Tennis News

MIAMI, FL, USA – Newly-minted World No.1 Angelique Kerber has officially reclaimed her spot at the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, a day before the Miami Open kicks off and where she’ll also be the No.1 seed for the first time.

But the big question for former World No.1 Chrissie Evert is how Kerber will cope with the pressures of having the target on her back once again.

Kerber is still searching for her first title of 2017 after falling in the fourth round of Indian Wells to eventual champion Elena Vesnina. The German went into the match leading 4-1 in their head-to-head record, but started off flat and allowed Vesnina to dictate the rallies, a contrast to the game she showed during her run to two Grand Slam titles last year.

She’s also yet to defeat a Top 20 player in 2017, falling to Elina Svitolina twice (Brisbane, No.14; Dubai, No.13) and later Vesnina (No.15).

“For me it’s nothing really to do with the physicality of her game,” Evert said in an ESPN phone call. “It’s not that the game is not there, the same game that she won the Australian Open with and the US Open with.

“I think it’s all in her head, and it is a big adjustment to have that No.1 bullseye on your back and to continue to play with the fearlessness that it took for her to get there. She went out of the box in big matches that she won last year; she took more chances. She played more fearless tennis. She went for more shots. She went for bigger serves. She went for bigger second serves.

“She really, to me, this year has gone back into the type of tennis she played two years ago when she was Top 5 in the world, but not No.1.”

Evert drew a comparison between Kerber and the resurgent Caroline Wozniacki – who’s added a bit more aggression to her counterpunching game to help her climb back on top following an injury-riddled 2016 season and consecutive slide down the rankings.

“She has to do what Wozniacki is trying to do now: taking a few more risks and being a little more aggressive,” Evert explained. “Those two, I see their games similar as far as their unbelievable defense and counterpunching, and it goes against their nature to really wind up and to attack right from the start. But they’ve got to learn to do that a little bit more.”

Evert, who was the year-ending World No.1 singles player in 1974-1978 and 1980-1981 and held on to the ranking for a total of 260 weeks, had some words of advice for what it would take for the German to regain her fearlessness.

“[Kerber] has to get back that aggressive mentality, and she’s got to really force it on herself because she’s not going to be No. 1 until she plays like she did at the US Open and like she did in Australia.

“The tennis is there, but she’s got to get back into that frame of mind, and she’s got to work on that. Only she can do it. You can listen to a thousand people or the best coaches in the world, but only she has to come to terms with that.”

– Photos courtesy of Getty Images

SYDNEY, Australia – It was a dream day for Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday, as she not only scored her biggest win in six and a half years against Simona Halep in a rain-delayed semifinal, but she then played a near-flawless final against Monica Puig to win the Premier-level Apia International Sydney.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Sydney right here on wtatennis.com!

Just hours after completing a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 semifinal victory against No.2-ranked, No.1-seeded Halep – her biggest win since defeating then-World No.1 Dinara Safina in the final of the 2009 French Open – Kuznetsova completely overpowered Puerto Rican qualifier Puig for the Sydney title, 6-0, 6-2.

Kuznetsova won more than twice as many points as Puig in the 55-minute demolition, 53 to 23.

“It’s great. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect this, but I’ve also never gone into a tournament thinking about winning, never even once,” Kuznetsova said after the match. “I just went out there and performed, and everything went my way. Now I just want to keep focused for the Australian Open.”

The Russian, who picked up her 16th WTA title – a haul that includes two Grand Slams – was asked how she recovered so well after a near-three-hour match against Halep to play so well against Puig.

“Actually somebody asked me before the match, the supervisor, ‘How do you feel?’ Everybody probably thinks because I’m 30 that I’m really old and need to pick myself up. But I felt great. I felt better than most days here. First matches of the year you’re sore, but after you get going, it’s great.”

She was also asked whether she thinks it’s possible to win another Grand Slam title: “I never dreamed of winning one. I never thought of winning one. It just happens behind hard work, effort, and just having pleasure playing tennis. If I have this opportunity and I can take it, I would love to, of course.

“But if not, my life isn’t going to end. I love the game. It’s great I can still win titles.”

Puig still has a lot to celebrate – she reached the first Premier final of her career in Sydney.

“There wasn’t really too much I could do. I definitely ran around the court and tried to get every single ball I could back, but the only answer I have today is that she was the better player,” Puig commented. “I had an incredible week coming through qualifying, my first time here in Sydney, and I made my first final of a Premier tournament. Overall it was a very good week and I’m very happy about it.

“I’m really not going to get disheartened about this final. She just played unbelievable.”

