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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova overcame a slow start and an inspired Taylor Townsend to beat the American qualifier, 6-4, 6-2, joining No.10 seed Johanna Konta, who beat Pauline Parmentier, 6-4, 6-0 in the fourth round of the Miami Open.

Townsend has long been a talented prospect, having won the 2013 Australian Open junior title and finishing runner-up to Belinda Bencic at that year’s Wimbledon Championships. Qualifying for the main draw and upsetting Roberta Vinci in her previous match, the American looked on course for another upset as she took the first break from Kuznetsova in the opening set.

“I’d never played her before, but still, to face her it’s a bit different,” she told WTA Insider after the match. “It took me time to adjust to her game. I got broken right away, and I was serving against the sun, so it was a little bit difficult.”

But Kuznetsova is in good form herself, reaching the final at last week’s BNP Paribas Open; relaxed and focused, the Russian took four straight games to reclaim the break and the opening set from Townsend, who put up quite a fight in the final game before dropping serve.

“She plays good tennis, different than other girls. I took time to adjust, changed my strategy, and in the end it worked pretty well. But she’s very talented.”

The 2006 champion and 2016 finalist raced ahead to start the second and never looked back, despite some impressive variety from the 20-year-old.

Up next for Kuznetsova is either former No.1 Venus Williams or qualifier Patricia Maria Tig, who stunned No.22 seed and Top 20 debutante Kristina Mladenovic in the preceding round.

“It’s a great match-up, and it’s great to play Venus again, one more time. We’re both having great results, so I’m looking forward to that match.”

Earlier in the day, Konta worked through a tense opening set to roll through against Parmentier.

“I’m happy to have come through that,” Konta said after the match. “Although the scoreline doesn’t show it in the second set, I still had to work hard within every single point. I really tried hard not to take my foot off the gas and stay focused on what I wanted to achieve.”

The Frenchwoman has displayed impresisve tennis of late, and nearly beat World No.1 Angelique Kerber in Indian Wells.

“She’s been very strong with her forehand, and her serve is actually quite a big weapon, as well. I was quite happy with how I could neutralize it and look towards having good variety on my returns. I also made it difficult for her to find her spots on the forehand; I didn’t give her too many opportunities to set up, because when she does, she can be very tough to play.”

With 19 winners to just five unforced errors to advance, it was night and day for the British No.1 on Sunday after her tough opening round win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich, which went deep into a third set.

“The bonus of getting through any match is having the opportunity to play again. I have another opportunity to get better and to perform well.

“Those stats obviously look better on paper, and that’s good to hear. There’s other moving factors in a match, but I was still very happy I was able to stick with my plan and not divert from that in any way.

“Each match puts forward different challenges, so it’s hard to compare and decide which has been my best performance. My first round was very good, for example, because I could get through a difficult situation. Today was a cleaner match, so in that sense, it was also a good performance.”

Standing between Konta and a second straight quarterfinal in Miami will be the winner of No.8 seed Madison Keys and Lara Arruabarrena.

“I played Madison in Beijing last year. I think I played Lara once before, but not for many years. We all know Madison has a big game, so if I end up playing her, I’ll be expecting to play someone with a lot of weight of shot. I haven’t watched Lara play too much, but she’s been around a while and won a title at the end of last year. She’s a tough player, so either way it’ll be a tough match.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – No.3 seed Simona Halep barreled into the fourth round of the Miami Open, conquering Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, 6-3, 6-0.

“I think I played my best match of the year,” Halep told WTA Insider after the match. “I was confident, and knew what I had to do: push and make her run. I hit some winners, which was very good for me. I was moving well, so I think everything went pretty well for me tonight.”

The Romanian has been plagued by knee issues throughout the 2017 season, forced to pull out of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and the Middle East Swing to heal the injury.

Coming into Miami, the former French Open finalist had yet to win back-to-back matches this year, but struck down that stat in decisive fashion on Sunday night, rolling past Kontaveit in 55 minutes.

“I felt good when I came to site, and was sure that it was going to come together because I work every day. At one point, it has to come.

“I felt the best that I have this year. I can move without pain or anything, and I’m confident, which is the most important thing.”

Kontaveit is a talented youngster in her own right, a former junior Slam finalist who knocked out No.32 seed Ekaterina Makarova en route to the third round, but had no answers to her opponent’s unstoppable form, her 17 winnes undone by 24 errors in total.

“My first match here was close,” she said of her opener against Naomi Osaka. “I had some trouble in the first match. After that, I saw that I could resist and stay strong. Today, everything was flowing. I didn’t plan anything, and I won’t plan anything else. I just want to go there and give my best.”

Incredibly aggressive under the lights, Halep struck 19 winners to just 13 unforced errors and broke serve five times to book a round of 16 match-up with 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur.

“It’s going to be a tough match, for sure. I know how I have to play, because she’s very dangerous. Her forehand is strong, and so is her serve. I’m here to do my job, and to try to win because that’s what I want.

“Nothing special. I just expect a tough one and I’ll go there to fight.”

Halep and Stosur last played at Roland Garros 10 months ago, when the Aussie won on a wet and rainy day in Paris, locking up their head-to-head at four wins apiece.

The former World No.2 has won their last four hardcourt matches, though two of those three required a third set. But Halep might have a secret weapon.

“Something is waiting for me already, a Nutella crepe. I’ve eaten one every day, and maybe that’s why I’m winning!”

