Tennis News

STANFORD, CA, USA – Former World No.1 Venus Williams treated the Bank of the West Classic to a topsy-turvy three-setter against Magda Linette, but the top seed found her way against the Pole when it counted, emerging victorious, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals.

Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Playing at the very tournament where she made her WTA debut back in 1994 – and playing as the No.1 seed at a WTA Premier level event for the first time since 2004 (Toray Pan Pacific Open) – Venus assumed the role of the favorite to emphatic effect to start the match, racing through the opening set without dropping serve and edging ahead an ostensibly decisive break to start the second.

Two games from elimination, Linette was coming off just her first WTA main draw win since reaching the quarterfinals of the Katowice Open, but nonetheless turned the tides against the illustrious American, breaking back to force a tie-break.

Venus had lost just one tie-break all year, and though she fell behind 6-2 two in Wednesday night’s sudden death, the five-time Wimbledon winner appeared poised to close out the match fairly quickly as she saved four set points in a row. But Linette held firm to level the match after a second set that lasted just over an hour.

The Pole had one last comeback in her late in the final set; after losing the first four games on the bounce, she nabbed one of the breaks back to put pressure on the Venus serve in the seventh game, one that had proven crucial in the second set. But with sister Serena in the stands, Venus made no mistake the second time around, and eased into the quarterfinals in two hours and 17 minutes.

Up next for the top seed is either qualifier Sachia Vickery or wildcard Catherine Bellis, who caused the upset of the tournament by taking out No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.

More to come…

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Alya WTA Malaysian Open top seed Elina Svitolina claimed her 250th WTA win with a 6-2, 6-3 first-round win over qualifier Su Jeong Jang on Tuesday.

That moment when you win 250th @WTA match ??@alyawtamo pic.twitter.com/CDSr0mFnej

— Elina Svitolina (@ElinaSvitolina) February 28, 2017

The 22-year-old also extended her winning run to 13 matches despite spirited resistance from Jang, who lies 138 places lower in the WTA rankings. The Korean stole a break back in the second set at 3-1, but the reigning champion showed the class that has seen her win back-to-back titles at the Taiwan Open and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to come through.

Elina Svitolina picks up 250th career WTA win!

Wraps up a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jang Su Jeong! pic.twitter.com/YOJTmnP0It

— WTA (@WTA) February 28, 2017

In the biggest shock of the tournament so far, the promising Russian 18-year-old Anna Kalinskaya defeated No.5 seed Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-2. The WTA World No.23 became the third seeded player to be dispatched in the first two days in Kuala Lumpur, while Kalinskaya was able to celebrate her first ever main draw victory.

What an upset!

World No.173 Anna Kalinskaya knocks third seed Caroline Garcia out of @alyawtamo 7-5, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/xs9HQRyrhG

— WTA (@WTA) February 28, 2017

“Of course I feel a little bit more confident now,” said Kalinskaya afterwards. “I understand that I can play with the players in the top 50, top 100 and it means a lot to me. For the next match I will prepare and hope I play better than today.”

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Ashleigh Barty says the world is seeing her best performances on a tennis court so far as she celebrated a day of double delight at the Alya Malaysian Open.

First she secured a spot in the singles quarterfinals by beating fellow qualifier Miyu Kato, 6-0, 6-3 – and then she went one better in the doubles alongside Casey Dellacqua, progressing to the semifinals as they defeated Nao Hibino and Varatchaya Wongteanchai 6-4, 6-0.

“We have to say this is my best start, best career performances to date,” the 20-year-old told the press afterwards. “We’re happy to be playing well and enjoying our tennis.” 

.@AshBar96 books a spot in @alyawtamo Quarterfinals!

Races past Kato 6-0, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/Muq7rPmwBL

— WTA (@WTA) March 2, 2017

The Australian returned to tennis a year ago following a break during which she turned her sporting skills to cricket, playing in the first-ever Women’s Big Bash League for Brisbane Heat. She thinks that the time off has served her well.

“My tennis game this time is a continuation from my last career – I’m a little bit older, a little bit more wise, more mature, so I think that’s helped my game immensely,” she revealed.

That isn’t to say that putting her racquet down was an easy thing to do.

“I certainly missed playing tennis,” she admitted. “It’s what I’ve done since I was five years old. It’s been a part of my life for so long. It’s what I am born to do.”

Barty is proving that with her recent form, and she has an extra incentive to win – her best friend and doubles partner Dellacqua.

“I really am loving being out here, getting to play singles and enjoy some success, and then of course to be on the court with my best friend for doubles is a bonus as well – it’s nice to be back out here with Case and to see her happy as well,” she added.

ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.7 seed Lesia Tsurenko will take on Kristina Mladenovic in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel after top seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni was forced to retire after trailing 0-5 in the first set.

“I was really shocked on court when she decided to retire,” Tsurenko said after the match. “I wish that she feels better. I’m pretty happy to be in the final, but shame that she’s not feeling well.”

Lucic-Baroni had been in imperious form this week in Acapulco – her first event since her dream run to the Australian Open semifinals – and she hadn’t dropped a set all tournament long. 

But on Friday night against Tsurenko, the Croat was noticeably subdued from the start, moving sluggishly and her usually booming strokes lacking bite. Tsurenko broke three times and, after a visit from the trainer and tournament doctor, Lucic-Baroni was forced to retire citing gastrointestinal illness.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retires in the opening set.@LTsurenko advances to @AbiertoTelcel Final! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/R3w2AjPf8n

— WTA (@WTA) March 4, 2017

“I was really unlucky; I picked up a virus, I vomited just before I went on the court,” Lucic-Baroni explained. “I tried. Because I’m not the type to retire, ever. I’ll just put on more tapes and play, and I can play through anything really.

“But I just felt extremely dizzy and like I was going to vomit all the time, and I just couldn’t continue. I’m really upset, because this is such a great tournament and I’m playing so well.

“It’s just a crappy way to end a really good tournament.”

For Tsurenko, this puts her through to her first final of the year; earlier in the season she made a run to the semifinals at the Hobart International. In fact, it’s her first final since September 2016 when she won the title at Guangzhou.

She’s set to take on Kristina Mladenovic, who came through in three sets against Christina McHale.

“I watched their match, it was really tough match for both of them,” Tsurenko acknowledged. “But this is not always a big advantage for me; sometimes when you play a long match you get stronger and feel the surface better.

“We’ll see tomorrow. I hope I’ll be fresher physically.”

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – It was twice as nice for Ashleigh Barty in Kuala Lumpur as she won the doubles title with Casey Dellacqua – adding that to the singles crown she had secured earlier in the day.

The Australian pair beat Nicole Melichar and Makoto Ninomiya 7-6(5), 6-3, coming back from 5-1 down in the first-set tiebreak to lift the trophy in straight sets.

“I feel great – very tired but great,” said Barty afterwards. “It’s been a monster week for me. I don’t think I could have physically have played any more matches. I’m very happy to come away with two titles today, but even if we didn’t it would have been a fantastic tournament anyway. Now it’s just an absolute bonus.”

Congrats @ashbar96 & @caseydellacqua #alyawtamalaysianopen #wta #alyakl #tpckl #mme #mymajorevents pic.twitter.com/XJWyHFEz2L

— AlyaWTAMalaysianOpen (@alyawtamo) March 5, 2017

Her partner Dellacqua admired the way that their opponents had played, giving them a tough time in the first set. 

“They were playing really good tennis, really good doubles,” she said. “We just had to play each point as best we could. That’s all we did, we just applied ourselves really well for each of those points in that tiebreak especially.

“In tennis, you’re never out of it, I think that was pretty crucial to get that first set, and then just to get a break in the second, to space that lead out a little bit. That tiebreak, we did really well after being 5-1 down.”

Dellacqua is enjoying her time on court with her good friend Barty, and was delighted that she won the singles title – even if she was not actually able to watch it.

“It’s pretty nice to play with someone that’s just come off and won the singles, that’s always good!” laughed the 32-year-old. “I’m just stoked that I’m back. I wouldn’t be out here and enjoying it as much if it wasn’t playing with Ash, so yes, I feel good, I feel very happy that I was here to witness her, even though I didn’t get to watch, win her first title. I know that there’ll be many more to come. For us to win the doubles is an extra bonus. It’s pretty exciting.”

The pair burst into laughter when they were asked post-match whether they intended to continue playing doubles together.

“No, I don’t want to play with her again!” grinned Dellacqua.

“We’re done!” added Barty.

Once the hilarity subsided, Dellacqua gave a more serious response.

“Yes, of course. Ash has got a big load, she’s playing singles, so we’ll play whenever we can. When we do play we always enjoy it, and we go out there to do our best.”

Winning a Grand Slam title, of course, remains their ultimate goal.

“It’s a big dream to win [a Slam doubles title],” agreed Dellacqua. “We’ve made three Grand Slam finals together and we’ve never won one, but we don’t talk about it too much any more!

“If that happens, it happens. It’s about each week, each journey, just trying to get the best out of ourselves this week, and if that comes along, we’ll certainly be trying our best to win.”