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Road To Singapore Rolls Through Malaysia

Road To Singapore Rolls Through Malaysia

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Dozens of children and fans in Kuala Lumpur got their first taste of tennis as the WTA Road To Singapore rolled through Malaysia, where they got to meet and practice against their regional hero Hsieh Su-Wei and hit with World No.10 Roberta Vinci.

“It was great to come out today to play with the children because I think it is important to encourage the next generation,” Hsieh shared after hosting the WTA Future Stars Clinic. “I started playing as a kid myself when I was five years old so I was glad to be able to share my experiences with them.”

Hsieh, Taiwan’s No.1 player, put on a clinic for young fans and also took the chance to share some tips with a group of local competitive players. She was joined on court by Belinda Chai, who represented Malaysia in the WTA Future Stars Tournament in 2014 at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The tournament brings together players from 17 Asia-Pacific markets to compete against each other at the WTA Finals.

 Hsieh Su-Wei

The goal of WTA Future Stars is to promote tennis among children throughout the Asia-Pacific region and encourage them to take the next step in their interest in tennis, as well as to inspire players who are already playing competitively to continue to pursue their passion for tennis through an opportunity to hear from a professional.

Located in Kuala Lumpur, the BMW Malaysian Open is a stop on the Road to Singapore and the closest event geographically to Singapore, the home of the WTA Finals taking place October 23-30, 2016. As a part of the community outreach to promote tennis in the region, No.10-ranked Roberta Vinci and 2015 WTA Future Stars participant Zhu Lin took to the heart of the city to play tennis on a pop-up court at the KLCC Esplanade against the backdrop of the iconic Petronas Towers.

Fans and members of the public got the chance to pick up a racquet and try their hand at playing against the pros. Check out the photos below to see how they did:

Zhu Lin

Roberta Vinci

Roberta Vinci and Zhu Lin at the Petronas Towers

Roberta Vinci, Zhu Lin

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Where To Watch: Indian Wells

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Premier Mandatory
Prize Money: $6,314,605
Draw Size: 96 main draw (32 byes)/48 qualifying
Main Draw Ceremony: Monday, March 7, 3pm PST
Qualifying Dates: Monday, March 7 – Tuesday, March 8
First Day of Main Draw: Wednesday, March 9
Singles Final: Sunday, March 20, 11am PST
Doubles Final: Saturday, March 19, NB 4pm PST

MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@BNPPARIBASOPEN – official tournament handle
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #BNPPO16 and #WTA.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:
· Simona Halep bids to become only the second player (after Martina Navratilova, in 1990-91) to defend the Indian Wells title.
· There have been eight different champions in the past eight years in Indian Wells. There are seven returning champions in the field this year – Halep (2015), Victoria Azarenka (2012), Caroline Wozniacki (2011), Jelena Jankovic (2010), Ana Ivanovic (2008), Daniela Hantuchova (2007, 2002) and Serena Williams (1999, 2001).
· Twelve months ago, Williams returned to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden after a 14-year break. This time around, sister Venus will join her in the draw for the first time since 2001.
· Maria Sharapova is the only high-profile absentee, missing out due to a nagging forearm injury.
· In doubles, World No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza play their first event since having their 41-match winning streak ended in Doha. Their first event (and first title) together came at last year’s tournament.
· For the rest of the major storylines ahead of Monday’s draw, read the WTA Insider Notebook.

WILDCARDS:
Samantha Crawford (USA), Lauren Davis (USA), Daniela Hantuchova (SVK), Jamie Loeb (USA), Alison Riske (USA), Shelby Rogers (USA), Heather Watson (GBR), Zhang Shuai (CHN) 

WITHDRAWALS:
Maria Sharapova (left forearm), Alizé Cornet (back), Mona Barthel (illness), Karin Knapp (right knee), Ajla Tomljanovic (shoulder)

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Insider Notebook: The Dust Bowl

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

– Day 1 winners: It was a picture perfect day at the BNP Paribas Open. The sun was out, the soccer field was hopping, and the first round of the tournament got underway.

Despite their respective rankings, the biggest upset of the day went to World No.36 Lesia Tsurenko, who beat an improving and in-form Timea Babos 7-5, 6-4. Tsurenko made the quarterfinals as a qualifier here last year, beating Andrea Petkovic, Alizé Cornet, and Eugenie Bouchard. But she had not won a match in 2016. There must be something in the desert air.

