Vandeweghe Olympic Blog: Episode 3
CoCo Vandeweghe hits the practice court and gives us a taste at life in the Olympic Village on this episode of CoCo’s Olympic Video Blog!
CoCo Vandeweghe hits the practice court and gives us a taste at life in the Olympic Village on this episode of CoCo’s Olympic Video Blog!
MIAMI, FL, USA – Ashleigh Barty picked up her first singles victory at the Miami Open in style, downing Eugenie Bouchard in three sets to set up a second-round clash with her countrywoman Samantha Stosur.
“It was a little bit scratchy today, but I’m happy to come through in the end and get a chance to play a second round here,” Barty told the crowd after the match.
“I love Miami and it’s the first time I’ve ever played singles here. So it’s certainly nice to play on a beautiful center court like this.”
The young Australian needed just over two hours to complete the 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Bouchard and extend the Canadian’s Miami losing streak to five matches in a row.
What a return!@GenieBouchard takes the second 7-5 to force a decider! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/ArCYLbBvs6
— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017
Barty employed the aggressive, solid tennis that led her to capture her maiden WTA title at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open three weeks ago, pouncing on a shaky Bouchard service game to break the Canadian six times during the encounter.
After narrowly dropping the opening set, Bouchard reigned in the unforced errors to rally back in the second. But the strong Barty second serve bailed the Aussie out of trouble time and again, keeping Bouchard out of the rallies. Bouchard posted 26 winners to 55 unforced errors against Barty’s 21 and 40.
“I think I was able to be very aggressive on the returns and use my forehand,” Barty explained. “I made a few errors as well but I knew I needed to be aggressive to give myself a chance, and I think I did that today.”
.@AshBar96 picks up FIRST @MiamiOpen win!
Outlasts Bouchard 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to set all-?? Second round vs @bambamsam30! pic.twitter.com/kNB1nBEiP3
— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017
Awaiting in the second round will be No.14 seed Samantha Stosur, a fellow Aussie and one whose game Barty knows quite well.
“It’ll be nice to take on Sam, we’ve practice together a lot in the past even though we’ve never played against each other. I think I’ll have to be very aggressive off the return and try to take the serve away from her.
“I think it’ll be a little bit of a ‘battle of the forehands’ from us, but we’ll see how we go.”
.@AjlaTom beats Linette 6-2, 1-6, 6-2!
Meets Indian Wells champ @EVesnina001 in @MiamiOpen Second round! pic.twitter.com/e23WVRMdT3
— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017
Also in action on Day 2, a number of qualifiers recorded strong performances to make their way into the second round. Qualifiers Risa Ozaki (def. Louisa Chirico 3-6, 7-5, 6-1), Patricia Maria Tig (def. Heather Watson 7-6(4), 6-1), Taylor Townsend (def. Amanda Anisimova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3), Anett Kontaveit (def. Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-1), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (def. Alizé Cornet 6-4, 1-6, 6-4), Varvara Lepchenko (6-3, 6-3), Veronica Cepede Royg (def. 6-2, 6-4), Jana Cepelova (def. Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4) and Madison Brengle (def. Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-2) all advanced.
Also through to the second round is wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who recorded her first win of 2017 to advance past Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Qiang Wang came back from a first-set shutout to knock out qualifier Donna Vekic 0-6, 6-4, 6-2. Lucie Safarova defeated Yanina Wickmayer 7-6(2), 6-4, while France’s Pauline Parmentier knocked out her countrywoman Oceane Dodin 6-2, 6-1 and Shelby Rogers edged past qualifier Marina Erakovic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic survived a rollercoaster against lucky loser Magda Linette to advance 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
SYDNEY, Australia – It was a dream day for Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday, as she not only scored her biggest win in six and a half years against Simona Halep in a rain-delayed semifinal, but she then played a near-flawless final against Monica Puig to win the Premier-level Apia International Sydney.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Sydney right here on wtatennis.com!
Just hours after completing a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 semifinal victory against No.2-ranked, No.1-seeded Halep – her biggest win since defeating then-World No.1 Dinara Safina in the final of the 2009 French Open – Kuznetsova completely overpowered Puerto Rican qualifier Puig for the Sydney title, 6-0, 6-2.
Kuznetsova won more than twice as many points as Puig in the 55-minute demolition, 53 to 23.
