Kerber Exit Opens No.1 Door For Serena In Australia
With World No.1 Angelique Kerber out of Oz, can No.2 Serena Williams reclaim the top spot at the Australia? Find out how right here on wtatennis.com.
With World No.1 Angelique Kerber out of Oz, can No.2 Serena Williams reclaim the top spot at the Australia? Find out how right here on wtatennis.com.
LONDON, Great Britain – In a rematch of the riveting Australian Open final, can Serena Williams lock up her 22nd major title over her Melbourne conqueror, Angelique Kerber?
The top seed has suffered three straight Grand Slam disappointments, but seems to have gotten her swagger back since her second round struggle against American Christina McHale, and played some of her best tennis of the fortnight to dismiss Elena Vesnina in the semifinals.
Kerber is looking for her second major of the season, and surely has fond memories of her Australian Open triumph over the six-time Wimbledon winner. The German hasn’t dropped a set through her first six matches, playing clutch tennis against No.5 seed Simona Halep and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in ehr last two matches.
Stay tuned for Saturday’s Wimbledon final Live Blog, which promises to-the-minute commentary an insight, courtesy of WTA Insider’s Courtney Nguyen:
MELBOURNE, Australia – CoCo Vandeweghe ended No.1 Angelique Kerber’s title defense at the Australian Open on Sunday, defeating the German 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 16 to make her first quarterfinal in Melbourne. Ranked No.35 and set to rise to a career-high ranking after the tournament, the big-hitting American bullied Kerber off the court with her power, firing 30 winners to 20 unforced errors in just 68 minutes.
.@CoCoVandey with the dab!#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/yEayki4q6k
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
1. This result was in the cards.
On paper, this was a significant upset. In actuality, you could see it coming from a mile away.
There’s no way around it: Kerber was still trying to find her form in Melbourne. She came into the tournament with just three matches under her belt – two of them losses – and though she successfully navigated the first week of play, she was never convincing.
The defending champion needed three sets to get past Lesia Tsurenko in the first round and Carina Witthoeft in the second round, relying on her physical defense to grind out matches against players who tried to hit her off the court.
“This is tennis, and you have good days and bad days. For sure today was not my best day.” -#Kerber#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/oyEqc9kIIB
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
That defense finally found its match against the ballistic ball-striking from Vandeweghe. The American is into her second Slam quarterfinal after scoring strong wins over Roberta Vinci, Pauline Parmentier, Eugenie Bouchard, and now Kerber. Her serve has been cranking and her backhand in particular has dominated her matches. Kerber’s defense alone would not be enough to unwind Vandeweghe on her day.
The German needed her serve — which has not been at the level it was last year — as well as good depth and width on her groundstrokes. Instead, she sent back a buffet of short balls in the middle of the court, which were automatic for Vandeweghe.
On improving: “I usually sit down and think of three positives from the match and three negatives from the match.'” -#Vandeweghe#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Pjm2fA312L
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
2. CoCo’s confidence carries her through.
The American insists that sometimes she “fakes it until she makes it”, an allusion to the idea that she’s not always as confident as she may seem on court. But there’s no denying that Vandeweghe talks as big of a game as she plays and that swagger seems to translate into tremendous clarity on court. Since the start of 2016, Vandeweghe has won 5 of her 6 meetings against Top 10 players.
Next, she gets a shot to avenge that one loss to Muguruza in Cincinnati last summer.
“I go out there expecting to win.” ✔️
Goal achieved, @CoCoVandey #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/YyQ7MuwliA
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
After coming back from a break down in the third set to beat Bouchard in the third round, Vandeweghe shrugged off any implication that the win was a particularly significant one. After converting match point against the World No.1 and defending champion, she calmly looked to her box and nonchalantly shrugged.
The message is clear from the 25-year-old Californian: this is what she expects of herself and this is what she knows she can do.
