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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – Top seed Angelique Kerber recovered from breaks in both sets against big-hitting American Shelby Rogers to advance, 6-4, 7-5, and reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.

“It was a good match,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I was trying to feel my game again. I was moving good, but it was not so easy because she didn’t play badly. I was trying to stay positive and play my tennis.”

Kerber was playing her first match since her late-night victory against Duan Ying-Ying, and suffered a slow start to Rogers, who reached the French Open quarterfinals last spring and began 2017 with a win over Simona Halep at the Australian Open.

The German reclaimed World No.1 from Serena Williams at the start of the fortnight in Florida, and showed some of why the two-time Grand Slam champion has been so tough to beat in the last year, rolling through six of the next seven games from a break down to take the opening set.

“It’s always good to have close sets, especially when you win them at the end because they give you confidence that you can go out in your next match knowing you can win close matches because you’ve just done it a day ago. I’m looking forward to the next match.”

Rogers kept fighting, however, and fought off multiple break points in the fifth game to engineer another service break. Much like the first set, Kerber took control from there, winning five of the final six games to seal the hometown favorite in just under 90 minutes.

“If you win the match, you’re always happy about your performance. In the second set, she was 4-2 up and we’d played a long game. That was important because she was playing well, but I was staying positive and believing in my chances. I think that was the key to the match.”

In all, Kerber struck 17 winners to only 22 unforced errors; Rogers took far more risks throughout, her 34 winners were ultimately undone by 51 unforced errors.

Up next for top seed is Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki. Ozaki was already enjoying her best-ever result at a Premier Mandatory tournament when she broke new ground on Sunday, besting Kerber’s countrywoman Julia Goerges, 7-6(5), 6-3. 

“I’ve never played against her, but I saw a little bit on TV because she played Julia today. I think she’s playing good here, coming from qualies, so she has a lot of matches and confidence.

“She has nothing to lose, so it’ll be another good match.”

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Behind Watson’s Show-Stopping Party Look

Behind Watson’s Show-Stopping Party Look

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

LONDON, Great Britain – The 2016 WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party presented by Dubai Duty Free was all about elegance and extravagant outfits and although it was obvious that the WTA stars invested a lot of thought and energy into looking special, some players took things up a notch with attention-grabbing designs that are bound to make history when it comes to fashion at tennis red carpet events. Among them was Heather Watson, who left nothing to chance when it comes to British weather, making sure to have on hand an umbrella matching her dress, so that an unexpected rain wouldn’t ruin her glamorous look.

Our contributor Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog got in touch with Brett Mettler, Creative Director at Mettler London and the designer behind Watson’s intriguing olive green latex look.

 For the second year in a row you are designing Heather’s WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party dress. How did you two start working together?

I was invited to a party by my brother-in-law Dom Inglot (member of the British Davis Cup team) and I met Heather there. We started chatting and hit it off immediately! She is such a playful and friendly person and we started having fun, talking about style, outfits etc. Inevitably the conversation came around to how we might be able to do something fun and exciting for one of her public appearances and with the 2015 Pre-Wimbledon Party on the horizon, we decided to focus on that.

Can you tell us something about the creative process behind the 2016 WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party dress design?

With the 2015 blue and pink chiffon dress, Heather wanted something playful, light and with a lot of movement to it. That was the starting point for the concept. This year’s dress, she wanted something really different. She wanted something a little more risqué and edgy but still very playful.

A lot of my own experience lies in using latex in a high fashion way, trying to bring it to a different audience through light and fun colors, cuts and formats. It seemed a great overlap for us to explore, so I started coming up with some latex concepts and we worked through a few iterations to make sure that it was something Heather could get excited about.

Are there some elements of the outfit that are Heather’s input?

Absolutely. As with anything I do for clients, I wanted the dress to reflect her personality and accentuate her best assets. Heather is such a complete package in terms of beauty; it is quite a tricky thing to know where to start from! But last year’s dress really let her legs do their thing because they are so lean and long and so we knew that this year, we would do the same. Sophia Webster’s shoes are so sensational that we wanted to give them their room to shine as well.

