Halep Holds Off Pliskova In Sydney
World No.2 Simona Halep held off the big-serving Karolina Pliskova to move through to the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney. A former World No.2 is up next.
World No.2 Simona Halep held off the big-serving Karolina Pliskova to move through to the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney. A former World No.2 is up next.
A mixture of fresh and familiar faces assembled for third edition of the Jiangxi Open. Find out what the players have been up to on and off the court…
Simona Halep has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Apia International Sydney.
July was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.
In the end it was Simona Halep who turned thrilling defense into stirring offense on Daria Gavrilova at the Rogers Cup.
Playing her first hardcourt match since the Miami Open, Halep turned around what looked like an unwinnable point against the young Aussie, who was forced to hit one (or two or three) extra shots before finally succumbing to a fast-advancing Halep.
Click here to watch all of July’s finalists.
Final Results for July’s WTA Shot Of The Month
1. Simona Halep (79%)
2. Eugenie Bouchard (9%)
3. Angelique Kerber (6%)
4. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (3%)
5. Johanna Konta (3%)
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
How it works:
Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Highlights from the semifinal round action at the Apia International Sydney.
The first round of the Olympics gets underway on Saturday, with several intriguing matches, including 2000 gold medalist Venus Williams’ clash against Kirsten Flipkens.
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her win in the final of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Johanna Konta before her first round at the Olympic tennis event.
Watch all of the best shots of the Apia International Sydney – right here!
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Four-time Olympic gold medalist Serena Williams survived some breezy conditions to ease past unseeded Aussie Daria Gavrilova, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the second round of the Olympic tennis event.
“It felt really good to be out htere today,” Serena said after the match. “It’s been a long time; four years ago I was out here playing the Olympics, so it’s really cool to be here again.”
Serena swept the singles and doubles events four years ago in London, but struggled early on against Gavrilova, who was making her Olympic debut. Racing out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set, Serena found herself pegged back to 5-4 against the combined forces of the Aussie and the dust storm known as a “haboob,” but played her best tennis when it mattered most to put herself a set from victory after 49 minutes.
“Early on it was super windy, and it was a survival of just who could get the ball in; it wasn’t quality tennis because of the strange and tough conditions. But I got through it.”
No sweat from Serena. She’s fired up and breaks Gavrilova to pocket the set 6-4. Patience will be the key to winning on these slow courts.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 7, 2016
Gavrilova is a former Youth Olympic gold medalist in 2010, and began 2016 with a bang, winning the Hopman Cup alongside countryman Nick Kyrgios and reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open; the youngster continued to fight in the second set, digging out of a marathon sixth game to keep herself in contention, but ultimately succumbed on her third match point.
Hoping to win her fifth Olympic gold medal – and second in singles – Serena will next play the winner of Johanna Larsson and Alizé Cornet for a spot in the third round. The American will also begin her doubles campaign with sister Venus, who took a heart-breaking loss to Kirsten Flipkens on the first day of play last night.
“We just want to have the chance. Hopefully we can win a couple of matches, and see how it goes. We love playing doubles, period, so every four years, we know we have a chance where we’re guaranteed to get some matches.”
At the start of the weekend, Serena got a shoutout from former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is currently the Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidental election:
Four gold medals and counting: Today, @SerenaWilliams hits the court in Rio to add to her collection. pic.twitter.com/iOMV0FH38S
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 6, 2016
No.2 seed Angelique Kerber was not too far behind her American rival on Sunday, winning the last five games of her first round match against Mariana Duque-Mariño, 6-3, 7-5.
The 2012 Olympic tennis event quarterfinalist was coming off a run to the semifinals at the Rogers Cup, but didn’t have things all her own way against the Colombian, who took a 5-2 lead in the second set – holding a set point on her own serve at 5-3 – before the German came back to book her place in the second round.
Kerber will next play Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, who sailed past Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 6-3; Bouchard beat Kerber in their most recent encounter at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
“It's an honor to play for ??. I will give everything to win a medal.”
Kerber on #Rio2016: https://t.co/OTneLotFCe pic.twitter.com/Un61YNfp0t
— WTA (@WTA) August 5, 2016