Tennis News

NEW YORK, NY, USA – History is on the line on Saturday night as Angelique Kerber looks to mark her coronation as World No.1 by defeating Karolina Pliskova in the final of the US Open.

Before the two face off on Arthur Ashe Stadium, here are 10 points to ponder…

(2) Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs (10) Karolina Pliskova (CZE #11)
Head-To-Head: Kerber leads Pliskova, 4-3

1) We meet again.
Kerber and Pliskova are making a habit of locking horns at the business end of tournaments. In fact, their past three encounters have all come with the silverware on the line. The most recent of these came just three weeks ago in the Cincinnati, where Pliskova played some brutal tennis to break down Kerber’s defenses for the loss of only four games. This gained a modicum of revenge for a couple of painfully close losses the previous summer in Birmingham and Stanford.

2) Mixed record in finals.
For all Kerber’s success in recent years, she still has a mixed record in finals. Although the German has broken the final hoodoo she suffered earlier in her career – between June 2012 and August 2014 she lost eight of nine – her overall win-loss record stands at 9-14. Pliskova, too, has a history of near misses, winning only six of the 15 she has contested

3) Kerber was eight years old the last time a German appeared in the US Open final.
Kerber is bidding to become the first German woman to win the US Open since her idol Steffi Graf won the last of her five titles, in 1996. The last Czech to reach the final was Helena Sukova, in 1993. Her conqueror? Graf. Hana Mandlikova, in 1985, is to date the only Czech player to go all the way at Flushing Meadows.*

* Czech-born Martina Navratilova won in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, but by that time was representing the United States

4) Breaking new ground.
In her 17 Grand Slam appearances prior to arriving in New York, Pliskova had never reached the second week. The last player to reach a major final having never previously been beyond the third round was Amélie Mauresmo at the 1999 Australian Open. Since 1988 Australian Open (when all majors switched to 128-draws) no player has won a Grand Slam on their first venture into the second week. The closest was Serena Williams, who reached the fourth round at Roland Garros in 1999 then won US Open later that same year.

5) Kerber is trying to win multiple majors.
Should Kerber prevail she will become the first player not named Serena to win multiple majors in a calendar year since Justine Henin did so in 2007.

6) On a roll.
Pliskova is currently on an 11-match winning streak. The only time in her career she has gone longer without tasting defeat came way back in 2011, when she won 12 on the spin on the ITF Circuit in the Far East.

This current run came within a point of ending against Venus Williams in the fourth round. Navratilova is the only woman in Open Era to win the US Open title having saved match point – in 1986 she saved three in her semifinal versus Graf.

7) Achieving the Serena-Venus double.
Pliskova is just the eighth woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same tournament, the fourth at a Grand Slam and third at the US Open. The two players to have done so at Flushing Meadows, Justine Henin (2007) and Kim Clijsters (2009) both went on to win the tournament.

8) Kerber not the only one on the rise.
Serena’s semifinal defeat ensured Kerber will become the 22nd player to reach No.1 in the rankings. Pliskova is also on the march too, guaranteeing herself a career-high ranking of No.6 by reaching the final (she would go to No.5 with the title).

Meanwhile, the results in the Big Apple have caused a slight reshuffle on the Road To Singapore leaderboard, with Pliskova leapfrogging Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbiñe Muguruza, Dominika Cibulkova and Carla Suárez Navarro and Madison Keys into third place; the top two, Kerber and Williams, have both already secured qualification for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

9) Kerber’s unblemished record.
Kerber has not dropped a set on her way to the final. The last player to win a major without losing a set was Serena at the 2014 US Open.

10) The exclusive leftie club.
Kerber is attempting to become just the third left-hander to win the title. The other three were Evelyn Sears (1907) Navratilova (1983, 1984, 1986, 1987) and Monica Seles (1991, 1992).

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Some players make their tennis breakthrough in a blaze of glory. For others, the path to the top is a slow and steady one.

Angelique Kerber has taken the second route and this Monday arrived at her destination: World No.1. As far as possible successors to Serena Williams at the summit of the women’s game, Kerber was not top of many people’s lists, even after her breakthrough victory at this year’s Australian Open.

By her own admission, the German has been something of a late bloomer – she did not win her first silverware or break into the Top 10 until her mid-20s. However, just four months from her 29th birthday, she is scaling new heights.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but I’m having the best year of my career and it’s still not over,” Kerber said earlier this summer. “It’s amazing what’s happened in the last few months – it’s just incredible!”

In January she stunned the tennis world by beating Williams to the Australian Open title, and after taking a while to come to terms with her achievement is now reveling in the limelight; at Wimbledon, she reached her second Grand Slam final, losing narrowly to Williams, following this up with a semifinal in Montréal, a silver medal at the Rio Olympics and now a second major, at the US Open.

Making light of this hectic summer schedule, Kerber was her usual indefatigable self in the final against Williams’ conqueror, Karolina Pliskova, scurrying to track down a succession of seemingly lost causes. This application served her well in the final set, hanging onto the Czech’s flying coattails before producing a characteristic late surge, winning 24 of the last 34 points, to claim the trophy.

Victory saw Kerber become only the second woman to win her first two major championships after turning 28. She is also the oldest player to make their debut at No.1, and there will be few quibbling that she is not there on merit.

“I knew that I have the game to beat the best players if I was just patient and worked really hard,” she said after the final in New York. “And now to see that the work pays off, this is actually the best feeling. Because I was a lot of hours on the practice courts, sweating and everything, and you are just playing for this moment to being on the center court in the final and with the amazing crowd. So this is what I was always dreaming for.”

It is fitting that her coronation came at Flushing Meadows, the venue where it first became obvious that she had something to separate her from the pack. Five years ago, Kerber, then ranked No.92, overcame Agnieszka Radwanska and Flavia Pennetta en route to an unlikely semifinal.

The following year, Kerber proved she would be no one-Slam wonder, consolidating herself at tennis’ top table with 60 wins, two titles and a Top 10 debut. For the next couple of seasons it looked like she had hit her ceiling, bobbing in and around the Top 10, registering the odd noteworthy result yet never launching sustained challenge for any of the game’s major prizes.

A familiar story seemed to be playing out at the start of 2016. After losing out to Victoria Azarenka for the Brisbane title, sixth-seeded Kerber found herself match point down to the unheralded Misaki Doi in the first round of the Australian Open.

What happened over the next hour – and then fortnight – will go down in German sporting folklore, Kerber negotiating a way out of this cul-de-sac, eventually going on to lift the most unexpected of titles.

However, even after the 2,000-point boost to her ranking tally, an assault at the No.1 ranking looked improbable. Indeed, at this point she still trailed Williams by over 3,500 points, making little inroads on this total as she struggled to come to terms with her newfound status over the coming months, a string of early exits culminating in a first-round exit to Kiki Bertens at Roland Garros.

This all changed over the summer months, a maiden Wimbledon final – in which she delivered a credible showing against a destiny-driven Williams – the start of a sequence of results that steadily chipped away at a once insurmountable lead.

By Cincinnati, top spot was in the crosshairs. While she missed out there, losing to Pliskova in the final, she made no mistake in New York, handling the pressure admirably. 

“I think I’m ready to have this pressure on my shoulder, because I think I get used to all of this, especially after my first Grand Slam in Australia,” Kerber said.

Famed for work-ethic off the court, the WTA’s new queen bee is unlikely to rest on her laurels. “I had so much pressure after the title. And to being No.1, of course now everybody will try to beat me and have nothing to lose. I will try to take this challenge, because it will be a little bit new situation for me. But at the end, I was always practicing and working hard to be No.1. Now I can also take the next step and try to stay as long as I can there.”

In this episode of WTA Behind The Tour, take a glimpse into what daily life is like in charge of a big WTA event.

Tournament director Anne Worchester makes sure all the players feel at home at the Connecticut Open. Prior to her current role, Anne was CEO of the WTA, and is the youngest person to hold that role to date.

“A tournament director oversees the show,” Anne said. “So I also oversee marketing and public relations. I do all the player recordings and player relations for the tournament, which is a part of my job that I love.”

Besides keeping the New Haven tournament running smoothly, the most important part of Anne’s job involves forming relationships with the players.

“The best part of being a tournament director is getting to know the players,” she added. “I think the mentoring aspect of this job is the most rewarding.”

Learn more about Anne’s work – and hear her favorite tournament director stories – in the latest episode of WTA Behind The Tour.

TOKYO, Japan – Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka scored her first win at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in emphatic fashion, knocking out Japan’s No.1 Misaki Doi in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Following her first round win at last week’s Japan Women’s Open Tennis, Osaka entered the Premier-level event on a career-high ranking of No.69, making her Japan’s No.2-ranked player. But across the net stood the Japanese No.1, who was looking to rebound from last week’s opening round loss.

Osaka blasted seven aces in her stellar performance against Doi. Both players were evenly matched throughout the one and a half hour encounter, but it was Osaka who dominated the big points, bringing up five break chances and converting two – one early in each set.

For her part, Doi did her best to stay within touching distance of the 18-year-old, but couldn’t find the weapons to put her under pressure. She brought up her first – and only – break opportunity late in the second set with Osaka serving for a 5-3 lead. Osaka batted it away with a zinging forehand down the line to stay on course.

A final ace sealed Osaka’s passage into the second round, where she awaits the winner between Lucie Safarova and No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova.

More to come…

A week and a half ago tennis crowned a new queen when Angelique Kerber lifted the US Open to mark her ascent to the World No.1 ranking.

Watching on from the stands was Billie Jean King, the woman after whom tournament’s home is named, and who 43 years earlier paved the way for Kerber and company by defeating Bobby Riggs.

Dubbed by promoters as ‘The Battle of the Sexes’, on September 20, 1973 King took on Riggs, an ageing former major champion and shameless misogynist who claimed he could still beat any of the leading women on the fledgling Women’s Tennis Association.

Luckily, she did win. Playing to an audience of 30,472 in the Houston Astrodome – and over 100 million watching around the world on television – King abandoned her serve-and-volley game to defeat Riggs from the back of the court, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

When Riggs hit a high backhand volley into the net on match point, King flung her racket into the air in celebration. “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match,” she said later. “It would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem.”

For his part, Riggs told reporters that King simply “played too well.” The two eventually became friends, and even spoke a few days before Riggs died of prostate cancer in 1995.

Over four decades on, the match remains a landmark moment in the gender equality movement, one that transcended sport.

43 years ago today I played Bobby Riggs in a match that changed my life & was all about equality. To celebrate let's shine a light on others

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) September 20, 2016