On Sundays, we slow-mo with @serenawilliams. #ausopen pic.twitter.com/QMPRf0H3VA
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2017
3. The No.1 scenario is simple.
Serena Williams can retake the No.1 ranking if she wins the Australian Open title. She plays her Round of 16 against Barbora Strycova on Monday.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Johanna Konta will play the biggest match of her career on Wednesday when she faces six-time champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. By all accounts, the 25-year-old doesn’t even see it that way.
Konta, who is riding an eight-match winning streak after taking the Apia International Sydney title, has won her last 18 sets of tennis. Her serve, a weapon that has emerged as the cornerstone of her game, has been broken just twice in Melbourne. There’s no reason for Konta to be short of confidence going into her first career meeting against Serena, but the humble Brit’s approach to her tennis these days is what sets her apart from the pack.
Look no further than the final game she played to beat Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1, 6-4 in the Round of 16 on Monday. Serving to close out the match, Konta found herself down 0-40, a point away from finding herself back on serve against the talented Russian. She saved the first break point with an unreturnable first serve, the second with a forehand winner, and the third with an ace, cool as you like. Four points later, the match was over.
Closing out matches, handling one’s nerves with so much on the line, these are the marks of a resilient competitor. Just 48 hours earlier, 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko had No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova on the ropes and twice failed to serve out the match, blowing a 5-2 lead and losing. The young Latvian immediately copped to her nerves, saying she was impossibly tight as she stared down the biggest win of her career. Konta, serving for a spot in her second career quarterfinal, didn’t even flinch.
So how did Konta do it? Here’s her eloquent response from the interview room after the match:
Q. You said the other day that you were surprised how you close out sets and matches as if it was any routine service game. Where do you draw that confidence in those big moments?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think more than anything it’s more trying to disassociate myself from the importance of the moment. I think it’s more keeping things in perspective and not panicking if I were to lose that service game or that point.
I think just keeping things in good perspective and just having trust in myself that however the match will swing, I will always be there to give my best and to always try to leave it all out on court and fight till the very end.
So nice to finally meet @JoKonta91 fun chat & Jo has great vision & a positive attitude to the future of her tennis. Exciting times pic.twitter.com/06HjbPn2gG
— Jo Durie (@Jodurie) January 23, 2017
Q. When you talk about disassociating yourself from the big moments, obviously a lot of players struggle to do it, and I’m sure you struggled to do it five years ago. Why is that so difficult for most players? Why was it difficult early on to kind of be able to not be overwhelmed by the importance of moments in a match?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think it’s difficult, because you have also got to put things in perspective. Everyone you see playing has been playing since they were a little girl. And it’s no secret that to get to whatever sport or even whatever area of life, if you want to be part of the elite and if you want to get to the top of your field, there will be numerous sacrifices you’ll need to make.
And I think when you get to a position where you might see a glimmer of what you have dreamed of as a little girl or what you hoped for, what you’ve worked so hard for, it can feel kind of an all-or-nothing moment or what if I never get this chance again?
I think it’s more a bit of possibly fear of being able to replicate the position you’re in more than anything, but then I think that’s where you have also got to have a good perspective on things, and you’ve got to keep, I guess, the simple things in mind of what’s important to you.
Are you healthy? Is your family healthy? Do you have people around you that you love? Do you have people around you that love you?
I know it might sound really mundane and simple, but I guess you’ve got to go back to things that have got substance, and then in the end just trust in the work that you do, if it’s in the cards for you that you will get another opportunity or you won’t. I think [you have to] really love the sport for what it is and be grateful for the opportunities that it brings you, not necessarily what you wish it would.
Q. Going back to the separating yourself from the importance of the moment, in that nanosecond where the little voice in your ear goes, Psst, it’s match point, what is the trigger that you can shut that voice out, and how long does that take for it to become automatic?
