Tennis News

Last summer in Washington DC, Sloane Stephens finally delivered on her boundless potential, lifting her maiden WTA title – and the monkey from her back. Intent on making up for lost time, the young American’s mantelpiece is starting to get rather crowded.

After beating Elena Vesnina in the final of the Volvo Car Open, Stephens now has three titles to her name in 2013 alone. The silverware collected in Auckland, Acapulco and Charleston has taken Stephens to the brink of a return to the Top 20.

The 23-year-old’s success in Charleston led to a jump from No.25 to No.21 in the rankings – her highest position since the summer of 2014. And with relatively few points to defend in the build-up to the French Open she has a good opportunity to improve upon her previous best raking of No.11. 

If she is rise further still, the next challenge is replicating this Charleston form at the majors. During Stephens’ initial breakthrough on tour, she suffered from the opposite problem – in 2014 she reached the fourth round or better at all four Grand Slams, only to flatter to deceive away from the big stage. 

Stephens’ victim in the final, Vesnina, is no stranger to major success, lifting the French and US Opens in doubles. Despite turning 30 later this year, the Russian has no intention of becoming a doubles specialist, something she proved with wins over Belinda Bencic and Sara Errani this past week.

This run resulted in a rankings jump from No.85 to No.51. Throw in her impressive showings in Doha and Miami, and Vesnina’s ranking has improved over 60 places this year.

Vesnina, though, is not the only player on the charge:

Dominika Cibulkova (+15, No.53 to No.38): Dominika Cibulkova has had a number of false dawns since returning from a serious Achilles injury last year. In Katowice, she finally made her big statement. After a first-round scare against Carina Witthoeft, the Slovak improved with each match, outplaying Camila Giorgi in the final to lift her first title since 2014.

Yulia Putintseva (+8 No.61 to No.53): Yulia Putintseva learnt her trade at Moscow’s legendary Spartak club, and she now looks ready to follow in the footsteps of her fellow alumni, such as Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina. Wins over Venus Williams and Sabine Lisicki helped the Kazakhstani to the quarterfinals, the 100 points picked up in Charleston also takes her to a career-high No.53 in the rankings.

Francesca Schiavone (+11, No.101 to No.90): One of Cibulkova’s victims, Francesca Schiavone, played some typically imaginative tennis to win a couple of rounds and continue the momentum heading into the clay court season.

Pauline Parmentier (+12, No.113 to No.101): While Parmentier was unable to maintain her electric start to defeat Cibulkova in the Katowice semifinals, victories over Magda Linette, Naomi Broady and defending champion Anna Karolina Schmiedlova ensured the tournament remained a highly encouraging one. She is now within touching distance of the Top 100 for the first time since last May.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – After a rainy day in Bogota, defending champion and No.2 seed Teliana Pereira fell to Argentine qualifier Catalina Pella 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in the first round of the Claro Open Colsanitas.

Pereira, who became the first Brazilian to win a WTA title in 27 years when she won her first singles title here in 2015, seemed primed to make another deep run when she quickly took the first set off her 23-year-old opponent. But a three-hour rain delay halted the match just as Pella won the second set, breaking up Pereira’s rhythm and allowing Pella the time to find her nerve.

“I was so, so, nervous,” Pella said after the match. “It was really tough also because she has a lot of experience – I don’t.”

After coming back from the delay at 2-1, 40-40 in the final set, Pella’s inexperience showed as she hit a double fault to give Pereira a break opportunity, which the Brazilian took handily. Pella later squandered another lead – this time at 5-3.

“I felt totally paralyzed,” Pella said. “My mind was telling me that I should do the same, stay the same, but my legs and my body were empty. I was just too nervous.”

Despite her lack of experience on the big stage, No.274-ranked Pella kept her cool when it mattered most, dominating Pereira in the tiebreak and ousting the defending champion in two hours and twenty minutes.

The rest of the seeds in action advanced to the next round: No.5 Irina Falconi, No.6 Tatjana Maria and No.8 Anna Tatishvilli eased past their first round opponents in straight sets.

However, the extended rain delay left several matches rescheduled, including the struggle between No.1 seed Elina Svitolina and Alexandra Panova. After dropping the first set to the Russian 7-5, Svitolina came roaring back in the second. She looked set to stage her comeback, rolling to a 5-1 lead, when the rain halted play.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Caroline Wozniacki continued her confident start to the new season by breezing past Varvara Lepchenko and into the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic.

With the dust still settling from the exits of both Williams sisters from the tournament, No.3 seed Wozniacki made light work of the gusty conditions to wrap up a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

“It was a bit of a different match, a little bit tougher conditions today. But I was happy with the way I managed to keep cool and deal with her tricky lefty serves – I was pleased with it.”

Venus Williams’ withdrawal ahead of her second-round match resulted in Wozniacki taking court a little earlier than expected, but she took the change of schedule in her stride, finishing both sets strongly to wrap up victory after an hour and 18 minutes.

.@CaroWozniacki is serving for a place in the @ASB_Classic quarterfinals – and it's no surprise when she's playing like this! pic.twitter.com/WTHph6pF3v

— WTA (@WTA) January 4, 2017

“I was in my room and I got a text asking where I was, and I was like, what do you mean? Then I found out Venus was pulling out and I needed to play a little earlier and started to stress out because I wasn’t ready.”

The former World No.1 will now play Julia Goerges, against whom she has a mixed record, winning four of their eight encounters, including two years ago in Auckland. “She’s a tough opponent, a tough match-up for me,” Wozniacki added. “But I’m excited for it, it’s going to be a good challenge. I’ve played her here before and done well, so I’m hoping I can play another good match and win.”

Goerges booked her spot by prevailing over Naomi Broady, 7-5, 6-4, in the battle of the big servers. Also advancing were Barbora Strycova, who edged past Lucie Safarova, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4), and Jelena Ostapenko, a 6-2, 7-6(3) winner over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.