Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – Six-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams leads the bottom half of the draw into action on Day Two at Melbourne Park. Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska are also in action on the last day of Round 1. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Tuesday, First Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs Belinda Bencic (SUI #59)
Head-to-head: Tied at 1-1
Key Stat: 2017 Australian Open marks first Grand Slam where Serena hasn’t been top seed since 2013 Australian Open (No.3)

Belinda Bencic’s reaction to the draw is quite different to how you’d think someone would react when finding out their first-round opponent is six-time champion Serena Williams:

“My first reaction was actually, like, really happy,” Bencic told press ahead of the match. “I’m super-pumped, like excited I get to play on the big court, I guess.

“Yeah, everyone is like, ‘Oh, bad luck with the draw.’ Me, I’m pretty happy and excited about it!”

Bencic has a reason to feel good: back in 2015, she scored the biggest victory of her career over Serena at the Rogers Cup, becoming one of just 3 players to defeat the American that year.

But a lot has changed since in two years, and injury woes have caused the Swiss wunderkind’s ranking to plummet. And Serena – as always – has her eye on making history and reclaiming the No.1 ranking in Melbourne Park.

“All I can do is do my best,” Serena said. “If I can play the way I’ve been practicing, it will be fine. I know she’s been playing well, so it will be good for both of us.”

[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL #64)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 9-3
Key Stat: Pironkova’s last Top 5 win came over Radwanska in 2016 Roland Garros R16

World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska has many positives to take away from her run to the Apia International Sydney final: before getting thoroughly outclassed in the last match by Johanna Konta, Radwanska hadn’t dropped a set all tournament long and her tricky, deliberate game was flowing freely.

“Of course, losing finals always is disappointing,” Radwanska reflected in pre-tournament press. “But it’s still a good week with great matches against top players.

“I’m very confident. I really hope I can play the same tennis, even the tennis I played in the final. But every tournament is different story, especially in the tough first round.”

After the quick turnaround to Melbourne, Radwanska will bring all of that confidence and preparation against an opponent who has troubled her in the past: Tsvetana Pironkova. The pair have met 12 times previously, with the Bulgarian stunning Radwanska in the fourth round of Roland Garros.

“Pironkova is a very tricky opponent,” she said. “I’m expecting everything from her side. For sure it’s going to be a lot of running. I’m going to really have to work on each point.”

[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #6) vs Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP #106)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Sorribes Tormo is playing just the second Grand Slam main draw match of her career

After her dominant performance at the Brisbane International, where she claimed the first title of her season, Karolina Pliskova took two days off before heading straight to Melbourne.

“I’ve been practicing here since Tuesday. Even yesterday,” the Czech said in pre-tournament press. “But I’ve been feeling good so far. I was even ready for Monday start, but will be ready even for Tuesday.

“That’s what I did in New York, as well. So I just did it here. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I just want to leave everything in this tournament.”

But despite her red-hot start to 2017, Pliskova wouldn’t be drawn into discussing her Australian Open chances – not even on the eve of the tournament after drawing Sara Sorribes Tormo in the opening round.

“I would definitely not take me as a favorite of this tournament. It’s a big draw,” the Czech said in pre-tournament press. “There is a lot of players. I just take it step by step.”

“I just know my opponent from the first round. I want to pass this one. Then we can talk about the next one.”

Her opponent, Sorribes Tormo, is a 20-year-old Spaniard who might be out of her depths against the big-hitting Czech: this will be the just the second Grand Slam main draw match of her career, and her first match against a Top 10 opponent.

Around the grounds…
Reigning WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova will open against No.90-ranked Denisa Allertova on Day 2. The Slovak reached the final here in 2014, and will hope her 2016 momentum will carry her to a maiden Grand Slam title. Britain’s No.1 Johanna Konta will square off against Kirsten Flipkens – Konta leads the head-to-head 2-1.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Taking stock of the first two rounds of play at the Australian Open, where Serena Williams leads a class of players who look primed for a title run.

Fit and ready to fight.

Through the first two rounds of play, here are the players who look in-form and ready to make a real run at the Australian Open title.

Serena Williams

No one had a tougher draw in the first two rounds than Serena and she passed with flying colors, beating Belinda Bencic and Lucie Safarova in straight sets. Her win over Safarova on Thursday night was particularly impressive. Serena fired 15 aces and a total of 35 winners to 23 unforced errors and she was clutch when she needed to be. Serena faced down six break points and saved them all to win, 6-3, 6-4.

And you know it was good if she says it was good. Serena’s her harshest critic, which explains why she didn’t have much patience for anyone finding fault in her performance.

“Scrappy?”

Serena put in a top-notch performance tonight. So you can understand this response. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/PJrvI4AAVH

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) January 19, 2017

Karolina Pliskova

Through two matches against, as she said, soft opponents, the World No.5 has lost just four games, dropping two bagel sets along the way. She has yet to be tested in the tournament, but she’s been striking the ball well and has been broken just once.

Johanna Konta

Konta continues her incredible form that was on display in her run to the Apia International Sydney title last week. She has not lost a set, beating Kirsten Flipkens and Naomi Osaka handily, and her level has been outstanding. If she wasn’t in Serena’s quarter of the draw she’d be a more than justifiable pick to make the semifinals, if not the final. That’s just how good Jo is playing right now.

Dominika Cibulkova

The No.6 seed has not lost a set but she’s been made to fight on court to beat Denisa Allertova and Hsieh Su-Wei. There have been some wobbles, but the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion has yet to panic, a true sign of her growing confidence. Cibulkova did not come into the tournament with many matches, and she may need a few more to fully round into form. But she’s been solid early.

Garbiñe Muguruza

The Spaniard insists that her abductor injury is getting better as time goes on, and her ability to pocket tough straight-set wins in the early going will only help. She did not have dominant wins over Marina Erakovic and Sam Crawford, but she’s shown the same resilience she showed at the Brisbane International to start the year. Muguruza is battle-tested and she’s playing well. The only question is whether her body holds up during the tournament.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Much like Pliskova, the No.8 seed has yet to face a real test, losing just one game to Mariana Duque-Mariño and handling Aussie teenager Jamiee Fourlis easily.

Venus Williams

As I wrote before the tournament, Venus has a great draw to make the second week and possibly the semifinals. Through two matches she has looked far better than expected given the right arm injury she’s been managing. Much like Muguruza, we’ll be keeping an eye on how she’s doing physically – she withdrew from doubles so as to not aggravate the injury – but so far, so good for Venus.

The Dark Horse

Eugenie Bouchard looks primed to play spoiler in her section of the draw. Bouchard has been playing confident tennis in Melbourne and faced CoCo Vandeweghe on Friday. Get through that match and she could earn a shot at defending champion Angelique Kerber, who is still trying to find her form.

The Surprises

Jennifer Brady, Maria Sakkari, Nicole Gibbs, Mona Barthel, Ashleigh Barty, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Sorana Cirstea probably aren’t names many penciled into the third round.

Quote of the Day: “Sometimes people think you play a top player and you’ll go in there relaxed like you have nothing to lose. I don’t see it that way at all.”

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni pulled off the upset of the day, routing No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2 in just 66 minutes. The 34-year-old fired 33 winners to just 20 unforced errors, and she left Radwanska playing the role of bystander. “Shooting – not playing – is the right word for that game,” Radwanska said. “In or out. That’s it. It went so quickly.”

“Sometimes people think you play a top player and you’ll go in there relaxed like you have nothing to lose,” Lucic-Baroni said. “I don’t see it that way at all. I know I have the game to beat top players so I came in there with a gameplan today to win the match. I didn’t go to see the court and enjoy. I’m way too old and I’ve been around way too long to just gain experience. I came there to win the match.”

It took the Croat 19 years to win her second match ever at the Australian Open, which came in the first round. Now, 48 hours later she scored her third.

“Feelings like tonight are incredible on court,” Lucic-Baroni said. “You can’t replicate it anywhere else in life.”

Jennifer Brady saves five match points to beat Heather Watson.

The American qualifier, ranked No.116, is playing just her second main draw at a Slam. Thanks to some clutch serving, she saved five match points to beat Watson, 2-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 in 2 hours and 43 minutes. She’ll face No.14 seed Elena Vesnina next. The Russian has a chance to make the second week without facing a player in the Top 100.

Brady told reporters she had no expectation of still being in the tournament in the third round. “I booked my hotel through the 20th,” Brady said. “Gotta change that now.”

Brady’s friends are pretty excited for her:

Spot the brat in the 3rd rd of @AustralianOpen!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/N07XJ7uqxG

— Grace Min (@GraceMin56) January 19, 2017

SakkAttack!

Greece’s Maria Sakkari won her first main draw match at a Slam here in Melbourne last year. Twelve months later she’s into her first third round, beating No.28 seed Alizé Cornet, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. With the massive Greek support here in Melbourne, Sakkari was left speechless when asked what this result means to her.

“I still cannot believe it. It’s a dream. I grew up watching all these players that I’m playing now and I could not imagine when I was young that I would be here in the third round playing against these players.”

“It’s something that not many people can do, around the world. I still cannot believe it so I cannot tell you what it feels like.”

Johanna Konta and Caroline Wozniacki set for a big third-round clash.

Both women won through easily on Thursday, setting up a must-watch match on Saturday. Clear your schedules. That’s the biggest third-round showdown of the tournament. It will be the first meeting between the two.

Dominika Cibulkova on the mental game.

Cibulkova started working with a sports psychologist in February of 2015 and she credits all the hard work they’ve done over the last two years for her on-court improvements. But she admits that she wasn’t sure about it when they first began working together.

“In the beginning I didn’t believe this was something that would help me achieve what I want,” she said. “But I started to work with him and I saw the results. So I started to believe once I tried it myself.”

Earlier in the week, CoCo Vandeweghe said she had tried working with a sports psychologist years ago but stopped because she found it too invasive. I asked Cibulkova why more players don’t work with a sports psychologist, especially in a high-pressure game like tennis.

“I think the best players, they work with a mental coach, they just don’t talk about it,” she said. “They just want to keep it for themselves. Who would want to say, ‘I’m doing this extra and it will help you too’?

“Three years ago I thought if I give 100% on the court then off the court it’s my time off and I don’t have to think about tennis and do other things. Now my coach led me to this mental coach and he said, ‘Domi, you need this because your game is so good but you need your head to be more stable and more strong.'”

Nicole Gibbs gets back to basics.

Gibbs is into the third round of a Slam for the first time since the US Open in 2014, and for just the second time in her career. She came through an All-American derby, beating Irina Falconi in straight sets.

Watching Gibbs early this season it’s clear that she’s been working on being more aggressive and looking to hit forehands with more pace and placement. Gibbs credits a racquet switch during the off-season, trading in her Wilson Burn for the new Wilson Blade. But she’s also getting back to the fundamentals of her game, which she felt she went away from last year.

“When my dad built my game he kind of modeled me after Justine Henin,” Gibbs said. “He wanted me running around backhands, looking for my forehand everywhere. His only regret was not giving me a one-handed backhand.

“That was the basis of my game and for the first time in a long time I have a coach that sees it that way as well. So we’re getting back to the foundational principles that my game was built around and I think that’s going to take me to the highest potential peak of my game.”

Naomi Osaka bows out.

For the first time in five Slams, Osaka failed to reach the third round, though in this case you can blame a tough draw against Konta. Asked about her goals for the season, the 19-year-old was pretty clear.

“Goals for the season, I wanted to get into the Top 20, win a tournament, and then get to the quarterfinals of a Slam.”

Serena is just…Serena.

“Overall I played really well. But unfortunately, Serena played…Serena.”

That was Lucie Safarova after playing a great match and still finding herself on the losing end of a straight-set loss to Serena.

“She’s not someone you see in a second-round match. I know that [French Open final against Safarova] was a tough three-set match. She never gives up. Like she’s just always fighting to come back. So I knew that I wanted to jump out in the lead.

“I knew that I wanted to just be Serena. That’s what I’m good at doing, is being Serena.”

So what exactly does it mean to “be Serena”?

“To me, it’s being a champion, but not only by the way I play, but the things I do off the court as well,” Serena said. “I know that being Serena on the court is in a way being calm, which is in my name, but always having that fire as well. I think, most of all, being confident. I should be confident ’cause there’s no other Serena. I mean, I’m Serena. Maybe there is another one, but she’s not in tennis.

“So I think sometimes I forget. I try to be so humble that I forget I have accomplished so much. I really wanted today to just have confidence when I was out there.”

Day 5 Matches to Watch:

Eugenie Bouchard vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (1st match, Rod Laver Arena)
Angelique Kerber vs. Kristyna Pliskova (2nd match, Rod Laver Arena)
Elina Svitolina vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (1st match, Margaret Court Arena)
Venus Williams vs. Duan Ying-Ying (3rd match, Margaret Court Arena)
Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Anastasija Sevastova (2nd night match, Margaret Court Arena)
Jelena Jankovic vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (1st match, Hisense Arena)

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Wading through the sea of champions set to be featured at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony and watching from the sidelines was a quietly tall figure, but a former No.1 all the same.

Dinara Safina came to Newport in support of brother Marat Safin, the other half of the sport’s only sibling tandem to reach the top of the ATP and WTA rankings.

“There’s lots of history here, and it’s a really beautiful museum,” she told WTA Insider. “I’ve never seen anything close to it, really. What impressed most me was this wall here, with the ball cans. I really liked those.”

Asked whether he or his sister was the better tennis player, Safin didn’t mince words.

“What a stupid question,” he blurted out at the press conference alongside Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo. “Of course, sister!”

Beaming from her seat was Safina, who once called big brother “her God” in a 2004 interview they conducted with one another for L’Équipe.

“When you play, I love watching you,” she said at the time. “When you lose, I’m even sadder than when I lose. When you’re hurt, I suffer. When you talk to me, I drink your words. When you come to see me play, I’m beside myself with joy. I hate hearing or reading something bad about you. I know you are hard-working and that you do everything you can to be No.1.”

The two-time French Open finalist expressed a similar sentiment on Saturday when she recalled playing Hopman Cup with him shortly before his 2009 retirement.

“It wasn’t easy because, for me, I have so much respect for him and I tried to do as well as I could. I had a close match in the final that I lost, but I still had a lot of fun and it was a great experience.”

The two might have spent nearly a decade together on tour, but both look back and admit that they couldn’t have been further apart.

“We never really saw each other. First, he was living in Spain, and when I moved to Spain, he was on the tour. We’d only see each other a few weeks out of the year, at Grand Slams and a few of the Masters events.”

“It’s really a pity that we didn’t spend enough time together and couldn’t understand each other,” Safin added in press. “We didn’t know each other, and at some point we didn’t even feel like brother and sister because we were separated for quite some time. Now we’re having a great time; finally I’m getting to know her.

“She understands tennis much more than me – a hundred times more than me – and she’s a better person.”

Safina has put that knowledge to good use since her own retirement in 2014. From an administrative position at the Kremlin Cup, the Russian worked with young compatriot Anna Blinkova last summer, and has been a mentor figure to recent junior Wimbledon champion Anastasia Potapova.

“We’re in contact and I’m always talking with her; I’m really proud that she won a Grand Slam. I think she’s going to be good.”

Our pride: Lena, @Dinarik27 & @verazvonareva @ITF_Tennis pic.twitter.com/NJOJYGVrni

— Vladas Lasitskas (@VladasLasitskas) July 6, 2016

Safina led a Golden Era for Russia, on top of the world at a time when she and her countrywomen held a near-monopoly on the Top 10. Looking to the future, she has high hopes for the new wave that features Daria Kasatkina, Margarita Gasparyan, and Elizaveta Kulichkova.

“Kasatkina, for me, I’m really impressed with her. I really love the way she plays. She’s very smart, very intelligent, with a very good feeling for the court and the ball.

“Gasparyan is struggling this year, but I really like her one-handed backhand and she has a different game. It’s a new generation; they still have to work hard to get higher in the rankings. But I like Kasatkina; she’s on the right track and I like the team she has.”

Part of the all-Russian podium from the 2008 Olympic Games, the 30-year-old recently reunited with fellow medalists Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva for an ITF photoshoot, and has fond memories of their wild week in Beijing.

“After eight years, you realize what you achieved and what it was really like, but I would say, I don’t know if we’ll ever see what we were able to do again, sweeping the podium. We set a high bar for the next generation.

“With Elena and Vera, we’re always in contact. They’re beautiful girls. I’ve known Elena since I was a year old; she’s an amazing person.”

I just ran 17,0 km @ a 6'07''/km pace with Nike+. https://t.co/FEs2w5exzA #nikeplus pic.twitter.com/WLzep2w2MJ

— Dinara Safina (@Dinarik27) July 13, 2016

By summer’s end, Safina hopes to make a new life in New York; the Olympic silver medalist was seen jogging through Central Park before heading north to Newport. But there’s a sense she’d trade a crowded city for a crowded stadium in a heartbeat.

“I miss my fans and the crowds, that feeling you have on the court when you have a full crowd behind you and supporting you – whether you win or lose, especially when you win, that’s nice.

“I miss the traveling and all of the girls on the tour; even though we were competitors, we were like a family and had a really nice group of people. I really enjoyed it.”

Sitting on a set of pre-modern Wimbledon benches, Safina mused on whether she might one day return to the museum with her brother as a fellow Hall of Famer, but ever the awed younger sister, she resolved not to look too far in the future.

“Of course, it would be an amazing thing if I could join him one day. But for me, today is about being his sister, and I’m really proud of him. He deserves it. I know the way he was working to get to No.1 from where he started. I’m really happy for him.”

Follow Dinara on Twitter @Dinarik27 and Instagram @dinarasafina2704!

All photos courtesy of Dinara Safina and Getty Images.