Biel/Bienne Doubles Champs Hsieh, Niculescu Enjoy Easter Egg Hunt
Before winning the inaugural Ladies Open Biel Bienne, Hsieh Su-Wei and Monica Niculescu went head-to-head on an egg hunt. Check out who won right here on wtatennis.com!
Before winning the inaugural Ladies Open Biel Bienne, Hsieh Su-Wei and Monica Niculescu went head-to-head on an egg hunt. Check out who won right here on wtatennis.com!
DOHA, Qatar – No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska survived an onslaught from Italy’s Roberta Vinci as the two put together a veritable highlight reel from start to finish in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open. It was the reigning WTA Finals champion, however, who ultimately emerged victorious, beating the No.9 seed, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“She’s a very tricky player with great hands, so you always expect tricky points from her,” she said during her on-court interview. “I was just trying to be better this time, so I hope you guys enjoyed it and I think it was a great match.”
Coming off a win over another wily veteran in Monica Niculescu in the previous round, Radwanska outdid herself with some throwback tennis on Thursday; she and Vinci came to net a combined 101 times, while the Pole hit 40 winners to just 27 unforced errors. Vinci was not too far behind with 36 winners and 20 unforced.
With more than couple of candidates for Shot Of The Year in one match, Radwanska admitted she sometimes surprised herself against Vinci: “I’m like, ‘Oh my god, that was in?’ But that’s the way I play, and against Roberta, it’s a lot of rallies and tricky shots and different points. Our games are very entertaining.
“I’m just very happy to play those shots. Winning shot of the year makes me so happy. I always appreciate those votes; I’m also happy to hear that my tennis is very enjoyable and entertaining.”
Up next for Radwanska is No.8 seed Carla Suárez Navarro, who confirmed her return to the Top 10 with a straight-sets win over qualifier Elena Vesnina earlier in the day.
“Carla is a great player, very solid from the back. We just played a few weeks ago in Melbourne. I won that one, but it’s never easy against her. It’ll be a nice challenge for me against Carla, and I’ll try my best.”
Radwanska and Vinci certainly broke the internet with their stellar shot-making; check out some of the best points and what some of their fellow players had to say below:
Nice touch, @ARadwanska! ? #WTA https://t.co/8DHWurztuF
— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2016
Loving this match between @roberta_vinci & @ARadwanska! So much variety tennis & both literally ending every single points at the net?#doha
— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) February 25, 2016
Behind the back! ?
No big deal for @ARadwanska. #WTA https://t.co/IFwtkRDplA
— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2016
Ok ladies this is sick tennis.
— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) February 25, 2016
You've GOT to be kidding me @ARadwanska! ? #WTA https://t.co/StrJrLd5pE
— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2016
Same. ? pic.twitter.com/I0UZuSE8wj
— WTA (@WTA) February 25, 2016
@WTA @ARadwanska Sick!!!???
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) February 25, 2016
@WTA @ARadwanska that's just ridiculous!!!?????
— Jarmila Wolfe (@tennis_jarkag) February 25, 2016
ACAPULCO, Mexico – Sloane Stephens needed just 54 minutes to cruise to her second WTA final of the year after an uncomplicated victory over No.8 seed Yanina Wickmayer at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, 6-2, 6-0.
Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
The pair had faced off only once before, with Stephens coming out the victor of a straight forward 6-1, 6-3 match at the Miami Open. This encounter would prove to be no more difficult for the 22-year-old American.
“Obviously playing in the semifinals of any tournament is going to be tough,” Stephens said of her commanding victory. “Fortunately today I played some really solid tennis and played really well. It was a good day for me.”
Stephens set the pace early on, breaking and holding at love to give herself some breathing room at 4-1. The Belgian wasn’t displaying any of the form that saw her come back from two points away from defeat in the first round or upset Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals. Wickmayer was spraying errors off both wings, finally shooting a forehand long to give Stephens set point, which she seal with a powerful forehand.
Stephens played a near perfect second set, overpowering the increasingly frustrated Wickmayer in a 6-0 shutout, not facing a single break point and winning every one of her first serve points.
“I’m feeling good and I’m excited to be back in another final,” Stephens said. “I’m playing well so I’m excited to get back on court tomorrow and compete.”
