As It Happened: Serena Triumphs In Oz To Break Open Era Record
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Serena Williams will outlasted older sister Venus Williams in the 2017 Australian Open final, to nab the Open Era record and World No.1 in one fell swoop.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Serena Williams will outlasted older sister Venus Williams in the 2017 Australian Open final, to nab the Open Era record and World No.1 in one fell swoop.
MELBOURNE, Australia – The first Grand Slam of 2017 saw the WTA rankings make its first major shifts since the end of last season – most notably at the top, where Serena Williams ended Angelique Kerber’s 20 weeks at No.1 after winning her 23rd major title at the Australian Open.
Williams has been ranked No.1 for 310 weeks since 2002, and shares the record for most consecutive weeks atop the rankings at 186 with Stefanie Graf – a record Kerber ended by winning last summer’s US Open.
Click here to check out the updated WTA rankings, as of January 30.
Who else made big leaps Down Under?
Venus Williams (+6, No.17 to No.11): Venus fell just shy of returning to the Top 10 after making her first Grand Slam final since 2009. The elder Williams sister has shown off some of her best tennis at major tournaments of late, reaching semifinals in two of the last three, and could continue adding points through the next few months of hardcourt tournaments.
Karolina Pliskova (+2, No.5 to No.3): Pliskova reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the second straight time in Australia; it was also her second time ever after falling before the fourth round in her first 17 major appearances. Pliskova started the season strong with a win in Brisbane before running into a razor sharp Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the quarterfinals.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+50, No.79 to No.29): Speaking of Lucic-Baroni, the feel good story of the tournament made an improbable run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, her first at a Grand Slam since 1999, when she was just 17 years old. The 34-year-old Croat hadn’t won a main draw match in Australia since 1998, and ousted two Top 5 seeds (Pliskova and Agnieszka Radwanska) en route to the final four.
CoCo Vandeweghe (+15, No.35 to No.20): Vandeweghe made her Top 20 debut after her run to the Australian Open semifinals. The American was the youngest of the semifinalists, but nontheless boasted big wins over two of 2016’s major title-winners in Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+5, No.27 to No.22): The Russian made her second Grand Slam quarterfinal out of the last three, stunning an in-form Elina Svitolina before crushing compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova to complete her Last Eight Club membership at all four major tournaments.
Jennifer Brady (+38, No.116 to No.78): In an impressive tournament for Americans, Brady was the freshest face in the second week of the Australian Open. Forced to qualify, she saved five match points to defeat Heather Watson before using her big serve to dispatch Elena Vesnina in the third round.
Sorana Cirstea (+19, No.78 to No.59): The former World No.21 continued her march back up the WTA rankings by reaching just her second career Grand Slam second week, and her first since the 2009 French Open.
Jelena Ostapenko (+5, No.38 to No.33): Ostapenko, 19, earned a career-high ranking after reaching the third round of the Australian Open – her best-ever finish at a major – and pushing Karolina Pliskova to the brink in a 10-8 final set.
The weeks following a Grand Slam tend to be calm in terms of tennis fashion, but in the past four weeks we’ve had new designs hitting the courts, plus some outfits introduced in January rose to their full potential in the less busy month of February. Let’s give the word to Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog and see the tennis clothes that stood out at this month’s tournaments.
Launched at the Australian Open, Nike’s striped separates were then in the shadow of Serena Williams’ crop top and Maria Sharapova’s sporty elegance, but the Nike Spring Premier Slam Tank and Nike Spring Premier Victory Skirt got the deserved exposure in February.
On her way to the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy triumph, Roberta Vinci sported the light crimson version of the lightweight tank with rounded side vents for extra comfort, while Sara Errani wore the same outfit en route to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title.
Elina Svitolina and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova rocked the same style, but they paired the white pleated skirt with the obsidian navy version of the breathable tank and highlighted the look with a chic retro red headband.
The Fila Spring Platinum Dress with a striking crisscross design detail of a tennis ball in motion was supposed to be Jelena Jankovic’s choice for the Australian Open, but the Serb made a last-minute switch, opted for a solid yellow piece in Melbourne and saved the launch of this memorable print for February. The sleeveless V-neck brings an extra stylish touch to the flattering fit. The Serb complemented the look with super trendy boxer braids and coordinating manicure. We expected nothing less from JJ!
Venus Williams is successful in everything she gets her hands on. The tennis legend not only won the Taiwan Open for her 49th career title, but she did it in her brand new EleVen Camilla Rose collection. After finding inspiration in brushstrokes for the Australian Open, in February the American introduced a blue botanical burst and lifted the floral Kaohsiung trophy in the EleVen Camilla Print Inspire Cap Sleeve paired with the EleVen Camilla Inspire Skirt, both featuring contrast crisscross stripes.