JOHANNA KONTA: I don’t think it’s about necessarily, for me personally, anyway, about shutting it out. It’s more accepting that, Oh, I have got a little bit of tension. Or accepting that my mind might be yapping away, not necessarily fighting against it, but relaxing into it and saying, It’s absolutely normal to think like this.
I think it’s then easier for your motions to take over more than anything because you’ve got to trust the tennis in you, the motions in you, years and years of playing that I’m all of a sudden not going to forget how to serve. I have been doing it, I don’t even know how long, so I think it’s more just having that trust in the repetitions that you’ve had over the years.
Konta’s transformation over the last 18 months has been one of the most confounding stories in the women’s game. How does a player, one who was once a terrible closer who would let her emotions impede her game, suddenly learn to set it all aside and trust the tennis within her? Experience and maturity certainly play a role, as does Konta’s work with a sports psychologist.
But the rapidity of the change and her unwavering commitment and belief in herself is remarkable and a fantastic example to players up and down the rankings. Asked whether she believed she could beat Serena, Konta dismissed the premise of the question.
“I believe in my own ability,” she said. “I believe in the good things that I bring to the court, and I believe in my ability to fight till the very end.
“Now, there’s that and then there’s also an opponent out there, and this one’s going to be Serena Williams. I think it’s about playing, me going out there and doing what I want to do against her, and it will be about just staying focused on that. And if that brings me good things on that day, and if that puts me in a position to come through, then that’s great.
“But I’ve got to focus on the work and not think of whether I can or cannot beat her. I just need to stay on the work.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Angelique Kerber (+2, No.4 to No.2): The German reached her second Grand Slam final of the season, knocking out five-time champion and former No.1 Venus Williams before battling through a two-set defeat to World No.1 Serena Williams. Kerber is back to the career-high ranking she first earned in February upon claiming her maiden major title at the Australian Open.
Venus Williams (+1, No.8 to No.7): Williams moves more comfortably into the Top 8 after making her first major semifinal since the 2010 US Open. Back up to her highest ranking since early 2011, Venus fought through five tough matches to finish in the final fall before falling to Kerber in straight sets.
Carla Suárez Navarro (+3, No.12 to No.9): Suárez Navarro returned to the Top 10 following her best career grass court season. Backing up a run to the semifinals of the Aegon Classic, the Spaniard reached the second week of Wimbledon for just the second time in her career, bowing out to Venus Williams despite having chances to serve out the opening set.
Svetlana Kuznetsova (+4, No.14 to No.10): The Russian veteran fulfilled her promise of returning to the Top 10 after having chances to do so earlier in the season. Kuznetsova is at her highest rank since the spring of 2010, just before her title defense of the French Open title she had won the year before. Kuznetsova played Serena Williams tough after knocking out former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki en route to the fourth round.
Dominika Cibulkova (+6, No.18 to No.12): Cibulkova’s march back toward the Top 10 continued at Wimbledon, where the Slovakian dynamo followed up her title run at the Aegon International with a run to the quarterfinals of the All England Club.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+4, No.23 to No.19): Up to her highest ranking in over three years, Pavlyuchenkova played her best grass court tennis of her career to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal – upsetting Timea Bacsinszky and CoCo Vandeweghe along the way.
Elena Vesnina (+26, No.50 to No.24): Ranked outside the Top 100 to start the season, Vesnina cut her ranking in half following her fortnight at Wimbledon, where she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. After surviving a thrilling, rain-delayed encounter with doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova, she put on an emphatic display to dispatch Cibulkova in the quarterfinals.
The following women all reached career-high rankings; click here to see the full rankings updated as of 7/11/16!
New #WTA Career-High Rankings@KikiBertens – No.26 @DKasatkina – No.29 @MonicaAce93 – No.33
Misaki Doi – No.36 @MariaSakkari – No.97— WTA (@WTA) July 11, 2016
Ana Ivanovic and Dominika Cibulkova had plenty to celebrate this weekend as each married their respective fiances, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Michal Navara.
