Ivanovic & The Dubai Duty Free Party
The player party at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is one of the hottest parties in tennis – DDF ambassador Ana Ivanovic takes you inside the action.
The player party at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is one of the hottest parties in tennis – DDF ambassador Ana Ivanovic takes you inside the action.
Angelique Kerber continues her quest for No.1 as the bottom half of the draw contests its second-round matches in New York on Wednesday. We preview a busy slate at wtatennis.com.
Wednesday
First Round
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #57)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 3-0
Key Stat: Kerber will ascend to the No.1 ranking if Serena Williams does not reach the semifinals in New York.
Playing the No.2 seed in the first week of the US Open may seem like a daunting task, but Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has history on her side when it comes to this. She famously defeated Simona Halep in the third round here in 2014 and went on to reach the second week at a major for the first time in over fifteen years. It was an emotional high point of that year’s US Open and the Croatian hopes to create more magic when she meets Angelique Kerber on Day 3. But the German has been rock-solid all season, and it is hard to imagine anybody knocking her off at this stage of a draw. Kerber leads the WTA in wins, Top 10 wins and hardcourt wins this season and she was highly effective in her first-round encounter with Polona Hercog, winning all seven games before the Slovenian retired due to injury. “I played the first set really good, so this is what I will take from this match, that I’m playing my tennis,” Kerber said on Monday. “For me, it’s always tricky the first few rounds. So it’s always good to have the first round done. Just now focusing on the next rounds.” Will that focus enable her to roll past an upset-minded Lucic-Baroni, or does the Croatian have another stunner in her?
Pick: Kerber in two
[24] Belinda Bencic (SUI #26) vs. Andrea Petkovic (GER #43)
Head-to-head: Bencic leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Petkovic has failed to reach the second week at a major in her last nine appearances.
Germany’s Andrea Petkovic has not won back-to-back matches since the grass-court season and she hasn’t reached the quarterfinals in a main draw since February. But the 28-year-old can put those old worries behind her by knocking off Belinda Bencic on Wednesday. Bencic, who survived a three-setter with American Samantha Crawford on Day 1 in New York, is still in search of her game after missing a big chunk of the season due to injuries to her back and wrist. Bencic struggled to find her form against Crawford, and let her frustration show, before coming back to win in three. The former world No.7 says that in the end playing three sets was probably good for her in terms of getting match tough. “I think it’s normal after the injury to have [struggles],” she said. “I mean, in the moment I was very frustrated, but I had nothing left, just to fight and win the next two sets. That’s what I did.” She’ll have to fight much harder to eliminate the steely Petkovic. Though she has struggled to go deep at the Slams of late, Petkovic showed good form in defeating Kristina Kucova in straight sets on Day 1.
Pick: Petkovic in three
[9] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #74)
Head-to-head: Tied, 6-6
Key Stat: Both players have earned 30 or more wins at the US Open and reached the final twice here.
The throwback tour for Svetlana Kuznetsova continues at the US Open. In the first round she swept by fellow veteran Francesca Schiavone in their fourth meeting at a major. On Wednesday the 31-year-old Russian will look to continue her fine form when she faces Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki for the fifth time at a major. The pair have split their four major meetings but Wozniacki holds the edge on the big stage in New York. Wozniacki defeated Kuznetsova in round of 16 tilts in 2009 and 2011 at the US Open and in general the Dane has played her best tennis in New York. She reached the final in 2009 and 2014 and owns a 30-9 lifetime record in Queens. But 2004 US Open champion Kuznetsova snapped a three-match losing streak in New York on Monday and has been in much better form than Wozniacki all season. Is it the Russian’s time to make more waves in the Big Apple?
Pick: Kuznetsova in two
[3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT #48)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Muguruza is bidding to reach the US Open’s third round for the first time.
Garbiñe Muguruza stormed the tennis world when she rolled to the Roland Garros title this spring, defeating Serena Williams in the final. Now she’s trying to take baby steps in New York. Well-suited for the fast courts here at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the Spaniard has needed time to get accustomed to the hustle and bustle that characterizes the year’s final major. Muguruza says it is different to play in New York, but that she likes it. “I felt there’s more movement, more noise, more stuff,” she told reporters on Monday after her first-round win over Elise Mertens of Belgium. “But it’s well known also because of the environment and the crowd and the vibes, I don’t know, that feeling that brings New York. I think it’s also special to feel… There’s a lot of people. They’re watching you. Maybe it’s not as silent as Wimbledon, that everybody is like this, but I enjoy a lot also.” Can Muguruza silence the noise in her head so that she can stir up noise at this year’s Open? She’ll bid for her first trip to the third round on Day 3 when she faces tricky Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. The 26-year-old has been on a good ride in 2016. She has climbed from outside of the Top 100 to her current rankings perch of 48 on the strength of 17 wins and two final appearances.
