Brisbane: Kerber vs Pavlyuchenkova
Angelique Kerber takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Angelique Kerber takes on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Watch Belinda Bencic, Andrea Petkovic, Kristina Mladenovic and more WTA stars glammed up for a night out in Acapulco at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Player Party!
Kristina Mladenovic has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
Chapter four of tennis’ history as a modern day Olympic sport was written in Sydney as the Games entered the new millennium and a new generation of stars looked to make their mark…
Sydney, Australia, 2000
Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Center
Hardcourt
The Olympic motto inscribed above the player’s entrance to the Sydney Olympic Tennis Center reads “Citius, altius, fortius”, and it is fitting that the player who moved faster, jumped higher and hit stronger than any other in 2000 was the one with a gold medal draped round her neck at the end of the Games.
Looking back, it is strange to think that going into the 2000 season there were question marks hanging over Venus Williams. Since breaking through at the 1997 US Open, Williams had struggled to deliver the results her talent deserved, watching her rivals – Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and even sister, Serena – take home the major prizes.
This all changed in 2000 as Williams finally shook off her tag as tennis’ nearly woman by winning Wimbledon and the US Open. On the back of these triumphs, she arrived Down Under riding high on a 26-match winning streak and, despite not being on top of the rankings, was definitely the player to beat.
Her principal rivals for gold in Sydney were compatriots Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles as the United States looked to continue its dominance of tennis at the Games.
However, for Davenport, who struck gold four years earlier, the Games would end early, when a foot injury forced her to withdraw prior to her second round-match with Rossana de los Ríos.
Seles, meanwhile, eager to make up for the disappointment of a quarterfinal exit in Atlanta, was in fearsome form, racing past her first four opponents and into the semifinals. Waiting for her there was Williams.
In four previous meetings between the two, Seles has won a solitary set and her fortunes were not about to change; despite a mid-match walkabout on serve, Williams always had the upper hand, eventually winning in three.
The final itself proved to be something of an anticlimax.
Few expected 18-year-old Elena Dementieva to make it that far, and for the first set she looked in a state of shock herself. By the time she did settle, it was too late, Williams had found her groove and was racing off towards the finish line.
The harder the Russian tried, the better Williams played. Whatever she attempted – inside out forehands, down the line backhands all came back with interest – merely succeeded in inspiring the American.
Before long match point had arrived, and moments later Williams was dancing round the court, racquet in one hand, flag in the other. A memorable end to a memorable summer.
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Olympic Memories: Atlanta
Olympic Memories: Barcelona
Olympic Memories: Seoul
Play will begin at Rio’s newly built Olympic Tennis Center on Saturday, but before then the WTA’s finest have been limbering up…
Venus Williams won gold in Sydney and was working hard ahead of her record-equalling fifth Olympics.
And after practice Venus was only too happy to fulfil her sisterly duties.
Fresh from her title run in Stanford, World No.13 Johanna Konta is a dark horse in the singles.
While British No.2 Heather Watson will hope to improve on her second-round showing at London 2012.
No.2 seed Angelique Kerber was all smiles ahead of her second Olympics.
Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daria Kasatkina were also hard at work on the practice courts.
Kasatkina is one of just three teenagers in the singles draw in Rio.
ATLANTA, GA, USA – Venus Williams and Eugenie Bouchard will play an exhibition match at the BB&T Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 event, which takes place on hard court in Atlantic Station on July 22-30. The two players will take to the court in the women’s exhibition evening session on Stadium Court on Sunday, July 23.
“Atlanta has such a rich sports and tennis tradition and it’s been over 10 years since I’ve had a chance to play a match there,” said Williams. “I’m looking forward to hopefully playing in front of a big crowd that is also an enthusiastic tennis audience.”
Williams and Bouchard have played twice before with the head-to-head currently tied at 1-1. The American won their first meeting on hard court at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in 2013 while the Canadian took victory in their most recent encounter, at the Volvo Car Open on clay at Charleston in 2014. Both matches were extended to three sets.
“It’s exciting having the great American champion Venus Williams make her first trip to Atlanta in almost 15 years. She’s an inspiration to tennis fans and players around the world,” said Tournament Director Eddie Gonzalez. “Genie Bouchard is the perfect opponent for Venus, and Atlanta tennis fans will enjoy the professional brand of women’s tennis.”
Tennis legend @Venuseswilliams to play @geniebouchard in exo at #BBTAtlantaOpen!
More: https://t.co/RgRLcMIjNT
?️ https://t.co/nf1e7dae07 pic.twitter.com/XB9DwwjPhh— BB&T Atlanta Open (@BBTatlantaopen) March 6, 2017
It’s time to vote for February’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, March 10.
February 2017 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Kristina Mladenovic: The Frenchwoman’s star reached its highest peaks yet in February, kicking off the month with her maiden WTA title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Mladenovic ended February in another final, finishining runner-up at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. In between, she scored her first Top 5 win of the season against Karolina Pliskova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Karolina Pliskova: Speaking of Pliskova, the Czech powerhouse continued her winning ways, becoming the first woman to win multiple titles in 2017 at the Qatar Total Open, where she battled past Dominika Cibulkova and Carolina Pliskova and won four matches in three days.
Elina Svitolina: Svitolina built up an impressive, unbeaten, 13-match winning streak in February, winning her fifth and sixth WTA titles at the Taiwan Open and in Dubai to take home the biggest trophy of her career. The Ukrainian, 22, scored back-to-back wins over former WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to break into the Top 10.
2017 Winners
January: Serena Williams
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
There have been several classic finals over 28 editions of the BNP Paribas Open. Dan Lucas looks back at three of the very best.
Angelique Kerber says the boldest decision she ever made came when she was 17 and decided to play tennis professionally.
Her comments reflect the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day: ‘Be Bold For Change’.
“The toughest decision I made was when I was 17, and I decided to start to play tennis [professionally],” she reveals in an exclusive WTA interview. “I was not able to get through to the university and of course when you are 17 years old that’s always a tough decision, because you don’t know how far you can get and what’s happening the next year.”
It was very much a decision that paid off for the 29-year-old, who enjoyed the best year of her career in 2016. In addition to finishing the year at No.1 in the WTA rankings (making it five years in a row in the Top 10), there was double Grand Slam success at the Australian Open and US Open, plus a WTA win in Stuttgart.
On top of that, there were finals at Brisbane, Wimbledon, Cincinnati and the year-end BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and a silver medal at the Olympics in Rio.
International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year, and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
World No.9 Madison Keys is into the semifinals of the Olympic tennis event in Rio on her debut appearance. Earlier this week, the American sat down with the New York Times to discuss her beauty and health regimen and how she keeps it up despite traveling the world week in and week out.
For Keys, who is constantly under the sun, skin care is the most important thing:
The first thing I put on is sunscreen. I do it within 15 minutes of waking up so I’m protected by the time I’m out the door.
I use moisturizer only at night — Philosophy Hope in a Jar. Two or three times a week, I do a Caudalíe face mask. It’s a purifying one because I have combination skin, and I’m sweating so often. It can be really tough to keep clear skin, especially if you’re wearing a visor. It’s just sitting on your head, and you break out underneath it. It can be a disaster.
And here’s her sage approach to diet and exercise:
“I have to eat pretty healthy to stay in shape, but a big part of my diet is having that occasional dessert. My favorite is Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked ice cream. But I have to watch it. I’m lactose intolerant, so sometimes I’ll do the Ben & Jerry’s lactose-free line.
For a tennis player, the toughest part of training is the off-season. That’s when we’re doing tons of tough fitness — maybe two to three hours in the gym. Obviously as you get closer to the tournaments, you spend more time on the court. Right now, I’m spending two and a half to three hours on the court every day.”
Check out her New York Times feature to hear what the Olympic semifinalist has to say about hair care, her go-to makeup, acupuncture and more.