– More winners: Laura Siegemund (d. Begu), Yulia Putintseva (d. Peng), Kateryna Bondarenko (d. Van Uytvanck), Kurumi Nara (d. Pereira), Barbora Strycova (d. Sansnovich), Lucie Hradecka (d. Riske), Vania King (d. Townsend), Dominika Cibulkova (d. Siniakova), Heather Watson d. (Voskoboeva), Carina Witthoeft (d. Falconi), CoCo Vandeweghe (d. Bertens), Yaroslava Shvedova (d. Kr. Pliskova), Nicole Gibbs (d. Dulgheru), Johanna Larsson (d. Maria), Danka Kovinic (d. Crawford).

– Serena & Venus play on Friday: Venus Williams makes her much-anticipated return to the tournament on Friday during the day session, while Serena will headline the evening session.

– Angelique Kerber still riding the high: Kerber is still on cloud nine after her Australian Open triumph, but now it’s time to get back to work. The No.2 seed knows she’ll be playing with a big target on her back.

“It’s a new situation for me and I know every player who will play against me will give everything to beat me,” she said. “But this is also the situation you’re dreaming for, you’re working your whole life to be like, for me, No.2 at the moment. This is something you’re working for.”

– Tricky conditions: The conditions at the BNP Paribas Open can be tricky. Not only does the ball fly in the dry desert air, but the gritty hard court plays relatively slowly. It can be a difficult combination for players to adjust to quickly.

“Here when you play in the morning sometimes it’s a little bit cold,” Carla Suárez Navarro explained. “When you play in the night it’s cold also. During the day it’s hot. It’s a little bit slower at night. During the day it flies a little bit. The court is not too fast. I really like that.”

“I feel like the surface is a little bit slow for me,” Petra Kvitova said. “I feel good. I’m healthy, that’s important.”

– Don’t have a cow, Belinda: This was Belinda Bencic’s first time going through All-Access Hour at a Premier Mandatory event and the attention and flurry of reporters was definitely a new experience.

“I think it’s a learning process,” she said, “For sure I had a couple of press conferences before [but] I never had this for many times, so it’s a little bit more attention off the court as well. But I enjoy it and it means you’re really Top 10, so I really do enjoy it.”

As for the perks of being a Top 10 player? “To be seeded all the time, you get practice courts, you get a better locker. You just have advantages in everything. You get better hotel rooms and gifts. It’s nice.”

So far her best gift has been “a huge fruit basket”. When reminded that Roger Federer was given a cow after winning a Slam, the 18-year-old was having none of it. “I don’t want a cow,” Bencic said with a laugh. “[I want] chocolate, like a huge basket!”

– Getting the band back together: Suárez Navarro and Garbiñe Muguruza, runners up at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global last year, have teamed up again for doubles in Indian Wells. “We play for the Olympics,” Suárez Navarro said. “It’s tough to play every week but this tournament we want to play together and play matches. The draw is really tough. We play Pliskova/Goerges. They made the semifinals in Melbourne. But just to play together again is a big step.”

– Carla psyches out the competition: The Spaniard, up to a career-high of No.6, has been working with a sports psychologist since last fall. She speaks to him every week and he’s on call for her whenever she needs to talk things through.

“I think that I needed it because if you want to be on top the things you have to improve or change are so little or so close,” she said. “You have to do that thing that is better for you. I start to work in October when I was in Asia, just because I was playing in August and I lost match by match and I didn’t find a solution. My coaches helped me a lot but these things are not easy. We think we need a professional person to help.”

– Top players react to Maria Sharapova’s announcement: A roundup of what the players are saying:

Serena Williams, who spoke ahead of the BNP Paribas Showdown on Tuesday (Serena will do her pre-tournament media obligations at 10:30am Thursday): “I think most people were happy she was upfront and very honest and showed a lot of courage to admit to what she had done and what she had neglected to look at in terms of the list at the end of the year,” Serena said.

“It’s just taking responsibility, which she admitted that she was willing to do and ready to do. Just hope for the best for everybody in that situation.”

Radwanska: “I was actually in the locker room here watching with all the other players what’s going on. We’re in shock, all of us. But well, nobody expected that for sure.”

Muguruza: “For sure it must be a very difficult situation for her. Well the good thing is that she acknowledged it and she’s facing it. That’s a good thing she’s doing and we’ll see how it goes.”

Kvitova: “I think this is an example we see that they are really trying to have a clean sport. I think the system is working. They are doing a good job in that.”

On Wednesday Sharapova posted a note to fans on Facebook, her first public comments since Monday’s press conference.

