Tennis News

NEW YORK, NY, USA – After her colossal win over No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, few appeared less impressed than Anastasija Sevastova herself.

“It feels great, but it’s still not like I won the tournament,” she told press after the match. “It’s only the second round.”

The Latvian had reached a career-high ranking of No.36 back in 2011 before a series of injuries led her into early retirement in 2013.

“Again?” a smirking Sevastova asked when encouraged to retell her inspiring origin story. “I stopped playing in 2013. I had many injuries, and I wasn’t happy with my tennis or where I stood on the tennis court. Something different was hurting all the time: back, arm, and legs. Then I decided to go out and retire.

“I did some studying. I coached some kids, but nothing serious. Just lessons, and lived a normal life. I studied management. It was strange,” she trailed off as a wry grin returned to her face. “I didn’t find it that difficult to study, but maybe it made me go back to tennis.”

For one playing the smallest of ITF Challenger tournaments just under two years ago, the gravity of the moment seems largely lost on Sevastova, at least until the perspective retirement gave her shines through.

“I’ve seen that there’s life after tennis, that if you lose a match, it’s not the end of the world. The world does not collapse.”

And yet it so often does for players who’ve pulled off massive upsets; the pressure to prove their win wasn’t a fluke can leave them frozen in place. From the night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sevastova was sent out to Court 17 in broad daylight to take on Kateryna Bondarenko, a 2009 quarterfinalist who’d won all three of their previous matches in straight sets.

“It was different conditions, and a completely different match – the first match on,” she said in Friday’s post-match press conference, wearing a New York Yankees cap. “In the beginning, I didn’t manage it that well. The court was a bit faster, and it wasn’t night match, so it was different.

“In the warm-up, I felt good, but in the first games, I wasn’t putting anything in. Maybe it was the expectations, but I kept fighting, stayed positive, and made it through the tough games at 4-3 and 5-4. It was important to win the first set, for sure.”

Sevastova recovered from an early break to win 12 of the final 14 games to book a spot in the fourth round, her first anywhere since her 2011 breakthrough at the Australian Open, and her first in Flushing Meadows.

“They always say it’s tough after a big win to back it up. But I don’t know what happened in the beginning. I was a little too nervous. But it was strange.”

Strange, but not impossible as she prepares to play No.13 seed Johanna Konta for a spot in the quarterfinals.

“In women’s tennis, it’s possible; anyone can beat anyone on a good day. On a bad day, you can lose to anyone! But I think Jo has had a good year, very stable. She’s one of the best players, Top 15. She serves well and has no weaknesses.

“It’s not an easy match, but then, it’s the round of 16 at the US Open,” she clarified as a smile returned to her face. “It’s not the 10K in Sharm El-Sheikh.”

Far from where she kickstarted her career, Sevastova remains unfazed by fame, even as her star rises here and at home.

“There was one headline, where they posted something like, ‘Look Into Anastasija Sevastova’s Private Life,’ and they posted Instagram pictures. It’s funny. Maybe they don’t have anything else to write about in Latvia, but they need some positive news!

“Sometimes people know me in my hometown, but if I go to Riga, I don’t think they’ll know me. I’m probably D-list,” she deadpanned.

Just shy of matching that initial career-high rank, Sevastova will likely leave New York somewhere in between Kathy Griffin and Nicole Kidman, but with plenty of room to grow with the help of that mature mindset.

“Tomorrow is a new day. There are other matches. Nobody thinks about the previous match. You have to think forward. But tonight, I can enjoy.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Who is the lowest-ranked player left at the US Open? Which player’s serve has been on song? And how many hours has Madison Keys spent on court?

With the field at Flushing Meadows now whittled down to 16, wtatennis.com and SAP thought it time to go looking for answers…

320 – Keys has spent 320 minutes on court thus far – the most of any remaining player.

307 – Serena Williams’ third-round win over Johanna Larsson was her 307th at a Grand Slam tournament, overtaking Martina Navratilova for sole ownership of the Open Era record.

99 – World No.99 Lesia Tsurenko is the lowest-ranked player left in the draw, closely followed by No.92 Ana Konjuh.

85 – The percentage of first-serve points won by Serena Williams in her opening three matches – the best among the 16 players left in the draw.

50 – In 2016, no WTA player has won more matches than Angelique Kerber, who notched up number 50 by seeing off CiCi Bellis in the previous round.

36 – At 36, Venus Williams is the oldest player to reach the last 16 at a major since Martina Navratilova, then 37, at Wimbledon in 1994.

31 – Serena has unsurprisingly hit more aces, 31, than anyone else en route to the fourth round. Following closely behind is Keys with 25.

18 – Konjuh, 18, is the youngest player left in the draw. It is the third year in succession a teenager has reached the fourth round.

13 – The number of nations represented in the last 16. Countries with multiple players are USA (Keys, Serena and Venus) and the Czech Republic (Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova).

12 – Kvitova has dropped fewer games, 12, than any other player en route to the fourth round.

7 – Seven of the Top 10 on the Road To Singapore leaderboard are still in contention for the US Open title: Serena, Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Carla Suárez Navarro, Keys, Simona Halep and Pliskova. The only absentees are Dominika Cibulkova and Garbiñe Muguruza.

5 – An unseeded player has reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows on each of the past three years. Konjuh, Anastasija Sevastova, Yaroslava Shvedova, Tsurenko and Caroline Wozniacki are all bidding to keep this run going.

4 – Madison Keys, Agnieszka Radwanska, Carla Suarez Navarro and Serena Williams have all advanced to the fourth round at all four Slams this year – the only four players to do so.

