Insider Notebook: Stormy Weekend
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Another rainy day triggered play on Wimbledon’s Middle Sunday for the fourth time in 139 years; the history-making Williamses triumphed in between.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Another rainy day triggered play on Wimbledon’s Middle Sunday for the fourth time in 139 years; the history-making Williamses triumphed in between.
Check out CiCi Bellis’s shot of the day from the Abierto GNP Seguros.
LONDON, Great Britain – Defending champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza eased into the third round of Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Japanese pair Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato.
After a tense two-set win in their much-anticipated first round on Saturday, Hingis and Mirza were far more efficient on People’s Sunday, needing just 52 minutes to advance past Hozumi and Kato, who were broken a combined five times out on the No.3 Court.
The first players to qualify in singles or doubles for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and winners at the All England Club one year ago, the co-World No.1s next face the unseeded duo of Christina McHale and Jelena Ostapenko. Fresh off her near win over top seed Serena Williams in singles, she and Ostapenko sealed the deal against No.14 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva – who upset Hingis and Mirza a few months ago at the BNP Paribas Open – 6-1, 6-4.
On the other half of the draw, No.2 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic recovered from a disatrous start to dismiss Zhang Shuai and Peng Shuai, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 on No.14 Court.
The French pair are riding a eight-match winning streak at major tournaments, having just captured their maden Grand Slam in women’s doubles at Roland Garros, but survived a titanic tussle agains the Chinese veterans, who managed to engineer 11 break points against Garcia and Mladenovic, but only converted four in the one hour and 43 minute epic.
Up next for the pair are either No.14 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja or Gabriela Dabrowski and María José Martínez Sánchez, who have yet to play their second round match.
Of the Top 4 seeds in action, only sisters Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching failed to advance on Sunday, as the No.3 seeds suffered an unexpected loss to Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Aleksandra Krunic. Set to play doubles together at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Jankovic and Krunic’s preparation got a big boost when they were able to survive the Chans, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Standing between them and a spot in the quarterfinals are Anna-Lena Groenefeld and former No.1 Kveta Peschke, who has recently returned to the game after over a year away.
Among the last to finish were No.4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, who each won their third rounds in singles earlier in the day. Despite a second set hiccup, Makarova and Vesnina managed to dispatch British wildcards Anna Rae and Jocelyn Smith, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Due to the inclement weather and singles obligations, the Russians were playing just the first round of doubles, and will need to get past Annika Beck and Yanina Wickmayer in order to match Santina and the French.
Hear from Venus Williams before the start of the tournament.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Few can claim to be a more voracious reader than Andrea Petkovic, and the German sat down with Joel Drucker of Tennis Channel at the Volvo Car Open this week to put her skills to the ultimate test.
Petkovic, who is as much a Renaissance woman as she is a professional athlete, has a well-rounded range of interests that span from art and music to literature, which she called her escape in the sit-down with Drucker following her first round victory in Charleston.
“Some people escape with drugs and alcohol. For me, it’s literature,” the 29-year-old said.
The 2014 Volvo Car Open champion often gives followers and fans a glimpse into her eclectic world off the court on social media, whether it be by documenting visits to museums in her world travels, quoting Robert Frost on her Twitter account — or taking a book into the ice bath at the US Open.
Four of the German’s favorites authors — Ernest Hemingway, Saul Bellow, Friedrich Nietzsche and Leo Tolstoy — span generations and have few peers in the realm of literature, but just who would they be like if they picked up a racquet?
On Hemingway…
“He plays short points – really likes to go to net. Definitely would chip-charge. He’s tall, handsome – much like Patrick Rafter.”
On Bellow…
“He hits big, powerful shots – like Alexander Zverev. He’s a spectacular, hard-hitting player who loves the big sentence and brings lots of philosophical insight.”
On Nietzsche…
“He’s like Ivan Lendl. He’ll grind it out. He likes to suffer.”
On Tolstoy…
“A percentage player. He always plays the right shot – a baseliner, sort of like Caroline Wozniacki. Just a terrific all-around player.”
Stay tuned for part two from Tennis Channel, coming soon as the former World No.9 compares some of tennis’ greats, along with her peers and compatriots, to some of history’s best authors.
Caroline Garcia has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Top seed and World No.1 Angelique Kerber reached her fourth quarterfinal of 2017 on Thursday, closing out the night session and a big-hitting Mandy Minella, 6-1, 6-3 at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
“It was a good match from me,” she said after the match. “I played very well, and was able to play aggressively from the first point. I enjoyed the match tonight.”
Crafty lob from @AngeliqueKerber! ? pic.twitter.com/vCBZcBAeTc
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
Minella has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, reaching the semifinals at the Taiwan Open and earning an impressive win over Kristyna Pliskova at the Miami Open, but came up against a firing Kerber in Monterrey.
The German dropped just three points behind her first serve and didn’t face a break point all match, converting four of the eight she earned on the reigning Bol Open winner.
Kerber has slowly recovered from a tough first quarter, reaching the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the quarterfinals in Miami, and is still looking for her first title of the year.
Up next for World No.1 is defending champion Heather Watson, who enjoyed a strong win over Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4, 6-1, earlier in the day.
Just too good from @AngeliqueKerber ? ? pic.twitter.com/My4Mjv1H4O
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
“I think it’ll be a good match; she won here last year and is the defending champion, so she knows the court and venue.
“I think I’ll have to play like today, play my game. I’m looking forward to playing against her.”
.@AngeliqueKerber races past Minella 6-1, 6-3!
