St. Petersburg: Kristina Mladenovic vs Roberta Vinci
Kristina Mladenovic takes on Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Kristina Mladenovic takes on Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA announced today its calendar for the 2017 season as well as a recent addition to the 2016 calendar.
Click here to check out the 2017 WTA Calendar!
The 2017 WTA season is comprised of 23 WTA Premier and 33 International events, with all roads leading to the season finale BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, followed by the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. Beginning in 2017, WTA Media, together with WTA tournaments, will produce all main draw singles matches and the semifinals and finals of all doubles matches.
“The 2017 season promises to be the WTA’s most exciting year to date, building on the existing cornerstones of the women’s tour, said WTA CEO Steve Simon. “With more fans than ever accessing our sport to watch an unprecedented depth of player field, the WTA promises another intense race on the Road to Singapore in 2017,” Simon added.
Changes and additions to the 2017 calendar:
• St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy (Russia) and Taiwan Open (Kaohsiung): switch to week 5 (from week 6), beginning January 30
• Qatar Total Open (Doha): Premier event, switch to week 7 (from week 8), beginning February 13
• Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Premier 5 event, switches to week 8 (from week 7), beginning February 20
• Rio Open (Brazil): switches to week 8 (from week 7), beginning February 20.
• Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presented by HSBC (Acapulco, Mexico) switches to week 9 (from week 8), beginning February 27
• Abierto Monterrey Afirme (Mexico): switches to week 14 (from week 9), beginning April 3, after the Miami Open
• Jiangxi Open (Nanchang, China): switches to week 30 (from week 31), beginning July 24
Olympic Shifts:
• Bank of the West Classic (Stanford), Rogers Cup (Toronto), Western and Southern Open (Cincinnati) and Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies (New Haven): return to consecutive weeks, beginning July 31 after dates shifted in 2016 due to Olympic Games
Welcome Gstaad, Mallorca, and Louisville:
Ahead of 2017, a new addition to the 2016 calendar was announced March 11, the Ladies Championship Gstaad, Switzerland, which replaces the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies International tournament, held in Bad Gastein since 2007.
This year’s Gstaad event will be held July 9-17, the first women’s tennis event in Switzerland since the Zurich Open in 2008. The event couldn’t be returning to Switzerland at a better time, with Swiss tennis going through a golden era – both Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky are ranked inside the Top 20 and, International Tennis Hall of Famer, Martina Hingis is co-ranked at World No.1 in doubles.
The 2016 WTA calendar also introduces the Mallorca Open (June 13-19), a new addition to the grass court season, while the Louisville International Open in host city Louisville, Kentucky, USA, will offer an additional final hard court tune-up in August before the final Grand Slam of the year at the US Open.
Other changes in 2016, announced earlier this season, included February’s spectacular inaugural event in Russia, the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, as well as International tournament moves to Kaohsiung and Nanchang.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Venus Williams’ run at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy might have come to an abrupt end earlier in the week, but the former World No.1 still took time to take in the sights in the culture capital of Russia.
“This is a place I want to be, and have always wanted to visit because of the historic value, and because it’s a beautiful city,” Venus told press ahead of her participation in the tournament.
“I’m really interested in the local fashion and the designers here because I like to be inspired by different cultures. Those two things are on the top of my list.”
The Australian Open finalist took the opportunity to visit some of St. Petersburg most iconic cultural landmarks, like the Fabergé Museum and the famous Church On Spilled Blood:
After her excursion, Venus took some time with her many Russian fans in an absolutely mobbed autograph session:
– Photos courtesy of St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy
Top 10 Watch
Serena Williams will continue to extend her stay at No.1: The top seed at the BNP Paribas Open recovered from a slow start on Sunday, ultimately sprinting past Yulia Putintseva, 7-6(2), 6-0; Williams is defending semifinal points from last year, and is under no threat at the top spot ahead of the Miami Open, a tournament she has won eight times.
Agniezka Radwanska has a chance to overtake Angelique Kerber: The reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion can climb to No.2 in the Rankings – overtaking the Australian Open winner – if she is able to reach the semifinals. Radwanska will play Jelena Jankovic in the round of 16 (Radwanska leads 6-2) with a possible match against the winner of Petra Kvitova (Kvitova leads 6-3) vs. Nicole Gibbs (first meeting).
Garbiñe Muguruza will maintain her current ranking: Despite a disappointing finish at Indian Wells – losing her second round match to American Christina McHale – Muguruza will remain at No.4 behind some combination of Williams, Kerber, and Radwanska.
Simona Halep, the defending the champion: Halep has been playing some of her best tennis of the year at Indian Wells this week, but the defense of 1000 points prevents her from moving up this week, and will fall between No.5 and No.7, defending on her final finish; the Romanian is projected to play Williams in the quarterfinals should the former defeat Barbora Strycova and the latter move past Kateryna Bondarenko on Tuesday.