Pick: Muguruza in two
Around the Grounds:
No.8 seed Madison Keys will take on the youngest player in the draw, 16-year-old American Kayla Day. In her Grand Slam debut, Day reached the second round with a win over Madison Brengle. British No.1 Johanna Konta will look to reach the third round for the second consecutive year at New York when she faces the tricky Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. Last year’s runner-up, No.7-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy, will square off with New Jersey Native Christina McHale.
By the Numbers:
13-4 – Keys improved her record to 13-4 in three-setters this season (career three-set record: 32-29) with her win over Alison Riske on Monday.
30-8 – Angelique Kerber’s hardcourt record this year.
2012 – The last time a player won Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back. It has only happened four times since 1998, with Venus Williams achieving the feat twice (2000, 2001) and Serena winning it twice (2002, 2012).
No.2 Angelique Kerber tamped down a late challenge from the tricky Mirjana Lucic-Baroni to continue her US Open campaign, 6-2, 7-6(6).
An interview with Roberta Vinci after her win in the first round of the Qatar Total Open.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – It has been a whirlwind few weeks for No.15 seed Timea Bacsinszky, who came away from her debut appearance at the Olympic tennis event with a silver medal in women’s doubles alongside former No.1 Martina Hingis.
Bacsinszky had planned a quiet summer that got louder – and more surreal – with each passing moment.
“I was supposed to get a week of holiday the same week of the Ladies Championship Gstaad,” she mused after a decisive win over Vitalia Diatchenko. “It was tough for me because at one point I knew it would be a tough year and I would need to rest at one point. But I chose to play Gstaad because it was home, and I was all the time complaining there were no tournaments in Switzerland. So I had to assume my status and assume everything what I said in the past, so I played it.”
A brief respite after playing at home saw her spend some time with her boyfriend – even buying a motor boat to cruise around the lake near her home – gave way to the full emotional impact of the Olympic Summer Games.
Here is Bacsinszky on the Olympic experience, in her own words:
Growing up in Lausanne you have all the Olympic committees around. I practiced next to the IOC, the house of the IOC. You have the Olympic museum right there.
As a kid at school, every school of the region goes there to visit the Olympic museum least probably at least three times.
It’s a highlight in Lausanne. You have many things to do, but for tourists, it’s just amazing.
It means so much. When I was watching the Olympics, I would never ever really think that I would win a medal one day, and we did it together – against all odds.
Playing next to Martina was not an easy position. But I’m super proud of myself because I held her up sometimes during this event, as well. She was maybe less motivated at the beginning. She was like, ‘Oh, crap, I feel like everyone is letting me down, but you’re the only one who stands here with me.’ So, like, okay, let’s do it.
I really never never ever thought that I would be coming back home with a medal one day. It had really made me dream a lot when I was a kid, even though tennis is not really in history of the Olympics.
Something I thought was really amazing, was how the Olympics is not connected to anything. You get there, you get to meet people you don’t know and probably will never see them again, but while you’re in the Village you just feel respect which is like around everyone there.
There’s no aggressive energy. Everyone was nice with me, and me, myself I was shining more than usual. I was laughing more because I really felt the energy of it.
It’s only two weeks in a year or three weeks in a year and that’s sad, because every competition should be like that. In tennis we say things like, ‘Oh, what are your weapons?’ Oh, come on, guys. We use weapons for war. But why do we use that in our sports vocabulary?
At the Olympics I felt like you meet an athlete, you just talk for a few minutes or you trade a pin. This is the best Olympic exchange, because otherwise people would be too shy to talk with each other.
This way, you can go to any country in the world and say, ‘Ah, Palau. Didn’t even know it existed.’ Or, ‘Tuvalu. Where is it on the world map?’
