Dominika Cibulkova's Practice Session At The Australian Open
Watch Dominika Cibulkova’s practice session at the Australian Open.
Watch Dominika Cibulkova’s practice session at the Australian Open.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova served out the upset over No.11 seed Elina Svitolina, while CoCo Vandeweghe recovered from a late break to defeat Eugenie Bouchard in Melbourne.
An interview with Barbora Strycova after her win in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Six-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams breezed into the second week Down Under, defeating countrywoman Nicole Gibbs, 6-1, 6-3.
“I feel like I have been able to do pretty good,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I have been doing the things I have been doing in practice, and hopefully I can build up on this.
“That’s all I want to do.”
On RLA now #Serena fighting for a place in the 4R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/HMb4sxOs5r
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2017
While Serena was celebrating her 19th anniversary of the first time she played on Rod Laver Arena (1998, against sister Venus), Gibbs was not only making her debut on Melbourne’s biggest court, but she was also in the midst of a career-best result Down Under – knocking out No.25 seed Timea Babos and Irina Falconi earlier this week.
The former World No.1 came into Saturday’s match well-tested with wins over a pair of former Top 10 players in Belinda Bencic and Lucie Safarova, and was in imperious form from start to finish.
“I was so pumped up going against my first two opponents, but I think that helped me out today. She started out really, really well, with a lot of energy.”
Hitting 17 winners and four aces during the 63 minute match, Serena came to net 13 times, winning 12 of those points. Though she was broken in her first attempt serving for the match, the experienced American booked her spot in the next round shortly thereafter, reaching the second week in her last nine appearances in Australia.
Looming in the next round is No.16 seed, Czech veteran Barbora Strycova.
“I have seen her play a lot. She’s always playing. Venus has played her a few times. I saw her play in Sydney. She’s super fit. She has a good game. She’s very aggressive, so that would be nice to play.
“I don’t have anything to prove in this tournament here. Just, you know, doing the best I can.
“Obviously I’m here for one reason. But at the end of the day, this is all bonus for me and I look forward to playing her. I’m ready for her.”
The 2016 Fed Cup heroine won a string of points in the second set of her match against No.21 seed Caroline Garcia, recovering from a 5-3 deficit to win, 6-2, 7-5.
“I won like 16 points from losing 3-5, 15-40,” Strycova said in her post-match press conference. “I didn’t even count and my coach told me so. I was kind of in a zone, so I was very happy about my performance.
“If it’s Serena, I’m looking forward to that match. That’s why you train. That’s why you work hard, to play these matches on these stages and against the best one.”
The 4R awaits @serenawilliams at the #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/1kOSJ3t2lF
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2017
After beating Garcia, Strycova played an interesting guessing game up in the Twitter Blue Room, guessing the identity of several tennis-themed stuffed animals:
.@BaraStrycova joins us in the Twitter Blue Room #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/oCew6EvCkP
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2017
Elina Svitolina takes on CoCo Vandeweghe in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza moved confidently into her first Australian Open quarterfinal with a straight-set win over Sorana Cirstea on Sunday.
Breaks at the start of both sets sent Muguruza on her way to a 6-2, 6-3 win and a meeting against CoCo Vandeweghe.
Muguruza fell at the last 16 in both 2014 and 2015, but never looked in danger of suffering another disappointment, making light of her ongoing leg injury to strike 18 winners in little over an hour on court.
The ups and downs of previous rounds were conspicuous by their absence as the Spaniard hit the front early and rode this momentum all the way to the finishing line.
“I am very happy. I went through the match very concentrated, looking to play positively,” Muguruza said. “Was an important match for me. A couple of times in the last three years, I’ve lost in this round. Was the first time I go through. I’m in the quarterfinals. So I’m very excited about that, and I’m still excited!”
Muguruza is arguably playing her best tennis since winning Roland Garros last spring. But with the World No.1’s conqueror up next, she insists a repeat result is still some way off: “I think it’s a very different surface. It’s already a long time since that tournament. I feel that’s very far away. Honestly, I would not compare the level.
“I’ve played CoCo a couple of times. It’s 1-1 head-to-head. She’s a tricky player. She has a lot of power, full shots, serve, everything. She can play very well.”
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Former World No.4 Francesca Schiavone showed flashes of the tennis that took her to a maiden Grand Slam title at the 2010 French Open, edging past American Shelby Rogers, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, to win her seventh career title at the Rio Open.
