Venus On The Power Of Sports
Venus Williams perfectly summed up what makes sports so special in a powerful answer at her Australian Open press conference.
Venus Williams perfectly summed up what makes sports so special in a powerful answer at her Australian Open press conference.
Serena Williams says it’s important to scout her sister’s game-plan before the Australian Open final…
MELBOURNE, Australia – When Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams in the final of the Australian Open, her historic victory was felt around the world. She clinched a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam and returned to the WTA World No.1 ranking.
Here’s the best moments from Twitter as the world reacted to the 28th edition of Williams vs Williams – and Serena’ monumental victory.
It was a final nobody expected to see again – but a final that delighted the world.
Congrats @Venuseswilliams @serenawilliams I'll be recording the final so my two little girls can watch history and have strong role models
— James Blake (@JRBlake) January 26, 2017
Legends wished them luck…
Good luck @serenawilliams & @Venuseswilliams – You have both come so far from the day we met at the @WorldTeamTennis clinic in Long Beach!
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) January 28, 2017
Need I say more @AustralianOpen women's final!! @serenawilliams @Venuseswilliams pic.twitter.com/Yxg2fzH0cj
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) January 28, 2017
…and the new generation felt like they were back in their childhoods.
Venus vs Serena. I feel like I'm 8 years old. ???
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) January 28, 2017
After all the talk, it was time to play. Some people looked on with admiration and envy.
Ok… I'm gonna need both of their serves. HEY SANTA?? Come back around, I want to trade my presents ?
— Vicky Duval (@vicky_duval95) January 28, 2017
And some people had problems deciding who to cheer for.
Loving the fans calling out “Come on, Williams!” That would totally be me.
— Katie Bee (@breakpointsaved) January 28, 2017
Serena took the first set…
How good is @SerenaWilliams when winning the 1st set?
20-0 in Grand Slam finals! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/OQRViJTnox
— WTA (@WTA) January 28, 2017
Everyone was enjoying the quality of tennis on display…
Watching these two champions battle it out! High quality tennis from the real queens of the tennis world #SerenavsVenus #AusOpen
— Leander Paes (@Leander) January 28, 2017
…and it wasn’t too long before Serena made history.
.@SerenaWilliams captures record 23rd Grand Slam title at @AustralianOpen!
Defeats Venus 6-4, 6-4! #MakeHistory #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/khMOPajHWc
— WTA (@WTA) January 28, 2017
It was her sister, the runner-up, who paid the most touching tribute.
“Serena Williams. That's my little sister guys. Your win has always been my win”
We're welling up at Venus ?https://t.co/D5SyvBR5pS pic.twitter.com/hEGwZ0bCiD
— BBC Tennis (@bbctennis) January 28, 2017
And the champion repaid the compliment.
#Serena, on #Venus: “There's no way I would be at [No.23] without her. Without her, the 'Williams Sisters' wouldn't exist.” #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/wGeK512QL0
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2017
The congratulations poured in for both champions after the historic moment of victory…
Congrats @serenawilliams on your 23rd major title and return to the top of the@WTA rankings. You are a history maker and a trailblazer.
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) January 28, 2017
Congratulations @serenawilliams ?2️⃣3️⃣#WilliamsSisters continuing to make history, break records, and inspire. #AusOpen ??
— Shelby Rogers (@Shelby_Rogers_) January 28, 2017
History made!! #23 #legends
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) January 28, 2017
What a match and surreal battle we just witnessed… Two legends. Inspiration for all ????.
— Vicky Duval (@vicky_duval95) January 28, 2017
Witnessed this. History maker ?? @serenawilliams
— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) January 28, 2017
#Inspiring https://t.co/A4WCAcgkxk
— Elina Svitolina (@ElinaSvitolina) January 28, 2017
Hey if you're gonna take an L, it may as well contribute to breaking a record. Huge congrats to @serenawilliams on 23. ??? https://t.co/MsGceFG2Nb
— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) January 28, 2017
The way they were…..#SHEROES.
Sister Act. ? pic.twitter.com/V6RWo03o09— judy murray (@JudyMurray) January 28, 2017
Doubles star Abigail Spears kicked off her final year on tour by winning her first Grand Slam title with Juan Sebastian Cabal, defeating No.2 seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in two sets.
January was defined by four breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?
Have a look at the nominees for January’s Breakthrough of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 3.