Heather was also keen to make sure that we changed the color palette, but of course it had to work with her striking skin tone. We felt the olive color really did that well. Finally, Heather really wanted something that drew attention to her back and shoulders, so the design features around those areas were there to draw attention.

Heather Watson

Whose idea was to include an umbrella in the look?

That was all Heather! It was genius! She knew the color the dress would be, so she found an umbrella that obviously went with the whole get up, but it perfectly captured her playful character. She had been getting fed up with rain delays over the previous week or so, and it was raining on the day, so instead of letting it get her down, she decided to have fun with it.

I think it was the perfect accessory and I think everyone at the Party really got into it. To be honest, I wish it had been my idea!

Did you expect that the outfit would turn out to be one of the biggest fashion hits at the WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party?

You never really know to be honest. You always hope, but we knew that this year, going out in latex was always going to be a point of conversation. It was either going to push the envelope, or push the envelope too far. I think we got it just right: unique and cheeky, but playful and elegant. I am glad that it got such huge and positive interest and of course I need to thank Heather for being such a wonderful character and model and also for being bold enough to go for the concept.

You completed postgraduate studies at London College of Fashion. How have you become a Latex Specialist?

My BA in Fashion Womenswear was at Central St. Martins and my final collection there in 2011 included latex. I got into latex before them, around 2008, through some friends who modelled in it. I thought it was such a striking material but one that by and large had a poor reputation with very few designers exploring all its possibilities. I also wanted to really see how latex could be incorporated with non-latex materials to create more exciting outfits and looks.

Since 2008 I have worked with some of the biggest names in latex and took that to my stints at Alexander McQueen and Gareth Pugh, and I am really excited generally to see how else I can bring it to a new audience. It really does makes you feel sexy though, so I recommend everyone have at least one signature latex piece in their closet: that pair of leggings or jacket that sets a look off!

Have you and Heather already discussed some looks for future red carpet appearances?

Of course, but you will have to wait for the next red or purple carpet to see what we’ve cooked up!

Heather Watson

– Photos courtesy of Getty Images

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA — Former World No. 5 Lucie Safarova recorded her first top 10 win since 2015 at the Miami Open on Monday, defeating World No. 4 Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6(5), 6-1 for a place in the quarterfinals.

“It was a great match and I’m really excited to be for the first time here in the quarterfinals,” Safarova told WTA Insider after the match. “I knew I had to come out really strong and play fast, and [not] let Dominika play her game. She puts a lot of balls back and she’s a very big fighter so I had to be really sharp and strong, which I was. I’m really happy it worked out.”

Now ranked World No. 36 and on the comeback trail from a bacterial infection that hampered her for parts of the past two seasons, Safarova earned her first win against a member of the WTA top 10 since defeating Angelique Kerber at the 2015 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Added Safarova: “[Winning today] means a lot. It feels great to be there again with the best players, being able to beat them means my level is there again.”

The pair, who were meeting for the eighth time overall in Miami, saw an opening set decided in a tie-break for the fourth time after trading breaks twice in the set. Trailing 4-3 in the tie-break, Safarova rifled a backhand return winner to pull level before running off three of the final four points to take a one-set lead.

“We’ve played so many matches against each other, of course also practices,” Safarova said about her history with the Slovak. “We know each other very well and we know what to expect!”

The second set proved closer than the score indicated inside the lines, as Safarova wrapped it up in 55 minutes — just one minute shy of the mark in the first. Four of the set’s seven games went to deuce, and the Czech was forced to save three break points before converting on her third match point for the win.

Safarova will take on Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals, who advanced after Garbiñe Muguruza retired with illness after the opening set. The pair have played seven times, with Wozniacki holding a 4-3 head-to-head lead.

“She’s playing great tennis again,” Safarova said of the Dane. “I think it’s a little bit similar game to Dominika — Caroline puts a lot of balls back. I have to be patient but play aggressive and again come up strong and try to go for it. I feel healthy now — thank God! (laughs) — and I’ll…keep trying to push my limits more and more.”

