Flawless Radwanska Sweeps Into Round 2
No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska dropped just two games against American qualifier Jessica Pegula to ease into the second round at the US Open.
No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska dropped just two games against American qualifier Jessica Pegula to ease into the second round at the US Open.
USANA brand ambassador Sloane Stephens shared with us her special recipe for her favorite pre-match shake – and you can make it right at home with a couple of ingredients and a USANA Nutrimeal.
For a shake with loads of energy and just the right amount of sweetness, combine strawberries and blueberries with USANA’s French Vanilla Nutrimeal. Check out Sloane’s video above to see how she makes hers.
Drink your shake about 30 to 60 minutes before your match or workout.
Here’s everything you need:
USANA is the Official Vitamin & Supplement Supplier of the WTA, and over 170 Athletes – including 8 out of the Top 10 and 15 out of the Top 20 use USANA products. Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur, Eugenie Bouchard, and Madison Keys are among several USANA ambassadors, and 2016 marks the 10th Anniversary of the USANA-WTA partnership.
WTA Insider | The second round gets underway at the US Open, with Garbiñe Muguruza and Angelique Kerber in action; stay tuned in the latest WTA Insider Live Blog!
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Three seeds were planted early on Tuesday – including former No.1 Ana Ivanovic – but as play continued, the game’s biggest names largely found a way to win, and comfortably so.
World No.1 Serena Williams shook off the rust and lingering doubt about the health of her right shoulder with a comprehensive, 6-3, 6-3 victory over 2014 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova. How is the top seed feeling after a tough opening round test? Listen in on her press conference as she discusses the match, her shoulder rehab, and the inspiration behind her new eye-catching outfit, sleeves and all.
.@ARadwanska with US Open Series trophy ? ? ? ❤
Congratulations Aga! #Radwanska #ProudOfAga #TeamAga #TrzymajAga pic.twitter.com/xmNydKeONm
— AgaRadwańskaFanClub (@AgaRadwanskaFC) August 31, 2016
Meanwhile, Connecticut Open and Emirates Airline US Open Series winner Agnieszka Radwanska roared past American qualifier Jessica Pegula, dropping just two games en route to the second round. WTA Insider caught up with the Pole on the eve of what she considers to be her least favorite major tournament, and how the former No.2 is feeling about her season thus far.
Plus, get the Insider team’s favorite moments from around the grounds, all in the latest Daily Dispatch from Flushing Meadows:
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn or on any podcast app of your choice to ensure you never miss an episode when they go live. Reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.
Follow @WTA_Insider
– Roberta Vinci ends the seed drought: On the day she makes her top 10 debut, No.9 seed Vinci snags the first win for a seed in the Middle East this year, beating Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Qatar Total Open.
– Eight is not enough: 18-year-old Ana Konjuh saved eight match points against No.13 seed Caroline Wozniacki, but eventually lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Doha. It was a much needed win for Wozniacki, who fell out of the Top 20 on Monday. She plays Daria Gavrilova in the second round.
– Rankings news in Doha: A few notes on what’s at stake in Doha (read our full preview here):
– Angelique Kerber will remain at No.2 unless Agnieszka Radwanska wins the title.
– Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza need to advance to the final for a chance to move to No.3.
– Muguruza will overtake Halep if she finishes one round better.
– Maria Sharapova will be at No.6 unless Belinda Bencic makes the quarterfinal, Petra Kvitova makes the QF, Vinci makes the semifinal, or Carla Suárez Navarro makes the final.
– Defending champion Lucie Safarova needs to make the final for a chance to get back into the Top 10.
– Caroline Wozniacki needs to make the final for a chance to return to the Top 20.
– Dark horse doubles: Could Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina be a dark horse doubles team for Russia in Rio? Vesnina has not been playing doubles with Ekaterina Makarova and has paired up with Kasatkina with good success over the last few months. Keep an eye on them.
– Who’s on first?: Here’s a confusing, but ultimately telling exchange between Wozniacki and a reporter in Doha:
Q. If the world ends tomorrow, what tennis match would you chose, to play or to see?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: If I had to choose a match.
