Stanford: Final Preview
A preview of the Bank of the West Classic final between Venus Williams and Johanna Konta.
A preview of the Bank of the West Classic final between Venus Williams and Johanna Konta.
Both Fed Cup semifinals are locked at 1-1 after the first day of singles play on Saturday – find out how it happened.
World No.1 Serena Williams was forced to cut short her first match of the season, retiring down a set at the US Hopman Cup match against Australia.
An interview with Sam Stosur after her win in the first round of the Rogers Cup.
The final day of April’s Fed Cup weekend is underway, and Australia and Italy were among the first teams to clinch victories over Serbia and Chinese Taipei, respectively, keeping their spots in World Group II.
Check out more highlights from Sunday’s action after a topsy turvy opener.
Romania d. Great Britain, 3-2 – World Group II Play-Offs, Constanta, Romania
Simona Halep restored order after a chaotic opening day in her hometown, avenging a Miami Open loss to Johanna Konta, 6-1, 6-3. Halep’s win put Romania on course for Irina-Camelia Begu to clinch the tie over Heather Watson, 6-4, 7-5, and remain in World Group II in 2018.
Halep was a mere points from victory over Konta in Crandon Park – the Brit went on to claim her maiden Premier Mandatory title two rounds later – and picked up where she left off yesterday at the Tenis Club IDU, hitting 17 winners and breaking serve five times to earn the win in one hour and 11 minutes.
“I expected on clay [for the match] to be like this,” Halep said after the match. “I did everything: I stayed focused and I was very motivated after yesterday. I’m really motivated to win this tie. I feel we’re dominating now.”
Begu was similarly solid in the finals singles rubber, and though Great Britain nabbed an entertaining doubles win over Halep and Monica Niculescu, Romania edged through in the end.
ROMANIA WINS!!! ?? @irina_begu defeats ?? Watson 64 75 and Romania defeats Great Britain 3-1 to maintain its place in World Group II pic.twitter.com/I3foTDmxMt
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) April 23, 2017
Germany d. Ukraine, 3-2 – World Group I Play-Offs, Stuttgart, Germany
Elina Svitolina kept up her flawless form against World No.1 Angelique Kerber, but it wasn’t enough for Team Ukraine, who fell in the face of an unstoppable Julia Goerges at the Porsche Arena.
After Goerges recovered from a set down to oust the reigning Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner on Saturday, the former Stuttgart champion edged past Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets to help clinch their place in World Group I next year.
GERMANY WINS!!! ?? @juliagoerges defeats ?? Lesia Tsurenko 64 64 to give Germany a 3-1 win over Ukraine! pic.twitter.com/Ok9yHJBrN7
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) April 23, 2017
Still, it was a solid week for Svitolina, who has now won her last four matches against the US Open champion.
“Kerber struggled to find any rhythm against an opponent who took her chances with greater success, particularly from the baseline,” noted FedCup.com’s Jeff Kavanagh. “Svitolina also committed less than half of the unforced errors of her opponent in the second set – 6-16 – and will feel mightily satisfied at a job well done against a player ranked 12 places above her in the world.”
More to come…
Highlights from first round action at the Brisbane International.
An interview with Roberta Vinci before her opening round match at the Rogers Cup.
An interview with Simona Halep after her withdrawal from her second round match at the Brisbane International.
Barbora Strycova takes on Caroline Garcia in the first round of the Rogers Cup.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Carla Suárez Navarro started out 2015 as one of the most consistent players on tour. Now the understated Spaniard has a big goal for the 2016 season – what is it?