Tennis News

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber is guranteed to win a medal at the Olympic tennis event; the Australian Open champion clinched her spot in the Gold Medal match with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Madison Keys on Friday in the semifinals.

The highest ranked woman to reach the final four in Rio, Kerber came up against an in-form rival in Madison Keys, who has taken her to three sets in two of their last three encounters – beating her to win the 2014 Aegon International in Eastbourne.

Hoping to become the first German woman to medal at the Olympic tennis event since idol Stefanie Graf, the World No.2 played contained tennis against her more aggressive opponent, hitting just two unforced errors in the first set alone to take the early initiative.

Madison Keys: 14 winners, 18 unforced errors.

Angelique Kerber: 1 winner, 1 unforced error.

Kerber leads *4-3. https://t.co/LBU8kSMjRn

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 12, 2016

“It means a lot to be in the final right now,” she said after the match. “It wasn’t easy to be the next after Steffi to reach the final at the Olympics means a lot. It’s really special to be here today, and tomorrow in the finals.”

Keys became the first American to make her Top 10 debut since Serena Williams back in 1999 earlier this year, and wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Facing down the barrel of triple match point in the tenth game of the second set, Keys saved all three – a total of four by game’s end – to try and force a deciding set.

“She’s an unbelievably good player and she played really hard today. I was trying to move well, get the balls back and go for it when I had the chance. It wasn’t easy in the second set when I had four match points, but I managed to come back and focus again. It’s really special to be in the final now.”

Kerber saved two break points on her own serve to get back within striking distance of her first Olympic final – having fallen in the quarterfinals back in her London debut four years ago – and finally secured victory on her sixth match point. 

Standing between the German and a gold medal is Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig, another youngster in the midst of a career-best season. Puig became the first woman from her country to win a medal after upsetting No.11 seed Petra Kvitova in the other semifinal, and has knocked out quality opposition all week in Rio, including reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza.

“She’s played very good this week,” Kerber said when asked about her next opponent. “I know it’ll be a tough final, but I’ll try to enjoy it, go out and play my best tennis and, of course, win the next match. But Monica plays good and I’m ready for that.”

.@AngeliqueKerber will face @MonicaAce93 in the gold medal match after defeating Madison Keys 63 75 at #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/7ruVKIroOF

— ITF Olympic Tennis (@OlympicsTennis) August 12, 2016

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Jelena Ostapenko produced a stunning comeback to defeat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in a rollercoaster opening round at the Western & Southern Open.

Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Trailing by a set and double break, it looked for all the world that Ostapenko’s debut at the Lindner Family Tennis Center was going to end in defeat. However, the bleakness of the situation seemed to rouse the Latvian into life, as she rescued the second set before conjuring an even more miraculous escapology act in the third to triumph, 1-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

Ostapenko, a former junior Wimbledon champion, has been ascending the professional ranks fast, establishing herself as the youngest player in the Top 50. Against Schmiedlova the baseline firepower was once again present – she finished with 45 winners. Unfortunately for the teenager, the unforced error count was even higher, and very nearly proved her undoing.

Schmiedlova, meanwhile, was far less flashy, and for the best part of an hour her consistency looked destined to triumph. “I’m sorry about the first set – I couldn’t put a ball in the court – but I’m really happy I saved two match points on her serve and fought to the end and that I could finish the match,” Ostapenko said.

This first set lasted less than 20 minutes, and when Ostapenko slipped 4-1 behind the second appeared certain to be equally swift. Standing on the precipice, Ostapenko produced her best, saving a couple of match points at 5-4 then rallying from 5-2 in the decider to complete an unlikely turnaround.

“I don’t know what was wrong with me today; I was losing but then when I was losing I was playing better. Then in the third set I was 2-0, 40-0 up on her serve. After that I lost five games in a row. I know what happened. But then I started to fight again and I’m glad I could win the match,” she added.

Her reward for the comeback is a second-round meeting with No.15 seed Karolina Pliskova.

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Things are heating up on the hardcourts at the Western & Southern Open and wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo is on hand to preview Day 2’s must-see action.

Tuesday, First and Second Round

Center Court
[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA #33)
Head-to-head: Vandeweghe leads, 2-0

Key Stat: Vandeweghe is sporting a 4-0 record against the Top 10 in 2016.
Neither player has ever been past the second round in Cincinnati, but that is about to change on Tuesday for either CoCo Vandeweghe or Garbiñe Muguruza as they prepare to square off for the first time in two years. Though Muguruza has had the more storied career, it is Vandeweghe who has taken their previous two meetings, which both occurred in 2014. It’s been an excellent year for the 24-year-old American. She has risen to a career-high ranking (No.29 on June 20) and at Wimbledon was seeded at a major for the first time. But Vandeweghe’s achievements pale in comparison to those of the Spaniard. Muguruza rolled to the Roland Garros title in June, defeating Serena Williams in the final. Though the 22-year-old has struggled a bit since her shining moment in Paris – going 3-3 in her last six – Muguruza says she feels refreshed and ready to tackle the Cincinnati challenge. “I was happy to live the experience in Rio, and I’m happy to be back,” she told reporters on Monday. “Coming here, I’m motivated to have a great tournament because I haven’t played a lot of matches. I’m looking forward to it.”

