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Konta Rallies Past King In Shenzhen

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SHENZHEN, China – No.3 seed Johanna Konta recovered from a set and 1-3 down to defeat Vania King, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the last eight at the Shenzhen Open.

Konta had dropped just two games in her first match of the season, but endured the slowest of starts on Tuesday against King, who spent last year rebuilding her ranking following a back injury that sidelined her for most of 2015.

“Every match is difficult, regardless of the scoreline,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Yesterday had its own challenges; today had different challenges. I needed to adjust today and that took time, but I’m definitely happy with how I was able to get back into the match.

“I think I fought well and I kept myself very present and grounded, trying to create my own momentum and keep my bubble of focus. From there, it got closer and I was able to raise my level, and perhaps she dropped hers. It was a little bit of both.”

The upset bug that had taken out No.7 seed Monica Niculescu to start the day seemed poised to hit Konta from the start. King broke at love to kick off the opening set and never looked back, breaking once more to put herself one set away from victory.

“I think all credit to Vania. I think she played a very very good first set; throughout the whole match she played quite well, but especially in the first set she came out really strong and didn’t give me much of a chance to get much of a grip on the match. So I had to work incredibly hard, dig deep and really just try to create my own momentum in the second set.

“Once I did that, it became more of a competition.”

From a set and a break down, the British No.1 found herself three games from defeat, but nonetheless rallied, winning five straight games to level the match.

The decider was ultimately a more straightforward affair as Konta broke twice to seal victory in 96 minutes.

Up next for Konta is either Kristyna Pliskova or qualifier Chang Kai-Chen. Pliskova began the week with a thrilling win over No.6 seed Anastasija Sevastova, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), while Chang scored an upset over Viktorija Golubic in straight sets.

“I had a very good season last year with a lot of great memories to take from that,” she said when asked to reflect on her breakthrough 2016. “But most importantly I’m looking to keep myself healthy this year to play a full season as much as I can. Every time I go out on the court, I’m trying to apply the same mentality as last year; I want to leave it all out there, compete every single point and do my best, looking to improve every single day.

“I have no outcome goals. I always do my best to stay process-orientated; I may sound like a broken record, and it may sound boring, but it’s the way I am!”

Earlier in the day, No.7 seed Niculescu lost a tense two-setter to Wang Qiang, 7-6(4), 6-4, and suffered from health issues that required a medical timeout.

“For some reason, I couldn’t breathe so well. I had no air, so I had to call the physio. I felt I gave all I had in the first set, and then it was tough for me. I’m disappointed, but I have to wait for Hobart and Australia.

“I had some problems starting from yesterday, but I don’t know why I didn’t feel my best today. It was important to take that first set, but every time I had to serve, I felt my arms were heavy and I had no power. I still have to play doubles [with Simona Halep] so I hope to play better there.”

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Kerber First Into Brisbane Final

Kerber First Into Brisbane Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BRISBANE, Australia – Angelique Kerber put on a rock solid performance against Carla Suárez Navarro on Friday to become the first player into the final of the Premier-level Brisbane International.

Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The two players had played four times before and split them evenly, 2-2, but this time it was one-sided traffic as the No.4-seeded Kerber was on her game from the get-go, breaking straight away and needing just an hour and 15 minutes to finally put away the No.6-seeded Suárez Navarro, 6-2, 6-3.

“I think it was a good match from me. I was feeling very well from the first point,” Kerber said.

“I knew I had to play aggressively against her, and I was trying to go for it, trying to let her move, and if I had the chance, just going for it. It worked well today, so I’m happy with my performance.”

Kerber finished with a +6 differential of winners to unforced errors, 25 to 19, while Suárez Navarro finished at -9, 13 to 22. But the biggest stat may have come on the Kerber serve – the German held all eight of her service games during the match, and she fought off both of the break points she faced.

But overall, Kerber was lethal whether she was on offense or defense – the perfect balance.

“For me it’s good to find the middle,” she said about her game earlier in the week. “I like to be more aggressive, but also still running everywhere and trying to get every single ball back. I was practicing that a lot the last few weeks, to make the transition better from defense to aggressive playing.

“I still think I should be more aggressive on my second serve and the next few shots, though.”

The World No.10 is now through to the 18th WTA final of her career. She has a 7-10 record in her first 17, but she’s done much better in WTA finals recently, winning four of her last five (all in 2015).

The big picture goal, however, is getting matches in before the big one – the Australian Open.

“I’m just trying to get out there and play like I’ve been practicing the last few weeks, trying to transfer it all into my matches, being more aggressive and serving better than I did in the last few months.

“I think it’s working well. I think I’m on a good way to being 100% ready for Melbourne.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Former WTA World No.3 (in both singles and doubles) Nadia Petrova has announced her retirement from professional tennis after a 19-year career.

“Tennis has given me so much,” Petrova told WTA Insider. “It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures. My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

The 34-year-old from Russia concludes a career which saw her clinch 13 WTA singles and 24 WTA doubles titles, reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, advance to two Grand Slam doubles finals and win the WTA Finals doubles title on two occasions.

Check out Petrova’s full statement below and click here to read WTA Insider’s exclusive interview with the two-time French Open semifinalist.

Tennis has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was pretty much everything I did on a daily basis and the little time I had off, I would spend with my loved ones. I suppose when the time comes to say goodbye, it becomes bitter sweet. It’s confusing, somewhat painful, scary yet also gratifying. I’ve decided to turn the page and move on to another stage in my life and I’m ready to do it. Tennis has given me so much. It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures.

