Pliskova, Strycova Seal Fifth Fed Cup Title In Six Years
Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova win the deciding doubles rubber for the second straight year, capturing a fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years over home team France.
Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova win the deciding doubles rubber for the second straight year, capturing a fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years over home team France.
COMPTON, CA, USA – Former World No.1s Venus Williams and Serena Williams returned to their hometown of Compton, California last weekend to strengthen childhood ties to the city where they first played tennis.
“You always remember those places, like where we went to elementary school, the courts we practiced at, even our old home,” Venus told the LA Times. “And just places you used to go. And of course things change over time. Places move. Shops close. Streets change. But it’s still the same place.”
The Williams sisters made use of their eponymous charity fund to bestow a five-year endowment on what will be the Yetunde Price Resource Center, which will help those affected by violence and trauma. The center was named for their eldest sister, who was killed in 2003.
“We definitely wanted to honor our sister’s memory because she was a great sister, she was our oldest sister and obviously she meant a lot to us,” Serena said. “And it meant a lot to us, to myself and to Venus and my other sisters as well, Isha and Lyndrea, that we’ve been wanting to do something for years in memory of her, especially the way it happened, a violent crime.”
Saturday was dedicated to the refurbishing of Lueders Park tennis courts henceforth known as the Venus & Serena Williams Court of Champions.
Check out a full interview with the Williams sisters here, along with some of the best photos from the weekend below:
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ashleigh Barty continued her impressive progress through the draw at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger with a straight-set win over fellow qualifier Junri Namigata on Wednesday.
Fifty-four minutes was all it took for Barty to wrap up a 6-2, 6-3 victory and set up a quarterfinal against No.6 seed Evgeniya Rodina.
Despite only turning 20 earlier this year, Barty is embarking on her second ascent of the tennis ladder. After a glittering junior career, she enjoyed instant success in the senior ranks, reaching three major doubles finals alongside fellow Australian Casey Dellacqua.
However, the stresses of life on tour soon took its toll on her teenage mind and body, prompting a 17-month hiatus. She has played sparingly since returning – a bone stress injury disrupted the momentum from an encouraging grass court campaign – but looked in fine form against Namigata, two breaks in the opening three games setting her on course for a comfortable victory.
Rodina overcame a slow start against Dalila Jakupovic, eventually triumphing, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Also advancing to the last eight in Taiwan were Olga Govortsova and Vitalia Diatchenko. Govortsova saved two match points to defeat Julia Boserup, 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-5, while 2014 champion Diatchenko saw off Miyu Kato, 7-5, 6-4.
Elina Svitolina has announced a coaching shake-up, parting ways with coach Iain Hughes:
The 22-year-old Ukrainian has also been working with former No.1 Justine Henin since February, bringing the Hall of Famer on as a coaching consultant. Neither have confirmed whether that relationship will continue in 2017.
Svitolina’s announcement comes on the heels of her career-best season, after making the final of the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai to finish the season at her career-high ranking of No.14 and winning a fourth career title in Kuala Lumpur.
This season she became the only woman to beat both reigning No.1s this year, beating Serena Williams at the Olympics and Angelique Kerber at the China Open.
Ready? Set? Go! The third major of 2016 is about to get underway, and we’ve got your Wimbledon Day One preview right here at WTATennis.com, courtesy of contributor Chris Oddo.
Monday
First Round
[2] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #2) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA #68)
Head-to-head: Giorgi leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Giorgi owns a 6-7 record against the Top 10, but has gone 1-6 against the Top 5.
How will Garbiñe Muguruza handle the pressure of playing the first women’s match on Wimbledon’s fabled Centre Court on Monday? All indications are that she’ll be fine. “Nothing has changed for me to look at Wimbledon different,” Muguruza confidently told a roomful of reporters on Saturday in London when she was asked about coming to Wimbledon as a Grand Slam champion for the first time. “I’m going for the first match, like everyone else, from zero.” Muguruza will have to find a way to block out all external expectations so that she may focus on getting past a very dangerous first-round opponent in Camila Giorgi. The Italian has successfully passed the first round in her last four appearances at Wimbledon and she owns a 17-11 record on grass despite losses in her last three tilts on the surface. Giorgi will certainly take her shots at using her explosive serve and flat ground strokes to expose Muguruza’s movement on the grass, but can the 24-year-old do it well enough to knock off one of the game’s rising forces on Day One?
Pick: Muguruza in three.
[8] Venus Williams (USA #9) vs. Donna Vekic (CRO #112)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Williams is 4th on the Open Era win list at Wimbledon with 76.
Venus Williams and Wimbledon’s grass have been a perfect fit for 19 years running, and on Monday the five-time Wimbledon champion will look to cash in on her experience and grass-court karma when she takes on Croatia’s Donna Vekic for the first time. Vekic was predicted to have a bright future on the grass when she reached the Birmingham final in 2013, but the former World No.62 has struggled of late, losing five of six on the grass since then, and producing a disappointing 4-12 record on all surfaces in 2016. Williams, meanwhile, is hoping to put up back-to-back beauties at the majors. The 36-year-old reached the second week at Roland Garros for the first time since 2010 in Paris this spring and will look to begin what could potentially be a run for the ages here at Wimbledon.
