Tennis News

The tennis season may have just switched to grass, but there’s already another big competition taking kicking off on the turf: Euro 2016. The competition, which starts today in France, pits the best national teams in Europe against one other. Along with the Copa America – which is already underway in the United States – there’s a lot of football going on!

So we got to thinking: if WTA players were a national team, who would be in our starting lineup?

Here’s our official WTA starting lineup:

The WTA plays in a classic 4-4-2 formation, which means that along with a goalkeeper, we’re fielding four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers.

Think you could pick a better team? Who would you chose to be in your starting lineup?

FORWARDS:

We’re playing with two strikers in our WTA XI, so of course we’re starting two of the most powerful attack-minded players in the game:

· Serena Williams

· Garbiñe Muguruza

We certainly think our choices are solid, but these two definitely aren’t the only ones who know how to take their scoring opportunities. Maybe

 some of the players listed on the right would make a better choice?

Cast your vote here!

MIDFIELDERS:

Players in this position are known to be skillful and patient, turning defense into offence on a dime.

For the midfielders in our WTA XI, we’re going with some of the most creative players known for their variety:

· Agnieszka Radwanska

· Simona Halep

· Timea Bacsinszky

· Belinda Bencic

Who would you put in your midfield? Would you stick with these or chose some of the players on the right?

Choose your players here!

DEFENDERS:

Defenders have to be rock-solid in order to diffuse all attacks.

Our WTA XI is full of the most consistent, defense-minded returners and counter punchers:

· Angelique Kerber

· Victoria Azarenka

· Sara Errani

· Caroline Wozniacki

These four seem solid to us, but would a player listed at right do a better job in defense? 

Take your pick now!

GOALKEEPERS:

The last line of defense, goalkeepers are known for their quick reflexes, being good on the stretch but most importantly: they’re tall.

In our WTA XI, we trust our goal in the hands of:

· Petra Kvitova

We believe in our goalkeeper Kvitova, but maybe you’d have a different choice in mind?

Cast your vote right here!

You’ve got one week to cast your votes and chose your WTA Starting Lineup. You can vote as many times as you want right here on wtatennis.com. Votes will be tallied up on Friday, June 17 and we’ll find out who you chose for your WTA XI.

BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Former World No.1 Martina Hingis and fellow Olympic Silver medalist Timea Bacsinszky enjoyed a happy reunion at home, knocking out Diana Marcinkevica and Carina Witthoeft, 6-2, 6-3, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.

“It’s really cool,” Bacsinszky said after the match. “What we have together, we shared so many big emotions and two unbelievable weeks. Those memories will stay with me forever.”

Bacsinszky and Hingis paired up for the first time at the Olympic tennis event, stunning 2012 silver medalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka en route to the Gold medal match, where they lost a tense two-setter to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

???@mhingis and @TimeaOfficial show off their victory dance! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/AglQe6iiwd

— WTA (@WTA) April 12, 2017

Back together in Biel/Bienne, the pair reunited with the upcoming Fed Cup semifinal in mind; the Swiss team takes on Belarus in two weeks for a spot in their first final since 1998, when Hingis helmed the squad in singles and doubles.

“It was amazing to play again with her here, and great preparation for Fed Cup,” Bacsinszky added, “because you never know, if it’s 2-2 in a semifinal, you’ll want to have some matches under your belt to get the connection back.

“That was important for us, so that’s why we decided to play here. I’m thrilled to play here again in Switzerland with my home crowd!”

The Swiss are certainly looking strong at home. With Hingis and Bacsinszky cheering her on from the stands, Viktorija Golubic extended her winning streak to eight straight matches on Swiss soil, having won both singles rubbers in last year’s Fed Cup semifinal against the Czech Republic, her maiden title at the Ladies Championship Gstaad, and her first round match in Biel/Bienne, a nail-biting three-set win over Volvo Car Open semifinalist Laura Siegemund.

Viktorija Golubic battles past Siegemund 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)!

Makes @WTABielBienne Second round! pic.twitter.com/GwWuXaNEnF

— WTA (@WTA) April 12, 2017

All photos courtesy of Ladies Open Biel Bienne.

Nineteen-year-old Jelena Ostapenko showed great resolve in holding off Petra Kvitova for a 6-4 4-6 6-3 Thursday as the 2014 Wimbledon junior champion defeated the 2014 Wimbledon champion in Birmingham at the Aegon Classic. The SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches shows one of the keys to her victory was forcing Kvitova to rely heavily on her backhand during the final set.

Kvitova hit 61% of shots during third set rallies from her backhand Thursday. While she only had one unforced error from that side, she did not hit any backhand winners during that final set.

That high percentage of backhand shots for the left-handed Kvitova really stands out when compared to the 36% of rally shots from the backhand side in the second set, which she won. During her straight sets opening round win, Kvitova hit just 40% of her rally shots from the backhand side.

Ostapenko kept Kvitova under pressure the entire third set. In addition to dictating play to the backhand, she had break points in all five of Kvitova’s service games, converting three, while also winning eight of nine second serve points.

The SAP Coaches View combines scoring information direct from the chair umpire with tracking data from HawkEye to allow for an in depth look at five different aspects of a match. Each tracking option can be filtered to narrow the focus to specific situations within a match, such as break points. This information is available directly to coaches in real-time during a match on their SAP tablet and also available to them online after matches.

“Rally hit from” tracking shows where each ball is struck during a rally. The display differentiates between forehands and backhands. This data can be filtered by a particular score or to only show winners, unforced errors, the last shot of a rally or the third shot (first rally ball hit by the server).

For Ostapenko on Thursday, forcing Kvitova to hit from her backhand side was a winning strategy.