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Vandeweghe Victorious In Den Bosch Opener

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – No.6 seeded American CoCo Vandeweghe scored another win in her happiest of hunting grounds, having little trouble against Indy de Vroome in her 6-2, 6-4 opening round win at the Ricoh Open.

Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

There’s something about playing on grass that causes Vandeweghe’s powerful game to click together. Right here in the Netherlands, Vandeweghe brought home her first WTA title back in 2014, and last year she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Vandeweghe hardly needed more than an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the second round against Dutch wildcard de Vroome. The 20-year-old showed a lot of promise against the American; perhaps surprisingly, de Vroome out-aced the big serving Vandeweghe with eight aces to one. But Vandeweghe played more consistently in the important points, grabbing three of the four break chances she created.

Another American notched a victory today, with Madison Brengle scoring a big win against No.5 seed Laura Siegemund. Playing at the Ricoh Open for the first time, Brengle completed a three set upset against Stuttgart finalist Siegemund, coming back from a mid-match deficit to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in just over two hours.

Siegemund wasn’t the only seed that took a tumble today with No.7 Eugenie Bouchard bowing out in straight sets at the hands of Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens. Mertens allowed the Canadian only one break point chance in the whole match and ran roughshod over Bouchard on her way to her 52-minute, 6-2, 6-0 victory, her first WTA main draw win of her career.

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Vote: May Breakthrough Of The Month

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

May was defined by four breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?

Have a look at the nominees for May’s Breakthrough Performance of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, June 10.

May 2016 WTA Breakthrough Performance of the Month Finalists:

Louisa Chirico: The young American enjoyed a major splash at the start of the clay court season, qualifying for the Mutua Madrid Open and making it all the way to the semifinals, defeating former No.1 Ana Ivanovic and Daria Gavrilova along the way. Chirico qualified for the French Open and won her first-ever Grand Slam main draw match before falling to 2002 finalist Venus Williams in the second round.

Yulia Putintseva: Putintseva reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, dropping just eight games through her first three match wins over Aleksandra Wozniak, 2014 semifinalist Andrea Petkovic, and Karin Knapp. Playing Serena Williams for a spot in the semifinals, the fiery young Kazakh was just five points away from victory, but nonetheless charmed the crowd in a thrilling three-set epic.

Shelby Rogers: Rogers built upon her clay court resume in emphatic style in Paris, knocking out a quartet of big name players to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Starting the week with a win over No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova, Rogers went on to beat Elena Vesnina, Petra Kvitova, and Irina-Camelia Begu before bowing out to eventual champion Garbiñe Muguruza after having a set point in the opening set.

Kiki Bertens: Bertens enjoyed a dream run to the semifinals after winning her second career title in Nürnberg as a qualifier, winning 12 straight matches over the course of three weeks. Fighting off injury and 2015 semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky, the Dutch powerhouse satisfied her country’s Olympic requirements and pushed World No.1 Serena Williams throught two tough sets just before the final weekend.

2016 Winners:

January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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Roland Garros: The 20 Best Moments

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

With Roland Garros in the books, relive in photos the 20 best moments from the fortnight: the Cinderella stories, the agony of defeat, and the moments of victory.

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Bencic Grits Out Victory In Den Bosch

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – Top seed Belinda Bencic was made work again in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, coming back from a set down to win against Varvara Lepchenko and set up an all-Swiss quarterfinal at the Ricoh Open.

Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Playing in her first matches of the season on grass – and her first since her two-month injury layoff – Bencic had trouble finding her rhythm early on and struggled with her serve, striking six double faults.

“My level is still not there where I want it to be,” Bencic said afterwards. “I don’t think it was a really good match from my side. But all I could do myself was just to fight and keep going. That’s what I’m trying every day so I’m just hoping to improve.”

Lepchenko took advantage of Bencic’s service woes to break early on in the first set, taking it 6-3. Bencic found her range in the second, and in the third set she broke twice and strung together more consistent rallies to take the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Bencic’s win sets up an all-Swiss quarterfinal at the Ricoh Open; she’s set to face qualifier Viktorija Golubic in the next round. She defeated Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-2.

The pair are Fed Cup regulars for Switzerland, as well as good friends off the court.

“I’m very happy for her that she’s having such good results,” Bencic said. “I just think it’s very positive for the Swiss to have two players in the quarterfinals.

“I’m really good friends with her so I hope that it will be a good match. I will have fun out there and try to fight like today.”

The luck ran out for the other two seeded players in action today in ‘s-Hertogenbosch as No.2 Jelena Jankovic and No.4 Jelena Ostapenko went tumbling out.

“I’m so happy to win today,” said Evgeniya Rodina, who knocked out Jankovic 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-4. “I’ve played against her three times before, and three times I lost.

“I just tried to play every single point, hit hard and just try to do my best.”

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Pliskova, Riske Win Notts Double Headers

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NOTTINGHAM, Great Britain – Karolina Pliskova and Alison Riske emerged victorious after a busy day of quarterfinals and semifinals action to book their spots in the final of the Aegon Open Nottingham.

With rain washing out the day yesterday, players had to complete both rounds on the same day to stay on schedule.

Top seed Pliskova was originally slated to play three matches today – two singles matches and a doubles semifinal with her sister Kristyna Pliskova – but didn’t have enough in the tank after singles.

“This morning I was thinking maybe I can have three matches today, with the doubles, but no, then we had to withdraw,” Pliskova said after her second match.

“It’s been a long time since I played two singles matches, maybe once in years, I don’t remember. But it just happened and you have to be ready for it.”

Up first for the Czech was Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who was competing at the WTA level for the first time in two years. The Australian didn’t show any rust, and despite the defeat she kept the score line narrow 7-6(2), 7-6(7). In fact, she held set points in both sets before Pliskova edged out the victory.

Barty had only positive takeaways from her first WTA tournament since 2014.

“It’s nice to know that straight off the bat I can come in and compete with the best in the world,” she said. “That’s really good, this week’s been a massive bonus for us [me and my team]. Being able to get so many matches against quality players has been really good.

“It’s been great to be back on court at the WTA level, it’s obviously been a while since I played at this level. It’s just pleasing to know that straightaway I’m able to come back in and mix right in the fold.”

With one match already under her belt, Pliskova flew through her semifinal against No.4 seed Monica Puig in just 54 minutes, 6-2, 6-2. The Puertorrican, who bested Tamira Paszek in the quarterfinals earlier in the day, couldn’t keep up with Pliskova’s powerful serve; she was unable to break in three chances and allowed nine aces to zoom past unanswered.

“It would be nice to end the week with a win,” the Czech said. “So I’m just going to get ready for that. I had a tough day today, so hoping for nice weather tomorrow and even if I don’t get the trophy I still think it was a good week on grass, for a first week.”

Joining Pliskova in the final of the Aegon Open Nottingham is Riske, the unseeded American who notched back to back wins over Anett Kontaveit and Saisai Zheng to reach her second WTA final of the year.

“My first match was quick, because I knew that if I won I would have to play a second one,” Riske said after her semifinal match. “Both players were very tough, I had to be in it to the end. I’m looking forward to the final tomorrow.”

Despite an innocuous-looking score of 6-1, 7-5 against Zheng, the American faced almost let slip away the second set. She was up 5-2 and held match point two times as the Chinese player rattled off three straight games to level the score. Riske finally took her third match point, winning after an hour and 26 minutes.

Pliskova leads the head-to-head record against Riske with two wins to one.

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Watson Gets ELLE-mentary In Exclusive Interview

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

LONDON, Great Britain – Heather Watson is coming off a career year that saw her earn hometown glory at the Wimbledon Championships in mixed doubles and win another WTA title in Monterrey.

Sitting down with Elle Magazine UK, the Brit had a no holds barred discussion about the differences between singles and doubles, getting into the right pre-match mindset, and how she injects her personal style into her on-court kits.

“In terms of mixed doubles, it’s a whole other ball game,” she said of her Wimbledon win with Henri Kontenin. “Personally, it’s just fun and I think that’s down to having had some incredible partners, which makes a big difference.

“I think I need to bring more of the mindset of ‘it doesn’t matter what the outcome is I’m just going to do what I need to do’, into my singles more.”

Watson also played mixed doubles with countryman Andy Murray, who went on to clinch the ATP World No.1 ranking earlier this fall.

“Andy is an incredible athlete. He’s so competitive, hardworking and so nice to be around. He’s not what people think he is. I find him quieter, very chilled and more relaxed off the court.”

Check out the full interview with Watson right here at ElleUK.com.

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WTA Stars Unwind: Cibulkova, Wozniacki & Serena In The Sun

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

After a busy 2016 season which saw Dominika Cibulkova rack up the most titles of anyone on tour – capped off by the biggest one of her career at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global – the World No.5 is taking some time off to unwind.

But she’s not the only WTA star hitting the beach – check out how Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Garbiñe Muguruza and more are spending their off season!

Cibulkova’s booked herself a well-deserved break in a private island in the Maldives…

But she didn’t stay away from the tennis court for long, taking a break from her vacation to head back to her hometown of Bratislava for an exhibition match against Belinda Bencic.

And she wasn’t the only one to run into a fellow WTA star during the offseason, either…

Caroline Wozniacki and Nicole Gibbs have been snapping away in the scenic Virgin Islands. The pair are in town for the Necker Cup, held on Richard Branson’s private Necker Island.

Serena Williams – and the whole Williams family, sans Venus – took to the beach in the Bahamas, before returning to Compton to inaugurate refurbished tennis courts in her old hometown.

The tireless Svetlana Kuznetsova finally took a break and took her whole family with her to the beach as well.

Garbiñe Muguruza had some fun in the sun too, but it was a slightly different kind of sand and sun.

Instead of hitting the beach, the Spaniard hit the desert and visited the pyramids in Egypt.

Ana Ivanovic also decided to forgo the beach during the off season, trading the sun and warmth for chilly London.

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