“I feel very emotional right now,” she said during the trophy ceremony. “It was a very tough match, and I want to congratulate Rogers. She is a young player and she grew a lot in the circuit.”
Schiavone looked down and out when she fell behind against a set and a break to Rogers, who was in just her second WTA main draw since last fall’s Coupe Banque Nationale, but the wily veteran cruised through the second set and raced out to an idential 5-2 lead in the final set before treating the Rio crowd to a tense ending.
“I want to thank everybody who made this fantastic tournament possible,” Rogers said in her runner-up speech. “It was definitely one of the best weeks of my life. I hope I can come back next year.”
Though she lost her first eight career WTA finals, the Italian has been 7-3 since breaking the duck back in 2007 (Bad Gastein), and her win in Rio is her first in just under two years (Marrakech); she will return to the Top 100 on Monday’s rankings.
“I’m really happy to be here today. I wrote this speech this morning,” Schiavone said, addressing the crowd in Portuguese, “regardless of the result, because I wanted to share my joy with you.
“Today is a happy day and I’m very emotional because Brazil is such a wonderful country. Your smile fulfilled my days here and I wish you the best for the Olympic Games.
“I want to thank everybody who helped me, and now it´s time to enjoy.”
MELBOURNE, Australia – The second week continues at the Australian Open. On Day 8, can No.2 seed Serena Williams and No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova book two of the four remaining spots in the quarterfinals?
We preview all the day’s biggest matchups right here on wtatennis.com.
Monday, Fourth Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs [16] Barbora Strycova (CZE #16)
Head-to-head: Serena leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Neither Serena nor Strycova have dropped a set en route to the second week.
Serena Williams saw her hopes of reclaiming World No.1 brighten when defending champion Angelique Kerber went out at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe on Sunday. But before she can think of returning to the top of the WTA rankings, she’ll have to get past a fiery veteran in Barbora Strycova, who is in the fourth round of the Australian Open for a second straight year.
Strycova roared back from a 5-3 deficit in the second set, and will be looking to pull of the biggest upset of her career in her first encounter with the 22-time Grand Slam champion since 2012.
Serena has already dispatched former Top 10 players Belinda Bencic and Lucie Safarova along the way; can she continue to improve as Grand Slam No.23 draws closer?
[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs [22] Daria Gavrilova (AUS #26)
Head-to-head: Pliskova leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Pliskova is aiming for her second straight (and second career) Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Brisbane International champion Karolina Pliskova remains undefeated for the season, and takes on another young hopeful in Daria Gavrilova. The Aussie reached the fourth round Down Under for the second year in a row, winning a three-set thriller of her own against Timea Bacsinszky.
Pliskova showed few signs of vulnerability in her first two rounds, but found herself on the brink of defeat against Latvian youngster Jelena Ostapenko, who served for the match in the final set. Fresh off an early pick for best match of 2017, the No.5 seed is back in the second week of a major tournament and will look to widen her head-to-head advantage against Gavrilova, against whom she’s never dropped a set.
The 22-year-old has tended to save her best tennis for her adopted home soil; can she stun Pliskova and earn a career-best Grand Slam result?
Around the Grounds…
No.9 seed Johanna Konta renews her rivalry with No.30 seed Ekaterina Makarova, who pushed the Brit to an 8-6 final set at this very tournament one year ago. A battle of underdogs completes the fourth round line-up as qualifier Jennifer Brady takes on ageless wonder Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who earned her best-ever result at the Australian Open at 34 years old.
The doubles tounament also continues in Melbourne, with No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova taking on Apia International Sydney champs Timea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic face No.13 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Zheng Saisai in the third round.
No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova ended home hopes at this year’s Australian Open with a comfortable win over Daria Gavrilova.
THE WINNERS
Sara Errani crowned her return to form with a dominant victory over Barbora Strycova in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. A former Top 10 fixture and French Open finalist, Errani’s greater big-match experience shone through as she romped to a 6-0, 6-2 victory after little more than an hour on court.
“I have no words,” the Italian said after the victory. “I’m sorry for Barbora – she’s an amazing player, but I’m really happy to win this tournament. It’s been a tough week for me, and I’m really happy for me, my team and my family and friends.”
Read the match recap and watch highlights here.
At the Rio Open, former World No.4 and fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone showed flashes of the tennis that took her to a maiden Grand Slam title at the 2010 French Open, edging past American Shelby Rogers, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, to win her seventh career title.
