Tennis News

NÜRNBERG, Germany –  No.3 seed Annika Beck concluded a wild day at the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP, taking out countrywoman and No.7 seed Anna-Lena Friedsam, 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-2, to reach her first WTA semifinal of 2016.

A long rain delay interrupted quarterfinals day in Nürnberg, and a left thigh injury forced No.4 seed Lesia Tsurenko to withdraw from her hotly anticipated rematch with Julia Goerges, who advanced to her second semifinal of the season following her run to the ASB Classic final in January.

Qualifier Kiki Bertens continued her solid clay court season by taking the first set 6-1 over Bogota champion Irina Falconi before the American had to end her match prematurely due to a right ankle sprain.

With the Nürnberg crowd looking for a classic encounter, they got one between the two hometown favorites, as Beck battled Friedsam for over two hours on Center Court.

Narrowly taking the opening set in a tense tie-break, Friedsam fought back to level the match at a set apiece, only for Beck to right the ship in the decider, setting up a semifinal against either Varvara Lepchenko or Mariana Duque-Mariño, whose match was postponed due to darkness.

STRASBOURG, France – Caroline Garcia advanced to the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg after coming through an epic encounter with fellow Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.

Watch live action from Strasbourg this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Leading 5-3 in the final set Garcia looked on course to close out the match in relative comfort. However, lucky loser Razzano ensured a dramatic finish by breaking back in the next game before eventually succumbing, 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5.

“It feels great. I’ve watched Virginie for as long as I can remember,” Garcia said. “She’s a great player and a bit of an idol, so to not only play her but beat her was an amazing experience.

“It’s important for my confidence to get wins like this and in finals, especially ahead of Roland Garros next week. It was a fighting performance. Losing that first set was tough but I came back and got through.”

Later on, hopes of an all-French final were dashed in spectacular fashion as qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni dismantled No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 6-1, in exactly an hour.

In 1997, a teenage Lucic-Baroni lost to Steffi Graf in the final, and despite her long week she is quietly confident of making it second time lucky. 

“Nineteen years in between the finals. It’s amazing. It’s like coming home now for me in Strasbourg,” she said. “Will I become French after this? No! If I would change it would be to Italian. My husband is Italian.”

Garcia has won all three of her previous meetings with Lucic-Baroni, including earlier this year in Miami. “Against Garcia, I’ve always posted negative results,” she added. “But hopefully that will change tomorrow! I’m playing some great tennis and haven’t been on court very long, despite coming through qualies.

“I’ve just got to keep this going, keep on playing strong, and hopefully I can get the title.”

Victoria Azarenka was the story of 2016’s first quarter. The two-time major champion and former World No.1 rocketed back up the rankings after several seasons of injuries and inconsistencies, winning three titles and becoming the first woman in over a decade to capture the elusive Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double.

By spring, however, the Belarusian was gone from the game, announcing that she would end her season due to a pregnancy. Azarenka has since been busy preparing for the birth of her first child, but nonetheless granted an interview with Tennis Channel to update fans on her life today.

“My pregnancy’s been a completely different experience from anything I’ve done before,” she says. “In theory, you know the process, but to actually go through it, you truly start to deeply understand the magic of it. It’s been quite a ride, I have to say.

“Tennis is my career, but there’s a different part of life. This was a blessing, a gift from God. I believe I still have a great opportunity to do what I love, as long as I love playing tennis. I do, and this is an opportunity to realize how much I love what I do.”

Azarenka has dedicated her time off to her studies, but has still found time to exercise, playing tennis up to the last six weeks of her pregnancy.

“I’m doing a lot of activities I didn’t have time to do before; being at home and sleeping in my own bed is really a luxury for a traveling athlete.

“I miss the fans. I miss that moment when you go on the court and it’s a go time. As a competitor, I have to find that edge in life. I’ve been able to translate that into my studies for now, but that competitive edge is definitely something I’m missing.”

Addressing the question of a comeback, she gave fans reason to be optimistic that she’ll be back on the court sooner, rather than later.

“I don’t feel I’m missing out on someting I won’t be able to do again. For me, it’s about getting to where I want to be and be back there again. That’s my ultimate goal.

“I don’t put any time frame on myself. I would love to make it as soon as possible, but give myself a reasonable time to fully recover and be ready. I’m not going to rush anything, and it’s hard to tell before the birth actually happens. So, we’ll see, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to play tennis again pretty soon.”

