Svetlana Kuznetsova's Luna Park Adventure
Watch Svetlana Kuznetsova ride a rollercoaster at Melbourne’s historic amusement park, Luna Park!
Watch Svetlana Kuznetsova ride a rollercoaster at Melbourne’s historic amusement park, Luna Park!
CoCo Vandeweghe discusses her support system and former mentor Vic Braden in her post-match press conference at the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – 2016 semifinalist Johanna Konta raced through a much-anticipated collision with former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-1, to return to the second week at the Australian Open.
“Against someone like Caroline, she’s not going to give it to you,” she said in her post-match press conference. “You really do have to earn it and win it till the very last point. I’m just very happy I was able to keep that pressure on.”
Konta rode a seven-match winning streak into the third round in Melbourne, having captured her second career WTA title at the Apia International Sydney last week.
“I think I had a longer streak a couple years ago. Still got awhile to go till then,” she said, referring to a 16 match winning streak she compiled in the summer of 2015 between the ITF and WTA circuits. “But I’m very pleased with how I’ve just been able to problem solve in the last matches that I’ve played, really play myself into matches where I felt I started slowly, and, like today, maintain the level.
“I’ve played against some very good players. To be able to come through that, I’m very pleased.”
Contrasted against the Brit’s meteoric rise was Wozniacki across the net; the Dane had been the model of consistency for much of the last decade before an injury-addled 2016 took her as low as No.74 in the WTA rankings.
A run to the US Open semifinal served as a springboard for the No.17 seed, who returned to the Top 20 by year’s end and was looking to interrupt Konta’s run with a big win to start the season.
The first six games were hotly contested, but each went with serve before the Brit broke through on her third break point of the opening set, winning eight straight games to take a set and 5-0 lead.
“I know this may sound like a broken record, but I do try very hard to always make sure I really take the good and the things I can improve on from every match that I play and reinvest it into the next match. Whenever a similar situation arises, I make sure that’s in my bank and I can use my experience from that.
“I think hopefully I’m getting a little wiser.”
Undaunted, Wozniacki got on the board and pushed Konta through a tense final game before the No.9 seed clinched victory in one hour and 17 minutes.
“She played really well. She served really well, returned deep. She was going for the lines. It was going in. You could see she had the confidence,” the Dane said after the match.
“I’m looking forward to the season. It’s a better start than last year. We just have to go from here, go back and grind and then come back and play again.
“There’s lots of tournaments ahead. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Up next for the top-ranked Brit is 2015 Australian Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova; the No.30 seed survived a titanic ecounter with reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion and No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3.
“Every time we play, we have a battle,” Konta said of her Russian rival. “I think last year was 8-6 in the third. I remember that was a high-level match from both of us. That was really a great match to be a part of.
“She had a great match against Dominika Cibulkova. Dominika is not an easy player to beat, and she was able to do that. She’s playing obviously great tennis.
“I think she really enjoys playing here. She always seems to do well on these courts. I’m looking forward to it. We’ll deal with whatever challenges come up the next day.”
Johanna #Konta to play Ekaterina #Makarova in 4R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Vo0kVY08pP
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2017
With World No.1 Angelique Kerber out of Oz, can No.2 Serena Williams reclaim the top spot at the Australia? Find out how right here on wtatennis.com.
MELBOURNE, Australia – CoCo Vandeweghe ended No.1 Angelique Kerber’s title defense at the Australian Open on Sunday, defeating the German 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 16 to make her first quarterfinal in Melbourne. Ranked No.35 and set to rise to a career-high ranking after the tournament, the big-hitting American bullied Kerber off the court with her power, firing 30 winners to 20 unforced errors in just 68 minutes.
.@CoCoVandey with the dab!#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/yEayki4q6k
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
1. This result was in the cards.
On paper, this was a significant upset. In actuality, you could see it coming from a mile away.
There’s no way around it: Kerber was still trying to find her form in Melbourne. She came into the tournament with just three matches under her belt – two of them losses – and though she successfully navigated the first week of play, she was never convincing.
The defending champion needed three sets to get past Lesia Tsurenko in the first round and Carina Witthoeft in the second round, relying on her physical defense to grind out matches against players who tried to hit her off the court.
