Tennis News

Santina On Defense: Reigning Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza captured their first major title together nearly 52 weeks ago at this very tournament, cementing their status as the sport’s top team and foreshadowing an impressive 41-match winning streak that took them to two more majors and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global title.

The pair has since seen their period of uninterrupted dominance come to a close – at least for the time being – with back-to-back final defeats to French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who went on to win their home Slam at Roland Garros. Looking to complete the Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, Hingis and Mirza were stunned by Czech youngsters Barbora Krejcikova and Katarina Siniakova in straight sets in the third round.

Still, it has been another amazing year for Santina, who became the first players to qualify for Singapore in singles or doubles, having already won five titles in the first six months of the season. Top seeds at the All England Club, they play their first match against a pair of Germans, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund, but face threatening opposition in their half of the draw, including No.13 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, who knocked them out early at the Miami Open. King won the Wimbledon doubles crown back in 2010 with Yaroslava Shvedova – who is seeded No.5 with Timea Babos in the Santina quarter – and together with Kudryavtseva reached their first final of 2016 at the Aegon Classic. 

Their semifinal opponents could be No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yun-Jan – the last team to defeat Santina before their winning streak began last summer – or No.7 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, who were the team to beat early last year with a pair of major victories at the Australian Open and French Open. The grass court certainly favors Mirza’s power and Hingis’ quick hands, and the team should be feeling a boost at the Grand Slam that started their meteoric rise.

French Across The Channel: Taking a winning streak through much of the clay court swing, Garcia and Mladenovic won three straight titles at the Volvo Car Open, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and Mutua Madrid Open – defeating Hingis and Mirza at the latter two finals.

Battling through a quartet of talented Russians in the semis and finals, the French women won an emotional three-setter over former champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to earn their first major title in women’s doubles.

The pair haven’t played since Paris, but both have proven capable of translating their games to the grass, with Garcia winning her first title on the surface in Mallorca two weeks ago, and Mladenovic having previously reached a pair of Wimbledon finals, winning mixed doubles with Daniel Nestor in 2013 and finishing runner-up in women’s doubles with Timea Babos in 2014.

Seeded second, Garcia and Mladenovic open against qualifiers Demi Schuurs and Renata Voracova, and could face the power of No.8 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova or the guile of No.12 seeds Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu in the quarterfinals.

Russians, Reunited: Looming for the Frenchwomen in the semifinals could be No.4 seeds Makarova and Vesnina, who spent nearly a year apart due to injuries to the former, but have hardly skipped a beat since coming back together in Madrid. Celebrating the four-year anniversary of their first tournament together, Makarova and Vesnina roared into the semifinals, and nearly toppled Hingis and Mirza in the finals of Rome a week later.

Narrowly losing to Garcia and Mladenovic at Roland Garros, the Russians have to like their chances of replicating their run to last year’s Wimbledon final, where they led Santina 5-2 in the final set. Their first round will be against British wildcards Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith, with Australian Open finalists and No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka their projected quarterfinal opponents.

Venus Williams and Serena Williams are unseeded in the Russian’s quarter; a meeting in the last eight would mark a rematch of their US Open encounter back in 2014, which Makarova and Vesnina won in straight sets en route to the title. The Americans played their first major tournament since that loss at this year’s French Open, where they fell in the third round to Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.

Unseeded & Looming: Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova may be the most dangerous floaters in the Wimbledon draw. The veterans and Mylan World TeamTennis stalwarts won the Aegon International last week in Eastbourne, defeating not only Hingis and Mirza, but also the Chan sisters to take the title in a match tie-break.

“It was a great performance, all the way from the first round,” Rodionova said after the final. “I think we gelled as a team from the beginning, and that’s what got us to the title.

“I’m very happy with the way we’re playing right now; it’s a great way to go into a Slam.”

Jurak and Rodionova will have to keep up their giant-killing game from the first round at Wimbledon, taking on No.9 seeds and Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, with No.5 seeds Babos and Shvedova also looming in their section before they could earn a rematch with Hingis and Mirza in the quarters.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Grand Slam champions abound on Day 3 of the Australian Open, with two of 2016’s three major winners – World No.1 Angelique Kerber and French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza – hoping to advance into the third round in Melbourne. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Wednesday, Second Round

[13] Venus Williams (USA #17) vs Stefanie Voegele (SUI #112)
Head-to-head: Venus leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Voegele won her first Grand Slam main draw match since the 2015 Australian Open on Monday (d. Kurumi Nara)

The former World No.1 was given all she could handle in a tough first round against Kateryna Kozlova, and was feeling confident after knocking out her younger opponent in straight sets.

“Girl, I don’t know,” she joked with Sam Smith during the on-court interview. “I know how to play tennis.”

She certainly proved that after holding off the Ukrainian youngster, and will try to show more of that level against Voegele, a former World No.42 who is inching closer towards the Top 100 after over two years in the wildnerness.

Venus and Voegele will open play on Rod Laver Arena, and the American will likely look to keep rallies short as the heat could possibly become a factor should the match run long.

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs Carina Witthoeft (GER #89)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Kerber is trying to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career.

Angelique Kerber enjoyed a strong finish to the first match in her Australian Open title defense on Monday, edging past Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

“I was trying just to going for it in the third set, just trying to play my game,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I think that was the key for the match today.”

In the second round she takes on countrywoman Carina Witthoeft, whom she played twice at Wimbledon in the last two years. Their most recent encounter featured a first-set tie-break, the only set in which Witthoeft won more than one game.

Either way, Kerber won’t be taking too much into their next match.

“It’s the second round. I’m not looking too much about my opponents. I think she played a good match here. I know her very well; I think it will be a good match.

“But for me it’s important to go out there playing my match again, not thinking too much about my opponent.”

[7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #7) vs Samantha Crawford (USA #162)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Muguruza shook off injury concerns in her first-round win against Marina Erakovic

The reigning French Open champion may not be at 100%, but has nonetheless channeled those niggling injuries into a glowing start to 2017, reaching the semifinals of the Brisbane International and sweeping aside Marina Erakovic in her first match in Melbourne.

“I was happy to win the first set, and then I just felt a little bit uncomfortable,” she said of her state of mind on Margaret Court Arena. “I just thought, take some precaution because of what happened in Brisbane. I took a medical timeout and became a little bit unfocused on the court. It took me a couple of games to get into the match again.”

Once she did, she didn’t let go, winning the final five games of the match, and blamed typical first-round jitters on compounding her physical concerns.

“I think this match was definitely more mental in certain situations, so I’m pretty pleased. I had to really forget about that and try to bring the best I had there.”

Muguruza next faces young American Samantha Crawford, who burst onto the scene last year when she herself reached the semifinals in Brisbane. Her own injuries have stunted her progress since, but the 2012 US Open junior champion is a clean ballstriker when playing her best.

Around the grounds…
No.11 seed Elina Svitolina opens play on Margaret Court Arena against Julia Boserup, followed by No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova’s second round match against Aussie qualifier Jaimee Fourlis.

Women’s doubles also gets underway on Wednesday, with top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic taking on Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh. Venus and Serena also debut as the No.15, and all four women in the hunt for No.1 are in action, including Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Elena Vesnina, with partners Lucie Safarova and Ekaterina Makarova, respectively.