At this time last year, Stephens was facing a disappointing string of first and second round losses – including one in the first round here in Acapulco. Now in 2016, she’s already got a title under her belt and is into her second final of the year. What’s changed for the 22-year-old?
“I’m just in a different place,” Sloane said. “I’ve played a lot of matches this year already and got some of the confidence going, built up some momentum. I’m just trying to keep that going here in Acapulco.”
Stephens is set to play against 2014 Acapulco winner Dominika Cibulkova in tomorrow’s final. Their head to head is tied at 1-1, with Cibulkova coming away the winner of their most recent encounter at Toronto last year.
Jelena Ostapenko takes on Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open.
The first quarter of 2017 is in the books, and before the WTA tour turns to the European red clay, it’s time to take one last look back at the Top 5 moments that have shaped the season thus far.
The No.1 moment on our countdown is a record-breaking achievement that went down in tennis history…
Serena Cements Her Place In Tennis History: There was one word that dominated the tennis headlines in January: “history.” It’s what was on the line at the Australian Open final when Serena Williams and Venus Williams took to the court for the first all-Williams final in Melbourne in 14 years.
And 81 minutes later, Serena took home the title – without dropping a set or even facing a tiebreaker during the entire tournament – and rewrote the history books with an Open Era record 23rd Grand Slam title.
SHE’S DONE IT! No. 23@serenawilliams is your #AusOpen 2017 women’s singles champion. ? pic.twitter.com/LC6fpWi3Ik
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2017
“It’s such a great feeling to have 23,” Serena said after the match. “I’ve been chasing it for a really long time. When it got on my radar, I knew I had an opportunity to get there, and I’m here. I’m here.
“It’s a great feeling, and no better place to do it than Melbourne. My first Grand Slam started here, and getting to 23 here, but playing Venus, it’s stuff that legends are made of. I couldn’t have written a better story.”
Not only was the win Serena’s 216th at Grand Slam tournaments, improving on her already-record total, but it also restored her place at the top of the WTA rankings, returning to World No.1 for the first time since the 2016 US Open.
Her season would come to a halt after the Australian Open, though. Serena withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami before announcing earlier this week that she was expecting her first child in the fall.
But Serena stands alone on our countdown – much like she does in tennis history – and her record-breaking feat at the Australian Open is the No.1 moment of the 2017 season to date.
The Top 5 Moments That Marked 2017 So Far:
5) The Future Is Now: Teen Titans Crash WTA Party: Kasatkina, Vondrousova Take Titles To Start 2017
4) Slow & Steady Wins The Race: Wozniacki & Svitolina’s Hot Streaks Lighting Up 2017
3) Veterans Victorious: Venus & Lucic-Baroni Loom Large To Start 2017
2) Sunshine Sweeps: Vesnina & Konta Capture Career-Best Titles To Start 2017
1) Serena, Unparalleled: Serena Makes History With 23rd Grand Slam Title To Start 2017
After two months of unexpected results, what does it all mean as the tour prepares for the grueling high-stakes tournaments in tennis’ version of March Madness at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open?
On this episode, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and Web Editor David Kane reconvene to discuss the action at the Qatar Total Open in Doha, where Carla Suárez Navarro emerged from the beaten and battered draw to win the biggest title of her career. They also talk about the impressive week from 18-year-old Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who tore through the Doha draw to make her second WTA final, and have mixed emotions surrounding Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbiñe Muguruza and Andrea Petkovic’s recent results.
Courtney and David also discuss the action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, where Sloane Stephens and Dominika Cibulkova played one of the best matches of the year in the final, which saw Sloane edge it out to become the first woman to two titles this year.
Kane on Suárez Navarro: “It’s very impressive but I still think there are a lot of questions about what this means for Suarez Navarro in terms of where she goes from here. She ended up having the best week of the top-ranked players but still, when she is in really high pressure situations against the biggest names in tennis, how will she stand up? I think mentally we’ve seen her answer a lot of those questions so far this year alone. Setting goals to be in the Top 10? Check. Top 5? Really close. Of all the players to make New Year’s Resolutions, I think you want to model your New Year’s Resolution game after Suárez Navarro. She’s one of the few big names getting things done in 2016.”
