Serena Shines At Hopman Cup Player Party
Serena Williams, who’s making her 2016 debut at the Hopman Cup in Perth this week, shone at the exhibition event’s player party. Watch her step out right here.
Serena Williams, who’s making her 2016 debut at the Hopman Cup in Perth this week, shone at the exhibition event’s player party. Watch her step out right here.
“It’s always challenging to play someone for the first time and I didn’t know exactly what to expect,” said the No.4 seed. “It was a slow start from my side but I’m just happy to win my first match here in two sets. The first match is always tough. These are tough conditions and a little windy so the ball is flying everywhere but hopefully, match by match, it will be better.”
.@ARadwanska races into @DDFTennis Round of 16!
Sails past Mertens 6-3, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/wngfR5wYUA
— WTA (@WTA) February 21, 2017
Mertens, who upset Tsvetana Pironkova in the opening round, gained the immediate break in the opening game to gain confidence at the start of the first meeting between the pair. But from then on, it was all Radwanska, the Pole surging back to take the opening set 6-3 before clinching the second set 6-2.
Radwanska, who won the tournament in 2012, will next face teenager Catherine Bellis who backed up her opening round win over Yulia Putintseva with another straight sets win over Laura Siegemund.
“It’s always great to go back to a place where you’ve won before and I’m going to do everything in my power to hold this trophy again,” added Radwanska. “It’s now a meeting with someone I haven’t played before so another change for me. Another young and very talented player so I hope I can win the first game and we’ll see how it goes.”
An interview with Simona Halep ahead of the Brisbane International.
Elina Svitolina takes on Christina McHale in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – While playing some exhibition tennis for the ASB crowd, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were joined by four members of the All-Blacks, New Zealand’s national rubgy union team, who acted as ballboys and on-court attendants.
Nehe Milner-Skudder, Sam Cane, Joe Moody and Julian Savea did most of the gruntwork during the match, picking up balls and handing off towels, but there was still time for a selfie or two as play unfolded in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
“There’s definitely an art to it,” Milner-Skudder said of ball-boying. “We had a run-through for about half an hour before the girls came out, but we probably needed a lot longer than that.”
Check out some of the best photos from the day, courtesy of www.photosport.nz:
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, 17-year-old CiCi Bellis’ victory over Agnieszka Radwanska set a record in more ways than one.
Elena Vesnina has Monday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
DUBAI, UAE – Caroline Wozniacki is only 26 years old – so she was taken by surprise to hear her quarterfinal opponent at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships say she had admired her since childhood.
“Both [Agnieszka] Radwanska and Wozniacki have been, you know, my idols since I was really young and watched them play on the TV since I was five years old,” revealed 17-year-old CiCi Bellis after beating the Pole 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
Wozniacki’s win over Kateryna Bondarenko, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, set up a clash between the current WTA World No.15 and her teenage admirer.
“Obviously we have been on tour for so long and played so many matches and been on TV for a lot of years,” said the Dane. “I think sometimes you just don’t realize how young these girls are that are coming up.
“But we were one of them, too. Aga and I were both really young when we broke through. You know, it’s my 12th year on tour now, so, you know, we have been here for a while – although I still feel young at heart.”
Wozniacki reminisced about her own time as a teenager breaking through – and those senior stateswomen of the game who welcomed her
“Someone like Kim Clijsters was always nice,” she recalled. “Venus was one of the first ones, as well. She asked me to play doubles with her in Qatar, actually, when I was 17. So that was huge for me. And then Serena was really nice.
“I’m not saying everybody, but I think the older players back in the day really appreciated us having that respect towards them. Not on the court, obviously. We wanted to win. But we were always very respectful of them and their achievements at the same time we were fighters and competitors.”
That means that Wozniacki will not be taking the young American lightly.
“I think she obviously tries to dictate with the forehand,” she said. “You know, it’s a player with a lot of energy. I just need to be out there and just show my presence – and try and stay aggressive.”
An interview with Ekaterina Makarova after her win in the first round of the Brisbane International.
DUBAI, UAE – Just days after throwing down the WTA Shot Of The Month gauntlet to trick shots queen Agnieszka Radwanska, World No.2 Angelique Kerber produced yet another highlight-worthy piece of brilliance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – and this time she even went right handed for it!
Watch Kerber switch hands for a right-handed reflex volley in her WTA Shot Of The Day from her quarterfinal against Ana Konjuh:
Speed and soft hands from @AngeliqueKerber! ? pic.twitter.com/Ti8X0o1Ej5
— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017
“I don’t think [I’ve ever hit a right-handed volley before],” Kerber laughed in her post-match press conference. “I think this point — yeah, I have no idea. I just react, so it was just maybe a little bit luck, as well.”
She added, “I’m naturally right handed. Maybe that helps me in this point.”
On Tuesday, Kerber’s 26-shot rally against Mona Barthel prompted the German to muse out loud about displacing perennial hot-shot winner Radwanska, who not only took home January’s WTA Shot Of The Month but also owns the WTA Shot Of The Year Award for the last four years.
She’s coming for you @ARadwanska… pic.twitter.com/q11Hc9WD6Z
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 21, 2017
Radwanska was game and readily accepted the challenge on Twitter:
Game on ???@AngeliqueKerber https://t.co/0S9L0qIsjJ
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) February 21, 2017
@ARadwanska ???
— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) February 21, 2017
But will it be enough for Kerber to dethrone Radwanska and claim February WTA Shot Of The Month? Stay tuned…