Tennis News

March was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.

In the end, it was Caroline Wozniacki’s sneaky lob that took top honors. Taking on Lucie Safarova in the Miami Open quarterfinals, the former World No.1 relied on her full defensive arsenal against the big-hitting Czech veteran. As Safarova approached the net, the eventual finalist pulled off an impressive lob that left her opponent frozen at net.

Click here to watch all of March’s finalists.

Final Results for March’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments

1. Caroline Wozniacki (36%)
2. Kirsten Flipkens (24%)
3. Venus Williams (22%)
4. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (10%)
5. Elena Vesnina (8%)

2017 WTA Shot of the Month Winners

January: Agnieszka Radwanska
February: Angelique Kerber

How it works:

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

Doi, Jurak & Ostapenko Visit Children’s Hospital

Earlier in the week, Misaki Doi, Darija Jurak and later Jelena Ostapenko stopped by the MUSC Medical Center to visit kids in the hospital. The players hung out and played with the kids in the atrium of the children’s wing.

Atawo Hosts Special Olympics Tennis Clinic

Meanwhile, Raquel Atawo went and hit with the tennis players from the Special Olympics South Carolina. They ran through some drills and she gave them pointers on their game, and later answered all their questions at a Q&A session.

Also as a part of WTA Charities initiatives in Charleston, Ons Jabeur acted as a celebrity server at a fundraiser for special needs and disabilities and Kayla Day also paid a visit to Joint Base Charleston, a military base housing the United States and Charleston’s Navy and Air Force facilities.

Suárez Navarro Visits Monterrey Hospital

Meanwhile in Monterrey, Carla Suárez Navarro took time out of preparation for the Abierto GNP Seguros to visit the Christus Muguerza Hospital.

The Spaniard got the chance to meet and chat with the young patients there, who were in recovery from advanced scoliosis, and even signed some tennis balls for them as a keepsake.

See more photos of Suárez Navarro’s visit here!

Americans Get Artsy With Special Needs Athletes

Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey spent Tuesday morning with a group of athletes that are part of the Special Needs Athletes Association of Nuevo Leon.

The American players helped the athletes paste small scraps of tissue paper on a banner filling the Abierto GNP Seguros logo with bright colors, and the morning ended with everyone enjoying some tasty tacos.

Click here to see the finished product!

– All photos courtesy of Volvo Car Open and Abierto GNP Seguros

WTA Charities is the WTA’s global philanthropic organization dedicated to making a positive impact across the globe. Our mission is to be a social responsibility vehicle built on the WTA’s values to empower and provide for a better future. We’re dedicated to combining, strengthening and enhancing the community and charitable efforts of the WTA through its members (players, alumnae and tournaments), along with our partners.

LONDON, Great Britain – The first to play on this rare People’s Sunday at the Wimbledon Championships, No.27 seed CoCo Vandeweghe clinched a spot in the second week for the second year in a row, ousting No.6 seed Roberta Vinci, 6-3, 6-4.

Vandeweghe reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at this very tournament one year ago, and has only gotten more comfortable on the grass courts since, winning a second Ricoh Open title and reaching the semifinals of the Aegon Classic with a win over World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska.

She played another emphatic match against the Italian on Centre Court, dropping just four points behind her first serve and hitting 21 winners to 17 unforced errors to earn the upset in just over an hour.

Along with the Williams sisters and Madison Keys, Vandeweghe became the fourth American woman to reach the second week at this year’s Championships.

Pavlyuchenkova Propels Into Round Four

Standing between the American and a second straight Wimbledon quarterfinal is No.21 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who surprised No.11 seed and 2015 quarterfinalist Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3, 6-2.

Heading into the Wimbledon fortnight, the Russian had never been past the third round, and hadn’t won back-to-back matches on grass since 2012, but overcame tough battles against Hsieh Su-Wei and Yulia Putintseva to play some of her best tennis against Bacsinszky to claim victory on her 25th birthday.

Maintaining a positive winner to unforced error differential at 24 to 20, Pavlyuchenkova had a stellar serving day of her own, winning 82% first serve points and missing just 14 first serves in the one hour and 18 minute encounter. The two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and former World No.13 lost her only previous match with Vandeweghe back at the 2014 Miami Open, though the match was played over two tight sets.

Makarova Meets Vesnina In Singles Face-Off

Backing up her big win over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in an endlessly rain-delayed second round, Ekaterina Makarova showed no signs of a let down against 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinalist and Aegon Classic runner-up Barbora Strycova, knocking out the No.24 seed, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.

Makarova’s superb start to the 2015 season had been derailed by a lower leg injury; unseeded at a major tournament for the first time in four years, the Russian veteran has played phenomenal tennis since reuniting with doubles partner Elena Vesnina at the Mutua Madrid Open.

It’s only right then, that the two have a full circle moment in the round of 16 at the All England Club. In the midst of her own singles reurgence, Vesnina began the year playing Grand Slam qualifying after 40 straight main draw appearances, but after a season of solid wins over Simona Halep, Venus Williams, Belinda Bencic, and Caroline Wozniacki, the Russian veteran is back in the Top 50 and into the second week of a major for the first time since the 2013 Australian Open.

Vesnina has never beaten her doubles partner in a WTA match, losing 12 straight sets to Makarova – including four in their two 2015 matches.

Four Russians through to R16 (Kuznetsova, Makarova, Pavlyuchenkova, Vesnina) the most at #Wimbledon since 2009

— Kevin Fischer (@Kfish_WTA) July 3, 2016

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.