“It’s great. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect this, but I’ve also never gone into a tournament thinking about winning, never even once,” Kuznetsova said after the match. “I just went out there and performed, and everything went my way. Now I just want to keep focused for the Australian Open.”
The Russian, who picked up her 16th WTA title – a haul that includes two Grand Slams – was asked how she recovered so well after a near-three-hour match against Halep to play so well against Puig.
“Actually somebody asked me before the match, the supervisor, ‘How do you feel?’ Everybody probably thinks because I’m 30 that I’m really old and need to pick myself up. But I felt great. I felt better than most days here. First matches of the year you’re sore, but after you get going, it’s great.”
She was also asked whether she thinks it’s possible to win another Grand Slam title: “I never dreamed of winning one. I never thought of winning one. It just happens behind hard work, effort, and just having pleasure playing tennis. If I have this opportunity and I can take it, I would love to, of course.
“But if not, my life isn’t going to end. I love the game. It’s great I can still win titles.”
Puig still has a lot to celebrate – she reached the first Premier final of her career in Sydney.
“There wasn’t really too much I could do. I definitely ran around the court and tried to get every single ball I could back, but the only answer I have today is that she was the better player,” Puig commented. “I had an incredible week coming through qualifying, my first time here in Sydney, and I made my first final of a Premier tournament. Overall it was a very good week and I’m very happy about it.
“I’m really not going to get disheartened about this final. She just played unbelievable.”
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – Irina-Camelia Begu produced a stirring fightback to defeat Timea Babos and win the Brasil Tennis Cup on Friday.
After looking out of sorts in the first set, Begu dragged herself back into the contest to halt Babos’ charge in the second. A break in the ninth game saw her take the match the distance and despite falling 2-0 behind in the decider she rallied once more to win, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
“During the match I didn’t start really well – I was a little bit tense and focusing too much on the negative rather than the positive things I was doing. Then I realized I had to make the most of the situation, if the forehand wasn’t working I needed to use the backhand more,” Begu said. “I think it was more mental because I really wanted to win the title.”
The result secures Begu the third title of her career, reaffirming a love affair with the country which played such a crucial role in her comeback from a serious shoulder injury.
“This country is really special for me. In 2014, I was around 130, 140 [in the rankings], I don’t really remember, and I started with the small tournaments, then Florianopolis and Rio,” Begu said. “Being here for five weeks I got to see that the people are really nice, the food is great, too. I was also doing well, winning some of the tournaments, the $25Ks, so it was a nice comeback for me. If I have the chance I will come back again!”
Victory also provides the perfect send-off ahead of the Romanian’s trip up the coast to Rio where she will compete in her second Olympics, beginning her challenge against Nao Hibino. Babos, whose four-year wait to add to her solitary WTA title continues, meanwhile has a day to lick her wounds before a first-round meeting against Petra Kvitova.
“It was a difficult final emotionally, especially as I felt I had it in my hands, then only at the end I realize I’ve lost,” Babos said afterwards. “Of course I was playing against a very good player – she was fighting all the way – but I thought that I was playing better and I had many, many, many opportunities, so obviously I’m sad to lose this final.”
Madison Keys headed back to school in Miami this week – to host the latest of her ‘girl summits’ and announce plans for a partnership combating social media bullying.
Alizé Cornet captured her first title since 2014, dropping just three games in the final of the Hobart International to beat comeback kid Eugenie Bouchard.
NANCHANG, China – Duan Ying-Ying capped a winning week at the Jiangxi Open with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 upset over No.6 seed Vania King to win her first-ever WTA trophy.
Watch live action from Nanchang this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Playing in the biggest final of her career, Duan recovered from a slow start against the two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, who spent the first eight months of 2015 off the court due to a back injury, to strike gold at home in a two-hour epic.
“I’m very happy to win my first ever WTA singles title, especially with my low back injury and the hot weather here,” Duan said after the match.
“Vania played really well in the first set. My coach gave me some advice during the second set. He asked me to improve my speed a bit and I did so. It worked.”
Down a set and a break, Duan immediately broke back and saved another six break points in her next three service games to put her in position to take a lead of her own and level the match.
“I didn’t expect so many fans to come today. I was really glad to have them cheer for me; their support helped me get through.”
The final set proved decisive for Duan, who broke serve to start and never looked back, serving out her first title to love.