“Obviously when you come here, you try to prepare as much as you can, but you don’t think ‘I’m going there to win it,’ no, no,” Schiavone said before the final. “It’s a wonderful surprise; it’s been a long time since I’ve had this big a result, so I’m taking it as it comes.”
Read the match recap here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Forza Italia
You can’t say enough about this Golden Generation of Italian women. Since Flavia Pennetta became the first Italian to break into the Top 10 in 2009, all four women – Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani, and now Roberta Vinci – have broken into the Top 10. Pennetta and Schiavone scored a Slam title a piece, while Errani and Vinci both snagged a Slam final.
Now, with this generation on the verge of hanging up its racquets, we see Vinci win the biggest title of her career last week in St. Petersburg, Errani do the same this week in Dubai, and Schiavone win her first title in nearly three years in Rio de Janeiro, boosting herself back in the Top 100.
This group of Italians has been a special one. And they may have a few surprises yet.
Set: Marquee names yet to catch fire.
Whether it’s due to injuries, lack of confidence, or bad luck, there’s no denying it’s been a slow start to the season for a key group of players that includes Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Petra Kvitova. Elsewhere, we also see Caroline Wozniacki drop out of the Top 20 for the first time since August 2008. For the first time in the Open Era, no seeded player won a match in Dubai last week.
All are in action this week in Doha. Can they get some wins and pick up some steam as the tour heads to Indian Wells and Miami?
Match: Azarenka returns to action this week.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the results in Acapulco, as Victoria Azarenka returns to competition as the top seed there. The former No.1 had a strong start to the season after winning Brisbane in dominant fashion and marching to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, before getting stunned by eventual champion Angelique Kerber. It was a gutting loss for Azarenka, but hopefully she’s had time to work past it and comes into Acapulco fit and firing. She has a great opportunity to march up the rankings when the tour turns to Indian Wells and Miami.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of February 22, 2016.
Sorana Cirstea (ROU), +46 (No.199 to 152): Cirstea’s run to the Rio Open semifinals, playing in her first WTA main draw matches since last summer, were a huge milestone on the Romanian’s road back from injury. It also earned her the week’s highest ranking jump, improving 46 spots to No.152.
Francesca Schiavone (ITA), +38 (No.132 to 94): When Francesca Schiavone turned back the clocks in Rio, winning her first title in two years, she also earned herself a spot back in the Top 100. The last time Schiavone was ranked inside the Top 100 was at the 2015 US Open, when she held the No.95 spot.
Shelby Rogers (USA), +23 (No.131 to 108): The resurgent Rogers made her first WTA final since 2014 at the Rio Open and as a result she now sits just eight spots shy of a return to the Top 100.
Barbora Strycova (CZE), +9 (No.47 to 38): Strycova improves nine spots to No.38 with run to the final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Sara Errani (ITA), +5 (No.22 to 17): Sara Errani’s dominant performance in Dubai sends her up five spots and back into the Top 20.
Johanna Konta (GBR), +1 (No.27 to 26): While improving one ranking spot might not seem like much, it’s actually a historic achievement for Konta – her No.26 ranking is the highest ranking for a Brit since Jo Dury held the spot in April 1987.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Qatar Total Open
Doha, Qatar
Premier | $2,517,250 | Hard, Outdoors
Sunday, February 21 – Saturday, February 27, 2016
Abierto Mexicano TELCEL
Acapulco, Mexico
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 22 – Saturday, February 27, 2016
Abierto Monterrey Afirme
Monterrey, Mexico
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 29 – Sunday, March 6
BMW Malaysian Open
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, February 29 – Sunday, March 6
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams –
2. Angelique Kerber – Doha
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Doha
4. Simona Halep – Doha
5. Garbiñe Muguruza – Doha
6. Maria Sharapova –
7. Belinda Bencic – Doha
8. Petra Kvitova – Doha
9. Flavia Pennetta – (retired)
10. Roberta Vinci – Doha
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Doha
12. Lucie Safarova – Doha
13. Venus Williams –
14. Victoria Azarenka – Acapulco
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Doha
16. Ana Ivanovic –
17. Sara Errani – Doha, Monterrey
18. Elina Svitolina – Doha
19. Karolina Pliskova – Doha
20. Jelena Jankovic – Doha
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Klara Koukalova (CZE) – February 24, 1982
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) – February 25, 1994
Chen Liang (CHN) – February 25, 1989
Naomi Broady (GBR) – February 28, 1990
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) – February 28, 1985