Q. To play or to see a tennis match?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: To play.
Q. Who?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Who?
Q. Yeah.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: What game I would like to play?
Q. Yeah.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: The US Open finals.
Q. Against?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Someone I beat. So if I win, I don’t care who I play against. Doesn’t matter.
– Tricky conditions in Doha: Here’s how Vinci saw it after her opening round win: “So windy. The court is little bit strange. Sometimes it’s fast. Sometimes it’s slow. Completely different than Dubai the last week.”
– How “open” is “open”?: Agnieszka Radwanska was asked about the perceived parity in the women’s game right now. “Of course Serena is always there, especially last year, but other years totally different,” Radwanska said in Doha. “She’s definitely dominating if she’s on fire. When she’s playing her best tennis, she just playing unbelievable and too good, but otherwise it’s open.”
– Radwanska and Halep planning for Fed Cup: Both women told reporters in Doha that they were planning to play in their respective April ties in hopes of keeping their countries in World Group I. Halep’s Romanian side takes on Germany at home. “Yeah, I can say 50/50,” Halep said, when asked to handicap the tie, before joking “And 51 for us.”
– Experience matters: Garbiñe Muguruza has been very conscious of the perils of early success. Just weeks after making he first Slam final at Wimbledon last year, she was already telling me how worried she was about a let-down. Six months later, you can still tell it’s on her mind.
“I don’t think there’s an age to reach the top,” she said in Doha. “I think it’s great when you’re playing good. But being young and also having success, it can be very good and it can be very bad.
“We’ve seen some cases, you’re young and you’re like, I’m playing good, I’m doing a lot of things. But it’s also hard because you’re not as mature. Like Angelique Kerber said, she can maybe handle more or she’s used to more.
“It’s a very thin line there keeping that balance. With time, you can deal better with that.”
– Steve Tignor for Tennis.com on last week’s “Decimation in Dubai.”
Where some see chaos, we see an opportunity to watch lesser-known favorites get a shot at a title and gain some momentum. To me, Strycova, with her mix of melodrama and resourcefulness, is an underrated entertainer; maybe she can build on this run. If you’re interested enough, there’s always a storyline to follow.
On balance, I find upsets exciting, and I like a tour where rank-and-file players aren’t scared to challenge the elite. But I also like to see an elite. The two losses in Dubai that were dispiriting were those of Halep and Muguruza.
– Bustle.com has a nice look back on how women’s tennis has changed through the years.
– Tweet of the Week: It’s still early, but this exchange between Andrea Hlavackova and Jiri Fencl (coach of Hlavackova’s doubles partner Lucie Hradecka) was wonderful:
@maxav out of all the people in the world you misspelled my name?? ????
— Andrea Hlavackova (@AndreaHlavackov) February 22, 2016
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Two-time finalists and 2013 champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka rebounded from a disappointing finish to their Olympic tennis event with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Denisa Allertova and Anna-Lena Friedsam in the first round of the US Open.
Silver medalists at the Olympics four years ago, Hlavackova and Hradecka were a point away from the finals in Rio when Hlavackova was hit at net, causing an eye injury that affected them not only as their lead slipped away in the semifinals against eventual Silver medalists Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky, but also in the ensuing Bronze medal match later.
But Hlavackova spoke of her full recovery to wtatennis.com, and the pair faced few problems against Allertova and Friedsam on Thursday, breaking serve four times to take the match in 55 minutes.
“I feel 100%, and I’m very happy about it,” she said. “I’ve been practicing at 100% for the last six days. I’m very happy we had the latest possible start to gain that extra day, and I’m happy things are going in the right direction.
“I’ve had some rough days, but it’s not a pain where you can’t do anything. It’s quite fine for what it is, and I’m very happy that I can be here.”
Defeating Venus and Serena Williams en route to the title in 2013, the Czechs employed their signature aggression to book a second round encounter with Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Maria Sanchez, who defeated Belinda Bencic and kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-4.
“We started very good in the beginning of each sets, playing aggressive and trying to move towards the net.” Hradecka said. “It worked!”
