Tennis News

Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka got in touch with her cinematic side over the off-season, working with friends to produce an epic training montage in her home town of Minsk.

“I wanted to show a different side of me that is not out there in the world,” she told WTA Insider. “So I wanted to show my fans, the media, the people, who I am.

“I wanted it to show the behind the scenes of my preparation, and a little bit of my interests, as well. So there’s music, there’s art, and even motorcycles.

“It made my dream come true.”

With narrative quotes from rival Serena Williams and Azarenka herself audible under an original beat, the two-time Australian Open champion gets intense on a motorcycle and in front of a graffiti wall as she works out ahead of what she hopes will be her best season yet.

“I was running at home and I saw a whole movie in front of me,” she said, explaining her inspiration behind the 90-second clip. “I actually ran through the red light and I almost got hit by a car because I was so in the moment.

“I saw this and I wanted to do this video. My friends were like, ‘we can do it. We have equipment. How do you want to do it?'”

Involved throughout the creative process, the Brisbane International champion worked with friends on the project, and enjoyed giving her input through every aspect of the film.

“My friend and I worked on the music; he did most of it, but I kept giving him crap because he didn’t do it the right way.

“I may not play any instruments but I hear music in a very special way. So once he got the music it was easier to write the treatment.”

Starting the season ranked outside the Top 10 for only the second time in seven years, Azarenka is aiming for a complete renaissance in 2016, one that unveils a more finely tuned athlete and even more dynamic personality.

“I’ve done my research about what’s been said about me in the media world. They came up with a lot of different keywords and they were just about sports. I liked it but it was limited. I’m so much more than that.

“So when I have the opportunity I want to be in the world that I live in and I just want to be open and I just want to be me because I enjoy it.”

Courtney Nguyen, Point: Earlier this week, Petra Kvitova was asked what she would take from the 2016 season into next year. With her typical brand of understated wit, Kvitova said simply, “Myself.”

This has been a season of discovery for the two-time major champion, and she has a chance on Sunday to cap off her WTA season on a winning note. She parted ways with her long-time coach David Kotyza in January and has spent the year in search of herself, both on and off the court. The Kvitova who was a mainstay in the Top 10 and constant threat was nowhere to be found in the first seven months of the season, as the Czech sputtered to a 16-15 record, capped off with a disappointing second-round exit at her beloved Wimbledon.

The loss seemed to jolt something within Kvitova. Her form steadily improved over the summer hardcourt season, highlighted by Olympic bronze in Rio. Then came a semifinal run at the Connecticut Open and her first Round of 16 showing at a Slam in a year at the US Open. After a loss to eventual champion Angelique Kerber in New York, Kvitova fell to No.16 in the rankings, her lowest mark since 2011.

Then, as if finally unencumbered from expectation or pressure, Kvitova found her game in Asia. En route to her third final in her last four tournaments, Kvitova has resumed her near-unstoppable form in China. The signs of a resurgence began at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in September, where she beat No.1 Angelique Kerber and proceeded to blitz the field to win her first title of the season. Since her 16-15 start to the season, Kvitova is now 29-7 since Wimbledon.

Playing in her first Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai as the No.3 seed, Kvitova has been the most dominant presence in the field this week in Zhuhai, rolling to the final without losing a set and spending just over three hours on court to win her three matches. Kvitova is 18-7 in finals, having won 8 of her last 11. Svitolina is 4-1 in finals, having split the two she’s played this year, winning Kuala Lumpur and losing in New Haven. The Ukrainian has yet to beat a Top 15 player in a final.

The Czech lefty has won five of her six meetings against Elina Svitolina, who is playing in the biggest final of her career on Sunday. The two played a few weeks ago in Wuhan and Kvitova won easily, 6-3, 6-1.

“With Svitolina I knew if I put the pressure on her, when she’s under the pressure she’s not playing as well as she is,” Kvitova said after beating Zhang Shuai in the semifinals on Saturday. Of course it’s always difficult to put a pressure on her because she is serving and returning well.”

An in-form Kvitova on a fast, low-bouncing court is a tough match-up for anyone on any given day, and it’s an even tougher task for Svitolina, who does not have the weapons off the ground to push Kvitova back. Unless Svitolina can keep consistent depth on her groundstrokes, this is going to be hitting practice for Kvitova. If Petra is on, it’s hard to see her losing this match.

David Kane, Counterpoint: Consistent depth is exactly what was on display during the second semifinal in Zhuhai. Svitolina of defensive memory was stepping into the court and taking big cuts on second serve returns against top seed Johanna Konta, winning five of the last six games to defeat the Brit, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The Ukrainian youngster was the only player to have dropped a set en route to the semis. Some might say she struggled; Svitolina would say she’s been tested.

