Tennis News

MADRID, Spain – No.6 seed Simona Halep capped off a dominating week in the Spanish capital, conquering Dominika Cibukova 6-2, 6-4 to claim the Mutua Madrid Open crown and her first title of 2016.

Hear from Madrid champion Halep on WTA Insider: Champions’ Corner.

Madrid holds a special place in the Romanian’s career: it was here in 2013 that she received a wildcard that kick started her ascent into the WTA’s elite. In 2014 Halep returned as a finalist, and this year she led a strong Romanian contingent that made tournament history before she captured her second career Premier Mandatory title.

“I saw always that it’s a special tournament because of Mr. [Ion] Tiriac, because of many Romanians that are coming here. I feel like home,” Halep said.

“You know, it’s a special feeling that many Romanians are coming to support me.I see many flags in the crowd. It means a lot.”

Despite coming into the tournament surrounded by questions about her health and fitness, Halep’s performance in Madrid was nothing short of dominating. She dropped just one set all tournament long, and in the last round she overpowered Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final against Cibulkova.

Into her third final of the year, No.38-ranked Cibulkova is the lowest ranked player to reach a Premier Mandatory final since 2009, when the WTA Roadmap was introduced. In fact, even though she famously reached the Australian Open final in 2014, Madrid marks the Slovak’s first ever appearance at a Premier Mandatory final.

Halep kept Cibulkova’s fast-paced game contained throughout the match, breaking her in the very first game to start out with an early lead. Despite Cibulkova’s trademark dogged resistance, Halep broke once more at 4-1. Halep weathered three of the Slovak’s break opportunities and went on to close the set at 6-2.

The same pattern unfolded in the second set, with Halep again breaking in the first game. Though Cibulkova raised her level of aggression, she couldn’t keep up with Halep and the Romanian’s deadly forehand, which did the bulk of the damage: Halep hit 11 of her 20 total winners and conceded just two unforced errors out of 10 from that wing.

“I expected a tough match today,” Halep said. “I thought that I would struggle a little bit with her shots, but I was very strong on my legs and could block. I could make my game, I can say.”

With the win Halep will make her return to the WTA Top 5, at No.5, and both Cibulkova and Halep will enter the Road To Singapore Leaderboard’s Top 8.

Cibulkova’s appearance in the final bumps up her ranking to No.26, putting her in perfect position to receive a seed at the French Open.

“I just want to get some rest and prepare for Roland Garros,” Cibulkova reflected after the match. “Because my game on clay really came together. I know what to do.

“I would play bit more aggressive from the beginning. But she was playing really well, so wasn’t like I played bad feels and I have to feel bad.”

That winning feeling. ? #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/NKyQIKPNVj

— WTA (@WTA) May 7, 2016

MELBOURNE, Australia – The 2017 Australian Open begins on Monday in Melbourne, with World No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber headlining the first night session on Rod Laver Arena. What else do you need to know about your favorite WTA stars as the first Grand Slam tournament of the season gets underway?

1. Kerber contends for first-ever major title defense.
Kerber came away with an impressive haul of Grand Slam titles in 2016, bookending the season with wins Down Under and the US Open – taking the No.1 ranking at the latter. 2017 is a new ballgame for the German, who will seek to defend a major title for the first time in her career. Her first opponent is Lesia Tsurenko, with the likes of Eugenie Bouchard and Roberta Vinci looming in her section of the draw.

2. Serena could reclaim No.1 in Australia.
In the other half of the draw stands 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who is firmly in the hunt for her seventh Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy in Melbourne. The American would have to reach the final to have a chance at wresting the No.1 ranking from Kerber; click here to find out how it would all have to shake out.

3. Radwanska feeling in Grand Slam rhythm.
Armed with a new racquet, No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska is the high seed in Serena’s half of the draw, projecting a rematch of their 2016 semifinal encounter Down Under. Radwanska shrugged off a tough week in Shenzhen to reach the final at the Apia International Sydney, but has a potentially tricky opener against Tsvetana Pironkova. The Bulgarian beat Radwanska in their most recent meeting at last year’s French Open.

4. Halep in hot pursuit of first major title.
No.4 seed Simona Halep also started her year in Shenzhen, but arrived last week for some early preparation in Melbourne on the advice of coach Darren Cahill. The Romanian opens against American Shelby Rogers, and is aiming to build on her pair of quarterfinal appearances earned in 2014 and 2015. 

5. Cibulkova seeking Singapore stepping stone.
No.5 seed Dominika Cibulkova ended 2016 on an all-time high, winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and reaching a best-ever ranking of No.5. The Slovak’s biggest major success came in Melbourne, where she reached the final back in 2014.