Pick: Williams in two.
[4] Angelique Kerber (GER #4) vs. Laura Robson (GBR #294)Many thought that Great Britain’s Laura Robson would be a fixture in Wimbledon’s second week for years to come when she produced a rousing run to the round of 16 in 2013 as a 19-year-old. But injuries have since sabotaged the progress of the promising Brit. Still working her way back to becoming a steady participant at the tour-level, world No.294 Robson will be in for a stern test on Monday as she faces Germany’s Angelique Kerber. Grass may not be Kerber’s greatest love, but she has racked up some very notable Wimbledon wins. She knocked off Kim Clijsters and Sabine Lisicki en route to the semifinals in 2012, and stunned Maria Sharapova during a quarterfinal run in 2014. Sounds like even years work well for Kerber at Wimbledon; does this year’s Australian Open champion have another deep run up her sleeve in 2016?
Pick: Kerber in two.
Sabine Lisicki (GER #81) vs. Shelby Rogers (USA #61)
Head-to-head: Lisicki leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Lisicki owns a 25-7 lifetime record at Wimbledon. She’s 28-24 lifetime in the other three majors, combined.
Welcome to another edition of Sabine Lisicki, Wimbledon fairy tale. Lisicki is a top pro on all surfaces and at all majors, but on the grass of Wimbledon the German takes her game – and emotions – to a higher level. “The first time that I was here, I don’t remember when it was, but when I was here I fell in love with Wimbledon,” Lisicki said in 2013 during her magical run to the final. The love affair has been mutual. Fans in London have warmed to Lisicki, who reached the quarterfinals or better at Wimbledon for five consecutive years until finally having that streak stopped by Timea Bacsinszky in the third round last year. In order to begin another streak, the German will have to find her way past rising American Shelby Rogers. The Charleston, S.C. native will look to notch her first career win at Wimbledon on Monday, but she’ll have to create her own fairy tale at SW19 to do so.
Pick: Lisicki in three.
Around the Grounds: They’ve always been great friends, even on the court where they’ve won two major doubles titles together, but on Monday Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will meet on the singles court for the first time since 2010 on Court 8. Simona Halep will open Wimbledon accounts on Monday with a first-round tussle with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Court 2. Schmiedlova has gone 3-16 this season after breaking out in 2015 with a career-best 37 wins.
By the Numbers:
51 – Number of consecutive Grand Slams played by Jelena Jankovic, who now holds the active record in that category. Ai Sugiyama holds the all-time record with 62.
3 – Three Americans (Keys, Serena Williams, Venus Williams) are seeded at a major for the first time since the 2005 U.S. Open (Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams).
120 – The all-time record for Wimbledon wins, held by Martina Navratilova. Serena Williams leads all active players with 79.
Santina On Defense: Reigning Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza captured their first major title together nearly 52 weeks ago at this very tournament, cementing their status as the sport’s top team and foreshadowing an impressive 41-match winning streak that took them to two more majors and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global title.
The pair has since seen their period of uninterrupted dominance come to a close – at least for the time being – with back-to-back final defeats to French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who went on to win their home Slam at Roland Garros. Looking to complete the Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, Hingis and Mirza were stunned by Czech youngsters Barbora Krejcikova and Katarina Siniakova in straight sets in the third round.
Still, it has been another amazing year for Santina, who became the first players to qualify for Singapore in singles or doubles, having already won five titles in the first six months of the season. Top seeds at the All England Club, they play their first match against a pair of Germans, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund, but face threatening opposition in their half of the draw, including No.13 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, who knocked them out early at the Miami Open. King won the Wimbledon doubles crown back in 2010 with Yaroslava Shvedova – who is seeded No.5 with Timea Babos in the Santina quarter – and together with Kudryavtseva reached their first final of 2016 at the Aegon Classic.
Their semifinal opponents could be No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yun-Jan – the last team to defeat Santina before their winning streak began last summer – or No.7 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, who were the team to beat early last year with a pair of major victories at the Australian Open and French Open. The grass court certainly favors Mirza’s power and Hingis’ quick hands, and the team should be feeling a boost at the Grand Slam that started their meteoric rise.
French Across The Channel: Taking a winning streak through much of the clay court swing, Garcia and Mladenovic won three straight titles at the Volvo Car Open, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and Mutua Madrid Open – defeating Hingis and Mirza at the latter two finals.
Battling through a quartet of talented Russians in the semis and finals, the French women won an emotional three-setter over former champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to earn their first major title in women’s doubles.
