Dubai: Vandeweghe Interview
An interview with Coco Vandeweghe after her first round win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Coco Vandeweghe after her first round win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
BOGOTA, Colombia – 2012 champion Lara Arruabarrena battled back from the brink in a three-set rollercoaster against fellow Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to return to the final at the Claro Open Colsanitas.
“I’m so happy to be back into the final here in Bogota,” Arruabarrena told press after the match. “Sara and I know each other very well, we even shared a room at Indian Wells, Miami and here in Bogota we’ve been sharing a room. We’re really good friends, which made this match even more complicated emotionally.
“Last night we talked about it and we told each other, ‘Listen, it’s just another match. We’ll go on court and be enemies during the match, but as soon as it’s over we forget all about it and put it behind us.'”
Both players came into the all-Spanish semifinal after advancing in marathon quarterfinal battles, each needing three sets and almost three hours to move on. But Arruabarrena spent nearly three hours longer on court as she played an additional two doubles matches after rain delays earlier in the week wreaked havoc on the tournament schedule.
Incredible rally from both @LaraArrua and @Sara_Sorribes! ? ? pic.twitter.com/PfaHJ4369p
— WTA (@WTA) 14 de abril de 2017
It didn’t look like Arruabarrena felt tired at all after snatching away the opening set after three breaks to a nervy Sorribes Tormo. The 20-year-old was looking for her first WTA final after breaking new ground in Bogota, but double faults plagued her game throughout the match (she would hit 12 in total).
Sorribes Tormo picked up steam in the second, though, as Arruabarrena’s serve abandoned her as well and the pair six straight breaks. They kept toe-to-toe until Sorribes Tormo roared ahead to take the late break and send the match into a decider.
With the momentum firmly on the younger Spaniard’s side, Arruabarrena saw herself slip behind in the score as Sorribes Tormo broke twice to open up a daunting 4-0 lead.
.@LaraArrua reels off SIX straight games!
Books a spot in @CopaWTABogota Final with 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over Sorribes Tormo! pic.twitter.com/a2YW8KIGvO
— WTA (@WTA) 14 de abril de 2017
But with her back against the wall, Arruabarrena produced some of her best tennis of the tournament to get back both breaks, firing off forehand winners from every angle of the court. Sorribes Tormo’s service woes reared their head once again and her go-to shot, the backhand slice, broke down under Arruabarrena’s renewed assault.
Arruabarrena reeled off six games in a row to find her way back from the brink and see off her countrywoman, returning to the Bogota final after five years.
“I feel like I played the whole match well, despite starting a little nervy which is normal in a semifinal,” Arruabarrena explained. “I was able to impose my rhythm throughout, but Sara is such a fighter and she waits for her chances.
“When I was 0-4 down I just told myself, remember what you did in the first set. Stay aggressive, come up to the net more. I also knew all the pressure was on her, trying to reach her first final. I think the experience helped me in the end. I’m proud of my mental strength I showed, too.”
She awaits the winner between No.3 seed Johanna Larson and Francesca Schiavone.
An interview with Ana Ivanovic after her win in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Plenty of the stars have been relaxing over the Easter weekend – as best they can.
Andrea Petkovic isn’t impressed with the tweets she’s seen from a certain music festival.
There's no worse time or place to be on social media than Instagram during Coachella. We get it, you're a hippie! Now move along.
— Andrea Petkovic (@andreapetkovic) April 16, 2017
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina have been at the soccer to see Spartak beat Zenit 2-1.
Ole ole oleole Спартак вперед!!✊?#холодинакакая#спасибозашарф @spartak_se pic.twitter.com/9s85liaRhB
— A. Pavlyuchenkova (@NastiaPav) April 16, 2017
Spartak-Zenit⚽️Спартак-Зенит⚽️Ваши прогнозы?Уже 1-0 Спартак? pic.twitter.com/Gn25OgWDaT
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) April 16, 2017
Christina McHale went to a different ball game – to watch the Yankees play the Cardinals.
Beautiful night for some baseball ??. Let's go Yankees !!!! pic.twitter.com/aT7Wbfbe2p
— Christina McHale (@ChristinaMcHale) April 17, 2017
Julia Boserup is just enjoying a beautiful view in Denmark.
Enjoying a few days in Copenhagen .. ? Cherry blossoms in full bloom pic.twitter.com/DMygMERzwP
— Julia Boserup (@juliaboserup) April 16, 2017
And Naomi Osaka is considering developing her tennis skills even further.
Does anyone know if mixed doubles is hard? Also, any opinions on it? Getting a bit curious.
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@Naomi_Osaka_) April 16, 2017
Watch this space…
An interview with Sara Errani after her in in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
LONDON, United Kingdom – British No.1 Johanna Konta has set her sights on becoming the top player in the world.
The 25-year-old has enjoyed an extraordinary start to 2017, winning the Sydney International ahead of the Australian Open before claiming her first-ever Premier Mandatory title in Miami in March.
She currently sits third in the Road to Singapore, behind only Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki, but is aiming for even more.
.@JoKonta91 captures the @MiamiOpen title!
Defeats Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/GVOF47SOVN
— WTA (@WTA) April 1, 2017
“My dream has always been to be No.1 in the world and to win titles and to really be at the top of the game,” she told the BBC.
“I’m doing everything in my power to make it come true. That’s been a dream of mine since I was a young girl and that continues to be my dream and I think will always be as long as I’m playing the sport.
“I need to keep focusing on my work because I know that will bring the best out of me. I always wanted to be the best version of myself.”
Konta, who currently sits at a career-high ranking of WTA World No.7, returns to WTA action following her Miami triumph in Stuttgart next week.
An interview with Barbora Strycova after her win in the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
ZHENGZHOU, China – No.2 seed Wang Qiang earned her first WTA 125K Series title at the Biyuan Cup Zhengzhou Women’s Tennis Open at top seed Peng Shuai was forced to retire in the deciding set with the match standing at 3-6, 7-6(3), 1-1.
“I entered this tournament as the second seed, so there was an opportunity for me to win the title,” Wang said post-match. “I almost got knocked out in the second round. At that time, I didn’t feel as confident as I am today. I’m not quite sure what happened in the second set, but I tried to stay focused and play my game, not making too many mistakes. I knew that she would go for it whenever she had the chance.”
Peng led the match 6-3, 3-0 and served for the match, but surrendered the deciding tiebreak and could no longer play on after two hours, 15 minutes. Wang’s victory levels the head-to-head between the pair to 1-1.
It was a Chinese sweep for the home crowd as in the doubles final, Han Xinyun and Lin Zhu claimed the crown over Jacqueline Cako and Julia Glushko, 7-5, 6-1.
“We didn’t play each other before, so the only thing we could do was stick to the plan,” the pair said post-match. “The second set became easier as we found our rhythm. We were more powerful than our opponents from the baseline, and we had a better serve.”
All photos courtesy of the Biyuan Cup Zhengzhou Women’s Tennis Open.
DOHA, Qatar – On Monday, Agnieszka Radwanska met the press ahead of the Premier 5 level event in Doha, the Qatar Total Open, and she discussed everything from her strong start to the season, her Fed Cup plans and the next generation of tennis. Here’s what the World No.3 had to say…
On her red-hot start to the season, which saw her win a title in Shenzhen and reach the semifinals at the Australian Open…
“I had very good start, and I just hope I can keep going and playing the same good tennis I was playing in Australia. I have a good rest after that. I was practicing at home and working hard. Hopefully I can really do well here.”
On the challenge of the “openness” of the women’s game…
“For us, for some players that being in the Top 10 for a while, it’s also tough to stay there. There are a lot of talented, young players coming up and playing great tennis. This is another challenge for us to stay there.
There’s a lot of players deserve to be Top 10. We can also see everything is changing every week about the majors as well.”
On how Serena Williams’ dominance affects that openness…
“Of course Serena is always there, especially last year, but other years totally different. She’s definitely dominating if she’s on fire. When she’s playing her best tennis, she just playing unbelievable and too good, but otherwise it’s open.”
On her plans to play in Poland’s Fed Cup tie against Taiwan…
“I want to help my team in April to stay in that World Group, so this is my plan and I hope I can play that. Of course we can see individually busy schedule and tight schedule because of the Olympics, so I really want to stay healthy the whole year. But here we have match at home, so I’m ready to play.”