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Konta Rallies Past King In Shenzhen

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SHENZHEN, China – No.3 seed Johanna Konta recovered from a set and 1-3 down to defeat Vania King, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the last eight at the Shenzhen Open.

Konta had dropped just two games in her first match of the season, but endured the slowest of starts on Tuesday against King, who spent last year rebuilding her ranking following a back injury that sidelined her for most of 2015.

“Every match is difficult, regardless of the scoreline,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Yesterday had its own challenges; today had different challenges. I needed to adjust today and that took time, but I’m definitely happy with how I was able to get back into the match.

“I think I fought well and I kept myself very present and grounded, trying to create my own momentum and keep my bubble of focus. From there, it got closer and I was able to raise my level, and perhaps she dropped hers. It was a little bit of both.”

The upset bug that had taken out No.7 seed Monica Niculescu to start the day seemed poised to hit Konta from the start. King broke at love to kick off the opening set and never looked back, breaking once more to put herself one set away from victory.

“I think all credit to Vania. I think she played a very very good first set; throughout the whole match she played quite well, but especially in the first set she came out really strong and didn’t give me much of a chance to get much of a grip on the match. So I had to work incredibly hard, dig deep and really just try to create my own momentum in the second set.

“Once I did that, it became more of a competition.”

From a set and a break down, the British No.1 found herself three games from defeat, but nonetheless rallied, winning five straight games to level the match.

The decider was ultimately a more straightforward affair as Konta broke twice to seal victory in 96 minutes.

Up next for Konta is either Kristyna Pliskova or qualifier Chang Kai-Chen. Pliskova began the week with a thrilling win over No.6 seed Anastasija Sevastova, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), while Chang scored an upset over Viktorija Golubic in straight sets.

“I had a very good season last year with a lot of great memories to take from that,” she said when asked to reflect on her breakthrough 2016. “But most importantly I’m looking to keep myself healthy this year to play a full season as much as I can. Every time I go out on the court, I’m trying to apply the same mentality as last year; I want to leave it all out there, compete every single point and do my best, looking to improve every single day.

“I have no outcome goals. I always do my best to stay process-orientated; I may sound like a broken record, and it may sound boring, but it’s the way I am!”

Earlier in the day, No.7 seed Niculescu lost a tense two-setter to Wang Qiang, 7-6(4), 6-4, and suffered from health issues that required a medical timeout.

“For some reason, I couldn’t breathe so well. I had no air, so I had to call the physio. I felt I gave all I had in the first set, and then it was tough for me. I’m disappointed, but I have to wait for Hobart and Australia.

“I had some problems starting from yesterday, but I don’t know why I didn’t feel my best today. It was important to take that first set, but every time I had to serve, I felt my arms were heavy and I had no power. I still have to play doubles [with Simona Halep] so I hope to play better there.”

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Begu Joins Romanian Charge In Paris

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Less than 48 hours after winning the longest match of 2016, No.25 seed Irina-Camelia Begu booked her first career fourth round appearance in Roland Garros with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 win over Annika Beck. With No.6 seed Simona Halep’s third round victory over Naomi Osaka, it marks the first time two Romanians have reached the second week in Paris since 1997.

One of the most consistent forces on clay this season, Begu has had to battle through each of her first three matches – squeaking out wins over Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandewghe to start the week – and it proved no different against Beck, who recovered from losing the first set to force a decider.

“It’s a bit tough because I’ve played all the matches three sets and was longer than two hours,” she told press after the match.

“In the second set I was feeling a little bit down physically, but then I said that I just have to play my game, to be more aggressive, because otherwise I will have no chance.”

“I think I did great in the third set.”

Great would be an understatement; despite losing a long game to begin the final set, Begu roared through the last six, converting the win at love to reach the second week, hitting 36 winners to 18 from Beck in the two hour and five minute contest.

“I’m really happy about my win. Yeah, it was a tough match, but I was prepared for that.

“So I’m just happy that I got through.”

Begu makes up one half of the first Romanian pair through to the second week in Paris for the first time in nearly 20 years, when Irina Spirlea and Ruxandra Dragomir both reached the round of 16 – the latter went on to finish in the quarterfinals.

The Romanian will next play Shelby Rogers, who won an up-and-down 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-0 match against No.10 seed Petra Kvitova.

“She started playing much better in the second,” the American said after reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. “I was just trying to take it point by point, because if I started to think too much, she for sure would have the advantage there. Just one point at a time, one point at a time.

“I don’t know if I could call that a habit yet, but I hope to create one out of it. That would be nice,” she added with a laugh.

On a day of big upsets, Begu and No.13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova emerged victorious over their opposition, as the 2009 champion blew past No.24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-1, 6-4.

When asked how she felt about her win, Kuznetsova countered, “I feel about everything,” and discussed a brief hiccup in the second set.

“I got messed up. I was up – I’m not sure how much, 3-1, 40-15, I guess – and then I was down 4-3. I got tense and started to do weird things instead of playing the game I was playing.

“Then at 4-3 I came back to play long rallies and trying to move her around.”

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Bacsinszky: Behind The Mic

Bacsinszky: Behind The Mic

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Three years after receiving an automated email from the WTA informing her she was still eligible for qualifying at Roland Garros in 2013, Timea Bascinszky is back into the Round of 16 for the second consecutive year in Paris. The surprise semifinalist of 2015 advanced on Saturday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over France’s Pauline Parmentier.

Despite being one of the best players on clay the last two years and putting together a strong clay season this year, the 26-year-old from Lausanne has been under the radar throughout the first week in Paris. She has not lost more than four games in any given set and has breezed through the early rounds, which included a strong win over Eugenie Bouchard in the second round.

And Bacsinszky has been dazzling both on court and off. One of the best talkers in the game, the World No.9 has been holding court in the interview room as well, touching on all topics. Whether discussing strategy and tactics or food and fun, Bacsinszky has a gift with with words.

Here are some highlights:

On her tactics against Pauline Parmentier:

“Her forehand was so strong today that I had to find solutions to neutralize this forehand and then I had to play my game. And then when the balls were changed, her forehand was again very strong. It’s one of the forehand shots on the courts that’s the strongest of all. It’s her biggest weapon.

And then I thought that afterwards if I play long rallies, if she’s to make an extra effort, then maybe I’ll be able to win a few points here and there, either to make her run or because she would make a mistake.

So this is what I decided to focus on, to be very consistent, to show her that she would have to fight for each point, and that I would change the game, that is, change the speed, change the angles, change the returns and my serves.

I think that during the first set I was very solid, very efficient to finish the first set. I didn’t really feel I was brilliant or anything like that in the last game of the first set. But tactically speaking I managed to show her that she would have to understand what to expect from me. You know, I was showing her I am ready for this match.”

Timea Bacsinszky

On friendships on tour:

“I’m not looking for any type of conflict with any player whatsoever. It’s totally useless. So I’m really in favor of peace. If there is one of them who doesn’t want to speak to me, I’m not going to come to her and speak to her. That’s the way I am.

But then if I feel there is a feeling with some players, then, yeah. For instance, Pauline, well, if we’re at the same hotel, sometimes, for example, in Rabat we played, both of us, and in the morning at breakfast I was alone and she asked if she could sit and have breakfast with me. And of course we did that. We had breakfast together.

And Pauline, I have known her for years. We have played many matches as in the same team or against one another, together also during doubles. So I have been seeing her for a long while. So we are close.

But I wouldn’t say this is deep friendship. I know some things about her. She knows some things about me. But my friends in Switzerland, it’s totally different. I have a group of friends. That’s different type of friendship, and with the players, it’s not as deep.

On how friendships can affect a match:

“Knowing someone well is something that helps you understand their tactics during the match. For instance, if someone is well organized in life, I don’t think that this person on a court will do anything and everything, you know?

There is a Ukrainian player who is amazing, a Ukrainian player — Dolgopolov. That’s the name. I don’t think in life he’s very organized. I don’t know.

What happens on a tennis court is something that mirrors the person you are. These are the little things that you can see in the locker rooms. If a girl folds her towels away, et cetera, everything is clean and neat, if during a match you can break her game, maybe she’s going to be lost.

I don’t know. These are ideas I have that come to my mind. So to have deep friendships in tennis is okay, but, you know what we want to do, tennis is our bread and butter. We want to win. We can’t give too much space to others. So we have to find the right balance, I think.”

