Happy Barty Hails Hard Work In Malaysia
The loquacious Ashleigh Barty was uncharacteristically short of words after winning her first singles title at the ALYA Malaysian Open.
The loquacious Ashleigh Barty was uncharacteristically short of words after winning her first singles title at the ALYA Malaysian Open.
SINGAPORE – The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is under a fortnight away and once again fans have the chance to get closer to that action thanks to the Official WTA Finals Mobile App, Created by SAP.
The app provides access to exclusive tournament content, including:
* Virtual Replay – the ability for fans to view, track and replay ball movement
* Leaderboard Stats – a player comparison tool tracking aces, fastest serves and a whole host of other information
* Player Notifications – keep up to date with all the news about your favorite players
* Fan Zone – a social media hub where fans can participate in live polls and engage on Twitter and Facebook
Before heading to the desert for Indian Wells, Garbiñe Muguruza and Venus Williams stopped at New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the BNP Paribas Showdown.
Played in honor of World Tennis Day, the 10th anniversary of the BNP Paribas showdown was a night of exhibition matches that pitted the world’s best players against each other.
Venus and Garbiñe were joined by some of the ATP’s past and present stars like: Jack Sock, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios, Kei Nishikori and Lleyton Hewitt.
Before the Showdown, the players took to the JW Marriott Essex House for a meet and greet, where they signed lots of autographs.
This year’s Showdown pitted Team America against Team World. Garbiñe and Kei represented Team World, alongside Nick Kyrgios and Lleyton Hewitt…
…with Venus and Andy representing Team America, alongside Jack Sock and Juan Martin del Potro.
Madison Square Garden was packed on Monday night as the BNP Paribas Showdown kicked off.
Players take the court for a night of fun and world-class tennis.
Venus teamed up with Juan Martin for mixed doubles.
They took on Team World’s Garbiñe and Kei.
It was Team World who emerged victorious, winning 5-3 against America.
In fact, it wasn’t a good day at the office for Team America, as Team World won almost every match.
Venus rescued Team America from a total shutout, though.
She beat Garbiñe 5-4 for Team America’s lone win.
Shuai Zhang and Fangzhou Liu headed to the Hai riverside to do one of the quintessentially Tianjin tourist things: take a photo with the Tianjin Eye, the only Ferris wheel in the world built on a bridge.
They enjoyed all the rest of the sights that the city had to offer from the comfort of an open top bus!
Monica Puig swapped out her tennis racquet for a bicycle.
She helped kick off the 2016 China 1200km Cycling Challenge Final.
Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska was popular in the press room.
She served up some aces in the kitchen too, learning some Chinese cuisine staples during her off time.
Looks delicious, Aga!
WTA President Micky Lawler stopped by the Tianjin Open’s exhibition wall to check out some vintage tennis gear.
Danka Kovinic and her fan made a heart shape! (But check out that art behind them, too.)
Meanwhile, the WTA Chair Umpires where out on court working hard…
…while the Tianjin ballkids took a break!
Yafan Wang met the tournament’s mascots.
And Alison Riske signed lots and lots of autographs.
23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams announced her withdrawal from both the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open due to a left knee injury.
The finalists for the 2016 WTA Player Of The Year awards were announced just hours ago, but Serena Williams has already cast her vote.
Eagle-eyed Instagram users spotted the former World No.1 leaving a comment on the WTA’s Instagram page that left little doubt as to which player she thought had the best season, and it’s no surprise who she voted for.
Serena has cast her vote for @WTA Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/9WcckWn8WK
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 14, 2016
Did you catch it? Here’s who Serena voted for in the 2016 WTA Player Of The Year award:
The comment comes as no surprise, as the pair’s fierce rivalry this year has played out across two Grand Slam finals, with Kerber winning her maiden major title at the Australian Open and Serena later getting her revenge at Wimbledon in her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.
Kerber finally unseated Serena as the WTA World No.1 in September after the German won the US Open, but Serena had foreseen her rise much earlier than that.
After her loss in the final in Melbourne back in January, an introspective Serena was asked about Kerber’s rise to World No.2, and she had this to say:
QUESTION: Pretty deserved No. 2 in the world now?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think so. I mean, she’s had a great month. She got to the finals in Brisbane. She won here. So, yeah. I was surprised and really happy for her. I’m like, Whoa, No. 2.
What’s after 2 is 1, so I guess I better be careful (laughter).
Monica Puig takes on Danielle Collins in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
LINZ, Austria – No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova edged past No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro in straight sets to reach the final at the Generali Ladies Linz, her fourth WTA final of the year.
Both players came into Linz with Singapore on the mind, hoping to grab a last-minute qualification spot into the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
With the victory Cibulkova, who currently sits ninth on the Road To Singapore leaderboard, takes a big step toward qualifying for the season-ending event; she will qualify if she wins the title, so long as Svetlana Kuznetsova doesn’t win at the Tianjin Open.
“It’s a good feeling to know that I have a chance at the Finals,” Cibulkova said. “That’s why I came here. I knew that I needed to reach the final or win the tournament to have something from it, and I just handled that so good.”
Cibulkova opened the match with a comfortable service hold, but against the tricky Spaniard things quickly became complicated. The pair went on to break each other’s serve nine consecutive times in the opening set, and Cibulkova’s lone hold proved to be decisive as she took the set 6-4.
The Slovak held her ground in the second set, attacking Suárez Navarro’s one-handed backhand with her aggressive forehands, and she broke twice to take the match 6-4, 6-3 in just under an hour and a half.
Cibulkova will face Viktorija Golubic in the final after the Swiss player received a walkover in to the final from Madison Keys. Keys withdrew from her semifinal match due to respiratory illness.
“Maybe physically it’s an advantage for her, but this match against Carla gave me special confidence,” Cibulkova said of her opponent’s day off. “I just want finish here with a good feeling and go for it, and just keep playing like today.”
Jelena Ostapenko scored her first win at the BNP Paribas Open while Monica Niculescu emerged victorious from an all-Romanian clash – catch up on more Day 1 results right here.
Hong Kong, SAR – Caroline Wozniacki re-asserted an unwavering desire to return to the top of the women’s game, one she continues to prove by winning her 25th career WTA title at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.
“You know your body, and I knew it was going to take a while for me to get back and be back at 100%,” she said after beating Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-2 in the final.
The Dane has struggled with injuries this season, being forced to withdraw from the French Open and tumbing down to a low of World No.74; had she lost her three-set tussle to Taylor Townsend in Flushing, she would have been out of the Top 100.
Her fortunes quickly changed; she earned impressive wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys before falling to eventual champion Angelique Kerber in what was her first Grand Slam semifinal in exactly two years.
She brought that good form into the Asian Swing, where she won a pair of titles, both here and at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
“I never doubted that I could come back and make it here because I’ve worked too hard my whole life on my fitness to keep my body in shape. I was like, ‘It’s going to be okay, where it’s going to be a month, two months, four months.’
“I knew eventually I would be back.”
Mladenovic appeared to be struggling with an injury, requiring lengthy treatment before the start of the second set. Wozniacki conceded that the delay was an unwelcome distraction.
“Obviously it wasn’t easy mentally, because sometimes she would look like she couldn’t play then run like Speedy Gonzalez. It was definitely a mental game.”
Wozniacki is keen to earn that elusive Grand Slam title, but refuses to set herself targets for the future.
“It’s the thing I’m missing on my CV, I just work hard, that’s all I can do,” she explained.
“It’s great winning trophies, it’s what we play for. I’m very pleased with my week this week, I played some good tennis, I’m proud of how I managed to win.”