"I'm Up For The Challenge!" Venus On Australian Open Final
Venus Williams never thinks the next tournament might be her last…
Venus Williams never thinks the next tournament might be her last…
A preview of the 2017 Australian Open final between Serena and Venus Williams.
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza ahead of her participation in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Before the start of the Taiwan Open – which kicks off right on Lunar New Year – players got a chance to celebrate at WTA Taiwan Welcome Party!
Elina Svitolina, Lucie Safarova and Jelena Jankovic were some of the stars of the night.
Some of Asia’s biggest names in tennis were in attendance too, including last year’s finalist Misaki Doi of Japan and last year’s doubles champions, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan.
Keeping with the theme of tennis and Taiwanese culture, many of the desserts were local favorites with a tennis twist.
Looks tasty!
The Ws paid homage to the W Hotel in Taipei City, which was the party’s venue.
A master chef was on hand to instruct Francesca Schiavone, Sam Stosur, Hao-Ching, Jung-Jan and Svitolina in making Chinese dumplings – which are very popular in Taiwan during the Lunar New Year.
Also as a part of the holiday, each player was given a red envelope. It’s local tradition to put money in red envelopes and give them away to people, which brings good luck and fortune.
Caroline Wozniacki will be sitting out much of the clay court season, as the former No.1 has announced Monday that she has pulled out of clay court tournaments at the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
A finalist at the 2015 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on the red clay of Stuttgart, the Dane was due to play Fed Cup last week when a rolled ankle forced her out of Denmark’s Zonal ties in Egypt and this week’s International tournament in Istanbul.
Rolled my ankle during practice today? Very sad to miss Fed Cup & Istanbul, but I'll be back soon! Thx for the ❤️! pic.twitter.com/IIXtvCdxql
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) April 7, 2016
Wozniacki has yet to rule out a return in time for the French Open, but the former No.1 already appears to be hard at work rehabbing her injured foot – as seen on her Twitter account.
My morning view! #keepgrinding #gettingstronger #monaco #mondays #gym pic.twitter.com/thGk0ypnDf
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) April 18, 2016
Unfortunately my foot still needs time to heal so had to withdraw from Madrid and Rome! Two great tournaments, I'll be there next year!??
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) April 18, 2016
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her round-robin win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Serena Williams leads the field on the Road to Singapore leaderboard after her 23rd Grand Slam triumph; who else features in the Top 8 after the Australian Open?
SINGAPORE – Svetlana Kuznetsova produced a stunning comeback to upset defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in a thrilling round-robin encounter at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Watch live action from Singapore on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
As the match entered the home straight, Kuznetsova’s arduous route to the start line looked to have taken its toll. Yet somehow she willed her ailing limbs back into life, recovering from match point down to win, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.
Kuznetsova only secured her place in Singapore with victory in Saturday afternoon’s Moscow final and for the first 15 minutes she looked off the pace, quickly falling 4-1 behind. Perhaps drawing confidence from her fine record against the Pole, Kuznetsova managed to drag herself level then pinch the set.
Radwanska, though, came roaring back, dominating the second set then moving a break ahead in the decider when Kuznetsova fired long. At the next changeover, the Russian hacked off her ponytail in a stunning move.
The new-look Kuznetsova promptly broke back and while not level for long, she refused to surrender. As she struck the ball with more conviction, Radwanska retreated into her shell, frittering away a match point at 5-4 with a nervous backhand into the net.
Sensing her moment, Kuznetsova continued to probe, restoring parity then moving ahead with a confident hold. A brilliant double-fisted backhand down the line brought the finishing line in sight and as the clock ticked towards the three-hour mark Radwanska found the net to finally surrender.
In Wuhan, she also came from match point down to defeat Radwanska. Talking to the press afterwards, though, she was at a loss to explain the hold she has over the World No.3: “I mean, I don’t know. I know that I won last two matches in last month against Aga being match point down both matches, so it’s very hard to say.
“I’m just trying my best when I play her. She’s really tough. She’s No.3 or 4 in the world, so, I mean, you better maybe ask her about it. I don’t know. I mean, we always have tough matches, but I guess somebody has to win and more times it’s for me.”
Kuznetsova has now won 21 three-set matches in 2016 – more than any other player on tour. “Sometimes it’s not easy, and sometimes you’re pulling through. I put aside that I’m tired, put aside the emotions, the jet lag – I didn’t want to think about it,” Kuznetsova said in her post match press conference. “We came here to fight, let’s put everything else to one side.”
Appearing in her sixth WTA Finals, Kuznetsova has never been beyond the round robin stage. Next she will face the winner of Monday’s other White Group match between Karolina Pliskova and Garbiñe Muguruza.
Roberta Vinci has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.