Birmingham: Story Of The Tournament
The story of the tournament at the Aegon Classic.
MELBOURNE, Australia – 2003 finalist Venus Williams is back into the Australian Open final for the first time in 14 years after coming back from a set down to dispatch fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion celebrated Australia Day in the best way possible, notching a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory to reach her second final in Melbourne Park.
“It means so much to me, mostly because she played so well,” an emotional Venus addressed the crowd at Rod Laver Arena. “She played so unbelievable and I had to play defense the whole time, it feels like.
“There was never a moment of relaxation ever, so to be able to get to the final through a match like this… I’m excited about American tennis!”
“I would love more than anything to see her across the net from me on Saturday.” #Venus on possibly facing #Serena in the final #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/LBgBcTPqBq
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 26 de enero de 2017
Vandeweghe, whose power game suited perfectly to the faster court speeds of this year’s event, was enjoying her maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearance after a commanding run, which included a straight-sets stunner against World No.1 Angelique Kerber.
But she was out of her depth against the 36-year-old Venus, who relied on her veteran experience to allow Vandeweghe to take advantage of just one of her 13 break point chances.
“I don’t think I was totally freaking out or anything close to that when I came out there,” Vandeweghe reflected later in press. “I was pretty set on competing and working hard. I think it showed in kind of the tougher points and tougher moments.
“As far as not playing as well as I could have, it goes along with tennis. You’re going to have good days and bad days. You just have to adjust as best you can.”
Thank you #Vandeweghe for your wonderful performance at this year's #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xxuSL3OQj2
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 26 de enero de 2017
The younger American’s lone break of serve came in the very first game of the match, where she had Venus under pressure from the start. But the lead didn’t last very long, with Venus jumping on some second serves and a double fault – the first of 11 for Vandeweghe – to wrench back the advantage.
The pair stayed on par to take the set into the tiebreak, where Vandeweghe found her dictating form once again and Venus, while not making too many missteps, was left to react. Vandeweghe crushed a Venus second serve with a backhand down the line and took the tiebreak, the first set Venus had dropped in the entire tournament.
Venus was right back on track in the second set, though, switching gears to target the vulnerable Vandeweghe backhand and reel off five straight games for a 5-1 lead. The younger American didn’t cede an inch, bringing up four break points in the marathon, seven-minute seventh game, but Venus stayed in front.
The 36-year-old stayed the course in the third, breaking twice and, after two hours and thirty minutes on court, advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2009 Wimbledon.
.@Venuseswilliams is through to the women's final #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/3Jdo8Zlag9
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 26 de enero de 2017
With the win Venus becomes the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova at 1994 Wimbledon, and the 14 years between this and her last Australian Open final appearance sets a new Open Era record.
Awaiting in the final is younger sister Serena Williams, who blew past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in straight sets to book the first all-Williams final Down Under since their 2003 meeting.
“When I’m playing on the court with her, I think I’m playing the best competitor in the game,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I don’t think I’m chump change either, you know. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete.
“[It] won’t be an easy match. I know that it won’t be easy. You have to control yourself, then you also have to hopefully put your opponent in a box. This opponent is your sister, and she’s super awesome.”
An interview with Belinda Bencic before her opening round match at the Aegon International.
Timea Bacsinszky hasn’t always loved the grass. Before she returned to the tour after a three-year break, she was 3-5 in her career on the turf. “I was kind of afraid of grass for many years, but since I came back in 2013 [it’s changed].” Indeed, since her return three years ago she is 10-4 on grass with a Wimbledon quarterfinal already under her belt last year.
Bacsinszky’s first match on grass in three years came at Wimbledon qualifying in 2013. It was just the second tournament she played since deciding to return to the tour (the first being Roland Garros). “I played against Madison Brengle and I ended up winning 6-4 in the third.” Bacsinszky said during All-Access Hour at the Aegon International on Monday. “For me it was like a miracle, like coming from nowhere playing in Roehampton, which is like a potato field,” she said, much to the delight of a laughing press corp.
“All my respects to Roehampton, they are trying their best, but it’s not really the most glamorous grass court ever. With those like funny conditions, you have many courts everywhere and it’s like a bazaar. It’s like a zoo over there. I ended up winning a match. I was like, wow. And almost won my second match but I lost against Schmiedlova 7-5 in the third.”
Slowly, the always adaptable Bacsinszky, who has posted her best results on clay and hard courts, began to realize her game could flourish on grass.
