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Venus Hungry For Further Success In 2017

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Venus Williams

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.7
Year-End Ranking: No.17
Season Highlights: Title at Kaohsiung
Best Major Result: SF (Wimbledon)

2017 Outlook

Despite turning 36 last summer, Venus Williams continues to challenge for tennis’ biggest honors. She proved this at Wimbledon, where she saw off several of the game’s brightest young talents to became the oldest Grand Slam semifinalist in 22 years.

It was not the only high point of the campaign either; in Kaohsiung she collected a 49th career title, reaching another final at Stanford before teaming up with Rajeev Ram to win mixed doubles silver at the Rio Olympics – her fifth medal at the Games.

There had been whispers that Brazil could be the curtain call on Williams’ wonderful career. However, the American has quashed such talk, outlining her plans to stay on tour until 2018, and even entertaining the possibility of playing until Tokyo 2020.

“I’ve been working hard in the gym and getting back on the court,” Williams said recently. “I just love the game, I really do. I love the challenge. It’s been such a part of my life that it’s hard to imagine life without it.

“I’m just gearing up for 2017 like I’m sure everybody else is.”

Her season opener will come in Auckland, where she will be joined by sister Serena and another thirtysomething still going strong, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Understandably, Williams, who lifted the title in 2015 and reached the final in 2013, is excited about her upcoming visit to the North Island.

“I am so excited to come back to Auckland, which is one of my favorite stops on the circuit,” Williams said. “It will be nice to have Serena there as well this year. “Being in Auckland will be a fantastic way to start 2017 and I am really looking forward to it!”

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US Open: Top 16 Seeds’ Histories

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – With defending champion Flavia Pennetta retiring from tennis at the end of last season, there will be a new champion in Flushing Meadows this year. But will it be a familiar face? Top seed Serena Williams comes into the US Open seeking her seventh title, a record-breaking 23rd major crown, while several former champions loom in the draw as well, like Samantha Stosur, Venus Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. But with the No.1 ranking also at stake, will fellow top seeds Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska make their mark?

Read on to delve into the US Open résumés of all the Top 16 seeds…

1. Serena Williams (USA)
17th appearance (84-10)
Best result: Champion (2001-2002, 2008, 2012-2014)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (22): 1999 US Open, 2002 French Open, 2002 Wimbledon, 2002 US Open, 2003 Australian Open, 2003 Wimbledon, 2005 Australian Open, 2007 Australian Open, 2008 US Open, 2009 Australian Open, 2009 Wimbledon, 2010 Australian Open, 2010 Wimbledon, 2012 Wimbledon, 2012 US Open, 2013 French Open, 2013 US Open, 2014 US Open, 2015 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, 2015 Wimbledon, 2016 Wimbledon

2. Angelique Kerber (GER)
9th appearance (16-8)
Best result: Semifinal (2011)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (1): 2016 Australian Open

3. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
4th appearance (1-3)
Best result: Second round (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (1): 2016 French Open

4. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
11th appearance (19-10)
Best result: Fourth round (2007-2008, 2012-2013)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2012 Wimbledon

5. Simona Halep (ROU)
7th appearance (12-6)
Best result: Semifinal (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2014 French Open

6. Venus Williams (USA)
17th appearance (69-15)
Best result: Champion (2000-2001)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (7): 2000 Wimbledon, 2000 US Open, 2001 Wimbledon, 2001 US Open, 2005 Wimbledon, 2007 Wimbledon, 2008 Wimbledon

7. Roberta Vinci (ITA)
14th appearance (19-13)
Best result: Final (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2015 US Open

8. Madison Keys (USA)
5th appearance (5-4)
Best result: Fourth round (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Semifinal (1): 2015 Australian Open

9. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
14th appearance (33-12)
Best result: Champion (2004)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (2): 2004 US Open, 2009 French Open

10. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
4th appearance (2-3)
Best result: Third round (2014)
Best Grand Slam result: Third round (3): 2014 US Open, 2015 Australian Open, 2016 Australian Open

11. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)
9th appearance (11-8)
Best result: Quarterfinal (2013)
Best Grand Slam result: Quarterfinal (5): 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, 2013 US Open, 2014 French Open, 2016 Australian Open

12. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
9th appearance (12-8)
Best result: Quarterfinal (2010)
Best Grand Slam result: Final (1): 2014 Australian Open

13. Johanna Konta (GBR)
4th appearance (4-3)
Best result: Fourth round (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Semifinal (1): 2016 Australian Open

14. Petra Kvitova (CZE)
9th appearance (16-8)
Best result: Quarterfinal (2015)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (2): 2011 Wimbledon, 2014 Wimbledon

15. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
8th appearance (4-7)
Best result: Third round (2008)
Best Grand Slam result: Semifinal (1): 2015 French Open

16. Samantha Stosur (AUS)
13th appearance (21-11)
Best result: Champion (2011)
Best Grand Slam result: Champion (1): 2011 US Open

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Kvitova Faces Uncertain Future After Attack

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Petra Kvitova

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.6
Year-End Ranking: No.11
Season Highlights: Wuhan, Zhuhai Champion, Luxembourg RU
Best Major Result: 4R (US Open)

2017 Outlook

Kvitova had plenty of reasons to feel optimistic after a heady finish to 2016, winning the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the Huajin Securities Elite Trophy Zhuhai to finish the year just outside the Top 10 at No.11. A difficult first half of the season saw her ranking take a tumble and split with longtime coach, David Kotyza.

An emotional medal-winning performance at the Olympic tennis event – where she won Bronze in Rio de Janeiro – reignited her on-court precision, and helped her reach the second week of a major tournament for the first time all year. Losing a close match to eventual champion Angelique Kerber in Flushing, Kvitova took the momentum to Asia, where she avenged the loss to the World No.1 en route to the title in Wuhan, and roared to the win in Zhuhai without dropping a set.

“I’ve always loved to play tennis, but it can get tough when I’m not feeling confident, and not playing as well as I should,” she told WTA Insider after winning her final match of the season. “These couple of matches that I’ve won in the last couple of weeks have really helped my confidence. I did find myself, and that means I’ve found my game again. I’m not afraid to go for my shots, even if I miss them sometimes. I’m still trying to go for it, serve better, and put pressure on my opponent. That’s something I don’t think I was really doing at the start of the season. Of course, there were other small things also happening in my life, as well.

“But sometimes it’s just important to go through all of these things to find yourself.”

A lingering foot injury looked to derail some of her off-season preparation, but nothing like the shocking events that unfolded on Tuesday. Kvitova fought off a knife-wielding would-be robber in her home in Prostejov, but not without sustaining major injuries to her left and dominant hand.

The two-time Wimbledon winner underwent a nearly four hour surgery to repair lacerations and nerve damage, and is now in a cast for the next six to eight weeks; she won’t be able to bear weight on her left hand for at least three months.

It’s unclear if or when Kvitova will be back on the court, and the start of 2017 won’t be the same without her unique power and competitive spirit.

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Radwanska Ends Flipkens’ New Haven Run

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska ended lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens’ dream run at the Connecticut Open, winning 6-1, 6-4 to book a semifinal against defending champion Petra Kvitova.

Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Flipkens became one of two lucky losers to reach the semifinals after replacing the ailing Lesia Tsurenko and powering past Belinda Bencic and Caroline Garcia, but she just didn’t have enough in her arsenal of slices and volleys to grab her first win over the World No.4.

Radwanska dug from her own bag of tricks against Flipkens, switching up the pace between line to line rallies and killer dropshots.

But the Belgian didn’t roll over, and produced some spectacular tennis – and razor sharp shot-making – to earn the break right back and level the match at 2-1.

 It was the last game Flipkens would win for a while, though, as Radwanska’s cerebral style of point construction kept her seemingly always a step ahead. She rattled off five games in a row to take the set and an early break in the second.

Finally finding her footing late in the match, Flipkens rallied to get the break back and began to meet Radwanska blow for blow, creating for some incredible rallies.

“It’s always entertaining for us, as well, playing rallies like this,” Radwanska said of the rally above. “Of course, she’s a very tricky opponent. You can really expect from her those kind of shots. Very good touch, very good hands. We had a lot of matches with rallies like this.”

Radwanska just stayed more consistent throughout and finally earned the decisive break at 5-4, taking the match after an hour and 22 minutes. The top seeded player hit 25 winners to 16 unforced errors – a high number for the usually tidy Radwanska – against Flipkens’ 21 winners and 27 unforced errors.

With the victory Radwanska is through to her first semifinal at the Connecticut Open, where three-time champion Petra Kvitova awaits across the net.  

“I’m just very happy to make the first semifinal,” Radwanska said. “Especially that it’s a very strong tournament. It means I had a couple of good matches, a couple of good wins.

“Well, I guess now I have really nothing to lose, especially I’m playing Petra next.”

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Strycova Storms Into Dubai Semifinals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – Barbora Strycova snatched up the last spot in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semifinals, upsetting No.17 Ana Ivanovic in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Ivanovic, a three time quarterfinalist in Dubai, was looking for her first semifinal spot against Strycova. On paper their head-to-head record was one-sided: Ivanovic had won all three of their previous encounters in straight sets, never losing more than three games in a set.

“I had to change a little bit something,” Strycova said of her game plan against Ivanovic. “The previous matches I was hitting a little bit back, so I had to change the pace and stand a little bit closer. It was working pretty good and I felt good on my return.”

The Czech started the match ahead with a 4-2 lead. After a quick conversation with coach Nigel Sears, Ivanovic righted the ship and came back to win three games in a row to get ahead 5-4. The players stayed level to send the match into a tiebreaker. Ivanovic climbed to a 4-2 lead but a double fault at 5-3 up gave Strycova an in, which she took to rally back and clinch the tiebreak – as well as the opening set – at 7-6(5).

Ivanovic rebounded to start off the second set breaking Strycova at love, but Strycova dashed hopes of a comeback when she broke right back to level the score. The Czech pushed ahead to a 4-2 lead and didn’t look back, serving out the match at 6-3.

“I am very pleased,” Strycova said after the win. “It’s been a good match for me, and playing Ana is always tough because she’s such a big champion and a big player hitting the ball really hard. I’m happy with my performance today.”

Earlier in the day, Elina Svitolina backed up yesterday’s win over No.2 Garbiñe Muguruza by beating CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Svitolina broke Vandeweghe early and took the first set 6-4, but Svitolina was in danger when the American got her powerful groundstrokes and heavy serve going in the second set. She broke Svitolina three times in the 28 minute set, leveling the match, 6-1.

Vandeweghe came out firing to a 2-0 lead in the final set but couldn’t hang on, forehands suddenly misfiring. Svitolina won six consecutive games to win the match, 6-2.

“I had a good start then I was struggling a bit,” Svitolina said after the match. “I think it was something in my head. I was just somewhere not on the court, but I was really happy that I could find a way to start the third set well.

“I was 2-0 down but I still felt that I was getting there.”

With the win, Svitolina is into her first Premier-level semifinal of the year where she is set to face Sara Errani – the Italian owns a 1-0 head to head record against her.

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