You get curious and you’re like, ‘Oh, which sport are you in? What are you doing?’ ‘Oh, I lost to her,’ or, ‘I got injured.’ Then you really feel how much it means to people. Then, you say, ‘Bye-bye, good luck, all the best for you,’ and you’re probably never going to meet him or her again.
But the human contact, the exchange, is just natural, simple, and it’s nice. And all the images that you see from the Olympics are usually full of positive emotions of sportsmanship.
As I came back on tour, you feel like sometimes the tension that people have in their eyes, even in tennis. You’re like, ‘Guys, I didn’t do anything. Calm down.’ You feel the aggressivity sometimes, which I was sincerely not feeling at the Olympics.
You go back to the Swiss house and all the other Swiss athletes, they are really 100% sincere that they are so happy for you that you got a medal, because they know how tough it is and how much you work all year long for that and how big it means to everyone.
It’s the first time in my life I really felt like 100% of sincerety out of people or other athletes, who were like, ‘Oh, wow. I saw that you won a medal. Oh, how amazing. Do you have it? Can I just see it?’
I think the world should be just like thus. Unluckily there are no Olympics every week. It wouldn’t be that special, probably. But it made me realize all of these things.
Bacsinszky plays Varvara Lepchenko in the second round of the US Open on Thursday.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Garbiñe Muguruza’s shock exit to Anastasija Sevastova whittled down the number of contestants in the US Open’s No.1 ranking sideshow to three: Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska.
As the tournament enters its opening weekend wtatennis.com updates the state of play in the race for top spot…
Serena Stays On Course: Williams entered the US Open as the World No.1, a distinction she has held since February 18, 2013. Through the two weeks of the US Open, Williams will extend her streak to 186 consecutive weeks, tying the WTA record for most consecutive weeks at No.1 held by Steffi Graf (August 17, 1987-March 10, 1991).
Williams’ reign is all the more remarkable considering the 186 weeks preceding her ascension saw the No.1 ranking change hands nine times, with Dinara Safina, Serena, Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova all spending time at the summit.
In the opening two rounds, Williams has answered the questions regarding the health of her troublesome shoulder with business-like wins over Ekaterina Makarova and Vania King. To extend her current stint as No.1, Williams, who is defending 780 points, will need to at least reach the semifinals.
The longer Kerber stays in the tournament, though, the further Williams will need to advance:
– If Kerber reaches the quarterfinals, then Williams must reach the final.
– If Kerber falls in the semifinals, Williams would remain at No.1 by reaching the final.
– A championship match showdown between Williams and Kerber would see the winner walk away not only with the trophy, but the No.1 ranking.
Williams’ ranking points have come from seven tournaments in the last 52 weeks – 2015 US Open (780), Australian Open (1300), Indian Wells (650), Miami (120), Rome (900), Roland Garros (1300) and Wimbledon (2000).
What Will It Take For Kerber To Become World No.1?: Kerber is bidding to become the 22nd player to reach No.1 since the computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. In her previous tournament, the German came within one win of unseating Williams at No.1 in Cincinnati, only to fall short in the final against an on-song Karolina Pliskova.
The disappointment does not appear to have lingered, making short work of her opening two opponents, Polona Hercog and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Last year, Kerber lost to Victoria Azarenka in the third round at the US Open and as a result is only defending 130 points in Flushing Meadows. Kerber will have a 460-point advantage from the start of the tournament, therefore even a surprise third-round loss to crowd favorite CiCi Bellis does not rule her out of contention.
Kerber consistently has reached the business end of the WTA’s biggest events with six finals appearances this year, winning the titles at the Australian Open and Stuttgart, finishing as runner-up at Brisbane, Wimbledon, Cincinnati and the Olympics*. As a result, Kerber’s ranking has been on a steady incline after finishing 2015 at No.10.
* There were no ranking points awarded for this year’s Olympic tennis competition.
US Open Title Could Vault Radwanska To Top Spot: Agnieszka Radwanska will need to win the US Open title, to have reach the top spot. However, if Kerber reaches the final, Radwanska could only move as high as No.2.
The Pole came through her first test in the second round, surviving an epic opening set tie-break to eventually defuse the big-serving Naomi Broady. Next up is the gifted, if unpredictable, Caroline Garcia
Elina Svitolina came to the Dubai Duty Free Tennnis Championships on a winning streak from winning her fifth title at the Taiwan Open, and on the cusp of a Top 10 debut.
