Tennis News

ROME, Italy – Madison Keys employed thoughtful aggression under the lights of Center Court, pulling off a 6-3, 6-4 upset of No.5 seed Petra Kvitova to advance to the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

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

“I definitely didn’t want to start down 2-0 right off the bat,” Keys said of her initially slow start. “But I was able to recover from that, build some momentum and keep it going.”

Hitting eight aces in the 78 minute match, Keys maintained an even winner/unforced error differential against Kvitova, who had enjoyed a strong start to her clay court campaign with a run to the semifinals of the Porsche Grand Prix. The Czech star hit nine fewer winners compared with the American youngster (11 to 20) and six more errors (27 to 21), only managing to engineer one break point in the contest.

Keys, by contrast, broke serve  three times and maintained an impeccable 85% first serve percentage.

First set ? @Madison_Keys!

Grabs the opening set vs Kvitova 6-3! #ibi16 https://t.co/7KmpjBjio9

— WTA (@WTA) May 11, 2016

“It’s definitely more love than hate now,” the 21-year-old said of her relationship with clay. “The first couple of years were very difficult for me; I never really played on red clay growing up. I think every year is a little more experience, and I’m feeling more comfortable.”

Up next for the unseeded American is Hungary’s Timea Babos, who outlasted No.12 seed Venus Williams, 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4, in just under three hours.

“I’ve played her on grass, and I think I got my butt kicked,’ Keys laughed. “So hopefully, it’ll be a little bit better for me next time. I haven’t really seen her play in the last couple of years, so I’ll definitely rely on my coach to help me figure that out.”

Babos led by a double break to start the match; by the final set, the 23-year-old thrice recovered from a break of serve – hitting 32 winners to 43 unforced errors during the two hour, 55 minute affair – to unseat the 35-year-old, who hit 48 winners to 56 unforced errors.

“I’m really happy to win,” she said after the match. “Venus is one of the biggest players in history and it’s the first time I’ve ever played her, so I just tried to think of my tennis and not about who was on the other side of the net.

“I started well, but then was a little more shaky, but I was fighting until the last moment.”

.@TimeaBabos makes 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4 comeback win over Venus!

Sets @InteBNLdItalia Round of 16 vs Keys! #ibi16 pic.twitter.com/xiQwzhvAiI

— WTA (@WTA) May 11, 2016

It’s been a rainy day here in Rome as we wait for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semifinals to get underway. So I’m emptying the notebook while the notebook is still dry. One semifinal note: the first semifinal between Madison Keys and Garbiñe Muguruza has been moved to Court Pietrangeli, and will start as soon as the rain stops and the courts are prepared.

– Madison Keys surprising herself: After her tough 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Barbora Strycova in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday, the 21-year-old American was asked whether she knew she could play so well on clay.

“No,” she said with a smile.

With her run to the semifinals in Rome, Keys has notched her best result on European clay. Her success in Rome may be surprising to some – she’s lost just one set all week – but it shouldn’t be. Her powerful game should translate well on clay. She proved that in 2015 when she made her biggest tour final in Charleston, pushing Angelique Kerber deep into a third set.

But Keys had needed time to convince herself she can get results on clay, as opposed to falling into the trap of seeing it as a stop-off before her beloved grass.

“I’m still very excited for grass,” Keys said. “Let’s put that out there right now.”

“I think over the years I have just eventually accepted that we’re not going to not have a clay court season, so going into it being positive about it is the only way to deal with it,” Keys said. “I think this year it’s just been, Okay, let’s do a little bit better than last year, and not really getting ahead of myself and really just focusing each match just trying to do what I’m here for.”

On Saturday she faces Garbiñe Muguruza for a spot in the final. Muguruza looks to be rounding into form before the French Open, playing a focused, resilient match to beat Timea Bacsinszky, 7-5, 6-2. It’s the first meeting between the two in a WTA-level main draw match. Keys beat Muguruza in three sets in qualifying for Cincinnati back in 2012.

“I’m excited,” Keys said. “I did not think coming into this whole kind of stretch that things would go well. I mean, even in Madrid I felt like I was playing pretty well on the clay and really just hopefully I can keep things going and, you know, keep it going tomorrow and hopefully at the end of the week be really happy.”

– Timea Bacsinszky’s perfect French Open lead-up: Bacsinszky will go into the French Open having won 14 of her last 17 matches. Despite a frustrating loss to Muguruza, which sees her drop to 0-4 against the Spaniard, Bacsinszky still found a silver lining.