– Kvitova still coachless: Kvitova is in no rush to hire a coach after parting ways with David Kotyza in January. She’s here in Indian Wells with her hitting partner and enjoying the freedom to schedule and plan her own practices.

“I think it was a long time to be with David,” Kvitova said. “All the things we did was really working. I mean I have two Grand Slams and he did a great job. I think I still need to improve a lot of things. I think my aggressive game can still be more consistent. Trying to improve the serve and the first point in the rallies.”

– Put a ring on it: Kvitova will be taking the court with a new accessory: her engagement rink. Kvitova was playfully grilled by reporters about the details of how the proposal went down. It was quick, it happened at home, and yes, he bent down to one knee (“I don’t know if it was the left or right one”).

But she said the proposal wasn’t exactly a surprise. “I think I did expect it a bit for one or two days,” she said. “I just know him. I feel like he was more nervous than normal.”

– Let’s reminisce: I asked Kerber for the best experience she’s had since Melbourne, thinking she would highlight a high-profile celebrity event back home. Not Angie.

“I think for me, the best moment was when I got back home and I was sitting with my family and my friends, eating and thinking about my whole career, the last few years, more than 10 years right now, and that was for me the most special moment after I came back.”

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Bouchard Survives Stephens Battle

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Eugenie Bouchard stayed calm and kept her Indian Wells campaign alive, battling past No.21 seed Sloane Stephens to book a third round clash with Timea Bacsinszky at the BNP Paribas Open.

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

Both players came into the second-round clash riding the wave of a personal renaissance in their tennis – Stephens has already won two titles so far this year and owns an impressive 11-1 record, while Bouchard has reached the finals at two events after a well-documented 2015 drought.

Bouchard faced her first big mental test in the form of Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki – at one stage being five points away from defeat in the last round – and she knew the clash with Stephens would be no easier. Stephens edged their head-to-head 2-1, with both of their last two matches ending in tough, three set battles.

Stephens quickly climbed to a break up twice in the first set – both times with help from a couple of Bouchard’s double faults – and each time the Canadian recovered to get the breaks back. It was one of the many signs of Bouchard’s newfound calmness and maturity; she was able to put those setbacks behind her instead of dwelling on what could have been. Bouchard blasted a huge forehand return down the line just out of Stephens’ reach to put away the first set.

But Stephens didn’t go away quietly in the second set. Instead, she erased a 2-0 lead from Bouchard to level the score and fight her way into the match.

The American broke Bouchard’s serve once again – again with help from a Bouchard double fault – to serve for the set at 5-4. Bouchard fought her way back from 0-40 down, erasing three set points by forcing a forehand long from Stephens’ racquet. A lucky net cord gave Bouchard a break point as the two were deadlocked, going from break point to set point and back and forth again. Bouchard saved a fifth set point and took the game as well as the wind out of Stephens’ sails.

She quickly grabbed the next two games to take the match 7-5, 7-5 after a hard-fought hour and forty-one minutes.

“It was very very close. I got lucky with a netcord,” Bouchard said after the match. “I just kept trying to fight and kept trying to step in a bit and dictate the point. That works well for me – I try to do that a lot.

“I just had so much fun playing tonight. Sloane played a great match.”

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Hot Shot Radwanska Impresses In IW

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska was nearly out of the BNP Paribas Open less that 48 hours ago, but the Pole rebounded in spectacular style on Sunday, dismissing Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-1, behind a barrage of her signature trick shots.

Down a match point to Dominika Cibulkova in the second round, Radwanska faced an opponent almost as wily as herself in Niculescu, splitting their last two encounters in the last year.

“I played her just two weeks ago in Doha, so that also helped,” Radwanska told the media in her post-match press conference. “I really know what to expect there. Of course she’s little bit different player than the others. Never easy. Always tricky opponent.

“I knew I would have to be patient. I think that’s the most important thing in that kind of matches. And really try to play my game. She can be really tough. Just very happy to win that match actually in those two quick sets.”

As quickly as the 87 minute match went, Radwanska still had time for some impressive play, leaving fans, media, and even Belinda Bencic begging for more:

“It’s just pretty much the reaction and things that I do on court. I think is the way I play,” the Pole said of her trick shots.

“I definitely have a couple of favorite ones. Also a couple of ones I play against Vinci in Doha; couple of ones as well from Singapore.

“Everything is just happening so fast and I always have like couple of them each tournament, so I am even forgetting what happen in last few months,” she said with a smile. “That would be good to have actually those highlights on internet that I can watch again and see what I did.”

Ask, believe, receive: check out some of those hot shots below:

Check out more of Radwanska’s shots here and here.

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