Tennis News

ROME, Italy – Serena Williams returned to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia after a comfortable victory over the unseeded Irina-Camelia Begu on Saturday.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

The Foro Italico has historically been a happy hunting ground for Williams, who has reached the semifinals or better on eight occasions. Three times she has gone on to lift the trophy at the famous old venue, and judging by her performances this week she is in the mood to add to this tally.

Following on from the World No.1’s awe-inspiring display against Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday evening, few gave Begu much hope of springing an upset. However, the Romanian has been enjoying a fine clay court season and acquitted herself well early on, recovering from an early break to draw level at 4-4.

Unfortunately for Begu, this was as good as it got. Two games later, a sequence of smart returns gave Williams the set and from there she rarely looked like being caught, wrapping up victory after an hour and 26 minutes by ghosting in to punch away a smart volley.

Standing between Williams and her 70th WTA title is fellow American Madison Keys. Earlier in the day Keys maintained her composure after a lengthy rain delay to defeat No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Since losing to her sister Venus at Montréal in 2014, Williams has won 15 straight matches against Americans. Her match against Keys will be the first all-American final at the Foro in 46 years.

“I think it will be wonderful because, like I said last time I was in here, I feel like Madison is one of the players that really can be great and she has that potential, and now she’s showing that on all surfaces,” Williams said.

“You know, we’re an all-American final on the clay. It’s been a minute since that’s happened. That’s just – it’s great. It’s really exciting.”

ROME, Italy – Serena Williams emerged victorious in the first all-American final since 2012 – the first on red clay since 2002 – defeating countrywoman Madison Keys, 7-6(5), 6-3, to snap a nine-month title drought and win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the fourth time in her illustrious career.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

“I feel like it was important for me to just go out there like usual,” she said in her post-match press conference. “It’s a totally new match, it’s a different week, you know, and hopefully just win one. If not, hope for next time, next week.”

Playing in her third final of 2016, Williams had spent the season in search of her first title since the Western & Southern Open last summer, and was the heavy favorite to break that duck against Keys, who was playing the biggest final of her career on what had hitherto been her least favorite surface.

“I think no matter how many times you play Serena, you always go in and you can just feel her presence,” Keys said after the match. “That’s always an extra thing that you have to be worried about during the match.

“But for me today it really wasn’t so much about how big the tournament was or anything like that. It was really just wanting to go out and do my best and give my best performance.”

None of that seemed to matter from the outset as Keys unlocked the early break, leading 3-1 in the first set. Williams steadied from there, winning the next three games and later grabbing the opening set in a tie-break.

“I think she’s such a powerful player,” Williams said, backing up her praise of Keys at net, when she predicted her opponent could be a future World No.1. “Obviously going in, I knew that, but I was just trying. I think I was pretty much able to just get back what I could, you know, and that’s all I was trying to do was just to go out there and be consistent, and, yeah, make my shots.”

Serving for the match in the second, there would be one final momentum shift as the 21-time Grand Slam champion was broken one game from the win, but the break was swiftly repaid in kind and Williams was the winner of a 70th career title – the fifth woman to achieve such a total in singles after Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, and Margaret Court. In all, she hit four fewer winners than Keys (13 to 17), but also eight fewer errors (24 to 32), and converted all but one of her six break point chances to seal the match in just under 90 minutes. 

“I'm so proud of you. You can get to World No.1.”@SerenaWilliams to @Madison_Keys #ibi16 pic.twitter.com/LA7lzmOcC3

— WTA (@WTA) May 15, 2016

Missing the Mutua Madrid Open due to illness, Williams was playing her first red clay event of the season; the win in Rome sets her up in good stead to defend her French Open title as she attempts to win her fourth crown there, as well.

“I have tried to defend there once, twice, three times before. Didn’t quite work so well. But this year is different. I’m going to definitely go in there and I feel more calm and I don’t feel stress to, like, have to win. You know, I feel like I just am happy to be out here.”

For Keys, it was a breakthrough run; recently pairing with new coach Thomas Hogstedt, the 21-year-old is set to re-enter the Top 20 at No.17 – not too far from her career-high of No.16.

“I think having a couple of Top 10 wins this week was really big for me and playing people who have done very well in Roland Garros and just on clay in general. But I think the biggest thing is just how calm I have stayed on court and really, even in tough situations, stayed calm and collected and just really focused on my game, and I feel like I’m just playing much smarter tennis.”

