Australian Open: Shelby Rogers Interview
An interview with Shelby Rogers after her win in the first round of the Australian Open.
An interview with Shelby Rogers after her win in the first round of the Australian Open.
When Serena Williams dons the Team USA colors for the fourth time in her illustrious career, she won’t only be playing for herself.
“You’re playing for your country, and you become really proud to be where you’re from,” she says in a new advertisement made by Mini USA.
The campaign, called “Defy Labels,” allows Serena to tell the story of growing up as a young girl in Compton, California, and how she went on to become one of the greatest tennis players the world has ever known.
“If I was talking to the kids in Compton, I would tell them that no one can define you, no one can put a label on you.
“No one can say, ‘This is what you’re supposed to do,’ and when you think of all the Olympic athletes, they are really doing something that is beyond everything that they should have done – having the chance to win a gold medal and compete against the best of the best across the globe.”
Posted on Serena’s official Facebook page, check out the full video right here on wtatennis.com:
Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova take on Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith in the first round of the Australian Open.
Still suffering the effects of a left wrist injury that derailed her Wimbledon campaign, Belinda Bencic has opted to withdraw from what would have been her Olympic debut in Rio.
Britain’s No.1 Johanna Konta fought through a tricky opening match against Kirsten Flipkens to move into the second round of the Australian Open.
Victoria Azarenka takes on Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
CoCo Vandeweghe hosted her Twitter Q&A session, #AskVandey, yesterday evening, but things got interesting when her fellow Team USA high-jacked the chat – see all the highlights here!
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic put together a dominant performance in their first match of 2017 to move into the second round of the Australian Open.
Despite not playing together since their heartbreaking defeat in last year’s Fed Cup final, the French duo showed no signs of rust and cruised past Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh 6-1, 6-2.
Garcia and Mladenovic have a shot at becoming co-No.1s in doubles at the end of this fortnight, and they definitely played like it as they comfortably broke twice to climb ahead to a 4-1 lead. Bencic’s backhand caught the net time and time again, giving the French duo plenty of free points.
Bencic and Konjuh finally got on the board with a strong Bencic service game, but it didn’t make a dent in the French team’s momentum and they served out the opening set with ease. Another pair of back-to-back breaks of serve gave Garcia and Mladenovic their first victory of 2017 after just 47 minutes.
Also through to the second round are the No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova. They survived a late wobble to advance 6-1, 7-5 over Nicole Gibbs and Chuang Chia-Jung.
Currently the World No.1 doubles player, Mattek-Sands is likely breathing a sigh of relief, as her and Safarova’s road to the final has cleared up considerably following the withdrawal of potential third-round opponents Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
“I was hoping to have the capacity to play both events here, but at this point I just need to be careful and just try to maintain myself,” said Venus, citing an elbow injury.
The Shenzhen Open takes a look back at Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard’s first matches of the 2016 season – watch highlights and interviews from the WTA stars here.
MONTRÉAL, Canada – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber was made to fight once more at the Rogers Cup, needing three sets to overcome an inspired effort from No.17 seed Elina Svitolina, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.
Watch live action from Montréal this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“I think the match was a little bit crazy,” Kerber told press after the match.
“Actually the whole match was a lot of up and downs.”
Kerber struggled beneath the pace of big-hitting Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in her opening round on Wednesday, and started slowly against Svitolina on Thursday, losing six straight games after breaking to begin the match.
“The first set I was just playing, like I make too many mistakes. I was going for it, not playing my game actually. I was not feeling my rhythm. I was not on the court. It was a little bit tough, the first set.”
The Ukrainian youngster has been coached by former No.1 and recent International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee Justine Henin this week in Montréal, and appeared spurred on by her high-caliber mentor as she continued to punish the Kerber serve, breaking four times in the second set and twice serving for the match.
But the reigning Australian Open champion would not be denied, duly breaking back each time and recovering from a dismaying Hawkeye challenge to to win the final five points of the tie-break.
“The second set, I was trying to find my rhythm, find my game again. She was serving twice for the match. I was just trying to not thinking too much, just trying to playing the points. The tie-break was also a little bit crazy.”
Maintaining her momentum through most of the decider, Kerber broke serve one last time in the ninth game of the match and held on for dear life when it came time to serve for the match, saving three break points and clinching the win in two hours and 18 minutes.
“For sure I’m not happy about my game, how I was playing, because I really not playing my best tennis today. It’s like more I’m happy that I won the match. I don’t know how. It was a crazy match.
“But it’s good to be still in the tournament, still have the chance tomorrow. The next challenge, the next match, trying to play a better tennis tomorrow.
“So a lot of emotions right now.”
Up next for Kerber is rising Russian Daria Kasatkina, who avenged a heartbreaking Qatar Total Open defeat to No.7 seed Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-3.
“I saw a few matches. But, I never played against her yet. I know it will be not easy. I think she played a good match today against Vinci.
“She has nothing to lose. I know she will play good tennis tomorrow. I know that I have to improve, playing better than today to win the next match.
“I’m confident to go out there tomorrow and play good tennis again.”
“I am not happy about my game, it wasn't my best. But it's good to still be in the tournament.” – @AngeliqueKerber pic.twitter.com/mt9fuqDV04
— Coupe Rogers (@CoupeRogers) July 29, 2016