Timea Bacsinszky

On playing on the major show courts:

“I think for a tennis player what’s important is that, if you don’t like playing on a big court, you aren’t doing the right job, I think. The higher you go in the rankings, the more tournaments you play, the more you’re given this honor. I take it this way. It’s an honor to be able to play on the biggest courts.

This is what people expect. They want a show. It really is status enhancing. We practice sometimes in the dark when no one is looking at us, when we’re doubting. And all the sports people will tell you the same.

You know, if the career is going up all the time, no, no, this never happens. It has ups and downs. So if you’re on the central court anywhere in the world, then this is a moment to remember, a moment you will remember. It’s always something special to play on a big court.

I’ll never be fed up with that except the day I decide to withdraw altogether. But that’s not what I intend to do.”

Timea Bacsinszky

On recent complaints about the coverage of women’s tennis in France:

“What I expect is not to be in the spotlight. To be in the spotlights, you have to deserve it. I’ll never think, Okay, why are they talking more about Stan and Rog when I’ve just won a match? Look at all the titles they have. I have perhaps something like 10% of Rog’s titles or wins. This would be my dream.

I don’t know about the French. I don’t know if the French, if the Frenchmen are, how can I say, have results that are a lot better than women’s results. I don’t know.

But I have always wondered about this. And again, it’s me talking to myself: If you want people to talk more about yourself, play better. Be better. You can’t expect anything else.

Being ranked 50th in the world, I wouldn’t expect anybody to praise my games. You know, it’s very nice to be 50, to be around 50. It’s really good. 50th in the world. It’s so big, so huge.

But then some people are doing better than that, so if there is less buzz, less buzz about women’s tennis, I don’t know what the reason is. It’s been the case for years and years. So what’s the point in fighting and struggling and saying, Okay, we shouldn’t talk about women’s tennis this way. We should change — no, it’s a fact. Either you accept it or not.

People talk about men’s tennis. You know, I don’t want to go against this trend. I’m trying to do my best. And that’s about it.

Then if people talk about me, that’s good. If nobody talks about me, what’s the saying, I think in French we say, to live happily you have to live in the dark. That’s good for me. I don’t want to always be in the spotlight.”

Timea Bacsinszky

On her tactics against Eugenie Bouchard:

“I couldn’t get my bearings on a big court. There is a lot of space around the court. Even though I warmed up 30 minutes in the morning, I couldn’t get the groove, and she had different tactics in comparison to the last time I played against her.

She expected me to put a lot of variation in my game, so I had to find another game plan in order to get the upper hand. I was down 3-Love, but I was not really concerned. Not worried. Because she was not head and shoulders above me.

It was just a matter of adaptation. And when I managed to change my game plan, my tactics, my game intentions, things went differently, and I managed to hit balls inside the court. So I got the upper hand slowly but surely until the start of the second set.”
…
“Last time I played against her, I changed the pace. I changed the tempo with more variation. Last time I played against her two-and-a-half months ago, it was on a hard court with high bounces. It was quite hot. The court was different.

Today it was different. Clay was slow. So I played against her on big center court, so there was a lot of space. But she expected me to have a lot of variation in my game. She expected me to deliver lots of dropshots, so the first dropshot that I hit, she managed to chase it down. So I said to myself, Let’s change the tactic.

What is good is to have lots of game plans under your belt. At the start of the match I wanted to open the court to attack and to hit the ball deep, because at the start of the match, I mean, I played short balls.

So when you hit the ball deep in the court, normally you are not attacked. So I tried to change my game plan. So it was a matter of knowing who would take the upper hand first, especially on clay. Then I wanted to make the most of the short balls in order to deliver some deep shots or dropshots.”

Timea Bacsinszky

After being asked for her opinion on Bouchard’ psychology during their match:

“You should put the question to her. I don’t know if she’s delivered her press conference. I mean, I can tell you about my feelings. I don’t have the power to be in the minds of other people. I’m working on it, but it’s very difficult to have this power. So you need to introduce me to the person who can read in the minds of other people.”

On having NHL hockery player Nino Niederreiter in her player’s box:

“I don’t know him very well, by the way. Switzerland is small country. Through the social networks, you can exchange your views with other Swiss athletes. With Nino Niederreiter, Swiss-German, Thomas Weisel was there for my first match.

So it’s cool. It’s great to have however many personalities, personalities are from sports or from another field. It’s great to have them, especially when they want to watch a match and to watch my match.

