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Champions Corner: Sara Errani

Champions Corner: Sara Errani

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Sara Errani was as shocked as anyone on Sunday, as she routed Barbora Strycova 6-0, 6-2 to win the biggest title of her career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The title, the ninth of her career, capped off a surprising week in Dubai, which saw the 28-year-old Italian rebound from a poor start to the season and emerge from a decimated draw that saw upsets after upsets, day after day.

After finishing inside the Top 20 for the fourth consecutive year, Errani had struggled to string together wins before Dubai. Entering the tournament she had just two wins on the tour level – both in Sydney – and was coming off an 0-2 weekend in Fed Cup, where she lost to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. Errani said after that Fed Cup weekend, she considered withdrawing from Dubai.

“Yeah, [I thought about] maybe taking two or three weeks to just relax, try to recharge the energy and everything,” Errani told reporters. “But in the end with my coach we think it, and he say, Come on. Let’s go. You are ready to suffer. You are ready to fight.

“This is important. Doesn’t matter how it goes. If it goes Love and Love in the first round, doesn’t matter for me. I just want to go there and try to do the best that we can because there are many weeks that you don’t feel 100%. So you just have to be ready to whatever comes.”

Errani couldn’t have asked for a better draw in Dubai to get her confidence back in check. She opened with back-to-back wins over qualifiers Zhang Saisai and Yaroslava Shvedova, before rallying to beat Madison Brengle in three sets and then rolling past Elina Svitolina and Strycova. Errani will be back in the Top 20 on Monday.

Sara Errani

“There is no explanation,” Errani said, when asked about her turnaround week. “Of course you work to be ready to the matches, but you never know which days you can play better or worse.

“The only thing I know is that I was ready to suffer, to stay on the court also in bad moments, or when I was not playing really good and just stay there. This is my mentally always. I know that doesn’t matter if you play good, bad, or whatever. Just the more important thing is just to stay there and try your best.”

But Errani may be selling herself short when she dismissed any explanation for her title run. After all, the theme of last week was resilience, and if you want to put a finer point on it, Italian resilience. Errani’s win kick-started a banner three days for the Italian veterans on tour, as 35-year-old Francesca Schiavone won her first title in nearly three years at the Rio Open, and 33-year-old Roberta Vinci became the oldest woman to make her top 10 debut. Who would have thought any of these results were in the cards 12 months ago.

“I can come here and lose first round, but if I try, everything is good for me,” Errani explained. “Doesn’t matter. You never know what can happen.

“Even in 2012, never thinking to do a final in Roland Garros and then it comes. So you cannot have objectives before because maybe can come something more or something worse.”

WTA Insider caught up with Errani after her triumph in Dubai for a quick chat before she was whisked away by the tournament director for more handshakes and congratulations. She was, undoubtedly, the woman of the hour.

Sara Errani

WTA Insider: How does it feel to win such a big title in Dubai?
Errani: It’s amazing for me. It’s the biggest title that I won in my life so I’m really happy for sure.

WTA Insider: You actually considered not playing Dubai this week after a tough pair of losses at Fed Cup. What changed your mind?
Errani: Yeah. It was a tough moment and my coach and I were thinking to rest some weeks to recover the energy. Then we decided to come and it was really good for me.

WTA Insider: You came to Dubai with just two wins this season. I think it’s fair to say no one saw this result coming. How surprised are you?
Errani: I’m really surprised. Even in the first round I was down 5-1 in the first set to Zhang so there were tough moments throughout the week. But I’m really happy.

WTA Insider: What will a win like this do for your confidence going forward?
Errani: Of course, winning matches at a tournament like this is nice for my tennis. I hope to continue, to improve more, and make more results.

WTA Insider: You said you were experiencing some “tough moments” after Fed Cup that almost kept you out of this tournament. Can you explain what was going on?
Errani: Ah, that is something that will stay with me and my family and my team, so sorry, I will not speak about this.

WTA Insider: At the end of last season, when you spoke to your coach about the season, what was your assessment?
Errani: It was a good year for me. I finished in the Top 20, I won a tournament in Rio. It was not the best year for me but I had some good results so I was happy about that.

WTA Insider: So what was your mentality going into 2016?
Errani: Just to improve, to keep going, to improve every day. to put the good work in the pre-season and try to be ready for the next year.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The BNP Paribas Open draw featured a full slate of intriguing second round possibilities, few more than No.5 seed Dominika Cibulkova’s against Jelena Ostapenko. The reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion carved out a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over the rising Latvian to book a third round meeting with Kristyna Pliskova.

