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Fun & Games In Shenzhen

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

A stellar cast has once again assembled for the season-opening Shenzhen Open. Find out what the players have been up to away from the court…

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Serena Surges Into Round Two In Auckland

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – World No.2 Serena Williams won five straight games en route to her first match win since September, defeating French veteran Pauline Parmentier, 6-3, 6-4, to advance into the second round of the ASB Classic.

Relive the match as it happened on the WTA Insider Live Blog!

“It’s my first match back in serveral months and I was playing a really good player today,” she said during her on-court interview.

“This wind was really getting to me! This whole week I practiced with no wind, but today it was so windy.

“But it was fun…well, it wasn’t fun, but it was interesting!”

Serena was forced to miss much of the second half of 2016 due to injury – though she still managed to tie Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon – and hadn’t been on court since the US Open.

Overcoming a slow start, the American recovered from a 1-3 deficit to take the first set, and fought off three break points in the middle of the second to seal victory in one hour and 15 minutes.

“I’m feeling like I’m trying to get out there, and that every match counts. I’ve never played in front of you guys so this is really special for my career. I’ve never been here, so thanks for making me feel so welcome.”

Up next for Serena is either Madison Brengle or qualifier Jamie Loeb, two Americans who could face the top seed.

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Twitter Reacts: Muguruza-Mania

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – The well-wishes keep pouring in for first-time Grand Slam winner Garbiñe Muguruza, who grabbed the Roland Garros title by defeating Serena Williams in straight sets on Saturday.

Social media was all a-twitter for the 22-year-old. First up, a few words from the champion herself:

 From WTA to ATP players to the biggest sports stars of Spain and the world, check out what everyone else had to say about the Spainard’s victory!

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Mladenovic Battles Into Den Bosch QFs

Mladenovic Battles Into Den Bosch QFs

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – No.3 seed Kristina Mladenovic battled through fatigue and a surging Russian qualifier Natalia Vikhlyantseva to reach the quarterfinals at the Ricoh Open, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Mladenovic acknowledged that the quick turnaround from the Roland Garros clay – where on Saturday she won a Grand Slam doubles title with partner Caroline Garcia – to the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch was tough on her. In fact, it left her participation in the Ricoh Open up in the air.

“I have to be honest, I’m a bit surprised to be in the quarterfinals here,” Mladenovic admitted. “But I love the tournament, grass is one of my favorite surfaces.

“I was thinking about maybe pulling out, because obviously there is fatigue. I’m a bit tired, but I wanted to commit because I love this tournament and that’s why I keep coming back a couple of years in a row.”

Standing between Mladenovic and the quarterfinals was Russian qualifier Vikhlyantseva, who last round scored an upset to oust Denisa Allertova. Vikhlyantseva played far above her No.254 ranking to take the first set from the Frenchwoman, breaking twice to rattle off the last four consecutive games and take it 7-5.

The Frenchwoman grabbed an early break in the second set to rally to a 5-2 lead. Despite Vikhlyantseva getting one back, Mladenovic closed her out at her next chance, 6-3. In the deciding set, Mladenovic again felt pushback from Vikhlyantseva, staying toe to toe with her all the way to 4-4 before pulling away to take the match and her spot in the quarterfinals.

Mladenovic chalked up her first set stumble in part to the unknown factor of playing a new opponent for the first time, although the only thing she’s thinking about now is a well-deserved break.

“I didn’t know much about her,” she said of the 19-year-old Russian. “She’s very young and seems to be very talented and not easy to play on grass. Not much rallying and she has good serve. But I just had to dig in there.”

“To be honest, I’m very satisfied to be into the quarters tomorrow. I guess I will have a day off to try to recover – I still feel like I’m on clay in Roland Garros!”

2014 champion CoCo Vandeweghe is also through to the quarterfinals of the Ricoh Open. Despite an innocuous-looking scoreline of 6-2, 6-3 over Nao Hibino, Vandeweghe survived a doozy with six break of serve in the first set alone. In the second set, she rattled off six straight games to turn around a 3-0 deficit.

“Today was a very tricky day for me, mentally,” Vandeweghe said afterward. “I wasn’t as focused as I would like to be. But I managed to overcome it today.

“That’s kind of the name of the game, to just keep moving on, keep going through the second round.”

Also through are Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens, who defeated Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 7-6(3); and Madison Brengle, who edged through in a battle against Dutch favorite Richel Hogenkamp, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.

