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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova began her title defense at the Apia International Sydney with a decisive 6-1, 6-4 win over Irina-Camelia Begu.

“I started the year quite good with the feeling on court,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Sometimes the results don’t go with how you’re feeling, but I feel very good at the start of the year.”

It was a year ago that Kuznetsova came to Sydney to begin what would become her best season in nearly six years, but shrugged off the pressure of going for a second straight victory.

“I’m not thinking about defending my title. The trophy is at home and nobody can take it away from me. This is another year and another opportunity to play. I always feel like I need a lot of matches at the start of the year. I remember going to Auckland and not winning a single match. Then I came here and it gave me matches, confidence.

“If I played five weeks in a row at the end of last year, I can do three or four weeks here.”

The Russian veteran showed off similar form for much of the match against Begu, who struggled through the 31 minute opening set.

Winning 10 of the first 12 games, the former World No.2 was on course for a seamless victory before the Romanian mounted a mini-comeback, drawing even at 4-4 in the second.

“What happened? What typically happens in a tennis match. I think I started to play more defensively, and she felt like she had nothing to lose. I got too passive.

“We practiced in December because she was also in Dubai; we played a practice match and that was good because I was able to remember her game.

“It’s a different style; she stays farther behind the baseline, not so much inside. She serves good, and it was hard to read.

Kuznetsova closed the door from there, and served out her spot in the second round, where she’ll meet either 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur or compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“Overall, I think I did good, except for those four games when I didn’t play so good.”

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Kerber Battles Through In Birmingham

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BIRMINGHAM, England – Defending champion Angelique Kerber battled back to defeat Daria Gavrilova and book a belated place in the quarterfinals of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The match was one of the many to fall victim to Thursday’s biblical thunderstorms, Gavrilova leading 6-5 when the heavens opened. Kerber made a disastrous start to the restart, losing her serve and with it the set. However, as the match wore on the German began to find her rhythm and in the end ran out a comfortable 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 winner.

“It’s good to turn around the match after the rain delay, but it’s always tough to play against her so I’m really happy I played my game from the first point and found my rhythm again and won the match after losing the first set,” Kerber said.

“It was a new day, a new match, trying to just play aggressive tennis and get used to the grass. It was a good preparation for Wimbledon.”

Kerber did not take long to get over the disappointment of losing the opening set, outmaneuvering her young opponent to manufacture a couple of break points in the opening game of the second. Only one was required, and with the German now in her groove Gavrilova never looked like wresting back the initiative.

While Kerber’s unforced error count was as miserly as ever – she committed 21 in the match – Gavrilova struggled in vain for consistency. There was no masking the Australian’s frustration as she dropped the second then slipped 5-1 behind in the decider, Kerber closing out the contest in style, crouching down to uncork her 27th winner of the match. 

It will be a busy day for Kerber, who will return later to take on Carla Suárez Navarro in the last eight. Suárez Navarro booked her place with a rollercoaster win over Andrea Petkovic, frittering away a 5-2 final set lead before recomposing herself to complete a 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) victory.

There was disappointment for the home nation, as Heather Watson and Johanna Konta both slipped to defeat. British No.1 Konta made a bright start, breaking in the opening game but was up against it from then on as an impressive Yanina Wickmayer eased to a 6-3, 6-3 win. Watson lost to former finalist Barbora Strycova, 7-5, 6-4. 

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – No.10 seed Caroline Wozniacki survived a titanic tussle against Olympic tennis event winner Monica Puig, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to advance into the second round of the Apia International Sydney.

“It’s a tough match, because, you know, you kind of feel, like, oh, I’m winning pretty comfortably right now, but then she can go on a streak, starts hitting winners, has such a good serve,” the Dane explained in her post-match press conference. “That’s where it started going in in the second set, and then the third set I tried to stay closer to the baseline and maybe play a little deeper.

“It paid off. But, yeah,  win is a win. I’ll take it.”

Wozniacki had just come off a quarterfinal appearance at the ASB Classic, while Puig was looking for her first win of the season, having dropped her opening round match to Elina Svitolina at the Brisbane International. The No.10 seed broke at her first opportunity and held on for dear life to start the match, gutting out a five-deuce game to hold for 5-2 and ultimately serve out the opening set in 47 minutes.

Puig served notice last summer when she took home Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic gold medal, but was even more impressive off the return in the second set, break serve three times to level the match.

Much like the first set, Wozniacki broke early in the third and never let go, even as Puig showed all her mettle to hold in a six-deuce game at 3-1 in the decider.

“I changed up my practice quite a bit. I did a lot of other things, probably spent more time on court than I have in a long time and less time in the gym, actually.

“That was a big change for me, because I have worked so hard on my fitness and worked so hard on trying to prevent injuries.

“But at the end of the day, I think I sometimes need to ease off a little bit. I guess I’m not a spring chicken anymore. Sometimes less is more.”

