Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – CoCo Vandeweghe played impeccable tennis to continue a career-best run, dispatching No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the Australian Open semifinals.

“It’s amazing to be in a semifinal,” she said in her post-match press conference. “But, you know, not satisfying. I want to keep going, keep playing. There’s more things to do out on a tennis court that I’m hoping to achieve.”

Vandeweghe might have been forgiven for having a letdown less than 48 hours after defeating World No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber in the previous round.

But with the help of coach Craig Kardon, it was clear the unseeded American came to play from the outset, earning break points in the very first game against Muguruza, who was playing in her first major quarterfinal since winning Roland Garros.

“I thought I took care of the things that I could control, which is the most important thing: not letting outside factors affect anything that was happening.

“It’s kind of weathering the storm a little bit, knowing what Craig and I talked about before the match: the game plan is going to work, and believing in it, not wavering from it, which I’m very proud of myself for doing, especially early in the first set when I was kind of squandering quite a few break points.”

The first set came down to one break of serve, which Vandeweghe converted and never looked back, losing just one more game in one hour and 23 minute masterclass.

“Maybe I play better nervous and scared. I don’t know. I think I don’t shy away from a challenge necessarily. I never have. Growing up, I’ve always just been wanting to prove people wrong in a lot of different regards.

“I think it’s more that I take it as an enjoyable challenge. It’s what I want to do. It’s where I want to be. To face the best players is definitely an accomplishment, to say for myself that I’ve gotten to the point that I’ve beat and face these top players.”

By the end of the match, she hit 31 winners to 20 unforced errors, handcuffing the typically aggressive Muguruza, holding the Spaniard to only 14 winners against 16 errors.

“I was surprised,” Muguruza said after the match. “I think she played unbelievable. Three times we played in the past, she didn’t show this level.

“Her serve, her shots were there. She barely missed. So it was a pretty good performance from her.”

Standing between Vandeweghe and her first Grand Slam final is No.13 seed and former No.1 Venus Williams, who is playing her first Australian Open semifinal since 2003.

“It’s a dream to play someone you grew up watching. To play an unbelievable player, future Hall of Famer in Venus, and to be on the court with her, I’ve only experienced it one time before.

“But to do it at this stage of a Grand Slam is kind of crazy. I mean, I can’t really put it into words. Not only when I was younger, it was unknown if I even wanted to play tennis, because I was playing basketball as well, but it was kind of, like, you see that, you see it happening, but you more see yourself there. You don’t see who the opponent is on the other side when you get there.

“To definitely have two Americans against each other in the semifinal I think is pretty cool.”

.@CoCoVandey reflects on her game… “It was like a freight train, you couldn't stop it.” #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/CMzpFOK5H1

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2017

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Playing her first WTA match since her incredible Australia campaign, Victoria Azarenka shook off the rust and withstood a tough challenge from Polona Hercog, coming back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

“I don’t really come with too many expectations to any tournament, and this is not an exception,” Azarenka told press after the match. “I’m here trying to work on my game.

“My first match, it was a little bit uncomfortable at first. But I need to do that in matches to improve my game.”

Azarenka, who was making her Acapulco main draw debut, was up against the World No.82 Hercog, who was a finalist here in 2010. She struggled in the first set and showed signs of frustration – Azarenka was broken three times and her powerful groundstrokes were misfiring, racking up unforced errors. The Belarusian got one break back and fought off a set point, but gave up the first set 6-4.

Dropping the opening set seemed to be just the motivation that Azarenka needed, though, and once her game clicked, there was no looking back. She broke Hercog for 4-2 and went on to grab the next two of three games, winning the set 6-3. Azarenka was nearly unstoppable in the third – after Hercog held serve to get on board, Azarenka won the next six games to close out the match in commanding fashion, 6-1.

“I had way too many unforced errors in the beginning, but it wasn’t really a big deal,” Azarenka said of her adjustments in the second half of the match. “Just little mistakes there and there – I just cleaned it up.

“I just tried to stay a little bit more consistent and really take my opportunities better and execute my game better. “

Though she survived the tough encounter, Azarenka won’t be getting a break in the next match. Awaiting her in the second round is the on fire Dominika Cibulkova, who dominated her clash with Lourdes Dominguez Lino, winning 6-0, 6-0.

“It went pretty well,” the always-understated Cibulkova commented after the 52-minute match. “I was really strong mentally today and that’s why I won.

