Tennis News

PARIS, France – The Roland Garros qualifying draw was released on Monday, and the race for 12 main draw spots in the second Grand Slam of 2016 will be tougher than ever once play begins Tuesday.

Louisa Chirico is the No.1 seed following her head-turning run to the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals; the American upset 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic and Daria Gavrilova and opens against Tereza Martincova in ther first round. Former junior star Irina Khromacheva is the highest ranked woman in her section, though former World No.58 Andrea Hlavackova and Amra Sadikovic could also pose some problems during the week.

TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup champion Cagla Buyukakcay is the No.2 seed and will play Elitsa Kostova in her first round; the Turkish sensation became the first in her country’s history to ever reach a WTA semifinal, let alone title, and is projected to play No.22 seed and former Top 20 stalwart Klara Koukalova in the final round.

Romanians Sorana Cirstea and Patricia Maria Tig round out the Top 4 seeds, and each are coming off of some solid clay court results. Both Cirstea and Tig reached the quarterfinals in Madrid. Cirstea made her career breakthrough back at the 2009 French Open when she upset former No.1 Jelena Jankovic to reach the quarterfinals, and Tig burst onto the scene last summer when she reached her first WTA final in Baku.

Other names to watch in the draw include Vania King, Maria Sakkari, Petra Cetkovska, and a pair of former Top 30 players in Daniela Hantuchova and Tamira Paszek. A semifinalist at the 2008 Australian Open, Hantuchova was a former World No.5, while Paszek is most known for her back-to-back Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2011 and 2012.

Click here to check out the full qualifying draw and stay tuned to see who of your favorites will earn a coveted place in the Roland Garros main draw!

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

ROME, Italy – Serena Williams set aside her 0-2 record in finals in 2016 to snag her first title of the season at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday, defeating Madison Keys 7-6(5), 6-3. The title was Serena’s first since the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last summer and her week in Rome proved dominant. She did not lose a set in her first tournament since Miami, and reasserted herself as the favorite as she seeks to defend her title at the French Open starting next week.

“I have tried to defend there once, twice, three times before,” Serena told reporters. “Didn’t quite work so well.

“But this year is different. I’m going to definitely go in there and I feel more calm and I don’t feel stress to have to win. I feel like I just am happy to be out here.”

In a clay court season that saw no single player dominate, stress or no stress, Serena goes into Paris with a full head of steam and the relief in knowing she finally managed her nerves and executed when it mattered in a final. The three-time French Open champion struggled through a tough tournament in Paris last year, losing the first set in four matches and needing five three-set wins to win the title. She described her 2015 win as a “miracle”.

“Obviously my major memory was probably that semifinal and the final, too, and the night before,” Serena said. “Just that whole last three, four rounds was extremely difficult for me.

“Honestly, just – I don’t even know the words for it. Courage is beyond anything I could describe. It was just honestly probably just a miracle.”

WTA Insider sat down with Serena after her triumph in Rome to discuss her week in the eternal city, how she plans to settle into Paris, and we take a slight detour into the world of the Williams Invitational, a private annual competition staged by Serena and Venus for family and friends in Florida.

Q: Congratulations on winning your title here in Rome. What is it about this city that stands out to you?
A: So much history in this city. You just think of it as a world power and you think of all the people who were here. That’s what stands out to me. Just seeing the Colosseum and all the history behind it is pretty cool. This is actually one of my favorite stops on the tour. This city is so awesome. Then to be able to play in Rome is really cool too.

Q: So 70 titles. I don’t know if you know if you know this but I’ve never won a WTA title. So I don’t know what it’s like to win one. I don’t what the emotion is that goes into it. What was the emotion winning Rome. Was it a sense of relief? A sense of triumph given everything that’s happened? What were you feeling?
A: I just felt really good. I wasn’t sure if I could win this tournament because I was dealing with, you know, a lot of things. Physically coming in here I wasn’t feeling my best and then I was like ok, will I be able to play long matches? And I was and it worked out. So I’m feeling really good.

Q: What was tougher for you these past couple of months, the physical side of things or the mental side of things?
A: It was just for me, obviously physical is always hard because you always want to make sure you’re injury free. You want to make sure that you are able to stay for a really long time because this is a really tough season especially with the Olympics this year. So there’s a lot of stuff going on. But I am just living each day as it comes and staying calm.

Q: Is it easy not to look forward? It is a packed schedule starting with here at the French Open, then grass, then the hard courts and Olympics, is it easy to stay one week at a time or can it get overwhelming?
A: I guess if you think about it it can get really overwhelming. But I don’t really think about it. I’m really good at staying in the moment. Honestly I can’t even imagine the Olympics yet because I can’t believe I’m going to be in another Olympics. It’s so cool.

Q: It’s so theoretical right now.
A: In a way I can’t believe I’m going to be in it again. It’s a super cool feeling. Wimbledon feels so far away. It’ll be here before you know it. Although Roland Garros seems like it snuck up. It’s here and I’m like Oh my gosh, it’s here.

Q: You mentioned in the press conference that this is just your fourth tournament of the season. So it hasn’t been like you haven’t been on the tour side of things even if you have been working in practice. Does that accelerate May? Paris is now here and you only have four tournaments under your belt?
A: Yeah, but it feels good. I’ve been playing for so many years. I think at my age I don’t need to play 12 tournaments. I’ve been in the final of three of the four. I don’t feel like I need to play every single week. I just need to focus on winning the tournaments I play or doing well at the tournaments I play and going from there.

Q: Do you think that’s an adjustment from a few years ago? You had that stretch of 18 months where you played non-stop and you were winning at a crazy clip. Now maybe it’s time to contract that a little bit and focus on the big tournaments?
A: Honestly it’s about how I feel. Right now I feel like I don’t need to play every week. Back then I felt like I did and I wanted to.

Q: Because you were trying to prove something?
A: I was trying to get that No.1 position back too and I felt like I needed to play more to get there. I wanted to work my way to that. Now I just feel like I never thought I’d be in this position so let me focus on the big tournaments and see what happens.

Q: You still have that apartment in Paris. Do you go straight to Paris and start practicing there and settle in? Or do you go somewhere else? What’s your gameplan.
A: I’m going to go to Paris. I’m going to go tomorrow. I wish I would go tonight but…

Q: You might as well get there…
A: Right? But I’ll just go tomorrow. I love Paris. I feel a little weird here because I don’t speak perfect Italian. I can understand everything but I can’t speak it. So it’s very difficult. At least in Paris I can understand all the French. So I feel like it’s such a relief because I can go somewhere and have conversations. I know my neighborhood, I know where to go. So I’m looking forward to that.

Q: Do you have a tradition when you get back to Paris?
A: I do for Rome. But for Paris all I can imagine is my bed. My kitchen, I love my kitchen. I can’t wait. My closet, which is pretty cool.

Q: You still have that shabby chic aesthetic?
A: No, I’m modern. I moved, so it’s modern now.

Q: You’re evolving all the time.
A: Too much!

Q: So I see you’re wearing the Kryptonians necklace…
A: Yes! YES!

Q: I have to ask. You’re fist-pumping like a champ right now. So I assume the Williams Invitational went well?
A: We did well! We won gold in dance, we won gold in dodgeball. We didn’t place in tennis, but our focus is definitely dance and dodgeball. So we did great! I’m a Kryptonian for life. Shout out to all the Kryptonians!

Q: How big were the teams this year?
A: Our teams grew. Our core team was like 25 people.

Q: So if dance and dodgeball are your strengths for the Kryptonians, what are your weaknesses?
A: We’re not great in tennis (Laughs). This is the second year in a row we didn’t place in tennis. Yeah, we need to work on our tennis game. But honestly what matters most is the dance. Everyone really goes all out for the dance.

Q: I did see an Instagram video. There was one.
A: There are a couple out there.

Q: You were droppin’ it.
A: We were werkin’ it.

Q: Well congratulations, Serena, on the title. And I guess I’ll see you in Paris.
A: Yes.

Listen to more from Serena in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

Click here to keep up with WTA Insider’s pre-French Open coverage and follow along with the rest of the Insider RG Contenders.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

MELBOURNE, Australia – The bottom half of the Australian Open draw concludes the quarterfinal match-ups in Melbourne, featuring the much-anticipated clash between six-time champion Serena Williams and Johanna Konta, the in-form semifinalist from last year. No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova also hopes to continue her unbeaten run in 2017 against Cinderella story Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who is into her first major quarterfinal in nearly two decades. 

We preview all the Day 10 matchups right here on wtatennis.com.

Wednesday, Quarterfinals

[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #79)
Head-to-head: Pliskova leads, 3-2
Key Stat: Both Pliskova and Lucic-Baroni are playing in their second Grand Slam quarterfinals (Pliskova, 2016 US Open, Lucic-Baroni, 1999 Wimbledon).

Pliskova made her first 17 Grand Slam appearances without making the second week, but the Brisbane International champion is making up for lost time in her second straight major quarterfinal since reaching the US Open final.

It was a much longer drought for Lucic-Baroni, who needed 18 years to back up her breakthrough run at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships after a mix of personal and financial problems kept her off the tour for almost a decade.

The 34-year-old veteran takes on Pliskova for the first time since the 2015, when the two split their two meetings that season; Lucic-Baroni lost their most recent encounter in a third-set tie-break at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

Pliskova has dropped just two sets all season, emerging victorious from a 10-8 final set against Latvian youngster Jelena Ostapenko to brush aside No.22 seed Daria Gavrilova in front of her home crowd.

Can Lucic-Baroni win the battle of big hitters to continue her fairytale run, or will Pliskova continue her newfound dominance at majors and reach another semifinal?

[9] Johanna Konta (GBR #9) vs [2] Serena Williams (USA #2)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Konta has dropped serve twice in four matches (tournament leader).

With defending champion Angelique Kerber out at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe, Serena Williams suddenly found herself in a solid position to reclaim the No.1 ranking from her rival. To do it, she’ll also need to take home the Open Era record of 23 Grand Slam titles and her seventh Down Under.

Standing between her and the semifinals is an unfamiliar foe in Johanna Konta, the fastest rising force in women’s tennis since her initial 16-match winning streak in the summer of 2015.

Konta has been ruthless through four rounds, knocking out former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova en route to her second straight quarterfinal in Melbourne.

Serena has taken out on-fire opponents in the past; can she solve the unflappable Brit on Rod Laver Arena, or will Konta keep up her potentially Slam-winning form into the final four?

Around the Grounds…

The women’s and mixed doubles events are rounding into form, and both feature doubles No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The American rejoins Lucie Safarova to take on the unseeded Japanese duo of Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato. Meanwhile, top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic will need to turn around from their three-set thriller over Aussies Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua to play No.12 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai, who dispatched reigning Olympic champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in two tight sets on Tuesday.

In mixed, No.2 seed Sania Mirza will partner Ivan Dodig for a second day in a row as they try to reach a second straight Australian Open semifinal; aiming to stop them are an unseeded pair in Gabriela Dabrowski and Mirza’s countryman, Rohan Bopanna.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.