Tennis News

LONDON, Great Britain – No.5 seed Simona Halep sealed her passage into the final 16 at Wimbledon with a commanding straight sets victory over the No.26 seed Kiki Bertens, advancing 6-4, 6-3 under the roof of Centre Court on Saturday.

Halep grabbed an early spot into the fourth round at a Wimbledon still plagued with rain delays, which have left even some second round matches still up in the air and forced the almost-unprecedented choice to schedule play on Middle Sunday.

The Romanian has stayed cool throughout the bad weather, though, and has yet to drop a set at the All-England Club. Bertens, her opponent, came into the matchup having won the last 12 of 13 matches – including a run to the French Open semifinals – and amassing a lot of confidence along the way.

The heavier conditions under the roof seemed to favor the Dutchwoman, and she opened the match with a break. Halep quickly restored parity in the next game,

Bertens found herself having to hit one extra ball more often than she wanted to as the diminutive Halep covered the court line to line. Halep dug up a forehand that landed behind her to a wrong-footed Bertens who could do little more than hack at it as she was broken once again for 4-2.

The No.5 seed finally took the first set as Bertens’ first serves seem to abandon her and Halep unleashed some of her biggest forehands of the match.

After the five breaks of serve in the first set, the second went much more smoothly for the World No.5 as she broke once on Bertens’ opening service game to build up an assertive 3-0 lead.

Bertens held her nerve to force the No.5 seed to keep herself in it and serve it out at 5-3 and even held a break point after a HawkEye challenge went her way, but a pair of commanding points won on Halep’s forehand dashed Bertens’ hopes of forcing a decider.

The Romanian will get a day’s rest tomorrow before she’s set to face the winner between Alizé Cornet and Madison Keys.

More to come…

Simona Halep makes light work of Kiki Bertens, coming through 6-4 6-3 in 68 mins to reach the second week #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/hOxLfctDz4

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2016

Fed Cup stalwarts Barbora Strycova and Karolina Pliskova clinched an unassailable 3-1 lead for defending champs Czech Republic over Spain.

Here’s a full run down of the World Group I ties as they unfolded on Day 2:

?? is into the #FedCup semis! It won in front of its fans who always make a huge difference & are the 5th team member! #WeAreCzechRepublic pic.twitter.com/SR3qIncW4K

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 12, 2017

Czech Republic 3-1 Spain

Pliskova kicked off the first reverse singles rubber against Garbiñe Muguruza after both emerged victorious in their opening matches on Saturday.

Playing at home in Ostrava, Pliskova had plenty of reason to feel confident after winning four of her last five matches over the reigning French Open champion.

After an hour on court, the Czech powerhouse put down the hammer on Muguruza, winning almost twice as many points and breaking serve five times for a 6-2, 6-2 win.

“My tennis was much better than it was yesterday so I enjoyed it more today,” said last year’s US Open runner-up. “I think she [Muguruza] doesn’t like a fast game because she likes to dictate.

“I was serving well and you cannot do much about it if someone is serving well.”

#CZEESP @BaraStrycova celebrates after sealing ??'s place in the 2017 #FedCup semifinals pic.twitter.com/nxqluv1spZ

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 12, 2017

Next up was Strycova, who played a critical role in clinching the Czech team’s third straight Fed Cup title over France. Up against Lara Arruabarrena, the veteran smacked a whopping 33 winners to just 21 unforced errors to assure victory with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph.

“This one was very tough for me,” Strycova said after the match. “I was leading 5-2 and two match points; I felt like I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I couldn’t take the extra step. I tried some different things at the end and it worked!”

“I’m very glad that we got through,” remarked Czech captain Petr Pala. “Even in the first match the score looked quite easy but it was quite tight in the beginning and Karolina put in a great performance and showed she is a great Fed Cup player.

“The second match was tighter. Barbora was using the crowd and the crowd helped us a lot. It wasn’t an easy decision for us to play her today because normally she would play doubles.”

Standing between the Czechs and a fourth straight final will be either the USA or Germany.

