Roland Garros: Venus vs Cornet
Venus Williams takes on Alizé Cornet in the third round of Roland Garros.
Venus Williams takes on Alizé Cornet in the third round of Roland Garros.
PARIS, France – Samantha Stosur dodged the rain and rolled back the years to dash Simona Halep’s French Open hopes on Tuesday.
Resuming at 5-3 down in the first set, Stosur powered through the heavy conditions and Halep’s defenses to triumph, 7-6(0), 6-3.
Halep was very much in ascendency when the match was originally stopped on Sunday evening. However, on their return 2010 runner-up Stosur was a different proposition entirely, winning the first seven points. A netted backhand ended the streak but did not halt the momentum, an inside-out forehand winner drawing her level at 5-5.
This vintage form continued into the tie-break, Stosur steamrolling Halep to complete the turnaround. The only thing that threatened the Australian’s dominance was the rain, which duly arrived at 3-2 in the second set.
This merely delayed the celebrations, though, Stosur returning to complete the job when Halep sent a drive volley sailing long.
Stosur arrived in Paris carrying a wrist injury, which forced her to withdraw from her final tune-up event.
“I didn’t know what kind of result or performance I was going to have regardless of the wrist injury, but I said after my first round I did exactly what I needed to do for that and sort it out and came here early.
“It was unfortunate I had to pull out of Strasbourg, but I needed those days to recover. Thankfully, touch wood, it’s been okay so far. I’m not struggling with it at all. I’m not even thinking about it now. I still have it taped, but it’s not bothering me and I’m able to play some of my best tennis.”
Timea Bacsinszky continued her serene progress through the Roland Garros draw with a straight set victory over former finalist Venus Williams.
Wildcard Jelena Jankovic continued her winning streak over Tsvetana Pironkova as she came out on top after a marathon at the Qatar Total Open.
No.21 seed Sam Stosur is back into the semifinals of the French Open for the first time since 2012 with her win against surprise quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova.
Dozens of WTA stars have been spreading the love on Twitter today – whether it’s for Valentine’s Day or Taco Tuesday. Check out some of their best tweets here!
Bol, Croatia is known for its spectacular coastline, and now it’s home to the inaugural WTA Bol Open, a clay court WTA 125K series event.
The player party took place on a yacht and Ana Rucner, a world-class singer and cellist who competed in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, provided the night’s entertainment.
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was on deck and she grabbed a photo with Felisk Lukas, the WTA Bol Open tournament director.
French qualifier Marine Partaud took in the action from a distance.
It was definitely a night to remember on the “Katina” yacht, courtesy of Tomislav Debeljak.
Before the player party, though, it was time to make the draw and the top seeds, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Ana Konjuh, were on hand for the ceremony.
Thankfully Schmiedlova and Konjuh drew themselves into opposite halves!
Konjuh in particular was thrilled to compete in a WTA event in her home country of Croatia.
Right before the start of play, a pair of WTA legends took to the picturesque courts to compete in an exhibition match.
14-time Grand Slam winner Sanchez Vicario – known as the “Barcelona Bumblebee” – is also a WTA Finals ambassador.
Iva Majoli and Sanchez Vicario got plenty of tennis action this week: the pair are also competing in Legends Doubles at the French Open.
Roberta Vinci had Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Qatar Total Open.
Defending champion Serena Williams overcame a tight opening set to end Kiki Bertens’ fairytale run to get within one match of tying Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam titles in Paris.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her second round victory at the Qatar Total Open.