There was no shortage of amazing exchanges across the net in Singapore. In the end, though, it was Simona Halep’s improvised squash shot against eventual champion Dominika Cibulkova that was the runaway winner among the public vote.
Angelique Kerber (+2, No.4 to No.2): The German reached her second Grand Slam final of the season, knocking out five-time champion and former No.1 Venus Williams before battling through a two-set defeat to World No.1 Serena Williams. Kerber is back to the career-high ranking she first earned in February upon claiming her maiden major title at the Australian Open.
Venus Williams (+1, No.8 to No.7): Williams moves more comfortably into the Top 8 after making her first major semifinal since the 2010 US Open. Back up to her highest ranking since early 2011, Venus fought through five tough matches to finish in the final fall before falling to Kerber in straight sets.
Carla Suárez Navarro (+3, No.12 to No.9): Suárez Navarro returned to the Top 10 following her best career grass court season. Backing up a run to the semifinals of the Aegon Classic, the Spaniard reached the second week of Wimbledon for just the second time in her career, bowing out to Venus Williams despite having chances to serve out the opening set.
Svetlana Kuznetsova (+4, No.14 to No.10): The Russian veteran fulfilled her promise of returning to the Top 10 after having chances to do so earlier in the season. Kuznetsova is at her highest rank since the spring of 2010, just before her title defense of the French Open title she had won the year before. Kuznetsova played Serena Williams tough after knocking out former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki en route to the fourth round.
Dominika Cibulkova (+6, No.18 to No.12): Cibulkova’s march back toward the Top 10 continued at Wimbledon, where the Slovakian dynamo followed up her title run at the Aegon International with a run to the quarterfinals of the All England Club.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+4, No.23 to No.19): Up to her highest ranking in over three years, Pavlyuchenkova played her best grass court tennis of her career to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal – upsetting Timea Bacsinszky and CoCo Vandeweghe along the way.
Elena Vesnina (+26, No.50 to No.24): Ranked outside the Top 100 to start the season, Vesnina cut her ranking in half following her fortnight at Wimbledon, where she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. After surviving a thrilling, rain-delayed encounter with doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova, she put on an emphatic display to dispatch Cibulkova in the quarterfinals.
The following women all reached career-high rankings; click here to see the full rankings updated as of 7/11/16!
New #WTA Career-High Rankings@KikiBertens – No.26 @DKasatkina – No.29 @MonicaAce93 – No.33
Misaki Doi – No.36 @MariaSakkari – No.97— WTA (@WTA) July 11, 2016
The WTA’s finest battled it out at 61 tournaments, 33 countries and six continents this year, culminating in the 2016 Year-End WTA Rankings, which are official today, Monday, November 7.
Here are 10 Things To Know about this year’s year-end list…
1) Kerber is year-end No.1 for the first time.
After a season that saw her lift two Grand Slams, Angelique Kerber finishes with the much-deserved year-end No.1 ranking. Read more about her feat here.
2) Serena’s reign ended.
Her loss to Karolina Pliskova in the US Open semifinals ended Serena Williams’ 186-week stay at the top of the rankings. However, despite playing only eight events, the American enjoyed plenty of highlights in 2016, defeating Kerber at Wimbledon to lift her 22nd major and reaching the final at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
3) Radwanska holds steady at No.3.
Another season of remarkable consistency brought Agnieszka Radwanska three titles and a sixth consecutive finish inside the Top 10.
4) Strong second half gives hope for Halep.
Following a slow start, Simona Halep’s season really caught alight in the summer, a string of deep runs on the cement paving her path to another year-end Top 5 ranking.
5) Singapore success fuels Cibulkova’s rise.
Dominika Cibulkova’s 2016 resurgence featured many memorable moments. None, though, could come close to topping her brilliant victory over Kerber at BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The performance was rewarded with the biggest title and highest ranking (No.5) of her career.
6) Pliskova finally makes her breakthrough.
Karolina Pliskova ended her Grand Slam hoodoo in stunning fashion at the US Open, upsetting Serena before losing out to Kerber in an entertaining final. The result saw her rise to No.6, where she also finished the year.
7) Muguruza slips despite maiden major.
