Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – On the eve of the Australian Open – where they’ll be going for their third straight Grand Slam title together – Martina Hingis has joined Sania Mirza as co-World No.1.

With Hingis and Mirza now having their best 11 results over the last 12 months as a team – they just won their 11th WTA doubles title together in Sydney – they are finally No.1 in the world together.

Hingis’ first 35 weeks at No.1 in doubles came in six stints, from June 8 to August 2, 1998 (8 weeks), August 17 to October 25, 1998 (10 weeks), November 2 to 22, 1998 (3 weeks), June 7 to July 4, 1999 (4 weeks), August 2 to 22, 1999 (3 weeks) and January 31 to March 19, 2000 (7 weeks).

She will now begin her 36th career week at the top, while Mirza earns her 41st.

“It’s a really nice feeling having that No.1 ahead of your name,” Hingis said after the final in Sydney on Friday. “It’s definitely something I was aiming for, and with Sania I felt like I had the opportunity to get there. When she became No.1 in Charleston I was just as happy as when I did it myself.

“Being the No.1 team for the last 10 months – we’ve proven it with two Slams and the WTA Finals in Singapore – we definitely belong there. It was just a question of time to get that No.1 ranking.”

“I’m so happy for her that 16 years later she’s become No.1 again!” Mirza, who first rose to No.1 last April, commented. “But regardless of what the ranking was, we were the No.1 team in the world.

“I’m so happy that we’re together now not just as the No.1 team, but as individuals as well.”

The Swiss-Indian duo is on a 30-match winning streak that has brought them seven straight titles at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and WTA Finals in 2015, and Brisbane and Sydney this year.

They’ll take that streak – the longest since 1990 – into the Australian Open this fortnight.

Hingis and Mirza are the 11th co-World No.1s in WTA Doubles Rankings history. The full list:

127 weeks – Cara Black & Liezel Huber
82 weeks – Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci
39 weeks – Lisa Raymond & Sam Stosur
20 weeks – Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond
10 weeks – Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik
8 weeks – Serena Williams & Venus Williams
7 weeks – Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta
5 weeks – Hsieh Su-Wei & Peng Shuai
3 weeks – Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs
3 weeks – Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suárez
1 week – Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza

MELBOURNE, Australia – The last time Yulia Putintseva played on Hisense Arena, she pushed Agnieszka Radwanska to the brink in a topsy-turvy three-setter back in 2014; on Monday afternoon she went one better against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, recovering from a set and break deficit to defeat the Dane, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

The Kazakh, a former junior finalist at the 2012 Australian Open, recently turned 21, but hadn’t won a WTA main draw match since last summer, and appeared close to another defeat when she fell behind a set and 4-2 to her more experienced opponent.

Yet, Putintseva displayed impressive resolve to turn the tables in a second set tie-break and weathered a final set surge from Wozniacki to serve out the win in just over three hours.

In her on-court interview, the smiling youngster admitted she was dealing with cramps from early in the third set, and played some impressive mind games to keep calm when it came time to complete the upset.

“I tried to keep my emotions inside, and actually imagine I was losing. It’s easier that way.”

Ending the match with a whopping 42 winners, Putintseva also out-aced Wozniacki, hitting two back-to-back in the middle of the second set tie-break while maintaining an impressive 74% first serve percentage.

For Wozniacki, the loss completes a string of progressively disappointing losses in Melbourne; since reaching the semifinals in 2011 – when she had a match point against Li Na – she has ended her tournament one round worse in each successive year, a pattern that was on her mind as early as last year, when she fell in the second round to Victoria Azarenka.

“I think it’s a curse I’ve gotten here,” she said in 2015. “Hopefully, I’m going to break that next year and start going the other way.”

In the same section of the draw as World No.1 Serena Williams, Putintseva not only takes out one of the American’s closest rivals, but she next plays China’s Han Xinyun, who benefitted from the 6-2, 2-1 retirement of Mariana Duque-Mariño.

Putintseva pulls off upset win on Hisense Arena #ausopen https://t.co/Rq8mh1PKlz

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2016

MELBOURNE, Australia – Monica Puig survived a full-on service onslaught from Kristyna Pliskova, who fired off a record 31 aces in their second-round match before losing 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7.

“At one point I just had to laugh, during the changeover, because it was so unbelievable,” Puig commented after the win.

Pliskova’s dominant serve is the hallmark of her game, and it was in full strength during the match. Her 31 aces set a new women’s tennis record, breaking Sabine Lisicki’s previous record of 27 aces last year in Birmingham.

But even making tennis history was no consolation for the tough loss.

“I don’t care about that right now,” Pliskova said to press afterwards. “It’s nice, but I wish I could have hit like 20 and won.”

Puig, who made the biggest final of her career last week in Sydney, approached the booming serve by keeping a positive mentality even when the win seemed just out of reach – she saved three match points in a row in the second set tie-break and another two in the third set.

“I think I just tried to stay as positive as possible, even though it was difficult at times,” Puig said. “You know, you get upset: she fires another ace and you’re just like, okay! I just tried to stay relaxed in those important moments.”

“I think it’s just about believing that you can come out of a moment like that, that at any moment you can get a second wind and come out of it.”

Up next for the 22-year-old Puerto Rican is the No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska defeated the resurgent Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-2 in the second round (read about the win – here).

The all-time WTA leaderboard for most aces in a single match (WTA main draw-level only):

31 – Kristyna Pliskova
[l. Monica Puig in 2016 Australian Open second round, 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7]

27 – Sabine Lisicki
[d. Belinda Bencic in 2015 Birmingham second round, 6-1, 7-6(4)]

24 – Serena Williams
[d. Victoria Azarenka in 2012 Wimbledon semifinals, 6-3, 7-6(6)]

24 – Kaia Kanepi
[d. Lucie Safarova in 2008 Tokyo [Japan Open] first round, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4]

23 – Serena Williams
[d. Zheng Jie in 2012 Wimbledon third round, 6-7(5), 6-2, 9-7]