“It was a really big fight,” she told WTA Insider after the match. :I feel like I had to fight for every single ball because I wasn’t feeling great on the court. It’s hard to feel great against a player who doesn’t give you rhythm. I won’t say I was struggling but I had some hard times today; I tried to stay really strong and positive, fight for every single ball. I appreciate this win a lot becuase it was a tough one.”

A former Wimbledon junior winner, Ostapenko came perilously close to handing a then-unbeaten Karolina Pliskova her first loss of the season at the Australian Open, and has been ranked as high as No.33 since reaching her first Premier 5 final at last year’s Qatar Total Open.

The teenager showed her full arsenel of power shots as day turned to night on Stadium 3, hitting 33 winners to 30 unforced errors through three sets, but was undone by her serve – hitting 10 double faults to just two aces in a match that was dominated by return.

“This match wasn’t how I wanted it to be; I can play much better, but it also depends on the opponent. I knew it was going to be a hard one, so it didn’t surprise me. I just had to fight for every single ball. I was glad with how I finished the match; I felt like myself in a few moments like those.”

Cibulkova, by contrast, had something to prove after losing her last two matches in three sets, one in the semifinals of Doha to Pliskova, and another to Ekaterina Makarova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Dealing with the pressure of defending her breakout 2016 season, the Slovak was forced to dig deep during the two hour, 11 minute epic, shurgging off a shaky serving day of her own to hit six winners to just two unforced errors in the final set to ease into the round of 32.

“It doesn’t matter how you play in practice, but I’d been practicing well. I had a few days off after Dubai and had a great week of practice. We changed a few things and I was feeling really great.

“I was going for my shots more in practice, playing more aggressively. Even if I made a mistake, my coach would remind me to be even more aggressive with my footwork and keep pressing.”

Standing between her and a spot in the second week is the left-handed Pliskova, who is starting to come out from the shadow of sister Karolina, who kicks off her Indian Wells campaign against Olympic champion Monica Puig later tonight.

“It takes time for me to adjust to lefties,” Cibulkova said of her next match. “I have a strategy when I play them, and I try not to flip my patterns and think too much about it. I just have to return the same way, but mind the bounce. I’ve never played her before, and so it’ll be a different one. This match should give me a good feeling, and the confidence to handle a match like this and to win it.”

Pliskova roared past No.33 seed and 2016 quarterfinalist Daria Kasatkina, 6-0, 6-3, hiting five aces to advance in 64 minutes.

“I know how I can play and this wasn’t even my best,” Pliskova told WTA Insider. “I’m not that surprised to win, but I’m still happy because it was an easy score.

“I felt, especially in the second set after she called her coach, that she was trying to put every ball in. The second set was dangerous because if I missed a few shots she wasn’t. But still, I play fast, and it’s tough to put everything in – especially on the serve!”

Asked about playing Cibulkova, Pliskova debated whether to ask her sister for advice.

“I never played her, but I will maybe ask Karolina. Maybe she will tell me something, but she has a bad record against her too. Maybe I’ll just stick to my plan. Last time she won, but last three times she lost, so maybe I won’t even ask her!” she laughed.

Still, it’s been a banner day for the top players despite the underdog heavy draw; all but two of the 16 seeds in action advanced. No.8 seed and Singapore semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova knocked out Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, 7-6(3), 6-4; she’ll next play No.26 seed Roberta Vinci, who earned a win over unseeded American Madison Brengle.

Coming through the toughest match of the day was No.10 seed Elina Svitolina, who extended her winning streak to 14 matches on Friday with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) win over China’s Wang Qiang. It won’t get any easier for the Ukrainian, who next faces former doubles partner and No.24 seed Daria Gavrilova; the Aussie eased past 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2, 7-6(5).

No.17 seed Barbora Strycova won a rematch of last year’s Dubai final over Sara Errani, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; awaiting her in the third round is No.19 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who cruised past Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, 6-4, 6-4.

Indian Wells will also play host to a battle of surprise French Open semifinalists; No.15 seed Timea Bacsinszky reached the final four on the terre battue in 2015 and will play No.18 seed Kiki Bertens, who made the semifinals last year. Bacsinszky defeated Monica Niculescu, 7-5, 6-2, while Bertens handed an unhappy birthday present to newly 20-year-old Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-2.

