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Kvitova, Pliskova Lead Czech Quartet Into Fed Cup Finale Against France

Kvitova, Pliskova Lead Czech Quartet Into Fed Cup Finale Against France

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

A long-awaited off-season is on hold for an elite squad from the Czech Republic, who fly to France in the hopes of winning a fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years. Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova lead the team through what will be one last ride following a full fall schedule in Asia.

“It’s the last two matches of the year. There is no other choice,” Pliskova said after playing her last round robin match at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. “I’ll just get ready. There is one week between, so I’ll just rest a little bit and forget about tennis for few days.

“Then back to the work for that last week of tennis this season.”

It was even less of a break for Kvitova, who captured her second title of the season at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

“I don’t think I’m that tired,” she told WTA Insider in the latest edition of Champions Corner. “I just feel my entire body is sore, so I’ll need to take a few days off to get ready for the Fed Cup tie. I’m really looking forward, but it’s a little bit difficult. I’m a little bit tired, but winning always helps me recover faster.

“I’ll be flying to Prague, and then taking a car to go to Strasbourg, so that’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the team. We have a great team, so I can’t wait to be with them over there. It’ll be the last week of the season, so it’s great to have it then, as well.”

Petra Kvitova

Kvitova was in Zhuhai alongside countrywoman Barbora Strycova, and both discussed that special bond the team has forged throughout the week.

“All the Czech players, we know how to be teammates in the week where there is Fed Cup,” Strycova said. “Three weeks a year we are so close together. I can’t describe it because it’s like a routine for us that we do everything together in those weeks.”

Coached by Petr Pala, the Czechs have won 15 of 16 ties dating back to 2011, when the team won their country’s first Fed Cup trophy since 1988.

“I’m looking forward to the final,” Kvitova said. “I love playing Fed Cup and playing for my country. The final is always special; we’re playing away, which isn’t great for us, since France will have the home crowd advantage. We know how to play, and that the fans will support them. It’ll be about us, and whichever team is better prepared will win.

“I think we’re only small favorites to win the tie; they have a great doubles team, and even the singles players, Kiki and Caro, are playing well. It’ll be a difficult tie, but we do have a more experienced team, from all the finals we’ve played. The motivation is always there.”

The teams have faced off just twice in the last ten years, with the Czechs winning the most recent encounter in 2015. Caroline Garcia leads a French contingent captained by former World No.1 Amélie Mauresmo, and is well-aware of just how formidable the Czechs can be in this format, joking that the country could easily field two teams based on its strong roster.

Barbora Strycova, Karolina Pliskova

“Caro is funny! I never really thought like that,” Kvitova said with a smile, before breaking down their secret to success.

“I think we’re not only good players, but also good people. We’re never fighting with each other; we act as a team, and I think that’s very important. None of us make trouble, and we all work well together. If one of us needs to schedule a massage, we talk all talk and decide who gets to go first; it’s the same with practice schedules.

“Communication is very important for a team. We also have great people around us; they’re all boys, so there’s always a lot of fun throughout the week. Our stringer is DJ, and they’re all doing what they can to keep things relaex. The practices are very easy and never too stressful.

“Everything is working when you’re playing well, and everything is easier than when you’re not. We’re on a good way right now and I hope we continue like that.”

When that off-season finally does come, Kvitova plans to spend a vacation with none other than teammate Lucie Hradecka, who will likely be on hand for a potentially decisive doubles rubber against France.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Where To Watch: Cincinnati

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Premier 5
Prize Money: $2,804,000
Draw Size: 48 main draw (16 byes)/48 qualifying
Main Draw Ceremony: Friday, August 12, 5.30pm EDT
Qualifying Dates: Saturday, August 13 – Sunday, August 14 
First Day of Main Draw: Monday, August 15
Singles Final: Sunday, August 21, 2pm EDT
Doubles Final: TBC – Sunday, August 21, 12.15pm EDT on Grandstand

MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@CinyTennis – official tournament handle
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #CincyTennis and #WTA.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:
· Serena Williams bids to win a third straight Cincinnati title after accepting a late wildcard. She is the only player in the Open Era to win multiple times at the event.
· Since the tournament’s return to the tour in 2004, there have been 11 different winners of the tournament, although Serena is the only returning champion in the field this year. There are a couple of former runner-ups – Simona Halep (2015), Ana Ivanovic (2014) and Angelique Kerber (2012).
· The WTA’s current Top 5-ranked players are all in attendance: Serena, Kerber, Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska.
· Halep arrives on a 10-match winning streak, having won her past two tournaments, in Bucharest and Montréal.
· Lucie Safarova and Andrea Petkovic could both register their 400th career win by reaching the second round and quarterfinals, respectively.
· For the full draw click here.

WILDCARDS:
Serena Williams (USA), Christina McHale (USA), Louisa Chirico (SVK)

WITHDRAWALS:
Sloane Stephens (right foot), Jelena Jankovic (right shoulder)

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Christina McHale: From Melbourne To Maui

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

A tennis career plays out on a myriad of stages. One minute, American Christina McHale is headlining Margaret Court Arena and battling Agnieszka Radwanska, the reigning WTA Finals champion, in the first round of the Australian Open.

The next, she finds herself far from Melbourne’s spotlight and bringing new meaning to the word “battle” in an ITF 50K Challenger tournament in Maui.

“I felt like I needed more match play, because I didn’t get enough matches in Australia,” McHale told WTA Insider on Sunday.

A former World No.24, McHale went 1-3 in her first three events of the season, but rather than retreat to the practice courts – and the cold New Jersey winter – she made the rare decision to enter an ITF event during the second week of the Australian Open.

“I’d just had a really long off-season and I was doing a lot of practicing. I saw there were a bunch of tournaments, and Maui seemed like a good place because it’s on the way home; it seemed like a good place to stop. Luckily, I got a wildcard at the last minute, so everything worked out.”

Top seed at an event that featured Brisbane International semifinalist Samantha Crawford and ASB Classic quarterfinalist Naomi Broady, McHale hardly cruised through a Valley Isle vacation at her first ITF event since 2013.

“It’s definitely different. The nice part of it was that it was in Hawaii, and the hotel was right at the courts, so it was easy to walk to.

“The first day I was waiting for the schedule to be emailed to me, because that’s how it normally is at WTA tournaments, and then I remembered that’s not how it works in ITFs! We didn’t have ball kids, and we didn’t have a full set of line judges on some of the courts.

“It took some getting used to.”

After fighting through a tricky opening round against former World No.7 Nicole Vaidisova, she needed three sets in the semifinals against the big-serving Broady and American teenager Raveena Kingsley, who had taken out Crawford and Jessica Pegula to reach the final.

“I had some really tough matches here; my semifinal was really difficult and so was my match today. The level of play was quite high. In terms of getting good match play in, it was tough.”

The American had started her 2016 season with a first career WTA doubles title in Hobart, but Maui was her first title of any kind in singles, having reached one WTA final in 2014 and two ITF finals at the very start of her career in 2007 and 2009.

Ranked solidly in the Top 70, McHale considers herself lucky to be able to play an ITF knowing the doors to the most prestigious tournaments remain open to her.

“It definitely makes you appreciate a lot of the things I take for granted when playing WTA tournaments. It might have even been a little bit of a wake up call. But everyone here was really nice, and all of the volunteers that helped put this tournament together did a good job. I don’t want to take away from that.”

Indeed, McHale takes away only positives from her winning week in Maui, getting some much-needed match play, all with a tropical backdrop at her disposal.

“My fitness trainer Rodney Marshall is a USTA fitness coach; he was here and so I kind of used it as a training week, as well. I was able to do some work outs on the beach; it’s really cold back home so it was nice to be in this warmer weather for the week. It was good to have a men and women’s tournament, so there were a lot of players here to practice with.

“Just being in Hawaii was really nice.”

Heading home before resuming a full slate of WTA events in Rio, Acapulco, Monterrey, and Indian Wells, a confident McHale hopes to have kick-started her season with the wind at her back and a sunkissed trophy in her hand.

“It’s definitely very motivating. This week served its purpose, because I came here trying to get matches and work on my fitness. In that regard, it was really good.

“It does make you appreciate all of the Slams and the other big tournaments that we go to.”

Follow Christina on Twitter @ChristinaMcHale!

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Rio: The Gold Medal Matches

Rio: The Gold Medal Matches

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970
The Gold Medal match in women's singles was one to remember as Monica Puig took on World No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

The Gold Medal match in women’s singles was one to remember as Monica Puig took on World No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

Puig pulled off the upset of Olympics to knock Kerber out in three tight sets, becoming the first Puerto Rican to win a gold medal.

Puig pulled off the upset of Olympics to knock Kerber out in three tight sets, becoming the first Puerto Rican to win a gold medal.

Puig had made it her season goal to win the Olympics - even naming her dog Rio - but the yougster could hardly believe her dream had come true after the match.

Puig had made it her season goal to win the Olympics – even naming her dog Rio – but the yougster could hardly believe her dream had come true after the match.

Puig led a star-studded podium featuring Kerber, who became the first German to win a medal in tennis since Stefanie Graf, and two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova taking the bronze.

Puig led a star-studded podium featuring Kerber, who became the first German to win a medal in tennis since Stefanie Graf, and two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova taking the bronze.

Pairing up for the Olympic Games four years ago in London, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina came straight from winning the Rogers Cup to roar into the Gold Medal match in women's doubles on Sunday.

Pairing up for the Olympic Games four years ago in London, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina came straight from winning the Rogers Cup to roar into the Gold Medal match in women’s doubles on Sunday.

Taking the Russians on were a tough team composed of World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis - who was playing her first Olympic Games since 1996 - and Timea Bacsinszky, who replaced Belinda Bencic after injury ruled her out of the games. Hingis and Bacsinszky saved a match point in their semifinal against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

Taking the Russians on were a tough team composed of World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis – who was playing her first Olympic Games since 1996 – and Timea Bacsinszky, who replaced Belinda Bencic after injury ruled her out of the games. Hingis and Bacsinszky saved a match point in their semifinal against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

Makarova and Vesnina spent 10 months apart as the former addressed injury concerns, but the pair reunited in the spring and have amassed a 25-5 record since Madrid, winning a ninth straight match to oust Hingis and Bacsinszky in straight sets.

Makarova and Vesnina spent 10 months apart as the former addressed injury concerns, but the pair reunited in the spring and have amassed a 25-5 record since Madrid, winning a ninth straight match to oust Hingis and Bacsinszky in straight sets.

The women's doubles podium was complete when Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova - who began the tournament by knocking out three-time women's doubles gold medalists Venus and Serena Williams - won the all-Czech bronze medal match in straight sets.

The women’s doubles podium was complete when Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova – who began the tournament by knocking out three-time women’s doubles gold medalists Venus and Serena Williams – won the all-Czech bronze medal match in straight sets.

The final Gold medal match of the day was in mixed doubles, with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock taking on four-time Olympic Gold medalist Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram.

The final Gold medal match of the day was in mixed doubles, with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock taking on four-time Olympic Gold medalist Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram.

Venus was aiming to become the first player to win gold in all three tennis events, but couldn't convert a one-set lead or a 6-3 advantage in the match tie-break. Still, the American leaves Rio with a fifth Olympic medal in five appearances.

Venus was aiming to become the first player to win gold in all three tennis events, but couldn’t convert a one-set lead or a 6-3 advantage in the match tie-break. Still, the American leaves Rio with a fifth Olympic medal in five appearances.

Mattek-Sands has struggled with injuries in the last few years, and recovered from a false alarm when Sock appeared to seal victory on their first match point to capture the gold medal one point later.

Mattek-Sands has struggled with injuries in the last few years, and recovered from a false alarm when Sock appeared to seal victory on their first match point to capture the gold medal one point later.

Mattek-Sands wins a gold medal in her Olympic debut, while Lucie Hradecka adds to her Olympic silver medal from 2012 alongside Radek Stepanek by taking the bronze.

Mattek-Sands wins a gold medal in her Olympic debut, while Lucie Hradecka adds to her Olympic silver medal from 2012 alongside Radek Stepanek by taking the bronze.

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As It Happened: Serena vs. Maria

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | World No.1 Serena Williams maintained her mastery of Maria Sharapova, winning an 18th straight match in Melbourne on Tuesday. Here’s how it happened.

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Serena Out Of Cincy

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CINCINNATI, OHIO, USA – World No.1 Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open due to a right shoulder injury.

Winner for the last two years in Cincinnati, Williams also withdrew from the Rogers Cup due to a right shoulder issue, and has played just three matches since winning a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

“I’m very disappointed I’m not able to compete in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati as I was really looking forward to defending my title,” she said in a statement. “My shoulder inflammation continues to be a challenge, but I am anxious to return to the court as soon as possible.”

Serena needed to reach the quarterfinals this week to lock up the No.1 ranking ahead of the US Open – a tournament the American has won six times.

World No.2 and Olympic Silver medalist Angelique Kerber can now end her rival’s 183-straight week stretch atop the WTA rankings, but would have to win the entire event to do so.

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Williams Sisters Return To Compton, Renewing Ties To Childhood Community

Williams Sisters Return To Compton, Renewing Ties To Childhood Community

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

COMPTON, CA, USA – Former World No.1s Venus Williams and Serena Williams returned to their hometown of Compton, California last weekend to strengthen childhood ties to the city where they first played tennis.

“You always remember those places, like where we went to elementary school, the courts we practiced at, even our old home,” Venus told the LA Times. “And just places you used to go. And of course things change over time. Places move. Shops close. Streets change. But it’s still the same place.”

The Williams sisters made use of their eponymous charity fund to bestow a five-year endowment on what will be the Yetunde Price Resource Center, which will help those affected by violence and trauma. The center was named for their eldest sister, who was killed in 2003.

“We definitely wanted to honor our sister’s memory because she was a great sister, she was our oldest sister and obviously she meant a lot to us,” Serena said. “And it meant a lot to us, to myself and to Venus and my other sisters as well, Isha and Lyndrea, that we’ve been wanting to do something for years in memory of her, especially the way it happened, a violent crime.”

Saturday was dedicated to the refurbishing of Lueders Park tennis courts henceforth known as the Venus & Serena Williams Court of Champions.

Check out a full interview with the Williams sisters here, along with some of the best photos from the weekend below:

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

Venus Williams, Serena Williams

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Konta Topples Zhang

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Unseeded Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach the Australian Open semifinals since 1977 when she outlasted relentless qualifier, Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 6-1.

“I was really just taking it one match at a time while I was here and, even more simply, a point at a time,” she told former British No.1 Sam Smith during her on-court interview.  

Not since Sue Barker made the final four nearly 40 years ago had a Brit gone this far in Melbourne, and Konta had to face a battle-tested opponent across the net; Zhang began her tournament with three wins in qualifying and a massive win over No.2 seed Simona Halep.

“She definitely didn’t make it easy for me today; every time I got a little bit ahead, she was constantly there.”

But Konta’s run had been equally impressive Down Under, defeating No.8 seed Venus Williams in the first round and surviving a thrilling three-setter with 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova in the round of 16. Showing few signs of fatigue, Konta raced out to a 5-2 lead, but needed six set points to put away Zhang, who nearly brought the match back on level terms in the tenth game.

“I really enjoyed playing in front of you guys,” she said, addressing the spectators on Rod Laver Arena. “This is why we play, to get the chance to play in front of such a wonderful crowd.

“I just wanted to make sure I came out and played the best level I could and, hopefully, gave everyone some good entertainment!”

With the first set in hand, the Brit never looked back, hitting 28 winners and drawing 20 unforced errors out the Chinesewoman to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal in 83 minutes – though not in ideal fashion for the competitive Konta.

“Unfortunately, I won it on a let cord; I’m not that proud of that. But I’m happy with how I was able to fight every single point.”

Asked about her family watching at home, Konta was tongue-in-cheek regarding the time difference – the match ended a little before 4AM in the UK.

“I’m pretty sure they have jet lag; they’ve been staying up at all ridiculous times of the morning. I’m sure they’re looking forward me to go home so they can sleep properly!”

Up next for Konta is No.7 seed Angelique Kerber, who provided an arguably even more shocking upset by taking out pre-tournament favorite Victoria Azarenka to reach her first Australian Open semifinal.

“It will be my first match against her. She’s Top 10 and an incredibly decorated, successful competitor and player. I’m really just going to go out there, bring to the court what I can, try my best, hopefully give the crowd a great match, and we’ll see how it goes.”

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