“This is tennis, and you have good days and bad days. For sure today was not my best day.” -#Kerber#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/oyEqc9kIIB
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
That defense finally found its match against the ballistic ball-striking from Vandeweghe. The American is into her second Slam quarterfinal after scoring strong wins over Roberta Vinci, Pauline Parmentier, Eugenie Bouchard, and now Kerber. Her serve has been cranking and her backhand in particular has dominated her matches. Kerber’s defense alone would not be enough to unwind Vandeweghe on her day.
The German needed her serve — which has not been at the level it was last year — as well as good depth and width on her groundstrokes. Instead, she sent back a buffet of short balls in the middle of the court, which were automatic for Vandeweghe.
On improving: “I usually sit down and think of three positives from the match and three negatives from the match.'” -#Vandeweghe#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Pjm2fA312L
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
2. CoCo’s confidence carries her through.
The American insists that sometimes she “fakes it until she makes it”, an allusion to the idea that she’s not always as confident as she may seem on court. But there’s no denying that Vandeweghe talks as big of a game as she plays and that swagger seems to translate into tremendous clarity on court. Since the start of 2016, Vandeweghe has won 5 of her 6 meetings against Top 10 players.
Next, she gets a shot to avenge that one loss to Muguruza in Cincinnati last summer.
“I go out there expecting to win.” ✔️
Goal achieved, @CoCoVandey #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/YyQ7MuwliA
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2017
After coming back from a break down in the third set to beat Bouchard in the third round, Vandeweghe shrugged off any implication that the win was a particularly significant one. After converting match point against the World No.1 and defending champion, she calmly looked to her box and nonchalantly shrugged.
The message is clear from the 25-year-old Californian: this is what she expects of herself and this is what she knows she can do.
On Sundays, we slow-mo with @serenawilliams. #ausopen pic.twitter.com/QMPRf0H3VA
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2017
3. The No.1 scenario is simple.
Serena Williams can retake the No.1 ranking if she wins the Australian Open title. She plays her Round of 16 against Barbora Strycova on Monday.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Johanna Konta will play the biggest match of her career on Wednesday when she faces six-time champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. By all accounts, the 25-year-old doesn’t even see it that way.
Konta, who is riding an eight-match winning streak after taking the Apia International Sydney title, has won her last 18 sets of tennis. Her serve, a weapon that has emerged as the cornerstone of her game, has been broken just twice in Melbourne. There’s no reason for Konta to be short of confidence going into her first career meeting against Serena, but the humble Brit’s approach to her tennis these days is what sets her apart from the pack.
Look no further than the final game she played to beat Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1, 6-4 in the Round of 16 on Monday. Serving to close out the match, Konta found herself down 0-40, a point away from finding herself back on serve against the talented Russian. She saved the first break point with an unreturnable first serve, the second with a forehand winner, and the third with an ace, cool as you like. Four points later, the match was over.
Closing out matches, handling one’s nerves with so much on the line, these are the marks of a resilient competitor. Just 48 hours earlier, 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko had No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova on the ropes and twice failed to serve out the match, blowing a 5-2 lead and losing. The young Latvian immediately copped to her nerves, saying she was impossibly tight as she stared down the biggest win of her career. Konta, serving for a spot in her second career quarterfinal, didn’t even flinch.
So how did Konta do it? Here’s her eloquent response from the interview room after the match:
Q. You said the other day that you were surprised how you close out sets and matches as if it was any routine service game. Where do you draw that confidence in those big moments?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think more than anything it’s more trying to disassociate myself from the importance of the moment. I think it’s more keeping things in perspective and not panicking if I were to lose that service game or that point.
I think just keeping things in good perspective and just having trust in myself that however the match will swing, I will always be there to give my best and to always try to leave it all out on court and fight till the very end.
So nice to finally meet @JoKonta91 fun chat & Jo has great vision & a positive attitude to the future of her tennis. Exciting times pic.twitter.com/06HjbPn2gG
— Jo Durie (@Jodurie) January 23, 2017
Q. When you talk about disassociating yourself from the big moments, obviously a lot of players struggle to do it, and I’m sure you struggled to do it five years ago. Why is that so difficult for most players? Why was it difficult early on to kind of be able to not be overwhelmed by the importance of moments in a match?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think it’s difficult, because you have also got to put things in perspective. Everyone you see playing has been playing since they were a little girl. And it’s no secret that to get to whatever sport or even whatever area of life, if you want to be part of the elite and if you want to get to the top of your field, there will be numerous sacrifices you’ll need to make.
And I think when you get to a position where you might see a glimmer of what you have dreamed of as a little girl or what you hoped for, what you’ve worked so hard for, it can feel kind of an all-or-nothing moment or what if I never get this chance again?
I think it’s more a bit of possibly fear of being able to replicate the position you’re in more than anything, but then I think that’s where you have also got to have a good perspective on things, and you’ve got to keep, I guess, the simple things in mind of what’s important to you.
Are you healthy? Is your family healthy? Do you have people around you that you love? Do you have people around you that love you?
I know it might sound really mundane and simple, but I guess you’ve got to go back to things that have got substance, and then in the end just trust in the work that you do, if it’s in the cards for you that you will get another opportunity or you won’t. I think [you have to] really love the sport for what it is and be grateful for the opportunities that it brings you, not necessarily what you wish it would.
Q. Going back to the separating yourself from the importance of the moment, in that nanosecond where the little voice in your ear goes, Psst, it’s match point, what is the trigger that you can shut that voice out, and how long does that take for it to become automatic?
JOHANNA KONTA: I don’t think it’s about necessarily, for me personally, anyway, about shutting it out. It’s more accepting that, Oh, I have got a little bit of tension. Or accepting that my mind might be yapping away, not necessarily fighting against it, but relaxing into it and saying, It’s absolutely normal to think like this.
I think it’s then easier for your motions to take over more than anything because you’ve got to trust the tennis in you, the motions in you, years and years of playing that I’m all of a sudden not going to forget how to serve. I have been doing it, I don’t even know how long, so I think it’s more just having that trust in the repetitions that you’ve had over the years.
Konta’s transformation over the last 18 months has been one of the most confounding stories in the women’s game. How does a player, one who was once a terrible closer who would let her emotions impede her game, suddenly learn to set it all aside and trust the tennis within her? Experience and maturity certainly play a role, as does Konta’s work with a sports psychologist.
But the rapidity of the change and her unwavering commitment and belief in herself is remarkable and a fantastic example to players up and down the rankings. Asked whether she believed she could beat Serena, Konta dismissed the premise of the question.
“I believe in my own ability,” she said. “I believe in the good things that I bring to the court, and I believe in my ability to fight till the very end.
“Now, there’s that and then there’s also an opponent out there, and this one’s going to be Serena Williams. I think it’s about playing, me going out there and doing what I want to do against her, and it will be about just staying focused on that. And if that brings me good things on that day, and if that puts me in a position to come through, then that’s great.
“But I’ve got to focus on the work and not think of whether I can or cannot beat her. I just need to stay on the work.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Top seed Roberta Vinci overcame a mid-match blip to defeat Barbora Krejcikova and advance to the second round of the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP.
Garbiñe Muguruza’s best results have come on hardcourts. She won the China Open last fall and proceeded to storm her way into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global a few weeks later. But before all that hardcourt success, Paris is where she made her name.
The 22-year-old Spaniard earned her breakout win at the French Open in 2014, when she blasted past Serena Williams in a 6-2, 6-2 romp that lead to her first major quarterfinal. And to dispel any notion that the run was a fluke, she followed it up last year with yet another run to the quarterfinals, beating Angelique Kerber and Flavia Pennetta en route.
While guile, athleticism, and craft governed the terre battue in years past, today’s game requires power. Muguruza has that in spades. Though her 2016 season has yet to live up to the promise of how she finished 2015, Muguruza has played far better than her results would indicate. She’s been on the losing end of two of the best sets of tennis played this year, tallying a tough straight set loss to Victoria Azarenka at the Miami Open and then, in to Madison Keys last week in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
That semifinal was her first of the season and her run up to that match was a dominant one. She lost just six games on her way to the quarterfinals, where she dispatched an in-form Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets.
Bonjour à tous ?? ??? pic.twitter.com/wcyvAK7RQU
— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) May 18, 2016
“It was a great week for me,” Muguruza said in Rome. “I would like, for sure, to be in the final and win, but I felt really good playing these matches here, so it’s perfect for French Open.”
Throughout this season, Muguruza has played like a woman who felt the pressure of expectations. After finishing 2015 at No.3, many expected Muguruza to come flying out of the gates on hard courts. But under the bright spotlight she struggled, partly due to injury. It all seemed to come to a head a few weeks ago at the Mutua Madrid Open. The focus of local attention from the start, Muguruza took a tough loss to a streaking Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round.