Nguyen on Radwanska: “I’m curious to see what she does in Indian Wells and Miami. Was this just a bad day at the office, a tough turnaround of 24-hours to play that match, or is it more of a sign? Obviously she’s great on hardcourts and is a former champion in Miami. If she can rebound there, then she’s all right. She’s still one of the best players at the start of the season. So maybe it was just a bad day. We’ll see.”
Nguyen on ‘Winning Ugly’: “On some level you wonder if this is a generational thing. If you are younger and you’ve grown up in this era of parity, in this era of everyone’s on upset alert at all times, everyone can pull up an upset at all times, and you’re just used to it, maybe you don’t panic as much because it’s the new normal. It is just what you are to expect in a tennis match.”
Kane on Stephens: “This is the best I’ve seen Sloane Stephens play a match from start to finish. For all the hype and all the prognosticating about the future and the potential of Sloane Stephens we really saw everything from her in this final. We saw the power, we saw the athleticism, most impressively we saw the defense, and more impressively, we saw she did not get down on herself.”
STUTTGART, Germany – The European clay season begins in earnest this week as hometown favorite Angelique Kerber leads the WTA into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The two-time champion tops a draw that houses a host of elite players and threats on the dirt, as players look to get off on the right foot on the road to Roland Garros.
Check out 10 things to know ahead of Germany’s Premier red-clay event.
1) Star-studded sightings in Stuttgart.
Eight of the WTA’s top 10 are competing this week. Defending champion Angelique Kerber is the event’s top seed, as one of three former champions in the main draw.
2) Top seed, but not No.1 (for now).
Though Kerber will drop to World No.2 in the rankings on Monday, the German has a chance to reclaim the top spot in the WTA rankings should she reach the semifinals this week.
3) Good things come in threes.
Kerber could be the fourth player to three-peat in the history of the tournament, dating back to when Tracy Austin and Martina Navratilova did it at the event’s beginnings in Filderstadt. Maria Sharapova also won three straight tiles from 2012-14.
4) Siegemund sneaks in.
Last year’s runner-up Laura Siegemund earned the final wildcard to this year’s tournament at the 11th hour – the World No.37 was tabbed as the final entrant prior to Saturday morning’s draw.
5) Sharapova says hello.
The aforementioned three-time Stuttgart champion Maria Sharapova returns to the WTA this week.
6) An epic rematch first up.
Though both are unseeded, the first round match between Kristina Mladenovic and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni promises to have fireworks. The two have met already on clay this season, as the Croat took a marathon 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(13) victory in Charleston earlier this spring.
7) Game, set, match – for the first time.
Two of the event’s top 8 seeds will be looking to break a losing spell in Stuttgart this week. The No.6 seed and a wildcard in the event, Johanna Konta is 0-2 in her career at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, while No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova has fallen in the first round in each of her four appearances.
8) Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.
Several WTA stars will be returning to Stuttgart for the first time in a while this week, as Cibulkova makes her first appearance in the tournament since 2012, while Mirjana Lucic-Baroni plays the event for the first time in three years. Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova plays just her second Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, having fallen in the first round in 2011, and her first-round foe, 2010 runner-up Samantha Stosur appears for the first time since 2013.
9) Compatriots to do battle to commence play.
Two first-round matches will see countrywomen face off, as Elena Vesnina will play Daria Kasatkina — and the winner of the all-Russian showdown will face either Garbiñe Muguruza or Carla Suárez Navarro, who face each other in an all-Spanish clash.
10) Show your colors, then head to Stuttgart.
Nine players who will feature in the main draw are also donning their country’s colors this weekend – Kerber, Vesnina, Kasatkina, Siegemund, Johanna Konta, Simona Halep and CoCo Vandeweghe.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – US Open champion Angelique Kerber was back in front of the camera within hours of her second Grand Slam victory. The soon-to-be World No.1 posed for photographer Jen Pottheiser with the trophy in a series of black and white and color photos.
“I’m feeling much for confident now in my skin and how I am,” Kerber told WTA Insider in the latest Champions Corner. “I think it’s because of my experience I know what’s happened, I know how to deal with pressure, how to deal with the things I have to do off court. That’s what gives me the confidence to, you know, dressing up, speaking, working, being how I am.
“Of course it takes a little while to get where I am, and it was really tough but really good.”
