WTA Frame Challenge: Timea Babos
It’s time for another WTA Frame Challenge – this time it’s Timea Babos who’s up for the test! See how she did right here!
It’s time for another WTA Frame Challenge – this time it’s Timea Babos who’s up for the test! See how she did right here!
1) Caroline Wozniacki is back in action.
A right ankle injury sidelined Wozniacki for all of the clay season, and the Dane is looking to make her comeback in Nottingham. She hasn’t played a WTA match since Miami and her ranking has plunged to No.34 – can she start her comeback on grass?
2) Can Cagla Buyukakcay keep making history?
The 26-year-old Turk is one to watch at the Aegon Open Nottingham: after making Turkish history in Istanbul and Paris, Buyukakcay starts her Wimbledon tune up at Nottingham, where she’s set to meet No.3 seed Caroline Wozniacki in the first round.
3) Defending champion Ana Konjuh faces a setback.
2015 Nottingham champion Ana Konjuh looked to be in good form after her run at the WTA Bol Open 125K before a lower back injury forced her to retire in the semifinals. Will she be recovered in time for Nottingham?
4) Don’t call it a comeback for Vicky Duval…
The American Vicky Duval is entering her second tournament of 2016 at Nottingham after undergoing knee surgery following the Australian Open. She’s up against the No.2 seed Johanna Konta in the first round.
5) …Or for Laura Robson.
With a clean bill of health and back on home soil again, former British No.1 Laura Robson is looking to make the best of her protected ranking at Nottingham. First up for the wildcard? Defending champion Ana Konjuh.
6) Belinda Bencic returns to Den Bosch going for one better…
No.1 seed Belinda Bencic is hoping to improve her run to the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last year.
7) …And she’s not the only one.
Besides Bencic, there are two other former ‘s-Hertogenbosch finalists in the draw: Kirsten Flipkens (2013) and Jelena Jankovic (2007) are both looking for their first title at the Ricoh Open. 2014 champion CoCo Vandeweghe is back as well.
8) It’s anyone’s game in Den Bosch.
With defending champion Camila Giorgi and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova out due to injury, No.8 Belinda Bencic is the highest ranked player at the Ricoh Open. Can Bencic capitalize on the opportunity or will a new name make her mark?
9) Can Kiki Bertens keep up the momentum?
The on-fire Bertens has built up quite the winning streak: she’s won 12 of 13 matches by claiming her second WTA title at Nurnberg and reaching her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros. But as the season turns to grass, can Bertens keep it up?
10) And see where you can watch action from Nottingham and ‘s-Hertogenbosch on TennisTV!
Watch as Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Johanna Konta and more WTA stars test their luck with Fortune Cookies!
Serena Williams takes on Kiki Bertens in the semifinals of Roland Garros.
Long before the Olympic tennis event kicked off in Rio de Janeiro, Venus Williams toyed with the idea of sticking around for 2020, when the Olympics moved to Tokyo, Japan.
“We have to start looking at 2020,” she said at Wimbledon when asked about her successful doubles tenure with sister Serena. “That would be impressive. If you think this year’s impressive, hold on.
“That would be a blessing if we did play. I’m so grateful for each and every time we’ve had a chance to play and qualify. It’s been beyond our dreams. It means the world to us to play together.”
Venus and Serena have been the story of Olympic tennis since the two first paired up to win gold in women’s doubles back in 2000. Since then, the sisters have each amassed quite a haul, each taking gold in singles – Venus in 2000, Serena in 2012 – and earning three golds in women’s doubles in 2000, 2008, and 2012.
She narrowly missed out on a fifth gold medal in mixed doubles, winning silver alongside Rajeev Ram in Rio.
“Tokyo is about if I want to be there,” the five-time Wimbledon winner said in August. “If I want to continue to work as hard. It’s a lot of hard work. I have to want to do the work. So we’ll see.”
Her resolve appears to have solidified even more in the off-season, discussing the possibility of playing through 2020 on a soon-to-be broadcast program on the Hallmark Channel.
“I am targeting that to see if it’s possible to play there. While you’re out there playing, I love that challenge, I love the pressure, it’s all a privilege.
“If I can be out there, I will be.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Minutes after her tough 7-5, 6-4 loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in the Roland Garros final, Serena Williams walked directly into her post-match press conference. She was as open and honest as she felt she could be after minimal time to process the match, the loss, and her emotions.
Q: Are you the type of person who can kind of let this match go quickly, or will you beat yourself up about it for a few days?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don’t really know right now. I’m just — obviously it’s not something I’m like, Oh, it’s over with. It’s definitely something I want to dissect and see what I can learn from that and what can I do to get better from it. That’s the only way to keep improving.