Sets @Abierto_GNP Quarterfinal vs defending champ @HeatherWatson92! pic.twitter.com/hOrRPIwXRj
— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017
All photos courtesy of Abierto GNP Seguros.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – If Caroline Wozniacki scores just one more victory at the Volvo Car Open and defeats World No.66 Jelena Ostapenko, she’ll be rewarded with more than just a spot in the Charleston semifinals: she’ll be projected to break back into the Top 10 when the new WTA rankings come out, a happy ending to what has been an absolute rollercoaster last few years.
Wozniacki got her first taste of the Top 10 back in 2009, and has been a mainstay at the top of the rankings for the majority of her career – including a stint at World No.1, a ranking she held for 67 weeks.
In fact, from 2009 to 2014 she finished each year inside the Top 10, and her six year run had been the WTA’s longest active streak.
But a struggle with injuries and recovery derailed the Dane’s progress, causing her ranking to plummet to as low as No.74 during the 2016 US Open.
It was during that US Open fortnight that Wozniacki’s comeback came together; she entered the tournament unseeded and went on to reach the semifinals, knocking out the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys along the way.
Once she got going, Wozniacki never looked back, and in the 14 events since her ranking dipped to No.74, she’s put together a stunning run which includes titles at the 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, runner-up finishes at the 2017 Qatar Total Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Miami Open, and a semifinal finish at the US Open.
She’s reached the quarterfinals or better at 11 of her last 14 events and now, by virtue of her incredible consistency, Wozniacki sits one win away from a return to her beloved Top 10 – the first time she’ll be there since September 21, 2015.
It won’t be easy with Latvian teenager Ostapenko standing in her way; Wozniacki lost in straight sets the only previous match they’ve played at last year’s Connecticut Open. And due to extreme weather conditions in Charleston, Wozniacki found herself having to double up and play two matches on the same day to reach the quarterfinals.
“I think I’m well-prepared for tomorrow,” Wozniacki said after her win against Anastasia Rodionova. “I got some clay tennis in today and feel like I’m just going to go out there and have fun and do my best and see how it goes.
“I’m just playing right now. I had one practice session before the tournament started for me, and that was it. I just kind of run on experience and try and figure it out.”
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko stunned No.11 seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets to reach the final at the Volvo Car Open, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
With the victory Ostapenko is through to her third career final – and her first on clay – where he’ll face fellow-19-year-old Daria Kasatkina.
“It’s really nice to be in the third final, but first final on clay court, and especially here in Charleston,” Ostapenko told press after the match. “I’m really looking forward for tomorrow’s match.
“[Daria] kind of defensive player, and I think clay is her favorite surface, but I’m just going to try to stay consistent and be aggressive at the same time and just play my game.”
We're going three!
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni battles back to force a decider over Ostapenko 3-6, 7-5! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/2g3oMKIpc5
— WTA (@WTA) 8 de abril de 2017
Just one point made the difference between Ostapenko and Lucic-Baroni during the tense, two-hour-and-seven-minute encounter. The Latvian employed her aggressive, fearless tennis against Lucic-Baroni, changing the direction in the ball and keeping her opponent on the run with her heavy groundstrokes.
Ostapenko was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second, but Lucic-Baroni had other ideas and the Croat put together a mammoth struggle to deny Ostapenko and break her serve.
Jelena Ostapenko edges Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 5-7, 6-4!
Sets All-Teen @VolvoCarOpen Final vs @DKasatkina! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/ugpZVK2IAh
— WTA (@WTA) 8 de abril de 2017
She unleashed a barrage of winners against the Latvian, who had no response as Lucic-Baroni grabbed the next two games to take the match into a decider. But Ostapenko tamped down her nerves in the third and found her calm to make her way into her first final of 2017.
“I actually was quite emotional in the second set when I was 5-3 up and I couldn’t finish the set, but she liked when I was emotional,” Ostapenko admitted. “It kind of gave her confidence till then.
“In the third set I was just trying to be calm because I think it was tougher for her because I didn’t show any emotions, and it helped me, so I won the third set.”
Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber walk out on to Centre Court for the Wimbledon ladies final.
It’s the second time these two have met in the finals of a Grand Slam this year, with Serena having lost to Kerber at the Australian Open.
It was Serena’s powerful serve against Kerber’s tenacious rallying.
The match featured sizzling baseline battles punctuated by forays to the net.
Kerber did her part to keep the match competitive and stayed aggressive throughout.
Famous fans: Beyonce and Jay-Z were in Serena’s box rooting for the World No.1.
They weren’t the only famous faces in the crowd: Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi enjoyed some world class commentary from Billie Jean King.
Championship point! Serena reacts to winning the match.
Serena collapsed in elation after winning her seventh Wimbledon title.
Respect: the finalists share a hug at the net.
Serena avenged her Australian Open loss to Kerber.
Nope, that’s not world peace. Serena now holds 22 Grand Slam titles, tying Graf’s all-time record.
Serena finally reunited with a familiar prize: the Venus Rose Water Dish.
Both finalists received their trophies and exchanged words of admiration.
The Wimbledon Ladies’ trophy, back in Serena’s hands…
The BBC’s Sue Barker did the post-match interview.
The finalists and their trophies.
Kerber took a lap and walked off Centre Court with her head held high.
But for the champion, it was time for photos.
All eyes were on the World No.1 on her historic day.
Afterwards, Serena stepped out to the All England Club balcony to greet the gathered crowd.
Serena presented the trophy to the All England Club for the seventh time.