A week later in Rome, she seemed far more relaxed. She played freely and with a clear sense of purpose. It was as if the pressure of the season dissipated after Madrid and she could just get back to work. If she plays the same way in Paris a deep second week run should be in the cards.
Muguruza will be seeded fourth in Paris, meaning she will avoid a quarterfinal showdown with Serena. Her game is perfectly suited for the clay in Paris, with enough power to finish points and hold serve, with enough court craft to work herself out of defensive positions. Under coach Sam Sumyk, Muguruza has been quick to try and finish points at the net. It’s yet another important development to her game and again, one that will pay dividends in Paris.
Entreno matinal en el Club de Campo antes de poner rumbo a Roma. Last practice before heading to Rome. pic.twitter.com/2HkjUjJas0
— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) May 6, 2016
Click here to keep up with WTA Insider’s pre-French Open coverage!
Venus Williams talks about how she recovered from her disappointment in Auckland to bounce back to the Australian Open final.
STRASBOURG, France – No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic reached her first semifinal of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier and fellow doubles star Alla Kudryavtseva at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
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Mladenovic took to court 24 hours after clinching an epic third set tie-break over Alison Riske, and exchanged four straight service breaks to start against Kudryavtseva, a former World No.56 who was playing her first WTA quarterfinal in nearly 18 months.
“It was a quick match and it’s the ideal scenario before a semifinal, to be able to get some rest and not walk out on the court tomorrow tired,” Mladenovic told wtatennis.com after the match.
“I changed up my shots a lot today which i think was the key.”
Settling quicker, the French youngster survived losing serve in the penultimate games of each set to ease past the hard-hitting veteran, who is poised to move up over 30 spots following a run through qualifying that saw her take out No.9 seed Alizé Cornet in the first round.
Mladenovic became the third from her country to advance into the Strasbourg semifinals on Thursday, after Caroline Garcia and Virginie Razzano both reached the final four; the last time three French women made it this far at a WTA tournament was in 2006, when Tatiana Golovin, Mary Pierce and Amélie Mauresmo all contested for the Paris Indoor title – ultimately won by Mauresmo.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni ended the hopes of a first French shutout for the first time since the 1999 Generali Ladies Linz (Mauresmo, Pierce, Sarah Pitkowski, Sandrine Testud), defeating Pauline Parmentier, 6-0, 6-1, to complete the semifinal line-up.
“You always want people from your county to do well and it’s great for French Tennis in general, and nice for the fans here – this is our home,” Mladenovic said of the high level of French success in Strasbourg.
Lucic-Baroni is not only in her first WTA semifinal of the season, but this is the farthest she has been in Strasbourg since 1997 when, within weeks of turning pro at 15 years old, she reached the final – falling to former No.1 and WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Tournament Ambassador Stefanie Graf.
“It was pretty perfect,” the veteran said after the match. “You can’t ask for much more. I’ve been playing really well. And she’s a great player. It’s just I played really well today and didn’t let her in.”
Forced into qualifying after failing to enter the tournament in time ended up being an auspicious opportunity to the Croat to play her way into form, upsetting No.8 seed Timea Babos earlier in the week.
“I missed the deadline by one day – one day!” She laughed. “So I entered qualies. I got two extra matches and it was a really good decision, clearly.
“I’ve been here a few times, but many years ago. It a beautiful tournament, a beautiful city and right before Roland Garros, so it’s good for confidence.”
A former World No.16, Razzano continues to play her best tennis in Strasbourg, reaching her second straight semifinal at the WTA International, again beating Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
“It’s great to be in the semifinal – my first for a long time!” the veteran exclaimed after the match. “It was a quick turn around from last night’s win. Right now I’m playing well.
“Today against Vesnina it wasn’t easy despite the scores in the first and third set. I’ve found my rhythm and it’s been building from my wins against Shvedova, Puig and playing in qualies.
“I’m working hard. Today it’s paid off.”
Garcia was the second Frenchwoman to advance with Samantha Stosur was forced to withdraw from the event citing a left wrist injury.
“I have had some pain in my left wrist for the last few days,” the Aussie said. “I tried to practice yesterday and felt a lot of discomfort and unfortunately I can’t take to the court today.
“It’s difficult as I’ve rarely had to withdraw from a match in my career.
“I’ve played some good tennis here this week and I’m disappointed I won’t be able to properly defend my title here in Strasbourg .”