Tennis News

The countdown to the Rio Olympics is officially underway, with the Games set to begin in 100 days. You can expect more Olympic chatter over the next five weeks as the players look to shore up their rankings to complete their qualification campaigns.

Here are the stories we’re keeping an eye on.

The Chase Is On.

Generally speaking, Olympic singles qualifying has two major components: Fed Cup participation and a player’s ranking on June 6th, the Monday after the French Open. We detailed the Fed Cup requirements earlier this year here.

With no more Fed Cup ties being played between now and the Olympics, there’s nothing a player can do at this point to satisfy any Fed Cup deficiencies other than requesting her National Olympic Committee to file an appeal to the ITF.

But a player does have control over her ranking. With nearly 4,000 points up for grabs at the tour’s biggest clay tournaments over the next five weeks — the Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia and French Open — the race is on for the players to get their rankings inside the Top 56, and in some cases even higher.

The Top 56 players — as determined the Monday after the French Open (June 6th) — will qualify for the Olympics, assuming they satisfy their Fed Cup requirements and are in good standing with their national federation. However, since no country may send more than four singles players, the rankings cut-off line will likely be closer to No.60-65, as players who come from a nation with a rich Top 60 talent pool won’t be sent to Rio.

As of this week, here are the players who are on the rankings bubble and the points they need to defend through the French Open. The higher the number, the more difficult it will be to move up the rankings.

49. Alizé Cornet (FRA): 365 pts
50. Camila Giorgi (ITA): 80 pts
51. Caroline Garcia (FRA): 130 pts
52. Sabine Lisicki (GER)*: 230 pts
53. Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)*: 101 pts
54. Elena Vesnina (RUS)*: 250 pts
55. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ): 186 pts
56. Heather Watson (GBR): 140 pts
57. Julia Goerges (GER)*: 335 pts
58. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL): 10 pts
59. Christina McHale (USA)*: 345 pts
60. Denisa Allertova (CZE)*: 180 pts
61. Nao Hibino (JPN): 146 pts
62. Zhang Shuai (CHN): 70 pts
63. Monica Puig (PUR): 50 pts
64. Zheng Saisai (CHN): 270 pts
65. Varvara Lepchenko (USA)*: 93 pts
66. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR): 90 pts
67. Irina Falconi (USA)*: 143 pts
68. Mona Barthel (GER)*: 20 pts
69. Johanna Larsson (SWE): 10 pts
70. Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL): 479 pts

* Asterisk denotes player is ranked outside the Top 4 from her nation. Only the Top 4 players from each nation will be Olympic eligible.

Intranational qualifying campaigns to watch.

In any other situation, a country’s depth, particularly in the Top 60, would be considered a bragging right. For Olympic qualifying purposes it’s a curse. A maximum of four eligible players may play the singles event from a single country, meaning a player who has satisfied her Fed Cup requirements and is within the Top 56 cut-off may still be watching the Olympics from home.

This rule will impact four countries – United States, Russia, Czech Republic, and Germany – as each country currently has more than four players ranked inside the Top 60. The battle here is to be one of the Top 4 players from your country on June 6th.

USA
1. Serena Williams
14. Venus Williams
21. Sloane Stephens
24. Madison Keys
—–
36. CoCo Vandeweghe
59. Christina McHale

Team USA’s fourth spot will likely come down to a three-way battle between Stephens, Keys, and Vandeweghe, none of whom have ever made the US Olympic team. Vandeweghe is currently the odd-woman out but she has the fewest points to defend, with just 105. Stephens has the most to defend with 415 and Keys has 250. McHale, who qualified for the London Olympics in 2012, will find it difficult move up the rankings. She is defending 345 points, built on a surprising quarterfinal run in Rome last year.

Russia
9. Maria Sharapova*
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
30. Ekaterina Makarova
—–
32. Daria Kasatkina
48. Margarita Gasparyan
54. Elena Vesnina

With Sharapova currently serving her provisional ban, her eligibility will depend on the timing of her hearing and the decision that comes down. Setting Sharapova’s situation aside, the Russian race is a fairly volatile one. Kuznetsova is currently ranked at No.13 but she has 650 points to defend through the French Open, largely due to her run to the Madrid final last year.

Looking at the players on the bubble, Kasatkina has just 55 points to defend, while the woman in front of her Ekaterina Makarova has 355 points to defend. Gasparyan has 125 points to defend. Vesnina, who could qualify as a doubles player (more on that later) has 250 points to defend as she tries to chase the fourth qualifying singles spot.

