Brisbane: Alizé Cornet vs Garbiñe Muguruza
Alizé Cornet takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals of the Brisbane International.
Alizé Cornet takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals of the Brisbane International.
Katerina Siniakova won her maiden career title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alison Riske in Saturday’s Shenzhen Open final.
Former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki enjoyed a day of paddleboarding on the Sydney beaches before starting her week at the Apia International Sydney.
HOBART, Australia – There have been plenty of hints over the past year, but on Monday Francesca Schiavone finally revealed her retirement date.
Following her 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Jana Fett at the Hobart International, Schiavone announced that this year would be her last as a professional tennis player.
“I made too many mistakes, it was not easy for me to find a good rhythm,” Schiavone said following the match.
The 2010 Roland Garros champion has been one of the most charismatic players on tour for the best past of two decades, but waning motivation and a battle-weary body have convinced her to finally call it a day at the end of the current season. “This is my last year of tennis, that’s why I’m upset I didn’t give the best here,” Schiavone said.
“This year I want to give everything that I’ve learned in the last 19 years. In life I think I’ve arrived at the time to take the decision. This sport is a drug for me, I love to play this sport.”
The 36-year-old, who is still in the doubles draw in Hobart alongside Pauline Permentier, will now turn her attention to the Australian Open.
“I go to Melbourne hoping, working to find my feeling [before the Australian Open],” she added.
“This is my last year of tennis. I've arrived at the time to take the decision” – @Schiavone_Fra @HobartTennis. Via: https://t.co/EZmYQ6b6Ju
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) January 9, 2017
The new WTA Rankings – the ones the Australian Open seeds are made from – are out. Where will your favorite player be seeded at Melbourne Park? Find out right now!
No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska avoided the upset bug sweeping through the draw to defeat Christina McHale and secure a quarterfinal spot at the Apia International Sydney.
It has been nearly 16 years since the Olympics first welcomed a still-teenaged Serena Williams, who turned 20 years old during her debut in Sydney. Fresh off her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title, the World No.1 aims to to truly experience the Games for the first time in her storied career.
“I actually was just talking to Venus about the Olympics a few seconds ago, and how excited we are to get there,” she said at the French Open. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to do the opening ceremonies this year.’ Usually the tennis is the same day. So we’ll see. Hopefully I’ll be able to make something. It’s just going to be a really cool experience and I’m really excited about it.”
She may have missed out on some of the pomp and circumstance each Olympics provides, but Serena has nonetheless been a integral part of her sport’s presence at the Summer Games. She has taken home at least one gold medal in each of her previous three appearances – including her first in 2000, when she helped sister Venus secure a sweep of singles and doubles.
Her most recent outing was her most successful yet, winning her first gold medal in singles and pairing once more with Venus to win in doubles.
“My experience has been really amazing at the Olympics,” she said at Wimbledon. “I really loved going out there and competing, really just, you know, standing out there and being an Olympic athlete.
“It is really one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had.”
That pride is evident in an ad spot she did with Mini USA, where she reflected on her Olympic journey as part of a campaign emphasizing the importance of defying labels.
“No one can say, ‘This is what you’re supposed to do,'” she says in the video. “When you think of all the Olympic athletes, they are really doing something that is beyond everything that they should have done – having the chance to win a gold medal and compete against the best of the best across the globe.”
Her gold medals may be among her most prized possessions, but as the American aims to break Stefanie Graf’s record of total Grand Slam titles, how firm will her focus be in Rio?
“I’ve won gold. I love gold. I mean, for me, if I kept one trophy, I would probably grab my gold medals. But right now I am probably focused a little more on the Slams, or at least I was with getting to 22.
“Now I feel like, you know, everything else will be pretty good.”
A fourth trip to the Olympics would be a bonus for any athlete; it may be an even bigger bonus for the fans who’ve so rarely seen one of the greatest of all time play in their part of the world. But as Serena herself has often said, everything is a bonus for one who has achieved so much.
Don’t expect her to give up the gold so easily.
All photos cortesy of Getty Images.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber ended Johanna Konta’s debut run at the Olympic tennis event after an emphatic straight sets win, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals.
Kerber, who is bidding to become the first German woman to medal at the Olympics since Steffi Graf in 1992, was in fine form against Konta, dropping just three games in the hour-long match.
Coming off a marathon encounter against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Konta was likely thankful for yesterday’s washout giving her an extra day to recover. But despite the additional rest, Britain’s No.1 never really seemed in the match, striking 43 unforced errors to Kerber’s 11 and hitting just 18 winners against Kerber’s 7.
Kerber broke Konta’s serve in a marathon opening game that set the tone for the rest of the match; Konta struck two double faults to gift the German an early lead and despite putting up a battle she couldn’t match Kerber’s dogged defense stroke for stroke.
The World No.2 settled into the match quickly and broke twice more to win the last four straight games of the opening set. Though Konta showed her grit by getting her first break in Kerber’s opening service game, the German didn’t allow her to relish in the lead for long and immediately broke back. The Australian Open champion broke twice more and eased into the semifinals after just over an hour.
Watching in the stands was Madison Keys, Kerber’s opponent in the next round. The German owns a 4-1 lead in the pair’s head to head, including a win in their last encounter earlier this year in Miami.
More to come…
MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No.1 Ana Ivanovic had to deal with a half hour break when a spectator took a spill on Rod Laver Arena, but the Serb maintained her focus to close out Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-3.
Sevastova first made waves in 2011 when she reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open, but a brief retirement took her out of the game for nearly two years before she came back last January. Coming through three rounds of main draw qualifying, the 25-year-old played Ivanovic tough over two sets, but was ultimately undone by unforced errors – 27 to Ivanovic’s 17.
Ivanovic, by contrast, played a much cleaner match, breaking serve four times and winning 83% of her first serves.
“I enjoy playing here so much; this is one of my favorite courts in the world,” Ivanovic said during her on-court interview. “It’s always good to be back.”
The No.20 seed has looked solid through her first two matches, a major improvement over her last appearance in Melbourne, when a broken toe hampered her through an opening round loss.
“I tried to work on my fitness during the off-season; that needed improvements after last season. I hired a new fitness coach, so it’s been really great. We did a lot of prevention work for injuries, and fitness and on-court work.
“It’s a work in progress.”
Up next for Ivanovic is the winner of the second round match between No.15 seed Madison Keys and Yaroslava Shvedova, the latter of whom pushed her to three sets at last year’s French Open.
“Every match is tough and we’ve seen that throughout the week. Every opponent is tough and there have been a lot of tricky first round matches.
“But I’m really thrilled be to be through and you guys are amazing, so excited about your tennis, so keep it up!
Monica Puig continued her fairytale Olympic run with an emotional three-set win over Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.