Tennis News

As an athlete, top 25 doubles star Alla Kudryavtseva has long been in pursuit of physical excellence, but holds intellectual acument in equal standing, earning an online Bachelor’s of Science in Communications, her second degree and first at Indiana University East.

“I’ve always loved to learn,” she told WTA Insider from LaGuardia Airport on Monday. “I’m always trying to read and learn something, so I thought, ‘I’m doing all these things. Why don’t I try to get a degree?’

Kudryavtseva previously earned a degree in physical education back in Moscow, but was inspired to return to school by then-doubles partner Anastasia Rodionova, who is also at IU East studying business administration.

“Communications is a diverse degree, one that you can use in many different areas. I’m not quite sure what I want to do when I stop playing, so it just seemed like a good fit. Everything you do these days is with communications. Physical education was interesting at the time and very applicable to what I do as an athlete. I found this degree very applicable as well when it came to things like negotiations and persuasion, or even things like dissecting the news and what we see in media.

“It has been a really interesting journey and I learned a lot.”

“Alla was one of our finest students in the Communication Studies program and within the entirety of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences,” noted Ross Alexander, IU East’s Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Her professors consistently lauded her stellar work, professionalism, and the global perspective she brought to all her courses. She is among the very best we have at IU East.”

The former World No.56 had more than her share of setbacks in her final two semesters – inucrring an ACL injury just before finals – but perservered to receive her diploma on Tuesday at the Richmond campus’ Student Events and Activites Center. Through her various academic endeavors, this will be the first to have any proverbial pomp and circumstance.

“It has been a pleasure to host Alla on her first trip to the Richmond campus,” said IU East Chancellor Kathryn Cruz-Uribe. “We are honored to present her with her diploma. As an alumna, she will join a network of over 9,000 IU East graduates,” Cruz-Uribe said.

“I just turned 29, and from middle school to university, I’ve never been to an actual graduation ceremony,” Kudryavtseva admitted. “I always came to the office, picked up the diploma, and thank you very much!

“It’s difficult to be a student athlete; it takes a lot of discipline and commitment. No one is there to push you, so you’ve got to push yourself, and make sure you’re leaving appropriate time for assignments and reading. When grades start rolling in, that also adds stress, but luckily I’ve been a straight-A student, so I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

Kudryavtseva joins a growing cohort that includes former World No.1 Venus Williams, who became the first WTA player to graduate under the tour’s agreement with IU East. Current students include Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig, Sloane Stephens, and Arina Rodionova. Also earning her diploma later this month is Irina Falconi; the former Georgia Tech standout won her first WTA title earlier this year in Bogota, and credited Lisa Grattan of the Women’s Tennis Benefits Association (WTBA) as one who encouraged her to return to the online classroom.

“Once I heard about how good of an opportunity it was, I realized I had to jump on it,” she explained in an email. “I was motivated to go the moment I heard about it! I know that having a degree is something important to me, so I knew I wanted to get it done.”

Like Rodionova, Falconi is also studying business administration, a field the American saw as a natural selection for one already balancing the business of athletics.

“I like to think that I am already a running business. I wanted to really learn everything there is to know about running a sound business, making budgets, and marketing myself.”

A second set of deadlines can prove daunting to the already-overloaded athletes, but Falconi found a way to make the grade through her tenure at IU East. 

“When I started the program four years ago, WiFi wasn’t everywhere and wasn’t reliable, so there were a few late nights where I had to drive or walk to a coffee shop to make sure I submitted something before the deadline.”

Both Falconi and Kudryavtseva stressed the importance of education, arguing it helped give them a better sense not only of their future, but also their present.

“My capstone project was a 40 page paper on athletic retirements, and that was a very interesting topic to choose,” Kudryavtseva said. “I learned about all the difficulties athletes face: loss of identity, and how unprepared many are for what comes next. An athlete’s network can affects them a lot, because it gets to a point where everyone they know is somehow involved in their sport.

“That made me evaluate my own circle of friends and I realized just how many people I know have played or do play or are somehow connected to the WTA or even ATP tour or college tennis. When I was younger, I thought I’d want to disconnect from the tennis world when I retired, but getting older, I don’t think I want to. You learn so much over a 15 year career that I couldn’t have this level of expertise in any other field; it’d be a waste if I completely disconnected.”

“I know that tennis won’t last forever, so I knew that having a degree in my back pocket would benefit me in the long run,” Falconi added. “I think that some players may be a bit intimidated by the idea of online schooling, but if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish it!”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

The 2016 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued in Beijing for the China 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 Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur, Kristina Mladenovic, Madison Keys, Monica Puig, Sloane Stephens, Zheng Saisai, Alizé Cornet and Caroline Wozniacki hit 32 of the 312 aces in Beijing – raising a grand total of $1,820 throughout the week. Keys hit the most with 23 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 Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Last year there was a total of 106 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 October 18 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced October 24th

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.

LINZ, Austria – Dominika Cibulkova kept alive her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a routine 6-1, 6-2 victory over Belinda Bencic in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz.

The World No.8 is currently ninth in the road to Singapore, with three places remaining unclaimed, and took a wildcard in Austria to boost her chances of qualification.

The No.2 seed skipped into a first-set lead, breaking the 19-year-old in her opening service game. She was pegged back immediately, but did not drop a game for the rest of the first set, which she claimed 6-1 at a canter.

Cibulkova did not waste any time in the second set, either. Breaking in the first game, she sped to a 2-0 lead before breaking again to go 4-1 ahead. Bencic enjoyed a brief comeback, halving the deficit to 4-2 but the 27-year-old immediately restored her cushion and claimed the second set 6-2.

“It was a really tough draw, most of the times when wildcards play each other, it should be easier than this. It was a really tough one and I was prepared for a big battle today,” the Slovak said of being drawn with Bencic.

“I was playing solid, I did nothing extra; I was playing solid and really fast. I was just playing really good tennis from the first point to the last.”

Reacting to comments from her opponent that she “killed her”, Cibulkova responded: “I wouldn’t say ‘I killed’ her, she’s a great player, so I would say I won a lot of very important points and that made a difference. It just shows that I was really strong mentally today.”

Cibulkova will face Annika Beck in the next round for a place in the quarterfinals.