I was a little bit late for this press conference. Why? Explain to you. So before taking a shower, I met this person, and I thought that we would talk four or five minutes, and at the end of the day we talked 20 minutes, and it was with two wrestlers. I didn’t know them very well, so we discussed 20 minutes only.

There were so many topics, I mean, to talk about regarding the source of inspiration now. So when you have an unconventional sportsman, it’s a source of inspiration for me. So I would like to thank him and he will turn up on Saturday, so I hope that I will be in a position to talk more with him.”

Timea Bacsinszky

On her pre-tournament preparation, practicing indoors:

“I didn’t want to waste too much energy and be here at Roland Garros and not be fit enough. Roland Garros is a good way for people to lose a lot of energy. That’s what I want to avoid.

So I will practice on my own without trying to play outdoors, because I have played so many matches on clay. Roland Garros, it’s the most pleasant type of clay in a certain way. All the types of clay I practice on, I know that I practice perhaps even harder because the clay is not as good as here.

But then this affected me, if I can say, had an impact on me during the first games of the match, but after a while, I managed to hit long and heavy points, and that was my cruise speed, I can say.”

On players choosing to skip the Olympics:

“I’m not going to pass judgment on their decisions. They decide their career themselves. I’m delighted to take part in the Olympic Games, but if they don’t want to play in Rio, it is their choice. It is their priority. That’s all.

It’s a matter of priorities. It depends on the importance that you attach to a tournament. For example, Radwanska, she’s decided not to play in Rome. Is it a good choice? Is it a bad choice? It depends on the player. It depends on Radwanska in this case.

It depends on the plans that you have for the weeks to come. And the same goes for the Olympic Games. There are some pros and cons. There are lots of tournaments. It’s very difficult to establish the right schedule.

I have heard that Dominic Thiem is playing all the tournaments. But if a player makes a decision, I mean, we have to respect the decision. It’s a matter of schedule. It’s a matter of priorities. I’m not in a position to tell you whether it’s good or bad. I don’t have any opinion on that.”

Timea Bacsinszky

On her visit to the Food Truck Festival in Lausanne:

“You know what I love? I love food. It’s something that’s very important for me.

I love discovering so many things. It’s a big problem, there are so many things to eat. They were kind enough to give me arancini from Sicily and then soft shell tacos, a vegetarian meal. Another one was pulled pork. And then a hot dog with French fries. All of this with my best friend, you know. I’d like to say hello to her, by the way. She loves food as much as I love.

She doesn’t know anything about tennis. I don’t know anything about horse riding. But what we love, what unites us is this discovery of food.

Then there is the Hungarian specialty called kurtoskalacs, and, well, I hope the interpreters can understand this, or the typists write this down, it’s called in French gateau d’cheminee, it’s like a chimney or a stack. It’s pastry that’s on a wooden type of base and then it’s dipped into sweet water and then it’s grilled. I suppose you love that but I love talking about this.”

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Hercog & Minella To Battle For Bol

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BOL, Croatia – No.7 seed Polona Hercog storms in to the final of the WTA Bol Open 125K in dominating fashion. She dropped just two games in her 6-0, 6-2 romp over No.4 seed Nao Hibino and didn’t face a break point all match long.

Watch free live streaming from Bol, Croatia all week right here on wtatennis.com!

Disappointingly for the local Croatian fans, No.5 seed Ana Konjuh was forced to retire from her match against Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella due to a lower back injury. Konjuh was down 3-6, 1-2 before calling the trainer for a medical time out and withdrawing.

“I’m sorry for the fans and I’m sorry for the tournament,” Konjuh told Croatian media after the match. “I tried to go on but today it didn’t work. I hope it will not be anything serious.”

Konjuh also added that she hopes to be back on court in time for Nottingham next week, where she is the defending champion and has been drawn to meet Britain’s Laura Robson in the first round.

Minella is set to face Hercog in her first WTA-level singles final, which you can watch live right here at wtatennis.com.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Former WTA World No.3 (in both singles and doubles) Nadia Petrova has announced her retirement from professional tennis after a 19-year career.

“Tennis has given me so much,” Petrova told WTA Insider. “It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures. My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

The 34-year-old from Russia concludes a career which saw her clinch 13 WTA singles and 24 WTA doubles titles, reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, advance to two Grand Slam doubles finals and win the WTA Finals doubles title on two occasions.