INCREDIBLE court coverage @SerenaWilliams! ? #ibi16 https://t.co/aOYNs2ggSI

— WTA (@WTA) May 15, 2016

STRASBOURG, France – Monica Puig recovered from a one-set deficit to upend top seed Sara Errani, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the second round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Puig had never lost to the 2012 French Open finalist in their two previous encounters, and though their first match-up on clay looked to give the Italian an advantage, the ultimate result wasn’t any different as the Puerto Rican star and 2014 champion hit six aces en route to a one hour and 45 minute victory.

“I’m really pleased to get the win here in Strasbourg, and it’s nice coming back as a former Champion,” she said after the match. “Errani is a really tough competitor, and after the first set, my head could have gone down, but I kept fighting and was really pleased with the victory, especially the third set score.”

For Errani, it marks the end of a difficult red clay swing; after a promising start and a run to the semifinals of the Volvo Car Open, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship winner went 0-3 in Madrid, Rome, and Strasbourg.

“I tried my best today but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way,” Errani said. “I felt strong after the first set but my game was a little off and I found the conditions tough.

“There was a time in the second set when it went 4-2 and I knew I was struggling. Then the third set happened. It’s never nice to go out in the first round but that’s tennis.”

Undaunted, the No.1 seed tried to find a silver lining in her early defeat.

“I haven’t had time to see the city yet but maybe before I go to Paris.”

Puig will next play lucky loser and former World No.16 Virginie Razzano, who defeated 2010 French Open quarterfinalist Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3, 6-3.

Earlier in the day, No.3 seed Samantha Stosur continued her successful clay court season with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over American qualifier Lauren Davis, while No.8 seed Timea Babos went through Olga Govortsova 6-4, 6-1. No.10 seed Caroline Garcia was imperious in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens, while qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a see-sawing 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 match against Qiang Wang.

No.2 seed Sloane Stephens had just leveled her first round match with Donna Vekic at one set apiece before the match was suspended, first due to rain, then darkness at 7-5, 2-6.

PARIS, France – Defending champion Serena Williams outlasted an inspired Kristina Mladenovic and weathered a two and a half hour rain delay to advance to the second week of Roland Garros, 6-4, 7-6(10).

After breezing through her first two matches here in less than one hour each, Williams faced her first big test of the tournament against French No.1 Mladenovic, who relishes playing on big stages in her country. In fact, of Mladenovic’s five career Top 10 wins, four have come here in Paris with two of those taking place right here in Roland Garros.

Mladenovic seemed comfortable as ever on Philippe Chatrier, the biggest stage of all, though ahead of the match she admitted to feeling the mixed emotions many players experience when playing against the World No.1.

“I have to take it very positively,” she said in her press conference. “This is an experience, something to do, it’s a dream. I grew up watching Serena play. Then I’m going to play against her.

“I’m extremely happy because this is a challenge. Well, this being said, it’s going to be very difficult.”

Mladenovic and Williams kept pace during a tense first set, which saw Williams brush away all four of Mladenovic’s break point chances while letting slip away two of her own. Mladenovic’s sneaky drop shots caught Williams wrong-footed on more than one occasion, and made for some spectacular rallies during the course of the contest.

(Very Very) Hot Shot de Kristina Mladenovic contre Serena Williams ! ??? #RG16 https://t.co/r8ZLJJ1IFd

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2016

But Williams turned up the heat when it counted. A drawn out battle at 4-4 saw Mladenovic bring up three break points, but the American blasted back to back aces to deny her. A lone break in the final game gave Williams the first set after almost an hour.

In the second set, Williams continued to keep the pressure on the Frenchwoman’s serve: Williams made her have to come back from 0-40 down to hold serve at 2-2, and then again in her next service game.

A Mladenovic ace sent the match into a tiebreak right as the rain, which had been threatening all match long, finally broke into a downpour.

Two and a half hours of rain delay later, the players were back on the court for the decisive battle. Mladenovic quickly built up a 3-0 lead, but it was short-lived as Williams broke back and rattled off four straight points to bring up her first of five match points.

Mladenovic rallied valiantly, saving match point after match point – including one with a gutsy drop shot, her go-to weapon in this match – but the World No.1 wouldn’t be denied a fifth time, and Williams took the match after a two-hour and thirteen minute thriller.

“I just made it a point to play my game,” Williams said of the tiebreak. “Up until that point I had not been playing my game. I was playing really defensive. It’s not me.

“So I just wanted to be Serena out there.”

Huge celebration from @serenawilliams. How much do you think that win meant to her? #RG16 #InsideRG pic.twitter.com/cIl9hKxiLm

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2016

The stats reveal just how evenly matched Mladenovic and Williams were throughout the match: both players hit three aces and struck 27 winners, though Williams hit 31 unforced errors to Mladenovic’s 35. The difference makers proved to be Mladenovic’s vulnerable serve – she hit seven double faults in total – and Williams’ dominance at the net, winning 15 of 25 net points.

“I think she played well,” Williams said afterwards. “I feel like I made a tremendous amount of errors. But, you know, I feel like she kind of forced me to. She forced me to go for it.”

With the win, Williams brings up a fourth round match against Elina Svitolina, who earlier in the day defeated former champion Ana Ivanovic.

With the 2016 French Open officially in the books, the WTA Insider team looked back at the entertaining final that saw new World No.2 Garbiñe Muguruza stun 21-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams for her first major title, and look ahead to the grass court season and all the intriguing storylines that abound heading into Wimbledon.

Can Muguruza replicate last year’s run to the final at the All England Club and avoid the dreaded post-major slump? Will Serena capture the elusive and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at her favorite major tournament? How will Victoria Azarenka recover from her injury-addled spring? Can Timea Bacsinszky and Simona Halep turn around disappointing Roland Garros compaigns into grass court success?

All this and more on the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app of your choice and reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.

May was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.

In the end it was Simona Halep, who showed off her quick hands and quality anticipation in her third round match against Timea Bacsinszky at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Staring down the barrel of Bacsinszky’s fearsome backhand, Halep dove for a forehand volley and the gamble paid off, helping her go on to win the match and capture her second career Premier Mandatory title.

Click here to watch all of May’s finalists.

Final Results for May’s WTA Shot Of The Month

1. Simona Halep (70%)
2. Irina-Camelia Begu (12%)
3. Serena Williams (7%)
4. Garbiñe Muguruza (6%)
5. Carla Suárez Navarro (5%)

2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners

January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska
March: Agnieszka Radwanska
April: Monica Niculescu

How it works:

Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com 

Ricoh Open Final Centre Court, noon

Watch live action from Sunday’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch final on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

[3] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #32) vs. [6] CoCo Vandeweghe (USA #43)
Head-to-head: Vandeweghe leads 3-0
Final Fact: Vandeweghe has hit 22 aces en route to the final.

Much has been made of American tennis’ new-found love affair with clay. However, many of the country’s contingent on tour still long for the return to the faster surfaces.

Leading this vanguard is CoCo Vandeweghe. A booming serve, a penchant for taking the ball early and a willingness to move up the court make the Californian’s game ideally suited to the hard courts on which she was raised and the grass courts she has grown to love.

The latter is a surface that has brought her much joy, too; in 2014 at  ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Vandeweghe came through qualifying to lift her maiden WTA trophy, while at Wimbledon she left a trail of seeds in her wake to reach the 2015 quarterfinals.

On Sunday she returns to the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final, where she will take on Kristina Mladenovic. An accomplished doubles player – she recently won the Roland Garros title with Caroline Garcia and in 2014 reached the Wimbledon final alongside Timea Babos – Mladenovic’s all-court game makes her a danger on grass, as she proved in reaching last year’s Birmingham semifinals.

Mladenovic was impressive in upsetting friend and top seed Belinda Bencic in the semifinals, but will be hard pushed to derail the Vandeweghe juggernaut. Apart from in the second round against Nao Hibino, Vandeweghe is yet to drop serve and has barely looked like dropping a set. The American also has history on her side, having won all three of her previous meetings with Mladenovic, at Dubai, Osaka and in qualifying during her title run at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Road To The Final
Kristina Mladenovic
First Round: d. Yaroslava Shvedova, 64 63 (1:32)
Second Round: d. [Q] Natalia Vikhlyantseva, 57 63 64 (2:02)
Quarterfinals: d. [Q] Elise Mertens, 75 63 (1:23)
Semifinals: d. [1] Belinda Bencic, 26 63 64 (2:04)

CoCo Vandeweghe
First Round: d. [WC] Indy de Vroome, 62 64 (1:16)
Second Round: d. Nao Hibino, 62 63 (1:07)
Quarterfinals: d. Evgeniya Rodina, 62 62 (0:59)
Semifinals: d. Madison Brengle, 64 62 (1:12)