Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – The second week continues at the Australian Open. On Day 8, can No.2 seed Serena Williams and No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova book two of the four remaining spots in the quarterfinals?

We preview all the day’s biggest matchups right here on wtatennis.com.

Monday, Fourth Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs [16] Barbora Strycova (CZE #16)
Head-to-head: Serena leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Neither Serena nor Strycova have dropped a set en route to the second week.

Serena Williams saw her hopes of reclaiming World No.1 brighten when defending champion Angelique Kerber went out at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe on Sunday. But before she can think of returning to the top of the WTA rankings, she’ll have to get past a fiery veteran in Barbora Strycova, who is in the fourth round of the Australian Open for a second straight year.

Strycova roared back from a 5-3 deficit in the second set, and will be looking to pull of the biggest upset of her career in her first encounter with the 22-time Grand Slam champion since 2012.

Serena has already dispatched former Top 10 players Belinda Bencic and Lucie Safarova along the way; can she continue to improve as Grand Slam No.23 draws closer?

[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs [22] Daria Gavrilova (AUS #26)
Head-to-head: Pliskova leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Pliskova is aiming for her second straight (and second career) Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Brisbane International champion Karolina Pliskova remains undefeated for the season, and takes on another young hopeful in Daria Gavrilova. The Aussie reached the fourth round Down Under for the second year in a row, winning a three-set thriller of her own against Timea Bacsinszky.

Pliskova showed few signs of vulnerability in her first two rounds, but found herself on the brink of defeat against Latvian youngster Jelena Ostapenko, who served for the match in the final set. Fresh off an early pick for best match of 2017, the No.5 seed is back in the second week of a major tournament and will look to widen her head-to-head advantage against Gavrilova, against whom she’s never dropped a set.

The 22-year-old has tended to save her best tennis for her adopted home soil; can she stun Pliskova and earn a career-best Grand Slam result?

Around the Grounds…

No.9 seed Johanna Konta renews her rivalry with No.30 seed Ekaterina Makarova, who pushed the Brit to an 8-6 final set at this very tournament one year ago. A battle of underdogs completes the fourth round line-up as qualifier Jennifer Brady takes on ageless wonder Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who earned her best-ever result at the Australian Open at 34 years old.

The doubles tounament also continues in Melbourne, with No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova taking on Apia International Sydney champs Timea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic face No.13 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Zheng Saisai in the third round.

In less than a week, reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber will take to the courts at Flushing Meadows to begin her bid for her second Grand Slam title of the year. Also at play? A chance to become WTA World No.1.

The 28-year-old is having the best year of her career, and she admits that she owes much of her late renaissance to her improved fitness.

“Right now I’m one of the fittest players in the world,” Kerber told CNN. “It’s strange, but it helps you really reach your goals at the end.”

CNN Open Court went inside the gym with Kerber to discuss how she gets Grand Slam fit, just in time for the final Slam of the year.

On this episode, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen recaps last week’s action at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and Taiwan Open, where two veterans put their stamp on a week that was supposed to be all about the youth. You’ll hear from St. Petersburg champion Roberta Vinci, who crashed Belinda Bencic’s Top 10 debut party, beating the teenager in straight sets to win her first title since 2013.

We’ll also preview the upcoming week’s tournaments at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the Rio Open. Brazil’s No.1 Teliana Pereira joins the podcast to discuss the current state of Brazilian tennis. Currently ranked No.43, Pereira became the first Brazlian woman to win a WTA title in 27 years last year when she won the Claro Open in Bogota, and picked up her second title later in they year on home soil in Florianopolis.

Pereira opens up about the unique experience of being a Brazilian tennis player, what it’s like playing in the immense shadow of Gustavo Kuerten, and her Rio Olympic hopes, which are still clouded in uncertainty.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any podcast app of your choice. Follow WTA Insider at @WTA_Insider.