3 – Three players – Konjuh, Karolina Pliskova and Tsurenko – are through to the last 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time

1 – For the last eight years, at least one Italian has reached the US Open quarterfinals. Roberta Vinci, the 2015 runner-up, looks to make it nine when she takes on Tsurenko. The Americans have been even more dominant: 1993 was the last time a home player failed to make the last eight (Lindsay Davenport and Navratilova fell in the last 16).

0 – The number of times Shvedova has beaten Serena in four career meetings. She did famously come within a couple of games of doing so four years ago at Wimbledon.

MELBOURNE, Australia – The bottom half of the draw is back in action led by Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Thursday, Second Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs Lucie Safarova (CZE #61)
Head-to-head: Serena leads 9-0
Key Stat: Serena is contesting the Australian Open for the 17^th time – the joint-most along with sister Venus Williams

Lucie Safarova saved an astonishing nine match points in her opening match against Yanina Wickmayer, a two-hour three-set marathon. But unfortunately for the Czech, it doesn’t get any easier in the second round, where she’ll need all that grit against six-time champion Serena Williams.

The last time these two met was at the final of the French Open back in 2015, with this early encounter a testament to the pair’s diverging career paths. Serena is now seeking her record breaking 23^rd Grand Slam title in Melbourne and Safarova, a former World No.5, plummeting out of the Top 50 after struggling with injury and illness.

“I didn’t come here to lose in the first round, or the second round, or at all,” Serena told press earlier in the tournament. “I’m just here to play and to win obviously, but just to play.”

 [3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #79)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 2-0
Key Stat: Lucic-Baroni is 3-14 against Top 5 players

The last time Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a match in Melbourne it was 1998 – Martina Hingis was the WTA World No.1 and Serena Williams hadn’t yet won her first career title.

But there’s not much time for the former Wimbledon semifinal to revel in the three-set comeback win over Wang Qiang, because up next is World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska.

A two-time semifinalist here, Radwanska faced a battle in her opener against Tsvetana Pironkova but saved her best for last to move into the second round for the ninth time in her career. The Pole is hoping to continue that run and bring her signature mix of skill and creativity to the second week of this Slam.

“I really feel good on this center court,” Radwanska said in press. “I like to play here, I like Australia. I’ve been always playing good tennis here, two semis.

“Of course, that’s always very close till the end. Hopefully I can do one step forward and play seven matches here.”

[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs [Q] Anna Blinkova (RUS #189)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: This is Blinkova’s first ever match against a Top 10 opponent

No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova barely broke a sweat in her Melbourne opener, making quick work of Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and needing just one hour and dropping two games en route to the second round.

But she still wasn’t completely satisfied after the 6-2, 6-0 victory:

“I think there are more things which I want to improve. First round, it’s always tricky, and I didn’t feel that good in the first set there.

“I was a little bit nervous in the beginning, made a lot of mistakes on my forehand, especially no first serves. So this I want to improve high percentage of the first serve, definitely.”

It’s a scary prospect that the WTA’s undisputed ace leader still wants to improve her serve. But that’s what Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova will be up against in her first ever match against a Top 10 opponent.

Blinkova might be slightly out of her depths against big-hitting Pliskova, but don’t count her out just yet: she started her Australian Open main draw campaign with a statement win over the No.32-ranked Monica Niculescu.  

Around the grounds…

No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova continues her quest for a maiden Slam in her second round clash against Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei. Cibulkova leads their head-to-head 1-0, but they haven’t played in almost three years. Also in action, Naomi Osaka will look for Grand Slam revenge against No.9 seed Johanna Konta. The Brit won the pair’s only previous encounter, which came in the second round of qualifying at the 2015 US Open. No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki is hoping for another comfortable win in her rematch against Donna Vekic, who’s into the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2015 French Open. Meanwhile, No.22 seed Daria Gavrilova carries home hopes in her second round clash against 19-year-old Ana Konjuh. Gavrilova is one of two Aussies remaining in the draw.

MELBOURNE, Australia – No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki had little trouble in her straight-sets win against Donna Vekic, playing solid tennis to ease through 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open.

But Wozniacki will be happy with wrapping up the comfortable victory in just under an hour and twenty minutes, because awaiting in Round Three is the very in-form Johanna Konta.

The former No.1 got off to a strong start against Vekic, ruthlessly punishing any weak serve that came her way to rocket up to a double break lead. The Croat did her best to hang in there, occasionally foraying to the net and peppering her game with drop shots.

“I feel really good body-wise and mentally, which is huge for me,” Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference. “Patches of my matches have been really good. I thought I started off pretty well today. In the end, maybe a little bit too passive. But generally, I think it was steady and played pretty decent.”

Wozniacki struggled with her ball toss throughout the match under the bright midday sun on Rod Laver Arena, and a pair of double faults in the same game gave Vekic a chance to break back at 4-1, wrong-footing Wozniacki with her inside-out forehand winners. The momentary lapse did nothing to halt the Dane’s momentum and she got right back on track in the next game, breaking back and serving out the set comfortably.

She broke three more times in the final set, absorbing Vekic’s pace and rhythm to force the errors, which came fast and thick towards the end of the match. After just an hour and 18 minutes she made her way to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2014.

The former No.1 was just too solid, hitting 21 winners to 9 unforced errors against Vekic’s 23 winners and 32 unforced errors. The Dane was also a force at the net, winning 80% of her 15 forays to the net.

She’ll look to continue that form against Konta, her opponent in the third round.

“She plays really well, you know, big forehand, big serve,” Wozniacki said. “But I’m ready. I’m playing well. I’m excited for the challenge.

“She’s obviously won last week in Sydney. She had a good last year. I’m here to fight. I’m here to do my best, and try and win the match.”

Caroline #Wozniacki is through to 3R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/kJ0BoDLFFo

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 19 de enero de 2017