Sydney: Johanna Konta's Shot Of The Day
Johanna Konta had Friday’s shot of the day at the Apia International Sydney.
Johanna Konta had Friday’s shot of the day at the Apia International Sydney.
It’s hard to overstate the difficult task at hand for Angelique Kerber when she arrived in Stuttgart last week for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The World No.3 had won eight career titles but she had never successfully defended any of them. As the first German woman to win a major since Steffi Graf, she would be inundated by media requests and sponsor obligations throughout the week. And to cap it off, she was embarking on her fifth consecutive event dating back to the BNP Paribas Open.
All this for a player who admits she’s still getting used to the spotlight and the expectations that go with being a reigning major champion.
But if she was nervous, if she was stressed out, you didn’t see it in Stuttgart. That’s a huge step forward for Kerber. En route to her second title of the year she weathered the storm in two tough three-set wins over Annika Beck and Petra Kvitova before buckling down to take care of her countrywoman Laura Siegemund, 6-4 6-0 in Sunday’s final.
The honeymoon period after winning your first major title can last for months. For some players we’ve seen it last for years. But since losing in the first round of Indian Wells to Denisa Allertova, Kerber has righted the ship. She is 13-2 since then, with the two losses coming to Victoria Azarenka at the Miami Open and a retirement against Sloane Stephens at the Volvo Car Open, both of whom were the eventual champions. In the first two tournaments she played after the Australian Open, she lost in the opening round in straight sets to women ranked outside the Top 60. Her next three events? Semifinals or better, capped off by the win in Stuttgart.
WTA Insider caught up with Kerber after her Stuttgart win.
Insider: When we spoke before Charleston we talked a lot about moving past the Australian Open. Does a result like this, winning Stuttgart and playing how you did all week, does that give you confidence that you moved on?
Kerber: For sure. Like we talked, it was not easy to find the middle, how to mix all the media stress while playing good tennis. Now I’m getting used to it. Of course defending my title here is just an amazing feeling. It’s really special because it’s in Germany and here in Stuttgart. I’m getting used to it. Now I know how to deal with all the pressure and it makes me much more confident than I was a few weeks ago.
Insider: After winning the Australian Open, when you played in the Middle East you were dealing with all the attention in Germany, playing Fed Cup at home. Do you think those results in the Middle East and Indian Wells, was that a result of not being prepared because you couldn’t practice as much or was it because your mind just wasn’t right?
Kerber: I think it was both a little bit. Of course because I didn’t have too much time to prepare for the next tournament and really practicing again really hard like I did after Indian Wells. With all the media things and all the stuff I have to do off site, which now I’m getting used to it.
Insider: Have you just gotten used to the media side of things? Or do you actually enjoy it now?
Kerber: It’s both. I’m trying to enjoy it. It’s nice to do something different. To get to know new people, to see something different, not always my day is practice. I can change a little bit my day plan. So I try to enjoy it. So it’s both of it. I enjoy it but I’m also getting used to it.
Insider: Since the Australian Open, we’ve been playing tournaments but they haven’t been leading up to a Slam. Now we have the French Open coming up. Have you completely embraced clay?
Kerber: Yes that’s for sure. A few years ago clay was not my favorite surface. But right now I had a great clay court season last year and now, I played well in Charleston and here to win on clay, it gives me confidence that my game is also good for the clay court. That’s why I’m looking forward to Madrid, Rome and of course Paris, where I can play good tennis and play well there.
Insider: Does your mindset change now that you’re in Grand Slam preparation mode?
Kerber: I need a few days, even during the tournament for a few days, where I’m doing something different. Not thinking about tennis just trying to relax a little bit, go for a coffee, going shopping. Something like this. Then the motivation is there again to go on court, fight, and play good tennis. I think now I know how to mix it.
Insider: When’s the last time you had a normal day?
Kerber: I think the day will come tomorrow (laughs). I can’t remember, but I know this day will come tomorrow.
Insider: Do you have a celebration ritual?
Kerber: Yeah. Going for a great dinner after and then just enjoy this moment on this day. That’s what we will do today. Just going somewhere and enjoying the evening.
Insider: It must be nice to be home in Germany for that.
Kerber: It helps a lot. Here there are more people around me and it’s much nicer when you have a bigger team.
Insider: So how many Porsches does a single person actually need?
Kerber: Ha. That’s a good question. I don’t know. Minimum one but I think I have a little bit more.
Insider: You’re going to have to invest in a bigger garage.
Kerber: Yes (laughs). Yes, I have to.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Watch all the best shots of the week from the Apia International Sydney!
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Katerina Siniakova rewarded the locals who braved the elements on the opening day of the J&T Banka Prague Open by upsetting Alizé Cornet in straight sets.
Watch live action from Prague & Rabat this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
On a bitterly cold afternoon in the Czech capital, Siniakova found the conditions more to her liking, delighting the home crowd with a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over the former World No.11.
“I was trying to play my best and it was really hard because she was fighting, running everywhere, so I’m so happy I could win,” Siniakova said. “I just focused on every point and stuck to the tactics I agreed [with my coach] before the match.”
Siniakova hails from Hradec Kralove, but regularly trains on the Sparta Club’s clay courts that play host to the tournament. This familiarity with the surroundings was clear as the teenager – wisely clad in leggings and thermal vest – set about the task of piercing Cornet’s defense. She was rewarded for her positivity when she prevailed in a see-saw conclusion to the opening set, before warming to the task further at the start of the second.
When Cornet sent a forehand into the tramlines to surrender serve Siniakova had the breathing room her confidence required, and she maintained this advantage until the end to book a second-round meeting with either Stefanie Voegele or fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova.
“Of course it helped because when I’m here, I’m practicing on that court so I know it a little bit. But also the atmosphere was really good because people come and support us,” Siniakova added.
Also hoping to harness the crowd’s support was Kristyna Pliskova, but despite a strong start her powerful game was defused then picked apart by Hsieh Su-Wei, who ran out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 winner. Hsieh’s reward is a meeting with Ana Konjuh, after she fought back to upset fellow teenager and No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Angelique Kerber recalls her best memories from the Australian Open.
RABAT, Morocco – Britain’s Laura Robson is back to her winning ways after a long injury layoff plagued with false starts – the former No.27 scored her first WTA main draw win since 2013 at the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, advancing past Ghita Benhadi 6-1, 6-1.
Watch live action from Rabat & Prague this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Robson, who capped her promising juniors career by winning the Wimbledon Junior Girls Championship at 14 years old, found her professional career derailed by a left wrist injury and subsequent surgery that kept her sidelined for 17 months. She currently sits at No.426, but her ranking is expected to rise inside the Top 300 after the victory at Rabat.
The Brit’s performance against 18-year-old Moroccan wildcard Benhadi showed signs of Robson’s pre-injury form: she broke Benhadi’s serve six times and won 67% of her own first and second serve points.
Speaking earlier this year at Indian Wells, Robson said playing matches pain-free for the first time in two years has helped build her confidence.
“I’m not scared to hit [my serve] any more,” she said. “I am getting a couple of miles per hour on serve and the forehand, even if it doesn’t go in. It’s that nice feeling of not being scared to go for it anymore.”
Robson, who is making her Rabat debut this week, also expressed plans to take full advantage of her protected ranking that’s set to expire at Eastbourne, one week before Wimbledon.
“As much as I’d like to get more matches in at qualifying level and things like that, it would be a waste not to use [my protected ranking],” Robson said.
“I plan to play virtually all the clay-court season and the French Open and I think I’ll still have one left for the first week of the grass.”
Yay! ?? #happyandhealthy
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) April 16, 2016
Also through to the round of 16 is the top seed Timea Bacsinszky, who had little trouble cruising past Russian wildcard Anna Blinkova, 6-4, 6-2.
Lucky losers Richel Hogenkamp and Sara Sorribes Tormo made good on their second chances; Hogenkamp knocked out No.4 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 6-4, and Sorribes Tormo dominated the Tunisian wildcard, 6-0, 6-2.
Meanwhile No. 8 seed Yulia Putintseva and No.7 seed Lesia Tsurenko also advanced, along with Kateryna Kozlova, Tatjana Maria, and qualifiers Marina Erakovic and Aleksandra Krunic.
Angelique Kerber was named among Europe’s 30 Under 30 according to Forbes; how much did the two-time Grand Slam champion earn in her breakthrough 2016 season?
MELBOURNE, Australia – Six-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams leads the bottom half of the draw into action on Day Two at Melbourne Park. Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska are also in action on the last day of Round 1. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.
Tuesday, First Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs Belinda Bencic (SUI #59)
Head-to-head: Tied at 1-1
Key Stat: 2017 Australian Open marks first Grand Slam where Serena hasn’t been top seed since 2013 Australian Open (No.3)
Belinda Bencic’s reaction to the draw is quite different to how you’d think someone would react when finding out their first-round opponent is six-time champion Serena Williams:
“My first reaction was actually, like, really happy,” Bencic told press ahead of the match. “I’m super-pumped, like excited I get to play on the big court, I guess.
“Yeah, everyone is like, ‘Oh, bad luck with the draw.’ Me, I’m pretty happy and excited about it!”
Bencic has a reason to feel good: back in 2015, she scored the biggest victory of her career over Serena at the Rogers Cup, becoming one of just 3 players to defeat the American that year.
But a lot has changed since in two years, and injury woes have caused the Swiss wunderkind’s ranking to plummet. And Serena – as always – has her eye on making history and reclaiming the No.1 ranking in Melbourne Park.
“All I can do is do my best,” Serena said. “If I can play the way I’ve been practicing, it will be fine. I know she’s been playing well, so it will be good for both of us.”
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL #64)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 9-3
Key Stat: Pironkova’s last Top 5 win came over Radwanska in 2016 Roland Garros R16
World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska has many positives to take away from her run to the Apia International Sydney final: before getting thoroughly outclassed in the last match by Johanna Konta, Radwanska hadn’t dropped a set all tournament long and her tricky, deliberate game was flowing freely.
“Of course, losing finals always is disappointing,” Radwanska reflected in pre-tournament press. “But it’s still a good week with great matches against top players.
“I’m very confident. I really hope I can play the same tennis, even the tennis I played in the final. But every tournament is different story, especially in the tough first round.”
After the quick turnaround to Melbourne, Radwanska will bring all of that confidence and preparation against an opponent who has troubled her in the past: Tsvetana Pironkova. The pair have met 12 times previously, with the Bulgarian stunning Radwanska in the fourth round of Roland Garros.
“Pironkova is a very tricky opponent,” she said. “I’m expecting everything from her side. For sure it’s going to be a lot of running. I’m going to really have to work on each point.”
[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #6) vs Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP #106)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Sorribes Tormo is playing just the second Grand Slam main draw match of her career
After her dominant performance at the Brisbane International, where she claimed the first title of her season, Karolina Pliskova took two days off before heading straight to Melbourne.
“I’ve been practicing here since Tuesday. Even yesterday,” the Czech said in pre-tournament press. “But I’ve been feeling good so far. I was even ready for Monday start, but will be ready even for Tuesday.
“That’s what I did in New York, as well. So I just did it here. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I just want to leave everything in this tournament.”
But despite her red-hot start to 2017, Pliskova wouldn’t be drawn into discussing her Australian Open chances – not even on the eve of the tournament after drawing Sara Sorribes Tormo in the opening round.
“I would definitely not take me as a favorite of this tournament. It’s a big draw,” the Czech said in pre-tournament press. “There is a lot of players. I just take it step by step.”
“I just know my opponent from the first round. I want to pass this one. Then we can talk about the next one.”
Her opponent, Sorribes Tormo, is a 20-year-old Spaniard who might be out of her depths against the big-hitting Czech: this will be the just the second Grand Slam main draw match of her career, and her first match against a Top 10 opponent.
Around the grounds…
Reigning WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova will open against No.90-ranked Denisa Allertova on Day 2. The Slovak reached the final here in 2014, and will hope her 2016 momentum will carry her to a maiden Grand Slam title. Britain’s No.1 Johanna Konta will square off against Kirsten Flipkens – Konta leads the head-to-head 2-1.
Anastasija Sevastova takes on Kristina Kucova in the second round of the Australian Open.
Jelana Jankovic takes on Julia Goerges in the second round of the Australian Open.