“I’ve won a lot of three-set matches, and I play good when the matches get long,” she said on Saturday night. “She came up with some good returns, couple of good returns, and I was under pressure.

“I was trying to say to myself, ‘Come on. This game is very important, the return, to put pressure back and to try to get back in the game.”

She heads into the biggest final of her young career with two wins of reigning World No.1s in 2016: Serena Williams at the Olympic tennis event, and Angelique Kerber at the China Open. Some credit the contributions of Hall of Famer Justine Henin; Svitolina looks more towards the physical improvements made since Wimbledon, all thanks to a new fitness coach.

“At this stage, when we’re already on a high level, you need to improve everything just a little bit,” she told WTA Insider earlier in the week. “Small details matter a lot; you just need to take time to adapt to new things. It’s very important because whenever you change something mentally or in your preparation, you have to know it’ll take time to show up on the court.

“You just need to be patient.”

Svitolina will need some of that patience against Kvitova, who has struck winners at will through much of her three match wins over Roberta Vinci, Barbora Strycova, and Zhang Shuai. The Czech star has left opponents flatfooted as she blistered shots from the back of the court. Across the net, the World No.14 has attempted to employ the sort of mind games seen from Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the Asian Swing.

“It’s the last tournament. I’m trying to think that I still have couple tournaments ahead of me. When you think about your last tournament you start to be really down in energy. You start to think about Maldives or something,” she joked, referring to her inevitable off-season destination.

“I try to enjoy the moment. I think it helped in the first match when I was down the first set. Staying in the moment really helps me a lot.”

Some might say she has a tough road ahead of her against Kvitova; Svitolina sees it “step by step.”

“I’ll need to react really fast and look for my opportunities,” she said when asked about Sunday’s final. “Just stay in the moment, because you never know when the opportunity is going to come.

“I will try just to focus on each point and we will see.”

– All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy

NEW YORK, NY, USA – There are a lot of numbers floating around when someone’s going for this much history, so we’re putting them in one place – we’ll also update this after every one of her matches this fortnight. So here you are – all the Serena Williams stats you need for the Australian Open!

Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 285 (Navratilova 306, Evert 299)
~ Serena is trying to win her seventh Australian Open title (won it in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2015); she already has the Open Era record for most Australian Open titles, male or female
~ This is Serena’s 20th time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 19)
~ Serena is 60-1 in Grand Slam first round matches (only loss: Razzano at 2012 French Open)

Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-4 in Grand Slam finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena has won her last eight Grand Slam finals (last loss: Stosur at 2011 US Open)
~ Serena has won her last 15 finals (last loss: Azarenka at 2013 Cincinnati)
~ Serena has won 30 of her last 32 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha & 2013 Cincinnati)

Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 289d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)

Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 153rd & 154th straight weeks at No.1 during the Australian Open fortnight (third-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186 and Navratilova’s 156)
~ Serena is spending her 276th & 277th career weeks at No.1 during the Australian Open fortnight (third-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377 and Navratilova’s 332)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($74.1M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.5M)
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 69 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)

Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:

Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)

Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 214-16 (.930)
WTA titles: 28
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 14 (.571)
vs Top 10: 52-5 (.912)

Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 171-13
WTA titles: 22 of 29
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 11
vs Top 10: 37-3

The end of a WTA season means something different for every player; some are relieved to return home to family and friends, while others can hardly sit still, and fly to the nearest exhibition event.

Alla Kudryavtseva needed a vacation.

A Top 20 doubles player who has been ranked as high as No.56 in singles – with wins over Maria Sharapova and Karolina Pliskova – the Russian had spent the summer playing a debut season of Mylan World TeamTennis – where she won Rookie of the Year playing for the Austin Aces – and the fall chasing one of the few remaining spots at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with partner, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“I was exhausted at the end of the year, and I didn’t even realize it until I had a chance to stop playing,” Kudryavtseva told WTA Insider after a practice session in Melbourne.

Narrowly missing out on a second straight Singapore appearance, she nonetheless enjoyed a week on site as a first alternate.

“I actually got to watch a lot of matches this time; I felt like a little bit like a fan! The first time I was there in 2014, I was trying to preserve energy and not watch too much, but this time I got to watch a lot of Maria Sharapova. She played so good, so powerful. Aga, of course, showed her magic and that was great as well. Just to be there in Singapore meant a lot.”

Hey @NastiaPav and @AllaK11! pic.twitter.com/GMPx6Ngf6E

— Becky! (@_strongiscaro) October 25, 2015

But the season wasn’t over yet.

“I wanted to avoid what happened this past week, which was that my singles ranking dropped to No.235. In trying to catch up on singles, I flew over to the United States, but then I got sick and it all kind of fell apart.”

Rock bottom came in Carlsbad, a WTA 125K Series event right before Thanksgiving. Playing a first round against former Aces teammate Nicole Gibbs, Kudryavtseva was fighting illness and fatigue when a mid-match court reassignment put her on emotional overload, leading to a rare default and leaving the Russian to reassess how she approached the game, mentally and physically.

“It was a wake up call. I love tennis, and especially from my experience playing in Austin, I learned that some people in tennis really love me. I have loyal fans that have stuck with me, who help me out on Twitter, sending me love and support.

“It was a moment for me to think, ‘what am I doing? Is this really who I want to be on the court? Is that the kind of person I want people to think that I am?’ My friends would tell you I’m a fairly positive girl who likes to crack jokes. I don’t want to be remembered as some grouchy, negative, complaining, or whining person who is never happy.

“I also have to plan my schedule better, and listen to my body more because I guess I’m not as young as I thought! It’s time to start pacing myself, to choose the tournaments I want to play more wisely this year. I want to be able to be in touch with myself more and to not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Red sand beach………. Surreal beauty…. My heart is stolen ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/8JjXZlnfb6

— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) December 8, 2015

As she spoke, Alizé Lim passed by and exclaimed, “She’s so positive!” Indeed, the first people to rally around Kudryavtseva after the incident were the friends she had on tour.

“For me, the support of the players was very important. It was nice to know that they didn’t judge me by that one episode and know I’m a better person than that.”

“I’d really let down my doubles partner, Vania King; we couldn’t play doubles as a result of what had happened, and I felt terrible. But through it all, she was so nice and was a really good friend.

“The same goes for my opponent; we saw each other maybe an hour after the match, and I came over and I apologized for my behavior. Nicole was so nice; she said, ‘don’t worry about it, mate! Take a break, it’s all going to work itself out.'”

Just a few more sunsets here in Hawaii before I go back to training…. ? Tennis, I'll be back soon ? pic.twitter.com/8hAFAdnQ9q

— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) December 6, 2015

There’s taking a break, and then there’s Kudryavtseva’s trip to Maui.

“It was all fantastic: the snorkeling, the hiking, the beaches. I even tried body surfing, which did not go so well! But still it was just wonderful. All of the people I met over there were so positive, so loving and so connected with the nature and the history of the island. I learned a lot, as well, and it was a really well-timed rest, probably the best vacation I’ve ever had, considering the place I was in.”

Two weeks on the Valley Isle thoroughly rejuvenated the Russian, who returned to the court having rediscovered her passion for the game.

“I was able to come back and find that I missed tennis. I actually played twice over there, but when the trip ended I was like, ‘oh my god, a racquet, this is so awesome!’ I made a couple of changes; for example, I started playing with a new racquet, I have a new sponsor. Everything felt new and fresh, and my head was free from the negativity and stress of last year.”

Another strong session today! 
????? @AllaK11 @athletic1080 pic.twitter.com/7IEsHKymin

— Claudio Pistolesi (@cpistolesi) December 11, 2015

One familiar element came in the form of Claudio Pistolesi, a former ATP player who has worked with Monica Seles and Daniela Hantuchova through his esteemed coaching career.

“He worked with me in 2014 when I made a singles comeback into the Top 100; hopefully we can turn things around, play some aggressive tactics and get to places we haven’t been before. That’s our goal; we don’t want to put a number on it, just get to new places and go far.”

Though she plans to play through the start of year with King, a two-time major champion who spent nearly a year rehabbing a back injury, Kudryavtseva began her season with doubles specialist Andreja Klepac; together they played Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza tough over two sets in the semifinals of the the Brisbane International.

“Andreja and I played really well; we had a really good time, and she’s another example of a very positive person who sees the best of things. But I’m looking forward to playing with Vania; we actually shared an apartment when we were training at the same academy. We get along great and I was very happy to see her when she arrived in Melbourne.

Off to Oz! #yesplease #travel #tennis. Полетели! 26 часов ? #путешествия pic.twitter.com/QBvEEpxciP

— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) December 26, 2015

“We’re going to try and make it work; I think it can be a promising partnership and I’m ready to give Miss King the title of Comeback Queen!”

The last few months read like a screenplay for Kudryavtseva, How Alla Got Her Groove Back, the working title. But the Russian is still looking for her fairytale ending, in singles as much as in doubles.

“Life works in mysterious ways. In Russia, we have this saying: ‘you make plans, but God laughs.’ I’m just trying to focus on the good atmosphere with my coach and working hard to equally focus on singles and doubles. We’ll see where things go from here.”

Follow along with Alla on her journey through the 2016 season each month on WTA Insider, and on Twitter @AllaK11!

FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – No.2 seed Irina-Camelia Begu battled past a spirited challenge from Monica Puig to earn her spot in the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup, where she’s set to face the No.6 seed Timea Babos for the title.

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

“It was a tough one because she is playing really aggressive and hit the ball very hard,” Begu said of her Puerto Rican opponent. “I served well in the important games. It was difficult but I think I managed it well.”

Begu is the second Romanian player to reach the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup after Monica Niculescu won the title at the tournament’s inaugural staging in 2013. Standing in Begu’s way as she tries to emulate her countrywoman is Babos, who spoiled what would have been an all-Romanian final when she edged past Ana Bodgan in a tight straights sets rollercoaster, 7-6(10), 6-3.

The Hungarian looked to be firmly in the driver’s seat from the start after she built up a 5-2 lead, but a mental lapse gave Bodgan a way back. Bogdan rattled off four games straight and even held three sets points at 6-5, 40-0.

Babos reigned in her mounting frustration to send the set to a tiebreak, and Bodgan raced ahead to a 5-0 lead, only to see it dashed away again as the No.6 seed clawed back to take the opening set.

“It was definitely a silly, silly match,” she said afterwards. “I mean, I was really controlling the match in the beginning of the first set and then I lost control – especially of my emotions.”

“It was ridiculous, very unbelievable that first set.”

The second set would prove to be just as difficult as the first, featuring eight breaks of serve total. Babos, who had been very defensive in her service games thus far, finally changed her strategy at the end and raised her level of aggressiveness to take the decisive seventh break at 4-3, then once again to close out the two hour long battle and make her way to the Florianopolis final.

Her day wasn’t over yet, though, as later Babos was back on court after suitable rest to join her partner Reka-Luka Jani for the doubles final against Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok.

It was one way traffic for the Kichenoks as they routed the all-Hungarian duo 6-3, 6-1.

Both teams were fine tuning their Olympic preparations and are scheduled to be back on the courts after the Olympic tennis event kicks off this weekend in nearby Rio de Janeiro.

“For sure this tournament was great preparation for the Olympics,” Lyudmyla said. “We are really looking forward to it now after winning here in Florianopolis.”

Angelique Kerber kicked off her 2016 season by picking up some silver hardware in Melbourne, winning her first major title at the Australian Open. Last month at Wimbledon she proved to everyone, including herself, that her Melbourne run was no fluke, making the final of yet another major tournament.

So can the German back it all up with some Olympic hardware? Absolutely.

Playing under the German flag has never been a problem for the World No.2. In her first Olympics in 2012 she was a win away from the medal round in London, losing in a tight two sets to top seed Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. Since 2012, Kerber is 10-4 in Fed Cup, leading the Germans to the final in 2014, and has been Germany’s standard-bearer since her breakout season in 2012.

In Rio, she is aiming to become the first German to win a medal in tennis since Tommy Haas won silver in 2000, and the first German woman to win a tennis medal since Steffi Graf in 1992.

Kerber heads to Rio after a scratchy week at the Rogers Cup in Montréal. It speaks well to her quality and confidence that she was able to make the semifinals without playing anything near her best tennis. But she looked rusty and out of rhythm in Canada.

With the summer schedule accelerated due to the Olympics, Kerber did not get much rest after Wimbledon. She was back on court at the Ericsson Open in Bastad, where she eventually withdrew due to an elbow injury. The injury did not seem to bother her in Montréal, but the rust from being unable to train as hard as she might have liked for the hardcourt summer showed.

“I think the tournament was good for me because I have a lot of tough and close matches during this week,” Kerber said after losing in three sets to eventual champion Simona Halep in Montréal. “It was the first tournament on hardcourt again, so it’s good to have a lot of matches before going to Rio now, having a few matches under my belt.

“I’m actually feeling good. I take the positive things for the next week and looking forward to play the Olympics.”

Kerber was part of a small group of players who had to endure a series of delays and rerouted flights to get down to Rio earlier this week, finally landing on Wednesday. She’ll need to shake off the fatigue quickly and get back to work to improve her form over what we saw in Montréal. That may prove difficult given how hard it has been for players to get extended blocks of practice time on the courts in Rio.

Finally arrived in Rio !!! ? #longtrip #RoadToRio ?? pic.twitter.com/20jvaBAN5t

— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) August 3, 2016

Also looming after the Olympics are the Western & Southern Open and the US Open, both of which offer Kerber an opportunity to overtake Serena Williams for the No.1 ranking. It’s a milestone that is within her reach before Flushing, but for now the focus is on getting a medal for Germany.

“I think for the tennis player, the Grand Slams are, I think, the most important things,” Kerber said in Montréal, when asked how the Olympics stack up to the tour’s biggest tournaments. “Of course you are looking forward, like me, to playing the Olympics because it’s only [every] four years. It’s an honor to play for Germany. Of course, I will give everything to win the medal, doesn’t matter which one.

“It’s tough to compare because it’s a little bit different, but I’m happy that I already have a Slam,” she said with a big smile.

After six months of defying expectations, Kerber has rightfully earned the label of a medal favorite.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.