Check out the photos below:
All photos courtesy of USTA/Jen Pottheiser.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Heather Watson grabbed her spot in the finals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme after dispatching an ailing Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-2.
Watch live action from Monterrey & Kuala Lumpur this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Watson came roaring out of the gates, finding her zone right away and quickly putting Garcia in a familiar bind. The Frenchwoman was down 4-1 in the first set just as she’d been in yesterday’s quarterfinal against Pauline Parmentier, but this time she wasn’t able to bounce back, her usually agile movements hampered by a lower back injury.
“I was very happy with how I played today but obviously Caroline was hurting today,” Watson said after their match. “I hope she gets better soon, hope it’s nothing too serious.”
After the Brit grabbed the first set in a dominant 27 minutes, Garcia took an emotional medical time out before starting the next set. Despite Garcia returning to the court with a bit more bounce in her step, Watson remained completely in control, coming up with an answer to every aspect of Garcia’s all-court game.
Awaiting Watson in the final is Kirsten Flipkens, a player she’s never won against in either of their previous two encounters.
“It won’t be easy,” Watson said of tomorrow’s match. “I’ve played Kirsten a few times and she’s very experienced. It definitely won’t be easy – I’ll have to bring my A-game tomorrow.”
Flipkens had to draw from every bit of her 13 years of experience to emerge victorious against Anett Kontaveit in their seesaw semifinal, 7-6(6), 6-4.
Kontaveit had her under pressure in the first set and Flipkens found herself having to dig out of a 3-5 hole to force a tiebreak.
“I think all week I was mentally very strong, but I think first set was a really tight one,” Flipkens said. “I came back very strong and the tiebreak was so close – it was like heads or tails.”
Flipkens looked to be totally in command in the second set, rushing ahead to a 5-1 lead as Kontaveit allowed the errors to pile up. But with her back against the wall, the young Estonian seemed to get her rhythm back and won three straight games to threaten a comeback. Flipkens stayed steady to reach her first final since 2013 ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
“It’s going to be a good match and I’m looking forward to it,” Flipkens said. “It’s been my first final in a long time in WTA so I’m gonna enjoy 100 percent.”
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Closing the book on the US Open with a look back on the stories that dominated the fortnight.
1. Angelique Kerber takes control.
Let’s be honest: The World No.1 wasn’t always considered a pressure player, and that’s putting it mildly. In 2015, which was a fantastic season for Kerber, she was 15-12 in three-set matches. Most notably, she was on the losing end of the biggest ones. There was the 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the US Open, which many considered to be the best match of the year. A few weeks before that she lost, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to Simona Halep at the Rogers Cup. There were two tough three-set losses to Garbiñe Muguruza at the French Open and Wimbledon as well.
Kerber admits now that those losses were painful reminders when push came to shove, she was getting shoved. So she put her foot down and she decided to push back. Step in, be aggressive, don’t wait for your opponent to give you the match. Play to win. Back yourself. Take control. This season? She’s won 15 of the 20 three-set matches she’s played. After learning from the losses, she also learned from the wins, such as her three-set triumph against Serena Williams in Australia.
That transformation was on full display against Karolina Pliskova in the US Open final. Playing her solid counter-punching gamestyle, she cruised for a set and a half. Then the nerves came as Pliskova’s level elevated, and she played a nervy service game to get broken and lost the second. Still reeling, she fell behind an early break at 1-3 in the decider. Then she said, “Enough.”
Three games from losing out on a chance to consolidate her No.1 ranking with a second major title, Kerber started taking her swings. No single shot has defined her 2016 season like the impossible forehand down the line winner she nailed at 3-3, 30-all in that third set. She was six feet behind the baseline, running deep into her forehand corner outside the tramlines. 10 out of 10 times every instinct in your body would tell you to pull it back cross-court, keep yourself in the point, and force your opponent to hit another ball.
Angelique Kerber? She’s a little different.
“When I was going down the line I knew, Okay, now I have to risk a little bit, because this is the only chance I can get,” Kerber said afterwards. “When I won the point I knew, ‘Okay, I have the feeling. Now just to go for it and [not] making the mistakes I make like a lot of times before.’ I was not thinking too much that this is a final. I was just trying to take the challenge, third set, it’s 3-All, and just go for it.”