The collection celebrates the abundance of spring in perfect bloom, using washed layers of aqua, blue atoll and white grounded by limoges, a stunning shade of navy, and offering a harmonious group of solid color options to be matched with printed items.
The story of this black and floral Lotto Ursula line, as seen here on Jana Cepelova and Carla Suárez Navarro, is an intriguing one. The reason you cannot find these clothes on your go-to tennis shopping sites is that it is fitness and training apparel meant to be worn during practice and interviews. But, according to Lotto, the WTA players fell in love with the tropical dream pattern and since the shape, style and quality of materials allow it, a great deal of Lotto’s athletes chose to sport the clothes during matches. The Italian company is glad about this unexpected development.
Now that you’ve seen them all, who is your pick for February’s WTA best dressed?
Roberta Vinci takes on Timea Babos in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Johanna Konta overcame a tricky opponent and gusty conditions to advance to the second round of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme, defeating Mariana Duque-Mariño 6-3, 6-3.
Watch live action from Monterrey & Kuala Lumpur this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
The last time Konta played in Monterrey was back in 2014, when the then-No.120-ranked Brit fell in the second round of qualifying to Belinda Bencic.
But a lot has changed in the two years since that disappointing result. Building up confidence from her strong showing in 2015 and even better start at this year’s Australian Open, Konta needed just over an hour to book her spot into the second round.
Konta’s last match in Mexico was last week in the hot and humid Acapulco, but the conditions couldn’t be more different in Monterrey, which is located on the foothills of the Sierra Madre in the northeast. Konta and Duque-Mariño faced dry and windy conditions throughout their match.
“It was a tough match, the conditions changed within the match itself,” Konta said after the match. “There’s not much I can do about the wind, so it would be silly for it to bother me.
“It’s an external thing, so you’ve just got to deal with it.”
Konta showed signs of her famed emotional stability early on – she came up with two break opportunities against Duque-Mariño and despite being unable to convert them, she stayed cool to grab the third break point and go up 4-2 in the opening set. She kept up the lead, dictating the points with her heavy forehand and closing out the set 6-3.
The Brit felt more pushback from Duque-Mariño in the second set – Konta broke at 2-1 to get ahead but the Colombian’s crafty slices forced a pair of forehand errors to bring up break point. Konta buried her serve into the net and handed the break right back for 2-2. She went on to win four of the next five games, taking the match at 6-3, 6-3.
“I had a very competitive match against a very good player,” Konta said of her No.74-ranked Colombian opponent. “I had to compete really hard and really stay focused, I’m happy I came through in the end.”
Another Brit is also through to the second round at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme; No.84-ranked Heather Watson battled past Misaki Doi in a three-set thriller. She overcame a shutout in the second set tiebreak to win the match 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-3 after two hours and 47 minutes. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni advanced to the second round with a win over Tatjana Maria, 7-5, 6-4. No.6 seed Alison Van Uytvanck wrapped up the day’s action with a comfortable win over Irina Falconi, 6-4, 6-2.
Top seed Simona Halep and former doubles No.1 Martina Hingis traveled to the Faberge Museum before beginning their week at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
The opening service games of the season have been full of surprises, but with her booming delivery, World No.45 Timea Babos has been holding comfortably thus far in 2016.
“It’s my strongest shot,” she told WTA Insider before her first round match at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme. “I like to play aggressive tennis, and it helps to be aggressive with a good serve.”
Babos has hit a tour-leading 76 aces through 12 matches, a stat that has helped her halve her ranking in a matter of weeks – shattering a former career-high of No.59 – and earn big wins over the likes of Sara Errani and Eugenie Bouchard.
“So far, it’s all working really well because I’m improving and enjoying my tennis a lot. I’m so motivated, and it’s all just getting better and better.”
The former junior prodigy has always excelled in doubles, winning three girl’s doubles majors with Sloane Stephens and finishing one match shy of Wimbledon glory in 2014 with Kristina Mladenovic. A strong season with the Frenchwoman – one that included a rare win over Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza – booked the heavy-hitting Hungarian her debut appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global last fall.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable; all of the luxuries and spectacle there are definitely worth working towards. I was really excited, proud and honored to be there, and I think it was a good experience.
“I’m still learning a lot, day by day at my age. I’m only 22, so it’s been a good process and I’m ‘processing’ in every way. It can be motivating – although I think I’m already pretty motivated,” she added with a laugh. “But it can just motivate me that much more, that it’s really worth the work every day knowing that, if you work hard, you can reach the highest levels.”