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Bacsinszky On The Olympic Experience

Bacsinszky On The Olympic Experience

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – It has been a whirlwind few weeks for No.15 seed Timea Bacsinszky, who came away from her debut appearance at the Olympic tennis event with a silver medal in women’s doubles alongside former No.1 Martina Hingis.

Bacsinszky had planned a quiet summer that got louder – and more surreal – with each passing moment.

“I was supposed to get a week of holiday the same week of the Ladies Championship Gstaad,” she mused after a decisive win over Vitalia Diatchenko. “It was tough for me because at one point I knew it would be a tough year and I would need to rest at one point. But I chose to play Gstaad because it was home, and I was all the time complaining there were no tournaments in Switzerland. So I had to assume my status and assume everything what I said in the past, so I played it.”

A brief respite after playing at home saw her spend some time with her boyfriend – even buying a motor boat to cruise around the lake near her home – gave way to the full emotional impact of the Olympic Summer Games.

Martina Hingis, Timea Bacsinszky

Here is Bacsinszky on the Olympic experience, in her own words:

Growing up in Lausanne you have all the Olympic committees around. I practiced next to the IOC, the house of the IOC. You have the Olympic museum right there.

As a kid at school, every school of the region goes there to visit the Olympic museum least probably at least three times.

It’s a highlight in Lausanne. You have many things to do, but for tourists, it’s just amazing.

It means so much. When I was watching the Olympics, I would never ever really think that I would win a medal one day, and we did it together – against all odds.

Playing next to Martina was not an easy position. But I’m super proud of myself because I held her up sometimes during this event, as well. She was maybe less motivated at the beginning. She was like, ‘Oh, crap, I feel like everyone is letting me down, but you’re the only one who stands here with me.’ So, like, okay, let’s do it.

I really never never ever thought that I would be coming back home with a medal one day. It had really made me dream a lot when I was a kid, even though tennis is not really in history of the Olympics.

Something I thought was really amazing, was how the Olympics is not connected to anything. You get there, you get to meet people you don’t know and probably will never see them again, but while you’re in the Village you just feel respect which is like around everyone there.

Martina Hingis, Timea Bacsinzky

There’s no aggressive energy. Everyone was nice with me, and me, myself I was shining more than usual. I was laughing more because I really felt the energy of it.

It’s only two weeks in a year or three weeks in a year and that’s sad, because every competition should be like that. In tennis we say things like, ‘Oh, what are your weapons?’ Oh, come on, guys. We use weapons for war. But why do we use that in our sports vocabulary?

At the Olympics I felt like you meet an athlete, you just talk for a few minutes or you trade a pin. This is the best Olympic exchange, because otherwise people would be too shy to talk with each other.

This way, you can go to any country in the world and say, ‘Ah, Palau. Didn’t even know it existed.’ Or, ‘Tuvalu. Where is it on the world map?’

You get curious and you’re like, ‘Oh, which sport are you in? What are you doing?’ ‘Oh, I lost to her,’ or, ‘I got injured.’ Then you really feel how much it means to people. Then, you say, ‘Bye-bye, good luck, all the best for you,’ and you’re probably never going to meet him or her again.

But the human contact, the exchange, is just natural, simple, and it’s nice. And all the images that you see from the Olympics are usually full of positive emotions of sportsmanship.

Olympic Podium

As I came back on tour, you feel like sometimes the tension that people have in their eyes, even in tennis. You’re like, ‘Guys, I didn’t do anything. Calm down.’ You feel the aggressivity sometimes, which I was sincerely not feeling at the Olympics.

You go back to the Swiss house and all the other Swiss athletes, they are really 100% sincere that they are so happy for you that you got a medal, because they know how tough it is and how much you work all year long for that and how big it means to everyone.

It’s the first time in my life I really felt like 100% of sincerety out of people or other athletes, who were like, ‘Oh, wow. I saw that you won a medal. Oh, how amazing. Do you have it? Can I just see it?’

I think the world should be just like thus. Unluckily there are no Olympics every week. It wouldn’t be that special, probably. But it made me realize all of these things.

Bacsinszky plays Varvara Lepchenko in the second round of the US Open on Thursday.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Madison Keys makes her 2017 debut and Venus Williams takes on the BNP Paribas Open’s longest tenured player. We break down today’s key second-round matchups at WTATennis.com.

Saturday, Second round

[2] Angelique Kerber (GER # 2) vs. Andrea Petkovic (GER # 79)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 7-3
Key Stat: Kerber will begin her 21st week at No.1 on the Monday after Indian Wells.