“Going for it,” is a common refrain from Kerber these days. Even on a chance that small, on a stage that big, she backed herself and went all in. As the ball floated onto the baseline, Kerber let out the biggest full-body double-fistpump roar I’ve ever seen from her. She knew it before anyone else in the stadium did.
The pressure was gone. The match was over. The title was hers.
2. Karolina Pliskova is a world beater.
Overshadowed for obvious reasons after a top notch final was the fact that Pliskova backed up her phenomenal run to the Western & Southern Open title with yet another two weeks of unflinching tennis. In the last four weeks she beat the three reigning major champions, Serena Williams, Kerber (in Cincinnati), and Garbiñe Muguruza, as well as Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova. She also proved she was clutch.
With 23,000 fans roaring against her, she faced down match point against Venus and went on to win, and then ousted Serena in straight sets. She ran out of gas at the end of the third set in the final, but up until that aforementioned Kerber forehand, she had proven herself not only a worth contender but a worthy champion. Playing in the biggest match of her life, Pliskova brought her entire arsenal and played like a woman who had been there before.
But perhaps even more importantly, she played like a woman who will be there again.
3. Caroline Wozniacki isn’t done yet.
Ranked No.74 at the start of the tournament, the Dane was well below the radar. With injuries keeping her off the tour for stretches throughout the season, she had also become an afterthought. Had the tour moved on without the former No.1? Not so fast.
Wozniacki lost just one set to make her first Slam semifinal since her final run in New York in 2014, beating Taylor Townsend, Monica Niculescu, and then Kuznetsova and Madison Keys back-to-back before rolling past a hobbled Anastasija Sevastova. She’s now back in the Top 30 and has a lot to build on during the fall season in Asia, where she believes she’ll be fresher physically and mentally than most of the field. If she’s healthy we could see her back in the Top 20 before the end of the year. That would set her up for a charge in 2017.
4. The gap continues to close between Serena and the field.
The ranking may change, but Serena is still, for now, the standard-bearer in the locker room. When she plays her best, as she did at Wimbledon, she remains unbeatable. But New York confirmed what has been the sense all season, that Serena’s B-level game, which would win her bushels of matches in the past, is more vulnerable than it used to be.
Simona Halep put forth her best single performance of the season to take Serena to three sets, facing down 12 break points in the second set. Less than 24 hours later, Serena was back on court to face Pliskova in the semifinals and she lacked the sharpness that was on display in the first week. Serena dismissed any concerns of fatigue but acknowledged that she had been dealing with a knee injury since the second round. That was enough margin for Pliskova to pull off the upset.
5. Experience matters.
I was struck by a very interesting take on the concept of experience from 18-year-old Naomi Osaka. The teen had just blown a 5-1 lead in the third set to lose to Madison Keys in the third round, a loss that saw her nerves laid bare as the New York crowd grew louder and louder with every Keys comeback. Osaka was asked whether her lack of experience – this is her first full year on tour – lost her the match.
“Getting experience is good, but I feel like if you’re a really good player it wouldn’t really matter if the place is new or if you’re traveling or whatever. Like, experience is good and whatever, right? But like not having experience, if you’re good enough, it shouldn’t really matter. Okay?”
Osaka has a point. If you’re good enough, you’re good enough. Watching the final unfold between Kerber and Pliskova, I thought back to Osaka’s point. Here’s Pliskova, who had never been past the third round of a Slam, playing like a veteran in her first Slam final, just 48 hours after doing the same to beat Serena. Maybe experience really is overrated.
Then Pliskova unraveled, very quickly, after losing the 3-1 lead, while Kerber soared, playing of course in her third major final of the year. Put me back in the experience camp.
6. You do you, Anastsija Sevastova.
The Latvian was a revelation in New York, not just because of her upset wins – she beat No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza and No.13 Johanna Konta – but also because of her game.
The 26-year-old has beautiful stroke production and a keen mind for the chessboard on the tennis court. She also wears her emotions on her sleeve, for better and worse. She feels like a throwback player in a way and her sarcastic, plain-spoken, honest presence in the interview room was both refreshing and entertaining.
Now up to No.32 in the rankings, I can’t wait to see how her game continues to match up.