The young Ukrainian made her first leap into the big time in the desert, scoring back-to-back wins over Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to win the biggest title of her career.
“I always try to take one step at a time. It’s very important for me to not rush things, and to stay very positive with myself,” she told WTA Insider in her Champions Corner Interview. “I did a lot of work with all the coaches I’ve had and my new team, so it’s always nice to have different opinions on my game. With Justine as well, it was an amazing year.
“I’m very happy with the way I’m playing now. Of course, there’s so many things that I need to work on, and I’m looking forward to new challenges.”
Svitolina had shown flashes of brilliance in the past, reaching the final of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and earning a pair of wins over World No.1s in 2016 – knocking out Kerber in Beijing and Serena Williams at the Olympic tennis event – but the 22-year-old is really on a roll now, winning 13 straight matches, breaking into the Top 10, and rocketing up to No.2 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.
“Of course there’s been ups and downs with me, with my game and with my career. There will be more in the future. The only thing I can do is accept this and work hard and go on court, the gym, work even harder and always have this goal in my mind. That’s what drives me. I think I’m very lucky that it’s been going very consistently.”
All that success certainly helped her earn her the mantle of February’s WTA Player of the Month!
Final Results for February’s WTA Player Of The Month
1. Elina Svitolina (63%)
2. Kristina Mladenovic (27%)
3. Karolina Pliskova (10%)
2017 WTA Player of the Month Winners
January: Serena Williams
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Overcoming a tough second round match, No.13 seed Johanna Konta rebounded well to dismiss No.24 seed Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the second year in a row.
“I feel good,” she told press after the match. “I feel well enough to play. I’m really happy with how I was able to just really focus on the match at hand and the work at hand and then put all else out of my mind.”
Konta suffered from a scary case of dizziness en route to beating Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, but faced no such issues on the new Grandstand court. The Brit broke serve five times without facing a break point herself, hitting eight aces and winning 19 of 20 points behind her first serve.
No. 13 seed @JoKonta91 fires home 15 winners to help her take the first set over #Bencic. #usopen @Chase https://t.co/nfFkPTJHol
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2016
Bencic was playing in her third event since Wimbledon, where she retired due to a left wrist injury, but was undone by 13 unforced errors to just six from her highter ranked opponent. Konta has been close to breaking into the Top 10 since the middle of the summer thanks to a year of impressive results, and will be aiming to reach her second major quarterfinal of the season – her first at Flushing Meadows.
“I do love the US Open. I do have a lot of firsts here. It was the first time I got to qualify into the main draw. It was the first slam I went deeper in, as well. I definitely think the US Open has got its own vibe, its own organized chaos. I think there is a lot of enjoyments players take from that.
“I think if you can stay focused on the work at hand here, you can make it anywhere,” she said with a laugh, quoting Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”
Standing in her way will be Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, who backed up her big win over No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko. Sevastova, who retired in 2013 only to make a successful return to the game two years later, had never beaten her fellow comeback kid, who led by a break to start their match on Court 17 before Sevastova caught fire once more.
“I have played her once before actually in my first Australian Open qualifying, so I do know her and I have been on court with her. That was a number of years ago. She’s obviously playing very good tennis. She is a very good player. I have a lot of respect for her.
“Hopefully we’ll have a good match.”
#Sevastova catapults herself into the fourth round, beating #Bondarenko 6-4, 6-1. #usopen https://t.co/QgJyDU5ykA pic.twitter.com/UZDMlP3NGE
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2016
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA — Ajla Tomljanovic is just happy to be back. The 23-year-old was speaking to reporters less than an hour after a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Julia Goerges in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. Indian Wells was just her second tournament back after undergoing shoulder surgery in March of last year, with her first tournament coming last week in Acapulco, where she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in her first match.
Currently ranked No.664, Tomljanovic could finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that after nearly a year away she could still hang with the best.
“A loss has never felt so good,” Tomljanovic said. “I’ve never been this upbeat after a loss, so that’s a good sign.
“I’d be so unfair to myself to be disappointed in myself at this point. Of course you’re disappointed at a loss. You’re a competitive athlete. But it lasted for 30 seconds.”
