Dubai: Anastasija Sevastova vs Wang Qiang
Anastasija Sevastova takes on Wang Qiang in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Anastasija Sevastova takes on Wang Qiang in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Serena Williams takes on Zarina Diyas in the third round of the Miami Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Angie Cunningham, the WTA’s former Vice President of Player Relations and On-Site Operations, has passed away after a long battle with Motor Neurone Disease.
A staunch campaigner in raising awareness of the disease, Angie died at her Melbourne home on Tuesday, surrounded by family.
As a teenager Angie was a leading junior player, going on to work at the WTA for eight years before moving back to Australia with husband Pat to raise their two children, Maggie and Sophie. In 2012, she was diagnosed with MND, but even as her condition deteriorated she continued the fight.
Not only fight the disease, for which there is no known cause, or effective treatment, but also to raise funds and awareness for other sufferers.
Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova, Rennae Stubbs, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt were among those who rallied behind the cause, many of whom took to social media to mourn the passing of an inspirational figure in the tennis community.
My courageous friend Angie Cunningham lost her fight with MND last night. I miss u we will fight on @pattweetingham pic.twitter.com/7NmI7sjbVe
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) October 5, 2016
Motor Neurone Disease is a group of neurological diseases that affects the voluntary muscles in the body, which control activities like speaking, walking, swallowing and general movement. It progresses over time, causing debilitating disability and eventually death. The life expectancy is two to three years.
There is no known cause for the disease, although many sufferers are athletes. In the US the disease is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, after the famous baseball player who died from it.
Caroline Wozniacki discovered what’s behind the WTA’s weather woes in her press conference at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Madison Keys after her third round win at the Miami Open
Angelique Kerber had a second shot of the day on Wednesday at the China Open.
Caroline Wozniacki takes on Anastasija Sevastova in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Madison Keys takes on Roberta Vinci in the third round of the Miami Open.
An interview with Zhang Shuai after her win in the round of 16 at the China Open.
BUDAPEST, Hungary – No.1 seed Timea Babos has seen her best tennis flourish in front of her home crowd in Budapest at the Hungarian Ladies Open, and during her semifinal clash against Julia Goerges there was a special guest sitting front row to take it all in – former World No.1 Monica Seles.
“It was a really big moment for me and I was very honored,” Babos told wtatennis.com after the match.
“It’s amazing, you know we don’t have very many huge Hungarian tennis players, and Monica has a Hungarian background – for her to be here today, on the Hungarian National Day of Tennis, watching us, it was really great.”
Seles, who won nine Grand Slam titles during her storied career, liked what she saw from the 23-year-old Hungarian No.1.
“I think ‘Timi’ has got a bright future ahead of her,” she said. “She played very well under very tough conditions today, there’s so much pressure on her and so many expectations.
“She hasn’t played well coming into this tournament, so for her to break through and really play the best tennis so far of the year here in her hometown of Budapest, is just really huge.”
It’s been four years since a WTA tournament was contested in Hungary, and this year’s edition will see the No.1 seed Babos take on the No.2 seed Lucie Safarova in the final.
“This is really a dream final for the tournament, and for it to happen in its first year just shows how much strength the WTA has,” Seles said. “I always enjoy coming back here [to Hungary] and I’m very excited there’s a WTA event now here. And that we have Timi in the final, it’s great for the first year of the tournament.”
“I hope the crowds can keep coming here to support her even more and make tennis very popular here so the tournament can keep growing.”
– Photos courtesy of Hungarian Ladies Open