Check out Petrova’s full statement below and click here to read WTA Insider’s exclusive interview with the two-time French Open semifinalist.

Tennis has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was pretty much everything I did on a daily basis and the little time I had off, I would spend with my loved ones. I suppose when the time comes to say goodbye, it becomes bitter sweet. It’s confusing, somewhat painful, scary yet also gratifying. I’ve decided to turn the page and move on to another stage in my life and I’m ready to do it. Tennis has given me so much. It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures.

My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful. My career has been great, obviously with highs and lows. We all know I was plagued with many injuries which made some of my calendar years challenging. Unfortunately that’s part of an athlete’s life and we all learn how to deal with that. We fall and then we get back up and keep going. Then there comes a time, no matter what you do, say or feel, nothing is ever enough. Your body lets you know it’s had enough. In 2013, when I lost my mother, emotionally I was a mess. On top of that, I was dealing with a hip injury which affected a good portion of the year. I made the decision to take some personal time to heal physically and emotionally. Hopefully that would help me once I decided to step back on court. In February 2014, I tried playing to see how I felt. My mind was still everywhere but on the court and my body was just not responding. It was painful. Painful because I felt useless and the player I was once, was no longer there.

I took more time and when I decided to start training again, my body felt good but once I was aggressively doing court work, it started to break down again. I had to start facing the inevitable and that was that my career had come to an end. To be able to compete at a high level with these top players, I had to be in the best shape and if my hip was not holding up, there was no way I could move on. After many failed attempts of trying to make a come back, I came to the realization that maybe it was time to turn the page and say goodbye to tennis competitively. I would be starting a new chapter in my life, exploring other interest and keeping myself occupied but most importantly spending my time with my loved ones. Making up for lost time.

I said to myself.. “I want to start a family, I want to be home more and I want to enjoy a lot of the things I never had time for while I was on the road”. So although it’s been unfortunate that I was unable to overcome this last injury and compete again, I’m excited for what’s to come and be a part of tennis in the future with other aspects of the sport. I’ve been blessed that Tennis has been such a huge part of my life professionally for the past 15 years. I want to thank every single one of you who has made it possible along the way. Whether that’s been sponsors, tournament staff, WTA, my travel team (which consisted of my coach, trainer, physio and manager), friends and family.. Thank you all. Last but not least MY FANS!! You have been my motivation, my back bone and the reason why I hadn’t given up sooner. Without fans, there wouldn’t be tennis. You all make the sport. Thank you all so much for believing in me and helping me through out my entire career.

Without any further delay, I’d like to make it known that I’m officially retiring from the sport. I plan to stay involved in tennis in the near future. I will be devoting a lot of my time to the sport through charity work which I will make known soon. I may no longer be competing but I will never be far from a court. My heart will always belong there.

Thank you all for making my career so memorable.

Nadia P

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska eased past qualifier Duan Ying-Ying and into the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney on Wednesday evening.

At last week’s Shenzhen Open, Radwanska saved three match points to defeat Duan in a tougher-than-expected season opener. This time around it was a far more straightforward outing, the No.2 seed completing a 6-3, 6-2 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

“Sometimes you play people two or three weeks in a row, like Caroline and I had last year in Asia, but I’m definitely more happy with this performance than in Shenzhen,” Radwanska said in her on-court interview. “It’s another semifinal here, so I’m very happy with that.

“I was warming up at 4pm and it was still very hot, so I was a little bit lucky to play this evening. I was watching the first match here and it was unbelievably hot – the guys were playing amazingly.”

Despite the more hospitable conditions, both players made heavy weather of holding onto their serve early on. But after a succession of breaks, Radwanska finally put some daylight between the two, opening up a 5-3 lead before calmly serving out the set.

Unlike in Shenzhen, there was to be no Duan comeback, Radwanska rattling off the first four games of the second set to ease her way into the last four.

Radwanska lifted the title in 2012, and standing between her and a return to the final is marathon woman Barbora Strycova. Earlier in the day, Strycova withstood the worst of the midday sun to win an epic encounter against Caroline Wozniacki. “Like I said, she was playing unbelievable tennis and she’s really on fire. Last year she also played amazing tennis. I’m just expecting a good match and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

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