Charleston: Stephens vs. Gavrilova
Sloane Stephens takes on Daria Gavrilova in the third round of the Volvo Car Open.
Sloane Stephens takes on Daria Gavrilova in the third round of the Volvo Car Open.
SINGAPORE – Angelique Kerber heads into the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global as World No.1 – and she intends to stay that way. It will be her fourth appearance at the tournament, where she will attempt to make it beyond the round robin stage for the first time.
1) Top notch.
Kerber looks set to end the year as the World No.1 – a position she achieved for the first time in September when she won her second Grand Slam, the US Open, and bumped Serena Williams off the top spot. If she does finish as year-end World No.1, she will be the 12th woman to do so since rankings were introduced in 1975.
2) Experience counts.
Kerber is the 22nd woman to achieve the World No.1 ranking – and, at 28 years old, the oldest to debut in that spot.
3) Flying the flag.
She is the first German to make it to World No.1 since Stefanie Graf – one of her idols.
4) First left.
She is also the first left-handed player to hit the heights of World No.1 since Monica Seles – last at the top of the rankings almost 20 years ago.
5) Queen of Consistency.
2016 will be Kerber’s fifth straight year in the Top 10 – but her first in the top five since 2012.
6) Triumphant 2016.
Kerber signalled her intentions when she beat Williams in the Australian Open final back in January – and she followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon final, when she lost narrowly to Williams. Kerber won 19 of 22 matches during the summer swing as she reached the semifinals in Montreal, collected a silver medal at the Olympics and was a finalist at Cincinnati – indeed, she played 11 matches in 14 days throughout that hectic period. It didn’t have too much of a detrimental effect on her, though – she rounded it off with her second Grand Slam title by defeating Karolina Pliskova in the US Open final.
7) 28 years later.
Not to emphasise her age too much, but Kerber is only the second woman to win her first two Grand Slam singles titles after turning 28. Li Na did it first, winning the 2011 French Open at 29 and, three years later, the Australian Open.
8) First loss.
Since reaching No.1, Kerber has lost to Petra Kvitova (Wuhan), Elina Svitolina (Beijing) and Daria Gavrilova (Hong Kong).
9) Final ambition.
Kerber insists the prospect of finishing the year at No.1 is not on her mind – and that her goal is simply to do well in Singapore.
10) Big challenge.
Despite making her debut at the WTA Tour Finals back in 2012, Kerber has yet to qualify out of the round-robin stage – indeed, during her debut she did not win a single match. She has qualified for the Finals in every year since, except for 2014 where she was an unused alternate. And she’ll be confident that she knows how to handle the pressure of the big occasion now – she drastically improved her three-set win percentage by 18.4 per cent (from 15-12 in 2015 to 17-6 in 2016). That includes both her Grand Slam victories, taking the finals in three sets – showing that she can win on the biggest stages of all.
March was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.
In the end it was Agnieszka Radwanska once again who played one of many memorable shots to engineer a match point against the equally tricky Monica Niculescu. On her way to briefly reclaiming the World No.2 ranking for the first time since 2012, Radwanska hit a most improbable passing shot to stun the BNP Paribas Open crowd – and taking home this month’s top votes.
Click here to watch all of March’s finalists.
Final Results for March’s WTA Shot Of The Month
1. Agnieszka Radwanska (55%)
2. Simona Halep (33%)
3. Camila Giorgi (5%)
4. Serena Williams (4%)
5. Angelique Kerber (3%)
2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners
January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska
How it works:
Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
It was Thanksgiving in the US on Thursday, and WTA stars from America and around the world took to Twitter to celebrate. Here are some of the best tweets from the big day…
1. Fantastic First.
Dominika Cibulkova will round off a fantastic season by appearing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career. “I can’t describe with words what qualifying for the WTA Finals Singapore means to me,” said Cibulkova. “After such a tough year last year, this year has been amazing – so reaching the WTA Finals is a dream come true. It was my goal to be a consistently great player and I have achieved that this year. I want to enjoy it, play good tennis and end the year the best way I can.”
2. Linz Leader.
She wrapped up her place at the season-ending showpiece when she beat Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz.
Dominika @Cibulkova reaches the #WTAFinals for the first time in her career! ? pic.twitter.com/Yhg1cNBokQ
— WTA (@WTA) October 16, 2016
3. Comeback Queen.
Singapore will crown a terrific comeback season for Cibulkova. She has won three titles in 2016 — at the Katowice Open, Aegon International Eastbourne and most recently Linz – and she finished as runner-up at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mutua Madrid Open and the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
4. Flying High.
She’s flown up the rankings this year – Cibulkova was ranked No.66 in February and thanks to her scintillating form has since hit a high of World No.8.
5. Wedding Worries.
Cibulkova’s wedding this year was scheduled for the day of the Wimbledon final – and when she made it all the way to the quarterfinals it looked like the nuptials might have to be delayed for a day or two. Elena Vesnina solved the potential problem, though, beating a fatigued Cibulkova, 6-2, 6-2.
6. Missed Chance.
It’s all such a contrast from 2014, when Cibulkova had her first chance to qualify for the WTA Finals – and her late season form took a nosedive, winning just three regular season matches after Wimbledon.
