Tennis News

STANFORD, CA, USA – Former No.1 Venus Williams put on a vintage performance to dismiss 17-year-old wildcard Catherine Bellis, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.

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Bellis was playing in her first-ever WTA quarterfinal, and her quest to become the sixth youngest woman to defeat the five-time Wimbledon winner (at 17 years, 105 days old) was boosted by an opening service break.

The top seed quickly took the break back, however, and remained in the driver’s seat throughout the 61 minute masterclass. Breaking serve once more with a thunderous backhand winner down the line, Williams clinched the opening set and lost just one more game to guarantee the Top 3 seeds advanced into the semifinals.

Into her eighth career Stanford semi, Venus next faces fellow American Alison Riske, who was up a set on No.4 seed CoCo Vandeweghe when her higher ranked opponent turned her ankle and was forced to retire one game into the second.

More to come…

After a career-best 2016 season, Elina Svitolina will start 2017 with a new team led by Gabriel Urpi, along with coaching consultant Thierry Ascione and hitting partner Andrew Bettles.

Urpi is an experienced coach who worked with former No.1 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario during two of her four Grand Slam runs, 1994 Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez, and Flavia Pennetta, helping her become the first Italian woman to crack the Top 10 back in 2009.

Both Urpi and Ascione are former ATP players, while Bettles was a hitting partner for 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic.

Oliver Fawls will continue on as Svitolina’s fitness coach; the Ukrainian youngster credited Fawls throughout her successful season, one that saw her defeat both reigning World No.1s in Serena Williams (Olympic tennis event) and Angelique Kerber (China Open), reach a career-high ranking of No.14, and reach the final of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

Soon after her big week in Zhuhai, Svitolina announced the end of her two and a half year partnership with Iain Hughes.

STANFORD, CA, USA – Dominika Cibulkova defeated Misaki Doi at the Bank of the West Classic on Friday to tick off another major accomplishment in an already highly successful summer.

Watch live action from Bastad, Stanford and Washington DC this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The past few months have already brought Cibulkova significant moments on and off the court, and her 7-5, 6-0 victory over Doi confirmed that on Monday morning she will return to the Top 10 for the first time in over 18 months.

Cibulkova first broke into the Top 10 shortly after her run to the Australian Open final in 2014, staying there until Achilles surgery laid her low at the start of the following year. This star quality has been evident for much of 2016, a WTA-leading 37 wins, two titles and a Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance prompting a charge up the rankings.

Against Doi, it took a while for her class to shine through. But when the Slovak eventually acclimatized to her opponent’s frantic pace – and the sweltering conditions – she did so emphatically: a run of 11 straight games setting up a semifinal meeting with No.3 seed Johanna Konta.

“Today was really, really tough. She was playing fast from the first ball, but once I found out what I needed to do to win I was doing the right thing all the way through the match,” Cibulkova, who lifted the Stanford title three years ago, said. “I know the court, I know the balls, I know what I have to do to go all the way here.”

Like Cibulkova, Konta was forced to ride out some rocky moments against Zheng Saisai, recovering from a break down in the final set to win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

“I think the level of tennis really took its toll on me – she made it incredibly tough to play the way I wanted to play – so I was very glad I was able to string some points together in the third set,” Konta said.

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – Yanina Wickmayer made light of another sweltering day at the Citi Open to outplay Yulia Putintseva and reach her first final of 2016.

Watch live action from Washington DC, Bastad and Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

On an afternoon when temperatures in the US capital reached as high as 97°F, No.7 seed Wickmayer was intent on keeping her time on court to a minimum. Bristling with positive intent from the outset, the Belgian rode a fast start all the way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

“It was very hot but its been like that every day so far. I knew she was going to make me work for every single point and it would be tough out there,” Wickmayer said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to stay positive, stay implemented focused, go for my shots and stay aggressive.”

Wickmayer’s intentions were clear from the off, a couple of big forehands helping her break in the opening game. This lead was soon stretched to 4-0 and while Putintseva managed to pull back one of the breaks it was not enough to rescue the set.

The second followed a similar pattern, Wickmayer bossing the majority of exchanges to confidently advance to the 11th final of her career. There she will face Lauren Davis after she ended wildcard Jessica Pegula’s run with a 6-2, 6-3 win in the night session..

Before that, though, Wickmayer was back on court alongside Monica Niculescu, defeating Shuko Aoyama and Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-3 to book a place in the doubles final. “That’s what I work for, playing finals and holding the trophy at the end of the week,” she added. “It just feels great to be in the final here I’ve done really well in the singles and doubles so I’m really enjoying my time here.”

MONTREAL, Canada – Tennis Canada announced that Serena Williams is withdrawing from Rogers Cup due to shoulder inflammation.

Winner of three Rogers Cup titles, Serena reached the semifinals at the last two editions of the event.

“Due to inflammation in my shoulder, I unfortunately must withdraw from the Rogers Cup,” she said in a statement. “I was looking forward to competing in Montreal and I look forward to returning soon.”

“Of course, we are disappointed that Serena will not play in the tournament this year. The fans really enjoyed the time she spent in the city in 2014,” said Eugène Lapierre, tournament director of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.

“Because this is an Olympic year, the players have very full schedules. Sometimes your body needs rest. We hope that Serena will recover quickly and wish her much success for the rest of the season.”

Serena Williams is forced to withdraw from #CoupeRogers due to inflammation in her shoulder. pic.twitter.com/J7vPz2Mzgv

— Coupe Rogers (@CoupeRogers) July 24, 2016