Hlavackova and Hradecka reunited at the end of the 2014 season after nearly 10 months apart; a strong season helped them qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, where they reached the semifinals. They took that momentum into the Australian Open in January, falling in the championship match to then Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. With Hingis and new partner CoCo Vandeweghe in their quarter of the draw, Hlavackova and Hradecka have good memories from being previous champions, and are hoping for one more strong result to end the year.
“It’s a very nice feeling to be here, of course,” Hlavackova said. “It’s been a while since the year we won, but every Grand Slam is special and this is the last one of the season. That’s a big motivation and we’ll try to do our best.”
Hingis and Vandeweghe recovered from a one-set deficit to defeat former No.1 Kveta Peschke and Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. No.3 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova also advanced with a 6-3, 6-0 win over American wildcards Catherine Bellis and Julia Boserup.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – No.5 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina faced down the barrel of five match points – three in a row during the second set tie-break – to turn the tables on Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai to reach the third round in women’s doubles, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.
Winners in their last two events at the Rogers Cup and Olympic tennis event, Makarova and Vesnina were pushed to the limit by Stosur and Zhang, leading by a set and a break as Stosur held two match points.
“We hadn’t been able to break her the whole match, and then I remember it was 5-4, 40-15 on her serve,” Vesnina said. “It was a crazy match, and they really played well. We played against them at the French Open, and they really played much better here than there.
“Today was a great atmosphere on the court. It was a full stadium on Court 5; so many people came to watch doubles, which was really nice. We just really had fun today on the court as well; the atmosphere was amazing.”
Makarova and Vesnina raised their level to force a tie-break, but the unseeded duo again took an early lead, and the 2011 US Open champion had the chance to serve out the upset twice more before the Russians rebounded.
“They played really good volleys today, reacting so well,” Makarova added. “I can’t say we were missing a lot but the game was really good and they were really good today.”
Playing their first full match since winning the Gold medal, the pair hopes their career-defining achievement will help them hit even bigger results.
“We’re really happy to be playing here at the US Open,” Vesnina said. We have great memories from winning the title here in 2014. Of course, after Rio, we’re just really happy and motivated even more to do well here at a Grand Slam.”
The 2014 champion in women’s doubles two years ago alongside Vesnina, Makarova was more than happy to still be in the tournament after bowing out in the first round of singles to World No.1 Serena Williams. Vesnina has posited that sticking around for doubles is especially helpful if a player’s singles event ends earlier than she’d like, and it was a sentiment with with her partner was in complete agreement.
“I don’t even remember that I lost so early.It was upsetting for me, but doubles helps me still be at the tournament, fighting for the title, practice some other things. Doubles really helps me for singles for sure.”
Around the grounds, top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Japanese alternates Kurumi Nara and Naomi Osaka, while No.12 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova were equally efficient, defeating Lara Arruabarrena and Olga Savchuk, 6-4, 6-1.
No.2 seed Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching ended up on the losing end of a topsy-turvy second round against Alla Kudryavtseva and Sabine Lisicki. Playing just their second match as a pair, Kudryavtseva and Lisicki recovered from a second set bagel to knock out the 2015 quarterfinalists, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.
“It’s difficult to adjust from more of a doubles player to more of a singles player,” Kudryavtseva told WTA Insider after their first round win. “But Sabine has great volleys; she’s not a typical singles player where she doesn’t know what to do at the net. She knows where she is, where to stand. She’s looking to cross. I’m happy with my choice.”
The Russian doubles star later paired with Scott Lipsky to win another match in mixed doubles, upsetting No.8 seeds Lucie Hradecka and Marcin Matkowski, 7-5, 6-7(3), 11-9.
The @usopen doubles event is underway!@WTA_insider analyzes the field –> https://t.co/HH0TfkgyoY pic.twitter.com/mmHiDxiWIj
— WTA (@WTA) September 1, 2016
WTA Insider | Angelique Kerber headlined Friday night while young Americans Madison Keys and Catherine Bellis fought for glory in the latest WTA Insider Live Blog.