The pair haven’t played since Paris, but both have proven capable of translating their games to the grass, with Garcia winning her first title on the surface in Mallorca two weeks ago, and Mladenovic having previously reached a pair of Wimbledon finals, winning mixed doubles with Daniel Nestor in 2013 and finishing runner-up in women’s doubles with Timea Babos in 2014.
Seeded second, Garcia and Mladenovic open against qualifiers Demi Schuurs and Renata Voracova, and could face the power of No.8 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova or the guile of No.12 seeds Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu in the quarterfinals.
Russians, Reunited: Looming for the Frenchwomen in the semifinals could be No.4 seeds Makarova and Vesnina, who spent nearly a year apart due to injuries to the former, but have hardly skipped a beat since coming back together in Madrid. Celebrating the four-year anniversary of their first tournament together, Makarova and Vesnina roared into the semifinals, and nearly toppled Hingis and Mirza in the finals of Rome a week later.
Narrowly losing to Garcia and Mladenovic at Roland Garros, the Russians have to like their chances of replicating their run to last year’s Wimbledon final, where they led Santina 5-2 in the final set. Their first round will be against British wildcards Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith, with Australian Open finalists and No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka their projected quarterfinal opponents.
Venus Williams and Serena Williams are unseeded in the Russian’s quarter; a meeting in the last eight would mark a rematch of their US Open encounter back in 2014, which Makarova and Vesnina won in straight sets en route to the title. The Americans played their first major tournament since that loss at this year’s French Open, where they fell in the third round to Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.
Unseeded & Looming: Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova may be the most dangerous floaters in the Wimbledon draw. The veterans and Mylan World TeamTennis stalwarts won the Aegon International last week in Eastbourne, defeating not only Hingis and Mirza, but also the Chan sisters to take the title in a match tie-break.
“It was a great performance, all the way from the first round,” Rodionova said after the final. “I think we gelled as a team from the beginning, and that’s what got us to the title.
“I’m very happy with the way we’re playing right now; it’s a great way to go into a Slam.”
Jurak and Rodionova will have to keep up their giant-killing game from the first round at Wimbledon, taking on No.9 seeds and Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, with No.5 seeds Babos and Shvedova also looming in their section before they could earn a rematch with Hingis and Mirza in the quarters.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
No.6 seed Roberta Vinci moved into the second round of Wimbledon for the first time in two years after a hard-fought win over Alison Riske.
Serena Williams heads into 2017 with one clear goal in mind; after capturing her 22nd Grand Slam title at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, the American is just one major win away from wresting the Open Era record from Stefanie Graf.
“Wimbledon was good for me,” she said in an exclusive interview with BeIN Sports. “Obviously, I was really excited to win that this year. I had a lot of tough matches, but I went in there and played the best I could.
“We went in with a wonderful gameplan,” she added, referring to coach Patrick Mourataglou, who was also present for the interview, “and it worked out.”
With Graf’s record so close, where might Serena ultimately land among the greats of the game? BeIN Sports posited 30 for one already considered by many to be the greatest of all time.
“30 is a lot, but my goal is just to go out there, do the best I can and be happy. The only way for me to do that is to win every single match; that doesn’t always happen and that’s something you have to understand and learn to deal with over the course of your career.
“But there is no number for me; I just want to go out there and win.”
Click here to check out the full interview with Serena.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Barbora Strycova
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.42
Year-End Ranking: No.20 (Career-High No.19, 8/22/2016)
Titles Won: 0 (Dubai, Birmingham RU)
Best Major Result: 4R (Australian Open)
The countdown is on! ?
Only 20 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! ? pic.twitter.com/1dpjHU6fYz
— WTA (@WTA) December 12, 2016
2017 Outlook
Barbora Strycova bounced back from a middling 2015 from the first week of the season, upsetting eventual French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza en route to the second week of the Australian Open. She followed that up with a run to the biggest final of her career, knocking out former No.1 Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Garcia at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“It’s been the best year of my career because I learned so many things, and also because my ranking improved,” Strycova told WTA Insider at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “I was very consistent throughout the whole season, which was, for me, the most important thing.”
The Czech veteran brought her best tennis all all surfaces, pushing Agnieszka Radwanska in a thrilling third round encounter in Roland Garros, and making her second WTA final of the season on grass at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham. Her brightest moments came in national competitions, earning a Bronze medal at the Olympic tennis event with Lucie Safarova, and later leading the Czech Republic to its fifth championship in six years.
“The Olympics was something I dreamed about. When we found out we were playing together, Lucie told me on the flight to the Rogers Cup, ‘Ok, we’re going to get a medal!’ I told her, ‘You’re joking; we’ve played together once, what are you saying?’ But then we did it; it was something incredible.”
Looking ahead of 2017, Strycova plans to prioritize fitness over the off-season so she may continue to balance her heavy schedules in singles and doubles (with new partner, World No.1 Sania Mirza).
Ekaterina Makarova caused the latest upset at this year’s Wimbledon by knocking out two-time champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets.