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Serena Surges Into Olympic Second Round

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Four-time Olympic gold medalist Serena Williams survived some breezy conditions to ease past unseeded Aussie Daria Gavrilova, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the second round of the Olympic tennis event.

“It felt really good to be out htere today,” Serena said after the match. “It’s been a long time; four years ago I was out here playing the Olympics, so it’s really cool to be here again.”

Serena swept the singles and doubles events four years ago in London, but struggled early on against Gavrilova, who was making her Olympic debut. Racing out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set, Serena found herself pegged back to 5-4 against the combined forces of the Aussie and the dust storm known as a “haboob,” but played her best tennis when it mattered most to put herself a set from victory after 49 minutes.

“Early on it was super windy, and it was a survival of just who could get the ball in; it wasn’t quality tennis because of the strange and tough conditions. But I got through it.”

Gavrilova is a former Youth Olympic gold medalist in 2010, and began 2016 with a bang, winning the Hopman Cup alongside countryman Nick Kyrgios and reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open; the youngster continued to fight in the second set, digging out of a marathon sixth game to keep herself in contention, but ultimately succumbed on her third match point.

Hoping to win her fifth Olympic gold medal – and second in singles – Serena will next play the winner of Johanna Larsson and Alizé Cornet for a spot in the third round. The American will also begin her doubles campaign with sister Venus, who took a heart-breaking loss to Kirsten Flipkens on the first day of play last night.

“We just want to have the chance. Hopefully we can win a couple of matches, and see how it goes. We love playing doubles, period, so every four years, we know we have a chance where we’re guaranteed to get some matches.”

At the start of the weekend, Serena got a shoutout from former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is currently the Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidental election:

No.2 seed Angelique Kerber was not too far behind her American rival on Sunday, winning the last five games of her first round match against Mariana Duque-Mariño, 6-3, 7-5.

The 2012 Olympic tennis event quarterfinalist was coming off a run to the semifinals at the Rogers Cup, but didn’t have things all her own way against the Colombian, who took a 5-2 lead in the second set – holding a set point on her own serve at 5-3 – before the German came back to book her place in the second round.

Kerber will next play Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, who sailed past Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 6-3; Bouchard beat Kerber in their most recent encounter at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – When Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams in the final of the Australian Open, her historic victory was felt around the world. She clinched a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam and returned to the WTA World No.1 ranking.

Here’s the best moments from Twitter as the world reacted to the 28th edition of Williams vs Williams – and Serena’ monumental victory.

It was a final nobody expected to see again – but a final that delighted the world.

Legends wished them luck…

…and the new generation felt like they were back in their childhoods.

After all the talk, it was time to play. Some people looked on with admiration and envy.

And some people had problems deciding who to cheer for.

Serena took the first set…

Everyone was enjoying the quality of tennis on display…

…and it wasn’t too long before Serena made history.

It was her sister, the runner-up, who paid the most touching tribute.

And the champion repaid the compliment.

The congratulations poured in for both champions after the historic moment of victory…

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Puig Pummels Muguruza At Olympics

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza was sent crashing out of the Olympic tennis event in Rio after a decisive 6-1, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig.

Competing in her first ever Olympic Games, 22-year-old Puig notched her first ever victory over a Top 5 player against the No.4-ranked Muguruza to claim the biggest win of her career.

“I think it is. I consider it the biggest win of my career because it’s at the Olympics. This happens once every four years,” Puig said, grinning in the mixed zone after the match. “Right now, I’m in the clouds. I can’t even believe it because truly it was incredible.”

Muguruza’s usually aggressive game was lacking its bite, and she couldn’t seem to find her rhythm, getting caught a step or two late to the ball time and time again. The Spaniard struck almost twice as many unforced errors as Puig, 29 to 15. Her powerful serve fired off seven double faults, and she was broken six times throughout the hour-long encounter.

Puig took advantage of Muguruza’s lapse and came out of the gate on fire, breaking in the fourth game to quickly build up a 4-1 lead, which she backed up by breaking again and snapping up the opening set. Puig’s zinging forehand and dogged, line-to-line defense powered her through the next set as she broke Muguruza four more times to reach her first ever Olympic quarterfinals.

“I still have goose bumps,” Puig said of serving for the match and her emotional reaction afterward. “You just go into shock, you are trying to keep it together the whole time because you know in that last game, serving at 4-1 especially to consolidate that break, you’re so close to winning you start getting emotional, there’s no hiding it, you start feeling those butterflies, those nerves.

“So I think it’s all that coming out, you keep it bottled up. It’s like a Coca Cola bottle if you shake it, you shake it, you shake it, it’s going to explode. I just tried to not explode till the right moment and it worked.”

The win is a banner result for Puig, who started out the year ranked No.94. Her newly-found consistency has seen her reach the quarterfinals or better at six events as well as climb all the way to a career-high No.33.

“I know what I want to achieve and I’m letting the world know that Monica Puig is here. It’s my time,” she said. “I’ve always been there, but I’ve never been able to maintain the level. But I’m doing it now and I’m in such a good moment.

“I want the medal, and I’m going to do what it takes to reach this goal… I always seem to play my best when I play for my country.”

Puig is set to play against Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the next round for a spot in the semifinals.

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

January was defined by four breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?

Have a look at the nominees for January’s Breakthrough of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 3.

January 2017 WTA Breakthrough of the Month Finalists:

Katerina Siniakova: Siniakova started the season at the Shenzhen Open, where she won her first title with wins over Simona Halep and Johanna Konta before knocking out 2016 finalist Alison Riske in the championship match. The win brought the Czech youngster to a career-high ranking of No.37.

