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Cibulkova Hosts Youth Q&A As WTA Charities Launches In Brisbane

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BRISBANE, Australia – Dominika Cibulkova starts the 2017 season at a career-high ranking following her year-end triumph at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Still, the Slovak found time to assist the efforts of the newly formed WTA Charities before kicking off her campaign at the Brisbane International.

Partnering with the Ronald McDonald House South East Queensland and the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, Cibulkova met a group of sick children who came prepared to ask the World No.5 questions about her life and career in Brisbane.

“They were really nice kids, asking good questions,” Cibulkova said after the event. “It was nice to meet them and I’m happy I can do this kind of thing.”

Asked what other sports she played, the former Australian Open finalist talked about the gymnastics she did as a child, but now enjoys skiing when she’s not on the tennis court. She also issued a challenge to Andre Agassi when asked which player she’d like to play.

“It’s cool that kids can get to know us a bit more, and I think they’ll follow tennis more intensely now, because when you know one of the players, you get more involved and more emotional. I think that’s really nice.”

Launched at the start of 2017, the mission of WTA Charities is to be a social responsibility vehicle built on the WTA’s values to empower and provide for a better future. WTA Charities is dedicated to combining, strengthening and enhancing the community and charitable efforts of the WTA through its members (players, alumnae and tournaments), along with its partners.

Cibulkova is the No.2 seed in Brisbane and will play her opening round match against Zhang Shuai.

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Serena Returns To Action In Auckland

Serena Returns To Action In Auckland

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – World No.2 Serena Williams is back in action for the first time in five months at the ASB Classic, playing her first ever match in Auckland. She’s not the only big name hitting the court, though, with Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki also starting out 2017 in New Zealand.

Click here for the complete Auckland singles and doubles draws.

POSSIBLE QUARTERFINALS:

[1] Serena Williams vs [7] Jelena Ostapenko
[4] Barbora Strycova vs [5] Kiki Bertens
[6] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs [3] Caroline Wozniacki
[8] Ana Konjuh vs [2] Venus Williams

Serena Williams

‘NEW EXPERIENCES’ KEY FOR SERENA:

It’s been over five months since Serena played a tour-level tennis match, after falling to Karolina Pliskova at the US Open semifinals. She ended her season rehabbing a troublesome shoulder injury that kept her out of the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Now that she’s back in action, No.1 seed Serena admits to relishing new experiences – on and off the court.

“I’ve never been in Auckland and so I’ve never had an opportunity to be first in the world to welcome in this New Year,” she said at a charity event ahead of her opening match.

“This is a new experience for me and the fact that I’m still having new experiences this deep into my career makes me feel really good.”

Serena Williams, Venus Williams

Competing at the ASB Classic for the first time, the newly-engaged Serena will have the chance to collect her first win in Auckland as she opens the day session on Tuesday against France’s Pauline Parmentier for the pair’s first tour-level match.

Later tonight, No.2 seed Venus is set to take on local wildcard Jade Lewis, while No.3 seed Wozniacki will close out the night session against Nicole Gibbs.

– Photos courtesy of Tennis Auckland

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