Caroline Wozniacki's Best Shots Of The Year
Caroline Wozniacki’s late-season resurgence made headlines during the Asian Swing, but her spectacular shotmaking was on song all season long. Watch all her best shots of 2016!
Caroline Wozniacki’s late-season resurgence made headlines during the Asian Swing, but her spectacular shotmaking was on song all season long. Watch all her best shots of 2016!
NOTTINGHAM, Great Britain – Zheng Saisai had never beaten Johanna Konta in their two previous encounters, but turned around a losing head-to-head to stun the No.2 seed and hometown favorite, 6-4, 7-5, to advance into the quarterfinals of the Aegon Open Nottingham.
Konta last played Zheng in the second round of this year’s Australian Open, where she became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since 1983. Now ranked inside the Top 20 for the first time in decades, the Brit eased out to an early 2-0 lead, only to see her Chinese opposition walk away with six of the next eight games, breaking serve twice to take the opening set in 45 minutes.
The second set was an even more hotly contested affair, one in which Konta again lead by a break at 4-2, getting within six points of a decider. Zheng broke back, however, and served out a titanic final game that forced her to face three break points to earn her spot in the last eight in just over two hours.
Up next for Zheng is either Andrea Hlavackova or Ashleigh Barty, the young Aussie playing in her first WTA tournament since 2014.
More to come…
Two years after stunning World No.1 Serena Williams in the second round of the French Open, Garbiñe Muguruza enjoyed a full circle moment on the terre battue in 2016, defeating Williams once again to capture her maiden major title.
“I’m pretty shocked still,” the Spaniard said in her post-match press conference. “Pretty excited about what just happened. I think I’ve got to take my time and enjoy, because with tennis players it goes so fast.
“You have to right away think about another tournament. I want to enjoy.”
Muguruza was the first Spanish woman to reach the Roland Garros final since 2000 (Conchita Martinez); with her win over Williams, she became the first Spaniard to win a Grand Slam title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1998, and the first two rise into the Top 2 on the WTA rankings since December of 1996.
Racing out to a set and a break advantage, Muguruza had four championship points on Serena’s serve before ultimately serving out the victory one game later.
“It was very difficult to see you have four match points and doesn’t go your way. But it’s a final. There’s no room for being disappointed or for excuses.
“I still had another chance serving, and even after. I just tried to be calm even though inside, I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way.’ I managed to be calm and just think about what I have to do every point, you know, and don’t think about match point or championship point.”
With her first Grand Slam title already under her belt, the 2015 Wimbledon finalist will certainly be one to watch as the tour turns to grass, and as May’s WTA Player Of The Month!
Final Results for May’s WTA Player Of The Month
1. Garbiñe Muguruza (70%)
2. Simona Halep (20%)
3. Serena Williams (10%)
2016 WTA Player of the Month Winners
January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – Britain’s Heather Watson notched her first win in Birmingham in two years, downing Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the second round at the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Watson played a neat and tidy game against the tricky Giorgi, striking 23 winners and seven unforced errors to the Italian’s 24 winners and 29 unforced errors.
The Brit found herself break points down in the second and fifth games of the second set, but rallied each time to come up with a way to stay in it.
“Today, the opponent I played is a real tricky one,” Watson said. “She doesn’t give you any rhythm. She’ll hit a lot of winners, but she’ll make some mistakes as well. So it’s tough.
“I was just really pleased with how positive I was, especially in the second set when I was breakpoints down. I thought those games in the end turned out to be very crucial.”
Her first-round win here overturns a spell of disappointing results at the Aegon Classic Birmingham – she’s bowed out in the first round in her last two appearances.
“I just love it here in Birmingham,” the Brit told the crowd after her match. “I haven’t had the results I’ve wanted here in the past, but I was really motivated this year to do well here because I really do enjoy it.
“I have family who live close by in Coventry, so I really feel like it’s a second home.”
Joining her in the second round is Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. The 18-year-old defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(2) 6-1 earlier in the day.
