Tennis News

SINGAPORE – World No.1 Serena Williams and No.2 Angelique Kerber have secured the first two singles qualifications for this year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“Congratulations to Serena and Angelique on once again qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global,” said WTA CEO Steve Simon. “These two athletes are incredible ambassadors for the sport and we look forward to them showcasing their best tennis in Singapore this October. Serena continues to break records and add to her already extraordinary career, while Angie is having the best year of her career so far and has firmly established herself as one of the brightest stars of the tour. They are both fan-favorites and their passion and energy on court will be sure to electrify the Sports Hub.”

Williams has amassed an impressive 29-6 record at the year-end finale, winning five singles titles from seven appearances at the WTA Finals. The 34-year-old has claimed the Billie Jean King Trophy on each of her most recent four outings, including three successive victories from 2012 to 2014. This year will mark Williams’ 10th career appearance at the tournament.

“I’m very proud and excited to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore,” said Serena. “I have great memories of winning the title in Singapore in 2014 and being supported by so many fans. I can’t wait to be back in Singapore later this year to hopefully win my sixth Billie Jean King Trophy.”

The World No.1 has spent the majority of the season on top of the Road to Singapore Leaderboard, claiming her 70th and 71st career singles titles by winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and successfully defending her Wimbledon crown. In addition, she reached a further three singles finals at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, bringing her win-loss record so far this season to 33-5. Her triumph at the All England Club was especially poignant, with her seventh Wimbledon title equaling Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Her results this season have seen Williams extend her reign as the WTA’s World No.1 player, having now held the top spot for 307 weeks over the course of her career, sitting behind only Graf (377) and Martina Navratilova (332).

Fresh off her runner-up at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Kerber has secured her fourth appearance at the WTA Finals. Her first two appearances at the event were in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2012 and 2013 – highlighted by her win over then-No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska – followed by last year’s showing in Singapore, where she beat eventual runner-up Petra Kvitova in the round-robin stage.

This year Kerber will be bidding to advance to the semifinals for the first time, after being only one set away from doing so in 2015.

Twenty-eight-year-old Kerber has enjoyed her best season yet, compiling a 47-14 record, and reaching a career-high ranking of No.2 after clinching her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. She also defended her title in front of a home crowd at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart for her ninth career singles crown. In addition, the German reached four more finals so far this season: her second Grand Slam final at Wimbledon (falling to Williams in a re-match of the Australian Open final), a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, the Brisbane International, and Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

“I’m so happy to have qualified for the WTA Finals Singapore for the fourth time,” said Kerber. “It is one of the most important events of the year and we all fight to qualify in the Top 8. I have great memories from my other experiences at the tournament and I hope to play some great matches and win the title.”

The current Road to Singapore Leaderboard as follows (as of August 22, 2016):

The leaderboard is updated each Monday (every two weeks during Grand Slam events) and can be found at www.wtafinals.com.

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – No.2 seed Roberta Vinci made her way to the quarterfinals of the Connecticut Open for the first time after a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ana Konjuh.

Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“It was not an easy match,” Vinci admitted afterwards. “It’s always tough, the first round for me. She played well, but the court is so fast. I played consistent and tried to stay focused every point.”

Eighteen-year-old Konjuh was making her New Haven debut after coming through three rounds of qualifying, and she came out swinging against the No.2 seed. She brought up two break points right away against the Italian’s serve, unleashing her powerful groundstrokes to yank Vinci from line to line.

The Italian held on, though, and took advantage of a loose service game – including two double faults – to get the first break to love at 4-2. She rattled off another two games and took the opening set. The second set unfolded in the same pattern as the first, with Vinci grabbing two late breaks to take the match after just under an hour.

With the win Vinci advanced to the New Haven quarterfinal and notched her ever best result at New Haven, having reached just two second round appearances in 2011 and 2015.

“I love to play here in New Haven, I have great memories here from last year,” she said. “And now I’m in quarterfinals, for the first time, so I’m so happy. I will try my best for tomorrow.”

Vinci is set to play Johanna Larson in the next round for a spot in the semifinals.

Also in action today was lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens, who upset the higher-ranked Caroline Garcia, 7-6(3), 7-5.

Her reward? A quarterfinal clash with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

“She’s a great player, she’s very talented,” Flipkens said. “I’ve already had some matches against her in the past.

“I just hope that I can go out there and do my best and have a good match, no matter what the result.”

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Garbiñe Muguruza has had a season already defined by a breakthrough victory at the French Open, but inconsistencies elsewhere make the No.3 seed seem like something of an enigmatic factor – especially at the US Open, where she has won just one main draw match.

But the Spaniard cheerfully preached optimism at her pre-tournament press conference, emphasizing the importance of leaving last week’s disappointments behind her as she heads into the final Grand Slam of the season.

“Last year was a little bit tougher,” she said of her second round loss to future Top 10 contender Johanna Konta, “but I’m always positive when I go to a tournament. I always have, like, a new mindset. I’ve a new opportunity, and it’s a Grand Slam. I’m excited here. I love Grand Slams. I love New York. I’m looking forward to start and see what happens.”

