"I'm Up For The Challenge!" Venus On Australian Open Final
Venus Williams never thinks the next tournament might be her last…
Venus Williams never thinks the next tournament might be her last…
A preview of the 2017 Australian Open final between Serena and Venus Williams.
Before the start of the Taiwan Open – which kicks off right on Lunar New Year – players got a chance to celebrate at WTA Taiwan Welcome Party!
Elina Svitolina, Lucie Safarova and Jelena Jankovic were some of the stars of the night.
Some of Asia’s biggest names in tennis were in attendance too, including last year’s finalist Misaki Doi of Japan and last year’s doubles champions, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan.
Keeping with the theme of tennis and Taiwanese culture, many of the desserts were local favorites with a tennis twist.
Looks tasty!
The Ws paid homage to the W Hotel in Taipei City, which was the party’s venue.
A master chef was on hand to instruct Francesca Schiavone, Sam Stosur, Hao-Ching, Jung-Jan and Svitolina in making Chinese dumplings – which are very popular in Taiwan during the Lunar New Year.
Also as a part of the holiday, each player was given a red envelope. It’s local tradition to put money in red envelopes and give them away to people, which brings good luck and fortune.
Serena Williams leads the field on the Road to Singapore leaderboard after her 23rd Grand Slam triumph; who else features in the Top 8 after the Australian Open?
Roberta Vinci has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Get to know the people who are the driving force behind the WTA tour: Behind The Tour brings you our transport team.
Elina Svitolina has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Taiwan Open.
STRASBOURG, France – Kristina Mladenovic withstood a spirited comeback from Alison Riske to take her place in the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Watch live action from Strasbourg this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Leading 5-1 in the final set, Mladenovic appeared to be coasting towards victory. However, Riske had no intention of going quietly, saving four match points to draw level at 5-5.
As the tension ratcheted up inside the stadium, the Frenchwoman drew courage from a vocal crowd, stopping the rot to reach the sanctuary of a tie-break. In a dramatic finale, Riske fended off a further two match points, before Mladenovic belatedly closed out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory with an ace out wide.
“Physically it was tough out there today. Long, tight rallies. A lot of mistakes from me,” Mladenovic said. “The crowd were the difference. There was suspense – at 5-1 I think we thought it was done but she fought back to get the tie-break.
“She saved a lot of match points but I’m just happy I could get the win today. I took the tie-break point by point, calmed things down. That was the key.”
Mladenovic, the No.4 seed, is hoping for an easier outing when she takes on occasional doubles rival Alla Kudryavtseva on Thursday.
“She plays doubles like me a lot which should be interesting. It will be a tough match but hopefully without the drama of today,” Mladenovic added.
Joining Mladenovic in the last eight will be wildcard Pauline Parmentier, after she held her nerve to knock out No.2 seed Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, in the day’s final match.
Advancing in more straightforward fashion was No.7 seed Elena Vesnina, who won 6-4, 7-5 against Kateryna Bondarenko. No.8 seed Timea Babos, meanwhile, slipped to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
Elena Vesnina had Wednesday’s shot of the day at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
PARIS, France – Just as Sania Mirza begins her quest for the “Santina Slam” alongside fellow Co-No.1 Martina Hingis at the French Open, the most influential woman in Indian tennis will be featured in a profile as part of the Sports Insider series on Eurosport.
“Sports Insider: Sania Mirza Superstar” is a 24-minute long documentary following Mirza through the first half of the 2016 season, playing at the Miami Open and Mutua Madrid Open with Hingis, and returning home to India. The short film will premiere on Eurosport Friday, May 20th at 11:00 AM CET, just before the French Open Draw Ceremony.
“To dream of becoming a professional tennis player, being a girl from that side of the world, we were fighting one billion odds, because it had never happened before!” Mirza says in a teaser.
Check out the teaser and stills from the documentary here on wtatennis.com!
Photos courtesy of Eurosport.