Watson and Giorgi’s match just barely missed the rain that had been threatening to come down all afternoon, leaving the clashes between Daria Gavrilova versus Naomi Broady and Carla Suárez Navarro versus Elina Svitolina postponed until tomorrow.
December 14, 2016
Spelling challenges, emoji challenges, cracker challenges, selfie challenges and, of course, the WTA Frame Challenge – which video was the best of the year? Click here to vote!
Clay court tennis is commonly associated with drawn-out baseline battles, but at Roland Garros the WTA’s big servers were doing their best to keep these to a minimum.
Unsurprisingly, Serena Williams led the way in terms of both aces and service speed. Her fastest of the fortnight was clocked at 121.8mph – a figure matched by one of the game’s stars in waiting, Naomi Osaka. They were not the only ones notching noteworthy numbers, either; Océane Dodin, Madison Keys and Danka Kovinic all threatening the 120mph mark.
Roland Garros
1. Serena Williams – 121.8mph / 196.0kph
1T. Naomi Osaka – 121.8mph / 196.2kph
3. Océane Dodin – 119.9mph / 193.0kph
4T. Madison Keys – 119.3mph / 192.0kph
4T. Danka Kovinic – 119.3mph / 192.0kph
2016
1. Serena Williams – 127.0mph / 204.4kph (Indian Wells)
2T. Lucie Hradecka – 123.0mph / 197.9kph (Indian Wells)
2T. Venus Williams – 123.0mph / 197.9kph (Miami)
4. Timea Babos – 122.0mph / 196.3kph (Indian Wells)
5. Naomi Osaka – 121.8mph / 196.2kph (Roland Garros)
6. CoCo Vandeweghe – 121.mph / 194.7kph (Indian Wells)
7T. Madison Keys – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Australian Open)
7T. Océane Dodin – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Roland Garros)
7T. Polona Hercog – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Australian Open)
10. Danka Kovinic – 119.3mph / 192.0kph (Roland Garros)
All-Time
1. Sabine Lisicki – 131.0mph / 210.8kph (2014 Stanford)
2. Venus Williams – 129.0mph / 207.6kph (2007 US Open)
3. Serena Williams – 128.6mph / 207.0kph (2013 Australian Open)
4. Julia Goerges – 126.1mph / 203.0kph (2012 French Open)
5. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy – 126.0mph / 202.7kph (2007 Indian Wells)
6. Nadiia Kichenok – 125.5mph / 202.0kph (2014 Australian Open)
7. Lucie Hradecka – 125.0mph / 201.2kph (2015 Wimbledon)
8. Anna-Lena Groenefeld – 125.0mph / 201.1kph (2009 Indian Wells)
9T. Ana Ivanovic – 124.9mph / 201.0kph (2007 French Open)
9T. Denisa Allertova – 124.9mph / 201.0kph (2015 Australian Open)
Elina Svitolina
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.20
Year-End Ranking: No.14 (Career-High No.14, March 7)
Season Highlights: Title at Kuala Lumpur, finals at New Haven & Zhuhai
Best Major Result: QF (French Open)
14 Days until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/DIIg2qWhUX
— WTA (@WTA) 18 de diciembre de 2016
2017 Outlook
Some players adhere to the policy of “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” but Elina Svitolina isn’t one of those people.
After a career-best season – which saw her rise to her highest ranking of No.14, upset two different WTA World No.1s, pocket a title at Kuala Lumpur and reach the finals at New Haven and Zhuhai – the always-improving Svitolina announced a new coaching team with the goal of getting herself past the final hurdles and cementing her spot at the game’s upper echelons.
A busy off-season schedule in 2015 stunted Svitolina’s progress earlier this year, but she learned her lesson and heads into 2017 with a clear objective:
“Of course, the main goal is to be Top 10,” Svitolina told WTA Insider at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “I’ll try to have a normal off-season this time, work really hard physically, and mentally. It’s all about the small details, so I’ll be trying to work on those and make little changes.”
Looking ahead to 2017, Ukraine’s No.1 player will start out the year rested and in prime position to make big gains. With just a handful of points to defend in the first two months of the year, Svitolina looks ever closer to a big leap into the WTA’s highest rankings.