Clinching victory on her first match point, Wozniacki booked a second-round encounter with Yulia Putintseva.

“I was proud of how I managed to just keep grinding today. I feel pretty good. I’m not nervous about my form. I think it’s going to be fine.”

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Coaches View: Unlocking Keys’ Serve

Coaches View: Unlocking Keys’ Serve

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Madison Keys has powered her way into the Aegon Classic Birmingham final behind a strong serve that is more dangerous on grass. SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches shows how playing on grass benefits the Keys service game.

In 14 clay court matches this season, Keys hit a total of 53 aces. This week in Birmingham, she’s already hit 33 aces in just four matches. That’s an average 8.2 per match compared to 3.9 per match for the season coming into this week.

Saturday’s semifinal win, which will propel Keys into the Top 10 for the first time in her career, was a good example of how Keys can use her serve to take control of a match.

Keys fell behind in her semifinal against Carla Suárez Navarro, losing the first set 3-6 while winning just 64% of her service points.

In the second set, the Keys serve was dominant. She won 91% of her service points, 20 of 22. The SAP Coaches View shows that Keys was particularly effective serving to the ad court, getting all 10 of her first serves in, and hitting all three of her aces in the set to that side.

Keys won that second set 6-3, then prevailed in the third set tie-break as she won 76% of her service points in the final set.

Grass courts have been better for the Keys serve historically. In the last two years, Keys has won 66% of her service points on the surface, compared to her overall average of just 61% in those two seasons.

The SAP Coaches View combines scoring information direct from the chair umpire with tracking data from HawkEye to allow for an in depth look at five different aspects of a match. Each tracking option can be filtered to narrow the focus to specific situations within a match, such as break points. This information is available directly to coaches in real-time during a match on their SAP tablet and also available to them online after matches.

“Service” tracking shows the landing point for all serves. The display differentiates between first serves, second serves and aces. Additional data on the screen shows the percentage of overall service points won as well as looking specifically at first and second serves.

These serving statistics will be continue to be key for Keys as she looks to ace her test in Sunday’s final against Barbora Strycova.

SAP Coaches View

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won an all-Russian battle with defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova to advance into the quarterfinals of the Apia International Sydney.

“I’m really happy, not only because she’s defending champion, but also my fellow player,” she said after the match. “She’s Top 10 and has had a really incredible year last year. I knew it’d be a really tough match and I was just trying to play good tennis, and take this as prep for Melbourne.”

Pavlyuchenkova had lost five of her last six encounters with her veteran compatriot, and things seemed to be moving in similar fashion to start Tuesday’s match.

Kuznetsova twice moved ahead by a break of serve to start, and served for the opening set at 5-4, only to see Pavlyuchenkova reel off the last three games to nab just her third set from her fellow Russian.

“I think I did everything well! I wasn’t serving as well as I did yesterday; I was a little upset with that, but I’m so happy that even with a lower first-serve percentage, that I was able to win the match in two sets.”

The pair exchanged breaks early in the second, with last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist moving ahead 5-2 after a long service game, eventually clinching the win in one hour and 38 minutes.

“It’s just very different conditions here; last week was my first match of the year, plus it was cold, windy, with fast courts. I had Goerges there and she was just serving bombs so it was difficult for me to get into any rallies.

“I had zero expectations here; I was just trying to enjoy the tennis, but it’s working good so far.”

Up next for Pavlyuchenkova is either Eugenie Bouchard or No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova.

“Cibulkova had an incredible year last year as well; she won the Masters and is in really good form. She’s a great fighter. I’ve never played Bouchard before. I don’t think we’ve even practiced together. I don’t know what to expect so I think I’ll watch some of their match today.”

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Final Preview: Keys Vs Strycova

Final Preview: Keys Vs Strycova

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Aegon Classic Birmingham, Ann Jones Centre Court, 1.30pm

Watch live action from Sunday’s Birmingham final on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

[7] Madison Keys (USA #16) vs. Barbora Strycova (CZE #30)
Head-to-head: Keys leads 2-1
Final Fact: Keys has served 33 aces in her four matches in Birmingham, compared with the 53 she hit in the entire clay court season (14 matches).

In her post-match press conference following an impressive semifinal win over the in-form CoCo Vandeweghe, Barbora Strycova was typically forthcoming about the challenge awaiting her in the final.

Madison Keys is the opponent. And a familiar one at that; the pair met twice during the clay court season, Keys prevailing first in Madrid, then again in a far tighter encounter in Rome.

“I go into that match to, I don’t want to say with nothing to lose, but it’s a final. It can change many things. It’s on grass and I like to play on grass. It’s going to be a totally different match,” Strycova said. “The last match in Rome was really tough one. I lost 6-3 in the third.

