Australian Open: Thursday Day 11 Roundup
Catch up on the action from the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Catch up on the action from the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Highlights from the finals day action at the Brisbane International.
MONTRÉAL, Canada – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber’s Rogers Cup challenge continued to gain momentum after a dominant quarterfinal victory over Daria Kasatkina.
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In an intergenerational battle it was Kerber’s experience that held sway, sweeping aside her teenage opponent, 6-2, 6-2 in exactly an hour.
Kerber arrived Canada with fitness concerns – an elbow injury forced her to pull out of last week’s Ericsson Open – and has used the rounds to play herself into form and fitness. Against Kasatkina, she got off to an inauspicious start, erring on a couple of forehands to drop serve in the opening game.
She did not trail for long, though, the young Russian ballooning a wild forehand long to immediately hand back the initiative.
The swirling wind and her opponent’s precise returning intensified Kasatkina’s service struggles. Kerber meanwhile was into her groove, rattling off the final three games of the first set before forging ahead in the second.
When the World No.33 thumped away a frustrated drive volley to finally hold serve at 4-1 it elicited sympathetic applause from the crowd. Unfortunately for the young Russian, there was little compassion from down the other end, Kerber taking the final two games to quash any hope of a comeback.
“She played a great tournament and she’s really dangerous,” Kerber said. “I think I played really well today and it’s really nice to be in the semis for the first time in Montréal. I was trying to focus on my game because it was the first time I met her and it worked!”
Next up is No.5 seed Simona Halep in a rematch of the Wimbledon quarterfinals. “It’s going to be tough. We’ve played a lot of good matches in the past. I’m sure the crowd will support both of us so I’m really looking forward to playing her tomorrow.”
Selfie d'après-match de notre 2e demi-finaliste @AngeliqueKerber avec les Petits As Banque Nationale. #CoupeRogers pic.twitter.com/HoFGrKErxt
— Coupe Rogers (@CoupeRogers) 29 July 2016
MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams is set to return to No.1 in the WTA rankings after winning her seventh Australian Open title, a 23rd Grand Slam title that breaks the Open Era record she hitherto shared with Stefanie Graf.
Serena came to Melbourne with a slim hope of taking back the top spot, but opportunity knocked when defending champion and top seed Angelique Kerber bowed out in the fourth round to CoCo Vandeweghe.
Despite the German’s early exit, the American still needed to make history to take back the ranking she held for 186 consecutive weeks – a record she narrowly missed breaking and holds alongside Graf.
But she did just that on Saturday, defeating elder sister Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-4 to guarantee her accession back to the top of women’s tennis.
The feat came as a surprise to Serena, as she shared in her post-match press.
“in the beginning of the tournament, I was like, ‘If I win, will I be No. 1?’
“[My coach Patrick Mouratoglou] said, ‘No, no, no.
“I was like, Whatever.
“So, today on the court when they were like, ‘And No. 1,’ I was like, ‘Whoa, really?'”
As for Venus, the five-time Wimbledon champion will move up to No.11, with a return to the Top 10 for the first time since last fall firmly in sight.
“I feel motivated to continue, to continue to go out there and hit the ball the way I know I can,” Venus said. “There’s only things I can improve on, to be honest, and to build on.
“I feel I played very well this week, pulled a lot of things out of my pocket. I got more stuff in my pocket. Get it out.”
Billie Jean King congratulated Serena on returning to No.1 on Twitter:
Congrats @serenawilliams on your 23rd major title and return to the top of the@WTA rankings. You are a history maker and a trailblazer.
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) January 28, 2017
Jelena Jankovic takes on Coco Vandeweghe in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup.
Julia Goerges, Karolina Pliskova, Yulia Putintseva, Agnieszka Radwanska, Alizé Cornet – who will win January’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments? Vote now!
On this episode WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen recaps the action in Week 1, which culminated with Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Sloane Stephens emerging from an otherwise fraught week, as champions. You’ll hear from Brisbane International champions Azarenka and Sania Mirza, both of whom look primed for a momentous season.
Azarenka on maturing and changing her perspective: “I think my ego dropped a lot. I dropped it. I didn’t want to be the type of player that is so full of themselves. I want to be understanding. I want to be available. Because tennis is more than just about results to me. It’s the process.”
Mirza on the prospect of completing the non-Calendar Grand Slam: “Sure, we’re halfway there. But halfway there and halfway to go is a long way off. It’s a Grand Slam for a reason. There’s a reason to win one in your lifetime and we were lucky enough to win two in a row.”
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Angelique Kerber has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Rogers Cup.
Elina Svitolina takes on Evgeniya Rodina in the first round of the Taiwan Open