Charleston: Puig Interview
An interview with Monica Puig after her win in the second round of the Volvo Car Open.
An interview with Monica Puig after her win in the second round of the Volvo Car Open.
SINGAPORE – A late-season surge paved the way to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for Karolina Pliskova. However, the Czech, whose appearance is the culmination of a steady climb up the tennis ladder, is far from a one-hit wonder…
1) American dream
Pliskova impressed at the US Open this year. Playing in her 18th career Grand Slam, Pliskova advanced to the second week for the first time in her career. She saved match point against Venus Williams to make it to the quarterfinals, she shocked Serena Williams in the semifinals – and then came up just short in a thrilling final against Angelique Kerber.
2) Doing the double
Pliskova became the eighth woman ever to defeat both Williams sisters in the same tournament, and the fourth to do it at a major tournament. “There is not much better than to beat both sisters in one tournament in New York,” Pliskova said. “I’m really excited about those two wins.”
3) Victory over Venus
Pliskova’s win over Venus will have given her a smidge of satisfaction – it was the older Williams sister who beat her 7-5, 7-6(6) in the final at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai at the end of 2015.
4) Debut delight
Pliskova is making her debut in the WTA Finals after coming very close in 2015. Her run of form across tournaments in US Open, Nottingham and Cincinnati helped guide her qualification to Singapore. In addition to competing in singles, Pliskova will team up with Julia Goerges as one of the Top 8 doubles teams in the world competing at the WTA Finals.
5) Ranking rise in 2016
Pliskova rose to World No.6 after reaching the US Open final and nearly one month later made her Top 5 debut on October 10, 2016. In early August, she was ranked No.18.
6) Impressive climb
Her 2016 breakthrough has been the culmination of a steady climb up the ranks. Last year Pliskova finished just outside the Top 10 – having finished just outside the Top 20 the year before.
7) Twin magic
She and her sister Kristyna became the first twins ever to win a WTA doubles title in 2013 at Linz when they beat Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska in the final, 7-6 6-4.
8) Spot the difference
It’s easy to tell the Pliskova twins apart when they’re on court – Karolina plays right-handed, Kristyna left. You could also check their tattoos: Karolina has two Polynesian-style tattoos, one on her left thigh and on her left arm. Kristyna has one Polynesian-style tattoo on the inside of her left arm.
9) Top tournament
Pliskova lists her favorite tournament as the Australian Open, where she won as a junior; and in recent years, she has posted consecutive third-round appearances.
10) Sublime serve
Pliskova’s serve is perhaps her most well-known weapon. For the second consecutive year she has hit more than 500 aces, leading the WTA in both 2015 (517 aces) and 2016 (508). She also ranked second on the WTA in first serve points won (74.6%), trailing only Serena Williams (75.7%).
SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova stunned World No.1 Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to win the biggest title of her career at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The win vaults the 27-year-old to a career-high No.5 in the rankings and snapped a five-match losing streak to the German.
Three thoughts on a dramatic end to the WTA Finals:
– In a season defined by small margins, Dominika Cibulkova proved the poster-child.
The 2016 season kicked off in earnest when Kerber, then-ranked No.6, survived match point down to Misaki Doi in the first round of the Australian Open, only to go on and stun No.1 Serena Williams to win the biggest title of her career.
Then comes Cibulkova, who survived the group stage in the rarest of circumstances, needing to beat Simona Halep in straight sets in her final match while also needing Kerber to beat Madison Keys in straight sets to put her through. It was the only scenario out of 16 on that day that would move the Slovak into the knockout phase and she pulled it off.
From there Cibulkova battled her way through the title, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in three tough sets and then play her best match of the tournament to outplay Kerber, winning both matches on let-cord winners.
In a dramatic final game, Cibulkova nervously squandered two Championship Points from 40-15 up only to engage in jaw-dropping rally after jaw-dropping rally.
Just remarkable drama and stuff from both players. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/Mfmo3L0aJg
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
Jaw dropping stuff! @Cibulkova saves break point. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/OPnFEZDmmo
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
In the face of Kerber’s relentless defense, Cibulkova did what she had done all week. She gripped and ripped and hit through her nerves. Her bravery was finally rewarded on her fourth Championship Point, when she fired a desperate forehand that ticked the top of the net. The ball was suspended in air for what felt like seconds as both women waited to see which side of the net it would favor.
What a way to end! @Cibulkova is the @WTAFinalsSG champion for 2016 #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/vCsPM8D0qy
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
It fell on Kerber’s side of the court. Cibulkova fell to the ground in disbelief. As the old cliché goes, fortune favors the brave. And there was none braver in Singapore than the smallest woman in the field.
– Cibulkova turns the page on a nervous past.
Cibulkova is a veteran of the tour, part of the generation of players that includes Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Agnieszka Radwanska. Watching her over the years the tension would be a constant during her matches and the nerves would kick in at the most inopportune time.
That was old Domi. Welcome the new Domi.
“On the court I put a lot of emotions, and emotions just affect me,” Cibulkova explained. “This is something I started to learn how to deal with emotions and not let down myself; just to keep focused, and this is all about. I really work hard on it.