“But she’s a great player. I have to bring some good tennis.”

Keys took the latest step on her path to greatness on Saturday, confirming her ascension to the Top 10 by overcoming a rocky start to defeat Carla Suárez Navarro. It was not her only moment of anxiety en route to the final either; in the previous round she trailed by a set and a break to Jelena Ostapenko.

A devastating serve, thudding groundstrokes off either wing and the desire to move up the court at any opportunity make the American’s game ideally suited to grass – her only previous title came on the surface, two years ago in Eastbourne.

Unsurprisingly, she is not backwards in coming forwards on her love of the lawns: “This is the only surface that I have a title on. Obviously, it’s one of my favorites. It definitely suits my game. I feel pretty comfortable playing on it. Hopefully, I can win a couple more tournaments on this. I would love to do well at Wimbledon whenever I can.

“I’m not going to sit here and say I’m going to win Wimbledon, but obviously, I’d really like to!”

While Keys has stuttered at time in the past two rounds, Strycova has dropped just one set all week. However, the at time biblical rain England’s second city has been subjected to this week has ensured her path to the finals – alongside Karolina Pliskova she is also still in the hunt for the doubles title – has been far from straightforward. Indeed, over the past two days she has played five matches, spending a fraction under seven hours on court.  

Road To The Final
Madison Keys
First Round: d. Timea Babos, 76(3) 64 (1:27)
Second Round: d. [Q] Tamira Paszek, 61 63 (0:58)
Quarterfinals: d. Jelena Ostapenko, 67(1) 64 62 (1:59)
Semifinals: d. [6] Carla Suárez Navarro, 36 63 76(3) (1:42)

Barbora Strycova
First Round: d. [8] Karolina Pliskova, 64 76(7) (2:02)
Second Round: d. Heather Watson, 75 64 (1:40)
Quarterfinals: d. Tsvetana Pironkova, 62 75 (1:35)
Semifinals: d. CoCo Vandeweghe, 26 64 63 (2:10)

SAP Insights

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Keys Captures Second Career Title

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – Already assured of becoming the first American to debut in the Top 10 since Serena Williams in April 1999 by reaching the Aegon Classic final, Madison Keys went one better in Birmingham, defeating tour veteran Barbora Strycova, 6-3, 6-4, to win her second WTA title.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Keys had been made to work through a rainy week in Birmingham, winning a pair of thrilling three-setters against Jelena Ostapenko and Carla Suárez Navarro just to clinch her Top 10 debut. Strycova, by contrast, had dropped just one set en route to her second final of what has been a career-best season for the Czech, who is also set to play the doubles final alongside countrywoman Karolina Pliskova against Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva.

But it was the 21 year old American who drew first blood on Sunday’s final, racing out to a 3-0 lead and never looking back in a decisive opening set.

“I think I got off to a good start in the first set breaking early,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I think I held onto the that lead pretty well. Then in the second set, she definitely raised her level.”

Strycova indeed kept it close in the second, engineering a break point in the eighth game that would have allowed her to serve for a decider, but Keys kept her cool and won the last three games on the bounce to win her first WTA title since 2014 – also on grass in Eastbourne.

“There was definitely a couple of games, especially when I was serving, that I really had to dig deep and figure it out. Luckily I was able to.”

A quarterfinalist at last year’s Wimbledon Championships, Keys played near-perfect grass court tennis during the 79 minute affair, hitting 27 winners to 16 unforced errors and winning 13 of 18 forays to the net.

“I’m feeling pretty good. I think getting this many matches in a row was a huge opportunity that I think that can definitely help me at Wimbledon.

“I obviously really love the surface, so the more I get to play on it, the happier I am.”

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RTS Update: Keys On The Upswing

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Not only did Madison Keys become the first American to debut in the WTA’s Top 10 since April 1999, but the Aegon Classic champion also dramatically improved her chances for a debut appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Moving up six spots from No.13, Keys moved into the Top 8 at No.7, just ahead of 2014 finalist Simona Halep. The Top 6 remained unchanged after a week of play in Birmingham and the inaugural Mallorca Open, with Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Garbiñe Muguruza, defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, and Carla Suárez Navarro all retained their places on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.

Birmingham finalist Barbora Strycova also edged closer to the Top 8, moving up three spots to No.13. Caroline Garcia captured her first-ever title on grass and roared into the Top 16 from No.23.

The final Wimbledon preparations continue this week in Eastbourne, with Radwanska, Belinda Bencic, Timea Bacsinszky, and Petra Kvitova all in action.

RTS Ranking Movers

Madison Keys: No. 13 to No.7 (+6)
Caroline Garcia: No.23 to No.16 (+7)
Barbora Strycova: No.16 to No.13 (+3)
Jelena Ostapenko No.28 to No.26 (+2)

Click here to see the full Road To Singapore leaderboard standings following Birmingham.

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