While there were signs of a revival in Singapore, Garbiñe Muguruza failed to build on June’s Roland Garros breakthrough, a second half of the season slump seeing her slip to No.7.
8) Fresh and familiar faces join Top 10 party.
Madison Keys continued to make good on her boundless potential, ending a season of steady progress at No.8. Also joining her was Johanna Konta, who became the first Briton since 1983 to end the year inside the Top 10. Sandwiched between the newcomers was a familiar face, as Svetlana Kuznetsova ended the campaign inside the Top 10 for the sixth time.
9) And there could be more next year.
Petra Kvitova finished the year like a steam train, rising to No.11 following titles in Wuhan and Zhuhai. A Top 10 return will surely soon follow, while the next generation is also well represented in the upper echelons, Elina Svitolina (No.14), Caroline Garcia (No.23), Daria Gavrilova (No.25), Timea Babos (No.26), Daria Kasatkina (No.27) and Monica Puig (No.32) all achieved the best year-end ranking of their fledgling careers.
10) A little more about the year-end Top 100…
The oldest and youngest players in the year-end Top 100 are Venus Williams (36) and Catherine Bellis (17), and there are 32 countries represented in there (the United States has the most players with 16).
Click here to check out the full ranking list!
Ana Ivanovic and Dominika Cibulkova had plenty to celebrate this weekend as each married their respective fiances, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Michal Navara.
WHITE PLAINS, NY, USA – The USTA announced a major prize money increase for the 2016 US Open. A $4 million boost brings the total purse for the tournament to a record $46.3 million, a 10-percent increase over the 2015 US Open prize money totals.
In all, the US Open will provide the richest purse in tennis history at this year’s event.
Both the men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $3.5 million, the largest payout in US Open history. The average increase per round for the singles competition is 10 percent above the 2015 US Open. Both the men’s and women’s doubles champion teams will earn $625,000, the highest in US Open history, and overall doubles prize money has been increased by 10.5 percent.. The US Open Qualifying Tournament will offer more than $1.9 million in prize money, a 10 percent increase over 2015.
This year’s US Open, scheduled for August 29 through September 11 – with the US Open Qualifying Tournament beginning on August 23 – will feature a number of major enhancements, including a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, a new Grandstand Stadium, and a completely redesigned southern campus to ease accessibility and crowding throughout the site.
“We are proud that this year’s US Open will offer the richest purse in tennis history,” said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Katrina Adams. “We continue to invest in all aspects of this world-class event to provide the best services and experiences for the players, our fans, and all of the US Open partners.”
Round-by-round individual prize money for the US Open singles tournaments are as follows:
Singles:
Winner: $3,500,000
Runner-Up: $1,750,000
Semifinalist: $875,000
Quarterfinalist: $450,000
Round of 16: $235,000
Round of 32: $140,000
Round of 64: $77,200
Round of 128: $43,300
WTA CEO Steve Simon spoke at length about the importance of SAP’s analytic advancements on the company’s CEO Live Page.
“Running SAP HANA is definitely making it easier for fans to enjoy us,” said Simon. “It’s giving them the in-depth background information that they’re looking for. No longer is the fan just looking for pictures; they’re looking for the story behind the pictures, and SAP is helping us provide that.
“The goal of the WTA, which is currently the number one women’s professional sports league in the world, is not just to be the number one women’s sports league in the world, but to be competitive with all sports. Our partnership with SAP is going to allow us to build audience because of the stories that we’re able to tell, and thus be competitive in that marketplace.”
Click here to hear more from Simon in the full video as part of SAP’s Live Business Leaders series.
STANFORD, CA, USA – No.7 seed Alizé Cornet was taken to the brink in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic, but rallied from a set down to dispatch American Jennifer Brady, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in two hours and 44 minutes.
Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“I always wanted to come here to Stanford, but somehow I was always ending up in Washington, maybe because it was closer!” Cornet joked with Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview.
“But this time I really don’t regret it because I really love this place. It’s amazing, and a lot of champions have won the tournament, so I hope to go as far as I can.”
Playing her first match since reaching the third round of Wimbledon, Cornet fell behind 4-0 in the opening set and couldn’t quite catch up to Brady, who broke serve in a marathon game to put herself one set away from a first-ever WTA main draw win – though she reached the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in San Diego last fall.