“Now I see this mental part for me, it’s like going to practice and actually practice on the court. As I practice on the court I practice on these things. As you can see, it’s working.
Cibulkova’s 2016 has been all about conquering the mental side of the game. She’s always been, pound for pound, the biggest hitter in the game. But her emotions could get the best of her and the rest of the locker room knew. She often wanted it too much and would strangle the life out of potentially career-defining wins.
Cibulkova tried to address the issue by hiring a mental coach a year and a half ago. The question was simple: how can she balance her ambition without being blinded by it? Over the last 16 months she has proven her mettle, whether it was getting the best of Radwanska in an epic three-set battle at Wimbledon, or coming through in her Singapore qualifying campaign by making the Dongfeng Wuhan Open final, winning the Generali Ladies Linz in a must-win campaign, or scrapping through to advance to the semifinals in Singapore.
The nerves looked like they might get the better of her in her first two Championship Points in the final. Instead of panicking after her shock misses, she shot a smile both to her box and to herself. That moment of relaxation allowed her gutsiest tennis to come through in the end.
“I don’t blame myself that I got a little bit nervous on the first two match points, because I think only very, very few people wouldn’t get when you have a match point for the biggest tournament of your career.
“But the way I handle it after, it shows that I really change. I belong there and I’m really, really strong.”
– Kerber comes up short but Singapore was still a breakthrough.
Before this year, Kerber had never made it out of the group stage at the WTA Finals. She conquered that milestone by going undefeated in the Red Group this year. In a high-pressure match against No.2 seed and defending champion Radwanska, she lost just three games. But on a day when she did not have her best, she finally ran into an inspired opponent.
This is not the first time this has happened to Kerber this season. In two big finals this season, at the Rio Olympics and Western & Southern Open, she looked to be cruising towards victory before the nothing-to-lose swinging of her opponent felled her.
“She has the best defensive game for now in the world,” Cibulkova said. “But I knew I have my shots that I can beat her with; that was my forehand today. My serve today, I was serving really, really well. Few games I played with my serve and I then was going for my forehand.
“I just knew what I have to do. I think I didn’t let her into the match really today with my aggressive game. I had just one goal. I was going after it. I think it was tough for her to do something on the court today.”
But despite the loss, Kerber finishes her 2016 season with another message to the field. She won more majors and more matches than any other woman this season. She was the tour’s most consistent winner and her balance of counter-punching and defense made her the toughest out in tennis.
To beat her in a big match you have to seize the match from her vice-like grip, hope she’s off her game, and play one of the best matches of your career. That’s precisely what Cibulkova did on Sunday night in Singapore. And there was nothing more for Kerber to do than tip her cap.
“I gave everything,” Kerber said. “I mean, it was a tough year with a lot of matches, so I give everything on court today, the rest energy I had left.
“Of course when I’m looking back it’s one of my best years. I think when I will go home now I will just think about the best moments and the positive emotions.”
Sloane Stephens takes on Daria Gavrilova in the third round of the Volvo Car Open.
SINGAPORE – Angelique Kerber heads into the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global as World No.1 – and she intends to stay that way. It will be her fourth appearance at the tournament, where she will attempt to make it beyond the round robin stage for the first time.
1) Top notch.
Kerber looks set to end the year as the World No.1 – a position she achieved for the first time in September when she won her second Grand Slam, the US Open, and bumped Serena Williams off the top spot. If she does finish as year-end World No.1, she will be the 12th woman to do so since rankings were introduced in 1975.
2) Experience counts.
Kerber is the 22nd woman to achieve the World No.1 ranking – and, at 28 years old, the oldest to debut in that spot.
3) Flying the flag.
She is the first German to make it to World No.1 since Stefanie Graf – one of her idols.
4) First left.
She is also the first left-handed player to hit the heights of World No.1 since Monica Seles – last at the top of the rankings almost 20 years ago.
5) Queen of Consistency.
2016 will be Kerber’s fifth straight year in the Top 10 – but her first in the top five since 2012.
6) Triumphant 2016.
Kerber signalled her intentions when she beat Williams in the Australian Open final back in January – and she followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon final, when she lost narrowly to Williams. Kerber won 19 of 22 matches during the summer swing as she reached the semifinals in Montreal, collected a silver medal at the Olympics and was a finalist at Cincinnati – indeed, she played 11 matches in 14 days throughout that hectic period. It didn’t have too much of a detrimental effect on her, though – she rounded it off with her second Grand Slam title by defeating Karolina Pliskova in the US Open final.
7) 28 years later.
Not to emphasise her age too much, but Kerber is only the second woman to win her first two Grand Slam singles titles after turning 28. Li Na did it first, winning the 2011 French Open at 29 and, three years later, the Australian Open.
8) First loss.
Since reaching No.1, Kerber has lost to Petra Kvitova (Wuhan), Elina Svitolina (Beijing) and Daria Gavrilova (Hong Kong).
9) Final ambition.
Kerber insists the prospect of finishing the year at No.1 is not on her mind – and that her goal is simply to do well in Singapore.
10) Big challenge.
