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Svetlana Kuznetsova ended 2016 at such a breakneck pace that it was hard for the Russian to slow down in the off-season.

“I just didn’t want to totally switch off, so that’s why I kept going, trying to do something,” she told WTA Insider before the Brisbane International. “Even in the Maldives, when I was with my parents, I still had some sessions, running or whatever it is.

“The body of an athlete has to be moving all the time. No stopping. One week, maybe a few days, you can let yourself go, but you feel better when you’re moving.”

The former World No.2 was almost unstoppable last fall, moving from a must-win week in Moscow to a long-awaited return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in seven years. Kuznetsova kicked off the new season with a 600th match win, ranking her fifth among active players.

“It’s a great achievement, a lot of matches to count” ?

-@SvetlanaK27 on reaching 600 career wins pic.twitter.com/hhdl0dUwo6

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

“My physio told me it’s only a couple more until I get to 1000, and I was like ‘What?’ But I started to think about 600, and how sometimes you get confused in matches when you’re playing, thinking ‘How do I do this?’ But then I think, ‘In 600 matches, you haven’t learned how to win?'”

There’s clearly been a lot more winning of late, as the two-time Grand Slam champion returned to the Top 10 after being as low as No.85 four years ago.

“I would love to take some of the consistency into this season. In the last few years, I haven’t been so good; I was always there, but couldn’t quite flip the switch. I would love to stay with the switch on, because it’s the key for me.”

#WTA leading 22 three set match wins!

World No.9 @SvetlanaK27! pic.twitter.com/CNSLBGWua9

— WTA (@WTA) December 23, 2016

Part of the key to that consistency has been maintaining a simplistic approach to each match, focusing on one point at a time.

“The most difficult things in life are often the most simple ones. Even when you start to play tennis, what do they tell you? Look at the ball. It’s the main thing in the whole life of a player. Some players forget to look at the ball, and you don’t think about it. Any player, even the No.1 – I don’t know, maybe, I’ve never been there, but No.2 for sure.

“Sometimes when you keep losing, and you’re thinking, ‘Damn, it’s so hard; how do I get there? It’s impossible.’ Then something goes on and you start winning and you think how it’s so simple. It’s the theory of life, what happens to everyone; when you’re on top, it looks simple. It’s not really like that, but when you’re there, that’s how it looks. When you’re not, it seems so much more complicated.

“I feel that I’m playing as well as the best in the world, and I have a chance to beat them and be ranked among them everywhere I go. It’s a great feeling because I worked really hard to be there; it’s a pleasure.”

Sveta on the Stretch!@SvetlanaK27 takes @BrisbaneTennis Day 4 Shot of the Day with this brilliant volley! pic.twitter.com/6EgWW4egIB

— WTA (@WTA) January 4, 2017

With that pleasure comes increased expectation; Kuznetsova opens against Mariana Duque Mariño on Monday, and is seeded to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2014 French Open, but the more things change, the more they stay the same for the 31-year-old veteran.

“People see me differently now because I’m a Top 10 player again. They don’t see you like a Top 10 player when you don’t have that same confidence. Players will only see you by the ranking, and ranking reflects everything. You can’t cheat the ranking, that’s for sure!

“All players want to beat me and I definitely don’t have this easy life where I’ve never been at the top and top players don’t expect anything good. Of course, everyone expects good tennis from me and that can be hard to deal with. But I feel confident, I feel happy and healthy. Those are the main things and I love the game; I enjoy it.

“If I feel like this, I’m ready to go for it and one day I’ll make it.”

.@SvetlanaK27 taking an unusual approach to her warm up today ??? #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/uMRSU4t4WW

— Apia Intl Sydney (@SydneyTennis) January 8, 2017

With no immediate goals, Kuznetsova does hope to one day surpass the quarterfinals, her best finish in Melbourne. She led by a set in two of those three prior appearances in the last eight, falling to Maria Sharapova in 2005 and Serena Williams in 2009.

“I love the event, the crowd, and Australia. The people are very nice; they love beer a lot! I tell my friends I’m in Australia and they tell me what a dream it is for them to travel here.

“I’m already living someone else’s dream, but I would still love to see more places in Australia.”

That dream already came true this year with a debut appearance in Brisbane; might the No.8 seed make another dream come true Down Under?

MELBOURNE, Australia – World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska booked her spot in the Australian Open semifinals for the second time, winning over Carla Suárez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 in the first match of the day on Rod Laver Arena.

The match was billed as a meeting of two of the more cerebral players on tour – both rely on craftiness and shot variety to win in an era dominated by big hitters. The pair had faced each other before, with Radwanska winning three of the four encounters but Suárez Navarro – who was looking for a spot in her first Grand Slam semifinal – won their most recent match.

“We had really tough matches in the past,” Suárez Navarro stated in the previous round’s post-match press conference. “I know it will be tough for me. I know that because of her style, you have to run a lot, you have to think every point what to do.”

