Tennis News

MIAMI, FL, USA – Before heading off to Puerto Rico next week for her big Olympic welcome, Monica Puig made a stopover in her hometown of Miami for a quick cuddle with her new dog Rio and the first leg of her media whirlwind.

While in town the gold medalist, who made history for her country by becoming the first Puerto Rican athlete ever to win a gold medal hit Telemundo’s Miami studios for her first televised interview since her big win in Rio.

Telemundo time!!!! ☀️? pic.twitter.com/N6yf54AWBQ

— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) August 17, 2016

“I’m still super emotional,” Puig told the morning talk show Un Nuevo Día. “I don’t even know how to talk about it because I still feel like I’m living a dream.”

“It’s been a long year with a lot of sacrifices, but everything’s worked out well for me so I can’t complain.”

Puig also shared the meaning of her social media rallying cry, the hashtag #PicaPower. The tag comes from the saying “picar piedras,” meaning “to break rocks” and is Spanish slang for working long and hard at small tasks for small rewards.

“You’ve got to break a lot of rocks to accomplish what you want,” she said.

? Ya está en casita @MonicaAce93 #PuertoRico ??primera medalla de oro olímpica #Rio2016 #TelemundoRio ??? pic.twitter.com/FYiqp8PjU1

— Un Nuevo Día (@UnNuevoDia) August 17, 2016

Puig was joined on the show by Grammy-winning merengue singer Elvis Crespo, who surprised her by dedicating a rendition of the iconic song “Qué Bonita Bandera” to the island’s new national hero.

The singer even performed an ode to her Olympic feat to a merengue version of “La Borinqueña,” Puerto Rico’s official anthem, which was heard at the Olympics for the first time ever last week.

¡Emoción total! Mónica Puig, acompañada de su mami y Elvis Crespo. Esta mañana en @UnNuevoDia #HolaUSA #PicaPower pic.twitter.com/0vhXxCvnvF

— HOLA! USA (@USAHOLA) August 17, 2016

Chinese New Year is Monday, February 8, and in the spirit of the holidays we’re looking at the Chinese Zodiac, where each of the 12 years in the cycle is represented by an animal sign and thus their reputed attributes: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

2016 is the Year of the Monkey, which makes it an extra special Chinese New Year for former No.1 Venus Williams and Fed Cup heroine Karolina Pliskova, who led the Czech Republic to a 3-2 victory over Romania this weekend with three wins in singles and doubles. Most auspiciously, Williams and Pliskova ended the 2015 season by reaching the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai final, which the American won to finish the year ranked inside the Top 10 for the first time in five years.

Which animals are the Top 50 players on the WTA? The birth years range from 1980 to 1997…

Monkey (1980, 1992)
Venus Williams
Karolina Pliskova

Rooster (1981, 1993)
Serena Williams
Garbiñe Muguruza
Caroline Garcia
Sloane Stephens
Kristina Mladenovic
Monica Puig

Dog (1982, 1994)
Flavia Pennetta
Elina Svitolina
Annika Beck
Daria Gavrilova
Alison Van Uytvanck
Margarita Gasparyan
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova
Danka Kovinic

Pig (1983, 1995)
Roberta Vinci
Madison Keys

Rat (1984, 1996)
Samantha Stosur

Ox (1985, 1997)
Jelena Jankovic
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Belinda Bencic

Tiger (1986)
Barbora Strycova
Varvara Lepchenko

Rabbit (1987)
Lucie Safarova
Maria Sharapova
Sara Errani
Andrea Petkovic
Monica Niculescu
Ana Ivanovic

Dragon (1988)
Ekaterina Makarova
Angelique Kerber
Carla Suárez Navarro

Snake (1989)
Agnieszka Radwanska
Lesia Tsurenko
Sabine Lisicki
Timea Bacsinszky
Victoria Azarenka

Horse (1990)
Petra Kvitova
Caroline Wozniacki
Alizé Cornet
Irina-Camelia Begu
Mona Barthel

Sheep (1991)
Johanna Konta
Simona Halep
Camila Giorgi
CoCo Vandeweghe
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber began her quest to become World No.1 in earnest on Wednesday, dispatching the always dangerous Kristina Mladenovic, 6-0, 7-5, to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open.

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

“It wasn’t so easy to come to a tournament with just one or two days to prepare, and first rounds are always tough,” she told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “But I was trying to play my game, and it’s so nice to be back in Cincinnati; I have great memories from the last few years, and the fans are amazing. It’s just so nice to be back here on the Center Court.”

Kerber arrived in Cincinnati fresh off her run to the final of the Olympic tennis event – where she became the first German woman since Stefanie Graf in 1992 to medal in tennis.

“It was really special, one of the really special weeks in my career so far. Winning a medal was a dream; when I was young, I was the Olympics at home and to go back home with a medal right now is an incredible feeling. I had an incredible week there.”

The World No.2 ultimately showed few showed few signs of fatigue against Mladenovic, who was playing her second match of the day after Tuesday’s rain interrupted her first round match against Kateryna Bondarenko. While both players hit 18 winners, it was Kerber’s consistency that won the day, with 20 unforced errors to 44 from the Frenchwoman, who was a game from forcing a deciding set before the German clinched the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

Up next for Kerber is the unseeded and looming World No.20 Barbora Strycova; the Olympic Bronze medalist in women’s doubles will be playing with Co-No.1 Sania Mirza for the first time this week in Cincinnati, but has been equally impressively in singles this season. Surviving a topsy-turvy first set against No.14 seed Samantha Stosur, Strycova saved a set point in the first set tie-break – and needing six of her own – to ultimately beat the Aussie, 7-6(11), 6-3.

Kerber leads their head-to-head 4-1 but the two have split their 2016 meetings and Strycova won their most recent encounter at the Mutua Madrid Open.

It’s an important week for the reigning Australian Open champion and Wimbledon finalist; should she win the Western & Southern Open title, she would end Serena Williams’ 183 straight weeks atop the WTA rankings and become the top seed at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.

.@AngeliqueKerber ❤️'s #CincyTennis fans! https://t.co/lO2TkF8k6G

— WTA (@WTA) August 18, 2016

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Twelve of 16 seeds remain in Cincinnati, and they will all be battling for a spot in the Western & Southern Open quarterfinals on Thursday. Chris Oddo previews the must-see sweet 16 match-ups for wtatennis.com.

Thursday, Third Round

Center Court
[3] Simona Halep (ROU #4) vs. Daria Gavrilova (AUS #47)
Head-to-head: Halep leads, 2-1

Key Stat: Halep stretched her win streak to 11 with a straight-sets victory over Annika Beck.
Eleven wins and counting. It’s plain to see that things are going along swimmingly for Romania’s Simona Halep these days. She has not lost since Wimbledon and the World No.4 picked up some extra confidence with a breezy second-round win over Germany’s Beck on Wednesday in Cincinnati. “I feel confident,” she said after working her way past Beck in 55 minutes. “I had pretty good tournaments before coming here and I feel my game.” Halep has already been in Cincinnati for a week, and says that the conditions suit her in more ways than one. “I came Wednesday or Thursday,” she said. “That helped me a lot to play today because I have many days to prepare. I like these courts. I like that they’re faster a little bit and the ball is a bit heavier. I like these conditions.” Will the conditions favor Halep when she takes on Aussie qualifier Daria Gavrilova? The 22-year-old has already won four matches in Cincinnati, the latest and most impressive over Elina Svitolina. The No.3 seed will come in as the favorite, but Gavrilova already owns three Top 10 wins this season – one of which came against Halep in Rome – and is certainly capable of the upset.

Pick: Halep in three

[5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #5) vs. [10] Johanna Konta (GBR #13)
Head-to-head: First meeting

Key Stat: Konta comes in with a 4-3 record versus the Top 10 in 2016.
Johanna Konta made a successful Queen City debut against World No.121 Donna Vekic and the British No.1 is happy to have another chance for a big win on Thursday against Agnieszka Radwanska. “I am very happy to have gotten through that and just give myself another shot at coming back tomorrow and keep trying to get better,” Konta said after recording her 32nd victory of the season. Konta says that her success in 2016 has been a product of hard work and learning from experience. “I keep trying to do that every time I step out onto the court, to keep basically taking everything from the match that I’m playing and try to reinvest it into the following matches,” she said. “I think I’ve been able to do a good job at just reinvesting those experiences and becoming that much tougher.” She’ll have to be super tough to get past Thursday’s opponent. Agnieszka Radwanska raced past Andrea Petkovic on Wednesday, dropping just one game in the process. The three-time Cincinnati quarterfinalist will meet Konta for the first time and will look to test the powerful Brit with her variety, creativity and defense. Will Konta be up for the challenge?

Pick: Radwanska in three

Grandstand
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. Barbora Strycova (CZE #20)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads 4-1Key Stat: Kerber could ascend to the No. 1 ranking with the title in Cincinnati.
With Serena Williams out of the draw with a shoulder injury, the No.1 ranking is in play this week for Angelique Kerber. It’s certainly a big deal, and the media has rightfully placed a lot of attention on it, but the World No.2 is too smart to fall into that mind trap. “No, that’s not on my mind,” Kerber said after defeating Kristina Mladenovic in her second-round match on Wednesday. “Of course everybody is talking about this and asking me, but at the end it’s still a long way to go. There are really tough opponents here in the draw and I’m not thinking about this. I’m just trying to go step by step, and at the end of the week we will see how far I can get and what will happen.” Kerber will leave the ranking talk to the media and instead focus her attention on her next opponent, Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic. The talented 30-year-old is fresh off a bronze medal in doubles at the Olympics, plus wins over Eugenie Bouchard and Sam Stosur here in Cincinnati. Kerber has the 4-1 edge over the Czech, but Strycova took their last meeting in straight-sets in Madrid.

