Tennis News

The WTA’s all-star cast battle it out for wins, titles and ranking points all year long – but who is getting the most clicks? This week, wtatennis.com will count down the Top 50 Most Popular Players Of 2016.

Next up on the list will be No.30 to No.21! Find out who made the cut…

30. Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Osaka is big in Japan – where she reached her first WTA final at the Toray Pan Pacific Open this year – but the teenager is quite popular on wtatennis.com, too!

29. Daria Gavrilova (AUS)
The Russian-born Aussie started the year by winning the Hopman Cup for Australia and ended it by reaching her first WTA final at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

28. Barbora Strycova (CZE)
The always-energetic Czech earned her career high ranking of No.16 this year on the back of two finals appearances this year, at Dubai and Birmingham.

27. Laura Siegemund (GER)
Siegemund burst onto the scene this year in Stuttgart, where she reached her first WTA final in front of her home crowd, then went on to win the title in Bastad.

26. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)
The famously consistent Suárez Navarro stayed true to form in 2016, finishing inside the Top 20 for the fourth year in a row after capturing her second career title in Doha.

25. Daria Kasatkina (RUS)
Russian teenager Kasatkina continued her meteoric rise in 2016; she finished the year at No.26, 45 spots higher than how she started, and reached a career high of No.24.

24. Elina Svitolina (UKR)
Defeating two reigning World No.1s, a career high ranking of No.14 and a fourth WTA title at Kuala Lumpur are the highlights of the ascendant Svitolina’s best season to date.

23. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
A busy spring saw the charismatic Swiss reach a career high ranking of No.9 after reaching the semifinals in Miami and capturing a title in Rabat.

22. Kiki Bertens (NED)
The young Dutch player capped off a career-best season with a title in Nurnberg and a run to the Gstaad final, finishing just outside of the Top 20.

21. Roberta Vinci (ITA)
The Italian veteran – who won the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy title this year – remains as popular as ever and her decision to play on in 2017 has delighted her many fans.

Come back to wtatennis.com on Wednesday for No.20 to No.11 on the list…
No.50 to No.41
No.40 to No.31

WUHAN, China – Dominika Cibulkova completed her arduous journey to the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final with a thrilling victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova

Watch live action from Wuhan on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

After over two and half hours of thrilling tennis, Cibulkova added the finishing touch to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory by thumping a backhand onto the baseline. In the final she will face the winner of Friday’s evening session, Petra Kvitova.

“It feels great. I’m really tired right now, but the feeling to be in the final is unbelievable, and that’s why I love it,” Cibulkova said. “It’s just a great win for me today.”

Cibulkova’s path to the final has been far from straightforward. Rain earlier in the week forced the Slovak to play both her last 16 and quarterfinal matches on Thursday, making the level of play against Kuznetsova all the more remarkable.

“I would say that nothing has been easy here. I’ve had really tough matches from the first round so you don’t expect anything easy from this tournament. I’m really looking forward to another final and I want to keep going, keep playing like this,” Cibulkova added.

Didn't expect Cibulkova to have enough left in the tank for a performance like that. Love her attitude+it's another final @wuhanopentennis

— Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) 30 September 2016

Outthought and outfought in the first set, Cibulkova went back to the drawing board at the start of the second. Her change of tack reaped immediate dividends, bookending a trademark drive volley with a couple of perfectly executed drop shots to break in the opening game.

“I have my notes with me [on court] for a couple of years now and it’s helping me, so it’s nothing new for me but it’s something that keeps me focused and helps me remember things to do – it’s just a reminder for me. But it helped me today.”

While this advantage did not last for long, the tide was turning, Cibulkova taking four of the last five games to force a decider.

With the contest in the balance, Cibulkova somehow managed to summon her best tennis. Serving at 4-4, 15-30, she finished a series of energy sapping points with spectacular winners to edge ahead. This sequence seemed to drain the belief from Kuznetsova, who soon found herself staring at three match points. One was enough, Cibulkova pouncing on an inviting serve to reach her fifth final of the season.

The result not only guarantees a return to the Top 10 but also boosts her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time. She will now occupy one of the eight qualification spots on Monday, regardless of the result in the final. 

