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Montréal Saturday: Final Four

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The 2016 Rogers Cup field has been whittled down to the final four. Ahead of the semifinals wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo runs the rule over the remaining contenders.

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Vote: July's Player Of The Month

Vote: July's Player Of The Month

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

It’s time to vote for July’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, August 5.

July 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists

Simona Halep: One year after reaching her first Rogers Cup final in Toronto, Halep went one better in Montréal, growing though a tough field that included Karolina Pliskova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Angelique Kerber, and Madison Keys to win her first title in Canada, and her third of the season. Halep is currently riding a 10-match winning streak after winning at home in Bucharest on clay.

Madison Keys: Finishing a close second to Halep in Montréal, Keys returned to the Top 10 – and the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard – by reaching her first-ever hardcourt final on the WTA tour. A three-set win over former World No.1 Venus Williams set the tone for the week, as she knocked out an in-form Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and qualifier Kristina Kucova to make the championship match.

Johanna Konta The British No.1 won her first WTA title in style at the Bank of the West Classic, defeating Venus Williams for the second time this season to reach another career-high ranking – falling just short of a Top 10 debut after making the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.

Venus Williams: Venus earned her eighth career Stanford final in July, and played Konta tough in a three-set defeat. Her solid run of form continued in Montréal, where she reached the round of 16. 

POTM

2016 Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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Olympic Memories: Beijing

Olympic Memories: Beijing

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The penultimate stop-off on wtatennis.com’s trip down Olympics memory lane is the 2008 Games in Beijing, which saw a clean sweep of the medals from tennis’ new world order…

Beijing, China, 2008
Olympic Green Tennis Center
Hardcourt

For a Russian athlete there is no greater prize in sport than an Olympic gold medal. It is fitting therefore that for Elena Dementieva, so often the bridesmaid at tennis’ biggest events, the site of her greatest triumph was the Beijing Games.

Eight years after announcing herself to the tennis world with an unexpected silver medal in Sydney, Dementieva went one better in Beijing – a surprise winner in a tournament full of surprises.

A regular figure at the business end of majors, Dementieva enjoyed a smooth passage through the opening rounds and into a quarterfinal with Serena Williams.

Five previous encounters with Williams had brought just one win, but in Beijing Dementieva was a woman on a mission, producing a stirring comeback to triumph in three.

Meeting her in the semifinals was compatriot Vera Zvonareva, who had taken advantage of No.1 seed Ana Ivanovic’s 11th hour withdrawal to advance from the top section.

She was no match for an inspired Dementieva however, who, with the draw now shorn of many of her tormentors in chief, was not about to take her eye off the ball.

And so to the final where another Russian, Dinara Safina, was lying in wait.

Coming into the Games, Safina was in the form of her life and looking to add a golden finish to a summer that had already seen her pick up silverware in Berlin, Los Angeles and Montréal.

A round earlier Safina had dashed China’s dreams of a home gold medalist by knocking out Li Na and when she took the opening set in the final it looked like she would be putting paid to her teammate’s too.

Then midway through the second set, Safina began to lose her way. Whether it was magnitude of the situation playing on the mind or just an arduous summer schedule finally catching up with her is uncertain. What was certain is that it left the door ajar for a Dementieva comeback.

From then on, it was less about forehands and backhands and all about who wanted it more. There was only ever going to be one winner.

After nicking an error-strewn second set, the momentum was now with Dementieva and she was not about to hand it back. As the match edged towards the two and a half hour mark, Dementieva arrived at match point.

One crisp forehand down-the-line winner later and she sunk to her knees an Olympic champion.

“It’s a huge moment for Russia,” Dementieva said. “I know we were expecting and planning some medals from our team. But I don’t think anyone could expect three medals.”

“This is a dream for every athlete, just to be here. But to be an Olympic champion, this is the top of the career.”

——

Olympic Memories: Athens
Olympic Memories: Sydney
Olympic Memories: Atlanta
Olympic Memories: Barcelona
Olympic Memories: Seoul

Elena Dementieva

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Rio Olympics: By The Numbers

Rio Olympics: By The Numbers

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – How many people will cram into The Maria Esther Bueno Tennis Stadium to watch next Saturday’s singles final? Which nations are best represented in the draw? And whose record is Venus Williams set to match? These are just a few of the questions answered in an Olympic special of wtatennis.com’s By The Numbers.

10,000 – The Olympic Tennis Center’s main court seats 10,000 spectators and was named after Brazilian legend, Maria Bueno, who won 19 Grand Slam titles in the 1950s and 1960s

63 – Since its reintroduction in 1988, 63 different countries have been represented in the tennis competition

42 – The number of games it took the Soviet Union’s Larisa Savchenko to defeat Sara Gomer in Seoul in 1988. In terms of games played, Savchenko’s 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 9-7 victory remains the longest in the Games’ history

24 – World No.24 Alicia Molik, who won bronze at Athens in 2004, is the only unseeded player to collect a medal at the Olympics

18 – At 18 years old Ana Konjuh is the youngest player competing in the singles draw. In 1992, Jennifer Capriati, then 16 years and 132 days old, beat Steffi Graf to win gold

13 – Venus owns a 13-3 record in singles competition at the Olympic Games, the most match wins since tennis returned in 1988

12 – Serena (9) and Venus (13) boast by far the most singles match wins at this summer’s Games. Caroline Wozniacki (5) is next on the list, while the 14 seeds not named Williams have a combined total of just 12

10 – Atlanta gold medalist Lindsay Davenport was No.10 at the time of the Games. She is the lowest-ranked player to win the singles competition

5 -This will be Venus’ fifth Olympics equaling Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario’s record for most appearances

4 – China, Germany, Russia, and the United States all have the maximum of four representatives in the singles draw

3 – Serena and Venus have picked up doubles gold on each occasion they have competed together (2000, 2008 and 2012)

2 – The top seed has won gold at only two of the seven Games since 1988 – Graf (1988) and Justine Henin (2004)

1 – Serena’s solitary defeat in her two previous bids for singles gold came at the hands of eventual winner Elena Dementieva in the Beijing quarterfinals

0 – Prior to Rio, no Turkish tennis player had competed in the Olympic tennis competition. Cagla Buyukakcay will be the first

SAP Insights

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Muguruza Moves Past Mitu

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza faced few problems to kick off her singles campaign at the Olympic tennis event, defeating late entrant Andreea Mitu, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the second round.

Muguruza has had a stellar 2016 season, highlighted by a maiden Grand Slam win over World No.1 Serena Williams at the French Open, but the Spaniard had been dogged by injuries, illnesses, and inconsistencies since, losing in the second round of Wimbledon and withdrawing from the opening round of the Rogers Cup.

Playing her first hardcourt match since the Miami Open, Muguruza fell behind 2-0 to Mitu, who entered the draw following the late withdrawal of former No.1 Jelena Jankovic due to a right shoulder injury. The No.3 seed turned the tide from there, however, winning the final six games of the set and never looking back, taking the second set by the identical scoreline and securing victory in one hour and 13 minutes.

Up next for the former World No.2 is Nao Hibino, who won a topsy-turvy three-setter against Irina-Camelia Begu, who defeated Muguruza at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Earlier in the day, No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a second set hiccup to decimate China’s Wang Qiang, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0, to book a second round meeting with the always-dangerous Monica Niculescu. Also in No.2 seed Angelique Kerber’s section are No.10 seed Johanna Konta and No.13 seed Samantha Stosur; each won their first round matches on Sunday over Stephanie Vogt and Jelena Ostapenko, respectively. Caroline Garcia ended the hopes of Brazil’s favorite daughter Teliana Pereira with a 6-1, 6-2 win, and will play Konta for a spot in the third round.

No.11 seed Petra Kvitova soared past Timea Babos, who reached the Florianopolis final just last week, 6-1, 6-2, to set up an exciting second round clash with former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane dispatched alternate Lucie Hradecka, 6-2, 6-2, and the pair loom as prospective quarterfinal opponents for top seed Serena Williams, who advanced on Sunday morning.

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Venus To Play Olympic Mixed Doubles

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Former World No.1 Venus Williams looked to have wrapped up her Olympic tennis event campaign with tough losses in singles and doubles, but the four-time Olympic gold medalist has one more chance for glory in Rio, pairing with Rajeev Ram in the mixed doubles draw; the pair will play the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens and Jean-Julian Rojer in the first round. Bethanie Mattek-Sands joins the draw alongside Jack Sock as the second US team.

Often on a mixed doubles court when playing for the Washington Kastles during Mylan World TeamTennis, Venus hasn’t played a full mixed doubles match since 2013 at Hopman Cup alongside John Isner. The five-time Wimbledon winner won the first two legs of a Calendar Year Grand Slam in mixed doubles all the way back in 1996 with Justin Gimelstob; she last played a mixed doubles major in 2006, when she reached the Wimbledon final alongside Bob Bryan.

It will nonetheless be a tall order for Venus to capture a fifth Olympic gold medal in a draw that features top seeds and reigning French Open champions Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who have paired with reigning Wimbledon winners Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, respectively. Mladenovic has won a pair of mixed doubles titles with Daniel Nestor, most recently at the 2014 Australian Open. Garcia and Mahut begin their mixed campaign against Brazil’s Teliana Pereira and Marcelo Melo, while Mladenovic and Herbert open against Italians Roberta Vinci and Fabio Fognini.

Garbiñe Muguruza also joins the mixed doubles fray as the No.3 seed, playing with nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal; their first round opponents are Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek. Her countrywoman and women’s doubles partner Carla Suárez Navarro will also represent Spain with partner David Ferrer; they will play Romanians Monica Niculescu and Florin Mergea.

Agnieszka Radwanska will try to redeem her disappointing Olympic result in singles by pairing with Lukasz Kubot, while Johanna Konta will play with Jamie Murray on behalf of Great Britain.

Check out the full draw below:

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Serena To Play Cincinnati

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

World No.1 Serena Williams has taken a wildcard into next week’s Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, a Premier 5 event.

The two-time defending champion has a 10-match win streak in Cincinnati and will be making her eighth appearance at the tournament where she holds a 21-4 match record. Serena enters the event looking to rebound from a disappointing early exit from the Olympics in Rio, where she lost in the third round to Elina Svitolina.

Having played only three matches since winning Wimbledon in July, Serena will look to return to form as she continues to prepare for the US Open, where she has a chance to break the Open Era record for Slam singles titles by winning her 23rd major.

Also on the line for Serena next week: The No.1 ranking.

Current World No.2 Angelique Kerber has a chance to end Serena’s 183-week reign at No.1 at Cincinnati, however, it will not be an easy task. Kerber, who is still in Rio de Janiero at the Olympic tennis event, would need to win the title at the Western & Southern Open in order to do so.

With Serena accepting the wildcard, she can extend her stay at No.1 through US Open if she makes the quarterfinals, regardless what Kerber does.

Kerber is trying to become the first German to reach No.1 since her idol Stefanie Graf and would be the third left-handed player to hold the No.1 ranking (along with Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles).

Main draw play at the Western & Southern Open begins on Monday, with the top 16 seeds receiving a bye into the second round. The draw ceremony will be held on Friday, August 12, at 5:30pm local time.

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The World Reacts To Puig’s Historic Win

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

When Monica Puig clinched the gold medal for Puerto Rico at the Olympic tennis event, her historic win was felt around the world. Even her social media rallying cry, #PicaPower, became a worldwide trending topic after she took the first set and for hours afterwards.

Here’s the best moments from Twitter as the world celebrated the Puerto Rican’s incredible victory.

First up, here’s how they lived the final moments of the match in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, Puig’s birthplace.

Puig even got a personal congratulations from Alejandro Javier García Padilla, the governor of Puerto Rico.

 The party wasn’t contained to the island, though, as dozens of Puerto Rican celebs around the world – everyone from Ricky Martin to Lin-Manuel Mirana – and superstar athletes like baseball star Yasiel Puig, weighed in on the history-making achievement.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer of the Broadway hit ‘Hamilton,’ even live-tweeted the final moments.

Her big win also moved the tennis world, as Puig’s peers on the WTA and beyond took to Twitter to send the 21-year-old their congratulations.

Here’s what the players and legends had to say:

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