“I wouldn’t say I was playing really, really good. I was playing OK, I played the way I needed to play.”

She didn’t face a single break point in the straight sets romp, and didn’t let the blustery conditions affect her. What helped her stay focused?

“I am an experienced player so I know how to not get crazy about the heat, the sun and the shades,” she said, referring to the tough conditions on the grandstand court. “If I’m thinking about everything else but not the game, it would be much more tough.”

Also though to the second round is Shelby Rogers – last week’s Acapulco finalist – who survived a tough opening set to defeat Anna Tatishvili 7-6(6), 6-0. Christina McHale downed Heather Watson 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(1) to advance. No.7 seed Danka Kovinic, qualifier Julia Glushko and Olga Govortosova are through as well.

– Angelique Kerber’s bad day: Nothing was working for the Australian Open champion in her disappointing 7-5, 6-1 loss to Zheng Saisai. It was Kerber’s first tour match since her Melbourne triumph and she struggled to find any rhythm off the ground, firing 38 unforced errors to Zheng’s eight. A frustrated Kerber told her coach Torben Beltz during their on-court coaching timeout that she felt “empty” inside.

“I was practicing very well in the last few days,” Kerber said. “But today, my practice this morning was not the best. So I was feeling not good from the beginning.

“I think you have sometimes days like this. Of course it’s sad that’s the first round here in Doha for me. Still, I mean, it was not my day. That’s all I can say today.”

The loss opens the door for No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska, who won in straight sets, to grab the No.2 ranking this week. She can do so if she wins the Doha title. After a day of upsets, Radwanska is now the highest ranked player in the draw.

– Zheng Saisai’s near-miss: After beating Australian Open champion Kerber, Zheng was back on court and nearly pulled off an even bigger upset over Australian Open champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. Zheng and her partner Xu Yi-Fan led 4-2 in the match tiebreak before losing eight straight points to lose 6-4, 4-6, 10-4. The win extends Mirza and Hingis’ win streak to 41 consecutive matches.

You just defeated the 2016 @AustralianOpen champion.

“I know, OMG!” ? #WTA https://t.co/dprzkIGnwS

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2016

– Simona Halep: The No.4 will lose ground in the rankings on Monday after wasting 7-5, 4-1 lead to lose 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-1 to Elena Vesnina. The win was Vesnina’s first Top 10 win since 2013.

With the loss, Halep went winless in the Middle East, a particularly frustrating result after she appeared to play much better during the Fed Cup weekend.

Halep has nearly 1,400 points to defend in Indian Wells and Miami.

– Garbiñe Muguruza set to return to the Top 4: The Spaniard rolled past Nao Hibino with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the first round in Doha and will move ahead of Halep in the rankings on Monday, at No.4, though she does have a chance to move up to No.3 this week as well.

– Daria Kasatkina continues to show promise: The 18-year-old held three match points against Roberta Vinci but couldn’t close, losing 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3). Kasatkina keeps putting herself in winning positions in these key matches, but the nerves seem to be her undoing when trying to close things out. Experience should change that.

– Timea Babos, ace leader: Seven weeks into the season and the tour’s ace leaderboard may surprise you:

#WTA 2016 Aces Leaders – Entering Doha:
67 Timea Babos
57 Julia Goerges
55 Karolina Pliskova
54 Maria Sharapova
54 Serena Williams

— Kevin Fischer (@Kfish_WTA) February 23, 2016

Babos knocked out Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner Sara Errani to advance to the third round on Tuesday.

– Petra Kvitova gets on the board: Kvitova extended her streak to 18 consecutive wins over Czech opposition, beating Barbora Strycova 7-6(2), 6-4 for her second win of the season. She’ll play Jelena Ostapenko for a spot in the quarterfinals.

– Eugenie Bouchard’s draw opens up: The Canadian secured her ninth win of the year with a 7-6 (0), 7-5 win over Denisa Allertova in Doha. She’ll play Zheng for a spot in her first Premier quarterfinal since the 2014 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

– Lucie Safarova’s title defense ends early: Getting back on court after a long bout with a bacterial infection was a victory in itself for Safarova. But she has some way to go to rediscover her 2015 form, losing 7-6(6), 7-5 to No.162 Cagla Buyakakcay.

World No.161 @CaglaBuyukakcay stuns defending @QatarTennis champ Safarova 7-6(6), 7-5!

First Top 20 win! #WTA https://t.co/LpVANfp0x7

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2016

– Victoria Azarenka rebounds in Acapulco: The top seed was made to work but started her Mexico campaign with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Polona Hercog. She plays Dominika Cibulkova in the second round. Cibulkova dropped a double-bagel win on Lourdes Dominguez Lino to start her tournament.

– Upset Mainia: Check out the WTA Insider Podcast for all the latest on what some of what this week’s surprising early results portend for the rest of the season:

MELBOURNE, Australia – No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova survived a tense three-setter against the newly formed pairing of Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai to win their second Slam in a row, winning the 2017 Australian Open women’s doubles title, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.

“We were celebrating like five-year-old kids out there,” Mattek-Sands said after the match. “I mean, it still feels amazing to win it. It’s a Grand Slam. When we got the trophy, we saw our names written on it. We know we get it written on there again. It’s just special.

“So many great teams are on there. We played a lot of great teams to get to the finals. Part of it is really enjoying the journey, enjoying each match. Really, the celebrations kind of go quick. We’re going to make sure we enjoy this moment for a little bit.”

Mattek-Sands and Safarova have been the team to beat since last summer, when they won what was then their third Grand Slam title at the US Open and rode an 18-match winning streak into the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“We go out there and have a blast. I mean, I think our first one here in 2015, I hadn’t played a lot of doubles the year before. Lucie and I had never played together as a team. We came out strong. I think it really has clicked from the beginning. It really hasn’t stopped. I think it’s gotten better.

“Lucie is one of my best friends off the court. We talk about life. We talk about tennis. I think more life stuff. But there’s a little tennis in there every once in a while.”

The American in particular had a career-best year in doubles last season, winning the elusive Sunshine Double at the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open with CoCo Vandeweghe and Safarova, respectovely, and became the top-ranked doubles player after starting 2017 with a win at the Brisbane International with Sania Mirza.

1…2…3…jump!#ausopen pic.twitter.com/SPguHHkBiB

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2017

Dropping just one set en route to the final, Mattek-Sands and Safarova looked more confident after each victory, dancing through off-days with the help of fitness guru Shuan T.

Across the net on Friday’s final was a familiar foe in Hlavackova, who was playing her second straight final in Melbourne, but with a new partner in Peng Shuai. Hlavackova and Peng had played together just five times heading into the first Slam of the season, but had an impressive record with three titles already under their belt, including the Shenzhen Open in the first week of the year.

They've done it! @BMATTEK and @luciesafarova overcome a one set deficit to win the women's doubles! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/CZH2Ucty2W

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2017

Making their major debut as a team, Hlavackova and Peng earned back-to-back wins over top teams in No.3 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals, and top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. Coincidentally, Vesnina, Garcia and Mladenovic were the only three women who could have usurped Mattek-Sands’ No.1 ranking, and their losses guaranteed her the top spot befor taking the court for the final. 

Hlavackova and Peng exchanged breaks with Team Bucie to kick off the match, eventually edging through a 53-minute first-set tie-break and appearing on course for a big win on Rod Laver Arena.

“I think we were improving throughout the first set,” Safarova said. “I felt like our game was throughout the match getting better and better. We stick together. We were positive. Never doubted that we would be able to pull it out.”

Women's doubles Championship presentation #MattekSands #Safarova #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/oWOL1gGXqi

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2017

But Mattek-Sands and Safarova dug in their heels, racing out to a double break lead to start the second and continued breaking serve to stay ahead and level the match.

“I think we really balance each other out,” Mattek-Sands added. “We talk a lot during points, on the changeovers. It’s all positive. I know there was a couple games we were up 40-love and we lost them. It’s easy to think you had an opportunity and you missed it. But it’s not the case.

“We play every point new, fresh, and we play our game.”

The decider came down to one break, which the American/Czech duo earned in the fourth game and held on in a marathon fifth game to remain in the lead and eventually serve out the win in two hours and 14 minutes.

“It’s not like you would expect it, but after what we’ve been through, I also feel like our game got better and better,” Safarova said. “I believe we are one of the best teams out there.

“If we play our game, we are positive, keep like sticking together, pulling it out, I think we are going to hopefully get even more.”

After the trophy ceremony, Mattek-Sands and Safarova dusted off their dance moves to thrill the Aussie crowd one more time:

Smooth moves, @BMATTEK and @luciesafarova! Not a bad victory dance! ??? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/rluxD9WOvW

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2017

DOHA, Qatar – No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza played some of her best tennis of the year to dispatch Hungary’s Timea Babos, 6-2, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.

“I think it was very tough,” she said during her on-court interview. “The second set, we were fighting like crazy. Timea started to play better and by the end of the match we were both very tight.

“But hey, I’m happy to win!”

Babos came into their third round encounter as the tour-leader in aces, but Muguruza stole the show on serve, hitting 10 aces of her own and 31 winners to just 22 unforced errors. Babos kept her side of the stat sheet even – 21 winners and 21 errors – but missed out on an opportunity to force a second set tie-break in the final game of the match, putting Muguruza into the last eight in Doha.

“Timea serves very strong, so I knew I had to be focused on my serve and hers as well. It was definitely one of the keys.”

Playing in Doha for just the second time in her career, Muguruza will play Andrea Petkovic for a spot in the semifinals; Petkovic closed out CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-4.

“I think the city is super fine. Doha looks great, and I’m really happy to be here and playing, finally!”

Earlier in the day, Elena Vesnina backed up her win over No.2 seed Simona Halep with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki; the win put Vesnina into her first Premier-level quarterfinal in nearly three years (Eastbourne 2013) and was just her second win over the Dane in eight prior encounters.

The last match of the day took place between No.9 seed Roberta Vinci and Turkish wildcard Cagla Buyukakcay; Vinci maintained her focus through a feline interruption to win, 7-5, 6-1.

#MuguIsBack pic.twitter.com/2kBcFof5Dh

— WTA (@WTA) February 24, 2016

MELBOURNE, Australia – No.11 seed Marta Kostyuk captured her maiden major title on Saturday, ousting top seed Rebeka Masarova, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open girl’s singles final.

“I was more excited yesterday when I go through the semis,” she admitted in her post-match press conference.

Masarova made a breakout run last spring when she defeated Amanda Anisimova to win the the junior French Open crown, and arrived in Australia aiming to wrest the No.1 ITF ranking from Anastasia Potapova, who did not play this week.

Kostyuk, by contrast, was playing her third season on the junior circuit and had posted consistent, if unremarkable, results at the biggest events – making back-to-back quarterfinal appearances at Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl.

But things started to change last spring when she began working with manager Ivan Ljubicic, a former ATP pro who coaches Roger Federer.

“I improved a lot, and I feel it. Maybe the biggest improvement period was in May when Ivan invited me to practice in Monte Carlo for ten days. And after that I won Grade Two.

“After that I start to work on my serve a little more and practice more and more. That’s when I signed with Ivan and start to practice in Cannes, in Kiev, so everywhere. It was fine. And I’m trying to work hard.”

Currently coached by her mother, Kostyuk credited Ljubicic with helping her rise so quickly, and with helping her meet Federer during her stay in Melbourne.

Congratulations to our #AusOpen 2017 Girls' Singles champion @marta_kostyuk! ??? pic.twitter.com/gPslwFxtS0

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2017

“He did a lot. He give me a bit of his experience and big tennis. And I met finally Roger today. He congratulated me. And I took a photo with him, so I was very excited.”

The 15-year-old took a 5-2 lead to start Satuday’s final, only to see Masarova save four set points and level the opening set. Undaunted, the Ukrainian reeled off eight of the final 10 points to take a one set lead.

Still, Masarova was undoubtedly in the match by then, and made her presence known in the second set, breaking four times to force a decider.

“I won first set, but it was very tight, like it was 5-2. I had four set points, and I finished just on the score 6-5,” she explained.

“Maybe when we start to play second set, her consistency was like a bit more than mine, and she was more in the game. And I just lost a little bit of this.

“When I started to play second set, I just started to think how it was good that I almost won. And that what didn’t really helped me.”

The pair exchanged four straight breaks to begin the final set, with Kostyuk ultimately breaking in the crucial ninth game to serve out the biggest title of her young career in one hour and 55 minutes.

“Maybe when score was 3-1, I just stopped thinking and started to play again, so I was ready for the third set.”

The doubles final took place 24 hours prior and saw No.3 seeds Bianca Andreescu and Carson Branstine defeat the Polish pair of Maja Chwalinska and Iga Swiatek.

Congrats to @marta_kostyuk on taking the Junior AO Girl's Singles ?!!! #AusOpen #TeamWilson pic.twitter.com/ZnInycx9r9

— Wilson Tennis (@WilsonTennis) January 28, 2017