Suárez Navarro and Radwanska had fought through tough and emotional fourth round matches, where both had to come back from a set down to advance. But at the quarterfinal stage, their matchup was much more straight forward.

Radwanska took the lead from the start, breaking Suárez Navarro’s serve in the first game then winning the next five out of six to close out the set, 6-1. The Spaniard gave more of a pushback in the second set; she broke Radwanska’s serve twice and hung tight at 3-3. But from then it was all Radwanska, who won the next three games and the match at 6-3.

Suárez Navarro found herself unable to keep pace with Radwanska’s all court game – she hit 45 unforced errors while Radwanska, who is typically stingy with the errors, hit just 13.

The Polish No.4 seed has now won 22 of her last 23 matches and is through to the semifinals, where she’s set to face the winner of the blockbuster quarterfinal match between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. She trails both players in their head-to-head, 0-8 to Williams and 2-13 to Sharapova, so she’s approaching Thursday’s match by not letting the pressure weigh her down.

“Right now I don’t really have anything to lose,” Radwanska told Rennae Stubbs after the match. “It doesn’t matter who I’m going to play against.

“I’m going to have a good rest and hope I can play my best tennis. Otherwise I’m going to be in big trouble.”

What did the top seeds have to say on Day 1 of the Western & Southern Open? Check out some of their best quotes from the All-Access Hour from Cincinnati…

Svetlana Kuznetsova

On her pre-season goals and strategy:

Before the start of the year, I was thinking if I couldn’t do better, or at least how I think I should do, I don’t know what would come next. So I wanted to give this year everything I could. I didn’t have a fitness coach for preparation, but I did it myself and for the first time, I won a tournament in the first three weeks of the season in Sydney. I felt better mentally because maybe sometimes you start to figure out how your brain and mentality works. You find keys to yourself.

On forming the right team:

I don’t think I’m special, but it’s hard to find the right people to be your coach or physio because it’s like life; to find a boyfriend, you need time. You need to find someone you like, who you understand and understand you. A lot of times, a person comes onto your team and tries to change everything. But I’m 31, I’m not 16 anymore; everyone has to listen and adjust. Maybe our styles will clash, and so it’s very hard for me to say, I’m going to get a new person. With Carlos, it took us two-three years, but now we know each other. He knows how I am in the morning. I’m really happy with this new fitness coach I got a few weeks ago, but I want to be careful about forming the right team.

On growing up with professional athletes for parents:

It was very tough, but at the same time, I had an education most kids don’t. I’ve analyzed how a lot of kids grow up and I’ve asked why they’re not as professional or have the same desire or why we don’t have such great athletes coming up. It’s because when they grow up, they go to normal school and see normal kids living normal lives. Our lives are not normal, so these kids ask themselves at 13-14, ‘Why would I practice five hours when I can party and have fun?’ I grew up in my father’s club, and it was like a combination of college and the army where you stay there full time. You’re not allowed to go home or go out to the club. I was with guys who were training, and I enjoyed getting up at seven in the morning to run with them. It wasn’t hard because I got used to it and had no doubts.

Dominika Cibulkova

On taking time off to heal from injuries and post-wedding fatigue:

I needed a break from everything. I was a little bit injured during the Olympics, so I took some time off. But now I feel I’m ready to be back on the court again. At the Rogers Cup, it was a combination of a heel injury I had and just being really tired from everything, and I realized I needed some time off; I’d played too much. I took a whole week completely off; I had some holidays, and then I trained for a week and a half. Hopefully I can have a good result here, because I’ve only won one match here in the last six years.

On changing her scheduling strategy for the US summer hardcourts.

It’s not like I’ve been in America for a whole month already and have three more tournaments to play. I’m just focusing on Cincinnati and the US Open; it’s different when you’re able to go back home and come back feeling like, ‘I want to be here and play this tournament!’ I had a really good week of training and feeling better with my fitness; this year I played so many matches that I didn’t have time for fitness. For my game, that’s really important, so hopefully it’ll help me.

Roberta Vinci

On her goals for the season:

Last year I had an incredible year, but I’m not thinking about retirement right now. I just want to play through the end of the season, trying to play good. I have a lot of points to defend but I don’t want to think about that, just enjoy every day here and the next few tournaments. I started well at the beginning of the year, but this is a tough part of the season with the ranking and everything. But it’s normal. It’s tennis, you can win, or you can lose. I’ll try my best here, New Haven, New York, and China.

On the US Open:

I’m so happy to play again in New York. But it probably won’t be the same like last year, a lot of pressure, for sure. It’s a special tournament for me. I don’t know; we will see. It’ll be my first time in this situation. I know I have a lot of points to defend; it’s on my mind, that’s it. I’ll try not to think about it, but I know I’ll be nervous.

Garbiñe Muguruza

On the Olympics:

I have to say, I thought I was going to an incredible experience, but after I got there, it was like a regular tournament. But I had a lot of fun because it was still different than the WTA; I spent time in the Village with all the Spanish players. I was looking at all the athletes trying to guess what they did. I went to the Opening Ceremonies and I was doubting whether I should go because I had a match the next day. But I knew I’d regret not going. It was like a Carnival, so it was very fun.