“Well, without saying any bad words, it s-u-c-k-s,” Bacsinszky said after the loss. “Third time I’m losing almost with the same score against her.

“Yeah, it’s a big challenge to play against her, because there is always some possibilities to get through the first set or maybe in the second one, but then she leveled up her game. So I think, for sure, playing so many matches in the last couple of weeks got me probably a little tired, as well. But I still had a lot of energy and I was like super enthusiastic to do even better.

“Sometimes it happens that the opponent is making better choices than you are in crucial moments, so I have to give her a lot of credit for that.

“Basically I think I’m really happy about my clay court season so far, and the good news is that I can go home and celebrate tonight for the win that I had in Morocco. This is the good news of the day. I’m taking the positive side of it.”

– Madison Keys, M.D.: Who says you can’t learn anything from television?

Q. You were rubbing your arm quite a bit in the second and third set. Is it bothering you more? The conditions are heavier today than they have been in the past.

MADISON KEYS: It was a little cold. Balls were a little bit heavier. It was a little bit tight. But I’d like to think of myself as a doctor since I watched a lot of Grey’s Anatomy, so I feel like I figured it out (laughter).

– Bacsinszky goes home again: The Swiss star was asked whether she has ever returned to the hotel near Lausanne where she interned as a hospitality manager before returning to tennis. She ended up giving the best tourism ad for Switzerland.

“Yeah. Well, I did. I love this ski resort over there, Villars-sur-Ollon. It’s close from Lausanne. You take the car and you can be there in 45 minutes. So for sure Zermatt or Verbier or whatever, so many others. Vanghen, St. Moritz are more fancy, but I’m not that type of girl which likes those big things and showing off and stuff. I prefer to stay in a small mountain village. And, well, the hotel is great.

“When I worked at it, it was already great. Maybe better with me. No. (Laughter.) No, no, I was really – no, my colleagues were way better than I was. I was just learning, so it’s normal.

“The hotel is really great. It’s one of, still, my favorite hotel worldwide. I’m going to play the tournament of Gstaad this year in Switzerland – finally a woman’s tournament in Switzerland! – so I’m really proud of it. The ATP communications officer told my boyfriend yesterday, Oh, I heard you guys are going to Gstaad. And over there the palace is unbelievable.

So, yeah, it’s almost a 6-star over there, probably. But we’ll see if it challenges my old hotel where I worked, because, I have great memories over there.

I went after my semifinal of Miami for a couple of days, and, well, it’s great to go back there and to see where the colleagues are, because some of them are like traveling worldwide and they come only for half a season, so only for six months, and then they go back somewhere else.

But it’s fun to see how everyone is everywhere. And actually they joke a lot around me. They’re like, No, come on, we never — if we would knew that you were playing tennis — because they didn’t know. Actually, they didn’t know. They were making fun of me. Oh, like, you’re so old to do an internship. 24 years old? Internship at that time? Oh, your feet must hurt.

And then they found out that I play tennis, and like two years later I’m like top 10. They’re like, Okay.”

– Daria Kasatkina powering through: It hasn’t been the clay court swing the young Russian wanted. On her favorite surface she won just two matches on European clay, though she did make the quarterfinals in Charleston as well.

“I was waiting for this time [of the season] but looks like after a good start I have a little bit down,” Kasatkina told WTA Insider. “It’s ok. It happens. I will work and try to come back on my level.”

Kasatkina may be paying the price for her early season success. “This year we go tournament by tournaments. It was the plan because at the start of the season we didn’t know how I will play and if I will not reach a lot of points at the start.

“Start was good. I played a lot of matches. Reach a lot of points. Now we can maybe a little bit slow down. We will see, actually, how I feel.”

– Daria Gavrilova jumpstarts her season: After her star-making run to the fourth round of the Australian Open to start to the year, Gavrilova struggled mightily to get back on track. She won just one tour-level match after that before the tour turned to clay in Charleston.

“I was pretty flat going to the Middle East,” Gavrilova told WTA Insider. “I wasn’t ready. My mind was still at home. I was like, oh my god, really? I had tough losses in America, put myself in a good position in both matches but couldn’t close it out. But it happens.

“I was pretty frustrated after I lost to Zarina Diyas in Miami. And then I thought it’s a good time to make a difference, it’s not just me struggling. I can separate myself from other girls who are not winning so many matches. I was like ‘clay is my favorite surface’. I was keen to start playing on clay and just get over with hard court. Had a few good wins in Charleston and did get revenge over Zarina and that felt really good.”