“My game is quite good right now on grass because I’m able to play longer rallies if I really need to,” she said. “I know it’s not good to defend on grass, but I can be in that position to give one extra ball back for my opponent and to mix up with the spins to be able to come to the net, to be able to maybe do a chip and charge. I’m not even at 1% of Roger’s level in that, but I’m trying to improve my game and to make, yeah, everything possible what I can that can help me to play well on grass.”
Roger Federer is a seven-time Wimbledon champion. Belinda Bencic is a junior Wimbledon champion and won the Aegon International for her first title last year. Stan Wawrinka is a two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist and Bacsinszky has also made the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Martina Hingis is a Wimbledon champion in singles and won the doubles title with Sania Mirza last year.
So what gives? Why are the Swiss so solid on grass? As is her wont, Bacsinszky had an interesting take.
“I think it’s not something about the surfaces but it’s more that being in the middle of Europe tennis-type-wise you have all those influences,” she explained. “The French are playing like they like the nice game, coming forward, making big shots, aesthetically nice, a lot of culture of tennis.
“Then you have the Spaniards fighting for every point, they don’t give a s***. And they just like go for every ball, try to give back so many balls, try to make work the [opponent]. Okay, you’re gonna say not every Spaniard, for sure. There are always the exceptions; Muguruza is not that type of player.
“The majority of Spaniards are like, ‘Okay, I’m going to fight for everything, and the spirit of clay court. Even if I have to chip everything, I’m going to win the match even if it’s ugly. Even if it’s playing with the other side of the racquet, I don’t care.’
“Italy can be also like this. It’s a mixture. And then you have Eastern Europe, which are based on the baseline hitting everything, going for the lines, trying to take the ball early, putting a lot of pressure.
“Why Switzerland, why we have so many maybe good players? We have all these influences. And I think that’s what it’s like in the Swiss mentality, you’re open for everything. We have to learn more languages, every kid has an education. Most of the people have a job, a decent job. They work hard. We like to work. It’s all the system which works.
“And maybe – it’s a small parallel to say that – maybe that’s why we can also play well on grass, because we are open minded. We say, ‘Okay, we are gonna fight for every point. We are gonna try to hit balls. We’re gonna try maybe new things and we are going to accept the situation and how it is.’ And so we go for it.”
But for Bacsinszky it’s more than just about being Swiss. A child of Hungarian immigrants, she traces part of her her autonomous drive – her Twitter hashtag motto is #limitless – to her parents.
“My mom and my dad were, when I was a kid, telling me you have to fight for what you have, you have to fight for who you want to be, it’s not only given. You have to go and work for what you really want to get. It’s probably why also I’m restless. If I commit to something, I really want to go to my maximum. I never know where my limits are, where my maximum is, but I’m trying to seek it.
“It’s probably because of the Hungarian influence, because they have been beaten so many times in war. They were such a big empire. But we are also quiet population. In Switzerland, you don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m a proud Hungarian.’ Other countries, they would all the time have the flags and stuff. But Hungarians are I believe in foreign countries they are really super quiet.
“I have this will and probably it’s coming from that. You have to fight. Like my dad fought to get away from Romania. He was Hungarian but in the Hungarian minority of Romania, and he couldn’t pass the borders and had to arrange a marriage in order to get out. I mean, political refugee.
“It was really tough. My mom had an easier situation, but I know it wasn’t easy for them. And I grew up with that. So that’s why I fought all the time for everything, what I did. It’s probably because of that.”
Click here to read more about this year’s Wimbledon Contenders, courtesy of WTA Insider.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
ROEHAMPTON, Great Britain – The first round of Wimbledon qualifying began on Tuesday afternoon, and six of the Top 8 seeds have already won their opening matches. Top seed Tatjana Maria led the way with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Myrtille Georges, setting up a second round encounter with former Australian Open junior champion An-Sophie Mestach, who needed three sets to get past young American, Sachia Vickery.
Maria earned her best career Grand Slam finish at last year’s Wimbledon championships, reaching the third round before falling to eventual quarterfinalist Madison Keys.
No.2 seed Viktorija Golubic was made to work harder in her first round against former Top 100 player Anastasia Pivovarova, who was playing in her first Grand Slam event since 2012. Edging out the opening set in a tie-break, the Swiss Fed Cup heroine had to fight through the next two before ultimately engineering a second round meeting with countrywoman Amra Sadikovic, who eased past Oceane Dodin, 6-4, 7-5. Sadikovic briefly retired from tennis before enjoying a rollicking comeback, one that has already seen her reach the quarterfinals of Bogota and return to the Top 150.
