Tennis News

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 YORK, NY, USA – Garbiñe Muguruza has had a season already defined by a breakthrough victory at the French Open, but inconsistencies elsewhere make the No.3 seed seem like something of an enigmatic factor – especially at the US Open, where she has won just one main draw match.

But the Spaniard cheerfully preached optimism at her pre-tournament press conference, emphasizing the importance of leaving last week’s disappointments behind her as she heads into the final Grand Slam of the season.

“Last year was a little bit tougher,” she said of her second round loss to future Top 10 contender Johanna Konta, “but I’m always positive when I go to a tournament. I always have, like, a new mindset. I’ve a new opportunity, and it’s a Grand Slam. I’m excited here. I love Grand Slams. I love New York. I’m looking forward to start and see what happens.”

It’s a mantra Muguruza has developed over time as she’s matured from the upstart youngster who stunned Serena Williams in the second round of Roland Garros to the seasoned champion two years later.

“More and more, it becomes clear that the Grand Slams are the tournaments where you have to kind of perform your best – or at least try. So when a Grand Slam is coming, you feel that you have to be more prepared. That’s the tournament.

“When you are younger, all the tournaments are like more equal or you’re more happy. Sometimes you really don’t know where you’re playing.

“Now over the years you realize, Hey, that’s the tournament I’ve got to be ready and hopefully win.”

Her two major finals have come on clay and grass, but the World No.3 is more than capable on hardcourts, taking impressive results from the Asian swing into a thunderous debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The next step for the Spaniard is to avoid the sort of lull in form seen at Wimbledon, where she fell in the second round to Jana Cepelova.

“When I went to play that match I felt, like, exhausted. Like I woke up that day like, ‘I have to play a match today. I feel tired.’ I think I learned more how to recover and concentrate my energy.

“Those matches are important ones, you know? Maybe I trained too much before or didn’t rest enough, or, I don’t know, there is something not balanced there that week.”

Balance will be key in dealing with the City That Never Sleeps, and the unrelenting traffic experienced by the players who opt to stay in the heart of the Big Apple.

“There is always traffic. There is always noise, people. I don’t know. Everything takes a lot of energy. It’s so crazy and they’ll say, ‘No, this is two blocks only!’

“I have to concentrate on time to rest, time for this, time for that – just schedule everything well. Priority is always to be rested so when you take a racquet, you know, you have energy to perform.”