Since the clay season began, Gavrilova scored wins over Petra Kvitova, Elina Svitolina, Simona Halep, and Sabine Lisicki. She’ll be seeded in Paris.

– Congratulations Li Na: No.2 is on the way.

Happy news for Li Na and Jiang Shan who are expecting their 2nd baby. Daughter Alisa will turn 1 June 3. #LiNaBaby pic.twitter.com/rTd6xRJL2i

— IMG Tennis (@IMGTennis) May 13, 2016

– Serena previews her documentary: Set your DVRs for June 22nd.

Here’s a sneak peek of my new documentary premiering on @EpixHD 6/22! Take a look inside my world! #Serenahttps://t.co/oj2wydQutf

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) May 12, 2016

THE WINNERS

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.

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.”

Read the full story and watch highlights here

Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza find themselves in pole position to complete the Santina Slam at the French Open with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-3 win over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to capture the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title – their first title since February and their first ever on red clay.

Heading into the French Open on a four-match winning streak, Santina next look to complete a box set of Grand Slam titles – a Santina Slam – that began at Wimbledon over Makarova and Vesnina, and took them through victories at the US Open and Australian Open in January.

Read the full story here.

GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider

Game: Serena back on top.

It’s slightly misleading to imply Serena has been in a nine-month slump. Heading into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Serena had not won a title since Cincinnati last August, but she also had not played much. So you can understand why the World No.1 politely bristled when it was implied she had been a three-quarter drought.

“I mean, I have played, let’s see, US Open, Australian, Miami, Indian Wells,” she told reporters after beating Madison Keys to win her first title of the season. “So it’s only four tournaments. So it’s not like I was playing every week.

“So that’s kind of how I look at it. But it feels great to win a title, especially on clay.”

A week ago the French Open was looming and the conventional wisdom was it was a wide open field. No one had dominated the clay season — Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Timea Bacsinszky, Lucie Safarova, and Sloane Stephens had won the biggest titles — and Serena had yet to step on the red clay.

A week later and Serena has reasserted herself as the favorite to defend her title in Paris. Her trophy-run in Rome wasn’t particularly memorable aside from the first All-American final in Rome since 1970, but she rarely looked pressured or stressed throughout the week, as she racked up wins over Anna-Lena Friedsam, Christina McHale, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Irina-Camelia Begu, and Keys. Her win over Kuznetsova was her best performance since Australia, and all in all, we saw a very relaxed Serena in The Eternal City.

“I think my patience was really great,” Serena said when asked to assess her week. “I wasn’t stressed out. I wasn’t rushing too much. Basically more than anything I was able to do what I practiced, and I think that’s what really helped me out.”

Set: The Santina Slam is on.

Rome was all about the World No.1s getting back to the winners’ circle. For Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza, the most dominant duo of 2015 ended their two-month title drought by beating Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. Playing on their least favorite surface, Mirza and Hingis rolled through the draw, only seeing a supertiebreaker in the final.

The reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions, Hingis and Mirza head to Paris with a sense of relief with a red clay title in hand, something they didn’t do last year. If they can win in Paris, they’ll hold all four majors and complete the non-calendar Grand Slam.

Match: Madison Keys unlocked.

Keys is 21-years-old. That’s a fact so many seem to forget when assessing her future in the sport. Already she’s won a big title on grass in Eastbourne, made the semifinals of the Australian Open, and now the biggest final of her career. And it came on slow, wet, European clay. Keys is as surprised as anyone. But she shouldn’t be.

It’s taken time for Keys to truly believe her big game could translate onto clay. She’s always joked that half her mind is already on grass when the clay season begins. It may not be a fun surface for her — she has to play much more disciplined tennis and not go for the audacious winners that shorten rallies on quicker surfaces — but it’s a good surface for her. Two of her three finals have now come on clay, with the first coming on green clay two years in Charleston.

In Rome she ran through a draw filled with top-notch clay court players: Andrea Petkovic, Petra Kvitova, Timea Babos, Barbora Strycova, and Garbiñe Muguruza. But what made this week feel different was her attitude. Keys’ focus throughout the week was superb. When she fell behind on her serve or let break point chances slide, she trudged on. That hasn’t always been the case in the past.

Keys has the quality to make a very deep run in Paris. She’s also still learning how to maximize her game on clay and could crash out in the first round. But Rome was a huge step forward for her and the mentality she showed all week could be the building blocks for a big season going forward. Remember this week.

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of May 16, 2016.

Madison Keys (USA) – +7 (No.24 to 17): 21 year old Madison Keys returns to within one spot of her career-high ranking following an impressive week in Rome; losing a hard-fought final to World No.1 Serena Williams, Keys reached her first Premier 5 final, defeating Petra Kvitova and Garbiñe Muguruza en route.

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) – +7 (No.35 to 28): Begu has waved the Romanian flag well during a solid clay court season that saw her back up her quarterfinal run at the Mutua Madrid Open by reaching the semifinals in Rome. Also losing to Williams, Begu thrashed Victoria Azarenka and Daria Kasatkina to reach the final four.

Misaki Doi (JPN) – +7 (No.45 to 38): Doi earned a career-high ranking after reaching the last eight in Rome. Her spring started strong with a title run at the WTA 125K series event in San Antonio, and wins over Lucie Safarova and Johanna Konta will make her a dangerous floater in Paris.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Internationaux de Strasbourg
Strasbourg, France
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 21

NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP
Nürnberg, Germany
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 21

Roland Garros
Paris, France
Grand Slam | – | Clay Outdoor
Sunday, May 22 – Sunday, June 5

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams- Roland Garros
2. Agnieszka Radwanska – Roland Garros
3. Angelique Kerber –  Roland Garros
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Roland Garros
5. Victoria Azarenka – Roland Garros
6. Simona Halep – Roland Garros
7. Roberta Vinci – Nürnberg, Roland Garros
8. Belinda Bencic – Roland Garros
9. Timea Bacsinszky – Roland Garros
10. Flavia Pennetta
11. Venus Williams – Roland Garros
12. Petra Kvitova – Roland Garros
13. Lucie Safarova – Roland Garros
14. Carla Suárez Navarro – Roland Garros
15. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Roland Garros
16. Ana Ivanovic – Roland Garros
17. Madison Keys – Roland Garros
18. Sara Errani – Strasbourg, Roland Garros
19. Karolina Pliskova – Roland Garros
20. Elina Svitolina – Roland Garros

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Louisa Chirico (USA) – May 16, 1996
Johanna Konta (GBR) – May 17, 1991
Heather Watson (GBR) – May 19, 1992
Lucie Hradecka (CZE) – May 21, 1985
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) – May 21, 1986

STRASBOURG, France – Caroline Garcia completed her French Open preparations in style on Saturday, outplaying qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Watch live action from Strasbourg this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Twenty-four hours on from her marathon victory over Virginie Razzano, Garcia looked fresh as a daisy, the nerves so often accompanying French players on home soil conspicuous by their absence.

In her opening service game she was taken to deuce, fending of the threat courtesy of a couple of well-placed serves. Any lingering anxieties were completely removed the next game, a blistering forehand return winner helping her to the break. As the winners continued to flow, and Lucic-Baroni searched in vain for the form that had accounted for Kristina Mladenovic the previous round, Garcia quickly stretched this lead to 5-1.

With the set seemingly a lost cause, Lucic-Baroni’s game belatedly clicked into gear as she reduced her arrears to 5-4. However, Garcia recomposed herself to close out the set before dominating the second to wrap up a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I felt very confident going into the final. The first set I let her back into it. The first set is super important in tennis for momentum. Because you want to get off to a good start. And I got that today, which helped for the rest of the match,” Garcia said.

For Lucic-Baroni, who lost at the same stage of the tournament 19 years ago, it was a match too far: “It was my seventh match. I was a bit slow. A bit tired. It was to be expected. I’m proud to get to the final though.

“People have been asking me to sign pictures from 1999 – it’s like another life. But it makes me proud to have been able to come back and be at the same stage 19 years later.”

Garcia’s victory extends her perfect record with Lucic-Baroni, against whom she has now dropped just one set in four career meetings: “I have a good record against Lucic-Baroni and the match today was a lot more difficult than it looked. She joked in the presentation about beating me soon – she’s a great player and someone I look up to.”

Next stop for Garcia, whose only previous WTA title came two years ago in Bogotá, is Paris for her home major, Roland Garros, where she hopes to once again harness the energy of her compatriots.

“Another title is great – it’s progress but every tournament is a new chance to develop,” she added. “But today is a great day for me, especially in front of home fans here in France.”

In the doubles final, top seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja proved far too strong for María Irigoyen and Liang Chen, running out 6-2, 6-0 winners to lift a fourth title together and boost their Olympic qualification hopes.

The result was of particular significance to former singles champion Medina Garrigues, who is contemplating retiring at the end of the year: “All the victories are special. But this is important. With Roland Garros next week and we need points for Rio also, so it’s 280 points.