Pick: Muguruza in three

Grandstand
[17] Elina Svitolina (UKR #19) vs. [Q] Daria Gavrilova (AUS #47)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1

Key Stat: Gavrilova has won six straight sets since the beginning of qualifying in Cincinnati.
Making her second appearance at the Western & Southern Open, 22-year-old Daria Gavrilova zoomed into the second round with a 7-5, 6-3 shutdown of France’s Caroline Garcia on Monday. The Australian qualifier won 32 of 38 first-serve points and didn’t face a break point in winning her 18th match of 2016, and she hopes that having three matches under her belt in Cincinnati will help her when she faces Elina Svitolina on Tuesday. The Ukrainian reached the semifinals last year in Cincinnati, and she’s fresh off a quarterfinal appearance at the Olympics that saw her achieve her first victory over World No.1 Serena Williams. With both players in form, expect a hard-fought battle between feisty players, both of whom are eager to push deep into a quality draw.

Pick: Gavrilova in three

Stadium 3
Andrea Petkovic (GER #42) vs. Lucie Safarova (CZE #28)
Head-to-head: Petkovic leads, 4-3

Key Stat: Safarova is bidding for her 400th WTA win on Tuesday.
Two tried-and-true veterans will battle for the eighth time on Tuesday, with each hoping to gain some much-needed traction on the hardcourts – and their 400th career win! Safarova, who owns a career record of 399-282, hopes to crack the milestone on Tuesday and make it three consecutive hardcourt wins over Petkovic. Meanwhile, the 28-year-old German could pass the mark by reaching the quarterfinals. Petkovic and Safarova are each hovering around the .500 mark for the season and could badly use a deep run here in Cincinnati to bolster their confidence ahead of the season’s final Grand Slam in New York. With the US Open less than two weeks away the time is ripe for making statements. Who will make theirs on Tuesday?

Pick: Safarova in two

Around the grounds…
Nineteen-year-old Daria Kasatkina will make her Cincinnati debut when she takes on lucky loser Tsvetana Pironkova on Court No.10. Kasatkina, who reached the Olympic quarterfinals last week in Rio, is playing with a career-high ranking of 24. Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard qualified for the main draw and will open with a tricky encounter against Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic. Bouchard won the pair’s first three meetings but Strycova has taken the last two, including a 6-1, 6-0 trouncing in Rome this spring. Strycova is coming off a Bronze medal performance in women’s doubles at the Rio Games.

January was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.

In the end, it Hot Shot Queen Agnieszka Radwanska, who turned defense to offense against Christina McHale at the Apia International Sydney. En route to the final, the former World No.2 used all her scrambling skills to end the rally with a screaming forehand winner.

Click here to watch all of January’s finalists.

Final Results for January’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments

1. Agnieszka Radwanska (76%)
2. Julia Goerges (11%)
3. Yulia Putintseva  (7%)
3. Karolina Pliskova (4%)
5. Alizé Cornet (2%)

2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners

January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska
March: Agnieszka Radwanska
April: Monica Niculescu
May: Simona Halep
June: Agnieszka Radwanska
July: Simona Halep
August: Agnieszka Radwanska
September: Kirsten Flipkens
October: Angelique Kerber

How it works:

Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com 

NEW YORK, NY, USA – With the year’s final Grand Slam event just a few weeks away, the USTA announced today the recipients of main draw and qualifying wildcards for the US Open, which begins on August 29.

Among the recipients for main draw wildcards are two-time NCAA singles champion Danielle Collins, 2016 USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion Kayla Day, young American Lauren Davis, USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card challenge winner Sofia Kenin, former Top 50 player Vania King, and Rio’s mixed doubles Olympic gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands, as well as France’s Virginie Razzano.

As part of a reciprocal agreement with the USTA, Tennis Australia will award one additional main draw wild card to a player who will be announced at a later date.

In addition to the eight US Open women’s singles main draw wild cards, the USTA also announced the eight women who have been awarded wild card entries into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, which will be held August 23-26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

One additional US Open qualifying wild card will be awarded to the winner of the 2015 US Open National Playoffs – Women’s Championship, taking place August 19-22 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Here’s the full list of wildcards announced so far:

Main Draw
Kayla Day (USA)
Lauren Davis (USA)
Sofia Kenin (USA)
Vania King (USA)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
Virginie Razzano (FRA)

Qualifying
Amanda Anisimova (USA)
Francesca Di Lorenzo (USA)
Nicole Frenkel (USA)
Ellie Halbauer (USA)
Jamie Loeb (USA)
Raveena Kingsley (USA)
Melanie Oudin (USA)
Laura Robson (GBR)