BELARUS WINS!!! Aryna #Sabalenka defeats #Krajicek 76(5) 64 and ?? is into the #FedCup semifinals for the first time in its history! pic.twitter.com/kTkFmwOsYq

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 12, 2017

Switzerland 3-1 France

Timea Bacsinszky turned the tables on St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy champion Kristina Mladenovic to help lead Switzerland into a second straight Fed Cup semifinal.

#SUIFRA @TimeaOfficial​ knows how to handle pressure on-court, but how will she deal with our reporter @eliweinstein's quickfire questions? pic.twitter.com/Vesy4uGoY9

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 12, 2017

Bacsinszky recovered from a tumble to keep Mladenovic from a second straight win over the weekend with an impressive 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 win to make the Swiss team anything but neutral.

“I looked really unlucky this week with the medical timeouts, but I fell and injured my knee,” she said after the match. “That took me away from tennis for three months last year and so I needed an extra check. In the moment, it’s tough becuase you care about your health, see the whole year and don’t want to be injured. But I’m ok.

Leading 5-2 in the final set, Mladenovic quickly leveled the decider but the Olympic Silver medalist closed the door in front of her home fans.

“I was just telling myself how privileged I am to play a match like this, and wasn’t focused on who was going to win. I’m just so lucky to be playing tennis in front of my country, carrying the Swiss flag.

“It could have gone either way because she played so well at the end. But we both deserved to win because it was such high quality.”

In the critical fourth rubber, Belinda Bencic dismissed substitute Pauline Parmentier, 6-3, 6-4, to book an encounter against surprise semifinalists, Belarus.

#emotions ?????? pic.twitter.com/1OvyN5q92f

— Swiss Tennis (@swiss_tennis) February 12, 2017

Belarus 4-1 Netherlands

In a battle of underdogs teams, Belarus roared through the final three rubbers of the tie oust the Netherlands for an emphatic win in Minsk.

After Kiki Bertens helped level the tie on Saturday, Aliaksandra Sasnovich stunned the 2016 French Open semifinalist, 6-3, 6-4 to turn the tie on its head.

#BLRNED #Sasnovich takes the opening set 63 against #Bertens! Can she push on and give ?? a 2-1 lead in the tie? pic.twitter.com/oSQirdlgZq

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 12, 2017

Armed with the momentum, Belarus played Aryna Sabalenka, a 19-year-old playing in just her second Fed Cup tie – and only her second singles rubber. Recovering from her loss to Bertens, Sabalenka dispatched Michaella Krajicek, 7-6(5), 6-4 to clinch her country’s first semifinal in Fed Cup history.

BELARUS WINS!!! Aryna #Sabalenka defeats #Krajicek 76(5) 64 and ?? is into the #FedCup semifinals for the first time in its history! pic.twitter.com/kTkFmwOsYq

— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 12, 2017

More to come…

LONDON, England – History is on the line at Wimbledon on Saturday as Serena Williams chases her 22nd Grand Slam title when she faces the in-form Angelique Kerber.

Before the two face off on Centre Court, here are 10 points to ponder…

(1) Serena Williams (USA #1) vs (4) Angelique Kerber (GER #4)
Head-To-Head: Williams leads Kerber, 5-2

1) Williams is attempting to equal the Open Era record of major titles.
If Williams wins, she will equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, and move to within touching distance of Margaret Court’s all-time leading tally of 24.

2) And she has a magnificent record in Grand Slam finals.
Serena has only lost six of her 27 Grand Slam finals: the 2001 US Open (to Venus Williams), 2004 Wimbledon (to Maria Sharapova), 2008 Wimbledon (to Venus Williams), 2011 US Open (to Sam Stosur), 2016 Australian Open (to Kerber) and 2016 Roland Garros (to Garbiñe Muguruza). This is the second-best winning percentage in the Open Era after Court (11-1)

3) Kerber was eight years old the last time a German won Wimbledon.
If Kerber wins, she will be the first German woman to win the Wimbledon title since Steffi Graf in 1996.

4) History repeating itself?
If Kerber is looking for good omens, then she will find several by studying the 1996 Championships: Kerber and Graf overcame opponents from five different countries en route to the final; both beat their opponent in a major final earlier in the season – Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario at Roland Garros.

