Tennis News

It’s time to crown August’s WTA Shot Of The Month. There were some incredible shots to choose from this month, and we narrowed it down to the five best – have a look at the nominees in the above video and cast your vote for your favorite shot before voting ends Thursday at 11:59pm ET!

The winner will be announced Friday, September 16.

How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.

The WTA is encouraging fans around the world to celebrate International Women’s Day by recognizing the exceptional women who they admire by using the hashtag #MySuperwoman.

International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8 since 1977, when the United Nations proclaimed the date as a time to reflect on progress made for women’s rights, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

In honor of IWD, WTA’s #MySuperwoman campaign aims to recognize exceptional women who make a difference by engaging with WTA players, legends, coaches, industry leaders and the online fan community.

Here’s how you can join the conversation:
1. On a piece of paper, write “#MySuperwoman is (your female inspiration’s name)”.
2. Take a picture of you with your paper.
3. Post your photo on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram today with the following hashtags: #IWD2016 and #MySuperwoman.
4. Make sure to tag your Superwoman so she knows you celebrate her!
5. Like and share posts from players and fans to support and recognize the Superwoman they have named.

Check out the video above and the pictures below to find out who Garbiñe Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep and more named as their Superwoman!

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Following her US Open triumph, new World No.1 Angelique Kerber has taken a post-win media tour across the Atlantic from New York to Germany.

The German met up with men’s champion Stan Wawrinka for a guest appearance at the long-running Live With Kelly, where she met award-winning actor Patrick Dempsey backstage. Kerber also took a stroll through Central Park for a walk-and-talk interview with Pat Cash.

Finally, Kerber touched down at home to receive a brand new Porsche to commemorate her best-ever season, one that saw her capture two Grand Slam titles in three final appearances, win a silver medal at the Olympic tennis event, and, of course, become the first German to become No.1 since idol Stefanie Graf.

Check out the best photos below:

All photos courtesy of David Russell-Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution and Getty Images.

ZHUHAI, China – Asked what she would take with her from 2016, Petra Kvitova gave a sleepy smile.

“I would like to take myself,” she told WTA Insider after advancing into the semifinals of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

“I think, somehow, I found myself this season. Maybe being without a coach was important to help me do that.”

Kvitova kicked off her season by splitting with David Kotyza, her coach of seven years. She turned around a tough year at the Olympic tennis event, winning a Bronze medal that foreshadowed a fantastic fall swing.

“I have so many great memories of the Olympics, not only from tennis, but also from getting to meet new friends, athletes, and people in the Village and Czech House. They’ll stay forever in my heart, and it was great to be part of it.

“I played good in the second half of the season without a coach. I think that’s very interesting. I think I’m more relaxed right now and that’s how I’ll also try to be next season.”

The two-time Wimbledon winner does plan to take on a new coach before the end of the off-season, having parted with Frantisek Cermak following the US Open. For Kvitova, chemistry is key.

“To be honest, it’s hasn’t been really easy,” she said of her search. “For me, personality is important. I’m probably a little bit of a different player; I just need someone who is relaxed, who knows how to have fun and has a similar sense of humor.

“He has to understand me, but he also has to be a good tennis coach. It’s really not easy to find someone like this, but I’m really looking hard. We’ll see; we still have a little bit of time. I need to find one soon!”

Kvitova is looking to form a bond much like the one she finds within the Czech Fed Cup team, which plays France in next week’s final.

“We’re not only good players, but also good people. We’re never fighting with each other; we act as a team, and I think that’s very important. None of us make trouble, and we all work well together.

.@Petra_Kvitova gets through to the #semifinals of 2016 #WTAEliteTrophy , tops #Strycova in 6-1,6-4!?✨??#PeonyGroup pic.twitter.com/FJzC9bQ2Bk

— WTA Elite Trophy (@WTAEliteTrophy) November 4, 2016

“For example, if one of us needs to schedule a massage, we talk all talk and decide who gets to go first; it’s the same with practice schedules. Communication is very important for a team.”

The four-time Fed Cup champion went head-to-head with teammate Barbora Strycova – winning, 6-1, 6-4 – on Friday, and next plays Chinese No.1 Zhang Shuai for a spot in the Zhuhai final.

“It’s never easy to play someone like Barbora; she’s a great player, and playing a teammate is always extra difficult – especially when we’re playing together next week.

“I came to China with the goal of qualifying for Zhuhai. It has been a kind of funny season for me; after a not so great first half, I started to play well. Having this tournament is great; with the Fed Cup final next week, I was happy to qualify and play more matches before that.

“It will be a nice end of the season.”

.@Petra_Kvitova feeling good ahead of the @WTAEliteTrophy semifinals pic.twitter.com/beI5y6W7Qf

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) November 4, 2016

All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.

Seven-time Slam champion. 117 weeks at World No.1. 43 WTA singles titles. 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist. 2001 Fed Cup champion.

Hall of Famer? Never in doubt.

Justine Henin will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this summer, in a class that includes two-time major champion Marat Safin. Despite her impeccable resume, the 33-year Belgian admitted the announcement still came as a surprise.

“It’s an honor to be part of the game, of the history of the game,” Henin told reporters via phone on Tuesday. “When you play, you don’t really realize that you’re going to be part of the game forever. Now with this honor, probably more I realize that a little bit more.”