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Halep Heads Into Second Round

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WIMBLEDON, Great Britain – No.5 seed Simona Halep kicked off her Wimbledon campaign with a decisive 6-4, 6-1 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to reach the second round in just over an hour.

“I had many days practicing here,” the 2014 semifinalist said in her post-match press conference. “I feel the grass. I feel the court. I feel the atmosphere here. So I’m happy that I could win today. I’m looking forward for the next round, and maybe I will play better after two days.”

Halep was clearly keen to avoid repeating the stunning first round loss she took at last year’s Championships, promptly racing out to a 4-1 double break advantage. Schmiedlova, by contrast, started the year just outside the Top 25 but hasn’t won a WTA main draw match since the Apia International Sydney, struggling to back up her strong 2015 season.

Still, the young Slovak has shown flashes of brilliance this spring, and was the only woman to win a set off Garbiñe Muguruza during the Spaniard’s run to the French Open title. Leveling the set at four games apiece, Halep looked on course for a long day at the All England Club, but quickly shifted into turbo on Court 2, dropping just one more game in the match to advance in straight sets.

“I moved better. I was everywhere, I can say. She had only four winners, so means that I was pretty good on my legs.”

Halep was forced to miss the Aegon Classic with a recurring Achilles injury, but played solid tennis on the fortnight’s first Monday, striking 13 winners to only 16 unforced errors and losing just 10 points behind her first serve; Schmiedlova was left still looking for consistency with four winners to 24 errors.

“This Achilles is very strange. Sometimes it’s hurting me; sometimes not. I hope to be okay.

“I like to have some matches before Wimbledon, but this year I couldn’t. My coach told me that it’s better to come here straight to practice. In my head I had that it’s better to play Eastbourne, but he said that it’s better to come here straight because the conditions are the same and I have to get used.

“So I did like he said, and now I feel good.”

Up next for the Romanian is former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who knocked out Mallorca Open finalist Anastasija Sevastova, 7-6(7), 6-4. 

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – Nearly two decades after her first Indian Wells/Miami “Sunshine Double,” former World No.1 Martina Hingis is on the precipice of a third with new partner and fellow top doubles star, Chan Yung-Jan.

Hingis’ first double came with two different partners back in 1999, winning the BNP Paribas Open with Anna Kournikova and the Miami Open with Jana Novotna; the Swiss Miss followed that up at long last with Sania Mirza in 2015, kickstarting what became the most dominant partnership of the last decade, foreshadowing a 41-match winning streak and a run through three straight major titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open.

The idea to partner with Chan first came about Down Under, when Hingis was still playing with CoCo Vandeweghe and the Taiwanese No.1 was one half of a sister act with Chan Hao-Ching.

“It started at a practice in Melbourne, when we were sharing a court,” Chan, who also goes by Latisha, told WTA Insider after their straight-set win over Andreja Klepac and María José Martínez Sánchez. “I was hitting with Angel, my sister. Martina and I stayed on the same side of court and played some points together.

“At one point, she said that if Angel can’t play with me because of injuries or some other reason, to give her a call, and she’d be happy to play with me. I was so flattered! But I didn’t tell her that.”

The sisters split after defending their home title in Chinese Taipei, and she found herself back on the same side as Hingis by the start of the Middle East Swing.

“My sister and I didn’t do well at the Australian Open and we started to talk about splitting up, and I think it was great timing.

“We still practice together and watch her matches. It’s kind of like three against two because we have Angel behind us against the other teams.”

The pair stuck through tough losses at the Qatar Total Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the former for which Hingis takes full responsibility.

“When we started in Doha, I wasn’t quite up to it in the super tie-break, and wasn’t much of a help,” Hingis said. “Otherwise, I think we could have done better there. But Doha and Dubai helped us get a feel for each other and to trust each other, so we know what to do on the court.”

On an eight-match winning streak since winning in Indian Wells, it was clear the duo were already in sync.

“It’s not fair for her to say she wasn’t playing well at the beginning,” Chan immediately disagrees. “I had a similar partner like her, a net player. For me it was easier to adapt, but for her, I might be a little bit different than her previous partners, so she needed more time to understand and get a rhythm.”

“It was good to know that there was actually some consistency from somebody,” Hingis banters back. “I could trust with her, that she was going to put the ball in!”

Both agreed that the fortnight in the California desert was key for their confidence, winning the title without dropping a set against tough teams like Mirza and Barbora Strycova, and World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

“In Indian Wells, we got two weeks to practice and be together, having cheesecake and going shopping!” Hingis laughed. “That helped a lot with our communication, and that brought us closer together. That’s why we won and that’s why we’re in the semifinals here.”

Martina Hingis, Chan Yung-Jan

Standing between them and a second straight final is Mirza and Strycova in a rematch of last week’s quarterfinal.

“Playing them, it’s one of the best teams out there. We have to take it seriously, and I know they’ll probably want to get back at us from Indian Wells…” Hingis started.

“Everyone around here is going to give you a tough match, and they’re very strong,” Chan finished.

“We’ll just try to play our best tennis and we’ll see how it goes.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

If Johanna Konta is to keep up her meteoric rise and pull off what would be a hugely popular home victory at Wimbledon this year, she would be following in some distinguished footsteps, emulating Wimbledon’s last female British champion, Virginia Wade.

This summer marks the 40th anniversary of that famous day on which Wade defeated Betty Stove to lift the most coveted of titles back in 1977 on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee.

Now a resident of New York, Wade reflects in an interview with the Daily Mail on the day that elevated her to tennis superstardom.

Having battled past Chris Evert in a tough three-set semifinal, Wade found herself matched against a seemingly easier opponent in the final and yet many people forget that she lost the opening set to Stove after a nervy start.

“I knew I had to find my courage after the first set,” said Wade. “But I was always aware that Betty was not sure how to beat me. I had fought through some tough matches against her before and won, and I knew I had left some scar tissue on her. I was fine from when I went 3-0 up in the second set.”

Virginia Wade

From then on, Wade dominated the final set and, with Stove’s spirit broken, she romped home to secure a famous 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory.

“I couldn’t hear what the Queen was saying because there was such a commotion and the crowd were singing ‘For she’s a jolly good fellow’, I’ve still no idea why. That night I went with a large group of family and friends to a lovely Indian restaurant opposite Harrods.

“Then there was the Champions’ Dinner at the Savoy. It was the first year that they abandoned the dance between the champions, so I never got to dance with Bjorn (Borg).”

Wade was only days short of her 32nd birthday when she won Wimbledon in 1977 so Johanna Konta knows she certainly has her best years ahead of her. Especially considering that she plays Venus Williams in the semifinal of the Miami Open, the American rediscovering some of her very best tennis at 36 years of age, 11 years Konta’s senior.

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Schiavone Gives Up Her Olympic Wildcard

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

LONDON, Great Britain – Francesca Schiavone has already struck gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, winning her seventh career title in the year’s first clay event at the Rio Open back in February. Despite dipping out of the Top 100, the former French Open champion was still expected to return to Brazil for the Olympic Games with a wildcard typically reserved for Grand Slam champions.

However, earlier today the Italian announced via her Facebook page that she won’t be wearing the Azzurri in Rio this year, deciding instead to give up the wildcard.

Here’s Schiavone’s statement, translated to English:

“Here at Wimbledon I have received notice of the wild card for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. It is news that has made me happy. However, I made a decision not to accept it because at this stage of my life, with the important decisions that are in front of me about the development of my career, I need to focus and prioritize my personal projects. This is why I won’t be in Rio. A choice that cost me but I’m proud to have worn the blue jersey in three editions of the Games. In August I will be in front of the television to cheer on all the Azzurri.“

The WTA veteran has been a fixture at the Olympics for the past 12 years, competing in the past three editions of the Games. Her best result came in the form of a run to the quarterfinals in Athens back in 2004. In the 2008 Games in Beijing she reached the third round while in 2012, when the Olympic tennis event was held at the All England Club, she made the second round.

Schiavone’s decision to give up her wildcard means that another spot has opened up for a player seeking to head to Brazil later this summer. In the meantime, click here to find out who has already qualified for Rio 2016.

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