WHITE PLAINS, NY, USA – The USTA announced a major prize money increase for the 2016 US Open. A $4 million boost brings the total purse for the tournament to a record $46.3 million, a 10-percent increase over the 2015 US Open prize money totals.
In all, the US Open will provide the richest purse in tennis history at this year’s event.
Both the men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $3.5 million, the largest payout in US Open history. The average increase per round for the singles competition is 10 percent above the 2015 US Open. Both the men’s and women’s doubles champion teams will earn $625,000, the highest in US Open history, and overall doubles prize money has been increased by 10.5 percent.. The US Open Qualifying Tournament will offer more than $1.9 million in prize money, a 10 percent increase over 2015.
This year’s US Open, scheduled for August 29 through September 11 – with the US Open Qualifying Tournament beginning on August 23 – will feature a number of major enhancements, including a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, a new Grandstand Stadium, and a completely redesigned southern campus to ease accessibility and crowding throughout the site.
“We are proud that this year’s US Open will offer the richest purse in tennis history,” said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Katrina Adams. “We continue to invest in all aspects of this world-class event to provide the best services and experiences for the players, our fans, and all of the US Open partners.”
Round-by-round individual prize money for the US Open singles tournaments are as follows:
Singles:
Winner: $3,500,000
Runner-Up: $1,750,000
Semifinalist: $875,000
Quarterfinalist: $450,000
Round of 16: $235,000
Round of 32: $140,000
Round of 64: $77,200
Round of 128: $43,300
WTA CEO Steve Simon spoke at length about the importance of SAP’s analytic advancements on the company’s CEO Live Page.
“Running SAP HANA is definitely making it easier for fans to enjoy us,” said Simon. “It’s giving them the in-depth background information that they’re looking for. No longer is the fan just looking for pictures; they’re looking for the story behind the pictures, and SAP is helping us provide that.
“The goal of the WTA, which is currently the number one women’s professional sports league in the world, is not just to be the number one women’s sports league in the world, but to be competitive with all sports. Our partnership with SAP is going to allow us to build audience because of the stories that we’re able to tell, and thus be competitive in that marketplace.”
Click here to hear more from Simon in the full video as part of SAP’s Live Business Leaders series.
Venus Williams talks about how she recovered from her disappointment in Auckland to bounce back to the Australian Open final.
STANFORD, CA, USA – No.7 seed Alizé Cornet was taken to the brink in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic, but rallied from a set down to dispatch American Jennifer Brady, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in two hours and 44 minutes.
Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“I always wanted to come here to Stanford, but somehow I was always ending up in Washington, maybe because it was closer!” Cornet joked with Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview.
“But this time I really don’t regret it because I really love this place. It’s amazing, and a lot of champions have won the tournament, so I hope to go as far as I can.”
Playing her first match since reaching the third round of Wimbledon, Cornet fell behind 4-0 in the opening set and couldn’t quite catch up to Brady, who broke serve in a marathon game to put herself one set away from a first-ever WTA main draw win – though she reached the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in San Diego last fall.
“I just kept fighting. She was playing really well, big serve and forehand.
“I had some trouble in the beginning of the match; I was really tense and the ball was coming really fast against me. But I just kept trying to hang in there, and try to give my best every point.”
Only one break separated the two in the second set, which Cornet took in another dramatic game to level the match. Racing out to a 5-2 lead in the decider, Brady made one last surge to force the Frenchwoman to serve out her spot in the second round. Clinching the contest with a classic one-two punch, booked a second round meeting with Zheng Saisai, who was the first winner of the day over wildcard Maria Mateas, 7-5, 6-1.
“In the end it was really really close, and I went for it and it worked out, so I’m really happy to be in the second round.”
The night session features an all-Stanford battle between former All-American Nicole Gibbs and Carol Zhao, who helped the university win the 2016 NCAA Championships.
More to come…