Tennis News

Venus Williams

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.7
Year-End Ranking: No.17
Season Highlights: Title at Kaohsiung
Best Major Result: SF (Wimbledon)

17 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! ? pic.twitter.com/azf4fQh5zW

— WTA (@WTA) December 15, 2016

2017 Outlook

Despite turning 36 last summer, Venus Williams continues to challenge for tennis’ biggest honors. She proved this at Wimbledon, where she saw off several of the game’s brightest young talents to became the oldest Grand Slam semifinalist in 22 years.

It was not the only high point of the campaign either; in Kaohsiung she collected a 49th career title, reaching another final at Stanford before teaming up with Rajeev Ram to win mixed doubles silver at the Rio Olympics – her fifth medal at the Games.

There had been whispers that Brazil could be the curtain call on Williams’ wonderful career. However, the American has quashed such talk, outlining her plans to stay on tour until 2018, and even entertaining the possibility of playing until Tokyo 2020.

“I’ve been working hard in the gym and getting back on the court,” Williams said recently. “I just love the game, I really do. I love the challenge. It’s been such a part of my life that it’s hard to imagine life without it.

“I’m just gearing up for 2017 like I’m sure everybody else is.”

Her season opener will come in Auckland, where she will be joined by sister Serena and another thirtysomething still going strong, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Understandably, Williams, who lifted the title in 2015 and reached the final in 2013, is excited about her upcoming visit to the North Island.

“I am so excited to come back to Auckland, which is one of my favorite stops on the circuit,” Williams said. “It will be nice to have Serena there as well this year. “Being in Auckland will be a fantastic way to start 2017 and I am really looking forward to it!”

Speaking to the media for the first time since facing down a knife-wielding intruder in her Prostejov flat, Petra Kvitova delivered a strong address to the tennis world, vowing to look towards a bright future where she returns to the court once again.

“While what has happened to me was very scary, I do not see myself as a victim,” she said in a statement. “I do not feel sorry for myself, and I will not look backwards.”

Kvitova was attacked in her home on Monday, suffering multiple lacerations in her left hand as she fought off the attacker, posing as a gas inspector. Following a surgery that repaired two nerves, Kvitova’s doctor recommended the two-time Wimbledon champion not resume training for at least six months, and can bear no weight in that hand at all for up to three.

“I will use all my energy to focus on my recovery, and will do everything I can to return to the sport I love as soon as possible.”

The former world No.2 finished 2016 on a high note, winning the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai without dropping a set; though she fell out of the Top 10 earlier in the season, she finished the year ranked No.11, and appeared poised to make a strong surge back up the rankings – even as a foot injury attempted to derail her pre-season.

Updating fans on her recovery, Kvitova discussed being able to move the fingers in her left hand for the first time since the attack, describing it as “the greatest Christmas present I could have wished for.”

Check out Kvitova’s full press conference below (in Czech), and click here to read the full transcript of the Czech star’s statement, in English.

SHENZHEN, China – Alison Riske exacted revenge for her defeat in last year’s final with victory over Agnieszka Radwanska at the Shenzhen Open on Thursday.

In a topsy-turvy encounter, Riske maintained her composure brilliantly to run out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 winner. In the semifinals she will face either Camila Giorgi or Wang Qiang.

.@Riske4rewards has done it!!

The American reaches the #ShenzhenOpen Semifinals with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 win over defending champion Radwanska! pic.twitter.com/MaLQcQVnT8

— WTA (@WTA) January 5, 2017

“I was just kind of focusing on one point at a time, and I know that’s what Aga does – she’s there for every single point – so I felt that I had to match her in that regard,” Riske said in her post-match press conference. “I also tried to keep my energy high, and I think that I did a good job of that today.”

Twelve months ago, Radwanska capped a dominant week with a masterful performance against Riske – then ranked just inside the Top 100 – in a one-sided final. Since then, the American has made steady progress, finishing last year with another final in China and a career-best ranking of No.39.

Her improvements were immediately apparent in the rematch, bossing the exchanges to surge into a 5-0 lead. Radwanska roused herself to register a couple of games before the set’s end, then harnessed this momentum to level the match with some typically cerebral tennis.

Riske, though, refused to be stymied for long, calmly dispatching an overhead to break at the start of the decider. From then on, it was one-way traffic as the No.8 seed calmly closed out the biggest win of her career.

“The ultimate goal is to go one better than last year, but I can only look to the next match and I feel if I keep focusing on myself, my game, then who knows what can happen.”