That was more than fun ??? pic.twitter.com/VL8JkoezcH
— Ajla Tomljanovic (@Ajlatom) March 2, 2017
With her return to the tour, Tomljanovic brings a new perspective and appreciation for life on tour. Prior to her surgery, the Croatian reached a career-high of No.47 in 2015, making her first final in Pattaya City that year and notching her first top-five scalp, beating Agnieszka Radwanska at the 2014 French Open to make the Round of 16.
“It just feels like I’ve been away for decades,” she said. “This time last year I was supposed to play here and I had surgery when it started. My surgeon told me, ‘You’ll be back next year at that tournament.’ I thought my level, is it ever going to be there again?
“Just to be here and be competitive with these girls, I’m not far off. It’s the little things now that are important. It’s just encouraging.”
This was the best thing that I've seen in a long long time https://t.co/PHRzvtkE9E
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) March 1, 2017
Tomljanovic admits her time away from the game was difficult. She was unable to play tennis for six months after her surgery but could not bring herself to use the time purposefully.
“I probably wasted a good four months being depressed,” she said. “Not depressed, but not doing anything with my life. Now I probably regret it a little bit. My dad was like, ‘Take classes, go do stuff’. But at the same time I’m constantly doing rehab. I couldn’t shut off completely that part of my life. I wasn’t mentally able to start something new. I had no motivation. My parents didn’t push me because I’m not a kid anymore. Now I kind of wish they did.”
But Tomljanovic slowly came to terms with life without tennis. Paradoxically, the realization that she did not need the sport allowed her to appreciate the opportunity to play again.
“Honestly, yeah, I could totally be super happy without playing.
“I know tennis is not your whole life, I know there are so many things in your life that are more important. But at the same time, it’s so precious. The 10 years in your life you can spend like this, look at how many people can do it. I probably appreciate it way more. I’ll never say I hate tennis ever again.”
Tomljanovic’s game is built around her booming serve, and that’s the shot that will take the longest time to get back online. Her consistency off the ground and her return game in particular have exceeded her expectations so far. “Even I was like, whoa,” Tomljanovic said, when asked about how well she returned against Bouchard in Acapulco.
The road ahead will not be an easy one. Tomljanovic earned a spot in the main draw of Acapulco via a special ranking of No.75, and entered Indian Wells similarly. She has also received a wildcard into the Miami Open. Unless she racks up immediate results, she’ll be back to battling it out on the ITF circuit to build her ranking back up.
“It’s gonna be a grind,” she said. “I’m going to have to play a lot, lose a lot, win a lot hopefully, in the end. But it’s going to be a long way back. Even though I had an okay match here, I won one match last week, there will be a lot of matches where nobody is watching. It’s okay. I’m happy to play anywhere.”
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Top seed Serena Williams eased to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Connecticut Open semifinalist Johanna Larson to not only advance into the second week of the US Open for the sixth straight year, but also clinch the Open Era record for total Grand Slam matches won, passing Martina Navratilova for 307 victories.
“Wow, that’s pretty awesome, and honestly, there’s no better place to do it than here, where everything first started,” she told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs in her on-court interview. “That’s great!
“It was something I didn’t even know about until Wimbledon,” she added in her post-match press conference. “I was like, ‘Oh, I have a new goal.'”
Looking as strong as ever through three rounds, the World No.1 donned her “Superwoman sleeves” and shook off the shoulder concerns that plagued her Emirates Airline US Open Series with another decisive win, this time over an in-form Johanna Larsson.
Six sets played, six sets won.@serenawilliams dispatches #Larsson to move safely into week two. #usopen @MBUSA https://t.co/a2JWJ56Rpy
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2016
Larsson had just reached the semifinals in New Haven as a lucky loser, but had no answers to the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s high-octane game. Hitting 24 winners to just 17 unforced errors, Serena struck another six aces and dropped only five points behind her first serve to advance in just under an hour on Saturday.
“It was a really good match for me because she played a different type of game. It was really good for me to have a different type of rhythm and just to move around. Overall, it was pretty good.”
Awaiting Serena in the fourth round will be Kazakh powerhouse Yaroslava Shvedova, who survived a late surge from China’s Zhang Shuai to reach the second week of the Open for the first time, 6-2, 7-5.
Serena has won all four of her previous meetings with Shvedova; though the former World No.25 pushed the top seed to three sets at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, their last two meetings have been one-sided affairs, including a 6-3, 6-1 win at the 2013 US Open.
