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Radwanska Wins 2016 WTA Shot Of The Year

Radwanska Wins 2016 WTA Shot Of The Year

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

There’s a reason Agnieszka Radwanska has the nicknames “The Magician”, “Ninja” and “La Profesora”. It’s simple, she can pull off the most difficult shots in the game with ease.

And she’s done it again – for the fourth year in a row, Radwanska is the winner of WTA Shot Of The Year.

Radwanska took top honors with her hot shot against Monica Niculescu at Indian Wells back in March. She turned her signature defense into some thrilling offense, running all over the court and blasting a stunning around-the-post winner that even left herself speechless.

Check out the video above to watch all her award-winning shots, from 2013’s incredible 360 spin backhand volley in Miami to this year’s Indian Wells stunner!

Final Results for 2016 WTA Shot Of The Year

1. Agnieszka Radwanska: Indian Wells (62%)
2. Simona Halep: Montréal (21%)
3. Kirsten Flipkens: Seoul (10%)
4. Caroline Wozniacki: Auckland (7%)

Click here to watch all four WTA Shot Of The Year finalists!

2016 WTA Shot Of The Year

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Santina Survive Russians For Rome Title

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza find themselves in pole position to complete the Santina Slam at the French Open with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-3 win over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to capture the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title – their first title since February and their first ever on red clay.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

Hingis and Mirza were in their third straight final since the start of the clay court swing, falling both times to the streaking Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in both the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Mutua Madrid Open. Across the net on Sunday were familiar foes in Makarova and Vesnina, who were playing just their second tournament together since last summer, having briefly split as the former healed a leg injury.

Winners of the last three major titles – and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global – Santina exploited that ostensible rust early on, roaring through the opening set and carving out a 5-3 lead in the second.

But the Russians had nearly won their most recent encounter at last year’s Wimbledon final, and wouldn’t accept defeat so easily, quickly leveling the set and later the match in a tie-break.

Hingis and Mirza shook off the hiccup to beat back their opponents and a gloomy forecast to capture their 14th title as a pair, and their fifth of 2016.

Heading into the French Open on a four-match winning streak, Santina next look to complete a box set of Grand Slam titles – a Santina Slam – that began at Wimbledon over Makarova and Vesnina, and took them through victories at the US Open and Australian Open in January.

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WTA Signs TV Deal With beIN

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The WTA has signed an exclusive five-year, multi-territory deal with television broadcaster beIN MEDIA GROUP.

The agreement gives beIN broadcast rights for all WTA tournaments, including the 21 Premier events and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, in over 30 territories worldwide including Spain, the USA, Australia and pan-regionally throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

“We are pleased to continue to provide our subscribers with the best international tennis tournaments. Since its creation, beIN SPORTS has broadcast the greatest sports competitions and the addition of the WTA Tour events further strengthens our promise to deliver the best content to our audiences,” said beIN’s deputy Chief Executive Yousef Al-Obaidly.

In addition to tennis, beIN, which is available on all major pay-TV platforms, holds the rights to the UEFA Champions League and RBS 6 Nations rugby. Starting in 2017 and running until 2021, beIN will hold the media rights for all WTA events in the agreed regions, covering all live matches, replays, highlights and the weekly WTA magazine shows.

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with beIN MEDIA GROUP across multiple regions. This will allow the WTA to take advantage of beIN SPORTS’ dominance in certain territories and their ambitious growth plan in others,” WTA CEO Steve Simon said.

The agreement ties in with the start of the WTA’s new partnership with leading digital sports content and media group, Perform, creating WTA Media, the tour’s dedicated media arm. The live media rights and production deal is worth $525m over 10 years (from 2017 to 2026), the largest in the history of women’s sports.

“Partnering with an aggressive multi-sport network, specifically beIN, allows us to introduce our product to a new fan base,” added WTA Media’s John Learing. “Their stable of internationally attractive sports properties, specifically in soccer and rugby will give us a chance to introduce ourselves to a wider base of different sports fans. The bottom line for our viewers is that beIN Sport is generally available in the basic tier and not just the sports package, this will not only mean drawing a larger audience but will also make it easier for fans to find us.”