“I just kept fighting. She was playing really well, big serve and forehand.
“I had some trouble in the beginning of the match; I was really tense and the ball was coming really fast against me. But I just kept trying to hang in there, and try to give my best every point.”
Only one break separated the two in the second set, which Cornet took in another dramatic game to level the match. Racing out to a 5-2 lead in the decider, Brady made one last surge to force the Frenchwoman to serve out her spot in the second round. Clinching the contest with a classic one-two punch, booked a second round meeting with Zheng Saisai, who was the first winner of the day over wildcard Maria Mateas, 7-5, 6-1.
“In the end it was really really close, and I went for it and it worked out, so I’m really happy to be in the second round.”
The night session features an all-Stanford battle between former All-American Nicole Gibbs and Carol Zhao, who helped the university win the 2016 NCAA Championships.
More to come…
BASTAD, Sweden – With six years on the WTA calendar, the Ericsson Open in Bastad certainly knows a thing or two about what it takes to put on a great event. And the players seem to agree, having voted the International-level event as the WTA Tournament Of The Year for three of the last four years.
So what makes a perfect tournament? We asked the Ericsson Open’s top seeds and former champions – Angelique Kerber, Sara Errani, Johanna Larsson, Annika Beck and Polona Hercog – why they keep coming back to Bastad year after year. Here’s what they had to say.
1. A priceless view.
The Ericsson Open is staged at the Bastad Tennis Stadium, just a few hundred yards from the popular Bastad Beach along the Kattegatt Sea. Having the coast within walking distance gives players (and fans) plenty of chances to unwind.
Kerber: Bastad is a really special tournament, especially because it’s on the sea and for me the sea is really important; I grew up on the sea.
Beck: I’ve been here the last two years, so I’ve got good memories here. Especially if the weather is nice, you get some time off and you can go to the sea and relax and enjoy your time here.
2. Incredible, top-notch staff.
One common factor that all players highlighted was Bastad’s top-notch and ultra-attentive staff.
Kerber: What is really important as well for players is that all the staff and the tournament director and everybody is so friendly. They are taking care of you, and this is why it really feels like home. That’s why this tournament is one of the best tournaments of the calendar.
Barthel: All the people are really nice and friendly, always trying to make your time the best here. That’s what you feel in all the details and I feel like home here.
Larsson: I think this tournament is absolutely amazing. It’s been voted Tournament Of The Year because we deserve it! For the players it’s obviously unbelievable because I think everyone in the staff is very friendly and always trying to help each and every player.
SEB-ball kids are having fun during the rain delay! Always ready! ???#sebbollkallarna #båstad #centercourt #raindel… pic.twitter.com/pL9rZgjklY
— Swedish Open Tennis (@swedish_open) July 18, 2016
3. Location, location, location.
What’s more convenient than having the player hotel close to the tournament site? How about having it right behind center court?
Errani: For us, it’s amazing. We can sleep right here and just walk to the courts and play. It’s very easy for us. And it’s amazing, the beach and everything. A bit cold, though, but amazing!
Larsson: You have the facilities that are top notch, you have the rooms here – I mean, the hotel is just next to the Center Court. It makes it very convenient for the players, I think that’s a very good reason why we love this event.
4. An awesome crowd of fans.
Barthel: The stadium is really nice and the people watching are always nice. They’re supporting you. I feel at home. You know, I have a special relationship to Sweden, so it makes it even more special for me here. I always love to come back here.
Beck: The crowd is amazing, the Center Court is beautiful. There’s nothing to complain about in this tournament!
He actually loves #ericssonopen and we love #hughgrant @wta #tennis #båstad #allintennis #wta. pic.twitter.com/RYlL4qo8MN
— Swedish Open Tennis (@swedish_open) July 19, 2016
– All photos courtesy of Ericsson Open
Top seeds Alizé Cornet and Caroline Garcia battled past a pair of tricky opponents to reach the quarterfinals at the Engie Open Limoges, staying on track for a finals day clash.
Serena Williams hit a lot of hot shots on her way to making history with a record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam title – which one her best shots of 2016 was your favorite?