My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful. My career has been great, obviously with highs and lows. We all know I was plagued with many injuries which made some of my calendar years challenging. Unfortunately that’s part of an athlete’s life and we all learn how to deal with that. We fall and then we get back up and keep going. Then there comes a time, no matter what you do, say or feel, nothing is ever enough. Your body lets you know it’s had enough. In 2013, when I lost my mother, emotionally I was a mess. On top of that, I was dealing with a hip injury which affected a good portion of the year. I made the decision to take some personal time to heal physically and emotionally. Hopefully that would help me once I decided to step back on court. In February 2014, I tried playing to see how I felt. My mind was still everywhere but on the court and my body was just not responding. It was painful. Painful because I felt useless and the player I was once, was no longer there.

I took more time and when I decided to start training again, my body felt good but once I was aggressively doing court work, it started to break down again. I had to start facing the inevitable and that was that my career had come to an end. To be able to compete at a high level with these top players, I had to be in the best shape and if my hip was not holding up, there was no way I could move on. After many failed attempts of trying to make a come back, I came to the realization that maybe it was time to turn the page and say goodbye to tennis competitively. I would be starting a new chapter in my life, exploring other interest and keeping myself occupied but most importantly spending my time with my loved ones. Making up for lost time.

I said to myself.. “I want to start a family, I want to be home more and I want to enjoy a lot of the things I never had time for while I was on the road”. So although it’s been unfortunate that I was unable to overcome this last injury and compete again, I’m excited for what’s to come and be a part of tennis in the future with other aspects of the sport. I’ve been blessed that Tennis has been such a huge part of my life professionally for the past 15 years. I want to thank every single one of you who has made it possible along the way. Whether that’s been sponsors, tournament staff, WTA, my travel team (which consisted of my coach, trainer, physio and manager), friends and family.. Thank you all. Last but not least MY FANS!! You have been my motivation, my back bone and the reason why I hadn’t given up sooner. Without fans, there wouldn’t be tennis. You all make the sport. Thank you all so much for believing in me and helping me through out my entire career.

Without any further delay, I’d like to make it known that I’m officially retiring from the sport. I plan to stay involved in tennis in the near future. I will be devoting a lot of my time to the sport through charity work which I will make known soon. I may no longer be competing but I will never be far from a court. My heart will always belong there.

Thank you all for making my career so memorable.

Nadia P

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska eased past qualifier Duan Ying-Ying and into the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney on Wednesday evening.

At last week’s Shenzhen Open, Radwanska saved three match points to defeat Duan in a tougher-than-expected season opener. This time around it was a far more straightforward outing, the No.2 seed completing a 6-3, 6-2 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

“Sometimes you play people two or three weeks in a row, like Caroline and I had last year in Asia, but I’m definitely more happy with this performance than in Shenzhen,” Radwanska said in her on-court interview. “It’s another semifinal here, so I’m very happy with that.

“I was warming up at 4pm and it was still very hot, so I was a little bit lucky to play this evening. I was watching the first match here and it was unbelievably hot – the guys were playing amazingly.”

Despite the more hospitable conditions, both players made heavy weather of holding onto their serve early on. But after a succession of breaks, Radwanska finally put some daylight between the two, opening up a 5-3 lead before calmly serving out the set.

Unlike in Shenzhen, there was to be no Duan comeback, Radwanska rattling off the first four games of the second set to ease her way into the last four.

Radwanska lifted the title in 2012, and standing between her and a return to the final is marathon woman Barbora Strycova. Earlier in the day, Strycova withstood the worst of the midday sun to win an epic encounter against Caroline Wozniacki. “Like I said, she was playing unbelievable tennis and she’s really on fire. Last year she also played amazing tennis. I’m just expecting a good match and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – Timea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova hit through top seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova, 6-4, 6-4, to win their first title as a pair at the Apia International Sydney.

Babos and Pavlyuchenkova were playing just their second event together, playing just once at the end of last season in Moscow. Babos ended her seven-month partnership with Yaroslava Shvedova after the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“I think at least we found a good balance on this,” Babos said after the match. “It was definitely a great week. We beat some really good teams, the best teams, the last two, three rounds.

“To start like this, our partnership together is important and promising.”

Pavlyuchenkova, by contrast, had opted to focus on singles for most of 2016, though the former Singapore alternate is more than capable on the doubles court.

“It’s amazing, because Timea, she’s more experienced in doubles,” said the Russian. “She has a lot more titles and done great in the Grand Slams, as well.

“I’m really happy, because it’s also nice to win a title in doubles. I feel like we had also been playing really good together.”

Mirza teamed up with Strycova last summer, and the duo were playing their first event of 2017 together after the former No.1 paired with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win the Brisbane International, passing the top spot to her good friend after 91 weeks leading the WTA rankings. 

The first set came down to just one break of serve, whereas the second featured four.

“We just went out there and tried to do our game, tried to dictate and play how we always played before and tried, like Timea said, to enjoy and not put too much pressure,” added Pavlyuchenkova.

Babos and Pavlyuchenkova raced out to a 3-0 double break lead in the second set, and though Mirza and Strycova twice clawed the deficit down to one, the unseeded team emerged victorious after one hour and 14 minutes of play. For the fast-rising Hungarian youngster, it was her second title in Sydney.

“This was actually my first year when I played singles here,” said Babos. “Last year I only played doubles. It’s a great tournament. In general, Australia [is] one of my favorite countries if not the favorite. So I really enjoy being here. It’s great atmosphere.”

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