Standing at just five feet, five inches, Henin rose to the top of the game during a time when pure power tennis appeared to take hold. Her game, built on variety, guile, and quickness set her apart. Her great rivalries with the likes of Serena Williams, Amélie Mauresmo, and compatriot Kim Clijsters helped define her generation of greats.

Finding a way to hit hit above her weight-class, Henin’s laser-like focus and grittiness earned her a spot at the table, while her elegant game – punctuated by one of the finest one-handed backhands the sport has ever seen – drew in many fans.

Henin hopes her one-handed flair doesn’t disappear from today’s game. She insists it’s still a viable shot even as the game has gotten faster.

“I wouldn’t say it’s too hard now in the women’s game because I think Amélie and I, we proved that even we were playing with Venus and Serena and many other pretty strong players, we proved it’s not because of that. The game is going faster and faster, that’s for sure.

“It’s just that when you are a young kid, it’s easier to play with two hands because you have more power. You start like this. Then it’s very hard to change or maybe there’s no reason to change.

“I started with a one-handed backhand. Maybe because I was a big fan of Steffi Graf and Stefan Edberg, maybe it’s for that. I worked on this technically, physically, and finally it could be powerful.”

And how about some of that classic Henin backhand and her message to her fans she'll see in Newport this summer! pic.twitter.com/NJgVd5XIt8

— Tennis Hall of Fame (@TennisHalloFame) March 9, 2016

Reflecting on her career, Henin focused on her drive to prove the doubters wrong. After her mother took her to the French Open when she was 10, Henin vowed that one day she would play on Court Philippe Chatrier. She would go on to win the junior title there in 1997 and Roland Garros would be her place of dominance for years to come, winning the title in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

“Coming from a small country, not being so tall, not being so strong, like for a lot of people life hasn’t been so easy to me when I was young.

“Not a lot of people really believed I could reach my goal because my dream was to become the best player in the world. It became my goal. A lot of people thought I was a little bit crazy. But strongly, deeply I never really doubted about the fact that I could make it.

“I always say to the young people, ‘Don’t stop to dream, believe in your dreams, do everything you can to reach your dreams.’ It’s very important. To me ‘dreaming’ is a word that is very important.”

When she heads to the Newport, Rhode Island in July for the induction ceremony, Henin will walk on some of the finest grass courts in America. It’s a small piece of irony given her unfulfilled quest to win Wimbledon and complete the Career Grand Slam. She may just be the best player to never complete the feat. Twice a Wimbledon finalist, she came within a set of completing the feat in 2006 when she lost to Mauresmo.

“I’m the kind of person who is looking after perfection all the time, which doesn’t exist for sure. But I see it as a good thing that there’s something not complete in my career, so I can accept that. I gave everything I had in my career.”

Her signature cap sleeves and bright white cap will surely find their way into the display cases in Newport. It was a jockish look befitting a woman who regularly took the court out-gunned, yet she never shied from the battle.

“I was wearing my cap all the time,” Henin said with a laugh. “I needed it to maybe protect myself a little bit from a lot of things, to get focused, I don’t know. But I won all my Grand Slams with it. That would be for sure the first item I would send to the museum, something that I think people will remember from me.”

After a sudden retirement announcement just weeks before the French Open in 2008, Henin returned to the game in 2010 before ending her career a year later due to an elbow injury. Since her retirement she has focused on her academy in Belgium and gave birth to her two-year old daughter, Lalie.

This year she’s slowly dipped her foot back into tour life after signing on as a coaching consultant to Elina Svitolina. Henin was one half of one of the most famous and successful player-coach relationships in tennis, having been coached by Carlos Rodriguez for the entirety of her career. Theirs was a unique and intense partnership and one that left a lasting impression on Henin. So is she trying to bring the same dynamic to Team Svitolina?

“It was very different. I’m not really in the position of the coach here. It’s just like trying to give my advices and share especially also mentally and emotionally the experience of at least a couple of important matches.”

Whatever she’s said has worked so far. Since announcing the partnership, Svitolina made the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, won her first title of the season just last week at the BMW Malaysian Open, and is up to a career-high at No.14.

“It’s completely different in the way that she is Top 20 already and I have to respect what she does already and just try to share my experience and my conviction of what she can do more or give more to her game, just try to get better.”

Many look to Henin’s era of players as the last great era, a span of five years that saw intense rivalries surface over and over again on the game’s biggest stages. Mauresmo is already in the Hall of Fame. Clijsters will surely be a first ballot inductee. Serena and Venus are living legends as they continue to play on tour. Henin confessed it was difficult for her to identify what set this group apart.

“Inspiration, I think, is something that is very important,” she said. “I was really inspired. I think it’s the same for all the girls that I played against and with in my generation. We were looking at our idols with a lot of respect. We were trying to take a lot from them and get the inspiration. I still hope that the young players now can still do it and get inspired because it is very, very important.

“Probably also from the next generation, what’s going to be hard is the society is changing a lot. We have a lot of distractions. I don’t know if we all can be as focused as we were in the past because things are going so fast, communication is changing a lot. A lot of things are changing and we have to adapt ourselves.

“Still at the end we need people to be inspired by. I hope that the new generations still get the inspiration from other players. I think it’s something very important.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.