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WTA Stars Say #ThankYouKobe

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

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…

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Keys Rolls Into Singapore Eager To Upset Red Group Rivals At WTA Finals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – Madison Keys’ slow and steady climb up the Road to Singapore began in the most unexpected place: the European clay season. A fierce hitter who excels on grass and hardcourts, Keys spent the last three seasons dreading the clay season, unmoored by her unrefined movement and necessary patience on the surface.

But something clicked for Keys at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where she proceeded to beat Andrea Petkovic, Petra Kvitova, Timea Babos, and eventual Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza, to make her first final on the terre battue. From there everything began falling into place.

“I kind of had a slow start to my season,” Keys told reporters at All-Access Hour at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, referring to a left forearm injury she sustained off-court during the off-season. “[Singapore] wasn’t really on the radar. Then even after Rome when I made the finals I noticed I was slowly kind of moving up in the race.

“After winning in Birmingham I was kind of definitely in it at that point. So that’s when I really knew that I could make it, and it became a big goal of mine to be able to get here.”

Keys secured her spot by advancing to the Generali Ladies Linz final last week. Illness forced her to withdraw from the tournament. She spoke with a raspy voice but reassured reporters that she is ready to start her tournament on Sunday against Simona Halep.

“[I] was definitely not feeling good in Linz,” Keys said. “[I’ve] had a couple days to recover and I am feeling a lot better.”

Keys has been drawn in the Red Group, which includes Halep, World No.1 Angelique Kerber, and Dominika Cibulkova. It’s a tough group for Keys, who is a combined 2-9 against Kerber and Halep, though she is 3-0 against Cibulkova.

“It’s a big opportunity,” Keys said, when asked how she felt about landing in a group with Kerber and Halep. “It shows these are some of the best players of the year, and the good news is that I have beaten them before. I do know I can do it.”

On Sunday, Keys will be looking to get revenge on Halep, who has beaten her in all three of their meetings this year.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said “Just playing her in Wuhan, I think she played really well there, but I think a big part was that I got really passive and I got behind the baseline and let her start dictating. That’s going to be something I’m going to have to step up and go for my shots in the smartest way I can, really just believe that I can do it.”

Reflecting on her consistent season, which saw her make the second week of all four majors and eight of 12 tournaments outside of the Slams, Keys pointed to her rankings rise. After winning the Aegon Classic in June she became the first American since Serena Williams in 1999 to make her Top 10 debut.

“I just look at it as a great accomplishment and a huge opportunity to go out and just play tennis and have fun and maybe inspire some more young American girls to pick up some racquets,” Keys said.

“I think highlights were getting into the Top 10 for sure, winning my second title. I think another big highlight was making a final on red clay…in the past I haven’t always loved red clay. Slowly I’m beginning to love it. I think probably the toughest moment has been losing that third and fourth match in Rio,” she said, referring to her run to the semifinals only to lose the bronze medal match. “Definitely one of the toughest matches that I’ve had to play.”

Speaking of adversity, the discussion turned to the topic of cyberbullying. Keys has occasionally posted screen grabs of the horrible tweets she receives on social media after losses, and more players have done the same over recent months. The 21-year-old says it’s a problem she hopes social media companies address soon.

“I think just showing that it’s kind of a daily struggle that all of us are dealing with,” Keys said when asked why she does posts the vile comments, which can veer into pure racism and sexism, particularly from men who have lost money betting on her matches. “Sometimes it just becomes too much. I just think there has to be a way to kind of monitor it a little bit more. It seems like a lot of times we’ll report a person and we get a response that they couldn’t find enough evidence that they did anything.

“So I think social media has to be able to kind of help us in that sense. But also just [to show] that it’s happening, and we as people have to do the best that we can to stop it, which is a big part of why I’m doing FearlesslyGIRL, going into schools where cyberbullying is also happening, and stopping it at a younger age I think could be really beneficial.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The weather may have prevented a full day’s play on Wednesday at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open but the rain would not have dampened the spirits of Netherlands’ Lesley Kerkhove, who reached her first WTA quarterfinal.

The 25-year-old overcame Sabina Sharipova, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 19 minutes on centre court. Sharipova, 22, led 4-1 in the first set but Kerkhove was unfazed. “She didn’t make any mistakes until 4-1 but it was only one break,” she said. “I held my serve to 4-2 and then broke her back. From then on I played really aggressive, good tennis.”

Dutch qualifier Kerkhove upset No.7 seed Elise Mertens in the first round in Kuala Lumpur, 6-4, 7-6 (4), on Monday and next faces Nao Hibino, who lies 89 places higher in the WTA rankings, after the Japanese received a walkover against Elina Svitolina. However, the World No.195 said she relishes being the underdog.

“I’ve played only higher-ranked players here. I’m No.195, I’m not that high. So every player is better ranked than me. I like to be the underdog, it’s nice to play like this.”

In the opening singles match on day three, China’s Zhang Kai-Lin defeated Japan’s Risa Ozaki, 6-2, 6-4. Zhang’s impressive first serve – she won 64% of points off the back of hers in contrast to 35% for her opponent – proved decisive in her first main draw win of the year.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic suffered no letdown after her three hour thriller against Heather Watson, dispatching Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the final four at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

“I’m very happy,” the French star said after the match. “I had great sensations when I woke up this morning; I was very satisfied with my effort last night because the work is paying off for me to win a three and a half hour battle and wake up pretty fine. My physio did a good job as well.

“We finished very late, but the advantage of playing here in Acapulco is getting to have most of the next day to work and rest. I came out very strong and didn’t even warm-up today – just fitness after three and a half hours of tennis.”

Mladenovic recovered well from playing the second longest match of the season, hitting 21 winners to just 13 unforced errors in the 82 minute match.

“It was similar conditions today, and I think I played really good. I fixed the big problem I had on my serve yesterday, when I hit 20 double faults! Only five today! I think overall it was a great match; I had to be very consistent but also aggressive because Kirsten has a lot of variety, and it’s not easy to control her slices here.

“The ball is flying here, but I think I did a good job playing aggressive but also being patient with her tricky game. I’m just very happy to come back after yesterday’s tough win.”

The St. Petersburg champion earned big leads to start each set, winning the first three games of the match and racing out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the second set, but Flipkens – a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist – gave Mladenovic all she could as the match headed to a dramatic conclusion.

“The first was very close, and I continued on the same path. She might have wanted to change her game at the start of the second, so she tried going for more and ended up giving me a few more unforced errors that made the difference.

“It gave me a big lead, but she kept fighting until the end, and came up with some incredible shots at the end. I had to really dig deep there, especially at 4-2 on my serve. I was in danger most of the game, but I survived and held, which was very important because had I lost serve, it would have been a different match.

“The last game wasn’t easy to close out either; I could feel like she was playing freely at that point and she was going for her shots. It’s obviously a great feeling to be in the semifinals here, especially after such an epic match. It feels like I’ve been in the office all day long.”

Up next for Mladenovic is Christina McHale, a 2014 finalist in Acapulco who ousted reigning Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig in straight sets in the first quarterfinal. The pair last played at this very tournament, with McHale winning en route to the final.

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