Check out the whole video courtesy of Tennis Channel below:

Serena Williams’ march towards history turns to Paris, as the World No. 1 and defending champion looks to win her fourth French Open title and 22nd overall major title to tie Steffi Graf’s Open Era record.

With the tournament set to begin on Sunday, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and Web Editor David Kane analyze the top-heavy draw, which sees Serena surrounded by some big names in the top half of the draw, but contrary to popular opinion, her path to the title may not be as rough as people think. Out of the bottom half of the draw, can Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep make good on their favorable draws? Or is this the year World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska finally solves the terre battue?

You’ll also hear from the top seeds themselves as we take you inside the Roland Garros press room, as the likes of Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Angelique Kerber give you some insight into their mindset as they head into the second major of the season. Who sounds confident? Who sounds unsure of themselves? We’ll let you be the judge.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app of your choice and reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.

Lucie Safarova had much to overcome off the court this season, recovering from an illness that derailed her soaring start to last season and fighting off injuries that delayed her 2016 debut. But once she got going, she showed what made her such a dangerous opponent, particularly in doubles, where she won another major title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the US Open, and rode an 18-match winning streak into the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Through all of her trials and tribulations,the Czech always finds time to give back to the player community.

As a result of her work in the WTA Player Council, Safarova was awarded the 2016 Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the third year in a row.

Selected by player vote, the Player Service Award is awarded each year to the player who has done the most for her fellow players. The player can be acknowledged for their efforts made through the Player Council or any other initiative on behalf of the general player population. This award has been voted on by players since 1977. Previous winners include Kim Clijsters, Liezel Huber, Francesca Schiavone, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams.

The Players’ Council consists of eight selected players on the tour that advocate player interests and handle grievances, changes in the tennis schedule and other concerns. Safarova is a part of the council in the 1-20 Ranking Category, alongside Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She’s served on the Council since 2009, earning the respect of her peers through her willingness to help.

In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”

“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”

Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:

On whether she ever felt misunderstood:

“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”

“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.

“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”

On being taught to believe in herself:

“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.

“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”

On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:

“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”

In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016

On body image:

“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”

On her legacy:

“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”

Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.

With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016

Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.

PARIS, France – Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza are just five matches away from a Non-Calendar Year “Santina” Slam, and the top seeds opened with a statement first round win at the French Open, defeating Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Kasatkina was one half of the team who ended Santina’s 41-match winning streak at the Qatar Total Open, edging past the reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions alongside Elena Vesnina in a match tie-break, but fresh off of their first career red clay court title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Hingis and Mirza were all business to start, racing out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set.

The Russians clawed their way back to level and saved two set points in the 12th game to force a tie-break. On serve through the first six points, Santina broke away from there, winning four of the last five points to all but extinguish any hope of an upset.

Clinching victory in just over 90 minutes, Hingis and Mirza booked a second round meeting with either Karin Knapp and Mandy Minella, or Japanese duo Nao Hibino and Eri Hozumi.

A 35 ans Martina Hingis se fait plaisir sur le court associée en double à Samia Mirza ?? #RG16 pic.twitter.com/eTGyM1gBfI

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2016

Later in the day, unseeded but looming 13-time Grand Slam champions Venus and Serena Williams played their second doubles match of the season, turning around a disappointing defeat in Rome to dispatch Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva, 6-2, 6-2.

The last team to capture a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam at the 2010 French Open, the Williamses were down an early break to start, but came through several tense games to ease past the fiery youngsters in just under 90 minutes. Drawn into the same section of the draw as No.2 seeds and defending champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, the pair next play either No.14 seeds Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu, or Vitalia Diatchenko and Galina Voskoboeva.

American Madison Brengle and Tatjana Maria earned the biggest upset thus far when they took out Spanish pair and No.13 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-2, 6-3. No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova avoided a similar fate at the hands of sister act Anastasia and Arina Rodionova, recovering from a set down to win, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. No.9 seeds and Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yu-Fan and Zheng Saisai continued their solid season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Han Xinyun and Varvara Lepchenko, while No.10 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova overcame an experienced team in Anna-Lena Groenefeld and former doubles No.1 Kveta Peschke, 6-4, 6-1.

Les sœurs Williams, sur le court numéro 2, remportent le premier set de leur premier tour de double, 6-2. #RG16 pic.twitter.com/lgyNEZuLhX

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2016