Dubai: Caroline Wozniacki's Shot Of The Day
Caroline Wozniacki had Friday’s shot of the day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Caroline Wozniacki had Friday’s shot of the day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
With the French Open officially in the books, how do the rankings stand as the tour heads into the third major tournament of the season?
Defending champion Serena Williams remains No.1 for a 174th straight week, a streak that began all the way back on February 18th, 2013, after reaching the final of the Qatar Total Open.
Garbiñe Muguruza is not too far behind at her career-high ranking of No.2, trailing the 21-time Grand Slam champion by 1564 points thanks to her maiden major title at Roland Garros, where she defeated Serena in the final.
Muguruza became the first Spanish woman ranked inside the Top 2 since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in December 1996; Sanchez-Vicario is also the first and most recent Spanish woman to be ranked No.1 back in 1995.
Ahead of the grass court season, Wimbledon finalists Serena and Muguruza have the greatest number of points to defend, with 2000 and 1356, respectively. World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska fell to Muguruza in last year’s semifinal and is defending 1195 points, having also made the semifinals of Nottingham and the final of Eastbourne, where she lost to Belinda Bencic.
Bencic is making her return from a lower back injury, one which precluded her from nearly all of the clay court season. The Swiss star reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the final of the Ricoh Open, and is defending 920 points.
Who made the biggest leaps during the clay court season?
|
PLAYER |
4/4/2016 |
6/6/2016 |
CHANGE |
|
BERTENS, KIKI (NED) |
96 |
27 |
+69 |
|
CHIRICO, LOUISA (USA) |
126 |
74 |
+52 |
|
ROGERS, SHELBY (USA) |
108 |
60 |
+48 |
|
BUYUKAKCAY, CAGLA (TUR) |
120 |
77 |
+43 |
|
CIRSTEA, SORANA (ROU) |
135 |
98 |
+37 |
By reaching the second week of the French Open, Bertens rocketed up into Olympic contention, as did quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova, who now has a chance to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Yulia Putintseva made her career-best ranking and Top 35 debut by reaching the last eight in Paris, pushing Serena to three sets. Venus Williams also made her return to the Top 10 on the back of her best French Open result since 2010, reaching the fourth round.
Click here to check out the full WTA rankings as of June 6, 2016!
Elina Svitolina talks through her win in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
It’s time to vote for May’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, June 10.
May 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Garbiñe Muguruza: Muguruza not only held off history by halting Serena Williams’ quest for a 22nd Grand Slam title, but the Spaniard made a little history of her own. The first French Open champion from Spain since 1998, Muguruza rose up to a career-high ranking of No.2, becoming the first Spanish woman to be ranked that high since December of 1996. Playing pitch-perfect tennis throughout the fortnight, Muguruza dropped the first set of her first round against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and never looked back, winning 14 straight sets en route to the title – including wins over 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, and 2010 finalist Samantha Stosur.
Serena Williams: The new No.1 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard acquitted herself well in just her fifth tournament of 2016, reaching a fourth final at the French Open following a title run at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Serena fought valiently through a thrilling three-set quarterfinal against Yulia Putintseva, and saved four championship points against Mugurua before ultimately bowing out in straight sets.
Simona Halep: Halep’s rise began back in 2013, when she earned a wildcard to the Mutua Madrid Open; the Romanian came full circle just three years later by winning her second Premier Mandatory title of her career, defeating Stosur and Dominika Cibulkova in the final. Halep returned to the Top 5 thanks to that win and went on to reach the fourth round of the French Open for the second time in three years.
2016 Winners
January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
The top seeds tried to predict who would sweep Sunday’s Academy Awards to hilarious effect at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Check it out right here!
ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic made a winning start to her campaign at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, racing past Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets.
Kicking off the opening day action on Cancha Central, the Frenchwoman needed just an hour an fifteen minutes to complete the 6-2, 6-3 victory.
“It felt great to play the first match on Central,” Mladenovic said after the victory. “I was actually really surprised at the schedule, you know, to open up the tournament on the center court.
“It was difficult for me, too, because I arrived just two days ago from Dubai. I’m still a bit jetlagged and it’s totally different conditions here, but I’m just very happy with the win.”
Mladenovic got off to a quick start against the No.91-ranked American, jumping ahead to a 3-0 lead in both sets. Mladenovic played aggressive, positive tennis to keep Lepchenko out of the rallies, hitting a serve out wide and following it up with a booming forehand. She closed out the set with a second break to the Lepchenko serve.
Well-executed drop shot from @KiKiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/9hXnzArzMf
— WTA (@WTA) February 27, 2017
But the American stood her ground heading into the second, mixing up her game plan to play more aggressively and earn a break back and level the score at 3-3.
Mladenovic stayed positive, and peppered her game with dropshots to grab another break and serve out the match, sealing it with another ace out wide – her fifth ace of the match.
“I was trying to stay tough in my head, just trying to work for every single point, every game. I was just trying to go for it, and Varvara is a tough player as well. Very happy with this first win.”
Up next in the second round Mladenovic will face Heather Watson, who edged past American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 7-5, 6-3.
.@HeatherWatson92 beats Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-3!
Sets @AbiertoTelcel Second round vs @KikiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/VbnOMMb5xA
— WTA (@WTA) February 28, 2017
Also through in Acapulco, No.8 Andrea Petkovic faced a tough battle against American qualifier Jamie Loeb, needing to come back from a set down in her 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
“I’ve been here for a week already so I’ve been practicing for a long time,” Petkovic said. “I don’t remember the last time I waited this long for a match. So at the beginning I was a bit tight, because also she had been through qualifying here”
“She was playing really fast, and I needed some time to get used to it. In the second and third set – after some rough patches – I think it was pretty good.”
Joining them in the second round will be Shelby Rogers, who moved past her American compatriot Louisa Chirico 6-2, 6-2, and Pauline Parmentier who survived a rollercoaster against Nicole Gibbs to advance 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-2.
Playing in her first competitive match in 13 months, Ajla Tomljanovic stunned No.6 seed Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to move into the second round at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Magda Linette says she was surprised when fourth seed Peng Shuai was forced to retire from their third-round match at the Alya Malaysian Open – but she is now ready for her next opponent.
“You are always surprised when someone retires, you’re never ready for that,” the Polish player told reporters after the match. “You just need to be focused on your own game and just try to play your own tennis. I’m glad I stayed focused.”
The 25-year-old said she noticed Peng struggling with her serve before the fourth seed admitted she could not continue, 5-2 down with just 28 minutes of the match gone.
.@MagdaLinette is in control of the first set! #alyawtamalaysianopen pic.twitter.com/5TWC2jE0Hf
— WTA (@WTA) March 2, 2017
Nevertheless, Linette was satisfied with her performance.
“I was aggressive, that was the plan, to play my own game, and I realised that most of the time,” she said. “I’m pretty happy. It was short. It’s tough to judge, but I’m happy.”
Next up for the World No.93 is Duan Ying-Ying, one of only two seeds remaining in the draw, but Linette says that no quarterfinal match would be a straightforward one.
“Everyone plays good,” she said. “Qualifiers beat the third seed and second seed. So it’s not easier now, those players are good. Even the wildcard I played two days ago was a tough one, so obviously there are no easy players, it’s even tougher because the girls are so motivated to play. I’m lucky, I’m very happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Lesia Tsurenko takes on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
Lesia Tsurenko has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.