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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – It was during the wee hours of the morning for most of the world when Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams in the final of the Australian Open, clinching an Open Era record 23 Grand Slam titles.

But the impact of Serena’s victory was felt all over the world, and the congratulations poured in from big names everywhere – from her tennis peers on the WTA and beyond, to fellow sports stars and celebrities.

One of the first to send her congrats was Karlie Kloss – she gave them to the champion in person. The model was in Melbourne and at Rod Laver Arena with a front row view to Serena’s monumental achievement.

Also in the front row? Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, though you might know him better as Serena’s fiancé:

Serena’s fellow Nike athletes – led by basketball legend Kobe Bryant – sent had a simple yet powerful message for her: “Greatest ever.”

The WWE even put Serena’s accomplishment in a category of its own, creating a specially-designed title belt for the 23-time Grand Slam champion. She can add this to the custom surprise she received from one of sports’ biggest legends, Michael Jordan.

But as the rest of the world woke up to the news of Serena’s history-making achievement, congratulations began to pour in from all over the Twitter-sphere.

Check out some of the best celebrity tweets:

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

It’s time to vote for January’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, February 3.

January 2017 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists

Serena Williams: Serena’s historic month came to its dizzying peak as she held aloft the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy after defeating sister Venus in straight sets to win the Australian Open. It was not only her seventh title Down Under, but also her 23rd overall, earning her the sole holder of the Open Era record she previously shared with Stefanie Graf. The win also returned Serena to No.1 on the WTA rankings and the Road to Singapore leaderboard.

Venus Williams: Not to be outdone, Venus served a bit of history herself, reaching her first major final since 2009 in Melbourne. It was her first Australian Open final in 14 years, and the American dropped just one set through six matches. Despite losing to Serena in the championship match, the elder of the Williamses still found herself at No.2 on the RTS leaderboard.

Karolina Pliskova: Pliskova began the year with a bang, winning the Brisbane International and roaring into her second straight Grand Slam quarterfinal. The Czech powerhouse won her first nine matches of the season and rose up to a career-high ranking of No.3.

Johanna Konta: The Brit also served notice to start 2017, winning her second career title at the Apia International Sydney. Under immense ranking pressure in Australia, Konta held her nerve to return to the quarterfinals. 

POM Jan

2016 Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams
July: Simona Halep
August: Monica Puig
September: Petra Kvitova
October: Dominika Cibulkova

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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Siegemund Sets Up All-German Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

STUTTGART, Germany – The giant-slaying run continued for Germany’s Laura Siegemund; the qualifier took out World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-2, to reach her first career WTA final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Watch live action from Stuttgart & Istanbul this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The qualifier won her seventh match of the week – and her 14th straight set since coming to Stuttgart – and had all the answers against the top seed, who lost five games in a row from a 3-1 advantage in the opening set.

“Maybe I’m a similar type like her to other players,” Siegemund said after the match. “I didn’t focus on beating her with her own weapon or anything like that. I was focussing on my game which has been working well the whole week and didn’t find the switch to play aggressive that well. I was playing a little bit short at the beginning which gave her a lot of options but managed to fix the problem and found my game, a little bit later than the other matches but I found it.”

Serving at a stunning 90% off her first serve, Siegemund played a near-perfect match against Radwanska, hitting 34 winners to just 17 unforced errors – racing past the Pole’s own stats of 13 winners and 15 unforced. Converting a double break lead on her fifth break point opportunity of the fifth game of the second set, all looked clear for Siegemund when Radwanska enjoyed a brief resurgence, breaking back and making the veteran fight for the finish line.

“I felt like I’m in the flow and I don’t need to think, I’m going to make the right decisions. Sometimes you feel you’re not in the flow and then it’s good to have a good strategy every single point. But today I stood up of the break and I knew I had to trust my intuition and it worked well. Sometimes you get up from the bench differently. It’s very individual in that situation. But I was very focussed, I was very calm. If it was 5-5, I had a plan as well. So, I felt good.”

In the midst of a breakthrough season that has already seen her reach the third round of the Australian Open and quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open, Siegemund dutifully broke serve one last time and served out her spot in the final after one hour and 23 minutes.

“My tennis was not good enough, that’s for sure today,” Radwanska told press after the match. “Well, I think with that kind of game she is playing, the first shot is very important. And she was playing pretty much all in and every time she got the ball I think she had nothing to lose, so she just took the risk.

“I can’t complain; I had a really good start of the year, a couple of good results as you said, a couple of semi-finals and so far so good. Well, I hope I can keep going that way.”

Siegemund defeated three Top 10 players this week – Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci in addition to Radwanska – and her stellar run could have major implications on the German Olympic team; tentatively up to a new career-high ranking just outside the Top 40, Siegemund has leapfrogged countrywomen Sabine Lisicki, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Julia Goerges, and Mona Barthel to become the No.4 German behind Angelique Kerber (who she plays in the Stuttgart final), Andrea Petkovic, and Annika Beck. Kerber and Siegemund will be meeting for the first time, but the reigning Australian Open champion will be keen to defend the title she won for the first time in 2015.

In doubles, co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza appear to have gotten their groove back; Santina had struggled through early exits in Indian Wells and Miami, but are back in their first final since winning the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Against Lisicki and Lucie Safarova, the reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions made a solid case for completing the Santina Slam at the French Open with a 6-4, 7-5 win in the semifinals.

No.2 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic won their first title of 2016 in Charleston, and got past former No.1 Kveta Peschke – who is playing her first tournament in over a year – and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the second semifinal later on Saturday, 7-5, 5-7, 10-4. They will play Santina for a second straight title to bookend their Fed Cup heroics.

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