Taiwan: Samantha Stosur's Shot Of The Day
Sam Stosur was impressive in Taipei City – check out her shot of the day as she moved into the quarterfinals at the expense of Dalila Jakupovic.
Sam Stosur was impressive in Taipei City – check out her shot of the day as she moved into the quarterfinals at the expense of Dalila Jakupovic.
Despite the degrees of separation, Elena Vesnina proved most prescient prior to the Wimbledon fortnight when expecting a boost in form thanks to Ivan Lendl.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Yulia Putintseva made another thrilling comeback at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, shocking BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion and No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Kazakh’s first Top 5 win helps reach her first WTA final where she’ll face Kristina Mladenovic, who also triumphed in three sets against Russia’s Natalia Vikhlyantseva, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
“It’s unbelievable,” Putintseva said after the match. “I’m very happy that the crowd was behind me this time around. Yesterday they supported more Svetlana and today they cheered for me. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
Putintseva was playing her first Premier-level semifinal and coming off her third career Top 10 win over No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, giving the more experienced Cibulkova the upper hand from the start. The Slovak worked through a few tense opening games to edge ahead by a break and take the opening set with the help of nine winners.
A well-executed drop shot by @PutintsevaYulia! ? pic.twitter.com/dJmVkAx15E
— WTA (@WTA) February 4, 2017
Cibulkova fell behind a break to start the second, but after winning three straight games to level the set, a first final of 2017, a career-high ranking of No.4, and a 399th career win all appeared on the cards for the reigning WTA Finals champion.
But the unseeded 22-year-old had other ideas, holding and breaking serve in quick succession to level the match, cleaning up her side of the stat sheet with 12 winners to only eight unforced errors; Cibulkova maintained an almost exact inverse, hitting eight winners to 13 errors.
.@PutintsevaYulia is pumped ? ? pic.twitter.com/W6ZBkZdqVB
— WTA (@WTA) February 4, 2017
The final set was reminiscent of Friday’s quarterfinal between Putintseva and Kuznetsova, as the World No.5 twice led by a break, getting within two points of a 5-3 lead.
“I never give up and always try to dictate my game no matter what. And this is what I was trying to do throughout this match.
But Putintseva continued to play her best tennis when her back was up against the wall, winning four straight games to book her first-ever WTA final in two hours and 19 minutes.
First #WTA Premier Final!
Knocks out Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/1qCILGIjIG
— WTA (@WTA) February 4, 2017
By match’s end, it was clear that consistency had gotten the job done for Putintseva, who matched Cibulkova in winners (27 each), but hit 11 fewer errors (43 to 32).
“It’s my first WTA final, but actually I don’t feel any pressure here. I am enjoying every moment I spend on the court.”
Waiting for her in the championship match will be Mladenovic, herself enjoying a career-best run that began with an emphatic win over Australian Open runner-up Venus Williams. The Frenchwoman back up the upset by dethroning defending champion Roberta Vinci and remained composed after losing the first set to Vikhlyantseva, a rising Russian set to make her Top 100 debut after reaching her first semifinal at a WTA Premier event.
“She’s really powerful, and all credit to her in the first set,” Mladenovic said after the match. “I was like, ‘Geez, this is going very fast.’ She was playing very heavy with her groundstrokes, and hitting a lot of winners.
“I just dug really deep and I was trying to stay positive. I said to myself that if she managed to maintain this high energy and intensity for the whole match, good job. But I’m very happy to have stayed in the match long enough to turn it around.”
Superb slice by @KiKiMladenovic! ? pic.twitter.com/pgmFWGqdDx
— WTA (@WTA) February 4, 2017
An unfamiliar opponent to many, Vikhlyantseva had previously pushed Mladenovic to three sets in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last summer, helping the unseeded Frenchwoman prepare for what became a three set battle.
“I think it was a very good match, high intensity from both of us. I think the difference today was my ability to maintain that intensity from first point to last. I felt that way mentally the whole match, but I could sense her start to drop her level physically, be it with footwork, and the legs. She became less precise, and because she takes so many risks from the baseline, she started to make more unforced errors.
.@KikiMladenovic advances to @Formula_TX Final!
Makes 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback win over Vikhlyantseva! pic.twitter.com/uvDMsiXKr8
— WTA (@WTA) February 4, 2017
Mladenovic and Putintseva have played four times before, splitting their head-to-head at two wins apiece; Putintseva won their most recent meeting last year at the BNP Paribas Open in straight sets.
“She’s in great form, playing really well. She’s a big fighter, who runs down a lot of balls. I’ll have to keep playing the same way I have all week, being aggressive, coming forward, and trying to dictate play with my forehand. I’ll try to find angles and try to find my game towards the net.”
“I feel well, I feel fresh. I think that's a big improvement on my side.” -@KiKiMladenovic pic.twitter.com/bmxzehRxoV
— WTA (@WTA) February 4, 2017
St. Petersburg champ Kristina Mladenovic is within striking distance of the Top 30 while Russian teenager Natalia Vikhlyantseva made her Top 100 debut; who else moved up the WTA rankings?
Kristina Mladenovic talks about the significance of winning the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Kristina Mladenovic talks through her win in the final of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
TALLINN, Estonia: Heather Watson soared to a straight-sets win to give Great Britain the best possible start in the Fed Cup opener against Portugal.
Under the watchful eye of new captain Anne Keothavong, Watson made an impressive start to her country’s campaign, beating Ines Murta 6-1, 6-1.
? Boom! @HeatherWatson92 gives Aegon GB @FedCup Team a 1-0 lead after beating Murta 6-1, 6-1 #BackTheBrits ??? pic.twitter.com/L3nkghe6QZ
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) February 8, 2017
The 2016 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion then assumed her role as “chief supporter”, ready to cheer on her teammates – first Johanna Konta in the singles, then Jocelyn Rae and Laura Robson in the doubles. “I’ll get the pom-poms, and the tambourines!” she joked.
A smiling @HeatherWatson92 ready to cheer on @JossRae91 & @laurarobson5 in the doubles! #BackTheBrits ?????? pic.twitter.com/zl53deFe9G
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) February 8, 2017
Her cheerleading obviously worked – Konta cruised through her singles rubber 6-2, 6-4 against Michelle Larcher de Brito, giving Great Britain an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was good preparation for the British No.1, who will be seen in WTA Tour action next in Dubai from February 19.
LONDON, Great Britain – Just hours after winning her seventh Wimbledon crown and a historic 22nd major title, Serena Williams was back on Centre Court to join Venus Williams in the final of Ladies Doubles. The sisters extended their doubles dominance and improved their record to 14-0 in Grand Slam finals by taking the title, powering past Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4.
“It was really special to be out there again, to win Wimbledon in doubles. We love it, we love playing doubles, we love being together,” Serena said after the match.
“I had just enough time to change and get the ankles re-taped. It was fine. I didn’t want to warm down.”
It had been four years since the Williams sisters featured in a major doubles final – their victory at the 2012 Wimbledon Ladies Doubles Championships was the last time they reached this stage. With today’s victory they hold 14 Grand Slam titles together, putting them at second place on the list of most doubles titles in the Open Era. Only Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver have more, at 20 titles.
“Watching Serena playing earlier was amazing and I was so into that,” Venus said of her younger sister’s historic win earlier in the day.
“We had to hit the reset button to get ready for the doubles. She brought the energy from game one.”
The sisters came out firing straight away against the No.5 seeds Babos and Shvedova. After trading breaks early on, the Williamses grabbed the decisive break at 4-3 after a vicious Venus crosscourt backhand split the court and left Babos and Shvedova stranded.
Despite firing off a double fault while serving for the match, Venus quickly redeemed herself on the next point as Serena picked off a backhand volley to seal the title.
The Williamses joined up again for doubles for the first time this year at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with an eye on the Summer Games in Rio later in the season. After a pair of false starts – a first-round loss in Rome and an early exit at the French Open – they look to be peaking just in time for the Olympics, where they’re seeking their fourth doubles gold medal.
#SAPStatOfTheDay: This is the fourth time @SerenaWilliams has won BOTH #Wimbledon singles and doubles titles! pic.twitter.com/GZLHjzLMIa
— WTA (@WTA) July 9, 2016
LONDON, Great Britain – Serena Williams wasn’t sure how she found herself at the net on match point. At least not for as long as she did. But as was the case at the Australian Open, Angelique Kerber dug in and made her hit that extra shot, poking, prodding, and counterpunching as we’e seen the German do so well. Kerber was not going to give it away. Serena had to earn it. And as she finally put away the last ball with a casual forehand volley into the open court, the 34-year-old American fell to the turn and laid still.
Finally. No.22. Finally.
“On match point I hit a great shot and she got it back and I was like, ‘How appropriate that I have to win this at the net because I’m never at the net,” Serena told ESPN after the match with a laugh.
For nearly a year, Serena’s path to her Open Era record-tying 22nd major was paved with crushing disappointment. Her nervous, three-set loss to Roberta Vinci at the 2015 US Open was, in her own words, heartbreaking. What should have been the Summer of Serena – a coronation of her greatness looked sure to come at the US Open with the completion of the Calendar Slam – ended with a shock loss. She took the rest of the season off and returned at the Australian Open in January, again in search of No.22. Again she came up short, as Kerber blocked her way with brick-wall defense.
The big-match losses continued. Victoria Azarenka beat her in the final of the BNP Paribas Open. Then came a loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Miami Open. When she earned her first title of the season at the Italian Open in Rome, she looked back to her dominant ways. Then came a one-way loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in the French Open final.