On transitioning back to the WTA tour:

I was happy to live the experience in Rio, and I’m happy to be back. Coming here, I’m motivated to have a great tournament because I haven’t played a lot of matches. I’m looking forward to it.

On Monica Puig:

It’s an incredible achievement. When I played against her, I’d never seen her play at such a high level. When I ended the match, I thought it was tough for me, but she played very well and deserved to win the gold, the way she played.

Agnieszka Radwanska

On her flight to Cincinnati and the Olympics:

It couldn’t be worse than to Rio. I tried to book a private plane, but it was too tough to do that. I was talking to other players about a private jet. I should be gold for every airline after all the miles I flew!

On positives from the Olympics:

It was still exciting to see so many sports and athletes together at the same time, fighting for the gold. I was there for a pretty short time, but I got to see some of the Games.

On rebounding from recent results:

I had a better start to the year. First of all, I didn’t do as good as I wanted to on grass. Rio was not my thing. I just hope I can get back to my game here, next week, and the US Open. I want to do better and have more chances to make it to Singapore.

Simona Halep

On missing the Olympic tennis event:

I was very disappointed that I had to decide not to go there, but it was much better for my health. It’s not easy for me to travel a lot and eat in different places, but it was definitely a great Olympics in Romania because they made the men’s doubles final. I’m disappointed, but I’ll prepare myself for Tokyo! We can say Olympic tennis is not like gymnastics, but there you go to play for your country and winning a medal means a lot for any athlete. I played once already in London and I enjoyed the feeling of being there and the Opening Ceremonies.

On watching Olympic sports and Monica Puig’s Gold Medal run:

I watched everything. In gymnastics, Simone [Biles] is whoah, incredible. I also watched Phelps. I know everything now. I watched the tennis final and Monica Puig played so well; she was there to win. I saw what she was saying on Twitter – I’m more into Twitter lately – how she was very motivated and confident. It was only shocking because of the ranking, but she plays well.

On moving to a warmer training base:

Nothing is for sure, but I think I’m at a level where I have to change some things to be more professional. I have to go somewhere warmer that’s better for tennis. I think I’ll go in December because it’s cold in Romania, and I get cold all the time!

On how she feels she is perceived in Romania:

They don’t realize because they don’t see me. They don’t know how hard I work every day, or how I’m practicing and playing matches even when I don’t feel good. They just see the matches and think all I do is go shopping, which I do sometimes, but not that often!

On inspiring young children to play tennis:

I’ve heard many kids have gone into tennis because of me. I think this is a good thing in our country; it’s a small country. I think it’s better for kids because these days they’re always with the tablets and phones. I have kids in my family who are two years old who already have a phone. So I give them a racquet instead of a phone!

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Barbora Strycova maintained her composure to defeat Eugenie Bouchard in their rain-affected first-round encounter at the Western & Southern Open.

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

A match scheduled second on the order of play eventually finished under the floodlights, Strycova making light of several interruptions from the weather to complete a 6-4, 6-0 victory.

“I’m not sure how I stayed focused through all of it. I think the first set was the deciding point – I was holding serve all the time and then I broke her at 3-3. I believed in myself and I’m happy that I did it,” Strycova said in her on-court interview.

Despite defeating Bouchard handily in Rome earlier in the season, there was no danger of complacency on Strycova’s part; the Canadian is a different proposition on hard as proved by impressively qualifying for the main draw.

And she started their rematch confidently enough, firing a forehand into the corner to carve out the first break point. Strycova, though, managed to repel this early danger and was soon presented with a chance of her own. Bouchard fired wide and it proved a costly error as the Czech hung onto this slender advantage to take the set.

As the clouds began to gather menacingly overhead, Strycova hurtled towards the finishing line, playing the tidier tennis to open a 5-0 lead in the second set. Another lengthy downpour halted her progress temporarily before returning to rattle off the final four points of the match.

“I felt good today and Eugenie is such a good player that you always have to stay focused,” Strycova, who finished with 15 winners and 19 unforced errors, said. “That’s what I did today and I think that was the key.”

Strycova turned 30 earlier this year but is arguably playing the best tennis of her career; finals in Dubai and Birmingham have helped propelled her back into the Top 20, while in doubles she teamed up with Lucie Safarova to win Olympic bronze.

In the next round she will play another of the tour’s elder stateswomen, former US Open champion and No.14 seed Samantha Stosur.

“The older I get I feel AWESOME!” — Barbora Strycova after she’s read off her Fed Cup Champ/Bronze Medalist/Career-high ranking resume.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 17 August 2016

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.

#Serena: “Right now I have nothing to lose. I get to travel the world and do what I do best.”

??❤️#ausopen pic.twitter.com/Sf0oOofSRe

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2017

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.

“I knew I had to be really strong.” #Serena through to 2R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Z70iPL2JpH

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2017