SAP Stat Of The Day: Johanna Konta
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Johanna Konta shows just how dominant she was in her run to the Apia International Sydney title.
In today’s SAP Stat Of The Day, Johanna Konta shows just how dominant she was in her run to the Apia International Sydney title.
Highlights from the semifinals action at the Hobart International.
What happens when a serve is too powerful for the net to handle? Check out what happened at the Hobart International!
LONDON, England – History is on the line at Wimbledon on Saturday as Serena Williams chases her 22nd Grand Slam title when she faces the in-form Angelique Kerber.
Before the two face off on Centre Court, here are 10 points to ponder…
(1) Serena Williams (USA #1) vs (4) Angelique Kerber (GER #4)
Head-To-Head: Williams leads Kerber, 5-2
1) Williams is attempting to equal the Open Era record of major titles.
If Williams wins, she will equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, and move to within touching distance of Margaret Court’s all-time leading tally of 24.
2) And she has a magnificent record in Grand Slam finals.
Serena has only lost six of her 27 Grand Slam finals: the 2001 US Open (to Venus Williams), 2004 Wimbledon (to Maria Sharapova), 2008 Wimbledon (to Venus Williams), 2011 US Open (to Sam Stosur), 2016 Australian Open (to Kerber) and 2016 Roland Garros (to Garbiñe Muguruza). This is the second-best winning percentage in the Open Era after Court (11-1)
3) Kerber was eight years old the last time a German won Wimbledon.
If Kerber wins, she will be the first German woman to win the Wimbledon title since Steffi Graf in 1996.
4) History repeating itself?
If Kerber is looking for good omens, then she will find several by studying the 1996 Championships: Kerber and Graf overcame opponents from five different countries en route to the final; both beat their opponent in a major final earlier in the season – Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario at Roland Garros.
The 1996 final also pitted the No.1 and No.4 seeds against one another. Although, unfortunately for Kerber, on that occasion the No.4 seed came out second best.
5) Serena is trying to become the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era. Again.
If Serena wins, she will break her own record as the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. Serena was 33 years and 285 days when she won her 21st major, at last year’s Wimbledon; she will be 34 years and 283 days on Saturday.
6) Kerber displaying her bouncebackability…
Less than seven weeks ago, Kerber was crashing out in the first round of Roland Garros to Kiki Bertens. Victory over Williams in Saturday’s final will see her become just the third player in the Open Era to bounce back from an opening round defeat in Paris by lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish. The other two? Serena (2012) and Venus (2001), of course.
7) Achieving the Serena-Venus double.
Kerber is bidding to become just the eighth woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same tournament. Click here to find out the identity of the magnificent seven to have achieved the feat.
8) Kerber will be back up to No.2 after Wimbledon.
Serena’s semifinal victory over Elena Vesnina ended Kerber’s slim hopes of overhauling her atop the rankings. However, should the German lift the title, she will trail Williams by less than 500 points.
Meanwhile, the results in south-west London have maintained the status quo atop the Road To Singapore leaderboard; Williams and Kerber will stay in the top two spots, although both are yet to secure qualification for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
9) Kerber’s unblemished record.
Kerber has not dropped a set on her way to the final. The last player to win a major without losing a set was Serena at the 2014 US Open. Marion Bartoli was the last to achieve the feat at Wimbledon, in 2013.
10) The exclusive leftie club.
Kerber is attempting to become just the fourth left-hander to be crowned Wimbledon champion in the Open Era. The other three are Ann Jones (1969) Martina Navratilova (1978, 1979, 1982-87, 1990) and Petra Kvitova (2011, 2014). The only other leftie to reach the final was 1992 runner-up Monica Seles.
MELBOURNE, Australia – The first Grand Slam of the year is almost here as the Australian Open kicks off in Melbourne on Monday. The doubles draw is out, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands reunites with Lucie Safarova in hopes of defending her No.1 ranking against a trio of challengers.
But Serena Williams and Venus Williams threaten to blow the draw right open as they will take the court together to compete in doubles for the first time since the Olympic Games.
Click here to see the full singles and doubles draws.
POTENTIAL QUARTERFINALS:
[1] Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic vs [5] Martina Hingis / CoCo Vandeweghe
[3] Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina vs [7] Julia Goerges / Karolina Pliskova
[8] Vania King / Yaroslava Shvedova vs [4] Sania Mirza / Barbora Strycova
[6] Chan Yung-Jan / Chan Hao-Ching vs [2] Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Safarova
STORYLINES TO WATCH:
Garcia & Mladenovic are making their 2017 debut: The No.1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic are set to play together for the first time in 2017 at the Australian Open. The reigning French Open champions have always been adamant that their focus was on the singles competition, and at times seemed almost baffled by their continued doubles success. But the pair are back together for the first major of the year, and even have a shot at becoming co-No.1s.
“As we repeated well enough, we are singles players, our priority is singles,” Mladenovic told WTA Insider at the WTA Finals, where they reached the semifinals. “[But] even if we are singles players, just to be able to say that you’ve been No.1 in the world in doubles, is such a pride.”
The French team will play Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh in the first round.
The No.1 ranking could change hands again: Newly-crowned World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands has barely had time to savor her rise to the top before her ranking is back into play. Garcia, Mladenovic and Elena Vesnina all have a shot at becoming World No.1 by the end of the fortnight.
Of course, should Mattek-Sands and Safarova take home the Australian Open title, the ranking will stay with the American. But that’s easier said than done….
Serena Williams and Venus Williams join forces: Looming in Mattek-Sands and Safarova’s side of the draw are Serena Williams and Venus Williams. The veteran doubles team is joining forces for the first time since the Olympic tennis event, where they lost in the first round to Czech duo Safarova & Strycova. Between the two of them they’ve amassed 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles, making them a veritable threat in any major tournament.
Seeded No.15, they could potentially book a third-round clash with Mattek-Sands/Safarova, throwing a wrench in the works for Mattek-Sands’ defense of her newly-gained top ranking.
– Photos courtesy of Getty Images
LONDON, England – Serena Williams has resumed her relentless march towards tennis history this fortnight at Wimbledon. As she closes in on a 22nd Grand Slam crown, here are some noteworthy numbers on the WTA’s indomitable World No.1.
(updated after her semifinal win at Wimbledon)
Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam singles titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 303 (Navratilova 306)
~ Serena is trying to win her seventh Wimbledon title (won it in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015); a seventh title would tie her with Steffi Graf and Dorothea Lambert Chambers on the all-time leaderboard
~ This is Serena’s 22nd time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 21)
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam final matches (her six defeats came against Venus Williams (2001 US Open, 2008 Wimbledon), Maria Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon), Samantha Stosur (2011 US Open), Angelique Kerber (2016 Australian Open) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2016 Roland Garros))
Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam singles finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (l. Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (l. Kerber)
~ Serena has won 31 of her last 36 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha, 2013 Cincinnati, 2016 Indian Wells, Kerber at 2016 Australian Open and Muguruza at 2016 Roland Garros)
Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 285d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)
Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 176th & 177th straight weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186)
~ Serena is spending her 299th & 300th career weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($77.6M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.8M)
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 70 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)
Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:
Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)
Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 244-20 (.924)
WTA titles: 29
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 16 (.500)
vs Top 10: 56-7 (.889)
Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 201-17
WTA titles: 23 of 33
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 13
vs Top 10: 41-5 (.891)
Shelby Rogers handed No.4 seed Simona Halep her second straight first-round loss at the Australian Open, rolling through in straight sets.
LONDON, Great Britain – In a rematch of the riveting Australian Open final, can Serena Williams lock up her 22nd major title over her Melbourne conqueror, Angelique Kerber?
The top seed has suffered three straight Grand Slam disappointments, but seems to have gotten her swagger back since her second round struggle against American Christina McHale, and played some of her best tennis of the fortnight to dismiss Elena Vesnina in the semifinals.
Kerber is looking for her second major of the season, and surely has fond memories of her Australian Open triumph over the six-time Wimbledon winner. The German hasn’t dropped a set through her first six matches, playing clutch tennis against No.5 seed Simona Halep and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in ehr last two matches.
Stay tuned for Saturday’s Wimbledon final Live Blog, which promises to-the-minute commentary an insight, courtesy of WTA Insider’s Courtney Nguyen:
Elina Svitolina takes on Julia Boserup in the second round of the Australian Open.
Varvara Lepchenko takes on Duan Ying-Ying in the second round of the Australian Open.