Lucie Hradecka was looking to cause the upset of the day against No.3 seed Zhang Kai-Lin; though the former Top 50 veteran served for each set, she ultimately fell, 7-5, 7-5. Zhang booked a second round encounter with Tereza Smitkova, who reached the fourth round of the All England Club in 2014.
No.4, No.5 and No.7 seeds Aleksandra Krunic, Maria Sakkari, and Tamira Paszek dropped a combined five games in their first rounds. Sakkari blew past young Russian Polina Leykina, 6-0, 6-0, in 45 minutes, while two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Paszek defeated Amandine Hesse, 6-2, 6-1.
Second round action begins on Wednesday.
Petra Kvitova and Wimbledon go together like strawberries and cream. Since 2010, Kvitova has made the quarterfinals or better five times, winning the title twice in 2011 and 2014. The All England Club is where Kvitova has made her mark, emblazoned her name, and played her absolute best. And it’s where she’s been able to kickstart a season when she’s arrived on a sputter.
Kvitova has yet to get her game going in 2016. She made the quarterfinals or better at just two events this year and has slipped out of the Top 10 for the first time since 2013. She will be seeded outside the Top 8 for the first time since 2010. Despite it all, Wimbledon has a firm history of curing all that ails her. Kvitova just needs to get on a roll.
“I remember in 2011, I was injured in my leg, which wasn’t really nice,” Kvitova told WTA Insider. “I was coming from Eastbourne and I remember I was supposed to play on Monday but it was raining so I was so happy to play on Tuesday. I played the final in Eastbourne and I felt like the tournament just continued. It’s not like a new tournament, new Grand Slam, so I was just flowing.
“Nobody really expected – me neither – that I can play so well there. For me it was a really special moment and really a surprise. I didn’t know how to handle it.
“It was totally different [in 2014]. I think in the second Wimbledon I think there was kind of expectations already. It was much more difficult. I played three Czech girls on the journey. I didn’t really feel like I could win it again but I was just so focused. After the final I was just feeling so much deeper, so satisfied with everything. It was something more than the first one.”
Kvitova will be playing Wimbledon without her long-time coach David Kotyza. The two split after the Australian Open and she’s now coached by former ATP player Frantisek Cermak. Their best results of the season came in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open and semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
“I think that I’m kind of feeling that I am playing well, even though I kind of lost some of the matches in a couple of months,” Kvitova said at the Aegon International. “But I think it’s pretty good. The main thing is to stay healthy, for sure. Otherwise I feel good.”
Kvitova said the biggest struggle for her as been keeping focus in matches. “I do work with my mental coach,” she said. “I think it’s getting better, as well. But you never really know. Kind of these [tight] matches, it’s difficult, always under the pressure and the players are playing without any expectation or anything. Sometimes it’s difficult to stay still, very focused on every kind of point.”
In 2014, Kvitova arrived to Wimbledon without a title under her belt for the season. Her draw got her two fairly easy opening opponents before she locked in to beat Venus Williams, 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5 in one of the best matches of that year. Kvitova then capped it off with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Eugenie Bouchard in just 55 minutes.
As Kvitova says herself, she doesn’t need much practice to matches to play well. They clearly help her confidence, but deep down Kvitova knows her game is there. She just needs to find it in time.
“I just know that it’s there,” Kvitova said. “[The way] you were training before you can’t really forget.”
Listen to more of Kvitova’s thoughts on the upcoming Championships in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:
Click here to read more about this year’s Wimbledon Contenders, courtesy of WTA Insider.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
WTA Insider David Kane | Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams is on course to tie an all-time record at the upcoming Championships – which is it?
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Venus Williams made her debut at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy with plenty to celebrate; the American had just enjoyed her best run at a Grand Slam since 2009, falling to sister Serena at the Australian Open.
“No one plans to lose, so it’s never the outcome you work so hard for,” she said in her All-Access Hour interview. “But it was still a wonderful opportunity for me to be in the right situation to win a championship. At this point, I can’t wait to play another match.”
Venus had to make a quick turnaround from Melbourne, but still arrived in time for the Player’s Party in her first visit to Russia’s cultural capital.
