50 Most Popular Players Of 2016: 40-31
This week wtatennis.com is counting down the 50 most clicked-on players, continuing with No.40 to No.31. Find out who made the cut…
This week wtatennis.com is counting down the 50 most clicked-on players, continuing with No.40 to No.31. Find out who made the cut…
Which adorable WTA pet ruled social media in 2016? Click here to vote!
Led by Cagla Buyukakcay and Ipek Soylu, the WTA family shares their support for Turkey in light of the attack in Turkey; here are a collection of tweets from players, past and present.
The 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta revealed on Twitter that she is expecting her first child with husband Fabio Fognini. See the message right here!
Annika Beck snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to end British No.2 Heather Watson’s Wimbledon hopes for another year.
Qualifier Jana Cepelova pulled off a stunning upset for the second straight year at the All England Club, ousting French Open champ and No.2 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets.
Ball kids, chair umpires, physios and more: take a look back at the best of WTA Behind the Tour!
Madison Keys has confirmed she is once again working with former No.1 Lindsay Davenport as her coach.
Under Davenport’s tutelage, the 21-year-old American made her first major semifinal in 2015, beating Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams to make the Australian Open semifinals. Their partnership ended after that season due to scheduling problems, but Keys confirmed on Friday that Davenport will be her coach in 2017.
“I am very excited to be working with Lindsay again as she’s helped me reach great results in the past and we make an excellent team,” Keys wrote on Twitter.
Unfortunately the partnership won’t debut on court for at least another month. Keys also announced she would be unable to compete at the Australian Open next month as she is still recovering from off-season arthoscopic wrist surgery. When entry lists were released earlier this month, Keys’ name was notably absent from any Australian Open lead-up tournaments.
“While I’ve been training with Lindsay and at USTA in Orlando for a few weeks, I don’t want to rush back and need to take my time to be fully able to perform at my best on court,” Keys said.
pic.twitter.com/MoWzWDoq80
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) December 23, 2016
Keys is coming off her most consistent season to date, finishing the season at No.8 after qualifying for her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in October. After the season she announced a surprise split with veteran coach Thomas Hogstedt due to personality conflicts.
With Davenport she has reunited with a close friend and mentor who has keen insight into Keys’ familiar, powerful game.
Born on November 6, 1987, Ivanovic made her WTA debut in 2003, and played her first main draw in 2004. By the start of 2005, Ivanovic won her first of 15 career titles in Canberra, where, as a qualifier, she earned the rare distinction of beating the same player twice at the same event. She ousted Melinda Czink in the final round of qualifying, and later in the final.
A few months after winning her first title, Ivanovic burst out onto the global stage with a big win over Amélie Mauresmo en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros.
Ana was quickly becoming a household name as she cultivated a legion of fans, who tuned in to watch her win her second career title in 2006, defeating Martina Hingis in straight sets at the Rogers Cup.
In just her third French Open appearance, Ivanovic roared into her first major final, dispatching Maria Sharapova in the semifinals with the loss of just three games.
Ana finished runner-up to Justine Henin, but it was clear a star had been born.
Proving to be a player for all surfaces, Ivanovic went on to the very next major – the 2007 Wimbledon Championships – and reached the semifinals, winning a classic encounter against Nicole Vaidisova along the way.
Ivanovic played her third major semifinal out of four at the 2008 Australian Open, where she staged an odds-defying comeback against Daniela Hantuchova to reach her second Grand Slam final.
Ana was proving more ready for primetime, losing a tense two-setter to Sharapova in Melbourne. Undaunted, Ivanovic went on to win the BNP Paribas Open, but the best was yet to come.
It all came together for Ivanovic that year in Paris, where she played her best tennis of her career to win her maiden major title.
Ana mounted another epic comeback against countrywoman Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals, which helped her become one of just 22 women in WTA history to ascend to World No.1. Ivanovic held onto the top spot for a total of 12 weeks.
Ivanovic was on top of the world, defeating Dinara Safina in straight sets to not only win her first match as No.1, but also the 2008 French Open title.
As champion, Ivanovic earned $1.55 million; throughout her career, she earned $15.5 million on the court, the 20th-highest total of all time.
Injuries and inconsistencies plagued her next two seasons, but the Serb still showed some thrilling tennis indoors, winning back-to-back titles at the WTA Tournament of Champions in Bali, along with two titles in three years in Linz.
Ana achieved the Career Last Eight Club honor at the 2012 US Open. Reaching her first quarterfinal in Flushing, Ivanovic fell to eventual champion Serena Williams.
Ivanovic avenged the loss less than two years later, where she took one of the biggest wins of her career at the 2014 Australian Open, outlasting the then-World No.1 in three sets.
Ivanovic qualified for the WTA Finals three times in her career; her stellar 2014 season helped her return to Singapore for the first time since 2008.
After winning a career-best four titles and 58 matches in 2014, Ivanovic kicked off 2015 by playing one of the best finals of the year, narrowly losing the Brisbane International final to Sharapova in a three-set thriller.
The rest of 2015 saw her struggle with more injuries, but the Serb saved some magic for the French Open, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2008 at the tournament where it all began for Ivanovic.
Ivanovic qualified for three Olympic Games, playing two in 2012 and 2016. Her last Olympic appearance came in Rio de Janeiro.
Ivanovic played her final career match at the US Open, and announced her retirement on Wednesday, December 28, 2016.
LONDON, England – Serena and Venus Williams capped off a satisfying day at Wimbledon by teaming up to defeat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in an entertaining doubles encounter.
A busy afternoon for the family began with Venus taking on Yaroslava Shvedova on No.1 Court. No sooner had she secured a place in her first major semifinal since 2010 then the Williams clan were hot-footing it to Centre Court in time to see little sister take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Serena kept her quest for history on track with a straightforward win over the Russian, leaving a couple of hours to ready herself for the evening’s doubles date.
Four summers ago, the sisters overcame Hlavackova and Hradecka in competitive finals at both Wimbledon and the Olympics. Once again the Czechs gave a good account of themselves, and once again they were left disappointed when Venus swatted away a backhand volley to close out a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
“The schedule’s challenging. I won’t deny. Especially with the weather, that sort of thing,” Venus said. “Thankfully it’s been better the last few days. We love the doubles. There’s been so many doubles titles. That’s been very special for us. We’re going to give it everything we got.”
Joining them in the last eight are compatriots Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears. Taking on the gifted yet inexperienced pairing of Daria Gavrilova and Daria Kasatkina, Atawo and Spears were in control throughout, dominating on serve and closing out a 6-3, 6-3 victory in just over an hour.
“We love playing on the grass together, and I think that our strategy of covering the net a bit more than other teams bothered them a bit and they never really got into a groove,” Atawo said.
“We practice these sort of situations a lot. We practice our communication during the points. It really does comes down to practice.”
In the draw’s outstanding second-round encounter, No.4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina returned for a third set shoot-out with Annika Beck and Yanina Wickmayer.
Twenty-four hours earlier Vesnina had edged out her long-time partner in a titanic fourth-round singles battle. Back on the same side of the net, there was no lingering ill-feeling as the Russians completed their comeback win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.