Tennis News

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – No.9 seed Johanna Konta made quick work of Japan’s Misaki Doi, needing just two sets to move past her and into the second round of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

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Konta stayed toe to toe with Doi for in the first set before going on to dominate in the tiebreak, winning the first six points and converting on her fourth set point. She allowed Doi just one game in the second set, firing off nine aces during the match to advance 7-6(3), 6-1.

Konta, like much of the player field in Birmingham, has struggled with the British summer weather; her first round match against Doi was originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday but a streak of rainy days pushed play to begin today.

She deals with the delays with her usual aplomb and a bit of the typical stiff upper lip her countrymen are known for.

“[I] just really kind of keep a light mind. I am lucky I have my parents around and my coach, having a laugh with them and some of the other girls,” Konta said.

“I think it’s just important to keep reminding yourself to not get stressed about things that are completely out of your control.”

In fact, the rain has thrown off the schedule so much that Konta was originally supposed to play three matches today: along with her first round against Doi, she was slated to play her second round singles match against Yanina Wickmayer and a first round doubles match with partner Elina Svitolina.

“You don’t really think about it. You just prepare like any other day, any other match day. I guess you really need to keep yourself present. You don’t think about it.”

The Brit makes a habit of keeping things in perspective and taking the changes in stride, in everything from rain delays to her meteoric rise to the top.

This time last year, Britain’s No.1 was ranked No.139 – her breakout performance at the US Open would come about a month and a half later. Since then, she’s climbed to No.18 and admits that now she gets stopped for autographs.

“I’ve always wanted to be successful at what I do and I continue to want to be so,” Konta said. “Now, I guess, success in this field comes with maybe more recognition and getting recognized more outside.

“It’s not why I play the sport. It’s not why I want to be the best I can be. It’s just very much a side product.

“But really nothing has changed. I promise you, I’m very much the same.”

BIMRINGHAM, Great Britain – 2014 finalist Barbora Strycova came back from a set and a break down to snap CoCo Vandeweghe’s grass court winning streak, defeating the American 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

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Both players had a rough road to the semifinals, having to play their second round and quarterfinal matches on the same day due to the rain delays that wreaked havoc on the schedule earlier in the week.

Strycova, who’s also in the semifinals of doubles, perhaps faced a tougher task than most.

“I had three matches yesterday and I won all of them,” the Czech said after the match. “Physically it wasn’t easy. But it was the same for [Vandeweghe], she played two matches yesterday. Mentally it wasn’t easy as well, but I just managed to be a little bit better.”

Vandeweghe, who had been on an eight-match winning streak on grass, started off the match in top form and raced ahead to a 5-0 lead. She grabbed the first set 6-2, then earned an early break in the second set.

.@CoCoVandey races through the opening set vs Strycova 6-2! #AegonClassic https://t.co/tZaIjKHxUx

— WTA (@WTA) June 18, 2016

Staring down the barrel of Vandeweghe’s booming serve, Strycova dug her heels in and scratched out a break back to erase the American’s lead. From then, the Czech peppered her game with everything to frustrate Vandeweghe – hitting more drop shots and attacking the second serve – and turned the match completely around.

Vandeweghe’s most trusted weapon – her powerful serve – seemed to abandon her late in the match and she struck a double fault to go down a break once more in the third set.

After two hours and nine minutes, Strycova sealed her fourth match point with an ace, booking her spot in the final.

“It was a rollercoaster I have to say,” Strycova said. “Coco was playing really well in the first set and really fast, and I had to just hang in there.

“In the second set I just tried to win as many serves as I could and then it turned a little bit. I tried to fight every point I could and it turned to my side.”

Earlier in the day, Madison Keys, Strycova’s opponent in the final, clinched her debut into the WTA’s Top 10 by virtue of her win over Carla Suárez Navarro. However, Keys isn’t the only one who made a big ranking move today. Strycova moved up two spots to No.28 with her semifinal run, projected to reach No.22 if she takes home the title.

But first she’ll have to turn around a losing head to head record – it’s been almost two years since Strycova’s scored a win over Keys.

“In the last three weeks I lost to [Keys] twice, so I’ll just try to play the best tennis that I can and try to do something different to the previous matches,” Strycova added.

“It’s going to be such a different match though because it’s on grass.”

Second #AegonClassic Final for @BaraStrycova! ? https://t.co/crP6v2a3LH

— WTA (@WTA) June 18, 2016

EASTBOURNE, England – Caroline Wozniacki stepped up her Wimbledon preparations with a confidence-boosting win over Alizé Cornet at the Aegon International Eastbourne on Sunday.

