Tennis News

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Sunday saw the identity of the first four quarterfinalists at this year’s US Open revealed. Among their number is the evergreen Roberta Vinci, her victory over Lesia Tsurenko ensuring Italy has a representative at this stage for the ninth year in succession.

Joining the WTA Insider team on the latest podcast is Italian journalist Luca Baldissera to discuss his compatriot’s chances against World No.2 Angelique Kerber in the last eight.

In the latest Daily Dispatch hear from Anastasija Sevastova’s entertaining and insightful press conference, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova and a preview of the remaining fourth-round clashes:

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NEW YORK, NY, USA – Caroline Wozniacki’s fairytale in New York continued with a 6-0, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Anastasija Sevastova at the US Open.

“It feels great,” she told press when asked about returning to the semifinals. “It’s a tournament that I love. I love being here. I love playing in this incredible stadium.”

Wozniacki had spent most of the spring struggling with an ankle injury that ruled her out of the clay court season, but it was Sevastova who had her own ankle issues on Tuesday night. Rolling it just two games into the match, the Latvian stuggled to win games after getting injured.

“For sure it was affecting my play, but I’m not a person that likes to retire during a match, so I just tried my best,” Sevastova said after the match.

“But the movement was different. It was harder to move. And also on serve it was harder to get out of the serve.”

Sevastova managed to get on the board late in the second set, forcing the Dane to serve out her first Grand Slam semifinal in exactly two years.

“I think I was just extra focused, because I saw her fall in that second game,” Wozniacki said. “She stood up, and I knew if she can still walk and still put weight on it and stuff then she’s going to go obviously more for her shots and stuff like that.

“But I thought, cool. I kept serving well and made her run. I’m pleased with how I managed to keep composed.”

“I'm going to make the most of the opportunity that I get here.” – @CaroWozniacki #usopen https://t.co/j7vdaqWiYu pic.twitter.com/Qbv3iENCTO

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2016

Starting the tournament down at No.74, Wozniacki has looked stronger with each performance, taking out two Top 10 players in Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys, and will face an old foe in No.2 seed Angelique Kerber, who is aiming to earn the No.1 ranking Wozniacki herself held for 67 weeks.

“I think when you’re a little kid and you don’t know what anything really means, everybody knows what it means to be the best in the world and everybody knows what it means to be No. 1.

“Obviously being No. 1 in the world is extremely special, and I’m sure Angie is feeling it, too. I’m sure that she is going to do everything to get that ranking. She’s been playing really well this year.

“It’s something that very few people in the world has ever achieved. I mean, how crazy is it to say that you’re the best in the world at something? Doesn’t matter if tennis, football, being a lawyer, whatever it is. It’s really special.

“Right now, for me, being 70-something, it doesn’t really mean much to me. I still believe and feel like I’m one of the top players and grinding my way back, so that’s why I’m saying for me the ranking is just a number right now, because I’m not No. 1 and there is a long way for me right now to get back to No. 1.

“But I’m doing my best to just play my best tennis and have fun with it. It’s really all that I can do right now.”

Kerber advanced earlier in the day after a tricky opening set against 2015 finalist Roberta Vinci, winning, 7-5, 6-0, to reach her second career US Open semifinal.

“I have seen the results and she’s been doing great. I’m really happy for her. She’s a hard worker.

“But to be honest, when I was injured I didn’t watch one match. I don’t know. I have to watch tapes. Obviously I have had tough matches against her in the past. She’s a great competitor. She looks fit, so it’s going to be a tough one.”

A great tournament for #Sevastova ends at the hands of @CaroWozniacki. 6-0 6-2. Onto the Semis! #usopen @chase https://t.co/5or0rih41f

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2016

Last summer, Johanna Konta embarked on a 16-match winning run, which began at a lowly ITF Circuit event in Granby, Canada, and ended in last 16 of the US Open.

This proved to be the catalyst for a rapid ascent up the tennis ladder, a maiden WTA title, in Stanford, and deep runs at the Australian Open, Beijing, Montréal, Eastbourne, Miami and Zhuhai securing Konta a year-end ranking inside the Top 10 – the first Briton to achieve the feat since Jo Durie in 1983.

It is a list of accomplishments that saw Konta deservedly pick up the WTA’s Most Improved Player Of The Year award. The 25-year-old, however, is no overnight success story.

“On paper I suppose it looks a lot different to how I experienced it, how my team experienced it; only because, although it may seem like a sudden rise, it was a lot of years of work put in. Years and years and years!” Konta told BT Sport’s David Law during her final event of the year, in Zhuhai. “So really I didn’t live through it as such a dramatic change.”

Watch the full interview above to hear Konta discuss her remarkable journey and what the future may hold in store.

NEW YORK, NY, USA – There is little doubt that in New York Caroline Wozniacki has found a home away from home.

Born in Denmark to Polish parents, like all players, Wozniacki’s professional calling has left little time for setting down roots. However, there is something about the Big Apple that the former World No.1 has found very much to her liking.

Professionally, the city has provided plenty of moments to cherish – most notably runs to the US Open final in 2009 and 2014 – while off the court the Dane moves to a New York beat, attending fashion shows, sports events and even running the marathon.

It is no surprise then that this fortnight on the tennis calendar has coincided with Wozniacki’s return to form.

After a campaign hampered by a nagging ankle injury, Wozniacki has provided a timely reminder of her considerable talents; indeed, counterpunching masterclasses against first Svetlana Kuznetsova and then Madison Keys were as impressive as anything produced during her pomp.

Owner of an apartment in downtown Manhattan, Wozniacki, enjoys home comforts not available to most during the tour’s fortnightly visit to Flushing Meadows.

“I just can cook – or I don’t cook, actually; my mom has been cooking,” Wozniacki told the press after a fourth round upset of No.8 seed Madison Keys. “She does my laundry, as well.”

While many of her rivals jet off to sunnier climes to practice between tournaments, Wozniacki is eager to spend as much time in her adopted home as possible – even if it takes her a little off the beaten track.

“We travel so much, so I don’t get to spend as much time here as I want. But when I’m here lately I have been training at the McEnroe Academy on Randall’s Island. Sometimes I go to the Westside Highway; it’s public courts. They usually let me in and let me in and train for as long as I want. I kind of like being there, because I feel like a proper New Yorker.

“I actually haven’t ever waited [for a court] because people have been so sweet that they’ve let me in. But if I had to wait, I would. What can I do? I have to follow the rules, right?”

Her past accomplishments and ties to the city ensure Wozniacki is never left wanting for support. In fact, aided by the sizeable Polish expatriate community, even against American No.3 Keys, Wozniacki was a popular winner. “Well, there are a lot of Polish people living here. Obviously there is a big fan base from Poland here.

“I was born in Denmark and feel Danish, but I have some Polish blood in me. It’s nice I can take the best of both worlds. Also I have a big part of the New York crowd with me. It’s a great combination here.”

A segment of these same fans will be torn, though, when she steps on court for her next match, a semifinal against World No.2 Angelique Kerber. Like Wozniacki, Kerber, whose father is Polish, has close links to the motherland, where she trains and owns a house.

Down the years, the two have engaged in several titanic struggles – Kerber edges the head-to-head, 7-5 – and Wozniacki is expecting more of the same on Thursday. “We are similar in that we are both hard working. I think that, you know, hard work pays off. She’s obviously very passionate. She loves what she’s doing and it shows.

“Obviously I have had tough matches against her in the past. She’s a great competitor. She looks fit, so it’s going to be a tough one.”