Petra Kvitova cut a troubled figure for much of 2016, searching in vain for the form that took her to two Wimbledon victories.
A quietly impressive summer on the North American cement suggested a corner had been turned, but even then few could have forecasted just how brilliant the Czech would be during the home stretch.
The catalyst came at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, where Kvitova inflicted the first defeat of Angelique Kerber reign as World No.1 in an absorbing third-round encounter.
Under the roof at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center, Kvitova set the tone in the first set, recovering from an early break to move 4-2 ahead. However, Kerber refused to wilt in the face of this baseline assault, fending off a set point with a trademark crouched backhand before pinching the tie-break when Kvitova sent a wild forehand long.
WOW! ?
41 shot rally!! #WuhanOpenTennis pic.twitter.com/T9Kzy9LERc
— WTA (@WTA) September 28, 2016
This ebb and flow continued into the second, the Czech edging her way ahead only to be reeled back in on each occasion. Eventually her persistence paid off, as she bludgeoned herself level before unleashing a fizzing backhand as she broke to love at the start of the decider.
It was an advantage she hung onto doggedly when Kerber staged an inevitable fightback. Somehow she held on, fending off 10 break back points – including seven in one game – as she dragged her weary body towards the finishing line. The drama continued until the very end, Kvitova spurning six match points until she managed to summon a forehand that even Kerber could not track down.
By the time Kvitova belatedly closed out her 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-4 victory, she had been on court for three hours and 20 minutes – the fourth longest match of the season.
Numbery numbers. #WuhanOpen #Kvitova pic.twitter.com/gxjAIFXTC8
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) September 28, 2016
“I won after playing a long time. I feel happy. But as well I feel tired, and the tournament is still going, so I don’t feel that satisfied. I think it was a great match from both of us,” Kvitova said in her post-match press conference.
“I really gave everything today. I think same as her. I think it was really about the few points. It was a great battle. So hopefully the fans enjoyed it as well. I did, for sure. I will feel it tomorrow definitely.”
If this epic ordeal had taken anything out of Kvitova, she hid it well. Over the following three days, Kvitova dismissed Johanna Konta, Simona Halep and then Dominika Cibulkova with increasing degrees of ease to capture the 18th title of her career.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska had little trouble overcoming Caroline Garcia in a tidy straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the fourth round of the US Open for the fourth time.
“To be honest, I expect, as always, a long and tough match against her,” Radwanska said of her No.25-seeded opponent. “I know what to expect. We know each other for a while. What can I say? Just very happy I could win that match that quick.”
Radwanska had Garcia overwhelmed from the word go, immediately breaking the Frenchwoman’s serve to start the match. Despite Garcia getting the break back right away, she wasn’t able to pressure Radwanska enough after that. The Pole employed her tricky game of slicing and dicing her way through points, breaking Garcia two more times to quickly take the opening set.
Strong serves from @ARadwanska help her easily take the first set 6-2 against #Garcia. #usopen @MBUSA https://t.co/fZ5jMSivfq
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2016
The second set unfolded much like the first, with Garcia unable to produce her usual tennis against her No.4-ranked opponent. The Frenchwoman hit 34 unforced errors against Radwanska’s five, and produced only 14 winners to Radwanska’s nine. One last backhand error from a frustrated Garcia sent Radwanska into the last 16 after an hour and twelve minutes.
With the win, Radwanska keeps her bid for the WTA’s World No.1 ranking alive. After Garbiñe Muguruza crashed out earlier in the week, Radwanska is now one of three women who could emerge at the top spot at the end of the fortnight, although she faces the daunting task of needing to reach at least the US Open final for the first time in order to do so.
The Pole has yet to make a quarterfinals at this tournament in her previous 10 appearances, and she will face the on-the-rise Croat Ana Konjuh for another chance to try.
“Obviously against Konjuh I played at Wimbledon kind of a drama match, it was not really that long time ago,” Radwanska recalled in her press conference. “For sure she make huge progress last couple of months and she’s really playing good tennis at the moment.”
“Well, just very happy to be in the fourth round, and we’ll see what’s gonna happen.”