Halep Takes On Keys For Montréal Title
WTA Insider | The final day of the Rogers Cup features Simona Halep in a pair of championship matches; stay tunes for all the action in the Insider Live Blog!
WTA Insider | The final day of the Rogers Cup features Simona Halep in a pair of championship matches; stay tunes for all the action in the Insider Live Blog!
An interview with Samantha Stosur after her win in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – While many of their WTA peers are already en route to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic tennis event kicking off later this week, Jelena Jankovic and Monica Puig have already scored their first wins on Brazilian soil at the Brasil Tennis Cup in Florianopolis.
Watch live action from Florianopolis this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Located over a thousand kilometers southwest of Rio, Florianopolis is the last stop for many players ahead of the Olympics. In fact, 12 players out of the 32 in the tournament’s main draw are also Olympians looking to squeeze in a few more matches before the big event.
Among them was No.1 seed Jelena Jankovic, who made her Florianopolis debut against Russian qualifier Valeriya Solovyeva. The 23-year-old wasted no time in trading breaks with the former No.1. Solovyeva brought up five more break point chances, but the Serbian dodged them all before grabbing the late break to take the first set 7-5.
Jankovic broke twice more to start off the second set with a 4-0 lead, but Solovyeva showed her grit once more by digging in her heels and reeling off three games in a row to cut into the Serbian’s advantage. It wasn’t enough to take back the momentum, as Jankovic powered on to close out the match 7-5, 6-4 after an hour and forty minutes.
“The conditions changed a lot after the first set to the end of the match,” Jankovic said. “I was really just trying my best to play smart and focus to just finish the match. I’m happy with how I played.”
Fellow Olympian Monica Puig had a smoother road to the second round of the Brasil Tennis Cup, storming past Anastasia Pivovarova 6-2, 6-3. Puig, the No.3 seed, only dropped serve once during the 70 minute encounter.
The Puerto Rican opened the match by breaking twice and racing ahead to a 4-0. Pivovarova broke back and consolidated to get her name on the scoreboard and stop the bleeding, but Puig went on to rattle off the next five games to grab the set and a break. She held on to that lead and closed out her comfortable passage into the second round.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian crowd, defending champion Teliana Pereira was denied her shot at a Florianopolis double after being knocked out of the tournament by lucky loser Lyudmyla Kichenok.
“Today it wasn’t my best day,” she said. “I love playing here in Florianopolis, last year I had such a big experience winning the tournament here.”
Despite the disappointing 6-3, 6-2 scoreline, Pereira was able to find the positive side of defeat.
“The good thing is now I’m going early to Rio de Janeiro to play my first Olympics – I’m very happy and just want to enjoy Rio and play my best tennis.”
An interview with Sara Errani after her win in the second round of the Apia International Sydney.
Simona Halep takes on Madison Keys in the final of the Rogers Cup.
It’s time to crown the 2016 WTA Shot Of The Year!
Each WTA Shot Of The Month winner has been placed into one of two groups:
• Voting for Group A and Group B will close Sunday, November 20 at 11:59pm ET
• The two shots from each group that receive the most votes will then be placed into a final group
• Final Group voting opens Monday, November 21 and ends Monday, November 28 at 11:59pm ET
• The 2016 WTA Shot of the Year winner will be announced Tuesday, November 29
Group B
June: Agnieszka Radwanska
July: Simona Halep
August: Agnieszka Radwanska
September: Kirsten Flipkens
October: Angelique Kerber
Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka got in touch with her cinematic side over the off-season, working with friends to produce an epic training montage in her home town of Minsk.
“I wanted to show a different side of me that is not out there in the world,” she told WTA Insider. “So I wanted to show my fans, the media, the people, who I am.
“I wanted it to show the behind the scenes of my preparation, and a little bit of my interests, as well. So there’s music, there’s art, and even motorcycles.
“It made my dream come true.”
With narrative quotes from rival Serena Williams and Azarenka herself audible under an original beat, the two-time Australian Open champion gets intense on a motorcycle and in front of a graffiti wall as she works out ahead of what she hopes will be her best season yet.
“I was running at home and I saw a whole movie in front of me,” she said, explaining her inspiration behind the 90-second clip. “I actually ran through the red light and I almost got hit by a car because I was so in the moment.
“I saw this and I wanted to do this video. My friends were like, ‘we can do it. We have equipment. How do you want to do it?'”
Involved throughout the creative process, the Brisbane International champion worked with friends on the project, and enjoyed giving her input through every aspect of the film.
“My friend and I worked on the music; he did most of it, but I kept giving him crap because he didn’t do it the right way.
“I may not play any instruments but I hear music in a very special way. So once he got the music it was easier to write the treatment.”
Starting the season ranked outside the Top 10 for only the second time in seven years, Azarenka is aiming for a complete renaissance in 2016, one that unveils a more finely tuned athlete and even more dynamic personality.
“I’ve done my research about what’s been said about me in the media world. They came up with a lot of different keywords and they were just about sports. I liked it but it was limited. I’m so much more than that.
“So when I have the opportunity I want to be in the world that I live in and I just want to be open and I just want to be me because I enjoy it.”
CoCo Vandeweghe is in Rio with Team USA – go behind the scenes of their Opening Ceremony outfit fittings with Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and more!
Océane Dodin continued her fine late season form with a hard-fought win over Alexandra Cadantu in the first round of the Engie Open de Limoges.