“It’s Triumph & Disaster In Real-Time”: Venus On The Power Of Sports
Venus Williams perfectly summed up what makes sports so special in a powerful answer at her Australian Open press conference.
Venus Williams perfectly summed up what makes sports so special in a powerful answer at her Australian Open press conference.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova before her opening round match at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Top seed Simona Halep made a decisive debut at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, dispatching Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh in straight sets.
CoCo Vandeweghe came to the Australian Open unseeded and under the radar, but all of that changed after a fortnight in Melbourne.
“I think I don’t shy away from a challenge necessarily,” she said after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal. “I never have. Growing up, I’ve always just been wanting to prove people wrong in a lot of different regards.”
The 25-year-old American started the 2017 season with the goals of reaching a major semifinal and a quarterfinal at a major besides Wimbledon, where she reached the last eight in 2015. By the end of the tournament, she’d achieved all that and more, including a Top 20 debut after knocking out defending champion Angelique Kerber and French Open winner Garbiñe Muguruza in back-to-back straight set matches.
“I’m very happy with starting the year this way, putting validation to the hard work that I’ve put in in the off-season, the sacrifices, all the good stuff like that.
“But, you know, at the same time I’m not satisfied. Like I said, I mean, there’s a disappointment factor because I’m not satisfied. I think that’s a good thing.”
Looking to build on her major breakthrough, Vandeweghe is your Breakthrough Player of the Month!
Final Results for January’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month
1. CoCo Vandeweghe (50%)
2. Elise Mertens (28%)
3. Katerina Siniakova (16%)
4. Lauren Davis (6%)
2016 Breakthrough Performance Of The Month Winners
January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay
May: Kiki Bertens
June: Elena Vesnina
July: Kristina Kucova
August: Karolina Pliskova
September: Naomi Osaka
October: Peng Shuai
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova played impeccable defense to dispatch No.5 seed Elena Vesnina and reach the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Elena Vesnina makes her attempt at the WTA Net Dash. Check out her personal best right here.
When younger sister Serena beat her in the final of the Australian Open, Venus Williams was quick to praise her.
“Your win has always been my win and I think you know that, and all the times I couldn’t be there, wouldn’t be there or didn’t get there, you were there,” the 36-year-old said. “I’m enormously proud of you – you mean the world to me.”
Now in a new interview she’s emphasised that – saying that Serena is one of her heroes.
Asked by Citizens of Humanity about the people she most admires, Venus answered: “Definitely my mom and my dad, and Serena is a huge hero for me. I think all my heroes are close to home, because those are the ones that motivated me through the tough times.”
She added: “The best advice [Serena] ever gave me in terms of tennis or even life is, you have to show up, so why not compete? You have to be there. You can’t run away from it, so why not compete? That was the best advice ever. I try to apply that daily.”
On her legacy, the seven-time Slam winner said: “I’m definitely a very in-the-moment person, so I would just like to be remembered as a person who loved the game and gave back to the game and gave back to life.”
LONDON, England – Even the rain could not dampen the spirits of those at this year’s WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party presented by Dubai Duty Free.
The event, now in its 11th year, is one of the highlights of tennis’ social calendar. This time Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki were joined by personalities from the world of sport, entertainment and fashion, including Thom Evans, Katie Piper and Tallia Storm.
There were also some younger faces braving the worst of the British weather, Elena Baltacha Academy starlet Tawana Senah walking the purple carpet alongside Judy Murray, and WTA Future Star Karman Thandi getting her first taste of life at tennis’ top table.
Once again, wtatennis.com left no stone unturned in showcasing the best moments from The Roof Gardens, a live blog, galleries and videos complementing the usual smorgasbord of social media coverage, highlighted by the inaugural outing of Facebook Live.
A fleet of Jaguar XJL Autobiographies ensured the players travelled to the west London venue in style, and following a warm welcome from the devoted youngsters in the WTA Fanzone, Serena and company dazzled on the purple carpet.
Inside the party, players, media and guests enjoyed an eclectic menu dreamt up by The Roof Gardens’ Head Chef Antonio Borg, who drew inspiration from the WTA tournaments from around the world; scallop ceviche, stir-fried Noodles, tomato and mascarpone risotto balls, lime marinated free range chicken tacos and, in a nod to the host nation, fish and chips.
The drinks list, populated by among others Stella Artois, Laurent Perrier, Pablo and La Poderosa and evian, was just as impressive, while new partner Häagen-Dazs catered for those with a sweeter tooth, previewing its new limited edition Strawberries & Cream ice cream.