MELBOURNE, Australia – Alizé Cornet started her 2016 season with a flourish last week, winning the Hobart International for her first title since 2014. The No.43 lost just one set all week and ran away with the title in Saturday’s final, beating a resurgent Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-2 for her fifth career title. So excited was the already excitable Frenchwoman, she went so far as to thank her dog Andy – a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier named after Andy Roddick – in her victory speech. The emotions were plain to see. This meant a lot.

Cornet describes her 2015 season as decidedly average. She began the season at No.20, having scored three wins over Serena Williams in 2014, but struggled in the latter half of the year to finish at No.43, her lowest ranking since 2012. After some soul-searching, she decided a change was in order. She brought on a new coach in Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh, former coach to Angelique Kerber, and changed her training base to Nice. With a new team and a renewed sense of urgency, she trained hard over the off-season. But she never expected the pay-off to come so quickly.

WTA Insider sat down with Cornet at Melbourne Park, where she had just arrived after a quick flight from Hobart the night before. She describes her lowest moment of last year, her perilous relationship to confidence, and how a conversation with Patrick Mouratoglou put her career back on track.

WTA Insider: What does this title mean for you?
Cornet: It means a lot actually. It’s the reward for all the hard work I did during the last couple of months during the pre-season preparation. So I’m really really happy and proud that it’s already working out for me. It’s paying off and it feels amazing.

I had such a great week there. I was playing good tennis, good attitude on the court, great fighting spirit as always. It’s amazing when you have the trophy and you don’t lose a match in the week.

WTA Insider: You had such a great season in 2014. Is it fair to say that 2015 was average for you?
Cornet: The first part of the season was not so bad. Roland Garros I made the fourth round. The second part of the season was just a disaster. I was motivated but I was a little bit sad on the court. I was practicing really hard and I didn’t have any results. I was getting really tired of tennis.

But a career is very long and there are a lot of up and downs. You have to try to hang on and try to stick to your dreams and to your passion for the game. That’s what I did. I restructured myself in the winter. I found a new academy with new coaches and new staff with me. Now I feel like a totally new player. Now I want to forget 2015 and learn what I can from that year but now I really want to show the improvements that I made during this off-season.

WTA Insider: Sometimes the tour can get stale. Same team, same schedule, same cities. Sometimes players make a change just to keep things fresh. Is that what happened here?
Cornet: The thing is it has to be a good change. If you change to change it doesn’t work either. Last year I stopped with my coach Biljana Veselinovic right after Wimbledon. Then I finished the season alone. I was totally alone for the last five months. It was good but really tough at the same time. I really needed someone at that point but I couldn’t find a good person so I preferred to be alone.

So then talking to Patrick Mouratoglou I decided to go back to the south of France and practice in his new academy in Nice. He asked me if I wanted to work with one of his coaches there, Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh. I said of yeah why not, I trust you, I’m gonna try. It clicked right away with this coach. I also had a new physical coach.

It was just the right change at the right moment. I didn’t rush and I was waiting for the good person to take care of my tennis. I think I found it.

Now I’m traveling with a hitting partner because my coach is not traveling, he’s staying at home at the academy. I have this structure that I was dreaming about. So that’s why I feel good on the court and totally ready for new challenges this year.

WTA Insider: What was your focus during the off-season?
Cornet: Physically I have a good base. It’s one of my strengths. We just had to gain 2-5% to be more efficient on court.

I think the big work was on the tennis side. I spent a lot of time on the tennis court. Benny my coach was not changing things but trying to improve things by doing lots of repetition. In the beginning it was tough because the rhythm was crazy. I was coming back home at night and I was totally dead. I couldn’t even cook for myself I could only lie on the couch. But it was worth it because now that I see the results I’m just very happy.

WTA Insider: Did you think you lost your tennis in 2015?
Cornet: You can lose your tennis. You don’t know exactly what to do on the court, how to move, how to play the right shots in the right moments.

The scary thing is you can lose it so fast. It takes months to have confidence and it can take days to lose it. This is really tricky. That’s why you have to keep working all the time and keep working the good way with the good person. That’s very important. Because when you start losing your way it’s very tough to find it again. I guess I lost it for a while.

WTA Insider: What was your worst moment last year?
Cornet: The US Open. It’s been maybe three years since I lost in the first round of a Slam. I was supposed to win this one. I was so much ahead in the score and then I got confused once more and I ended up losing. This was really painful. From this moment I just told myself you really have to do something with your career because you’re just losing it. That’s when I talked to Patrick and really tried to restructure myself.

WTA Insider: So you worked really hard in the off-season and felt like a new player. When you landed in Hobart last week, did you believe you could win the title?
Cornet: I was playing some really good tennis in Brisbane. I felt that I was close to something really good but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.

Some players say when they arrive at the tournament that I’m going to win the tournament. I always keep it in the back of my mind but I never convinced I’m going to win it. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I have a lack of confidence but it’s like this. It’s always unexpected when I win a title because it’s amazing. We play maybe 30 weeks during the year and there’s not many weeks when you end the week without losing a match. Now I arrive for the Australian Open in the best condition, in the perfect mood, and some victories behind me, so it’s great.

WTA Insider: There’s been some talk about the dangers of playing a tournament the week before a Slam. Do you think it can be a curse?
Cornet: I arrived Saturday night. It’s a good thing I’m playing on Tuesday. Actually I hurt myself a little bit in the final. So it can be a good thing or a bad thing. For sure, physically you lose a little bit energy. But you win so much confidence. So you just have to follow your instincts. I felt like I needed some matches before the Australian Open that’s what I did and I don’t regret anything.

WTA Insider: You played so well in the final and the scoreline was quite easy. At what point did you allow yourself to think you were going to win the title?
Cornet: I try to play point after point. I try not to think about the future. This is the best way to lose yourself during a match.

I saw on the court that I was playing better than her. I was handling the wind much better. She was getting frustrated but I really needed to stay in the match because I knew she wouldn’t give it to me. She’s a great champion, she’s a very good tennis player. So I really tried to stay focused and not think about the victory that was coming closer and closer. Then you have all the relief on the match point.

WTA Insider: During the trophy ceremony you thanked your dog. What was that about?
Cornet: They are totally part of the family. When I am so far away from my family for so long I miss them so much and my dog is just part of it. I could just thank my mother, my father, my boyfriend and not mention my dog. I couldn’t do it! I was picturing my whole family in front of the TV with my dog and it just came.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Agnieszka Radwanska held off Eugenie Bouchard at the Australian Open on Wednesday night. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova continued their collision course.

In arguably the most anticipated second round match-up of the tournament, Radwanska – the form player by far since the US Open, winning more matches and more titles than anyone on the tour, took on Bouchard – a breakthrough star in 2014 who’s been back at her best this year after a tough 2015.

Bouchard came out harder, stepping inside the baseline time and time again and ripping her huge groundstrokes into the corners to build a 4-2 lead. But Radwanska held her ground, clawing back to take the set, 6-4 – she ripped a huge forehand winner on her fifth set point to seal the one set lead.

And she continued to pile it on in the second set, breaking again in the very first game and never really looking back, one last Bouchard error giving the No.4-seeded Radwanska the win, 6-4, 6-2.

“That was a great challenge for me to play somebody like Eugenie in the second round. Definitely not an easy draw. But I think I was doing everything right today,” Radwanska said after the match.

“I hadn’t played against her for a while, but I think she’s definitely playing better now than last season. I think she’s on a good way to come back, and she’s definitely playing much better tennis out there.

“I think in a couple of months we’re going to see her going deeper in the Grand Slams.”

Meanwhile, another blockbuster match-up – Williams against Sharapova – continued to materialize, as the No.1-seeded Williams routed Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-1, 6-2 (read more here) and the No.5-seeded Sharapova powered past Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-2, 6-1 (read more here).

Williams and Sharapova will square off in the quarterfinals should they win two more rounds.

A big upset took place in the late night match, with Daria Gavrilova – now playing under the Aussie flag – weathering the power of Petra Kvitova to surprise the No.6 seed, 6-4, 6-4 (read more here).

It was a solid day for the rest of the seeded players, with No.10 seed Carla Suárez Navarro battling back to beat Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2, No.12 seed Belinda Bencic defeating Timea Babos, 6-3, 6-3, No.13 seed Roberta Vinci carving out a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Irina Falconi, and No.28 seed Kristina Mladenovic hitting through American qualifier Nicole Gibbs, 6-1, 7-6(4).

There was another upset, though, with Kateryna Bondarenko holding off a late surge to take out No.23 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 7-5. Kuznetsova was coming off a title run at the lead-up in Sydney.

And on the outside courts, Kristyna Pliskova – twin sister of Karolina Pliskova – was making history, ripping 31 aces, the most aces in a single match in WTA history (the previous record was 27).

The Czech lefty ended up succumbing to Monica Puig in the end, however, 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7.

.@MonicaAce93 saves FIVE match points & fends off #WTA record 31 ACES!

Edges Kr.Pliskova 4-6, 7-6(6), 9-7! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/BBLC9TZR3h

— WTA (@WTA) January 20, 2016