“Winning this title boosted my confidence a lot. I hope to keep up the form and play well at US Open. It’s a really well-organized event this year. I hope to come back next year.
“I might go to see a movie tonight to celebrate!”
In the doubles final, unseeded Chinese pair Liang Chen and Lu Jing-Jing won tense battle against Japanese duo and No.2 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya, 3-6, 7-6(2), 13-11.
Thanks for your fantastic performance in the past week.??See you next year in #Nanchang !#DuanYingYing @queen_v21 pic.twitter.com/LjfYvVoBVy
— Jiangxi Open (@JiangxiOpen) August 7, 2016
Top-seeded Angelique Kerber and third-seeded Simona Halep hope to hit the ground running at the Miami Open on Friday. We preview the must-see matchups.
Friday
Second round
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs. Duan Ying-Ying (CHN #66)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Duan owns a 0-6 lifetime record against the Top 10.
Another week, another chance for Angelique Kerber to return to the form that saw her rocket to the top of the rankings in 2016. The German has struggled mightily in 2016, dropping all six of her matches against Top 35 opponents while failing to reach a final. Will Kerber find her missing mojo in Miami? Every week is a new chance to shine, she says. “I’m not looking back on the tournaments. You know, it’s a completely new year, new tournament, and every tournament starts from zero,” Kerber said after falling to Elena Vesnina in straight sets at Indian Wells. “For me, I think I got used to the pressure and everything. So I start every tournament from zero. I am going out there to play my matches, trying to win it.”
Kerber, a semifinalist here in Miami last year, will begin her week with a first-time matchup against China’s Duan Ying-Ying. The 27-year-old notched an impressive win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund on Wednesday and will be gunning for glory in her first ever match against a Top 2 opponent.
Pick: Kerber in three
[3] Simona Halep (ROU #3) vs. Naomi Osaka (JPN #49)
Head-to-head: Halep leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Halep owns a 12-5 lifetime record at Miami.
Like Kerber, Simona Halep has had a challenging year in 2017. She has gone 3-3 and had to miss five weeks due to a knee injury. At Indian Wells, Halep shook off some rust in a second-round win over Donna Vekic but she was defeated easily by Kristina Mladenovic in the third round. In Miami, Halep will look to continue to build some positive momentum, but it won’t be easy against Japan’s Naomi Osaka. The 19-year-old pushed Halep to the brink at Roland Garros last year and will be bidding for her biggest career win against Halep. Though she is 0-5 against the Top 10 for her career, Osaka has lost three of those matches in deciding sets, and two of them in deciding set tiebreakers. Will Osaka get over the hump against Halep today, or will the Romanian hit the ground running in Miami?
Pick: Halep in two
[8] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. Viktorija Golubic (SUI #53)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Keys reached the quarterfinals at Miami last season.
Madison Keys made a successful return to the tour at Indian Wells after missing the first two months of the season while rehabbing her surgically repaired left wrist. Now she wants to take it a step further. “I feel like I’ve gotten some of the rust out,” Keys told reporters on Wednesday. “I also think the expectation that I have from myself is now a little bit higher. So I’m definitely trying to manage the excitement levels and also just what I’m expecting from myself.”
Keys will battle a talented 24-year-old from Switzerland who has not found her best tennis yet this season. After her most successful season on tour, Viktorija Golubic has struggled to win in 2017, but she did pick up her second win of the season on Wednesday, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova in three sets.
Pick: Keys in two
[11] Venus Williams (USA #12) vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA #166)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Williams won the title at Miami in 2001.
Venus Williams has more Top 20 wins at the Miami Open (11) than most players have matches and the 36-year-old is eager to tack on a few more wins in 2017. The 2001 Miami Open champion will open accounts with a second-round matchup with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. The 20-year-old Brazilian Wild Card got her first tour-level win since 2015 when Lesia Tsurenko retired early in the first set of their first-round match. She’ll hope to play the match of her life against Williams on Friday while Williams will look to stretch her winning streak against players outside of the Top 100 to six, and notch her 44th career Miami Open win.
Pick: Williams in three
Around the Grounds:
No.7-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova upset Serena Williams en route to a runner-up finish at Miami last year. She’ll open accounts with a second-round tussle with Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella. No.14-seeded Samantha Stosur, a two-time quarterfinalist at Miami, will face 20-year-old Ashleigh Barty in an all-Aussie Derby. It will be the first meeting between the two compatriots. No.10-seeded Johanna Konta, a quarterfinalist last year, will square off with qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, while No.31-seeded Daria Kasatkina will tangle with American Shelby Rogers for the right to face the Kerber-Ying-Ying winner.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Alizé Cornet started her 2016 season with a flourish last week, winning the Hobart International for her first title since 2014. The No.43 lost just one set all week and ran away with the title in Saturday’s final, beating a resurgent Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-2 for her fifth career title. So excited was the already excitable Frenchwoman, she went so far as to thank her dog Andy – a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier named after Andy Roddick – in her victory speech. The emotions were plain to see. This meant a lot.
Cornet describes her 2015 season as decidedly average. She began the season at No.20, having scored three wins over Serena Williams in 2014, but struggled in the latter half of the year to finish at No.43, her lowest ranking since 2012. After some soul-searching, she decided a change was in order. She brought on a new coach in Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh, former coach to Angelique Kerber, and changed her training base to Nice. With a new team and a renewed sense of urgency, she trained hard over the off-season. But she never expected the pay-off to come so quickly.
WTA Insider sat down with Cornet at Melbourne Park, where she had just arrived after a quick flight from Hobart the night before. She describes her lowest moment of last year, her perilous relationship to confidence, and how a conversation with Patrick Mouratoglou put her career back on track.
WTA Insider: What does this title mean for you?
Cornet: It means a lot actually. It’s the reward for all the hard work I did during the last couple of months during the pre-season preparation. So I’m really really happy and proud that it’s already working out for me. It’s paying off and it feels amazing.
I had such a great week there. I was playing good tennis, good attitude on the court, great fighting spirit as always. It’s amazing when you have the trophy and you don’t lose a match in the week.
WTA Insider: You had such a great season in 2014. Is it fair to say that 2015 was average for you?
Cornet: The first part of the season was not so bad. Roland Garros I made the fourth round. The second part of the season was just a disaster. I was motivated but I was a little bit sad on the court. I was practicing really hard and I didn’t have any results. I was getting really tired of tennis.
But a career is very long and there are a lot of up and downs. You have to try to hang on and try to stick to your dreams and to your passion for the game. That’s what I did. I restructured myself in the winter. I found a new academy with new coaches and new staff with me. Now I feel like a totally new player. Now I want to forget 2015 and learn what I can from that year but now I really want to show the improvements that I made during this off-season.
WTA Insider: Sometimes the tour can get stale. Same team, same schedule, same cities. Sometimes players make a change just to keep things fresh. Is that what happened here?
Cornet: The thing is it has to be a good change. If you change to change it doesn’t work either. Last year I stopped with my coach Biljana Veselinovic right after Wimbledon. Then I finished the season alone. I was totally alone for the last five months. It was good but really tough at the same time. I really needed someone at that point but I couldn’t find a good person so I preferred to be alone.
So then talking to Patrick Mouratoglou I decided to go back to the south of France and practice in his new academy in Nice. He asked me if I wanted to work with one of his coaches there, Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh. I said of yeah why not, I trust you, I’m gonna try. It clicked right away with this coach. I also had a new physical coach.
It was just the right change at the right moment. I didn’t rush and I was waiting for the good person to take care of my tennis. I think I found it.
Now I’m traveling with a hitting partner because my coach is not traveling, he’s staying at home at the academy. I have this structure that I was dreaming about. So that’s why I feel good on the court and totally ready for new challenges this year.
WTA Insider: What was your focus during the off-season?
Cornet: Physically I have a good base. It’s one of my strengths. We just had to gain 2-5% to be more efficient on court.
I think the big work was on the tennis side. I spent a lot of time on the tennis court. Benny my coach was not changing things but trying to improve things by doing lots of repetition. In the beginning it was tough because the rhythm was crazy. I was coming back home at night and I was totally dead. I couldn’t even cook for myself I could only lie on the couch. But it was worth it because now that I see the results I’m just very happy.
WTA Insider: Did you think you lost your tennis in 2015?
Cornet: You can lose your tennis. You don’t know exactly what to do on the court, how to move, how to play the right shots in the right moments.
The scary thing is you can lose it so fast. It takes months to have confidence and it can take days to lose it. This is really tricky. That’s why you have to keep working all the time and keep working the good way with the good person. That’s very important. Because when you start losing your way it’s very tough to find it again. I guess I lost it for a while.