On Wednesday, Serena turned to social media to tell the world how she really felt. “I was pissed, I have to admit,” she said in a video posted by Uninterrupted. “I thought I could’ve played better, I thought I could’ve competed better, I thought I could’ve really done everything five times better. And I didn’t, and I was so pissed that I actually abandoned my rackets in France after maybe a few smashes of the racket bag.”
VIDEO: @SerenaWilliams on French Open loss: “I'm going to take a moment to be super honest … I was really pissed.”https://t.co/qJzaGOjrJZ
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 8, 2016
Thankfully Serena’s speech did not end there. Not to worry, tennis fans. The World No.1 is already back on court preparing for her assault on Wimbledon, where she will once again be the defending champion and aim to match the Open Era record of 22 major titles.
Said Serena: “I’m out here [on court] by myself because sometimes by yourself is when the great things really happen.”
Here’s what Serena said in its entirety:
“So I’m going to take a moment to be super candid and super honest.
“After Paris, the final, which is great, you know, for everyone on this planet with the exception of me — I don’t do what everyone else does — I was really pissed, I have to admit. I thought I could’ve played better, I thought I could’ve competed better, I thought I could’ve really done everything five times better. And I didn’t, and I was so pissed that I actually abandoned my rackets in France after maybe a few smashes of the racket bag. I felt like if I was going to play that awful and that crappy, that maybe I don’t need rackets. Maybe I can just show up to a tournament, and maybe I can get to a final without playing great, and without practice.
“But obviously that doesn’t work and sometimes you have to work extra hard. So I’m out here by myself because sometimes by yourself is when the great things really happen.”
World No.6 Karolina Pliskova has split with her coach Jiri Vanek. The successful partnership began in 2014 and resulted in two career-best seasons for the 24-year-old Czech, who broke into the Top 10 in 2015.
Pliskova continued her rise in 2016, winning the biggest title of her career at the Western & Southern Open and advancing to her first Slam final at the US Open, where she lost in three sets to World No.1 Angelique Kerber. The announcement comes after Pliskova helped lead the Czech Republic to their fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years.
Like Pliskova, Elina Svitolina also announced her decision to split with longtime coach Iain Hughes; neither Pliskova nor Svitolina have named replacements.
NOTTINGHAM, England – Top seed Karolina Pliskova overcame Alison Riske in a rain-affected Aegon Open Nottingham final on Sunday to capture her fifth WTA title.
Afternoon showers pushed the start of play back a couple of hours, at one point even raising the possibility of a Monday final. When the clouds did eventually clear, Pliskova held her nerve to triumph 7-6(8), 7-5, in a fraction under two hours.
Just as she had in her quarterfinal victory over Ashleigh Barty, Pliskova was forced to come from set points down in the opening set tie-break, a feat that gave her added satisfaction.
“It feels good to win, especially after all those tie-breaks this week. All of those I was set point down, so I’m really happy that I made it and that I have the trophy in my hands,” Pliskova said. “Today there were parts of the match when I was better and parts when she was.
“I really needed my serve today and some aces got me out of some important moments. She has a great game on grass so I needed to be at my best today to get the win.”
Early on Pliskova threatened to run away with the contest, moving swiftly into a 3-1 lead. However, Riske, who went into the final on a nine-match winning streak having claimed the ITF Circuit title in Eastbourne last week, was never likely to go quietly.
Indeed, after breaking back in the sixth game she looked the more likely winner of the opening set, carving out three sets points at 4-5, then another three during a dramatic tie-break. The second set was equally frustrating for the American, who served for it at 5-4, only to see Pliskova reel off the final three games, completing her Houdini-esque escape with a wonderful crosscourt pass.
Not many better ways to seal a title! @KaPliskova hits a stunning pass to seal the #AegonOpen Nottingham title!https://t.co/ONEAghEKvq
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) 12 June 2016
The Czech now makes the short trip west to further fine-tune her Wimbledon preparation at the Aegon Classic Birmingham. “It’s been a great week for me, I really didn’t count on having such early success on the grass so I am feeling good ahead of Wimbledon,” she added.
“I am just happy with the matches I have played, I have got some hours on the grass now and I can go to Birmingham and even if I don’t do anything there I have some matches under my belt ahead of Wimbledon.”
In the doubles final Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai got the better of No.4 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Yang Zhaoxuan, 7-5, 3-6, 10-7.
Olga Govortsova knocked out former champion Vitalia Diatchenko to secure the first semifinal spot at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger.
MALLORCA, Spain – Right before they’re set to shine at the inaugural Mallorca Open – an brand new International-level grass event that kicked off this week in beautiful Santa Ponsa, Mallorca – some of the WTA’s biggest stars shined at the official player party held earlier this week.
Garbiñe Muguruza, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchard, Jelena Jankovic and more all stepped out for the sun-soaked celebration.
See all of the best player party pictures right here on wtatennis.com, courtesy of the Mallorca Open:
