Suárez Navarro Sidelined By Shoulder Injury
Carla Suárez Navarro will be away from the competition for a few weeks nursing a right shoulder injury, the Spaniard announced in a Facebook message to her fans.
Carla Suárez Navarro will be away from the competition for a few weeks nursing a right shoulder injury, the Spaniard announced in a Facebook message to her fans.
A distress signal went out over San Pedro de Pinta, a park in southwest Monterrey: the city was in trouble and they needed superheroes! Thankfully, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Monica Puig were there to answer the call.
They transformed into their favorite superheroes: Pavlyuchenkova – a three time champion here in Monterrey – donned Batman’s cowl and cape….
…while Monica Puig didn’t need a phone booth to become Superman.
Superheroes are always stronger when they work together, so Puig and Pavlyuchenkova teamed up to fight evil.
They took on a pair of dastardly villains, the Riddler and the Joker, in a doubles duel.
With the villains defeated and the city safe, Puig and Pavlyuchenkova took a victory lap around the court.
Thanks to our heroes for saving the day!
But not all heroes wear capes, though, as Caroline Wozniacki proved when she visited the Monterrey Tennis Center on Tuesday.
The Danish player shared her tips and experiences with the children and youth gathered there.
She told the kids – many of them tennis hopefuls – that there’s no big secret to tennis except for working hard and never giving up.
Afterwards, Wozniacki hit the court for a few tennis lessons.
After a day of anecdotes, inspiration and practice, it’s no surprise that Wozniacki became a hero to the kids at the Monterrey Tennis Center.
Courtney Nguyen, Point: How did we get to here? That’s the question many have been asking in the press room here at the US Open, where Angelique Kerber is set to play her third Slam final of the season just two days before she will officially take over as the No.1 player in the world.
It all began suddenly, in January, when she played what many considered the best match of her career to stun Serena Williams and win her first Slam title at the Australian Open. But as is the case for Kerber, her build towards No.1 and Saturday’s final has been far quieter, more workmanlike and unassuming in its reliability.
Reliable. That’s what Kerber has become. In a year that has seen a swirl of inconsistency hit the women surrounding her in the rankings, Kerber has pulled her visor down. She has embraced her ambition. She’s taken control of her game and her career. And the payoff has been immediate.
“That was my goal as well, was really going for it, taking control of my career and my game,” Kerber told WTA Insider on Saturday. “Not just waiting for the shots, if somebody is missing or not, just taking things in my hands and going for it.”
On Saturday, Kerber will be seeking “revanche,” as she says, to turn the tables on a bad loss to Karolina Pliksova just three weeks ago in the final of the Western & Southern Open. It was a bad beat, as a sluggish Kerber had no answers for Pliskova’s power game, and the Czech controlled the match from start to finish to cruise to a 6-3, 6-1 win.
“I think this is a completely new match, a completely new situation. I was a little bit tired in Cincinnati after the Rio trip and everything that happened there. I’m really looking forward to play Karolina again and take the challenge.”
A new match it is. In Cincinnati, Kerber was playing to take the No.1 ranking away from Serena and she was coming off an emotionally and physically exhausting silver medal effort at the Olympic tennis event. This time Kerber has the No.1 ranking already secured, and she comes into the final having not lost a set all tournament.
Kerber and Pliskova spent less than 90 minutes on court in their semifinal but Pliskova’s effort against Serena took a far greater toll. She told WTA Insider that she struggled to get to bed on Friday night, still reeling over her big win, and she admitted that beating Serena meant more to her than making the US Open final.
It makes you wonder whether she can come down from that high to play her best tennis for one more match. Because it will indeed take her best tennis to beat the toughest out in women’s tennis.
“I’m feeling very good because I have a lot of confidence from my last tournaments. I reached finals [at the Olympics and Cincinnati] and semifinals in Montréal. To be here in my next final is great. That’s why I’m really trying to take the energy of the last weeks on court tomorrow and playing with a lot of emotions and going out there to win the match.”
Playing a Slam final has become, in very quick pace, standard fare for Kerber this year. She’s familiar with the rhythms and routines leading up to a major final and the nerves that are natural for the occasion. This will be a brand new experience for Pliskova, who had never even made it past the third round of a Slam before this tournament.
The big key for Kerber will be her serve. You expect Pliskova, the WTA ace leader, to hold with far more ease. Kerber will need to match her to put pressure on her service games. Against Serena, Pliskova gave up just one break point all match. If Pliskova can handle the nerves and bring her best, Kerber’s serve will be under constant pressure.
But once the rallies begin the edge goes to Kerber. She has moved wonderfully throughout the tournament, her Rio hangover clearly a thing of the past. She will look to pick her spots to be aggressive, using that lefty forehand down the line to expose Pliskova’s forehand corner and open up the court.
That decision-making in particular, her ability to step in and take control of rallies on her terms, has been the biggest tactical change in Kerber’s game over the last 12 months. She used to be a reliable wall on the baseline that could be hit through with patience. Now she’s more of an offensive threat.
“That was my goal during my pre-season, working through the aggressive play,” Kerber said. “I know that I can do this, I’m practicing it a lot. Just going and transferring it onto the match court, that was the challenge for me. But I think right now I get used to it, playing really aggressive but also being really good in the defensive and just try to move good and making the mix. I think this is what makes me now stronger than ever.”
Both in her game and her mindset, Kerber has, at 28 years old, finally taken control of her own destiny. If things get tight on Saturday, she’ll take her chances. And when it comes to making good on those chances, no player in 2016 has been more bankable Angelique Kerber.
David Kane, Counterpoint: Success at the Slams starts at the smaller tournaments; the momentum built there is essential for growing both confidence and experience. Karolina Pliskova has spent the last two years cutting her teeth in the shadows of the big stages, reaching five International finals in 2014, then five Premier finals in 2015 – including the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
But that next step remained elusive; 14 of her first 17 Grand Slam main draw campaigns ended in the first or second round, and all before the second week. For one who reached so many finals, Pliskova’s inability to channel that momentum into major victories was puzzling at best, worrying at worst. This was a woman whose consistency helped her capture the Emirates Airline US Open Series last summer, a player more than capable of making things happen on hardcourts.
All it took was a hot streak for the icy Pliskova to catch fire.
“I wasn’t feeling bad at other Grand Slams, any of them,” she said after breaking into the second week for the first time on Saturday. “But just somehow the game on the court wasn’t the way I wanted it to be. I was just a little bit tight, I wasn’t playing my tennis, wasn’t aggressive enough. If I’m not playing my game, I cannot beat those players like this. I cannot be the one who is running.”
It’s been quite a run all the same for the precise Czech powerhouse, who got on a roll after winning the Western & Southern Open, knocking out the year’s first two Grand Slam champions in Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza en route, and keeping the former from hitting No.1 in the final.
“I took a lot from that week,” she said of her Cincinnati title, the biggest thus far in her career. “I’m really happy that I took it here with me in New York, and it’s paying off even here. I’m still continuing to do the same things as I did before. I was struggling a little bit with my game on the Grand Slams. I knew I can play big tennis and good matches, but I couldn’t put it in the Grand Slams. I felt little bit pressure on myself.
“So I’m happy that right now it’s all paid off and I finally found my game.”
This pressure-free Pliskova has been unbeatable through 11 matches, even as she found herself down match point to No.6 seed Venus Williams.
“Once I beat Venus here I knew I’m playing good tennis and I have a chance to beat anyone in the tournament. I was ready for anything.”
She was indeed ready for an even bigger moment on Thursday night, taking on World No.1 Serena Williams, Venus’ sister, for a spot in her first Grand Slam final.
“She’s World No.1, so it’s always tough to beat someone like this. She’s never giving up. Even if she’s losing, not playing her best, it’s always tough to beat girls like this.
“I was pretty calm today. Before the match I felt a little bit like pressure, nervous. But when I step on the court I didn’t feel anything. I just, you know, wanted to win, actually. Not just enjoy, but to win.”
It’s that attitude Pliskova will take into Saturday’s final against Kerber, not one of a young woman happy to have already earned a career-best result, but one of an athlete with the experience and confidence from three weeks of well-earned momentum, who knows she can climb higher.
“We played a lot of times. I lost to her; I won. So I will be ready for anything. That’s a final of a Grand Slam, so anything is possible. Of course, there will probably nerves from both sides. We both have a good chance to win.
“But I will just do anything to win the title here.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.2 seed Serena Williams put together some high-quality tennis against Lucie Safarova to make her way to the third round and avoid the upset bug sweeping through the Australian Open on Thursday night.
Even to her own high standards, her 6-3, 6-4 victory in the pair’s rematch of their French Open final was impressive, which explains why Serena didn’t have much patience for anyone finding fault in her performance.
Case in point, here’s an exchange between the six-time Australian Open champion and a reporter at her post-match press conference:
Q. Looked a little bit of a scrappy performance. A few more unforced errors, a few double-faults.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think that’s a very negative thing to say. Are you serious?
Q. Just my observation.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you should have been out there. That wasn’t very kind. You should apologize. Do you want to apologize?
Q. I do. I’m sorry.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Thank you very much. That was a great performance. I played well. She’s a former Top 10 player. The last time we played together was in the finals of a Grand Slam.
You know, it’s not an easy match. She’s a really good player. You have to go for more, which obviously makes a few more errors.
So, yeah, I think it was overall a really good match, on both of our ends.
Moral of the story: Don’t tell Serena Williams she played badly. Especially when she played great.
The nominees for the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards have been announced and after a near-perfect season, World No.1 Serena Williams is up for the biggest award of them all, Laureus World Sportswoman Of The Year.
The Laureus World Sports Awards began in the year 2000 and in the 16 previous editions, Laureus World Sportswoman Of The Year has gone to WTA players four times – Jennifer Capriati in 2002, Williams in 2003, Justine Henin in 2008 and Williams again in 2010. Williams and pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva are the only two women ever to win the award twice – Isinbayeva won it in 2007 and 2009.
No woman has ever won the award three times – if she wins this year’s, Williams will be the first.
In addition to the American, the other nominees for Sportswoman of the Year include Genzebe Dibaba (athletics), Anna Fenninger (skiing), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (athletics), Katie Ledecky (swimming), and Carli Lloyd (football).
Williams was a wall-to-wall No.1 for the second time in her career, finishing the season atop the WTA rankings for the fifth time (2002, 2009, 2013, 2014). She won a WTA-leading five titles, including the first three Grand Slams of the season at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon – winning her second Non-Calendar Year “Serena Slam” and becoming the closest to achieve the Calendar Year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988. With a 53-3 record, she earned the most prize money in 2015 – surpassing her 2014 record for second highest total prize money won in a single season at $10,582,642.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion is the only WTA player nominated this year, and one of three tennis members of the tennis world, alongside Novak Djokovic and the British Davis Cup Team.
Largely considered “the Oscars of sports”, the Laureus World Sports Awards have been held in major cities all over the world with an all-star cast of hosts, including Jeff Bridges, Heidi Klum, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey and Benedict Cumberbatch. This year’s awards are in Berlin on April 18.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Angelique Kerber capped off her rise to WTA World No.1 by winning her first US Open title, edging past No.10 seed Karolina Pliskova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
“It’s just amazing. I won my second Grand Slam of the year and it’s the best year of my career,” Kerber said after the match.
“For me everything started here in 2011,” she added, referring to when she made the semifinals ranked No.92. “And now here, five years later I’m standing here with the trophy. All the dreams came true this year.”
Pliskova, who was contesting the first Grand Slam final of her career, opened the match looking a bit nervy, hitting four unforced errors in her first service game – including a wild forehand volley at the net. She broke a string just as Kerber broke her serve, and the German consolidated to build up a 2-0 lead.
But now with a couple of games in the bag, both players began to settle into the match and bring out the sparring tennis they’ve produced in their past seven encounters. Kerber defending the ball well then found open court with her famously consistent ground strokes, keeping Pliskova on the run. For her part, the Czech took advantage of Kerber’s short balls and pounced on her second serve, but the loose errors proved to be her undoing as Kerber broke again to take the first set.
New World No.☝️ with her new @USOpen ?! pic.twitter.com/nFwbzkBrIx
— WTA (@WTA) September 10, 2016
More to come…
MELBOURNE, Australia – Revenge is the name of the game on Day 5 at the Australian Open: No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza is set to face Anastasija Sevastova, who sent her crashing out in the second round of last year’s US Open. Also in action is World No.1 Angelique Kerber, taking on another big-serving Czech, while Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic are facing off for the 14th time in their careers.
We preview all the day’s biggest matchups right here on wtatennis.com.
Friday, Third Round
[32] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT #33) vs [7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #7)
Head-to-head: Series tied at 1-1
Key Stat: Muguruza (No.3) is the highest ranked player Sevastova has ever defeated
When Anastasija Sevastova had her big breakthrough at last year’s US Open, Garbiñe Muguruza was the first one to find out. Then ranked No.48, the Latvian stunned Muguruza in the second round en route to the quarterfinals, her best showing ever at a Grand Slam.
Though the Spaniard eventually got her revenge at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, seeing Sevastova’s name in her corner of the draw has to sting. But this time she comes into the matchup with building rhythm and a pair of hard-fought victories under her belt.
“Honestly, I think every match is completely different,” Muguruza told press after her straight-sets victory over Samantha Crawford. “For sure it helps [having two matches under my belt].
“But my next round is a tricky match, I look forward for it. It helped me, playing two matches. I’m going to try to use that.”
Jelena Jankovic (SRB #54) vs [8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10)
Head-to-head: Jankovic leads 8-6
Key Stat: Jankovic holds the longest active streak for consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances (53)
Svetlana Kuznetsova faces her first big test in this Australian Open in the form of long-time rival Jelena Jankovic. Having dropped a combined four games across her previous two matches, Kuznetsova has eased into the third round and conserved precious energy under the draining Aussie summer sun.
But that joyride will get much tougher against fellow WTA veteran and former World No.1 Jankovic as they square up for the 15th time in their careers. Jankovic holds the edge in their head-to-head record at 8-6, but their last match came in 2015 and with Kuznetsova now back inside the Top 10, the Russian is looking to narrow the gap between them.
“My career has been… too long!” Kuznetsova reflected in an on-court interview. “I’ve only been to Australia like 17 times, each January. I just enjoy the game, I have passion for it and still it’s great.”
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs Kristyna Pliskova (CZE #58)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kerber is bidding to be the first player to defend her Australian Open title since Azarenka in 2012-2013
Angelique Kerber is set to face down the booming Pliskova serve once again, but this time it’s not the one she’s used to seeing. Her third-round opponent is Kristyna Pliskova, twin sister of World No.5 Karolina Pliskova.
Apart from the famously powerful serve that runs in the family, it’ll be a whole different match for Kerber. For one, Kristyna is a lefty (Karolina is right-handed) and, ranked No.58, Kristyna has never reached the same heights that her twin has achieved in her career. Without that giant-killing experience under her belt, it’ll be a tough ask for the Czech to complete the huge upset on Rod Laver Arena.
“I don’t know if it’s weird,” Kerber contemplated the prospect of playing against twins. “I mean, [Karolina] is right and [Kristyna] is left-handed. So this is the difference.
“I know that she has a great serve, as well. So, yeah, will looking forward to play against her.”
Jelena Ostapenko didn’t enter the Qatar Total Open with high aspirations; two out of the main draw, the 18-year-old Latvian just wanted to win a match in qualifying before finding herself in the main draw.
“I was trying to improve,” she said. “First, it was like second round of quallies, and I was just really happy that I got main draw.
“On the first match, I was just trying to play my best tennis. Match by match, I played better and better.”
An understatement from the typically understated Ostapenko, who earned back-to-back wins over a pair of former World No.2s Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Kvitova en route to the second and biggest final of her career. Up a set against Carla Suárez Navarro, she showed off effortless power and gritty resilience through three sets, but ultimately fell to the experienced Spaniard.
Still, it was an impressive week for the Latvian, who jumps up to a career-high ranking of No.41 and joins fellow 18-year-olds Belinda Bencic (No.8) and Daria Kasatkina (No.46) to become the largest cohort of youngsters since April of 2009 (Caroline Wozniacki, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Sorana Cirstea).
“It’s great but it’s just the first step,” she said during the trophy ceremony. “But my goal is to be even higher, so I hope I can make it.”
Final Results for January’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month
1. Jelena Ostapenko (50%)
2. Daria Kasatkina (23%)
3. Caroline Garcia (15%)
4. Zheng Saisai (12%)
2016 Breakthrough Player Of The Month
January: Zhang Shuai
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova faced Elina Svitolina in the third round of the Australian Open, looking to pull off an upset.
Venus Williams took on Duan Ying Ying in the third round of the Australian Open.