BEIJING, China – World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza kicked off her Beijing title defense with a hard-fought win over Irina Camelia Begu, emerging victorious from the early test to move into the second round of the China Open.

Watch live action from Beijing on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Though a spate of unforced errors from the forehand wing left Muguruza vulnerable and allowed Begu to grab the first set, the Spaniard recovered and notched a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory after an hour and fifty minutes.

“I think it’s very, very satisfying when you go to a tournament where you know you played well, you feel welcome,” Muguruza said after the match. “But honestly, this was last year. Nobody really is thinking about who won last year. It’s all about who is going to win this year, who is winning.

“I’m just going for my match, just concentrating the next one.”

Muguruza also kept her bid for Singapore on track as she eyes a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“Definitely Singapore was a great motivation to try to find my spot,” Muguruza admitted. “Well, Beijing is one of the biggest tournaments we have, so for sure I have a great opportunity to do it well and qualify.”

Also into the second round, Belinda Bencic advanced past Annicka Beck in straight sets. In a match that featured 10 breaks of serve, it was Bencic who edged through 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 17 minutes.

Wildcard Sabine Lisicki had a more straightforward path, powering past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva and Yanina Wickmayer are also through, with Putintseva weathering a stern challenge from 19-year-old wunderkind Jelena Ostapenko to advance 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. Meanwhile, Wickmayer added to Monica Puig’s post-Olympic woes, beating the Puerto Rican 6-2, 6-0 and handing her the worst defeat since the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

Jovana Jaksic was on the precipice of a Top 100 debut at 21 years old; two years later, the big-hitting Serb has set out to make the 2017 season one in which she rebuilds a ranking beset by injuries and inconsistency.

“A lot of matches did not go my way in 2016,” she confesses in a blog entry posted on her official website. “My confidence went missing, I didn’t pick up the ranking points I needed; in truth I lost my way.”

Jaksic peaked at World No.102 in the spring of 2014, not long after reaching her first WTA final at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme – falling to friend and countrywoman, Ana Ivanovic. She later made a pair of Grand Slam main draw debuts at the French Open and Wimbledon, only to see much of that progress undone at the start of the next season.

“I got injured for seven months with my back, and I made the huge mistake of trying to play tournaments hurt, which was not helping me at all,” she explained to WTA Insider at the US Open in August. “I’d also started with a new coach, which made a new injury of my shoulder I ended up struggling with for six months. Still, I was trying to play.

“When you don’t defend your points and you drop, that’s when the mental part comes in, and you start overthinking because you’re nervous wanting to push for something. It never works when you try to force it, so I changed everything, my whole team, to clear out all that negative energy from my life.

“Now I can say I’m out from under. I feel like a bird that had a broken wing, but now I’m all better and pumped to play matches. I can do it, just have to keep practicing and working, it’s going to come.”

At the still-young age of 23, Jaksic strives to see her struggles as learning experiences, things she might grow from as her career continues.

“I learned that I need to listen to myself more and I need to trust myself,” she continues in her blog. “I learned that I need to find happiness in myself so that I can enjoy everything else in life. I learned that I need to have more rest in between practices so my body can recover better. I learned to listen to my body.”

Now coached by her mother, the Serb returns from a relaxing off-season ready to take control of her life and the game she’s loved since she was eight years old.

“I’ve really missed being on the court and hitting that little yellow thing. I miss the clarity of mind that I have on the court, where I am in control of everything. I miss creating those irreplaceable emotions of winning or losing. I can’t see myself doing anything other than playing tennis. It’s in my blood. It’s where I ‘feel’ the most, it makes me sad sometimes, sure, but it also brings me the greatest joy.

“So you know what? I can’t wait to be back in 2017. I am excited to work hard, I have no points to defend and many new lessons to learn. I thank you for staying with me on this crazy journey. Life in tennis is a rollercoaster, but it’s MY rollercoaster and I don’t want to get off.”

Click here to read Jaksic’s full post on jovanajaksic.net.

Welcome to WTA Finals month. Here are the updated scenarios after 24 hours to digest the Beijing draw for singles and doubles…

ROAD TO SINGAPORE UPDATE – Saturday, October 1st