Cincinnati: Halep Interview
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
MONETERREY, Mexico – As a part of the WTA Charities initiative, Americans Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey spent Tuesday morning in Monterrey with a group of athletes that are part of the Special Needs Athletes Association of Nuevo Leon, alongside Mexican businessman Carlos Bremer.
Weinhold and Whoriskey helped the athletes paste small scraps of tissue paper on a banner filling the Abierto GNP Seguros logo with bright colors, and the morning ended with everyone enjoying some tasty tacos.
“I want to congratulate the organizers of this event, it has continuously been gaining strength every year,” Bremer said about the WTA event. “I think everyone should support these big events that come to Monterrey and to Mexico.”
Catch a glimpse of the visit and the finished product, courtesy of Abierto GNP Seguros:
WTA Charities is the WTA’s global philanthropic organization dedicated to making a positive impact across the globe. Our mission is to be a social responsibility vehicle built on the WTA’s values to empower and provide for a better future. We’re dedicated to combining, strengthening and enhancing the community and charitable efforts of the WTA through its members (players, alumnae and tournaments), along with our partners.
Click here to see more WTA Charities activities!
Ana Ivanovic had Wednesday’s shot of the day at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Petra Kvitova paid a visit to the WTA Media TV truck to learn about everything that goes into producing a tennis match. Ride along right here at wtatennis.com.
Daria Kasatkina came back from a set down against the tricky Laura Siegemund to move into the first WTA singles final of her career at the Volvo Car Open.
Top-ranked doubles team and WTA co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza brought their 36-match winning streak to the St. Petersburg Ladies Tophy, adding to their total with a first round win over Jelena Ostapenko and Evgeniya Rodina, 7-5, 7-5.
“We didn’t know how to play them that well in the beginning,” Hingis said in their post-match press conference. “We lost an opportunity at 3-2, 40-0 to go up and close out the match, and they came back to play a couple of really good games – especially Ostapenko, who hit some really great shots.
“I think it was great experience for them to play a match like that, and also for us to get into the tournament. I’m definitely happy we didn’t have to play a deciding set. It’s always nice to close out in straight sets; it makes us that much stronger.”
Hingis and Mirza haven’t lost a match since last August at the Western & Southern Opent, their now-37-match winning streak having taken them to titles at the US Open, BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and the Australian Open – with only the French Open standing between them and a possible “Santina Slam.”
“The streak that we’re on is amazing,” Mirza said. “To be honest, we knew we could play good, but not this good. We’re surprising ourselves as well, and we just want to keep going.
Asked about the media’s fascination with their streak, the longest since Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 straight matches in 1990, Mirza didn’t mince words.
“We’re counting, also.”
“Yes, we are,” Hingis added.
For Hingis, the partnership with Mirza marks her second to truly capture the imagination of the tennis world, the first being her late-90s domination with Russia’s own Anna Kournikova – still a popular topic in the St. Petersburg press room.
“She was a great player, a team player, and we had great times for those two years,” Hingis said, speaking about their two Australian Open victories in 1999 and 2002.
“She kind of was the one who started this Russian Armada – or Russian generation – along with Elena Likhovtseva. She was definitely the one who you could aim for and be like, go around the world and live the ‘Russian-American dream.’ I loved playing with her.
“We stay in touch, especially during the Miami event; we always try to see each other. I follow what she’s doing; she follows me.”
Mirza too fondly remembers the ‘Spice Girls’ of the women’s doubles circuit.
“At that time I think TV was not as evolved as it is today, combined with the computer, so it was not so easy to get to see matches all the time. But everybody knew Martina Hingis, everybody knew Anna Kournikova, and everybody knew that this partnership was winning a lot, and probably was one of the best doubles teams to play.
“She’s not that much older than me,” she added with a laugh. “Only five years; it’s just that she’s been around for such a long time!”
