Tennis News

The 2017 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued at the Miami Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world.

For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.

USANA Brand Ambassadors Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Monica Puig and Zheng Saisai hit 25 of the 407 aces in Miami – raising a grand total of $2,560 throughout the fortnight. Wozniacki hit the most with 17 aces.

Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!

#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway

It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Volvo Car Open in Charleston. Last year there was a total of 196 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.

How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Beijing deadline is April 4 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced April 10th

Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.

For full rules on how to enter, click here.

MALLORCA, Spain – Daniela Hantuchova received an extra boost of Slovak power at the Mallorca Open, where she grabbed her first main draw win of the year and got the news that she’d been awarded a wildcard into Wimbledon.

Earlier this week a very special cheering squad made the trip to the Mediterranean: 12 Slovakian Miss Universe contestants travelled to Mallorca to enjoy a bit of world class tennis at the inaugural event. The contestants’ first stop on their tour of the Balearic Island? A meet and great with former World No.5 Hantuchova, whose own tennis has flourished on the Spanish grass courts this week.

Earlier in the week, Hantuchova grabbed her first main draw win of the year in the opening round of the Mallorca Open when she defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 6-3. In fact, it was her first main draw win since last year’s Istanbul Open, where she defeated Turkish trailblazer Cagla Buyukakcay in the first round.

The Slovak’s spirited Mallorca victory also earned her an even sweeter prize: a main draw wildcard into Wimbledon, and a big career milestone.

This year’s Championships will be Hantuchova’s 60th appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam, putting her at No.8 in the elite list of players with the most appearances in the Open Era.

Open Era: Grand Slam Main Draw Appearances
71 Amy Frazier
70 Venus Williams
67 Martina Navratilova
64 Conchita Martinez
63 Ai Sugiyama
63 Serena Williams
62 Francesca Schiavone
60 Daniela Hantuchova

Hantuchova made her Grand Slam main draw debut over 15 years ago in the 2001 Australian Open, and she’s been a main draw staple ever since, only missing out on two occurrences (French Open 2008 and 2012).

Here’s a list of all the singles wildcards awarded so far for the 2016 edition of The Championships.

2016 Wimbledon Ladies Singles Wildcards
1. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
2. Marina Melnikova (RUS)
3. Tara Moore (GBR)
4. Laura Robson (GBR)
5. Katie Swan (GBR)
6. To be announced
7. To be announced
8. To be announced

No word yet on whether the Slovakian Miss Universe contestants will follow Hantuchova all the way to London.

Click here for a complete list of all the wildcards announced so far at Wimbledon.

Last week, in honor of the Euro 2016 and Copa America kicking off, we asked tennis fans a big question: if WTA players were a national team, who would be in your starting lineup? After one week of voting, the results have been tallied up and we’re ready to unveil the Fan Voted WTA XI.

But first, let’s remind you who we chose for our official WTA starting lineup:

The WTA plays in a classic 4-4-2 formation, which means that along with a goalkeeper, we’re fielding four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers.

Of course, fans had other ideas for which players would make the best team, so we put it to a vote.

After tallying up the numbers, here’s who made the cut in the Fan Voted WTA XI:

Here’s how it breaks down:

FORWARDS

We chose to play two of the most powerful attack-minded players in the game as our strikers, but it looks like fans wouldn’t take the field without starting the player with one of the best winning percentages in 2016: Victoria Azarenka.

We chose:

· Serena Williams
· Garbiñe Muguruza

The fans voted:

· Garbiñe Muguruza
· Victoria Azarenka

Though Azarenka also garnered a lot of votes as a potential defender, the overwhelming majority of fans voted her as a striker – and we can’t say we disagree.

MIDFIELDERS

Our midfield is packed with skillful and creative players, but fans were torn as to which playmakers they wanted in their Fan Voted WTA XI. In the end, here’s how the voting played out:

We chose:

· Agnieszka Radwanska
· Simona Halep
· Timea Bacsinszky
· Belinda Bencic

The fans voted:

· Simona Halep
· Agnieszka Radwanska
· Kristina Mladenovic
· Svetlana Kuznetsova

Fans voted for a mix of youth and experience by adding Mladenovic and Kuznetsova to the star duo of Radwanska and Halep. Though Halep was also voted as a potential defender, more fans thought she’d be a better fit in the midfield.

DEFENDERS

Our defenders are a rock-solid bunch of the most consistent, defense-minded returners and counter punchers in the game – here’s who made the cut in the Fan Voted WTA XI.

We chose:

· Angelique Kerber
· Victoria Azarenka
· Sara Errani
· Caroline Wozniacki

The fans voted:

· Angelique Kerber
· Dominika Cibulkova
· Sara Errani
· Elina Svitolina

Both back lines seem pretty impenetrable – which one do you think would stand up to the test?

GOALKEEPERS

In our WTA XI, we trusted our goal in the hands of Petra “Cech” Kvitova, but fans had a different player in mind for this position.

We chose:

· Petra Kvitova

The fans voted:

· Andrea Petkovic

Although she also grabbed a lot of votes as a defender, the vast majority of fans thought Petkovic would do a better job in goal. Do you agree with this substitution?

There’s your fan-voted WTA Starting 11! Do you agree with the fan vote or the WTA starting lineup? Which team do you think has a better shot at title-winning glory? Tweet us your thoughts – right here @WTA!