CoCo Vandeweghe

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WTA Breakthrough Of The Month: Bertens

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Few were as stunned by Kiki Bertens’ Cinderella run to the semifinals of Roland Garros than Bertens herself. The Dutch star celebrated her almost improbable quarterfinal win over No.8 seed Timea Bacsinszky with a shrug.

“I was like, Can you believe it? Because I cannot. And also my parents were like, No, this is not happening. But, yeah, it is.”

Her run of 12 straight wins – not including a doubles victory over the Williams sisters – began as a qualifier at the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP, which she won before reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career, all but guaranteeing her spot on the Dutch Olympic team at the upcoming Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“I think in the preseason I did a lot of work. Like the first three weeks was only physical practices, like two, sometimes three times a day.

“It was a hell really, but I’m really glad we did it. Like with my whole team we were working really hard every day.”

For all of those reasons, Bertens is your Breakthrough Player of the Month!

Final Results for May’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month

1. Kiki Bertens (69%)
2. Shelby Rogers (16%)
3. Yulia Putintseva (12%)
4. Louisa Chirico (3%)

2016 Breakthrough Performance Of The Month Winners

January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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Mladenovic Bests Bencic In Den Bosch

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – It’s never easy to face a close friend on the tennis court, and it’s even harder to do so when a final is at stake. But that’s exactly what No.3 seed Kristina Mladenovic was asked to do and she delivered in emphatic fashion, coming back from a set down to defeat Belinda Bencic 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach her second career WTA final at the Ricoh Open.

Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“It feels actually quite nice to play against her,” Bencic said after the match. “Obviously we are best friends, and it’s nice because it’s quite rare that you can have your best friend on the tennis circuit.

“We obviously expected to play each other someday, but we were both prepared.”

It was a familiar situation for the pair of former Junior World No.1s: just last year in this very stage, Bencic was the one to best Mladenovic in the quarterfinals on her way to her ‘s-Hertogenbosch final appearance. This year the pair met again, with a spot in the final up for grabs.

But even that wasn’t enough to drive the best friends apart, and they indulged in the usual selfies and pre-match banter on Twitter:

As soon as they stepped onto the court at the Ricoh Open, they were all business. Bencic raced through the opening set, taking it 6-2 in just 33 minutes, but nonetheless a troubling pattern emerged early on: the Swiss brought up nine break point chances and only converted on two.

In the following set, Mladenovic relied on her serve to bail her out of trouble time and time again, and her court movement began to come together. The Frenchwoman stormed back to take the second set 6-3, then completed her comeback to reach her second career WTA final. Bencic will surely rue the missed opportunities: in the last two sets, she created eight break chances and didn’t convert once.

“It was definitely a very tough match, and a very tricky one,” Mladenovic said afterward. “As probably everybody knows, Belinda is my best friend on the tour and in real life. It’s a lifetime relationship. It’s not easy.”

But Mladenovic also acknowledged that despite having her best friend on the court against her, revenge was the one thing on her mind today.

“The funny part is that we have played each other just one time, exactly one year ago right here,” she said. “It was a close match, three sets like this, and she won it. I’m just glad to have taken my revenge.”

More to come…

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Vandeweghe Reclaims Den Bosch Crown

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – CoCo Vandeweghe overcame Kristina Mladenovic and the worst of the Dutch weather to recapture the Ricoh Open on Sunday afternoon.

Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Despite contending with multiple rain delays, Vandeweghe maintained her composure to break in the penultimate game and wrap up a 7-5, 7-5 victory. Vandeweghe, who also won the title in 2014, follows in the footsteps of Justine Henin and Tamarine Tanasugarn as only the third player in the tournament’s 21-year history to win it on two occasions.

After serving herself out of trouble on more than one occasion, Vandeweghe produced a couple of smart backhand returns to manufacture the decisive break in the penultimate game of the second. A lengthy downpour stalled her momentum, and on the resumption she fell a break behind.

The American reached the final without dropping the set and maintained her flawless record by reeling off the final four games of the match.

“It was actually really difficult – we had three rain delay stops – so it was really difficult to get yourself back into the match and make sure you’re fresh and light and ready to go. Especially the last rain delay in he first set. I was really trying to get myself moving,” Vandeweghe said.

“I got myself in a bit of a pickle in the second set, but I battled my way out of it, and sometimes the name of the game is just battling through adversity and problems you cause for yourself.”

More to follow…

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