“We’re very excited to have hosted the WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party for the 11th year at the Roof Gardens with the support of Virgin and Dubai Duty Free. Both our partners continue to make the event an incredible success year after year as we celebrate the ever growing global reach of the WTA and the fantastic achievements of these inspirational women,” said WTA CEO Steve Simon.
To relive the best moments from this year’s Pre-Wimbledon Party visit the dedicated page on wtatennis.com.
The World Group II play-off draw has thrown out a potential heavyweight clash between Johanna Konta and Simona Halep, after Great Britain was drawn against Romania in the Federation Cup play-offs. The matches will be played in Romania on 22-23 April.
Britain kept alive its hopes of reaching the World Group stage for the first time since 1993 in dramatic fashion. Konta and team-mate Heather Watson won their doubles match against Croatia’s Ana Konjuh and Darija Jurak in Tallinn on Saturday, after the 19-year-old Konjuh had stunned the WTA World No.10 in their singles rubber, 6-4 6-3.
Aegon GB @FedCup Team will face Romania away in the World Group II Play-Offs! #BackTheBrits pic.twitter.com/3RIcEH7E3C
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) February 14, 2017
Romania is arguably the toughest draw available however, with WTA World No.4 Halep in the team. The 25-year-old missed her team’s surprise defeat to Belgium in their World Group II opener but will prove a formidable challenge when she returns.
Serbia, who came through alongside Britain, have drawn Australia while Chinese Taipei will host Italy and Kazakhstan travel to Canada.
In the World Group play-offs draw, Dominika Cibulkova and her Slovakia team will host Netherlands. 2016 finalist France will face Spain in the first meeting between the teams for six years. Russia will meet Belgium – the latter goes into the play-offs on the back of six consecutive Fed Cup tie wins. Elsewhere Germany will play at home to Ukraine.
The full draw is as follows:>
World Group play-offs
France v Spain
Russia v Belgium
Germany v Ukraine
Slovakia v The Netherlands
World Group II play-offs
Chinese Taipei v Italy
Romania v Great Britain
Serbia v Australia
Canada v Kazakhstan
LONDON, Great Britain – No.12 seed Carla Suárez Navarro survived a scare in her Wimbledon opener against Shuai Zhang, overcoming a mid-match wobble to advance 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The last time the pair played was at this tournament and at this stage, with the Spaniard easing past Zhang in a comfortable straight sets back in 2014. Today’s match was decidedly more competitive, with the Chinese No.1 breaking twice to take the second set and going up a break in the third.
But the Spaniard, who reached the semifinals of the Aegon Classic Birmingham earlier in the grass season, roared back in the third to reach the second round.
No.14 seed Samantha Stosur also moved into the second round after putting an early wobble behind her to defeat 24-year-old Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3.
“Not much to be disappointed about with that match,” Stosur said afterwards. “I felt like I was in control.
“There’s always things you want to get a little bit better at but for the most part I thought I played well and really solid. I served well. A couple little things on my forehand. Apart from that, I was happy.”
The Australian’s next opponent will be the big-serving Sabine Lisicki, who was off to a roaring start at Wimbledon and needed only 52 seconds to win her opening game against Magda Linette before taking the match 6-1, 6-3 in 59 minutes.
Meanwhile, Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova scored the biggest win of her career over No.23 seed Ana Ivanovic, knocking out the former No.1 in her Wimbledon main draw debut, 6-2, 7-5.
The Serb took no credit away from her No.223-ranked opponent but pointed to a lingering wrist injury as a factor in her first round exit.
“It was very tough. I mean, since two weeks I struggle with my right wrist,” she said “It was very hard to accelerate on my forehand. I tried to do everything possible to be fit and recover and tape it and so on.
“I feel like it caused me a lot of miss hits. My forehand was hard to control her fast shots. I thought she played really well and served very good. Especially in the first set, she was not missing many first serves.”
Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands put their friendship aside in their first round battle. Regular doubles partners, this time they stood on opposite sides of the net as Mattek-Sands looked to deal an upset to her No.28-seeded friend. She nearly managed it two times – the American held match point once in the second set and twice in the third – before Safarova closed her out 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 7-5.
Also through to the next round is No.17 seed Elina Svitolina, who advanced comfortably against British player Naomi Broady, 6-2, 6-3. Perhaps surprisingly, Svitolina has never made it past the second round of Wimbledon – she’ll hope to do so for the first time against Yaroslava Shvedova.