Pick: Kerber in two

Stadium 3
[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. [16] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS #18)
Head-to-head: Muguruza leads, 2-0

Key Stat: Muguruza earned her first win at Cincinnati by beating CoCo Vandeweghe on Wednesday.
Garbiñe Muguruza earned her first win at Cincinnati on Wednesday, easing past hard-serving American CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets. Will she be able to back it up against an in-form opponent with a spot in the last eight on the line? Muguruza seems to be settling back into a dominant posture after a forgettable summer on the grass. Aside from her thumping at the hands of Monica Puig in Rio, Muguruza has won the other six sets she’s played on the hard courts. Is that enough for the Spaniard to build on ahead of what promises to be a hard-hitting tilt with Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Thursday? The 25-year-old has been a player on the rise this summer, reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and claiming wins in nine of her last twelve. Though she has lost both matches she’s played against Muguruza, Pavlyuchenkova has won three of her last six against the Top 10. On the fast hardcourts at Cincinnati, this should be a dizzying display of power tennis between two players that embrace the grip it and rip it mentality.

Pick: Pavlyuchenkova in three

By the numbers…
306 – Number of consecutive weeks that Serena Williams has held the No. 1 ranking, which is third-most all time behind Navratilova (332) and Graf (377).
47 – The position of the lowest-ranked player remaining in the draw (Gavrilova).
12 – Number of seeded players that have advanced to the sweet 16 in Cincinnati.
3 – Number of qualifiers (Timea Babos, Gavrilova) plus lucky losers (Misaki Doi) in the round of 16.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – It is fair to say that Ana Ivanovic has not enjoyed an easy ride so far in 2016.

Early exits in Auckland and Sydney were followed by emotional third-round defeat to Madison Keys at the Australian Open. In this final match, Ivanovic’s coach, Nigel Sears, was rushed to hospital after collapsing in the stands on Rod Laver. 

“It was obviously very hard. It was a serious moment, he went to the hospital, it was difficult to me to keep playing the same way, because I was really worried,” Ivanovic said. “I knew he was in the hospital, but I didn’t know the details.

“After the match I had some mixed messages. Now he feels good, he is here with me. He took some weeks to recover. He is fine.”

Last week, Sears was back on the practice court, preparing his charge for her return at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Staged at the Sibur Arena, the tournament is one of a dwindling number of indoor events on the WTA calendar.

After her travails Down Under, Ivanovic for one is looking forward to moving indoors. “I think it’s similar to a lot of indoor events. I feel really good, I have had a couple of practices, though on the training courts only.

“I find the surface is very effective, and it suits my game well, you need to hit through the ball well and it’s nice.”

There will be no easing back into competitive action, though; Ivanovic – the recipient of a first-round bye, will open her campaign against the in-form Margarita Gasparyan on Wednesday evening.

“I think especially for the women it’s very important to play match by match. Honestly, I saw the draw and I thought the first match is tough,” Ivanovic, who is looking to end a 13-month title drought, said.

“If I could win a title here, it would be my dream. It’s a tough draw, a lot of good players, I’m going to fight and work hard.”

21-year-old Elina Svitolina announced that seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin would join her coaching team on her website.

Justine rejoint la team Svitolina! Elle pourra transmettre son expérience et ses précieux conseils à la joueuse… https://t.co/Hm5S8xMApx

— Justine Henin (@Justine_Henin) February 11, 2016

Svitolina has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings in the last two seasons, earning four Top 10 wins – two over reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber – and making her Top 20 debut last spring, following a run to the quarterfinals of the French Open. Looking to make the next step in her career ascent, Svitolina has been after Henin’s expertise since the off-season.

Neither Svitolina nor Henin are the tallest to ever play the game – Svitolina stands at 5’9″ to Henin’s 5’5″ – but the Belgian unleashed a barrage of unbridled aggression combined with an unflappable competitive spirit to finish as the Year-End No.1 three times, win a hat-trick of French Open titles from 2005-2007 (four in total), along with an Olympic Gold Medal in 2004 – recovering from 1-5 in the final set of her semifinal against Anastasia Myskina to dispatch Amélie Mauresmo in the final.

Retiring in 2008, Henin returned to tennis two years later, reaching the Australian Open final in the first major appearance of her comeback, falling to World No.1 Serena Williams in three thrilling sets.

Svitolina already has strong competitive instincts, winning a majority of her three-set matches in 2015, but could certainly benefit from a dose of Henin’s aggressive tactics that may encourage her to step into the court and dictate play more often.

Whatever happens, Henin’s addition to the coaching community has certainly left the tennis world intrigued:

J Henin to start coaching Svitolina. Great news for WTA??. One of the legends!

— Magnus Norman (@normansweden) February 11, 2016

Interesting 1st coaching gig https://t.co/fejk4rnMDf

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) February 11, 2016