The 1996 final also pitted the No.1 and No.4 seeds against one another. Although, unfortunately for Kerber, on that occasion the No.4 seed came out second best. 

5) Serena is trying to become the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era. Again.
If Serena wins, she will break her own record as the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. Serena was 33 years and 285 days when she won her 21st major, at last year’s Wimbledon; she will be 34 years and 283 days on Saturday.

6) Kerber displaying her bouncebackability…
Less than seven weeks ago, Kerber was crashing out in the first round of Roland Garros to Kiki Bertens. Victory over Williams in Saturday’s final will see her become just the third player in the Open Era to bounce back from an opening round defeat in Paris by lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish. The other two? Serena (2012) and Venus (2001), of course.

7) Achieving the Serena-Venus double.
Kerber is bidding to become just the eighth woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same tournament. Click here to find out the identity of the magnificent seven to have achieved the feat.

8) Kerber will be back up to No.2 after Wimbledon.
Serena’s semifinal victory over Elena Vesnina ended Kerber’s slim hopes of overhauling her atop the rankings. However, should the German lift the title, she will trail Williams by less than 500 points.

Meanwhile, the results in south-west London have maintained the status quo atop the Road To Singapore leaderboard; Williams and Kerber will stay in the top two spots, although both are yet to secure qualification for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. 

9) Kerber’s unblemished record.
Kerber has not dropped a set on her way to the final. The last player to win a major without losing a set was Serena at the 2014 US Open. Marion Bartoli was the last to achieve the feat at Wimbledon, in 2013.

10) The exclusive leftie club.
Kerber is attempting to become just the fourth left-hander to be crowned Wimbledon champion in the Open Era. The other three are Ann Jones (1969) Martina Navratilova (1978, 1979, 1982-87, 1990) and Petra Kvitova (2011, 2014). The only other leftie to reach the final was 1992 runner-up Monica Seles.

LONDON, England – Serena Williams has resumed her relentless march towards tennis history this fortnight at Wimbledon. As she closes in on a 22nd Grand Slam crown, here are some noteworthy numbers on the WTA’s indomitable World No.1.

(updated after her semifinal win at Wimbledon)

Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam singles titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 303 (Navratilova 306)
~ Serena is trying to win her seventh Wimbledon title (won it in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015); a seventh title would tie her with Steffi Graf and Dorothea Lambert Chambers on the all-time leaderboard
~ This is Serena’s 22nd time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 21)
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam final matches (her six defeats came against Venus Williams (2001 US Open, 2008 Wimbledon), Maria Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon), Samantha Stosur (2011 US Open), Angelique Kerber (2016 Australian Open) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2016 Roland Garros))

Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam singles finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (l. Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (l. Kerber)
~ Serena has won 31 of her last 36 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha, 2013 Cincinnati, 2016 Indian Wells, Kerber at 2016 Australian Open and Muguruza at 2016 Roland Garros)

Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 285d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)

Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 176th & 177th straight weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186)
~ Serena is spending her 299th & 300th career weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($77.6M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.8M)
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 70 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)

Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:

Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)

Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 244-20 (.924)
WTA titles: 29
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 16 (.500)
vs Top 10: 56-7 (.889)

Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 201-17
WTA titles: 23 of 33
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 13
vs Top 10: 41-5 (.891)

LONDON, Great Britain – In a rematch of the riveting Australian Open final, can Serena Williams lock up her 22nd major title over her Melbourne conqueror, Angelique Kerber?

The top seed has suffered three straight Grand Slam disappointments, but seems to have gotten her swagger back since her second round struggle against American Christina McHale, and played some of her best tennis of the fortnight to dismiss Elena Vesnina in the semifinals.

Kerber is looking for her second major of the season, and surely has fond memories of her Australian Open triumph over the six-time Wimbledon winner. The German hasn’t dropped a set through her first six matches, playing clutch tennis against No.5 seed Simona Halep and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in ehr last two matches.

Stay tuned for Saturday’s Wimbledon final Live Blog, which promises to-the-minute commentary an insight, courtesy of WTA Insider’s Courtney Nguyen: