Miami: Venus Williams vs Angelique Kerber
Highlights from the quarterfinal clash between Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber.
Highlights from the quarterfinal clash between Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber.
It’s time to vote for January’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 8.
January 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Angelique Kerber: As the No.7 seed, Kerber stunned the tennis world by defeating both pre-tournament favorites in Victoria Azarenka and World No.1 Serena Williams to capture her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Kerber faced a match point in her first round against Misaki Doi, and after having – in her words – “one foot on the plane back to Germany,” Kerber played with renewed confidence through the first week. Facing Azarenka in the quarterfinals, the German turned around a 0-6 head-to-head and won five straight games to dismiss the Brisbane International champion and two-time Australian Open winner in straight sets. Seeing off surprise semifinalist Johanna Konta to reach her first major final, Kerber played stellar tennis and held her nerve against Williams, stopping her from tying countrywoman Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles. Her win takes her to a new career-high ranking of No.2 and puts her at the top spot on the Road to Singapore standings.
Serena Williams: Entering the Australian Open under an injury cloud, Williams erased all doubts as to her form her first match in Melbourne, racing into the final without dropping a set. Her semifinal against No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska was particularly dominant; the World No.1 needed only 20 minutes to win the opening set over the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion, going on to hit 42 winners to just 18 errors in the two-set match. Though she fell to Kerber in the final, the American remains just one major away from tying Graf’s Open Era record for most Grand Slam titles won, and is firmly behind Kerber at No.2 on the Road to Singapore standings.
Victoria Azarenka: Azarenka began the season hoping to make 2016 her comeback year. Looking in impeccable shape, she romped through the Brisbane International draw, losing just four games to eventual Australian Open champion Kerber in the final. In Melbourne, she was equally dominant through the first week, tying the record for fewest games lost in her first three matches. Despite losing to Kerber in the quarterfinals, the Belarusian still had chances to level the match, serving for the second set at 5-2 and holding three set points at 40-0.
Agnieszka Radwanska: The WTA Finals champion has only lost one match in 2016, the Australian Open semifinal to Serena Williams. Radwanska began her year at the Shenzhen Open, where she won the title, and looked in solid form through five matches in Melbourne before running into a World No.1 playing some of her best tennis.
How it works:
Four finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Day 10’s stat of the day from the Miami Open, presented with SAP.
January was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.
In the end it was Caroline Wozniacki, who played a stupendous rally against Danka Kovinic at the ASB Classic. Restarting the point with an out-of-nowhere pick-up lob, the Dane showed off all her spee and anticipation when Kovinic tried a drop shot – taking home this month’s top votes.
Click here to watch all of January’s finalists.
Final Results for January’s WTA Shot Of The Month
1. Caroline Wozniacki (42%)
2. Simona Halep (28%)
3. Eugenie Bouchard (16%)
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (8%)
5. Victoria Azarenka (6%)
2015 WTA Shot of the Month Winners
Shot of the Year: Agnieszka Radwanska
October: Agnieszka Radwanska
September: Agnieszka Radwanska
August: Simona Halep
June: Ana Ivanovic
May: Agnieszka Radwanska
April: Angelique Kerber
March: Agnieszka Radwanska
February: Simona Halep
January: Maria Sharapova
How it works:
Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Elizaveta Kulichkova showed why she was one to watch at the Taiwan Open, fighting her way out of a dangerous deficit to advance past Taiwanese wildcard Ya-Hsuan Lee, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Named by WTA Insider as part of Russia’s “Generation Next,” Kulichkova entered the tournament following some of the best results of her young career: at the Australian Open, she reached the 3rd round of a Grand Slam for the first time, dealing No.25 Andrea Petkovic an upset along the way.
In Kaohsiung, Kulichkova found herself in big trouble against Lee – the Russian dropped the first set and was actually down 0-3 in the second – before she found a way to play herself into the match.
“I didn’t play my best today so I didn’t feel so comfortable on court,” Kulichkova told wtatennis.com after her win.
“I just try to concentrate on my game, keep bringing back all the balls, and then I could come back eventually.”
Also coming back to advance into the second round is Donna Vekic, who notched her first WTA-level win of the year against Alison Riske in a seesaw match, 4-6, 7-5(5), 6-3.
The Croatian found herself four points away from defeat in the second set; Riske was serving for the match at 6-4, 6-5, before Vekic broke her serve at love to force a tiebreak before grabbing the set. Vekic hit nine aces to Riske’s 12 double faults in the two hour and forty minute-encounter.
The win was a boon for Vekic, who is now working with new coach David Felgate. The pair reunited before last month’s Australian Open after splitting in 2014.
Local favorite Su-Wei Hsieh survived a mid-match surge from Japan’s Ayama Okuno but advanced 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva, Zarina Diyas, Saisai Zheng and Kurumi Nara are all through to the second round while Naomi Osaka – who was looking to follow up her incredible Australian Open run – fell to Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella in straight sets.
No.1 seed Venus Williams will wrap up the Taiwan Open’s first round action when she takes the court against Taiwanese wildcard Pei-Chi Lee tomorrow.
Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Britain’s No.1 Johanna Konta has withdrawn from the Volvo Car Open, the tournament announced on Monday morning.
Fresh from taking home the Miami Open trophy – the biggest title of her career – the Brit was looking forward to hitting the green clay of Charleston and kicking off the clay season, but was forced to withdraw citing illness and a lingering right shoulder injury.
“I’m very sorry to have to withdraw,” Konta said in a statement. “I was battling a slight shoulder injury and sickness during Miami which has taken hold.”
Johanna Konta has withdrawn from the #VolvoCarOpen due to a right shoulder injury.
We wish Jo the best and a speedy recovery! (?: Getty) pic.twitter.com/OOu98I9sNF
— Volvo Car Open (@VolvoCarOpen) 3 de abril de 2017
Konta was the No.2 seed in Charleston, and as a result of her withdrawal the draw will be shifted as per official WTA rules.
As the withdrawal came after the release of the schedule but prior to the commencement of the first match, the following procedure applies:
– Daria Gavrilova, the highest seed without a bye, takes Konta’s vacated position
– Grace Min, a qualifier, takes the spot created by the move and will start against Sara Errani
Saint Petersburg is a city known for its arts and culture, so it’s no surprise that doubles co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis made a stop to take it all in at the State Russian Museum.
Eugenie Bouchard, Francesca Schiavone and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova are the stars of a great video from the Abierto GNP Seguros.
Laura Siegemund takes on Kristina Mladenovic in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.