It’s a mantra Muguruza has developed over time as she’s matured from the upstart youngster who stunned Serena Williams in the second round of Roland Garros to the seasoned champion two years later.

“More and more, it becomes clear that the Grand Slams are the tournaments where you have to kind of perform your best – or at least try. So when a Grand Slam is coming, you feel that you have to be more prepared. That’s the tournament.

“When you are younger, all the tournaments are like more equal or you’re more happy. Sometimes you really don’t know where you’re playing.

“Now over the years you realize, Hey, that’s the tournament I’ve got to be ready and hopefully win.”

Her two major finals have come on clay and grass, but the World No.3 is more than capable on hardcourts, taking impressive results from the Asian swing into a thunderous debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The next step for the Spaniard is to avoid the sort of lull in form seen at Wimbledon, where she fell in the second round to Jana Cepelova.

“When I went to play that match I felt, like, exhausted. Like I woke up that day like, ‘I have to play a match today. I feel tired.’ I think I learned more how to recover and concentrate my energy.

“Those matches are important ones, you know? Maybe I trained too much before or didn’t rest enough, or, I don’t know, there is something not balanced there that week.”

Balance will be key in dealing with the City That Never Sleeps, and the unrelenting traffic experienced by the players who opt to stay in the heart of the Big Apple.

“There is always traffic. There is always noise, people. I don’t know. Everything takes a lot of energy. It’s so crazy and they’ll say, ‘No, this is two blocks only!’

“I have to concentrate on time to rest, time for this, time for that – just schedule everything well. Priority is always to be rested so when you take a racquet, you know, you have energy to perform.”

With nonstop action every week, the WTA tour is always surprising and exciting. Now Dubai Duty Free, official partner of the WTA, brings you the “Always Full Of Surprises” video series to capture the most exciting moments.

What better way to kick things off than with Sara Errani’s huge win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships?

“There is no explanation,” Errani said of the victory, one of the biggest of her career. “Of course you work to be ready to the matches, but you never know which days you can play better or worse.”

Check out the video above and keep your eyes peeled for more surprises!

DOHA, Qatar – On Tuesday evening, Angelique Kerber found out just how hard life is with a target on her back, slipping to a shock straight set defeat at the hands of Zheng Saisai in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

World No.73 Zheng made a mockery of her lowly ranking to stun the recently crowned Australian Open champion, 7-5, 6-1, in an hour and 20 minutes.

Zheng becomes only the fourth Chinese player in history to defeat one of the world’s Top 2. In the third round she will face Eugenie Bouchard.

“The feeling is amazing here today,” Zheng said. “Kerber was amazing at the Australian Open and a great champion. For sure it wasn’t her best tennis today, but I’m happy I won that match.”

An accomplished doubles player, Zheng utilized her all-court nous to take the match to Kerber, with 11 of her 17 winners coming at the net. “She’s unbelievable at running so the only way I could win the point sometimes was by coming to the net!”

Zheng complemented her positive tennis with a defensive performance that would have made Kerber proud, coughing up a miserly eight unforced errors.

The decisive moment in the opening set came in the 11th game, Zheng turning the screw with a miraculous stop volley to earn a break point. Kerber wilted under the pressure, hoicking a forehand into the tramlines in a vain attempt to breach the underdog’s defenses.

Confidence now coursing through her game, Zheng raced through the second set, breaking three more times to seal a famous victory.

Kerber, in her first outing on tour since triumphing Down Under, made 38 unforced errors throughout and admitted it was a bad day at the office.

“Actually I was practicing very well in the last few days. But today my practice this morning was not the best. So I was not feeling good from the beginning.

“I think you have sometimes days like this. Of course it’s sad that’s the first round here in Doha for me. Still, I mean, it was not my day. That’s all I can say.”

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Sloane Stephens is through to her second WTA quarterfinal of the year at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, dispatching Olga Govortsova in straight sets.

The No.2 seeded American, who started off the year with a title in Auckland, was the highest-ranked player left in the draw after Victoria Azarenka withdrew earlier in the day due to a left wrist injury.

Stephens started out the match drawing first blood, breaking Govortsova’s serve at love. The Belarusian broke right back, and the two stayed level until Stephens came away with a second break after a tough game at 3-2. The nose ahead was what she needed to win the set, taking it 6-4 in a fierce line-to-line rally that saw Govortsova bury a forehand into the net at set point.

From then on Stephens was nearly untouchable. Govortsova threw every weapon in the book at her opponent but the American wouldn’t be denied, going on to close the match 6-4, 6-1.

“Today was good, I was happy to get the win,” Stephens said after the match. “I played solid – Govortosova is always a tough opponent to play.”

Stephens is set to face Naomi Osaka in the next round. The Japanese wildcard turned heads in Melbourne after her run to the third round of the Australian Open. Now She’s backing up those signs of promise, now into her career first WTA quarterfinal after a straight sets win over Mariana Duque-Mariño, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Great Britain’s Johanna Konta, however, came up short against the unseeded but always dangerous Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The No.4 seed saved two match points in the third set, down 2-5 against the Croatian, and even managed to hang on to even things out at 5-5. She couldn’t complete the comeback, falling to Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.