Tennis News

The 2016 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued in Montréal at the Rogers Cup, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world.

For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.

USANA Brand Ambassadors Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur, Kristina Mladenovic, Madison Keys, Monica Puig, Sloane Stephens, Zheng Saisai, Alizé Cornet and Caroline Wozniacki hit 72 of the 320 aces at Stanford – raising a grand total of $1960 throughout the week. Keys hit the most with 43 aces.

Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!

#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway

It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Last year there was a total of 359 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.

How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Eastbourne deadline is August 16 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced August 22nd

Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.

For full rules on how to enter, click here.

Petra Kvitova finds herself caught at the crossroads of two tennis eras – but she quite likes it that way.

The big hitting lefty is not quite in the generation of WTA veterans like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. But in turn, she’s not in the crowd of new stars likes Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova who are fast on the rise. Kvitova remains the first and only Grand Slam winner – male or female – born in the 90s.

How does the two-time Wimbledon champion feel about being the most accomplished member of this ‘in between’ group?

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Kvitova told China’s CCTV in Shenzhen. “I know that Serena has been there for a long time – she’s still the biggest champion that we have. And the younger generation is coming up and they are pushing us a lot. I think it’s good that we can see many [new] faces playing so well.

“There’s room in tennis right now – it’s very open. It’s nice to compete and not really be expecting who can win. It’s more difficult and less predictable this way.”

Kvitova experienced first-hand the unpredictability of the emerging younger generation: at last year’s Australian Open, she was stunned by a then 19-year-old Madison Keys in the third round.

The Australian Open is Kvitova’s toughest major: her best results in Melbourne have been an appearance in the quarterfinal in 2011 and in the semifinal in 2012. But if she could choose which of the four slams she’d like to win, the Czech is up for the challenge.

“If I could have another Grand Slam, I would pick either the Australian Open or the French Open,” she said. “At the Australian Open, the hard courts, I just love that Grand Slam a lot. I feel so relaxed in Australia.”

To make that wish come true, Kvitova is facing an uphill climb. She was forced to withdraw from Shenzhen in her first round match and later from Sydney – where she was the defending champion – due to a stomach virus. The last time she played a complete match was at the Fed Cup final, when she helped propel the Czech Republic to victory more than two months ago.

If Kvitova can shake off the off-season rust and beat her lingering illness, the Czech is poised for a deep run in Melbourne – as long as she can make it past the initial hurdles and build up the confidence she needs.

“I don’t really like the beginning of the tournaments, for sure,” Kvitova said. “But that’s how it is – it’s probably normal that I’m improving my game with each match in a tournament.

“And then when the finish line comes, I’m feeling better about my game.”

MELBOURNE, Australia – No.1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic put together a dominant performance in their first match of 2017 to move into the second round of the Australian Open.

Despite not playing together since their heartbreaking defeat in last year’s Fed Cup final, the French duo showed no signs of rust and cruised past Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh 6-1, 6-2.

Garcia and Mladenovic have a shot at becoming co-No.1s in doubles at the end of this fortnight, and they definitely played like it as they comfortably broke twice to climb ahead to a 4-1 lead. Bencic’s backhand caught the net time and time again, giving the French duo plenty of free points.

Bencic and Konjuh finally got on the board with a strong Bencic service game, but it didn’t make a dent in the French team’s momentum and they served out the opening set with ease. Another pair of back-to-back breaks of serve gave Garcia and Mladenovic their first victory of 2017 after just 47 minutes.

Also through to the second round are the No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova. They survived a late wobble to advance 6-1, 7-5 over Nicole Gibbs and Chuang Chia-Jung.

Currently the World No.1 doubles player, Mattek-Sands is likely breathing a sigh of relief, as her and Safarova’s road to the final has cleared up considerably following the withdrawal of potential third-round opponents Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

“I was hoping to have the capacity to play both events here, but at this point I just need to be careful and just try to maintain myself,” said Venus, citing an elbow injury.