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Choose Your WTA Starting Lineup!

Choose Your WTA Starting Lineup!

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The tennis season may have just switched to grass, but there’s already another big competition taking kicking off on the turf: Euro 2016. The competition, which starts today in France, pits the best national teams in Europe against one other. Along with the Copa America – which is already underway in the United States – there’s a lot of football going on!

So we got to thinking: if WTA players were a national team, who would be in our starting lineup?

Here’s our official WTA starting lineup:

WTA Starting Line-Up

The WTA plays in a classic 4-4-2 formation, which means that along with a goalkeeper, we’re fielding four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers.

Think you could pick a better team? Who would you chose to be in your starting lineup?

FORWARDS:

We’re playing with two strikers in our WTA XI, so of course we’re starting two of the most powerful attack-minded players in the game:

· Serena Williams

· Garbiñe Muguruza

We certainly think our choices are solid, but these two definitely aren’t the only ones who know how to take their scoring opportunities. Maybe

 some of the players listed on the right would make a better choice?

Cast your vote here!

 

 

 

 

MIDFIELDERS:

Players in this position are known to be skillful and patient, turning defense into offence on a dime.

For the midfielders in our WTA XI, we’re going with some of the most creative players known for their variety:

· Agnieszka Radwanska

· Simona Halep

· Timea Bacsinszky

· Belinda Bencic

Who would you put in your midfield? Would you stick with these or chose some of the players on the right?

Choose your players here!

 

DEFENDERS:

Defenders have to be rock-solid in order to diffuse all attacks.

Our WTA XI is full of the most consistent, defense-minded returners and counter punchers:

· Angelique Kerber

· Victoria Azarenka

· Sara Errani

· Caroline Wozniacki

These four seem solid to us, but would a player listed at right do a better job in defense? 

Take your pick now!

 

 

GOALKEEPERS:

The last line of defense, goalkeepers are known for their quick reflexes, being good on the stretch but most importantly: they’re tall.

In our WTA XI, we trust our goal in the hands of:

· Petra Kvitova

We believe in our goalkeeper Kvitova, but maybe you’d have a different choice in mind?

Cast your vote right here!

 

You’ve got one week to cast your votes and chose your WTA Starting Lineup. You can vote as many times as you want right here on wtatennis.com. Votes will be tallied up on Friday, June 17 and we’ll find out who you chose for your WTA XI.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – World No.2 Serena Williams kicked off her quest for a seventh Australian Open crown with a decisive 6-4, 6-3 victory over Belinda Bencic to ease into the second round.

“I think it was pretty good,” Serena said of the match in her post-match press conference. I mean, she’s a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well.”

Serena came to Melbourne with an outside shot of reclaiming the No.1 ranking from defending champion Angelique Kerber – the American must reach the final to remain in contention – but first had to take care of Bencic, a former World No.7 who had beaten her in their last encounter at the 2015 Rogers Cup.

“I feel like she definitely has a lot more power. Obviously she beat me in Canada the last time we played, but I really don’t remember much about that match.”

Bencic used that winning week in Canada as a springboard towards becoming the youngest Top 10 debutante since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009, but injuries almost immediately stunted her progress and caused her to be unseeded ahead of the Australian Open.

Knowing this wasn’t a typical first round, Serena put on a solid display throughout the one hour, 21 minute match, though the affair was hardly without its hiccups. The 22-time Grand Slam champion drew first blood to earn a 3-1 lead, only to see Bencic fight back and hold onto level terms until the all-important tenth game, when Serena surged ahead to beak for the set.

The second appeared to be a foregone conclusion as the No.2 seed rode the wave of momentum out to 5-0, but Bencic had one last comeback in store, narrowing the lead to 5-3 before Serena sealed the deal on her second match point.

“I just wasn’t as aggressive as I was during those games. She started playing better. I made a few errors on some key points, but for the most part, I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out.”

Keeping her side of the stat sheet as clean as she could, the former World No.1 hit exactly 30 winners to 30 unforced errors; she looked especially strong on serve with eight aces to four double faults.

Up next for the six-time Australian Open champion is another former rival in Lucie Safarova, who saved a whopping nine match points to defeat Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-1 to book a rematch of the 2015 French Open final.

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No.1 Venus Williams continued her progress at the Australian Open, moving into the third round in Melbourne for the 13th time in her career after a comfortable win over Stefanie Voegele.

In contrast to her grueling first-round battle against Kateryna Kozlova, Venus never really looked under pressure against Voegele, easing through in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

“Today was a good day, a little less hot first thing in the morning, so it was good to get it in, you know, and have a win early,” Venus told press after her victory.

The Swiss qualifier, ranked No.112 in the world, looked decidedly out of her depth on Rod Laver Arena against the former No.1. A tentative start from Voegele allowed the American to open with a double break of serve and rocket to a 3-0 lead.

Venus Williams

With the early nerves out of the way, Voegele managed to grab one of the breaks back with a crisp backhand passing shot, but she wasn’t able to wrench the advantage out of Venus’ grasp. Venus stayed aggressive to wrap up the first set with ease, and continued her form into the second, breaking twice to seal the match in barely over 80 minutes.

The No.13 seed will face either Duan Ying-Ying in the third round after the Chinese player outlasted Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 3-6, 10-8.

“I don’t know anything about her,” Venus admitted. “I have never seen her play. Zero, like zero. So I’m going to have to see how it goes.

“Like, maybe get a scouting report in the warm-up when we hit the five minutes and kind of see how it feels.”

This is Venus’ 17th appearance at the Australian Open – joint-most among active players, tied with her sister Serena Williams – and with No.4 seed Simona Halep out of the tournament in a first round stunner, Venus’ side of the draw gives her ample opportunity to continue on and make a deep run.  

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WTA Players #PrayForOrlando

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

 

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