Tennis News

EASTBOURNE, Great Britain – Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki is starting to find her footing after a long layoff that forced her to miss the entire clay court season – including the French Open. Speaking with WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen at the Aegon International after her first round win over Alizé Cornet, Wozniacki first felt things were starting to fall into place following a pre-tournament practice with good friend and World No.3, Agnieszka Radwanska.

“I feel like I’m getting closer to where I want to be,” the Dane said in a Dropshot Edition of the WTA Insider Podcast. “I had a really good two hour practice with Aga yesterday; that made me feel good and like I know what I need to do. Birmingham wasn’t the best place to get rhythm because we kept going on and off the court.

“It was nice to get here knowing the weather is usually better here than anywhere else in the UK.”

Wozniacki reflects on her long absence from the tour, one that led her to a highly scheduled period of rest, relaxation, and a return to the piano, a former childhood pursuit.

“I used to play when I was younger, and I used to play some concerts as well. I just thought, ‘I have some time off, and it’s good for the brain as well.’

“I was good. Was. You know, when you start out playing again and think, ‘I used to do this so easily.’ Right now, I’m not very good, but then you keep improving every time because you start remembering things. I’m still getting there; I have a piano at home, and every time I’m home I’ll get lessons. I bought a keyboard for when I’m on the road, but I decided I had too much luggage, but maybe next trip!”

Listen to the full interview with the two-time US Open finalist below: 

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DUBAI, UAE – Chan Hao-Ching and Yaroslava Shvedova shocked top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic to make it through to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The fifth-seeded pair won through in a thrilling decider to take the match 7-5, 3-6, 10-3.

“We lost in a super tiebreaker and still I think we had lots of opportunities,” said Mladenovic afterwards. “We had a big lead in the first set and I think we should have closed it out and won probably, but it’s tennis, and the girls are playing well as well and in the third set anything can happen.”

Mladenovic was not too disappointed, however, adding that she and Garcia were both working on their singles game while competing in doubles.

“It’s not easy, it’s just our second tournament of the year,” she said. “I still think we had a good run in Melbourne – lost in the semis – here we had a tough tournament. It’s our goal this year, we are going to be more focused on our singles and we are trying new things, like we are switching sides every set and like really working on our singles game.”

The 23-year-old remains hopeful that she and her partner will impress over the course of the year.

“It’s just the beginning of the season,” she pointed out. “We are looking forward, the season is very long and Indian Wells, Miami coming up soon so everything is positive.”

Second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina progressed in a topsy-turvy clash with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, winning 6-1, 3-6, 10-5.

Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai had a straightforward quarterfinal against Chan Yung-Jan and Martina Hingis, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.