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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970
16-year-old Destanee Aiava joins the Australian Fed Cup team for their upcoming clash with Serbia.

Captain Alicia Molik has called up the teenager for the World Group II playoff in the absence of Samantha Stosur.

Aiava lines up alongside Daria Gavrilova, Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua for next week’s tie.

The Czech squad for their semifinal tie against the USA is not quite so youthful but very inexperienced – Katerina Siniakova and Denisa Allertova have played Fed Cup doubles before, while Kristyna Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova will be making their debuts.

Johanna Konta leads the lineup for Great Britain as captain Anne Keothavong names an unchanged side after their win against Estonia in February.

Heather Watson, Jocelyn Rae and Laura Robson make up the rest of the quartet as they face Romania in what will be a very difficult World Group II playoff.

They will face Ilie Nastase’s team of Simona Halep, Irina-Camelia Begu, Monica Niculescu and Sorana Cirstea. World No.1 Angelique Kerber joins Julia Goerges, Laura Siegemund and Carina Witthoeft in the Germany squad to take on Elina Svitolina, Lesia Tsurenko, Olga Savchuk and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine in the World Group playoff.

Yannick Noah has selected Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic, Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier to face Spain’s Sara Sorribes, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Olga Saez Larra and María José Martínez Sánchez.

Elise Mertens, Maryna Zanevska, Alison van Uytvanck and An-Sophie Mestach are the Belgium team for the World Group playoff against Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina and Anna Blinkova of Russia.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BOGOTA, Colombia – Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone has booked a spot into the Claro Open Colsanitas final without dropping a set, continuing her run to oust No.3 seed Johanna Larsson, 7-5, 6-4.

After taking a wildcard into the tournament Schiavone – who is playing in her last season of professional tennis after announcing her plans to retire earlier in the year – has shown the best of her vintage form to see off the competition and return to her first final in 14 months.

The former French Open champion stayed consistent to weather Larsson’s highs and lows as the No.3 seed showed flashes of dominance but couldn’t keep Schiavone out of contention for too long. After trading breaks towards the start of the match, the pair stayed toe-to-toe until Larsson was broken to give Schiavone the opening set.

It was a much closer affair in the second as Larsson broke to earn a 4-2 lead, looking ready to take the match into a decider. But Schiavone raised her level considerably, covering every inch of the court and attacking with renewed aggression to finally break to love as Larsson double faulted under the pressure.

Schiavone powered through to make her way into the final, her first final of the year and the first she’s reached since taking home the title at the Rio Open in February of 2016.

More to follow…

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

With Serena Williams and fiancé Alexis Ohanian expecting their first child, stars from the tennis world and beyond have been congratulating the 23-time Grand Slam winner.

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