Bencic Out Of Olympics
Still suffering the effects of a left wrist injury that derailed her Wimbledon campaign, Belinda Bencic has opted to withdraw from what would have been her Olympic debut in Rio.
Still suffering the effects of a left wrist injury that derailed her Wimbledon campaign, Belinda Bencic has opted to withdraw from what would have been her Olympic debut in Rio.
CoCo Vandeweghe hosted her Twitter Q&A session, #AskVandey, yesterday evening, but things got interesting when her fellow Team USA high-jacked the chat – see all the highlights here!
MONTRÉAL, Canada – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber was made to fight once more at the Rogers Cup, needing three sets to overcome an inspired effort from No.17 seed Elina Svitolina, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.
Watch live action from Montréal this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“I think the match was a little bit crazy,” Kerber told press after the match.
“Actually the whole match was a lot of up and downs.”
Kerber struggled beneath the pace of big-hitting Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in her opening round on Wednesday, and started slowly against Svitolina on Thursday, losing six straight games after breaking to begin the match.
“The first set I was just playing, like I make too many mistakes. I was going for it, not playing my game actually. I was not feeling my rhythm. I was not on the court. It was a little bit tough, the first set.”
The Ukrainian youngster has been coached by former No.1 and recent International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee Justine Henin this week in Montréal, and appeared spurred on by her high-caliber mentor as she continued to punish the Kerber serve, breaking four times in the second set and twice serving for the match.
But the reigning Australian Open champion would not be denied, duly breaking back each time and recovering from a dismaying Hawkeye challenge to to win the final five points of the tie-break.
“The second set, I was trying to find my rhythm, find my game again. She was serving twice for the match. I was just trying to not thinking too much, just trying to playing the points. The tie-break was also a little bit crazy.”
Maintaining her momentum through most of the decider, Kerber broke serve one last time in the ninth game of the match and held on for dear life when it came time to serve for the match, saving three break points and clinching the win in two hours and 18 minutes.
“For sure I’m not happy about my game, how I was playing, because I really not playing my best tennis today. It’s like more I’m happy that I won the match. I don’t know how. It was a crazy match.
“But it’s good to be still in the tournament, still have the chance tomorrow. The next challenge, the next match, trying to play a better tennis tomorrow.
“So a lot of emotions right now.”
Up next for Kerber is rising Russian Daria Kasatkina, who avenged a heartbreaking Qatar Total Open defeat to No.7 seed Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-3.
“I saw a few matches. But, I never played against her yet. I know it will be not easy. I think she played a good match today against Vinci.
“She has nothing to lose. I know she will play good tennis tomorrow. I know that I have to improve, playing better than today to win the next match.
“I’m confident to go out there tomorrow and play good tennis again.”
“I am not happy about my game, it wasn't my best. But it's good to still be in the tournament.” – @AngeliqueKerber pic.twitter.com/mt9fuqDV04
— Coupe Rogers (@CoupeRogers) July 29, 2016
The injury that caused Simona Halep to miss Brisbane is feeling better now – how does she feel about Sydney? Who’s her first opponent? Want to see her build a tower?
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
October was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.
In the end, it was Angelique Kerber, who played an incredble squash shot against perennial Shot Of The Month winner Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Undefeated en route to the championship match, the World No.1 used her uncanny ability to turn defense into offense, taking out the defending champion in straight sets.
Click here to watch all of October’s finalists.
Final Results for October’s WTA Shot Of The Month
1. Angelique Kerber (74%)
2. Agnieszka Radwanska (11%)
3. Dominika Cibulkova (6%)
3. Daria Gavrilova (6%)
5. Madison Keys (3%)
2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners
January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska
March: Agnieszka Radwanska
April: Monica Niculescu
May: Simona Halep
June: Agnieszka Radwanska
July: Simona Halep
August: Agnieszka Radwanska
September: Kirsten Flipkens
How it works:
Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Alizé Cornet gritted out a tight victory over up-and-coming Denisa Allertova, while No.2 seed Camila Giorgi was made to battle against Zarina Diyas at the Hobart International.
An interview with Kristina Kucova after her win in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.
Last summer, Johanna Konta embarked on a 16-match winning run, which began at a lowly ITF Circuit event in Granby, Canada, and ended in last 16 of the US Open.
This proved to be the catalyst for a rapid ascent up the tennis ladder, a maiden WTA title, in Stanford, and deep runs at the Australian Open, Beijing, Montréal, Eastbourne, Miami and Zhuhai securing Konta a year-end ranking inside the Top 10 – the first Briton to achieve the feat since Jo Durie in 1983.
It is a list of accomplishments that saw Konta deservedly pick up the WTA’s Most Improved Player Of The Year award. The 25-year-old, however, is no overnight success story.
“On paper I suppose it looks a lot different to how I experienced it, how my team experienced it; only because, although it may seem like a sudden rise, it was a lot of years of work put in. Years and years and years!” Konta told BT Sport’s David Law during her final event of the year, in Zhuhai. “So really I didn’t live through it as such a dramatic change.”
Watch the full interview above to hear Konta discuss her remarkable journey and what the future may hold in store.
During her title run at the Shenzhen Open, Agnieszka Radwanska took some time out to talk about the city, the fans and whether she’ll come back next year. So, will she?