As a result of Serena Williams’ injury withdrawal, Angelique Kerber will make her return to the top of the WTA rankings following Indian Wells no matter how she fares. But the German is adamant about not letting this good news cause any complacency in her tennis. She’s here to compete, and to hopefully kickstart a season that hasn’t panned out exactly the way she would have liked in the first two months. Kerber is 7-5 on the season, but she has yet to reach a final and she has gone 2-5 against the Top 50. “I was coming here to win matches,” Kerber told reporters on Wednesday. “This is what I love and this is what I was practicing for the last weeks. This is more what I’m focusing on. I will try and really stay with my focus because this is my priority and I will try now not to think about getting No.1 again.”

Kerber is set to square off with compatriot Andrea Petkovic for the 11th time on Saturday. The pair will meet for the first time since 2015, when Kerber won a straight-setter in the Charleston semis.

Pick: Kerber in three

[12] Venus Williams (USA # 13) vs. Jelena Jankovic (SRB # 51)
Head-to-head: Jankovic leads, 7-6
Key Stat: Jankovic is making her record 16th appearance at the BNP Paribas Open.

A pair of legendary thirtysomethings will lock horns for the 14th time on Saturday for a spot in the third round when Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic continue a rivalry that started over a decade ago in the quarterfinals at the 2005 Bank of the West Classic in Northern California. A lot of time has passed since then, but Williams (36) and Jankovic (32) continue to turn back the clock with brave tennis, big personality and an unquenchable lust for the competition that exists on tour. Williams made her return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years last season but was upset in her first match by Japan’s Kurumi Nara. She’d like to extend her stay a little longer this time, but she’ll have her hands full with Jankovic, who took the pair’s last hardcourt meeting at Hong Kong in 2015.

While Williams may still be re-familiarizing herself with the playing conditions in the desert, Jankovic has played some of her best tennis here. She won the title in 2010 and reached the final in 2015.

Pick: Williams in three

[20] CoCo Vandeweghe (USA #22) vs. Lucie Safarova (CZE # 40)
Head-to-head: Safarova leads, 2-1
Key Stat: After finishing 2016 with five consecutive losses, Vandeweghe is 8-3 in 2017.

American CoCo Vandeweghe was a set away from her first career Grand Slam final before she fell to Venus Williams in a thrilling three-setter at the Australian Open semifinals this winter. Now she’s looking to make some noise on her home soil, but the California native will have to get past a very accomplished veteran if she hopes to reach beyond the third round for the first time. Lucie Safarova has been playing very solid tennis this season, and has a final at Budapest and an 11-5 record to show for it. She has taken her last two meetings with Vandeweghe, both on hard courts, but the American is a more confident player than she ever has been before.

Pick: Safarova in three

[9] Madison Keys (USA # 9) vs. Mariana Duque-Mariño (ESP # 112)
Head-to-head: Keys Leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Keys has never been past the third round at Indian Wells.

Madison Keys will make her return to the tour after missing the first two months due to a minor wrist surgery. Keys has also been reunited with former coach Lindsay Davenport, and the pair will move forward hoping to recreate the success that they achieved in 2015, when the American reached her only career Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 19. For her first hurdle she’ll face Spain’s Mariana Duque-Mariño, a 27-year-old qualifier who earned her first ever BNP Paribas Open main draw win on Thursday when she defeated Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig.

The matchup is a good one for Keys, but how quickly can the 22-year-old shake off the rust that surely exists? In her first match since last October Keys will need to be sharp—Duque Mariño has already won two rounds of qualifying in addition to her first-round win and she’ll be hungry for the upset.

Pick: Keys in two

By the Numbers:

36 – The age of Venus Williams, who is the oldest player in this year’s BNP Paribas Open draw.
20 – Amount of weeks that Kim Clijsters and Angelique Kerber have spent at No.1 as of today. Kerber will pass Clijsters when she begins her second stint at the top of the rankings on Monday March 20th.
47 – Number of BNP Paribas Open matches won by Lindsay Davenport, which is most all-time. The American also holds the record for most final appearances with six.
28 – Agnieszka Radwanska leads all players in this year’s draw with 28 wins at Indian Wells. She’ll bid for her 29th against Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo today.

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Race For No.1 Down To Three.

Race For No.1 Down To Three.

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Garbiñe Muguruza’s shock exit to Anastasija Sevastova whittled down the number of contestants in the US Open’s No.1 ranking sideshow to three: Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska.

As the tournament enters its opening weekend wtatennis.com updates the state of play in the race for top spot…

Serena Stays On Course: Williams entered the US Open as the World No.1, a distinction she has held since February 18, 2013. Through the two weeks of the US Open, Williams will extend her streak to 186 consecutive weeks, tying the WTA record for most consecutive weeks at No.1 held by Steffi Graf (August 17, 1987-March 10, 1991).

Williams’ reign is all the more remarkable considering the 186 weeks preceding her ascension saw the No.1 ranking change hands nine times, with Dinara Safina, Serena, Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova all spending time at the summit.

In the opening two rounds, Williams has answered the questions regarding the health of her troublesome shoulder with business-like wins over Ekaterina Makarova and Vania King. To extend her current stint as No.1, Williams, who is defending 780 points, will need to at least reach the semifinals.

The longer Kerber stays in the tournament, though, the further Williams will need to advance:

– If Kerber reaches the quarterfinals, then Williams must reach the final.
– If Kerber falls in the semifinals, Williams would remain at No.1 by reaching the final.
– A championship match showdown between Williams and Kerber would see the winner walk away not only with the trophy, but the No.1 ranking.

Williams’ ranking points have come from seven tournaments in the last 52 weeks – 2015 US Open (780), Australian Open (1300), Indian Wells (650), Miami (120), Rome (900), Roland Garros (1300) and Wimbledon (2000).

Angelique Kerber

What Will It Take For Kerber To Become World No.1?: Kerber is bidding to become the 22nd player to reach No.1 since the computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. In her previous tournament, the German came within one win of unseating Williams at No.1 in Cincinnati, only to fall short in the final against an on-song Karolina Pliskova.

The disappointment does not appear to have lingered, making short work of her opening two opponents, Polona Hercog and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.  Last year, Kerber lost to Victoria Azarenka in the third round at the US Open and as a result is only defending 130 points in Flushing Meadows. Kerber will have a 460-point advantage from the start of the tournament, therefore even a surprise third-round loss to crowd favorite CiCi Bellis does not rule her out of contention.

Kerber consistently has reached the business end of the WTA’s biggest events with six finals appearances this year, winning the titles at the Australian Open and Stuttgart, finishing as runner-up at Brisbane, Wimbledon, Cincinnati and the Olympics*. As a result, Kerber’s ranking has been on a steady incline after finishing 2015 at No.10.

* There were no ranking points awarded for this year’s Olympic tennis competition.

US Open Title Could Vault Radwanska To Top Spot: Agnieszka Radwanska will need to win the US Open title, to have reach the top spot. However, if Kerber reaches the final, Radwanska could only move as high as No.2.

The Pole came through her first test in the second round, surviving an epic opening set tie-break to eventually defuse the big-serving Naomi Broady. Next up is the gifted, if unpredictable, Caroline Garcia

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Konta Cruises Past Bencic

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Overcoming a tough second round match, No.13 seed Johanna Konta rebounded well to dismiss No.24 seed Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the second year in a row.

“I feel good,” she told press after the match. “I feel well enough to play. I’m really happy with how I was able to just really focus on the match at hand and the work at hand and then put all else out of my mind.”

Konta suffered from a scary case of dizziness en route to beating Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, but faced no such issues on the new Grandstand court. The Brit broke serve five times without facing a break point herself, hitting eight aces and winning 19 of 20 points behind her first serve.

Bencic was playing in her third event since Wimbledon, where she retired due to a left wrist injury, but was undone by 13 unforced errors to just six from her highter ranked opponent. Konta has been close to breaking into the Top 10 since the middle of the summer thanks to a year of impressive results, and will be aiming to reach her second major quarterfinal of the season – her first at Flushing Meadows.

“I do love the US Open. I do have a lot of firsts here. It was the first time I got to qualify into the main draw. It was the first slam I went deeper in, as well. I definitely think the US Open has got its own vibe, its own organized chaos. I think there is a lot of enjoyments players take from that.

“I think if you can stay focused on the work at hand here, you can make it anywhere,” she said with a laugh, quoting Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

Standing in her way will be Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, who backed up her big win over No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko. Sevastova, who retired in 2013 only to make a successful return to the game two years later, had never beaten her fellow comeback kid, who led by a break to start their match on Court 17 before Sevastova caught fire once more.

“I have played her once before actually in my first Australian Open qualifying, so I do know her and I have been on court with her. That was a number of years ago. She’s obviously playing very good tennis. She is a very good player. I have a lot of respect for her.

“Hopefully we’ll have a good match.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – No.21 seed Caroline Garcia recovered from a set down to survive No.11 seed Johanna Konta, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open for the second time in three years.

“Maybe it’s the haircut!” she joked with WTA Insider. “Sometimes small things make a big difference on the court. I tried to forget what happened outside of tennis and just focus on myself, what I could improve. I feel more energized and better on the court; it’s great to have this mentality again.”

Konta enjoyed a bright start to the season with a second WTA title at the Apia International Sydney and a run to the Australian Open quarterfinals, but a nerve issue in her left foot forced her to sit out the Middle East Swing following a successful week at Fed Cup.

“I don’t believe I played a great match today,” Konta said after the match. “She did what she had to do to get through that, and she did a better job of finding a way than I did. I would have liked to have played better, but it just didn’t happen today.

“There were a number of shots that let me down today; quite honestly, I don’t know why, but I’m keen on improving and doing better next time.”

Playing her first WTA event since Melbourne, Konta took the opening set in decisive style against Garcia, who hadn’t won back-to-back matches since January, but the tide began to turn in the middle of the second.

“The last time I played against her in China, she played unbelievably; it was just unreal,” Garcia said. “I knew I had to play a good match, and that if I got any opportunities, I would have to be ready to take them. That’s what I managed to do in the second set when I broke her; in the tie-break, I was more aggressive and more consistent.”

Garcia earned the only break of that set to level the match, and served out some sticky situations by match’s end to force a tie-break, which she took with ease after a two hour and 11 minute tussle.

“I didn’t do enough with the opportunities that I did get,” Konta said. “Some of the break points, she served well, and others, I wasn’t brave enough. I don’t think I did enough to really take them. I was a little too passive in parts.”

In a high quality match, both players hit just 15 unforced errors each, with Garcia leading the winner count 28 to 23 – despite 12 aces from the big-serving Brit.

“This win means a lot because the beginning of the year hasn’t been easy,” she said. “Konta is a difficult player, and she’s been pretty solid most of the year. This match was a bit weird, some ups and downs and not too many rallies. I’m happy with the way I kept my focus to the end; even if I played a bad return, I stayed positive and finished with a great tie-break.

“I think it was more of a mental match because physically, I wasn’t even tired – there were no rallies! I was just working on moving from one point to another. Mentally, it wasn’t easy to keep the intensity. In the end, I brought what I did well in the match, and I returned better. I just had to win that tie-break, and I’ll keep the last point.”

Not too far from a career-high ranking of No.23, Garcia next plays No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who dug out a three set win over No.26 seed Roberta Vinci, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

“I expect longer rallies than today, for sure!” Garcia said. “She’s a great player with a lot of experience. She’ll enjoy these conditions with the bouncy court. I’ll have to put as much pressure as I can, not let her dictate with the forehand.

“You can learn a lot from a match like this because she has a very tactical game. I’ll try to be more aggressive.”

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Super Serena Seals 307th Slam Win

Super Serena Seals 307th Slam Win

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Top seed Serena Williams eased to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Connecticut Open semifinalist Johanna Larson to not only advance into the second week of the US Open for the sixth straight year, but also clinch the Open Era record for total Grand Slam matches won, passing Martina Navratilova for 307 victories.

“Wow, that’s pretty awesome, and honestly, there’s no better place to do it than here, where everything first started,” she told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs in her on-court interview. “That’s great!

“It was something I didn’t even know about until Wimbledon,” she added in her post-match press conference. “I was like, ‘Oh, I have a new goal.'”

Looking as strong as ever through three rounds, the World No.1 donned her “Superwoman sleeves” and shook off the shoulder concerns that plagued her Emirates Airline US Open Series with another decisive win, this time over an in-form Johanna Larsson.

Larsson had just reached the semifinals in New Haven as a lucky loser, but had no answers to the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s high-octane game. Hitting 24 winners to just 17 unforced errors, Serena struck another six aces and dropped only five points behind her first serve to advance in just under an hour on Saturday.

“It was a really good match for me because she played a different type of game. It was really good for me to have a different type of rhythm and just to move around. Overall, it was pretty good.”

Awaiting Serena in the fourth round will be Kazakh powerhouse Yaroslava Shvedova, who survived a late surge from China’s Zhang Shuai to reach the second week of the Open for the first time, 6-2, 7-5.

Serena has won all four of her previous meetings with Shvedova; though the former World No.25 pushed the top seed to three sets at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, their last two meetings have been one-sided affairs, including a 6-3, 6-1 win at the 2013 US Open.

Serena Williams

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