Despite making her debut at the WTA Tour Finals back in 2012, Kerber has yet to qualify out of the round-robin stage – indeed, during her debut she did not win a single match. She has qualified for the Finals in every year since, except for 2014 where she was an unused alternate. And she’ll be confident that she knows how to handle the pressure of the big occasion now – she drastically improved her three-set win percentage by 18.4 per cent (from 15-12 in 2015 to 17-6 in 2016). That includes both her Grand Slam victories, taking the finals in three sets – showing that she can win on the biggest stages of all.
Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep, Madison Keys, Karolina Pliskova or Svetlana Kuznetsova – who hit the Shot Of The Tournament at the WTA Finals?
March was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.
In the end it was Agnieszka Radwanska once again who played one of many memorable shots to engineer a match point against the equally tricky Monica Niculescu. On her way to briefly reclaiming the World No.2 ranking for the first time since 2012, Radwanska hit a most improbable passing shot to stun the BNP Paribas Open crowd – and taking home this month’s top votes.
Click here to watch all of March’s finalists.
Final Results for March’s WTA Shot Of The Month
1. Agnieszka Radwanska (55%)
2. Simona Halep (33%)
3. Camila Giorgi (5%)
4. Serena Williams (4%)
5. Angelique Kerber (3%)
2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners
January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska
How it works:
Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
In this episode of Dubai Duty Free: Always Full Of Surprises, check out what Svetlana Kuznetsova’s Singapore Fan Club had in store for her last week at the WTA Finals!
ZHUHAI, China – Top seeds Petra Kvitova and Johanna Konta are making their debuts at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai as group-stage action continues at the season-ending event. We preview all the singles action right here.
Wednesday
Camellia Group
[13/Alt] Timea Babos (HUN #25) vs [6] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #18)
Head-to-head: Bacsinszky leads 2-0
Stat: Babos owns a 4-14 record against the Top 20.
After being stunned 6-1, 6-1 by Zhang Shuai in her first match at Zhuhai, Timea Bacsinszky is looking to get back on track against an unexpected opponent, singles alternate Timea Babos. Babos is set to make her debut appearance in Zhuhai after No.2 seed Carla Suárez Navarro saw herself forced to withdraw from the tournament and Bacsinszky will have to put their friendship aside – as well as their bond over a shared first name – in order to stay perfect against an opponent she’s never lost against.
“With Timea Babos, we do speak Hungarian together. Well, we’re friends, and we know each other quite well. It’s going to be a tough one definitely,” Bacsinszky explained in her post-match press conference. “We played twice against each other but it was only on clay. You know, here the surface is quite different. I mean, you have to be aggressive as well.So probably it’s going to be something totally different.”
Azalea Group
[1] Johanna Konta (GBR #10) vs [8] Samantha Stosur (AUS #20)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Stat: Konta has a 5-4 record against Aussies.
The Ashes is normally a fixture in cricket, but today it hits Zhuhai as Britain’s No.1 takes on Australia’s No.1 for the first time. Johanna Konta, the WTA’s Most Improved Player of the year, is making her Zhuhai debut as the No.1 seed and riding on the back of career-best accomplishments that she achieved during the Asian Swing. After reaching her first Premier Mandatory final at the China Open and shortly afterwards rising to her highest ranking of No.9, the Brit seems right at home in China.
“What can I say? I like China!” she joked with WTA Insider. “We get treated very well here; every hotel is always really beautiful, as is every venue. They really put a lot of effort into the immediate things that surround us as tennis players, the things we experience at every event. They definitely make us feel quite comfortable.”
It’s been quite the opposite story for her first opponent in Zhuhai, Sam Stosur. The Australian has looked decidedly uncomfortable in Asia, posting back-to-back first round exits at Wuhan, Beijing and Hong Kong. But with a new coach on board, Stosur feels the pieces are clicking together, and she’s not phased about drawing the tournament’s top seed. “Jo has been constantly playing and had a great year,” Stosur acknowledged. “[It’s] going to be a difficult first match, but I’m ready to go. It’s a good test to test yourself against I guess the highest-ranked player here.”
Peony Group
[3] Petra Kvitova (CZE #13) vs [5] Roberta Vinci (ITA #17)
Head-to-head: Tied at 3-3
Stat: Vinci holds a 3-5 record against the Top 20.
Petra Kvitova takes the court in her debut appearance at Zhuhai with all the wind behind her sails; she turned her season around during the Asian Swing, winning her first title of the year in Wuhan and going on to reach the quarterfinals of Beijing and the final at Luxembourg. Her first opponent at the WTA Elite Trophy will be the always-tricky Roberta Vinci, who is looking for a victory to keep her semifinal hopes alive after suffering a disappointing straight sets defeat against Barbora Strycova. She faces a familiar opponent in Kvitova, who she’ll be playing for a seventh time, and she already knows what the game plan entails.
“Just my game: play aggressive,” Vinci explained in her post-match press conference. “Petra is an unbelievable player; left-handed. Have to be aggressive. A lot of slice of course. I have to play a good game tomorrow to win against Petra.”
WTA Insider David Kane | After a comprehensive win over Timea Babos, Timea Bacsinszky began her press conference on a lighter note by showing off a WTA Elite Trophy souvenir.