Kerber & Halep Victorious As WTA Finals Get Underway
After a magnificent opening ceremony in Singapore, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep were the stars of the show on the first day of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
After a magnificent opening ceremony in Singapore, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep were the stars of the show on the first day of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Highlights from the match between Garbiñe Muguruza and Caroline Wozniacki.
SINGAPORE – How did Angelique Kerber come away the winner of the three-set epic against Dominika Cibulkova in her BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global opener?
On this installment of My Performance, Kerber explains how keeping a positive mentality – and staying aggressive – helped power her to victory in the two-hour-and-seventeen-minute thriller.
Another key to Kerber’s victory: her composure during the big moments, as SAP revealed in this Stat Of The Day.
Stat of the day from Day 7 of the Miami Open, presented with SAP.
SINGAPORE – Angelique Kerber needed three sets, but got the job done against No.7 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3, to move into second place in the Red Group at the BNP Pairbas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Relive all the action, including play-by-play analysis, stats, and quotes from the first match from Singapore!
Karolina Pliskova reflects on her performance against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Miami Open.
BERLIN, Germany – Serena Williams became the first woman to win three Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award on Monday.
The World No.1 enjoyed an incredible 2015 season, in which she earned her second Serena Slam and the first three legs of the Calendar Year Grand Slam at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. A wall-to-wall No.1 for the second time in her career, Williams finished atop the WTA rankings for the fifth time in her career.
One of only three WTA players to take home the award, Williams has been nominated ten times, winning it in 2003 and 2010.
Williams had been tied with Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who had also won the award twice.
The Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year is Serena Williams!
#LWSA16 pic.twitter.com/noODZ7vIWc
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 18, 2016
SINGAPORE – World No.4 Simona Halep always preaches the need to be “strong in the legs”. Turns out she’s not just talking about tennis.
A day after notching scoring a strong 6-2, 6-4 win over Madison Keys in her opening match at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, a relaxed Halep was back on the practice courts at Singapore Indoor Stadium. In addition to a more relaxed attitude, it seems the Romanian is picking up a few more Australian habits from coach Darren Cahill.
New recruit for @afl Women's League with @Adelaide_FC? Great outside speed ?? @Simona_Halep will be in Adelaide for December training ? pic.twitter.com/VTGH0v9rLU
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) October 24, 2016
Did that land on the roof of the Marina Bay Sands? Not bad.
Interestingly, Cahill also confirmed Halep’s pre-season plan to train in Adelaide ahead of the start of the 2017 season. That’s a notable change to her past preferences, which have favored staying home in Romania. Halep has floated the idea of doing her pre-season outside of Europe and it’s a smart decision to opt for Australia. Not only is Cahill based there, but training in the Aussie heat can only help her chances at the Australian Open in January.
But meanwhile, there’s still work to be done. Halep faces World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the second round of group play on Tuesday. Halep can secure her spot in the quarterfinals if she can score a straight-set win.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Nearly two decades after her first Indian Wells/Miami “Sunshine Double,” former World No.1 Martina Hingis is on the precipice of a third with new partner and fellow top doubles star, Chan Yung-Jan.
Hingis’ first double came with two different partners back in 1999, winning the BNP Paribas Open with Anna Kournikova and the Miami Open with Jana Novotna; the Swiss Miss followed that up at long last with Sania Mirza in 2015, kickstarting what became the most dominant partnership of the last decade, foreshadowing a 41-match winning streak and a run through three straight major titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open.
The idea to partner with Chan first came about Down Under, when Hingis was still playing with CoCo Vandeweghe and the Taiwanese No.1 was one half of a sister act with Chan Hao-Ching.
on to the semis! @YungJan_Chan pic.twitter.com/NBuIhmUKJm
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 29, 2017
“It started at a practice in Melbourne, when we were sharing a court,” Chan, who also goes by Latisha, told WTA Insider after their straight-set win over Andreja Klepac and María José Martínez Sánchez. “I was hitting with Angel, my sister. Martina and I stayed on the same side of court and played some points together.
“At one point, she said that if Angel can’t play with me because of injuries or some other reason, to give her a call, and she’d be happy to play with me. I was so flattered! But I didn’t tell her that.”
The sisters split after defending their home title in Chinese Taipei, and she found herself back on the same side as Hingis by the start of the Middle East Swing.
“My sister and I didn’t do well at the Australian Open and we started to talk about splitting up, and I think it was great timing.
“We still practice together and watch her matches. It’s kind of like three against two because we have Angel behind us against the other teams.”
great 2 weeks in Indian Wells! thanks to everyone for their support! see you in Miami next! #firsttitletogether pic.twitter.com/fU2qzt3Wcc
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 19, 2017
The pair stuck through tough losses at the Qatar Total Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the former for which Hingis takes full responsibility.
“When we started in Doha, I wasn’t quite up to it in the super tie-break, and wasn’t much of a help,” Hingis said. “Otherwise, I think we could have done better there. But Doha and Dubai helped us get a feel for each other and to trust each other, so we know what to do on the court.”
On an eight-match winning streak since winning in Indian Wells, it was clear the duo were already in sync.
“It’s not fair for her to say she wasn’t playing well at the beginning,” Chan immediately disagrees. “I had a similar partner like her, a net player. For me it was easier to adapt, but for her, I might be a little bit different than her previous partners, so she needed more time to understand and get a rhythm.”
“It was good to know that there was actually some consistency from somebody,” Hingis banters back. “I could trust with her, that she was going to put the ball in!”
celebrating our win with a cheesecake! @YungJan_Chan pic.twitter.com/UlOuzL4DPP
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 19, 2017
Both agreed that the fortnight in the California desert was key for their confidence, winning the title without dropping a set against tough teams like Mirza and Barbora Strycova, and World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
“In Indian Wells, we got two weeks to practice and be together, having cheesecake and going shopping!” Hingis laughed. “That helped a lot with our communication, and that brought us closer together. That’s why we won and that’s why we’re in the semifinals here.”
Standing between them and a second straight final is Mirza and Strycova in a rematch of last week’s quarterfinal.
“Playing them, it’s one of the best teams out there. We have to take it seriously, and I know they’ll probably want to get back at us from Indian Wells…” Hingis started.
“Everyone around here is going to give you a tough match, and they’re very strong,” Chan finished.
“We’ll just try to play our best tennis and we’ll see how it goes.”
The winning wiggle ????????? pic.twitter.com/db1AYkhLfL
— 詹詠然～YungJan Chan (@YungJan_Chan) March 19, 2017
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Highlights from round-robin action at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.