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Vote: Breakthrough Of The Month

Vote: Breakthrough Of The Month

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WTA January BPOTM

January was defined by five breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances to the first month of 2016. Which one soared the highest?

Have a look at the nominees for January’s Breakthrough Performance of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 8.

January 2016 WTA Breakthrough Performance of the Month Finalists:

Daria Kasatkina: Building on the momentum she’d started at the end of last season – reaching the third round of the US Open as a lucky loser and the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup as a qualifier – 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina began 2016 with a bang by defeating Venus Williams in three sets at the ASB Classic. A former junior French Open champion, the Russian came to Melbourne full of confidence and promptly upset No.27 seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the first round. Backing up that win over fellow junior prodigy Ana Konjuh, Kasatkina’s run ended at the hands of World No.1 Serena Williams in the third round.

Johanna Konta: Konta’s breakthrough also involved a win over the elder of the Williams sisters; unseeded at the Australian Open, Konta took out the No.8 seed in two decisive sets en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal, where she lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. During her historic two weeks in Melbourne – where she became the first Brit to reach the final four Down Under since Sue Barker in 1977 – Konta outlastes 2015 Australian Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round, capturing an 8-6 final set just to reach her first career major quarterfinal, and went one step better when she ended the fairytale run of Zhang Shuai.

Zhang Shuai: Zhang came into the Australian Open without ever having won a Grand Slam main draw match in 14 previous attempts. She earned her first victory in emphatic style, however, when she blasted past No.2 seed Simona Halep in straight sets. The qualifier backed up her win with efficient wins over Hobart champion Alizé Cornet and Varvara Lepchenko – and survived a tricky fourth round with No.15 seed and 2015 semifinalist Madison Keys – before she ran out of gas on her eighth match of the tournament (three in qualifying, five in main draw) against Konta. Zhang’s run nonetheless guaranteed she would be the new Chinese No.1, a prestigious mantle with Li Na having recently retired and the 2016 Olympic Games on the horizon.

Samantha Crawford: The powerful young American has long struggled with injuries and inconsistencies since winning the 2012 US Open girl’s singles title, but had an impressive week at the Apia International Sydney. Unseeded in qualifying, she took out 2014 champion Tsvetana Pironkova to reach the main draw and hit through Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic to reach the semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. With textbook technique and effortless power, Crawford is within spitting distance of the Top 100 thanks to her run in Sydney, and should be one to watch as her ranking continues to increase.

Daria Gavrilova: Hometown favorite Daria Gavrilova rode a wave of support into her first-ever Grand Slam second week at the Australian Open. Dismissing No.6 seed Petra Kvitova in the second round, the Russian-born Aussie won a classic third round encounter against Kristina Mladenovic and bageled Carla Suárez Navarro in her next match before falling in three. Gavrilova is another former junior champion, winning the US Open title in 2010, but a torn ACL stunted her progress and kept her off the tour for nearly all of 2014. Last year, she won the 2015 WTA Rising Star of the Year Award and is set to reach a career-high ranking of No.33 following her run Down Under.

How it works:

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

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BJK Headlines NFL In The Huddle

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Billie Jean King was an honored guest at the National Football League’s Women’s Summit ahead of Super Bowl 50.

The Summit, entitled, “In the Huddle to Advance Women in Sport” comes just one day after King’s own initative through her Women’s Sports Foundation, the National Girls and Women in Sports Day; both aim to recognize and encourage young women to succeed in sports and all aspects of life.

King was joined by former Secretary of State and keynote speaker Condoleezza Rice, former LPGA superstar Annika Sorenstam, and All-American softballer Jessica Mendoza.

Learn more about the Summit here, and check out some of the best tweets from the event:

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Mattek-Sands’ Golden Phoenix Homecoming

Mattek-Sands’ Golden Phoenix Homecoming

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PHOENIX, AZ, USA – Mixed doubles gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands received a hero’s welcome when she touched down in her hometown of Phoenix. Last week she took home the gold along with partner Jack Sock after beating out Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram in an all-American final, 6-7(3), 6-1, 10-7 at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

The American was received by family and friends – including her husband, Justin Sands – at the airport. Local news crews were on hand to capture the welcome party as Mattek-Sands showed off the prized hardware.

“Winning that match point — what a feeling,” Mattek-Sands told Phoenix’s 12 News. “It’s really not comparable to a feeling I’ve ever experienced.”

“You’re just up there thinking about everything you did that got you to that point, and I get emotional now,” she said. “I want to do it again. I want to be a part of Tokyo 2020.”

Bethanie Mattek-Sands

The welcome party didn’t stop at the airport, though, as Mattek-Sands is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Arizona Diamondbacks vs New York Mets baseball game at Chase Field later today.

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Insider Podcast: Czeching Into Cincy

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – The quicker conditions at the Western & Southern Open tripped up a few of the returning Olympians arriving from Rio de Janeiro, but women’s doubles Bronze medalist Barbora Strycova had no such problems, overcoming a maddening number of rain delays – and a most dangerous qualifier in former World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard – to advance into the second round in straight sets.

Karolina Pliskova missed the Olympic tennis event, opting to spend the time gearing up for the final stretch of the season, one that had been particularly successful for her in 2015 when she won the Emirates Airlines US Open Series.

WTA Insider caught up with both Czech starlets in the second Daily Dispatch from Cincinnati:

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