7. Madison Keys takes two steps forward, one step back.
Too often in the past we would see Keys get behind in the scoreline and disappear. That has been less of a problem in her fantastic 2016 season.
Keys was “The Cardiac Kid” in the first week of the tournament, coming back from being two points away from the loss to beat Alison Riske in the first round – that match was the latest finish of a women’s match ever at the US Open – and then coming back from 1-5 down in the third to beat Osaka in the third round. The 21-year-old American showed grit and fire in willing herself to those wins, which has been a big improvement for her on the whole in 2016.
Then came her Round of 16 showdown with Wozniacki, which ended in error-strewn 6-3, 6-4 loss. Keys said the nerves were her undoing in that match and she panicked early and often when Wozniacki got a lead.
“The first week, even the first round, it’s much easier to say, I’m focusing on this round and not worrying about the next round,” Keys said. “Once you’re in the second week it seems a little bit closer, and I feel like sometimes I definitely get ahead of myself and I start thinking how much I want it.
“Sometimes I can get away from focusing on just point by point. Then that’s kind of when the nerves set in.”
Keys has been working with a sports psychologist and the improvements have been evident. She’s one of just four women to make the fourth round or better at every major this season (Serena, Kerber, and Radwanska have also done it). But the manner in which she lost to Wozniacki will sting.
8. Simona Halep is back to her best.
Ah, the cruelty of draws. Halep is in the form of her life right now on court but she fails to match her semifinal result from 2015, losing in the quarterfinals to Serena in three sets. For a player who has been prone to losses to lower-ranked players, note that since the French Open she has lost just three times, with all the losses coming to either Kerber (Wimbledon, Cincinnati) or Serena (US Open).
The improvements in her game, both in her movement and eye to be more aggressive was apparent in New York. Her mental game was also strong. She was able to pull herself out of her penchant for an emotional tailspin, and get back on track quickly. These are all very positive signs, and despite leaving New York in the quartefinals, Halep should be very pleased with the progress she’s made over the summer.
She currently sits at No.3 in the Road to Singapore.
9. Chemistry is everything for Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
True friends both on and off the court, Safarova and Mattek-Sands capped off an emotional few weeks to win their third Slam title and move within one Wimbledon title of capturing the Career Grand Slam as a team. The two rallied from a set down to beat top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in Sunday’s final.
“We complement each other so well,” Safarova said. “Our games just fit. We have done so well in all the tournaments, and now this year has been tough year for us because I have been out for half a year with my sickness and missed Australia. Then Bethanie broke her finger just before French Open. But we both stuck together and believed that once we are again strong, healthy, and feeling that we can do this, and we did, so it’s amazing.”
10. Team France rebounds.
Mladenovic and Garcia may not have walked away with the title, but the top seeds at the US Open should be very happy with their tournament given the disappointment of the summer. The team was a heavy medal favorite at the Olympics and lost early. Heading into the US Open they were on a three-match losing streak. But they pulled it together to score two good wins over Sania Mirza/Barbora Strycova and Martina Hingis/CoCo Vandeweghe to make their second Slam final of the year.
Emptying out the notebook:
– Best performance: Ana Konjuh vs. Agnieszka Radwanska, Round of 16. The 18-year-old could not have played a more perfect match to beat Radwanska, 6-4, 6-4. The No.4 did not play poorly. Konjuh just had all the answers and her ability to work the angles and feather drop shots kept Radwanska off balance all night. No performance had me constantly in a slack-jawed state.
– Best match: Karolina Pliskova vs. Venus Williams, Round of 16. The final between Kerber and Pliskova should probably take the cake, given what was on the line and the fact that it was of a higher quality from first point to last. The quarterfinal between Halep and Serena was also absurdly good. But Pliskova vs. Williams is my pick simply because of the dramatic nature of the match. Pliskova saved match point, Venus saved three match points, and it all came down to a third-set tie-break, which Pliskova broke open with an absurd backhand stab pick-up volley. Pliskova went on to win, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3).
– Biggest upset: Karolina Pliskova vs. Serena Williams, semifinals. Pliskova had every reason to blink against Serena. She barely wavered and Serena eventually buckled in the tie-break, double-faulting twice including on match point. Pliskova won 6-2, 7-6(5).
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.