Another partnership Hingis looks forward to exploring involves fellow Swiss Roger Federer, who agreed to play mixed doubles with her at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“I waited 10 months, and maybe after winning a lot with Sania, and becoming No.1 again and winning three mixed titles, I was hoping that would be persuasion enough to partner up.”
‘SanTina’ next face an all-Russian pair for a spot in the quarterfinals and Win number 38: rising Russian star Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina, Mirza’s former doubles partner.
“We played together for a long time; she’s a very good friend of mine, and we’ve known each other since we were 13 years old.
“I have a feeling that the crowd will be behind them because she’s quite popular here, but hopefully there will be some people supporting us.”
Asked if they foresaw their partnership transcending to other endeavors, Hingis said they planned to let their racquets do the talking.
“We’ll stick to tennis; that’s what we do best.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Simona Halep takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Ana Ivanovic moved confidently in the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over qualifier Kateryna Kozlova.
Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
In her opening round match Ivanovic took a while to get into her groove, but against Kozlova she hit the ground running, reeling off five straight games to pocket the opening set in 23 minutes. Kozlova, who was appearing the quarterfinals of a Premier event for the first time, gave a better account of herself in the second, battling back from 5-3 down before eventually succumbing.
Meeting Ivanovic for a place in the final will be another of the draw’s more established names, Roberta Vinci. And Vinci needed to draw on all her experience to see off Timea Babos in an absorbing encounter, 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4).
Babos was in command for much of the final set – leading 5-3 and then 4-2 in the tie-break – but was unable to find the decisive blow. The decisive moment came in the 10th point of the tie-break when Vinci skipped around a second serve only to flash a forehand fractionally wide.
The Hungarian’s relief was short-lived, though, Hawk-Eye adjudging the ball to have clipped the outer edge of the sideline. This successful challenge took the No.2 seed to match point, which she converted when Babos sent a weary forehand sailing beyond the baseline.
“It was a long match, a tough match. Timea has a great serve – always 190km/h. Tough for me to return,” Vinci said. “I was 5-3 down at the end, but I stayed focused and won a great match today.
“In those moments you have to stay positive and don’t think about the score. In the end she was probably a little bit nervous, and a little bit tight, she missed some easy balls and I won.”
Vinci has lost six of her previous nine meetings with Ivanovic, although the two have not crossed paths for a couple of years.
“Ana is a great player. Of course it will be a difficult match. But I’m in the semifinals, nothing to lose, just enjoy! I will try my best – I need to be aggressive every single point. We will see.”
Friday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Kristyna Pliskova continued her steady climb up the rankings as she scored the first big upset of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne, knocking out No.4 seed Roberta Vinci, 6-4, 6-4 to advance into the second round.
“I’m happy I’m back indoors, because my serve works even better here than outside,” she said after the match. “I think this match was pretty solid from my side; I faced just one break point, which is kind of good. She’s not in her best form, so that helped me get it done in two sets.”
Pliskova recovered from a set down to defeat Vinci at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships just two months ago, but was far more decisive on Monday, striking 10 aces and getting a crucial break in each set to seal the win in one hour and 13 minutes.
What. A. Shot.@KrisPliskova gets the early break in the second set! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/zhMPSGtdTS
— WTA (@WTA) April 10, 2017
“I learned a lot from our match in Dubai, and even more from the time before I’d played her and I’d lost like 6-1, 6-1 five years ago. I knew her slice is brilliant. She proved that again, but I learned a lot from both matches.”
Up next for Pliskova is either Donna Vekic or Sorana Cirstea; with her quick serve and fearsome groundstrokes, the unseeded Czech youngster will certainly be one to watch in the indoor courts of Biel/Bienne this week.
Delicate touch from @KrisPliskova! ? #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/J2IoOloHya
— WTA (@WTA) April 10, 2017
“The court is kind of different from others, but so far I like it.”
Earlier in the day, Elise Mertens caused another upset by defeating No.8 seed Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-2. The first winner in the tournament’s history was Germany’s Mona Barthel, who ousted Jana Cepelova, 6-3, 6-4.