6. Is this Pliskova’s breakthrough moment?
Karolina Pliskova fell before the second week in her first 17 Grand Slam appearances, but made up for lost time in style at the US Open, where she rolled past both Williams sisters en route to the final. The Czech looked just as tough in Brisbane to start 2017, winning the tournament alongside new coach David Kotyza and moving back up to a career-high of No.5.

7. Muguruza feeding off good Melbourne memories.
Garbiñe Muguruza enjoyed a strong start to the season before injury forced her to retire from the Brisbane International semifinals. Still, the the No.7 seed feels fit and fresh ahead of the Australian Open, starting off against New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic on Monday.

8. Kuznetsova rounds out Top 8.
Kuznetsova burned some serious rubber on the Road to Singapore last fall, narrowly qualifying to become the story of the tournament, reaching the semifinals. This year, Kuznetsova is feeling calm as she hopes to surpass the quarterfinals, her previous best finish in Australia.

9. Venus & Serena headline the doubles draw.
The Australian Open women’s doubles draw came out on Sunday, with Wimbledon winners Venus and Serena Williams coming in as the most dangerous floaters in the draw, seeded No.15. The pair could play No.2 seeds Lucie Safarova and new World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the third round.

10. No.1 up for grabs in Australia.
The singles No.1 isn’t the only ranking under threat at the Australian Open. Mattek-Sands narrowly took the top spot from Sania Mirza in Brisbane, ending the Indian star’s 91-week reign. But Elena Vesnina and the French team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic all have a shot of taking No.1 during the fortnight. Click here to find out how.

THE WINNERS

No.6 seed Simona Halep capped off a dominating week in the Spanish capital, conquering Dominika Cibukova 6-2, 6-4 to claim the Mutua Madrid Open crown and her first title of 2016.

Madrid holds a special place in the Romanian’s career: it was here in 2013 that she received a wildcard that kick started her ascent into the WTA’s elite. In 2014 Halep returned as a finalist, and this year she led a strong Romanian contingent that made tournament history before she captured her second career Premier Mandatory title.

With the win Halep will make her return to the WTA Top 5, at No.5, and both Cibulkova and Halep will enter the Road To Singapore Leaderboard’s Top 8.

Read the full story and watch highlights here | WTA Insider: As It Happened

Meanwhile in doubles, the No.5 seeded team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic struck once again in their burgeoning rivalry with World No.1 team Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis. The Frenchwomen defeated Hingis and Mirza 6-4, 6-4 to claim the doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open.

“It’s definitely great period for us,” Garcia said in the post-match press conference. “Three finals, three titles, and two times against No.1 in the world, Martina and Sania, and once against Bethanie and Lucie. So it’s only great matches every single time.

“Very, very happy with what we produced on the court today.”

Read the full story here.

GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider

Game: Simona Halep gets back in the game.

After a season of stalls, Simona Halep is back in the conversation after rolling to her first title of the season at the Mutua Madrid Open. Halep lost just one set all week — a surprising bagel from her compatriot Irina Camelia Begu — posting dominant set scores all week and beating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 to win the title on Saturday. The win moves Halep back into the Top 5 and into the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard, and it was a win that felt incredibly necessary for Halep after all her 2016 setbacks, which include injury and illness to start the season and a frustrating loss in her first match in Stuttgart to start the clay season.

“No one cares about me now,” Halep said with a laugh after her second round win in Madrid. “I care about myself, so that’s ok.”

“Attention is less and it’s good for every player I think, when you get a little less attention. I always felt normal, but sometimes the people around you expect more results, better results and that’s why you get frustrated and you get nervous. Now I feel ok, I have no points to defend, so I am free.”

In Madrid, Halep played like a woman completely free of pressure and expectation, something we haven’t seen since the US Open Series last summer. Even after the seeds feel around her and she became the overwhelming favorite to win the title by the time the quarterfinals rolled around, Halep took it match-by-match and kept it simple. Her game flowed accordingly. She saved her best for her last two matches, reeling off 11 consecutive games to beat Sam Stosur in the semifinals and using her counterpunching prowess perfectly to thwart Cibulkova less than 24 hours later.

Last year Halep struggled to back up her tremendous 2014 clay and grass seasons, where she made the French Open final and Wimbledon semifinals. She took a surprising loss to Caroline Wozniacki in Stuttgart and lost early in Paris and London. This win in Madrid, her biggest title since Indian Wells last year, put her back on the radar in Europe. Now to see how she handles it.

WTA Insider: Champions’ Corner with Halep

Set: Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia get Lucky No.13.