“I have definitely had some sleepless nights, if I’m just honest, with a lot of stuff,” Serena said. “Coming so close. Feeling it, not being able to quite get there.”
And then things changed. Serena willed the change. She woke up one morning after the French Open and decided to stop feeling sorry for herself. She would not allow herself to be the victim of some universal conspiracy to keep her off the podium. She was the architect of her own destiny. And in that moment, the Serena Williams took back the reigns.
“One day I woke and I felt different,” Serena told a small pool of reporters after the final. “I felt I can do better. I can do this. Not only can I do this but I’m going to do this and there’s nothing in this world that’s going to stop me.”
The change in mentality showed both on and off the court. I wrote last week about the clear change in how Serena spoke about herself throughout the fortnight. That was based on just my observation. I put that theory to Serena after the final. She agreed.
Q: One thing that I’ve noticed with you in the press room here and off the court as well is there does seem to be a re-embracing of “I’m Serena. I’ve done what I’ve done.” How far away did you think that you got from that last year? I feel like you were trying to diffuse the pressure a little bit of the run up to New York, saying “I’m just doing my best, that’s all I can do.” But it seems like you kind of recaptured yourself here.
A: Yeah, I definitely think so. I feel like… God, get it, girl [laughs]. Wow. Yes. Very well said.
While she was dishing out bagels on court, reminding her opponents and anyone watching this was a focused, determined, positive Serena, off-court she took every opportunity to remind reporters that her last three Slam losses did not change her character as a champion. At times it felt like it was just as important to say it out loud to herself as it was for the press to hear.
“I definitely feel like when I lose I don’t feel as good about myself. But then I have to remind myself that you are Serena Williams. Do you know what you’ve done, who you are, what you continue to do not only in tennis, off the court? You’re awesome. I think that shows the human side of me, that I’m not a robot. I only expect perfection.”
For the first time since 2006, we saw a rematch of a Grand Slam final in the same season. Kerber flummoxed Serena with her defense at the Australian Open and there is no denying that Serena was unsettled throughout the match with nerves. On Saturday, Serena controlled those nerves. In fact, she controlled everything. On the surface that rewards her game like no other, she served 13 aces, one of which wiped out the only break point she faced all day. She fired 39 winners to 21 unforced errors on a day when Kerber forced her to earn every inch.
“Serena was serving unbelievable today,” Kerber said afterwards. “At the end I was trying everything, but she deserved it today. She really played an unbelievable match. I think we both play on a really high level. I tried everything.
“I mean, I think I was not the one who lost the match, I think she won the match. Just one can win, and today Serena deserved it.”
On a day when Kerber hit just nine unforced errors in the match, Serena had to win it. And on this day, instead of throwing her hands up to the heavens asking how Kerber could get that one ball back every time, she simply gripped her racquet tighter and took control.
“We had a lot of long, tough points,” Serena said. “I think every single point I worked for, and nothing was given to me.”
That sums up much of Serena Williams’ career. With her seventh Wimbledon title she is now tied with Stefanie Graf for the Open Era record in major titles. She now just two wins short of Martina Navratilova’s Open Era record of Slam wins. She has won more matches at Wimbledon than any other active player. On Monday she will remain No.1, the oldest woman to hold the top ranking, for her 301st week.
After the match the BBC ran a montage of Serena’s march to No.22, narrated by Serena herself reading Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise.” It was a moving montage of all her trials and tribulations over the last 12 months.
“I knew Maya when she was around,” Serena told a pool of reporters. “I used to go hang out with her. She was someone I really admired and I think her work should always live on.
“It’s an extremely powerful poem to me and it meant a lot to me last year. It’s one of my favorite poems of hers and I think it’s so powerful. The words are so strong and so encouraging. And I think it describes me. I really do.
“One of the most powerful lines that I like is when she says don’t get me twisted with your bitter twisted lies. Were you happy to see me down, were you sad when I fell down? And then one of my favorite parts is ‘I’m the hope and the dream of a slave.’
“So those really, really resonate with me because that’s what my ancestors were. I’m the product of that. If you break down those words, it was a dream probably for my ancestors to be here and to see what they, because of their perseverance, were able to let me have this opportunity. It’s so touching and it’s so amazing that because of that I do have that opportunity.”
We may never know the true depth of the emotional impact this last year – or really these last 20 years – has had on her personally. But her internalization of the words and the message, one of hope, of overcoming, of being judged and misunderstood, of celebrating her black history while defying it, speaks volumes of where she’s been and how she tapped into that inner strength to get back to where she wants to be.
Earlier in the week, a reporter asked what it feels like to go down as one of the greatest female athletes of all time. Serena did not blink. She did not hesitate.
“I prefer the word ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time’.”
Rise up. Serena is back.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Shelby Rogers put a lyrical twist into the traditional Fed Cup rookie speech by performing her own version of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.