7. Impressive Improvement.
It’s also a huge improvement from 2015, when she missed five months of the season after surgery on her heel and dropped down the rankings, falling out of the Top 50, although she managed to rise up to world No.38 by the end of the year.
The point of The Championships so far? ??? @ARadwanska & @Cibulkova #Wimbledonhttps://t.co/UZ1HMkYjvv
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2016
8. Rival for Radwanska.
Cibulkova leads defending Singapore champion Agnieszka Radwanska 3-1 this year — and all four matches went deep into three sets. That will be intriguing should they face off in the Finals.
9. Set Fair.
It’s not just Radwanska she has great three-set form against. Cibulkova is the player on the WTA tour with the most three-set wins in 2016 — her record currently stands at 18 wins and nine losses.
10. Follower of Fashion.
With the help and support of her friend Marion Bartoli, in 2014 Cibulkova launched a clothing line, ‘Pome!’, named after her on-court rally cry.
The WTA is live streaming the singles & doubles draws, practice sessions, press conferences & Future Stars final, for the duration of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
You can watch it all here, LIVE, from October 21 through to the end of the tournament!
Be the first to find out which of your favorite WTA stars will face off against each other at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global!
Follow the Draw Ceremony LIVE on Facebook and wtatennis.com Friday, October 21 at 18:30 SST / 06:30 ET / 11:30 BST.
LIVE STREAM SCHEDULE:
Friday, October 21:
Live Practice – 1:30 PM-2:00 PM (SST) | 6:30 AM-7:00 AM (BST) | 1:30 AM-2:00 AM (EDT)
Live Singles Draw Ceremony – 6:15 (SST) | 11:15 AM (BST) | 6:15 (EST)
Saturday, October 22:
Live Practice – 5:00 PM-6:00 PM (SST) | 10:00 AM-11:00 AM (BST) | 5:00 AM-6:00 AM (EST)
Sunday, October 23:
Live Future Stars Final – 10:45 AM (SST) | 3:45 AM (BST) | 10:45 PM Saturday (EST)
More streams to be announced – stay tuned!
*Stream times and duration subject to change
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Timea Babos in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – On Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant hit the court for the last time in his career. After 20 extraordinary seasons, ‘The Black Mamba’ will hang up the purple and gold for good. With a sold-out crowd, Bryant dropped a season-high of 60 points and led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-96 comeback win against the Utah Jazz.
It was a night to remember and current WTA players, as well as a few WTA Legends, took to Twitter to show their support and say #ThankYouKobe…
#MambaDay pic.twitter.com/RoTVyYmDC3
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) April 10, 2016
? pic.twitter.com/ZbTiEXewcS
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) April 14, 2016
Amazing career @kobebryant 5 rings 60 point exit. #MambaDay looking forward to your continued journey
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) April 14, 2016
YAAAAAAAAAS MAMBA!!!! #notevenalakersfan #clutchcity
— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) April 14, 2016
This guy!! 60 points in his last game … ??? amazing ! #mambaout pic.twitter.com/lpTnrXi8Dj
— Kim Clijsters (@Clijsterskim) April 14, 2016
Legendary Mamba.. #EndofanEra
— Sloane Stephens (@SloaneStephens) April 14, 2016
Great speech @kobebryant emotional funny grateful full of love!!
— Pam Shriver (@PHShriver) April 14, 2016
What a career! #Legend #DreamEpic @kobebryant @Nike pic.twitter.com/xlT2UbUY3z
— Sabine Lisicki (@sabinelisicki) April 14, 2016
An interview with Daria Gavrilova after her win in the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup.
MELBOURNE, Australia – The field for the Australian Open is starting to take shape after the initial acceptance list was unveiled earlier this week.
Monday marked the entry deadline for 2017’s first major, with Tennis Australia confirming the identity of 110 of the 128-strong draw. The remaining 18 will be made up of qualifiers and wildcards.
Defending champion Angelique Kerber will be joined by all her principal title rivals, including Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep and Dominika Cibulkova. The cut-off this year was No.107, with Patricia Maria Tig claiming the last berth.
Also Melbourne-bound will be Luksika Kumkhum and Lizette Cabrera, who have been awarded the first two wildcards.
Australian teenager Cabrera, who will be making her Grand Slam debut, made great strides in 2016, winning two ITF Circuit titles and rising nearly 800 places in the rankings. “It’s amazing news and a pretty surreal feeling. To be honest I’m probably still in a bit of shock, but I’m super excited to start playing,” Cabrera said. “I think if I’m playing my best tennis you can always match it with any girls inside the top 100, so I want to try and win as many matches as I can which will hopefully help me play in more WTA tournaments in the future.”
Kumkhum, meanwhile, earned her spot by triumphing over Chang Kai-Chen in the final of the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off. An ever-present at the Australian Open since 2013, Kumkhum, who upset Petra Kvitova several years back, is eagerly anticipating her return.
“I actually have played in the Australian Open since juniors,” she said. “And I don’t know why, I really like playing there in Melbourne, and had some good results too.
“I feel like at home every time being there, not far from Bangkok, the weather and everything, I think if someone gets used to hot weather, they will like Melbourne too.”