“The party yesterday was beautiful, and very entertaining. I heard that the tournament does a great job with the players and now I’m seeing it for myself.”
Most players opt out of returning to the court so soon after a deep Slam run, but St. Petersburg was never in doubt for the No.4 seed, who plays Kristina Mladenovic on Thursday.
“I knew I was coming here, so mentally I was prepared. This is a place I want to be, and have always wanted to visit because of the historic value, and because it’s a beautiful city.
“Of course, it was a privilege to be in the Australian Open final because you think about how close you are to the championship and having a chance to play for that. That’s everything I wanted, but I always planned to come here, regardless.”
Check out more from Venus, along with some of the best photos from the start of her stay right here on wtatennis.com:
On her decision to play St. Petersburg for the first time and adjusting to the Russian winter…
I’ve always wanted to come here, so that was the first reason. The second is that, I know this tour pretty well, and no tournament can escape my glance.
I think it would been worse if it had been hot in Australia, but it really wasn’t so hot. So it wasn’t a massive change.
On her intent to never stop improving at 36 years old…
In practice, you try to train harder than you ever would in a match. Of course, you can’t practice the emotions of a match. But I’m always trying to improve things; you can’t stay in one place, because that’s when the world stops for you and the rest of the world is still going. I’m constantly trying to think about how I can do better, so that excitement and passion is always there.
On plans to explore the city…
I just got here, so I’m still adjusting to the time difference, but I’m looking forward to a nice dinner this evening. I’m really interested in the local fashion and the designers here because I like to be inspired by different cultures. Those two things are on the top of my list.
On the next generation of Russian talent…
I’m not sure who’s coming. I know who I have to play, and they’re all tough. That’s a great thing for tennis. But if the same history continues for Russia, the future will be very bright.
On her rivalry with Serena Williams entering its third decade on the WTA tour…
We’re just trying to win our dreams, and our dream is to be here. When it’s not, we’ll watch on TV.
All photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2017.
EASTBOURNE, Great Britain – Monica Puig continued her stellar grass court season with a thrilling victory over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Aegon International.
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The Puerto Rican star is in the midst of a career-best season, matching her best French Open result by reaching the third round and making her first-ever grass court semifinal at the Aegon Open in Nottingham.
“I have had up-and-down results with grass courts in the past,” Puig said in her post-match press conference. “You know, I had fourth round at Wimbledon, and early exits in all the tournaments. So it’s a surface where you have to really work at it in the first week and a half, you know.
“I tried to use Nottingham as a good preparation for Wimbledon and getting used to the body on how I’m supposed to get really low and just feel everything out.”
Wozniacki, by contrast, is attempting to kickstart her season after an ankle injury forced her to sit out the entirety of hte clay court season. With a solid win over No.7 Samantha Stosur in the second round, the Dane looked on course to build even more momentum ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, surviving a titanic sixth game and eventually running away with the first set in 50 minutes.
“She’s a great player and she makes you work for every single point, so it was really up to me to stay very focused in my game plan and what I wanted to accomplish out there in the court.”
One break separated the two in the second set, with Puig converting and racing out to a 2-0 lead in the decider after leveling the match at one set apiece.
“I think Monica played really well today,” Wozniacki said after the match. “I just have to take that and then just bring it with me to next week.
“There are a couple of things you can always improve on, but generally I’m feeling good, I’m feeling confident. And again, I’m not seeded so hopefully I can get a nice draw for myself.
“I feel like the draws haven’t been with me the last year, so I’m like hopefully eventually it’s going to turn, right? I’m hoping it’s going to start at Wimbledon.”
Wozniacki had one last surge in the final set, winning three games on the bounce, but Puig proved too strong in the end, serving out the win in two hours and 15 minutes.
“I was aggressive there at the end,” Puig noted. “You know, it’s never easy also to close out a match when you’re serving, especially when it’s 5-4. You know, anything can happen, and then all of a sudden you’re 5-5, fighting to get your lead back.
“I stayed with my game plan the whole way and the way that I was just extremely positive throughout the match.”
Up next for Puig is another youngster in Kristina Mladenovic, who edged past Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-4, 7-6(4).
And the fun continues!!!! ?☺️ (Photo credit: @JJlovesTennis ) pic.twitter.com/IoULNdK4RF
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) June 22, 2016
How have Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber and the rest of the top Wimbledon contenders fared in their past visits to the All England Club?