Czech Republic
6. Petra Kvitova
16. Lucie Safarova
18. Karolina Pliskova
33. Barbora Strycova
—–
60. Denisa Allertova

The Czech team looks nearly set. Barring a miracle run from Allertova, the usual Czech stalwarts should start booking their flights to Rio.

Germany
3. Angelique Kerber
29. Andrea Petkovic
41. Annika Beck
42. Laura Siegemund
—–
52. Sabine Lisicki
53. Anna-Lena Friedsam
57. Julia Goerges

The German situation is a fascinating one. Kerber and Petkovic are in good position, but the last two spots will come down to five players.

Thanks to her inspired run to the Stuttgart final last week, 28-year-old Siegemund has put herself in position to qualify, pushing Lisicki, who has 230 points to defend, out of the picture. With just 101 points to defend, Friedsam could also make a surge up the rankings. The tougher task falls to Goerges, who has the most points to defend amongst the Germans with 335.

The Doubles Race

For the 32-team doubles draw, 24 teams will earn direct entry one of two ways, with a maximum of two teams per country. Players ranked in the Top 10 in doubles on June 6th are in and they can choose any player to team with provided that player has a recognized ranking.

For example, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who is currently ranked No.3, could take her occasional doubles partner Vandeweghe with her to Rio even if the young American fails to qualify for singles. The same goes for No.1 Sania Mirza, who can take any Indian woman as her doubles partner.

Here is the Top 10 as of this week:

1. Martina Hingis (SUI)
2. Sania Mirza (IND)
3. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
4. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
5. Lucie Safarova (CZE)
6. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
7. Chan Yung-Jan
8. Chan Hao-Ching
9. Kristina Mladenovic
10. Lucie Hradecka (CZE)

As a result, we could see Hingis pair with Belinda Bencic or Timea Bacsinszky, Shvedova team with Yulia Putintseva, or Dellacqua pair with Sam Stosur.

The rest of the field will be determined by a team’s combined ranking, using their highest rankings in either singles or doubles. That is likely how Serena and Venus, using their singles rankings, will earn direct entry to defend their title. That’s also how you could see a team of Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro for Spain. Another application of the rule could see a German team theoretically comprised of Julia Goerges (No.16 in doubles) and Angelique Kerber (No.3 in singles), though it’s unclear whether either player is contemplating the pairing.

Here are a few successful doubles teams who could be on the qualifying double:

– Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia (FRA): The duo have been the dominant team over the last three weeks, with titles in Charleston and Stuttgart. If Mladenovic maintains her Top 10 ranking they’ll qualify outright. If she drops out of the Top 10 they’ll have to rely on their combined ranking to get in.

– Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina (RUS): Vesnina is currently chasing a Top 10 finish, currently sitting at No.14. If she can get there, the team is in. If not it’s a tougher ask given Kasatkina’s singles ranking is currently outside the Top 30. The duo snapped Hingis and Mirza’s 41-match win streak in February and have proved a formidable pairing. They’re medal contenders if they can qualify.

– Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova (CZE): Silver medalists in London, their combined doubles ranking should get them direct entry to Rio. But they’ll breathe a sigh of relief if one of them snags a Top 10 spot on June 6th. Hradecka is No.10 as of now, with Hlavackova behind her at No.12.

And to keep things even more complicated for the countries with considerable singles and doubles depth, a country’s full tennis team cannot exceed six women. That can impact the composition of the doubles teams as well.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images

MADRID, Spain – The Mutua Madrid Open draw is out. Here are our biggest questions as the tour turns to the biggest clay court tournament before the French Open.

1. How will Agnieszka Radwanska do as the top seed?

It’s no secret Radwanska isn’t in love with this part of the season. Asked during All-Access Hour where she would rank clay as a surface, she smiled ruefully. “Third,” she said with a laugh. “But that’s still good, right?”

With Serena Williams’ withdrawal, Radwanska is indeed the top seed in Madrid, a turn of events that she jokingly referred to as “weird”. She sits atop the top half of the draw, which includes Victoria Azarenka and defending champion Petra Kvitova.

Radwanska opens against No.38 Dominika Cibulkova. Radwanska leads their head-to-head 7-3 but this will be their first meeting on clay in a decade. Given Cibulkova’s prowess and confidence on clay – she was the 2009 French Open semifinalist and 2012 quarterfinalist – and Radwanska’s lack of confidence on the surface, this is as tricky a first rounder as Aga could have been handed. The winner gets another challenge in either Caroline Garcia or Johanna Konta in the second round.