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French Open: The Seeds

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Madison Keys has long been seen as a threat to the game’s established order on the faster surfaces. However, in light of her performances last week in Rome, she is now emerging as a dark horse for the game’s major honors on clay, too.

This viewpoint gained further credibility following Monday’s new WTA rankings – Keys returning to the Top 20 at No.17. The rise is of particular significance given the imminent announcement of the seedings for Roland Garros; with World No.10 Flavia Pennetta retired and Belinda Bencic out injured, Keys will now be among the Top 16 seeds in Paris, thereby avoiding the big names until at least the fourth round. Quatar Total Open finalist Jelena Ostapenko moved up into the Top 32 when former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki announced her withdrawal due to a right ankle injury.

Here are the other projected seeds for the French Open:

(1) Serena Williams (USA #1)
(2) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #2)
(3) Angelique Kerber (GER #3)
(4) Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4)
(5) Victoria Azarenka (BLR #5)
(6) Simona Halep (ROU #6)
(7) Roberta Vinci (ITA #7)
(8) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #9)
(9) Venus Williams (USA #11)
(10) Petra Kvitova (CZE #12)
(11) Lucie Safarova (CZE #13)
(12) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP #14)
(13) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #15)
(14) Ana Ivanovic (SRB #16)
(15) Madison Keys (USA #17)
(16) Sara Errani (ITA #18)

(17) Karolina Pliskova (CZE #19)
(18) Elina Svitolina (UKR #20)
(19) Sloane Stephens (USA #21)
(20) Johanna Konta (GBR #22)
(21) Samantha Stosur (AUS #23)
(22) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #25)
(23) Jelena Jankovic (SRB #26)
(24) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS #27)
(25) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #28)
(26) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #29)
(27) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #30)
(28) Andrea Petkovic (GER #31)
(29) Daria Kasatkina (RUS #32)
(30) Barbora Strycova (CZE #33)
(31) Monica Niculescu (ROU #35)
(32) Jelena Ostapenko (LAT #36)

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Vesnina Rockets Up WTA Rankings For First Top 20 Finish

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Elena Vesnina

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.115
Year-End Ranking: No.16 (Career-High No.16, 11/6/2016)
Season Highlights: Charleston RU, Doha, Eastbourne QF, Zhuhai RR
Best Major Result: SF (Wimbledon)

2017 Outlook

Things were certainly at their darkest before Elena Vesnina enjoyed a new dawn in 2016. Outside the Top 100 for the first time in over a decade, the Russian was forced to play qualifying at the Australian Open and dropped to a low of World No.122 just before February.

“I thought it’d be very difficult to get my ranking back, and I felt that I had to win a lot of matches,” the 30-year-old told WTA Insider at the US Open. “I think I did well mentally, not putting much pressure on myself, and I was saying to myself: ‘If you’re good, you’re going to be back. If you’re not that good, then that’s it.’ You have to prove yourself, that you deserve to be there. It was a very hard moment at the beginning of the year.”

From that tough moment, Vesnina earned her first Top 10 win since 2013 – defeating then-World No.3 Simona Halep in Doha – and reached the Volvo Car Open final as a qualifier. Those early results foreshadowed a fairytale run into the semifinals of Wimbledon, where she upset doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova and future WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova at the All England Club.

“It’s just amazing how tennis can give you these possibilities, because you can try, and try, and if you’re brave enough, you can achieve it. It doesn’t matter how old you are, but I definitely appreciate it more now, than if I’d gotten it when I was 20. I made the fourth round of the Australian Open when I was 19, and for me, it was like, ‘Wow, it’s like a miracle!’ But I didn’t realize how it happened.

“Now I’ve been working through so many tough moments, working on my game, and my mentality. What I achieved now, I understand more why big results happen.”

Even bigger results came to Vesnina in doubles – pairing with Makarova to take home Olympic gold and WTA Finals glory – but the veteran heads into 2017 at a career-high ranking, with a Top 10 debut firmly in her sights.

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Olympic Gold Medalist Puig Brings Tennis To Puerto Rico

Olympic Gold Medalist Puig Brings Tennis To Puerto Rico

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Make no mistake: Monica Puig was already a big deal in Puerto Rico before that Olympic medal was draped around her neck. But that Gold medal has shot her into the stratosphere of recognition back home. Now it’s time to bring tennis to Puerto Rico.

Puig staged her first exhibition last week in San Juan and by every metric, the Monica Puig Invitational was a blazing success.

The 24 year old became the first athlete to ever bring a Gold medal back to Puerto Rico, after beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final of the Olympic tennis event. Her remarkable run, which saw her lose just one set and beat two reigning Grand Slam champions in Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza – not to mention two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova – was as inspiring as it was improbable.

Monica Puig 

The idea for the exhibition event came during Puig’s flight home. With no WTA tournaments currently staged in Puerto Rico, Puig told her agent Marijn Bal that she wanted a way to not only grow the sport back home but also give her family and fans an opportunity to see her play, not just this year but every year.

She wanted it to be an accessible event, affordable for a family of five to come and enjoy the atmosphere and the tennis. But most of all, she wanted it to be fun. Because if tennis is fun, there’s more of a chance the next Monica Puig might be sitting in the stands.

A lively party atmosphere dominated the Coliseu de Puerto Rico, as a packed crowd of more than 12,0000 fans created a Fed Cup atmosphere as their hometown hero took on Maria Sharapova last Thursday. There was dancing, there was laughter, and there was shot-making throughout the match, which Puig won 6-3, 1-6, 10-6.

“It’s been a really long time since I competed in front of fans, in front of spectators, to come out after so many months and compete in front of some of the most enthusiastic fans tonight….” an emotional Sharapova said to the crowd before being drowned out by cheers.

“I think tonight is a combination of a few things. First and most importantly it’s because of Monica. Without her career and without her path of what she achieved this summer at the Olympics none of us would be here tonight so a huge thank you. A huge thank you for the welcome.”

“Maria, before you go I just wanted again to thank you so much for coming to the first Monica Puig Invitational,” Puig said before addressing the arena in Spanish.

“Like I was telling you before and what I want all of Puerto Rico to know is the reason I invited Maria is because she is not only a great champion but a great ambassador to our sport. She has the values that represent a champion. She’s an amazing person, extremely funny, really really humble, and we’re going to work on the Spanish and the dancing, don’t worry!”

Maria Sharapova, Monica Puig

Puig hopes to make the event an annual exhibition, expanded over multiple days. This year, in addition to the exhibition itself, Puig and Sharapova also held a kids clinic, visited local dignitaries and VIPs. The event was organized in four months with Puig’s heavy involvement, as she and her agency IMG partnered with Ventana LLC, a local event promoter to implement Puig’s vision.

Puig’s personal sponsors, Universal Insurance, AT&T, Chrysler, and the Puerto Rico Tourism Company immediately answered the call to sponsor the event as well. In all, the exhibition served as a celebration of Puig’s journey to Olympic glory as well as a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped get her there.

Puig is currently doing her off-season training in Boca Raton and will start her season at the Brisbane International, which begins on January 1st.

All photos courtesy of Jimmie48 Tennis Photography.

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Azarenka Gives Birth To Baby Boy

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Not long after checking in with fans and friends on Tennis Channel, Victoria Azarenka announced the birth of her first child late on Monday night.

The former No.1 began the season winning three titles in Brisbane and the elusive Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, but left the tour back in July after announcing her pregnancy. Azarenka took to social media to share her first picture as a mother on Twitter:

Her colleagues and fellow players extended their hearty congratulations to the two-time Australian Open champion on Twitter, as well:

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