Cincinnati: Wednesday Highlights
Highlights from first and second round action at the Western & Southern Open.
Highlights from first and second round action at the Western & Southern Open.
Petra Kvitova paid a visit to the WTA Media TV truck to learn about everything that goes into producing a tennis match. Ride along right here at wtatennis.com.
Friday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her win in the final round of the Western & Southern Open.
Vera Zvonareva broke her social media silence to make a big announcement – a couple of big announcements, actually. The former WTA World No.2 has been busy in her year away from the tennis courts.
Zvonareva announced via her Instagram that she’d recently tied the knot and became a mother.
But that’s not all: Zvonareva had a few more announcements in store for her fans, including a return to tennis (of sorts). She’s set to join the Eurosport team and take on a commentating role during this year’s US Open.
Congratulations Vera!
NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – No.2 seed Roberta Vinci made her way to the quarterfinals of the Connecticut Open for the first time after a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ana Konjuh.
Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“It was not an easy match,” Vinci admitted afterwards. “It’s always tough, the first round for me. She played well, but the court is so fast. I played consistent and tried to stay focused every point.”
Eighteen-year-old Konjuh was making her New Haven debut after coming through three rounds of qualifying, and she came out swinging against the No.2 seed. She brought up two break points right away against the Italian’s serve, unleashing her powerful groundstrokes to yank Vinci from line to line.
The Italian held on, though, and took advantage of a loose service game – including two double faults – to get the first break to love at 4-2. She rattled off another two games and took the opening set. The second set unfolded in the same pattern as the first, with Vinci grabbing two late breaks to take the match after just under an hour.
With the win Vinci advanced to the New Haven quarterfinal and notched her ever best result at New Haven, having reached just two second round appearances in 2011 and 2015.
“I love to play here in New Haven, I have great memories here from last year,” she said. “And now I’m in quarterfinals, for the first time, so I’m so happy. I will try my best for tomorrow.”
Vinci is set to play Johanna Larson in the next round for a spot in the semifinals.
Also in action today was lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens, who upset the higher-ranked Caroline Garcia, 7-6(3), 7-5.
Her reward? A quarterfinal clash with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
“She’s a great player, she’s very talented,” Flipkens said. “I’ve already had some matches against her in the past.
“I just hope that I can go out there and do my best and have a good match, no matter what the result.”
NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska ended lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens’ dream run at the Connecticut Open, winning 6-1, 6-4 to book a semifinal against defending champion Petra Kvitova.
Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Flipkens became one of two lucky losers to reach the semifinals after replacing the ailing Lesia Tsurenko and powering past Belinda Bencic and Caroline Garcia, but she just didn’t have enough in her arsenal of slices and volleys to grab her first win over the World No.4.
Radwanska dug from her own bag of tricks against Flipkens, switching up the pace between line to line rallies and killer dropshots.
But the Belgian didn’t roll over, and produced some spectacular tennis – and razor sharp shot-making – to earn the break right back and level the match at 2-1.
This rally from @FlipperKF and @ARadwanska ? #CTOpen16 pic.twitter.com/DKSevPxqjk
— WTA (@WTA) August 25, 2016
It was the last game Flipkens would win for a while, though, as Radwanska’s cerebral style of point construction kept her seemingly always a step ahead. She rattled off five games in a row to take the set and an early break in the second.
Finally finding her footing late in the match, Flipkens rallied to get the break back and began to meet Radwanska blow for blow, creating for some incredible rallies.
TWEENER SPOTTING! ?
But really, how AWESOME was that rally?! #CTOpen16 pic.twitter.com/PN5DPFqkoO
— WTA (@WTA) August 26, 2016
“It’s always entertaining for us, as well, playing rallies like this,” Radwanska said of the rally above. “Of course, she’s a very tricky opponent. You can really expect from her those kind of shots. Very good touch, very good hands. We had a lot of matches with rallies like this.”
Radwanska just stayed more consistent throughout and finally earned the decisive break at 5-4, taking the match after an hour and 22 minutes. The top seeded player hit 25 winners to 16 unforced errors – a high number for the usually tidy Radwanska – against Flipkens’ 21 winners and 27 unforced errors.
With the victory Radwanska is through to her first semifinal at the Connecticut Open, where three-time champion Petra Kvitova awaits across the net.
“I’m just very happy to make the first semifinal,” Radwanska said. “Especially that it’s a very strong tournament. It means I had a couple of good matches, a couple of good wins.
“Well, I guess now I have really nothing to lose, especially I’m playing Petra next.”
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her win in the final of the Connecticut Open.
For tennis fans, snagging a selfie with their favorite player is the ultimate prize. But what happens when it’s a player asking the fans for selfies?
We sent Jelena Ostapenko on a selfie scavenger hunt through the grounds of the Western & Southern Open. Find out what happened when she ambushed fans, volunteers, and more in search of the ultimate selfie prize.
It’s all in the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free: Always Full Of Surprises!
WTA Insider | On the second day of the WTA Insider Live Blog, the top half of the draw begin their US Open campaigns, including Simona Halep and Serena Williams.