“Having won three times in singles it’s special for me here. It might be my last year playing tennis so coming back to Strasbourg was special. At the moment I’m 50-50 whether I will carry on next year. I will see how I feel physically and decide.”

.@CaroGarcia can't believe it! ? ? ? pic.twitter.com/SWLdmdYpFB

— WTA (@WTA) 21 May 2016

World No. 1 Serena Williams begins her quest for a fourth Roland Garros title on Tuesday as the top half of the draw contests its first-round matches. We preview all the action here at WTATennis.com.

Tuesday, First Round

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK #77)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Williams is one of nine Grand Slam winners in the main draw, and has four more major titles (21) than the other eight major winners combined (17).

Serena Williams will look to resume her march towards history in Paris this week after stumbling in the late rounds at each of the last two majors. The World No.1 sits just one behind Steffi Graf for the all-time Open Era record for major titles, but that fact is something that the 34-year-old American prefers not to dwell on. “I definitely block it out,” Williams said over the weekend in Paris. “I was one off last year, too. If I don’t win [Roland Garros] I’ll still be one off. It took me forever to get to 18. I was so stressed out. I don’t want to relive that at all.” On Tuesday Williams will hope for a stress-free encounter against Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in the final match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier. Rybarikova has struggled with a leg injury since reaching the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and the 27-year-old has only played once since then, retiring from a challenger match in Slovakia in the first set.

Pick: Williams in two

[26] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #30) vs. Francesca Schiavone (ITA #95)
Head-to-head: Schiavone leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Mladenovic has notched a Top 10 win in each of her last two Roland Garros appearances.

Kristina Mladenovic’s Roland Garros legend is growing with each passing year as the Frenchwoman has notched some of the grandest, most emotional wins of her career on the terre battue. In 2014 she famously upset 2011 Roland Garros champion Li Na in the first round. Last year Mladenovic took out then-World No.6 Eugenie Bouchard in her opening match. Credit to Mladenovic. She’s embraced the challenge of playing at her home Slam and delivered inspiring performances in two consecutive years. But to do it again this year the 23-year-old will have to get past a woman with a Roland Garros resumé that is far more impressive than her own. Francesca Schiavone’s legend is already as big as it gets in Paris. “La Leonessa” pulled off one of the most magical runs in recent Grand Slam history when she took the title at Roland Garros in 2010, but the 35-year-old will likely need some more of her Paris magic if she is to book her place in the second round.

Pick: Mladenovic in three

[5] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #5) vs. Karin Knapp (ITA #118)
Head-to-head: Knapp leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Knapp dropped just two games in a straight-sets win over Azarenka at Roland Garros in 2007.

Nine years ago, Italy’s Karin Knapp notched one of her best career wins at a major against Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros, dropping just two games in a first-round blowout. But that victory came early in Azarenka’s Roland Garros career, before she had fully acclimated herself to the red clay. These days Azarenka is a much more accomplished clay-courter with seven finals on the surface under her belt and three appearances in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (including a semifinal in 2013). If Azarenka truly has put the back issues that have plagued her on clay this season behind her, she should be able to assert herself early and often against Knapp on Tuesday.

Pick: Azarenka in two

[3] Angelique Kerber (GER #3) vs. Kiki Bertens (NED #58)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Kerber lost in the first round in both Madrid and Rome.

On Tuesday in Paris Angelique Kerber will play her first Grand Slam match since claiming the Australian Open title in January. How will she handle the challenge? The German has been through her share of ups and downs since that triumph, but by and large she has adjusted to her newfound notoriety with maturity, managing to stay grounded and focused on playing the high-quality tennis that she has become known for. But dealing with fame hasn’t been Kerber’s only challenge this spring. The World No. 5 has also struggled with a shoulder injury that could be a factor when she meets last week’s Nürnberg champion, Kiki Bertens, in her first-round match. “I’ve had a few practice days and that gives me confidence,” Kerber told reporters this weekend about her decision to skip last week’s event in Nürnberg to rest. “I used the days at home to have a lot of shoulder treatments. Physically I’m feeling good again. I was scared to play matches before Paris. Now I can serve and there are not so many pains.”

Pick: Kerber in three

By The Numbers

4 — Williams is bidding for her fourth Roland Garros title this year. If she succeeds she’ll pull even with Justine Henin and Helen Wills-Moody on the all-time leaderboard.

40 – Schiavone is fifth among active players on the Roland Garros win list. The Italian has gone 40-14 in her 15 appearances in Paris.

4 – In the Open Era the No. 1 seed has lost in the first round just four times at a major and never at Roland Garros.

-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor