Roland Garros: Mladenovic vs. Schiavone
Kristina Mladenovic takes on Francesca Schiavone in the first round of Roland Garros.
Kristina Mladenovic takes on Francesca Schiavone in the first round of Roland Garros.
Former finalist Simona Halep was forced to dig deep to defeat Naomi Osaka and keep her dreams of a maiden Roland Garros title alive.
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As an athlete, top 25 doubles star Alla Kudryavtseva has long been in pursuit of physical excellence, but holds intellectual acument in equal standing, earning an online Bachelor’s of Science in Communications, her second degree and first at Indiana University East.
“I’ve always loved to learn,” she told WTA Insider from LaGuardia Airport on Monday. “I’m always trying to read and learn something, so I thought, ‘I’m doing all these things. Why don’t I try to get a degree?’
Kudryavtseva previously earned a degree in physical education back in Moscow, but was inspired to return to school by then-doubles partner Anastasia Rodionova, who is also at IU East studying business administration.
“Communications is a diverse degree, one that you can use in many different areas. I’m not quite sure what I want to do when I stop playing, so it just seemed like a good fit. Everything you do these days is with communications. Physical education was interesting at the time and very applicable to what I do as an athlete. I found this degree very applicable as well when it came to things like negotiations and persuasion, or even things like dissecting the news and what we see in media.
“It has been a really interesting journey and I learned a lot.”
“Alla was one of our finest students in the Communication Studies program and within the entirety of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences,” noted Ross Alexander, IU East’s Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Her professors consistently lauded her stellar work, professionalism, and the global perspective she brought to all her courses. She is among the very best we have at IU East.”
The former World No.56 had more than her share of setbacks in her final two semesters – inucrring an ACL injury just before finals – but perservered to receive her diploma on Tuesday at the Richmond campus’ Student Events and Activites Center. Through her various academic endeavors, this will be the first to have any proverbial pomp and circumstance.
“It has been a pleasure to host Alla on her first trip to the Richmond campus,” said IU East Chancellor Kathryn Cruz-Uribe. “We are honored to present her with her diploma. As an alumna, she will join a network of over 9,000 IU East graduates,” Cruz-Uribe said.
“I just turned 29, and from middle school to university, I’ve never been to an actual graduation ceremony,” Kudryavtseva admitted. “I always came to the office, picked up the diploma, and thank you very much!
“It’s difficult to be a student athlete; it takes a lot of discipline and commitment. No one is there to push you, so you’ve got to push yourself, and make sure you’re leaving appropriate time for assignments and reading. When grades start rolling in, that also adds stress, but luckily I’ve been a straight-A student, so I didn’t have to worry about anything.”
Kudryavtseva joins a growing cohort that includes former World No.1 Venus Williams, who became the first WTA player to graduate under the tour’s agreement with IU East. Current students include Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig, Sloane Stephens, and Arina Rodionova. Also earning her diploma later this month is Irina Falconi; the former Georgia Tech standout won her first WTA title earlier this year in Bogota, and credited Lisa Grattan of the Women’s Tennis Benefits Association (WTBA) as one who encouraged her to return to the online classroom.
“Once I heard about how good of an opportunity it was, I realized I had to jump on it,” she explained in an email. “I was motivated to go the moment I heard about it! I know that having a degree is something important to me, so I knew I wanted to get it done.”
Like Rodionova, Falconi is also studying business administration, a field the American saw as a natural selection for one already balancing the business of athletics.
“I like to think that I am already a running business. I wanted to really learn everything there is to know about running a sound business, making budgets, and marketing myself.”
A second set of deadlines can prove daunting to the already-overloaded athletes, but Falconi found a way to make the grade through her tenure at IU East.
“When I started the program four years ago, WiFi wasn’t everywhere and wasn’t reliable, so there were a few late nights where I had to drive or walk to a coffee shop to make sure I submitted something before the deadline.”
Both Falconi and Kudryavtseva stressed the importance of education, arguing it helped give them a better sense not only of their future, but also their present.
“My capstone project was a 40 page paper on athletic retirements, and that was a very interesting topic to choose,” Kudryavtseva said. “I learned about all the difficulties athletes face: loss of identity, and how unprepared many are for what comes next. An athlete’s network can affects them a lot, because it gets to a point where everyone they know is somehow involved in their sport.
“That made me evaluate my own circle of friends and I realized just how many people I know have played or do play or are somehow connected to the WTA or even ATP tour or college tennis. When I was younger, I thought I’d want to disconnect from the tennis world when I retired, but getting older, I don’t think I want to. You learn so much over a 15 year career that I couldn’t have this level of expertise in any other field; it’d be a waste if I completely disconnected.”
“I know that tennis won’t last forever, so I knew that having a degree in my back pocket would benefit me in the long run,” Falconi added. “I think that some players may be a bit intimidated by the idea of online schooling, but if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish it!”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
PARIS, France – Shelby Rogers beat the odds on Sunday, dispatching No.25 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 6-4 at the French Open to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Rogers proved she could play on clay earlier this year when she reached the final of the Rio Open, but the unseeded American had never been past the third round at any major tournament in her career. Meanwhile, Begu had enjoyed the most consistent clay court season of anyone in the field, reaching the quarterfinals in Charleston and Madrid, and the semifinals in Rome.
Nevertheless, Rogers has been the Cinderella story of the tournament, taking out No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova, Volvo Car Open finalist Elena Vesnina and No.10 seed Petra Kvitova just to reach the second week. Playing on Court Suzaane Lenglen, she took it to her Romanian opposition, hititng 15 winners and nine fewer unforced errors than Begu, who only hit 12 winners in two sets.
“I think any player has to be ready to do well every week,” she said in her post-match press conference. “We enter the tournaments with expectations, of course, to do well or work on things or, you know, with certain goals in mind.
“If you don’t expect to do well, then maybe you shouldn’t play, you know. I keep going back to trying to treat this as any other tournament, any other tennis match. Obviously the stakes are much higher and the players are much better.
“I’m just trying to stick with my routines and do what I have been doing all year.”
Up a set and 4-2, Rogers briefly saw her lead under threat as the No.25 seed surged back to level the second.
“I won the first set and it was working. Okay, I missed a few, but still going for the right shots kind of thing. So just keep going after it I kept telling myself. It was working in the first, it’s going to work again. So keep doing it.”
Maintaining the course, a fifth break of serve in the tenth game proved decisive for the 23-year-old American, who clinched the biggest win of her career in one hour and 21 minutes.
“I really enjoyed playing on that court. It was a great experience.
“I think that’s a very important point on backing up a big win. I guess I have done that pretty much this whole tournament, starting with the first round, because that was a huge upset for me and kind of set the tone for the last few matches I have played.”
Setting up a quarterfinal encounter with No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, Rogers becomes the first American not named Venus or Serena Williams to make it this far at the French Open since 2005 (Lindsay Davenport) and, at No.108 in the world, the lowest ranked player since 2012, when qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova won her way into the last eight, ranked No.142.
“I keep reminding myself to play one point at a time and that this is just another tennis match. But that’s getting a little bit harder to do as the rounds get farther.
“But I’m very happy with the way I played, and I just hope to continue it.”
“I always dreamed it would happen but I'm not sure I thought it could.” Well @Shelby_Rogers_ , it's happening! #RG16 https://t.co/0eZ2l2LrCu
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 29, 2016
PARIS, France – No.5 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic rounded out the French Open doubles quarterfinals, becoming the last team to advance to the final eight with a dominating victory over German duo Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund, 6-3, 6-2.
Mladenovic recovered from Saturday’s heartbreaker against Serena Williams to continue to delight the French crowd alongside partner Garcia by squeezing in a doubles win before the rain halted play for the rest of the day. The Frenchwomen are the No.2 doubles team on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard and have been a regular force on the tour since the start of the year when they teamed up in hopes of an Olympic berth.
Into their first Grand Slam quarterfinal as a team, Garcia and Mladenovic will face the on-form duo of Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson in the next round. The Dutch-Swedish team is fresh off of a title last week at Nürnberg and on Sunday in the third round they dealt Serena Williams and Venus Williams a 7-6(8) 4-6 6-0 upset.
The No.3 seeded team of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan will have to wait another day to complete their match against No.7 Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. The Russians vaulted ahead to a commanding 6-1 lead, but the Chan sisters were just beginning to mount their comeback in the second set by opening with a break when the rain forced the match to be postponed at 1-2.
The Chans are the highest seeded team remaining in the doubles draw after the shock straight sets defeat of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza on Sunday at the hands of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova. Nicknamed “SanTina,” the pair sit at No.1 on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard and share the No.1 ranking in doubles, but they couldn’t muster up any magic against the Czechs as their bid for a “SanTina Slam” came to an end.
Turning in to twins @KikiMladenovic @CaroGarcia? ? #RG16 pic.twitter.com/sJRFgUX1wd
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2016
Carla Suárez Navarro
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.13
Year-End Ranking: No.12 (Career-High No.6, 2/29/2016)
Season Highlights: Title at Doha
Best Major Result: QF (Australian Open)
12 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/4HCCfhp92B
— WTA (@WTA) December 20, 2016
2017 Outlook
Having earned herself a place on tennis’ top table last year, 2016 saw Carla Suárez Navarro consolidate her place among the game’s elite. The Spaniard set the tone for a campaign characterized by its consistency in January, following up a semifinal in Brisbane by returning to the last eight of the Australian Open where her run was halted by an inspired Agnieszka Radwanska.
This good form continued as the tour moved to the Middle East, where she made the latest breakthrough of her career, lifting the prestigious Premier 5 Qatar Open. This result lifted her to a new high ranking of No.6 and while she was unable to scale her usual heights on the European clay, appearances in the second week at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open maintained this Top 10 status.
Suárez Navarro looked well-placed to cap off the year with a singles debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but – just as 12 months earlier – it was not to be, injury ultimately curtailing her chances.
“The season is from January to October. There were a lot of good things in the middle of the year,” coach Marc Casabó said following her withdrawal from the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “Going again to Asia being eight and with options to get into Singapore is a good note. And we should value the whole year as a whole. The blow is great because we all thought it would be there. But it’s been a growing season. “
A refreshed Suárez Navarro will begin 2017 in Brisbane, once more, lining up alongside eight other members of the Top 20.
PARIS, France – No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza was made to work in the first set of her much-anticipated French Open quarterfinal against Shelby Rogers, but from set point down, the Spaniard rallied and never looked back, easing past the American, 7-5, 6-3, to reach her first career semifinal at Roland Garros.
Rogers had enjoyed a most impressive run into the last eight, upsetting No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova, Volvo Car Open finalist Elena Vesnina, No.10 seed Petra Kvitova, and No.25 seed Irina-Camelia Begu to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Muguruza herself had played solid tennis to reach this stage for a third year in a row, but it was the young American who steadied first, edging out to a 5-3 lead and getting within a point from the opening set.
The 2015 Wimbledon runner-up had only dropped one set through her first four matches, and promptly saved the set point and only lost three more points to sneak off with the opening set a few games later.
Rogers stopped the rot at six straight games, and took one last stand when she recovered from a 0-3 deficit to level the second set at three games apiece.
Muguruza ultimately had too much experience for the American, duly serving out the match to reach the final four for the first time at the French Open.
In a battle of first strike tennis, the No.4 seed proved far more consistent, striking 21 winners to Rogers’ 16, and only 13 unforced errors to 21 from the American. Coverting four of her six break point opportinities, the Spaniard also hit five aces in the 81 minute affair.
Up next is either 2010 finalist and No.21 seed Samantha Stosur or Tsvetana Pironkova.
More to come…
PARIS, France – Defending champion Serena Williams fired out a warning shot that echoed around Roland Garros by swatting aside Elina Svitolina in straight sets on Wednesday morning.
The players had originally been due on court 48 hours earlier, only for the Paris weather to intervene. When they did finally make it onto Philippe Chatrier, Williams was clearly intent on making up for lost time, reeling off the first four games in the blink of an eye.
Svitolina did eventually get on the scoreboard but was unable to stem the tide for long, dropping the first set in under half an hour. The second set was almost as brief, the American wrapping up a 6-1, 6-1 victory to reach the last eight for a 10th time.
When the players last met in a major, at the 2015 Australian Open, Svitolina extended the World No.1 to three sets. However, on the clay it was never a contest, Williams making a mockery of the heavy conditions to rack up 27 winners in her 62 minutes on court.
“I think it’s definitely a whole new ballgame. I didn’t play my best in the third round and I really wanted to come out and do a lot better and prove that I can do better than that,” Williams said.
The tone was set in the opening game, Svitolina missing four first serves; Williams duly broke to love.
In the build-up to the match both Williams and her coach Patrick Mouratoglou had made no secret of the danger posed by Svitolina, particularly with four-time French Open champion Justine Henin now in her corner.
Faced with the World No.1 in full flight, Svitolina found it tough to live up to this billing. It was not until the fifth game that she hit a winner and the few openings she did carve out were more often than not slammed shut with a thudding serve.
Williams, who remains on track to become the first player to defend the title in Paris since Henin in 2007, is now just three wins away from her 22nd major title, matching Steffi Graf’s tally and closing in on Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.
Afterwards, she refused to be drawn on her relentless record chasing exploits: “I think every day, for me, is important to get up for all my matches, you know, first round to the last round. I feel like the moment I step on the court that’s all I see, is the ball and the opportunity to do the best I can.”
She is not expecting an easy time in the next round, when she takes on one of Mouratoglou’s former charges, Yulia Putintseva. “I have actually played her a couple of times, and most recently in Indian Wells,” Williams said. “You know, she’s a tough player. She’s really hungry. I feel like she gives 200% on every single point.”
This attitude was evident in Putintseva’s rain-delayed 7-5, 7-5 win over No.12 seed Carla Suárez Navarro. Putintseva’s intensity and variety never allowed the Spaniard find her comfort zone, drawing error after error.
“I have been waiting for like two or three days for my fourth-round match. Of course it was getting nervous and all this stuff because of the weather. I had to change my hotel, as well, because my reservation finished. But I’m happy that in the end the wait was worth it,” Putintseva said.
What a passing shot by Serena Williams! ? #hotshot #RG16 (via @rolandgarros) https://t.co/ymvi9EUoIK
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) 1 June 2016
Johanna Konta
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.47
Year-End Ranking: No.10 (Career-High No.9, 10/10/2016)
Season Highlights: Title at Stanford
Best Major Result: SF (Australian Open)
10 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/BLzBZliR05
— WTA (@WTA) December 22, 2016
2017 Outlook
Johanna Konta’s first off-season as a member of the Top 10 has been nothing if not eventful. Following the conclusion of a year that brought 46 wins, one title and a jump of 37 places up the rankings, Konta was rocked by the death of mental coach Juan Coto, a significant figure in her spectacular rise.
Soon after, the Brit split from long-term coach Esteban Carril, before teaming up with the well-respected Wim Fissette for a trial period at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton. Fissette has an excellent record, having taken three of his previous charges to a Grand Slam final.
Konta will hope the new arrangement will elevate her game to the next level. “I guess he’s been on the tour for quite some time, so I’m definitely looking forward to being a sponge and absorbing as much of his experience and knowledge through the years,” she said in an interview with The Independent. “He’s been with Kim and some of the players I’m currently playing against. Again, it’s early days. I think there’s only so much that you can feel out in the training block, and then the year starts. That’s when you really feel how you get along.”
“I am a firm believer – and this applies to every single team member – that I’m looking for a partner. I like working together harmoniously. I like being involved in my own development, having my input. It’s basically about a partnership more than anything.”
The pair will begin this partnership at the season-opening Shenzhen Open, before rounding off preparations for the Australian Open at the Apia International Sydney.