Day, which has ‘Be Bold For Change’ as its 2017 theme.

International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year, and celebrates women’s contributions to culture, the economy, politics and society.

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