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Lucky loser Johanna Larsson is through to her first WTA Premier-level semifinal at the Connecticut Open after a big upset over No.2 seed Roberta Vinci. She sets up a battle against No.10 seed Elina Svitolina, who powered past Elena Vesnina in straight sets.

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

At this tournament last year Larsson fell in the qualifying rounds, but today she got her revenge against the same player who ousted her, defeating Vinci, 7-6(9), 6-1.

“Last year I had a tough loss against her in the finals of qualifying,” Larsson recalled after the match. “And I actually remember I was serving for the set in that match as well. I was in the same position today, and I messed it up a little bit, but I was lucky to win today in the tiebreak.”

Larsson was a point away from comfortably taking the opening set 6-4; she had just broken Vinci’s serve with a pair of aggressive forehand returns, and brought up two set points on serve in the next game. But Vinci rallied to break back and keep them level, sending the set into a tiebreaker. The momentum swung back and forth between the two – both of them held set points during the tiebreaker – but Larsson’s dogged defense eventually forced the critical error from Vinci.

The Swede took flight in the second set, breaking Vinci four times to reel off five consecutive games against the Italian, taking the match and a spot in her first Connecticut Open semifinal on her main draw debut.

After the match Vinci, who looked considerably more sluggish in the second set, admitted that a lingering injury played a role in the defeat.

“I’m injured a little bit. I have a little bit of pain of my tendon on left foot,” Vinci explained in press. “On the second set, I was not tired. But I thinking always about my pain, and I lost. But now I have two or three days off before New York to try to recover and stay better for the US Open.”

Larsson’s opponent in the semifinal will be No.10 seed Svitolina, who had all the answers against Vesnina and cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Lucky Loser Johanna Larsson is first through to @ConnecticutOpen Semifinals!

Knocks out Vinci 7-6(9), 6-1! #CTOpen pic.twitter.com/rPw5aT8rOA

— WTA (@WTA) August 25, 2016

MELBOURNE, Australia – The clock hasn’t struck midnight on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni yet; in fact, the night may have only just begun for the 34-year-old Croat, who stunned No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova at the Australian Open, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal in 18 years.

Lucic-Baroni was 17 years old when she blasted past the likes of Monica Seles and Nathalie Tauziat to push Stefanie Graf to three sets at the All England Club in 1999, but has had to overcome much since then, sidelined due to personal and financial issues for much of the ensuing decade.

She started from scratch and was back in the Top 100 by 2010, earning big wins over Simona Halep at two of three consecutive major tournaments in 2014 and 2015. Still, the upper echelons of the game that had once seemed assured eluded her until she arrived in Melbourne last week, blasting past No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska after winning her first Australian Open main draw match since 1998.

In Pliskova, she played a younger version of herself, whose big serve and groundstrokes helped her start the season by winning the Brisbane International and earn a career-high ranking of No.5 in the world.

None of that mattered on Wednesday, as Lucic-Baroni recovered from an early deficit to roar thorugh the opening set hitting 12 winners and dropping just four points behind her first serve.

Pliskova appeared on the brink of elimination as she fell behind a break to start the second set, but pulled off a comeback reminiscent of her match against Jelena Ostapaneko in the third round to level the match and take necessary momentum into the decider.

Mirjana #LucicBaroni is through to the SF #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ywsCOXuXpz

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2017

Lucic-Baroni proved undaunted, however, and despite a medical timeout after the seventh game, she emerged stronger than ever to win 12 of the final 13 points of the match to book her second major semifinal after an hour and 47 minutes on the court.

By match’s end, the veteran hit a spellbinding nine aces and 45 winners to 35 unforced errors, finishing with a positive differential for the third time in five matches – a testament to just how cleanly the big-hitter has been playing in Melbourne.

Standing between Lucic-Baroni and a maiden Grand Slam final is either No.9 seed Johanna Konta or 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

“This has truly made my life…it has made it okay.” #LucicBaroni #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/SeE9ePoqOo

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2017

More to come…