The French pair continue their run on clay, moving their impressive win-streak to 13 matches by beating co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis in Madrid to win their third consecutive title. Perhaps even more impressive than the streak is their back-to-back wins over Mirza and Hingis in finals, a feat no team had yet to achieve. They also beat No.2s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova to win their first title in Charleston. Those are quality wins and their undefeated streak on clay has surprised event them.

“We didn’t expect to play better on clay than on hard,” Garcia said. “On hard we were already happy with what we did, two finals and one very close to get one more win. But maybe our game is even better on clay. I don’t know. But our kick serve and forehand with spin is a little bit more efficient on this surface.

“Also we needed time to [adjust to each other]. We are knowing each other better and better every week, so maybe it’s going to be better and better every week. We hope so, but sometimes it’s just on one point where you go to cover the other one, and at the beginning you didn’t do it. It’s one more point with no ad and tiebreak like this, and one point can change everything.”

Match: Sam Stosur and Dominika Cibulkova finding their clay form.

Both women should be threats in Paris in two weeks’ time. Since the tour turned to European clay, Stosur has made the final in Prague and the semifinals in Madrid, her biggest result on clay since making the 2010 French Open final. It took a fantastic effort form Halep early in their semifinal to fend off Stosur’s ruthless forehand and flip the match on its head.

As for Cibulkova, she continues to be one of the best players of 2016. She’s made the final or better at two of the last three tournaments she’s played, winning the title in Katowice. She’ll be seeded in Paris after her run to the final, a fact that will be the source of great relief for every other seeded player (just as Madrid’s top seed Agnieszka Radwanska).

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of May 9, 2016.

Louisa Chirico (USA), +54 (No.130 to 76): The biggest ranking jump of the week goes to the 19-year-old American Chirico. She breaks into the Top 100 for the first time with her run from the qualifying rounds of the Mutua Madrid Open all the way to the semifinal.

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), +12 (No.38 to 26): Cibulkova’s rivals can breathe a sigh of relief now that she’s back inside the Top 30: the dangerous Slovak is now going to be seeded at top events moving forward.

Daria Gavrilova (AUS), +7 (No.39 to 32): Australian youngster Gavrilova reaches a career high ranking of No.32 this week after her quarterfinal showing in Madrid, her biggest result of the year since the Australian Open.

Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), +5 (No.15 to 10): Bacsinszky is back into the Top 10 – after winning the International-level event in Rabat and reaching the round of 16 in Madrid, the Swiss equals her best ranking.

Simona Halep (ROU), +2 (No.7 to 5): She only jumped up two spaces, but it’s a big leap for Halep to put her back up to No.5 in the world after a dip this season.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Rome, Italy
Premier | $2,599,610 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, 2016

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

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

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

 Timea Babos (HUN) – May 10, 1993
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) – May 10, 1993
Christina McHale (USA) – May 11, 1992
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) – May 12, 1982
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) – May 14, 1993

MELBOURNE, Australia – An ageless Venus Williams played remarkable tennis in the high heat of the Australian Open, knocking out a game Kateryna Kozlova, 7-6(5), 7-5.

“Girl, I don’t know,” Venus joked when asked how she got the job done during her on-court interview. “I know how to play tennis, and I like to think I’m good at this. She hasn’t had the years I’ve had, the grey hair I’m dyeing, the wrinkles I’m hiding.”

V never goes out of style.#ausopen pic.twitter.com/jUf4wJ9eeN

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2017

Seeded No.13, Venus was playing just her second match of 2017 after withdrawing from the ASB Classic due to right-arm pain, and was taking on a tricky opponent in Kozlova, who took her to three sets at the US Open last summer. In an ironic twist, the 22-year-old was born the same year Venus turned pro back in 1994.

“You’re trying to make me feel old!” joked Williams.

Kozlova served for the first set but the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s experience shone through when it mattered most, breaking the young Ukrainian to win the ensuing tie-break.

“Just from the warm-up it looked like she was just ready to go, hitting it solid,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I really have to give her a lot of credit for playing a match that was not a lot of errors and just relentless.

“I guess when I walk out there I have to expect that from my opponents and not an easy first round, but a great first round to get through, for sure.”

She twirls her way to 2R. Go #Venus #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/hzCSYDY3Jp

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2017

Venus appeared to struggle with the heat at times, relying on ice towels to keep cool during the changeovers.

“I’m a Floridian, so I’m pretty good with heat,” she admitted. “But obviously, if it’s going to be hot, I think with players, you can train in the heat the week before. This last week it was kind of cool, actually, a lot of the time. So it’s definitely a wildcard, like, total wildcard.”

Despite losing some momentum in the second set, the American rebounded to take the last three games of the match and advance into the second round after just over two hours.

Up next for the former World No.1 is either Stefanie Voegele or Kurumi Nara.

A wonderful start for #Venus #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/QVhFuaUdDg

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2017