Elise Mertens: Mertens made her Top 100 debut after winning the Hobart International the week before the Australian Open. Though she missed the deadline for Melbourne qualifying, the powerful Belgian blew through the draw, roaring through qualifying to defeat top seed Kiki Bertens and Monica Niculescu in the final.

Lauren Davis: Another player to take home their maiden WTA title was young American Lauren Davis, who started the year at the ASB Classic. Unseeded in Auckland, Davis beat four seeds to the title, including Bertens, Barbora Strycova, Jelena Ostapenko, and Ana Konjuh.

CoCo Vandeweghe: Vandeweghe made her major breakthrough at the Australian Open, getting back-to-back wins over two of 2016’s three Grand Slam champions in World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza. Making her first Grand Slam semifinal, the American pushed eventual finalist Venus Williams to three tough sets.

BTOM Jan

2016 Winners:

January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay
May: Kiki Bertens
June: Elena Vesnina
July: Kristina Kucova
August: Karolina Pliskova
September: Naomi Osaka
October: Peng Shuai

How it works:

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

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Zhang Shuai's Dream Run Continues

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Zhang Shuai battled past 2015 Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys to become the fourth Chinese player ever to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

Zhang, who nearly went out in qualifying – her opponent in the last round of qualies, Virginie Razzano, served for the match in the third set – had taken out No.2 seed Simona Halep en route to her first second week at a major, and she continued that giant-killing form Monday night with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over the No.15-seeded Keys, who looked increasingly hampered by injury during the match.

“It’s so tough to play against someone injured,” Zhang said. “Maybe two points you’re feeling like you cannot play, and then the next three balls, pong, pong, pong, you make two aces, one winner. You don’t know what’s going to happen. And also last year this happened many times, and I’d almost win the match, but then I’d lose. But this time I really tried to concentrate, and I’m happy I won.”

Coming in, Zhang was 0-14 in Grand Slams and had lost 20 straight sets at majors, too – she was considering retirement. She’s not thinking of hanging her racquets up now, but she will need a break.

“Right now, after this tournament, I need a long break,” the Tianjin native commented.

“I’ve already played seven matches. Before today I was thinking, ‘Okay, today is the final.’ When somebody wins six matches at a Grand Slam, it’s already the final, right? And at night, it felt like it.

“But I’d already said this year I’ll play less tournaments. I don’t want to play too much. I want some more time for my life. I can have a holiday, rest, stay with my parents – and practice more too.”

Zhang is the fourth Chinese player ever to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, after Li Na, Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai – Li was the most successful of the group, picking up two career Grand Slam titles.

Zhang is also guaranteed of becoming the new Chinese No.1 after this tournament. The World No.133 is currently China’s No.4 after No.83 Zheng Saisai, No.102 Wang Qiang and No.117 Duan Ying-Ying.

Next up for Zhang is Johanna Konta, who will also be playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Konta and Zhang are tied in their head-to-head, 1-1, though they haven’t played since 2013.

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Kvitova Claims Olympic Bronze Medal

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A day after missing out on the final, No.11 seed Petra Kvitova found redemption at the Olympic tennis event to claim the bronze medal with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 win over Madison Keys.

Follow all the action from the medals matches at the Olympics on WTA Insider’s Live Blog.

Despite a painful loss against Monica Puig in the semifinals yesterday, Kvitova in her country’s colors always finds another gear and her inspired performance brought home her first Olympic medal and the Czech Republic’s third medal overall in the 2016 Games.

“I’m still a bit emotional, so if I cry, sorry,” Kvitova said afterwards. “It means almost everything, definitely. Having a medal from the Olympics is one of the best things that’s happened in my career definitely, along with the two Wimbledon titles and winning Fed Cups and WTA.

“It’s definitely one of the best days today. I hope I’m going to celebrate it. I’m very proud that I could bring it to the Czech Republic.”

The match between the two big hitters was ultimately decided by a handful of points where Kvitova proved to play a tidier game than her younger counterpart. She struck 12 winners and 38 unforced errors to Keys’ 24 and 49.

Keys and Kvitova traded blows throughout the tightly drawn opening set. Where Keys was aggressive on the return to bring up a break point at 2-2 and painting a backhand down the line right onto the line just out of reach, Kvitova replied in kind with a gutsy mid-rally drop shot to see away the American’s chance.

An injection of pace from Keys brought up break points for a chance at the opening set at 5-4, but she let two slip by as Kvitova’s clutch serving bailed her out of trouble. Kvitova leveled it up, aided by a pair of backhand unforced errors from Keys, and rallied to take the first set.

Keys’ frustration visibly mounted with every missed opportunity – in her last match she was 0 for ten in break point chances against Angelique Kerber, and on Saturday the stretch continued another six opportunities went unanswered across the first and second sets.

The American got another chance as Kvitova’s first serve numbers had dipped considerably – from 73% in the first set to 54% in the second – and Keys pounced on the opportunity to finally get her first break and create a 4-2 lead. She quickly it carved up to take the second set 6-2.

But the tortuous match had another turn left as Kvitova’s rock-solid net work brought up an immediate break in the opening game of the deciding set. The Czech dodged break points of her own and got another lead for 4-0.

A nervy final game from Kvitova – which included a double fault at deuce after being up 40-0 – extended the American’s stay in the match, but Kvitova shut the door on her fourth try to claim the singles bronze medal for the Czech Republic.

More to come…

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