MALLORCA, Spain – Eugenie Bouchard and Jelena Jankovic both overcame sluggish starts to get their Mallorca Open campaigns off to a winning start and advancing to the second round.
Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
The inaugural International event, staged right on the Mediterranean coast in Santa Ponsa, looks just as much like a relaxing getaway as it does a WTA event, and quite the opposite of a typical grass court tournament.
“It’s different, to have a tour spot in a vacation spot here like this,” No.8 seed Bouchard said.
“It’s hot over here, we’re not used to that when we play on grass, it’s usually cold rainy countries so this is a refreshing change.”
Bouchard raced through the opening set against Danka Kovinic, but had trouble keeping up the intensity in the second as the Montenegrin player climbed to a 5-2 lead. Bouchard reeled off the next five straight games to defeat her 6-3, 7-5 and book a spot in the second round.
“I think I played pretty solid,” Bouchard assessed after the match. “On my part I thought I had some big weapons. She had a big serve and can hit big shots so I felt like I stayed with her when I needed to, but I kept fighting even though I was down in that second set.”
No.2 seed Jankovic had a similar struggle against Ana Konjuh, but in reverse: after a tense, lengthy struggle in the first set against the Croatian, Jankovic found her range and snapped up the second set, 7-5, 6-3.
“I had a slow start and my opponent was playing very well,” Jankovic said. “She was hitting strong and I was reacting very slow.
“I wasn’t really able to play my game but slowly, little by little, I started to get in my rhythm. I felt more comfortable on the court and I think she just couldn’t follow.”
While these two seeds advanced, another two went tumbling out as Sabine Lisicki dealt an upset to the No.4 seeded Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4, 6-4, and qualifier Sorana Cirstea knocked out No.5 seed Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2.
What post match cool down looks like in Mallorca ?? pic.twitter.com/CSqKiIYwJI
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) June 14, 2016
Last month, SportsPro unveiled it annual list of the world’s 50 most marketable athletes. Once again, the WTA was well represented with three players making the cut.
French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza led the way, entering the list at No.14 on the back of her recent exploits. Joining her is fellow new entrant Sania Mirza and last year’s No.1 Eugenie Bouchard.
Muguruza first burst onto the scene two years ago when she inflicted a humbling second-round defeat on defending champion Serena Williams at Roland Garros. Since then her star has grown, a Wimbledon final appearance laying the foundations for a brilliant second half of 2015. The 22-year-old hit her first bump in the road at the start of the current season, before a spectacular return culminating in her Paris triumph.
Viewed by many as the sports next big crossover star, Muguruza has seen sponsors come flocking – BBVA Bank, Maui Jim, adidas and Babolat are among her current portfolio – capitalizing on the decade-long quest to find a female icon to join Rafael Nadal atop the pedestal of Spanish tennis.
Life has not been quite so rosy for the new generation’s other great young hope, Eugenie Bouchard. However, following a turbulent 2015 campaign, the green shoots of recovery have begun to sprout.
Success on the court and charisma off it fuelled the Canadian’s initial rise to prominence, and now unburdened by the weight of expectation that hung around her neck for much of 2015, she has begun to climb back up the rankings. The qualities that first attracted Nike, Babolat, Coca-Cola and others remain, and her reunion with childhood mentor Nick Saviano is sure to hasten her return to tennis’ top table.
Mirza, on the other hand, has had no shortage of success over the past 12 months, her all-conquering partnership with Martina Hingis – the duo have won three of the past four Grand Slams – thrusting her back into the spotlight.
A superstar in her homeland for the best part of a decade, the Indian, whose contracts include adidas, Sahara India and Tata Tea, is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and was flagbearer at the 2012 Olympics.
Since SportsPro released its inaugural list in 2010, WTA players have been near ever-presents at the top of the pile, Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens all featuring down the years.
Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching took to the culture heart of Singapore during the WTA Finals, even attempting to create traditional dress worn throughout Southeast Asia.