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Playing just her third match since March, Wozniacki showed few signs of rustiness, briskly pocketing the first set then coming from a break down in the second to complete a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

The Dane is currently ranked at No.35 in the rankings – her lowest position since May 2008 – after missing much of the season with an ankle injury. And after making her return in Nottingham last week she is refreshed eager to test her mettle ahead of the year’s second major.

“I feel confident on my feet, I’ve worked really hard to get into the best shape possible and do a lot of stability work, so now I’m feeling comfortable on my ankle and the grass,” Wozniacki said.

“It’s nice to be on a nice court with a great crowd and also to get another match in before Wimbledon. I’m just excited every time I go on court now.”

In the other three opening round matches there were wins for Jelena Ostapenko, Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.

Ostapenko continued the good form that took her to the Birmingham quarterfinals by prevailing in her all-teenage battle with Daria Kasatkina, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Babos edged out Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 7-6(3), while Mladenovic prevailed in an equally close encounter with Yanina Wickmayer, 7-6(6), 6-4. 

LONDON, England – How many tennis outfits does one Grand Slam champion need? When you’re Serena Williams and going for your twenty-second career title at Wimbledon, the answer is a lot.

Earlier today, Serena gave Bleacher Report’s UNINTERRUPTED an inside look into her 2016 Wimbledon wardrobe, and it looks like the World No.1 is totally outfitted for a long fortnight.

VIDEO: @SerenaWilliams gives us a peek at her Wimbledon closet, showing off her tennis whites, stacks of @NIKE gear.https://t.co/HOa000F4M1

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 24, 2016

Take a look at the video above and watch as Serena walks us through every piece of her extensive Wimbledon outfits – a different look for singles and for doubles – and see everything from her signature Swoosh headbands to her socks adorned with pom-poms.

However, there’s one crucial item noticeably absent from Serena’s Grand Slam ensemble: it looks like the defending champion is still missing her grass court shoes. Serena accidentally left them behind in the United States before flying out to London, but we’ve got no doubt that Nike will have them to her before the start of her Wimbledon campaign.

.@serenawilliams forgot her grass court shoes for @Wimbledon in the U.S. but @nike hooked her up with a fresh pair.https://t.co/5Qod2oT2kU

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 21, 2016

Despite the close look into every single piece in her London closet, Serena still held back on one item: you’ll have to wait until she steps out onto Centre Court at the All-England Club to see her Nike dress in action, though you can still get a sneak peak of it on her Twitter account.

A new look for a new year in London. Check out my @NikeCourt collection here https://t.co/OTYbn7yhLK #stealtheshow pic.twitter.com/kWux1VKmjw

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 23, 2016

LONDON, Great Britain – Serena Williams and Venus Williams imposed their doubles dominance against the No.11 seeded team of Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik in their Wimbledon doubles opener to advance 7-5, 6-3.

The sisters started out sluggish in the first set as Venus, who finished her two hour and twenty-four minute marathon singles match against Maria Sakkari about two hours earlier, was broken twice to allow the Slovaks to build up a hefty 4-1 lead in the first set.

After trading breaks for 5-2, the Williams sisters broke again after Klepac couldn’t get out of the way of a Serena volley fast enough. Venus held serve for the first time just as the two started to kick it into high gear.

With Srebotnik serving for the set at 5-4, Venus fired a forehand long to give the Slovakian team three set points but immediately redeemed herself by saving one with a lunging volley on the stretch. She ripped a backhand passing shot up the middle of the court to clinch the break and level the score 5-5.

Finally fired up, the Williams sisters dropped just one point in the next two games to take the first set 7-5. They continued their romp into the second set, where they broke twice to get ahead 4-0. Klepac and Srebotnik stopped the streak of nine games in a row by getting one of the breaks back, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide as Serena and Venus took the match for their first Wimbledon doubles win in two years.

Up next for the sibling duo are the Belgian team of Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach, who took out the all-American team of Nicole Gibbs and Irina Falconi, 7-6(3), 6-1.

Another sibling duo moves on as the No.3 seeded sisters Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching battled past Ashleigh Barty and Laura Robson in a comfortable straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

They’re joined in the second round by the No.13 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva after the Birmingham finalists came back to dispatch Nao Hibino and Alicija Rosolska 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and by Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova, who are fresh off of a title win at the Aegon International Eastbourne and downed the No.9 seeds Yifan Xu and Saisai Zheng 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-5.

5 sets today. 2 of them with my favorite tennis player @serenawilliams #sucess #wimbeldon https://t.co/MWPw4ZPhlu

— Venus Williams (@Venuseswilliams) June 30, 2016

No you are MY FAVORITE player. I love u so much ❤️❤️? #Repost @venuseswilliams with repostapp… https://t.co/kc8pTg92sY

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 30, 2016

More to come…