2. Will Victoria Azarenka pick up where she left off?

Madrid sees the return of Azarenka, who has not played a WTA event since completing the Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells and Miami. Her 24-1 record remains the standard on tour and she told reporters her training block after Miami introduced some new elements to her clay court game.

“It was my first real preparation on clay with my new team so there were a few new things and tips that I learned a little bit for my movement that were insightful,” Azarenka told reporters during All-Access Hour on Friday.

“Fed Cup was in the middle of my preparation but I felt like the little adjustments were already working. I was just trying to play them through the matches. I felt the last week or so after Fed Cup, I spent a good [amount of time] playing on clay. But you never know. Sometimes you have great preparation and it doesn’t work and sometimes you don’t have any preparation and you play well.”

Azarenka opens against Laura Robson, who is into the main draw with a protected ranking.

3. Can Kerber keep it going?

Success during the early part of the clay season isn’t new for Kerber. Sustaining that momentum into the big events is. After winning Charleston and Stuttgart last year, Kerber lost in the first round of Madrid, the second round of Rome, and the third round of the French Open.

“I mean, it just can be better than last year,” Kerber said during All-Access Hour. “I’m looking forward. I’m feeling good, I’m practicing a few days here. I’m healthy so that’s the most important thing for me.”

Kerber has never made it past the quarterfinals in Madrid but she is relaxed and full of confidence after her Stuttgart win. She opens her tournament against Barbora Strycova. Kerber has won all eight sets they’ve played, so the match-up has been one that’s favored her. They played recently at the Miami Open, where Kerber dropped just two games.

4. Can Petra Kvitova steady herself for a third Madrid title?

There’s a lot at stake for Kvitova in Madrid. The defending champion has 1,000 points to defend and the World No.6 could fall out of the Top 10 depending on her results. But Kvitova has shown her propensity to find her best tennis at the tournaments she’s won in the past and there is no clay court more suitable to her flat-hitting style than Madrid.

But will we see that pure flat-hitter this year? It’s not clear.

“We are trying to play a little but more [variety], probably I what showed in Stuttgart,” Kvitova told reporters at All-Access Hour. “Drop shots, slice, these things. He wants me to still play aggressive from the baseline and really push the opponent. That’s what I’m trying.”

5. Is Garbiñe Muguruza poised for a breakout run on home soil?

Yes. Muguruza has shown glimpses of her 2015 run this year but she just hasn’t been able to get that one big win to unlock her confidence and get her on a roll. Her draw in Madrid is set up for her to show her Spanish fans she’s ready to to challenge in Paris.

Muguruza opens against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, who has struggled to win matches this year. She could then face either Eugenie Bouchard or Irina Camelia-Begu, a possible third round against Karolina Pliskova. From there she could face Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber. That’s a draw that should give her a few matches under her belt before taking a crack at some of the game’s best.

6. Can Simona Halep find her clay-court mojo?

Halep’s season has been a curious one. From her injury and illness affected start to the season, to signs of life on the US hardcourts after making back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami, only to be derailed by a stressful Fed Cup weekend and early exit from Stuttgart, where she won just three games off Laura Siegemund in the second round. Halep admits she isn’t thinking about titles at the moment. She just wants matches.

“Now I feel ok. I have nothing to defend I’m all good for this next period,” Halep said with a laugh. “I just want to play, to feel again my game on court, to feel confident. I’m just waiting to win matches, if that’s possible again.”

The Romanian’s draw is set up perfectly for her to get those matches. She opens against Misaki Doi and would play either Margarita Gasparyan or Karin Knapp in the second round. From there she could play either Andrea Petkovic or Timea Bacsinszky (the two former French Open semifinalists drew each other in the first round).

7. Which matches did we circle?

Pop your popcorn for these first round clashes:

– Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Dominika Cibulkova
– Caroline Garcia vs. Johanna Konta
– Daria Gavrilova vs. Yulia Putintseva (pictured above, following their 2010 US Open girl’s singles final, won by Gavrilova)
– Petra Kvitova vs. Lara Arruabarrena
– Timea Bacsinszky vs. Andrea Petkovic
– Lucie Safarova vs. CoCo Vandeweghe
– Angelique Kerber vs. Barbora Strycova

Save some of that popcorn for these possible second round clashes:

– Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Eugenie Bouchard
– Sloane Stephens vs. Daria Kasatkina
– Angelique Kerber vs. Madison Keys
– Roberta Vinci vs. Jelena Jankovic
– Petra Kvitova vs. Jelena Ostapenko

Main draw play begins on Saturday.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.