Australian Open: Venus Williams vs Duan Ying Ying
Venus Williams took on Duan Ying Ying in the third round of the Australian Open.
Venus Williams took on Duan Ying Ying in the third round of the Australian Open.
Johanna Konta discusses her upcoming match against Serena Williams in her Australian Open press conference.
Serena Williams discusses Venus Williams’ success and their longevity in tennis in a press conference at the Australian Open.
Venus Williams discusses her performance in her quarterfinal win against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a press conference at the Australian Open.
With all tennis apparel companies getting ready for their big product launches at the French Open in mid-May, April was somewhat of a slow month in terms of women’s tennis fashion, but that doesn’t mean that WTA players didn’t look stylish these past four weeks and the less busy period allowed smaller brands to grab the much-deserved attention to themselves, most notably Tonic by Martina Hingis. Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog will show us the clothes that dominated the courts of April’s tournaments.
Laura Siegemund came all the way from qualifying at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, dismantled three Top 10 payers without losing a set and made the title match, all the while looking fashionable in a variety of Tonic ensembles.
The 28-year-old Siegemund earned her Top 50 debut in all-white, all-black and colored outfits standing out with their thin tank straps and sheer elements, while practical and trendy plaited hairstyle spiced up the look.
The above Tonic Spring Lucid Tank features built-in bra with removable cups, neck and side contrast detailing, while the highlight are definitely criss-cross spaghetti straps. The top exists in six colors, while my favorite is the white one with pixel contrast, as seen below on Danka Kovinic and Viktorija Golubic.
Montenegro’s Kovinic climbed from No. 60 to No. 47 in the WTA rankings this week, following her final at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup, while Switzerland’s Golubic, who has recently recorded as much as two victories for her country in the Fed Cup World Group semifinals, beating Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova, showcased her stylish Tonic ensemble at the Katowice Open in early April.
Sorana Cirstea had to cover her beautiful aviator navy New Balance Spring Tournament Dress with several layers of clothing in the cold Prague this week, but earlier in April we saw the dress in full light at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup, where the Romanian lost in the second round to eventual champion Cagla Buyukakcay.
The 131st-ranked Cirstea started her brand ambassador role this year at the Miami Open, while her Istanbul appearance marked the first time a New Balance representative wore a dress. Striped, flaired skirt and thin strappy racerback of the dress provide both style and great support for maximum range of motion on the court. Plus, you can beautifully round out the look with the New Balance 996v2 Shoe.
Sloane Stephens’ fashion has never been better than in recent months and this dark Under Armour dress has been her lucky charm, as the American won two WTA titles in it, including her biggest career title at Charleston this month, as well as a power-blue Volvo V60 Polestar car.
Everything about the dress is stylish, especially when Sloane wears it. My favorite features are the subtle print at athletic racerback and back cutout, as well as color-coordinated wristbands and braided headband. Being a big fan of Sloane’s fashion, I am really looking forward to seeing her new kit in action, a white crop top and light pink skirt.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – No.2 seed Lucie Safarova threw down 14 aces to edge past No.4 seed Samantha Stosur, winning the battle of former French Open finalists, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, to capture the J&T Banka Prague Open title.
Watch live action from Prague & Rabat this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Heading into the International-level event in Prague, Safarova hadn’t won a singles match all year. In fact, she hadn’t even won a set until last week in Stuttgart, still struggling to find her form since returning from the bacterial infection that sidelined her at the end of 2015 and forced her to skip the Australian Open.
But last year’s French Open finalist peaked just at the right time, powered by her adoring home crowd to recover from a one-set deficit for her first title of the year.
“I had quite a few tough matches here so I feel pretty tired,” Safarova said after the match. “But my health is holding up which is the best news for me after such a long time of struggling.
“Each match here I was playing better and better, and by semis and finals I felt like my old self.”
Safarova went down an early break in her first service game, Stosur threading a pinpoint accurate backhand down the line to bring up the first break chance of the match. The Australian’s heavy shots were giving Safarova plenty of trouble throughout the opening set, going up a 4-1 lead. Despite pushing back during the later stages of the set, Safarova wasn’t able to pressure the Stosur serve and find a chance to break back, dropping the first set.
The Czech mounted her comeback in the second set, aided by Stosur’s service struggles: the Australian hit four double faults in the one game to hand Safarova the first break. She also unleashed her own powerful serves: 12 of the 14 aces struck by Safarova came in the final two sets. Despite hitting a rare double fault on set point – one of two the whole match – Safarova closed out the second set to level the score.
Safarova got the break in the seventh game of the final set, going up 4-3 as the tide – and the vocal crowd – turned firmly in her favor.
A pair of aces sealed the match and the Prague title, which is Safarova’s seventh WTA title, and her first one on clay courts since Oeiras in 2005.
“I’m so happy because support during the week was amazing,” Safarova said. “To finally get some wins under my belt feels great. And a seventh title? Wow!”
Prague is quickly becoming a stronghold for Czech players: they’ve now seen their second Czech champion in as many years, with Karolina Pliskova having won last year’s inaugural staging.
For Stosur, who was also playing in her first final of the year in Prague, the experience brings nothing but positives.
“I’m really happy with the week that I’ve had,” the Australian said. “I played some really good tennis and some hard fought matches, and it’s really good for my tennis all around.
“Lucie was too good today – we’ve had some close matches and today was pretty similar to that. All credit to her and congratulations, she had the win today.”
It will be a quick turnaround for both finalists going from Prague straight to Madrid: the Mutua Madrid Open starts today and Stosur is slated to play her opening match on Sunday.
“It’s gonna be a late night tonight, and I know Lucie and I are on the same flight,” Stosur said. “We’ll both be in the same boat but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“It’s not ideal preparation, but to be in a final – you’d take that any day.”
Congrats @LucieSafarova!
Lift that #PragueOpen trophy ? https://t.co/GQfRaEL1RQ
— WTA (@WTA) April 30, 2016
No.2 seed Serena Williams dispatched surprise semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni to put herself one match from Grand Slam No.23 against sister Venus in the Australian Open final.
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova before her opening round match at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Before starting the defense of her St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, Roberta Vinci visited The Peter and Paul Fortress to fire out a warning shot to her rivals. Quite literally, in fact!
Dominika Cibulkova, the reigning WTA Tour Finals champion, is gearing up for Doha and Dubai as she looks for her first tournament win of 2017.
The Slovak’s unprecedented success last year, in which she won tournaments in Katowice, Eastbourne and Linz before taking the title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, saw her rise to No.5 in the World Rankings. Now, she goes to the Qatar Total Open as the third seed in a star-studded field.
“This is my highest ranking,” the 27-year-old told Gulf Today. “You can feel the expectation and the pressure. This is something I’m trying to deal with.”
Cibulkova is among the favourites to win in Doha and is confident she knows how to handle the heat. “I have my rituals,” she said. “What I do during the match, I just want to focus on tennis, on the tactics. You put away the wrong thoughts you have on the court, like, I should win, or, I don’t want to lose.”
Doha has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for the 2014 Australian Open finalist. Her best result came in her first visit in 2008, when she reached the quarterfinals before being beaten in three sets by Agnieszka Radwanska.
However the first Slovak to reach a Grand Slam final has broken into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings for the first time and is confident the weight of expectation for her to improve her record will not prove a burden. “You just put it away,” she said, “and you focus on the right things.”