Tennis News

It’s semifinal time on Thursday in Miami. We preview both of today’s must-see matchups at wtatennis.com.

Thursday

Semifinals

[10] Johanna Konta (GBR #11) vs. [11] Venus Williams (USA #12)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Konta became the first British woman to reach the Miami semifinals with her win over Simona Halep on Wednesday.

The last time Venus Williams and Johanna Konta locked horns it was an historic day for the British No.1. Konta claimed a three-set victory over the legendary American last summer to claim her first career title and become the first British woman to win the Bank of the West Classic title since 1977. Afterwards Konta summed up the experience aptly. “I wanted to leave it all out there, but also absorb everything that I could possibly reinvest in my career moving forward,” she said. “I’ve played her twice before and knew I’d be playing a magnitude of experience. Venus Williams doesn’t need an introduction.”

Williams and Konta split 144 points evenly in that entertaining final, but in the midst of her breakout season it was Konta who won the bigger points. Their fourth career battle should be similarly close, and if Williams’ form in her last two matches is any indication, she’s going to aggressively attack Konta and look to get to net often. The American became the oldest player to take out a reigning No.1 in WTA history on Wednesday night when she worked her way past Angelique Kerber, 7-5, 6-3, and while it’s easy—and inspiring—to focus on the fact that Williams is 36, the caliber of tennis she is playing belies her age. The three-time Miami Open champion has played brilliantly to reach the semifinals here for the eighth time, not dropping a single set and knocking off back-to-back Top 10 opponents in the process.

Will Williams take it a step further and avenge her loss in Stanford to Konta? The American will have her chances, but she’ll have to improve on her 45 percent first-serve percentage from her quarterfinal win over Kerber to do so. Konta picked apart Halep’s second-serve on Wednesday in her three-set victory over the Romanian, and Williams will need to keep the Dangerous 25-year-old on the back foot as much as she can to succeed.

Pick: Konta in three

[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [12] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 3-1
Key Stat: Pliskova leads the WTA with 23 wins in 2017

They are very different stylistically, but Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki share the same sinister approach to tennis warfare. Both are calm, composed and ruthless—eager to expose their opponent’s liabilities and unflappable under duress. That’s why Thursday’s matchup between the No.2-seeded Czech and the No.12-seeded Dane is so intriguing. The experienced, wily and extremely well-rounded Wozniacki will look to keep the powerful, blossoming Pliskova at bay, and she knows she’ll have to pull out all the stops to do it.

“She beat me last time we played, so she’s clearly in good shape,” Wozniacki said on Tuesday after defeating Lucie Safarova for her 22^nd win of the season. “I’m looking forward to getting another try, to see if I can beat her this time.”

Wozniacki won the first three times she faced Pliskova, but the Czech hit back earlier this season breaking Wozniacki’s serve four times in a 6-3, 6-4 win at this year’s Doha final. Despite that loss, Wozniacki is pretty confident that she has a good read on the towering Czech’s game. “I know her game, what her strengths and weaknesses are,” Wozniacki told reporters on Tuesday after her quarterfinal win.

Like Wozniacki, Pliskova has yet to drop a set this week in Miami. But she knows things will get tougher as the stakes get higher. “Anything can happen in the next semi,” she told reporters on Tuesday. “I would expect a tough one because I know she has been playing quite good here in last few years. … It’s the last tournament on hard court, so I just want to enjoy it.”

Pick: Pliskova in two

By the Numbers

7-1 – Konta’s lifetime record at Miami. She reached the quarterfinals on her debut last year.

2 – Pliskova is the only player left in the draw that has won multiple titles this season.

22 – Wozniacki has dropped just 22 games in her four matches en route to the semis. Pliskova, who has also yet to drop a set, has lost 24 games. Williams has dropped 27 games, and also not dropped a set.

14 – Number of wins that Williams has notched over reigning World No.1 players, including her win over Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.

49 – Number of career titles for Venus Williams, which is 14 more than the other three semifinalists’ career titles combined (Wozniacki, 25, Pliskova, 8, Konta, 2).

MIAMI, FL, USA – Winning the Miami Open trophy after a rollercoaster two weeks of action was hard enough, but Johanna Konta’s work wasn’t done yet – there’s always the traditional champions Key Biscayne photo shoot.

After a quick chat with WTA Insider on the way to the shoot, Konta was ready to relax and pose in front of a throng of photographers as she celebrated the win at Cape Florida Light, Key Biscayne’s iconic lighthouse.

Here’s a few photos of Konta with the Miami Open trophy, all courtesy of Getty Images:

MONTERREY, Mexico – Hundreds of Monterrey locals got a chance to be up close with the WTA’s biggest stars as the Abierto GNP Seguros put on a colorful display at one of the city’s most popular avenues, San Pedro de Pinta.

World No.1 and Monterrey top seed Angelique Kerber joined Donna Vekic in a mini-tennis exhibition match, before covering each other – and the crowd – in colorful powdered paint.

The pair even took to the stage afterwards, joining a local band to sing some tunes at Monterrey’s weekly festival.

Check out the best photos below, courtesy of the Abierto GNP Seguros!

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.

Dress: @brettmettler ??
Shoes: @SOPHIAWEBSTER
Hair: @alessiomatta ??
Makeup: @Lisa_Benefit ?
Car: @JaguarUK ? pic.twitter.com/VQs4ore2DU

— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) June 24, 2016

 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.

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!

– Photos courtesy of Getty Images