Elina Svitolina, Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic can move into the Top 10: Three women have the chance to crack the Top 10 on Monday, but only if they win the title at Indian Wells. For Svitolina, it would shatter her current career-high ranking of No.14 and be her Top 10 debut, while Azarenka and Ivanovic would be making their returns for the first time since August 2014 and September 2015, respectively.
Also Worth Noting…
Svitolina will need to reach the quarterfinals or better to have a chance to improve her ranking: The Ukrainian is set to play No.9 seed Roberta Vinci (tied 1-1) on Monday.
Jo Konta has a chance to move into the Top 25 on Monday: Depending on other results, the Australian Open semifinalist will likely need to reach the round of 16 at the very least; she plays Denisa Allertova in the third round on Monday. Konta would first British woman in Top 25 since the week of March 15, 1987, when Jo Durie held the No.24 ranking spot; the last time a Brit was ranked in the Top 20 was nearly 30 years ago (week of October 13, 1986; Jo Durie, No.20)
Olympic Hopes: Should she defeat Monica Puig on Monday, Daria Kasatkina will have a chance of making her Top 40 debut and will overtake Margarita Gasparyan as the No.5 ranked Russian.
Elina Svitolina roared into the Top 8 of the Road to Singapore leaderboard thanks to her victory in the Taiwan Open.
Cruising to the title, the top seed beat Peng Shuai, 6-3 6-2 in Sunday’s final in Taipei City. The success moves her up from No.17 all the way up to No.8.
“I’m No.13 in the world,” she said after the final. “So you expect players higher in the rankings to be able to raise their level in tight situations. It happened today at a good moment.”
Should Svitolina maintain this current form, the youngster could find herself making her debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The Ukrainian barely missed out on a spot among the Greatest Eight last year, but made up for the disappointment by reaching the final in her first appearance at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Over in Russia, Kristina Mladenovic’s stunning success in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy has seen her rise 339 places to No.13 in the Road to Singapore.
The 23-year-old was awarded 470 ranking points for her thrilling 6-2 6-7(3) 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva on Sunday, her first WTA title secured in her fourth final. Her defeated opponent moved into the Top 20 – up to 18th from 64th.
“The wait was definitely worth it,” said Mladenovic after her win. “To clinch my first WTA final here, especially at a Premier event, I feel really happy right now.”
Click here to check out the full Road to Singapore leaderboard.
Highlights from the third round action at the BNP Paribas Open.
Kristina Mladenovic talks about winning her maiden WTA title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Caroline Wozniacki takes on Magda Linette in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Eight-time Miami Open champion Serena Williams will headline a stacked field in South Florida this year, including Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova, a host of former champions and the entire Top 10.
GUANGZHOU, China – Lesia Tsurenko edged past defending champion and No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to claim the title at the Guangzhou International Women’s Open.
Playing Guangzhou for the second time in her career, Tsurenko capped off her trip to the sprawling Chinese port city by taking home her second career title after a nearly two-hour-and-thirty-minute clash against Jankovic.
“I think today I played really good tennis, except maybe in the second set when I felt a little bit tired,” Tsurenko said in her post-match press conference. “But I said to myself that I have to give it all in the final set, and I was fighting for each point. I had to give 100 percent to win this title.”
The Tashkent Open is up next for the Ukrainian, who is coming off a career-best week at the Grand Slams with a fourth round appearance at the US Open. She plans to forgo Wuhan and heads to the Uzbekistani capital build on the recent success.
“I’ll go to Tashkent and I think I’ll be more relaxed there,” Tsurenko explained. “I will try to play good tennis, not losing too much energy and I will see maybe I will come back to China and play Beijing. But for now I am focusing on Tashkent.”
It was a taxing week for Jankovic, who also reached the semifinals in doubles with former No.1 Martina Hingis.
“It’s tough, because this tournament took a lot of energy out of me,” said the Serb, who has been struggling with shoulder issues throughout the season. “It’s so hot and humid here, and also when you take into consideration that it’s only my second tournament on hardcourt because I’m coming back from an injury.”
On the doubles side, No.4 seeds Asia Muhammad and Peng Shuai took home the title with a 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over Olga Govortsova and Vera Lapko. Guangzhou was the pair’s first tournament together, and they didn’t drop a set en route to the title.
“Not many times when you play with someone for the first time, you get to win the whole tournament,” Muhammad said. “I’m really excited that we were able to do that. Our games mesh really well, and I really mean it when I say this but it doesn’t feel like it’s the first time we’ve played together. That’s something very positive that we have.”