WTA Insider: What was your worst moment last year?
Cornet: The US Open. It’s been maybe three years since I lost in the first round of a Slam. I was supposed to win this one. I was so much ahead in the score and then I got confused once more and I ended up losing. This was really painful. From this moment I just told myself you really have to do something with your career because you’re just losing it. That’s when I talked to Patrick and really tried to restructure myself.
WTA Insider: So you worked really hard in the off-season and felt like a new player. When you landed in Hobart last week, did you believe you could win the title?
Cornet: I was playing some really good tennis in Brisbane. I felt that I was close to something really good but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.
Some players say when they arrive at the tournament that I’m going to win the tournament. I always keep it in the back of my mind but I never convinced I’m going to win it. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I have a lack of confidence but it’s like this. It’s always unexpected when I win a title because it’s amazing. We play maybe 30 weeks during the year and there’s not many weeks when you end the week without losing a match. Now I arrive for the Australian Open in the best condition, in the perfect mood, and some victories behind me, so it’s great.
WTA Insider: There’s been some talk about the dangers of playing a tournament the week before a Slam. Do you think it can be a curse?
Cornet: I arrived Saturday night. It’s a good thing I’m playing on Tuesday. Actually I hurt myself a little bit in the final. So it can be a good thing or a bad thing. For sure, physically you lose a little bit energy. But you win so much confidence. So you just have to follow your instincts. I felt like I needed some matches before the Australian Open that’s what I did and I don’t regret anything.
WTA Insider: You played so well in the final and the scoreline was quite easy. At what point did you allow yourself to think you were going to win the title?
Cornet: I try to play point after point. I try not to think about the future. This is the best way to lose yourself during a match.
I saw on the court that I was playing better than her. I was handling the wind much better. She was getting frustrated but I really needed to stay in the match because I knew she wouldn’t give it to me. She’s a great champion, she’s a very good tennis player. So I really tried to stay focused and not think about the victory that was coming closer and closer. Then you have all the relief on the match point.
WTA Insider: During the trophy ceremony you thanked your dog. What was that about?
Cornet: They are totally part of the family. When I am so far away from my family for so long I miss them so much and my dog is just part of it. I could just thank my mother, my father, my boyfriend and not mention my dog. I couldn’t do it! I was picturing my whole family in front of the TV with my dog and it just came.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Czech dynamos Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova played pitch perfect doubles to dispatch reigning Wimbledon winners and three-time Olympic gold medalists Venus Williams and Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Olympic tennis event.
The Williams sisters came to Rio with a perfect 15-0 record in Olympic doubles, having captured three gold medals in Sydney, Beijing, and London. But the top seeds faced stiff opposition in the Czechs, who have won four of the last five Fed Cup titles – including last year’s championship, where Strycova helped win the decisive doubles rubber.
Safarova and Strycova recovered from an early break to win six of the final seven games of the opening set, setting the stage for a titanic second set that saw both teams face massive swings in momentum. The Czechs appeared to clinch the necessary advantage by breaking in an almost endless fifth game, but the sisters immediately struck back, saving another break point to get within two games of a deciding set.
Saving three break points of their own, the unseeded duo broke serve one last time to serve out the biggest upset of the tournament in just over 90 minutes.
For Venus, the loss marks what could be the end of a disappointing Olympic outing – unless she opts to participate in the mixed doubles event – losing in the opening round of both singles and doubles.
There'll be no Olympic medal of any color for Venus & Serena. Lose for FIRST TIME at Olys, out in 1R 63 64 vs. Safarova/Strycova #Rio2016
— Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) August 7, 2016
With No.2 seed Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic losing their first round on Saturday, the doubles draw is wide open, with a host of talented teams capable of grabbing a medal in Rio. Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe dropped just two games in their first round against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-1, 6-1. Chinese duo Xu Yi-Fan and Zeng Saisai were equally emphatic against the Kichenok twins from Ukraine, defeating Nadiia and Lyudmyla, 6-0, 6-3.
Former No.1s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci made their long-awaited reunion at the Olympic tennis event, dispatching Germans Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber, 6-2, 6-2.
On court action from our first match at the #RioOlympics2016 !! ??????? @CoCoVandey @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/H9mVi8U32g
— Bethanie MattekSands (@BMATTEK) August 7, 2016