Tennis News

GSTAAD, Switzerland – World No.85 Lara Arruabarrena completed the outstanding first round matches at the Ladies Championship Gstaad with an upset of No.4 seed Caroline Garcia on Friday.

A contest originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was eventually completed nearly 72 hours later, Arruabarrena emerging with a hard-fought 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 victory.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever played a first round on Friday before! I was a bit surprised but we can’t do anything because it’s been raining,” Arruabarrena said. “I’ve played in Bogotá before, which is like 2,500 meters [above sea level], so this is not bad – thought it was going to be more tough, let’s say, but it’s okay, I like it.”

Arruabarrena’s experience in Bogotá, where she won the title in 2012 and has reached three subsequent quarterfinals, served her well as the match progressed, taking advantage of the faster conditions to romp through the second set then break decisively at the start of the third. Later on, she is due back on court to take on Carina Witthoeft for a place in the quarterfinals.

“I was expecting a tough match, obviously, and I think I played really well, serving really well. I have to play again this afternoon but there’s not a lot you can do,” she added.

Elsewhere, there was better news for the other three seeds in early action, with Kiki Bertens, Annika Beck and Julia Goerges all registering first-round victories. Goerges, the No.8 seed, was the most impressive, swatting aside Jana Cepelova, 6-0, 6-3, while No.3 seed Bertens saw off Tamira Paszek, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, and No.5 seed Beck beat Marina Erakovic, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.

STANFORD, CA, USA – Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta was emphatic in her first hardcourt match of the summer swing, dismissing wildcard Julia Boserup, 6-3, 6-1, to reach the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic.

Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Coming off a second round finish at Wimbledon, Konta was eager to regain the momentum that saw her surge into the Top 20. Playing Stanford for the first time, Konta faced a tricky opponent in Boserup, who is having her own summer of firsts following her run into the third round at the All England Club.

“I definitely felt I played a really good level in parts,” she said during her on-court interview, adding, “She definitely made me work for it, especially towards the end of the first set. It was quite tough for me to close it out. She’s a great competitor and a great player, so I’m happy to be coming back in a couple of days to play again.”

Konta’s rise up the rankings began just around this time last year, when she won 16 straight matches on the Challenger and WTA level, leading her into the round of 16 of the US Open and foreshadowing her breakthrough run in Melbourne. Comfortable on the quicker surfaces, the Brit was able to wrap up the victory in just over an hour, booking an encounter with China’s Zheng Saisai for a spot in the semifinals. 

“I’m really looking forward to this part of the season; I’m a rookie, haven’t played here or next week, so there’s a lot of firsts for me coming up. I like playing on hard, equally on grass, but it’s definitely a nice change for the season. I take a lot of confidence with every match I get to play, moving forward into the next one.”

Zheng opened play with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No.7 seed Alizé Cornet. Cornet survived a marathon match with American Jennifer Brady in her first round, and though she edged ahead by a break to start the first set, Zheng proved too strong in the end, dispatching her French opposition in 87 minutes.

“My gameplan changed a lot today, not keeping too many rallies with her because she moves very well and very solid,” she said after the match. “I think I played well today.”

Doubles champion a year ago, Zheng felt the love from the Stanford crowd as she reached her first quarterfinal in singles, throwing a towel up to a fan following her victory.

“Last year, I was here 10 days and I really love it here. Every match, I feel like I meet new fans, so I really enjoy playing here and hope I can keep going!”

It’s been a busy Throwback Thursday for the WTA stars, who’ve shared some of their first photos on Twitter as part of a new ad campaign from Nike.

Madison Keys, Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani, Caroline Garcia, and Annika Beck have already tweeted out baby pictures to show fans where their stories began. Check out the #tbts here:

My story began in Rock Island where I dreamed of playing on the big stage. Now I want to win it all @Nike #justdoit pic.twitter.com/PlaXuSIm1j

— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) July 21, 2016

My story began in Taranto, Italy, where I improved my game. And now, I play to improve my ranking. @Nike #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/9sKSd2mfyB

— Roberta Vinci (@roberta_vinci) July 21, 2016

My story began in Bologna. Tennis is my path forward. It's made me the person I am. Better every day.@Nike #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/GgZHJGm6jn

— Sara Errani (@SaraErrani) July 21, 2016

My story began in Lyon where I dreamed to travel around the world now my tennis passion allows it @Nike #justdoit pic.twitter.com/AoZZDL5cz0

— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) July 21, 2016

My story began in Bonn, where I dreamed of tennis grand slams. Now I put my heart and soul in it. @Nike #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/qCf2BXzH6b

— Annika Beck (@BeckAnnika) July 21, 2016

STANFORD, CA, USA – This week at the Bank of the West Classic proved one to remember for 17-year-old Catherine Bellis, who reached her first WTA quarterfinal, where she played former No.1 Venus Williams.

Bellis first turned heads at the 2014 US Open, when she became the youngest woman to win a match in Flushing since Anna Kournikova in 1996, upsetting then-reigning Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. The youngster went on to reach the third round of the Miami Open in 2015 – where she played Venus’ sister Serena for the first time – and with wins over No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko and Sachia Vickery, kept dreams of a pro career alive in Stanford, even as she committed to play college tennis for that very university.

Here from Bellis as she spoke with reporters following her first round win over Ostapenko, how she doubted whether she’d even be able to take the court after a traumatic left eye contusion left her faced with “the scariest moment of her life,” and how her game has improved since bursting onto the scene nearly two years ago.

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BASTAD, Sweden – Katerina Siniakova advanced to the first final of her career by dethroning home favorite and reigning Ericsson Open champion Johanna Larsson on Saturday.

Watch live action from Bastad, Stanford and Washington DC this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

A relative novice at this stage of a WTA event and faced with an unashamedly partisan crowd, Siniakova took some time to find her bearings. However, once she had the Czech produced some sparkling tennis to run out a 7-5, 6-1 winner and set up a Sunday showdown with Laura Siegemund.

“It was a really hard match, I just tried to focus on every point and I think I played pretty well,” Siniakova said. “Maybe in the beginning I was a little bit nervous, so there were a few more mistakes, but from there my performance was better so I’m really happy.”

Having frozen when serving for the opening set at 5-3, Siniakova showed no hesitancy when another chance presented itself, thundering a backhand into the corner to bring up two set points. Larsson ballooned a drive volley long to surrender the set.

In addition to her title run last year, Larsson was a finalist on home soil in 2011 and 2013, but she never looked like adding to this tally in the second set, Siniakova establishing an early lead and never looking back.

Siniakova, whose previous semifinal appearance ended in defeats in Moscow and Prague, was understandably elated at clearing this hurdle at the third time of asking: “It’s really exciting. I think it will be a really tough match, hopefully we will both show great tennis. I think I will be nervous, but this is normal. I will just have to try my best, fight for every point and see how it goes.”

Like Siniakova, Siegemund took some time to find her groove, weathering an early storm of winners to see off Julia Goerges. Siegemund had already reached semifinals on the clay this year, in Stuttgart and Bucharest, and despite falling behind early on refused to get disheartened against her powerful compatriot.

While she was unable to rescue the first set, she hit back to take a high-quality second then forge ahead in the third. Trailing 4-6, 6-3, 4-0, Goerges body admitted defeat, a hip injury bringing an entertaining contest to a premature end.

“It was very tough – she started out very strongly in the first set. I tried to be solid but it was not enough, she was really the better player at the beginning and I needed to step it up,” Siegemund said. “I felt good out there today, I felt confident to be a bit more risky and go for my shots.”

Until recently, Siegemund existed in a different world on the tennis circuit to some of her more celebrated compatriots. A memorable run all the way through qualifying to the final in Stuttgart changed all this and on Sunday she has the opportunity to further cement her place among the elite.

semifinal highlights from #ericssonopen @wta pic.twitter.com/yQB2YTfbfn

— Swedish Open Tennis (@swedish_open) 23 July 2016