January 2017 WTA Breakthrough of the Month Finalists:
Katerina Siniakova: Siniakova started the season at the Shenzhen Open, where she won her first title with wins over Simona Halep and Johanna Konta before knocking out 2016 finalist Alison Riske in the championship match. The win brought the Czech youngster to a career-high ranking of No.37.
Elise Mertens: Mertens made her Top 100 debut after winning the Hobart International the week before the Australian Open. Though she missed the deadline for Melbourne qualifying, the powerful Belgian blew through the draw, roaring through qualifying to defeat top seed Kiki Bertens and Monica Niculescu in the final.
Lauren Davis: Another player to take home their maiden WTA title was young American Lauren Davis, who started the year at the ASB Classic. Unseeded in Auckland, Davis beat four seeds to the title, including Bertens, Barbora Strycova, Jelena Ostapenko, and Ana Konjuh.
CoCo Vandeweghe: Vandeweghe made her major breakthrough at the Australian Open, getting back-to-back wins over two of 2016’s three Grand Slam champions in World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza. Making her first Grand Slam semifinal, the American pushed eventual finalist Venus Williams to three tough sets.
2016 Winners:
January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay
May: Kiki Bertens
June: Elena Vesnina
July: Kristina Kucova
August: Karolina Pliskova
September: Naomi Osaka
October: Peng Shuai
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber ended Johanna Konta’s debut run at the Olympic tennis event after an emphatic straight sets win, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals.
Kerber, who is bidding to become the first German woman to medal at the Olympics since Steffi Graf in 1992, was in fine form against Konta, dropping just three games in the hour-long match.
Coming off a marathon encounter against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Konta was likely thankful for yesterday’s washout giving her an extra day to recover. But despite the additional rest, Britain’s No.1 never really seemed in the match, striking 43 unforced errors to Kerber’s 11 and hitting just 18 winners against Kerber’s 7.
Kerber broke Konta’s serve in a marathon opening game that set the tone for the rest of the match; Konta struck two double faults to gift the German an early lead and despite putting up a battle she couldn’t match Kerber’s dogged defense stroke for stroke.
The World No.2 settled into the match quickly and broke twice more to win the last four straight games of the opening set. Though Konta showed her grit by getting her first break in Kerber’s opening service game, the German didn’t allow her to relish in the lead for long and immediately broke back. The Australian Open champion broke twice more and eased into the semifinals after just over an hour.
Watching in the stands was Madison Keys, Kerber’s opponent in the next round. The German owns a 4-1 lead in the pair’s head to head, including a win in their last encounter earlier this year in Miami.
More to come…
MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No.1 Ana Ivanovic had to deal with a half hour break when a spectator took a spill on Rod Laver Arena, but the Serb maintained her focus to close out Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-3.
Sevastova first made waves in 2011 when she reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open, but a brief retirement took her out of the game for nearly two years before she came back last January. Coming through three rounds of main draw qualifying, the 25-year-old played Ivanovic tough over two sets, but was ultimately undone by unforced errors – 27 to Ivanovic’s 17.
Ivanovic, by contrast, played a much cleaner match, breaking serve four times and winning 83% of her first serves.
“I enjoy playing here so much; this is one of my favorite courts in the world,” Ivanovic said during her on-court interview. “It’s always good to be back.”
The No.20 seed has looked solid through her first two matches, a major improvement over her last appearance in Melbourne, when a broken toe hampered her through an opening round loss.
“I tried to work on my fitness during the off-season; that needed improvements after last season. I hired a new fitness coach, so it’s been really great. We did a lot of prevention work for injuries, and fitness and on-court work.
“It’s a work in progress.”
Up next for Ivanovic is the winner of the second round match between No.15 seed Madison Keys and Yaroslava Shvedova, the latter of whom pushed her to three sets at last year’s French Open.
“Every match is tough and we’ve seen that throughout the week. Every opponent is tough and there have been a lot of tricky first round matches.
“But I’m really thrilled be to be through and you guys are amazing, so excited about your tennis, so keep it up!
Monica Puig continued her fairytale Olympic run with an emotional three-set win over Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.
Watch Svetlana Kuznetsova’s practice session on Day 3 of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Last year’s WTA Can Challenge champion Carla Suárez Navarro is taking on a new challenge. How well did she do in the WTA Frame Challenge?