Babos’ brush with the big stage in Singapore left her with renewed determination to restore the balance between her disparate singles and doubles rankings, opting to further extend her season by playing pair of WTA 125K Series Tournaments in Asia – winning one in Taipei.
“Last year we had big goals in doubles. Obviously, I also had goals with singles, but Singapore was one of the main focuses. During the year, I couldn’t play all the singles tournaments I would have wanted because of doubles, and it wasn’t easy to make a good schedule with my singles ranking and with my doubles ranking combined.
“After Singapore, I thought it would be good to finish the year strong and try to make it easier to schedule tournaments from the beginning of the year. Thankfully everything went well, and it’s true: it’s a lot easier to make a schedule when you have a better ranking in both!”
She took that momentum into a productive (albeit unusually truncated) off-season with longtime coach Thomas Drouet – who led Marion Bartoli through a victorious Wimbledon fortnight in 2013 – and rang in the New Year with a run to the semifinals of the Shenzhen Open.
“We had our two-year ‘anniversary’ – if you could call it that – on the 19th of February, and it’s going really, really well. I enjoy working with him and I’ve learned a lot; he’s worked with top players before and has had many good results. He’s helped me a lot to improve every day, and we enjoy our job together.
“We like to step on court every day, even if it’s seven in the morning or 10 at night. Whenever we’re on court, we just try our best to improve.”
The improvements have been particularly evident on serve, which has evolved from a strength to a true weapon, the cornerstone of an all-out offensive strategy.
“We changed my technique a little bit, and it’s working out well. I’m more consistent with my first serve percentage, and more accurate with my spots. This is my strength, and my most confident shot. If I really trust in it, I can build my game around it, so I think it can give me a good base.”
Holding serve nearly 80% of the time, Babos draws inspiration from World No.1 Serena Williams as she grows more adept at using the shot to stand up to high-pressure situations – saving 65% of all break points faced this season.
“If you look at Serena, she might not always at her best from the baseline, but her serve is so unbelievable that it can cause trouble for everyone, and it also takes her out trouble. It can be an important shot.”
Hers has been key to this vein of consistency, as the big server comes to Monterrey with back-to-back wins at all but one of her tournaments in 2016 – the Australian Open, where she reached the second round for the first time in her career.
“I wasn’t consistent enough, and this is what was missing from my game last year. Since October, I’ve moved up about 40 spots in the rankings, which is definitely a big improvement. I’ve had consistent results so far this year – nothing huge, but still more consistent as I continue to work a lot on both the physical and mental aspects of my game.”
This week in Monterrey represents a return to where it all began for Babos, who burst through a window of opportunity to capture her first title in back in 2012, upsetting former No.1 Ana Ivanovic en route to the quarterfinals 12 months later as the defending champion.
“I was last in because Serena pulled out at the last minute. The day before I didn’t even know I’d be competing, and then all of the sudden I was in the main draw, going on to win the singles. The year after I won again, in doubles.
“Every year I have good fun here, and I have good memories. I just like the place; there is a little bit of altitude, which I really, really like. I also love the food, especially guacamole! This is one thing that makes me happy every day that I can have it.
“It all comes together, and so I’m really happy to come back and play here because of the good memories I have.”
Memories of her time atop the junior rankings – where she peaked at No.2 back in 2010 – also propel her forward as she and her former rivals continue to make strides on the WTA circuit.
“Our age group is actually one of the strongest of the past couple of years. We have so many good players born in ’93 and ’94. I won Grand Slams with Sloane, and played a lot with Kiki. I also played so many matches against Genie and the Pliskova sisters.
“I think it’s very good to always have these girls around. It gives a little bit of motivation to see that, if one of us can do well, then why not the other?”
Success is still very much an abstract concept for Babos, even as she finds herself quickly catching up to the rest of her cohort. But a positive mindset might be all she needs to start serving notice on the game’s biggest stages.
“My goal is to stay humble, to work hard and try my best every time I step on court, and to have fun. I really believe that if all that happens, I can have my good results and everything will happen how it should.
“I’m going to try the best I can and then we’ll see what happens.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
No.1 seed Elina Svitolina made her way to the Taiwan Open quarterfinals after edging past Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in a tight straight sets.
MONTERREY, México – Monterrey is a long way – culturally, geographically and meteorologically – from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s hometown of Samara.
However, the city will always be a home away from home for Pavlyuchenkova. In 2010, Monterrey’s Sierra Madre Tennis Club was the site for a teenage Pavlyuchenkova’s maiden WTA title and the subsequent years have brought two further titles and countless more memories.
Unfortunately for the Russian, this year’s visit to the Abierto Monterrey Afirme ended in disappointment – a first-round loss to Pauline Parmentier dashing hopes of a fourth trophy and first at the tournament’s new home, Club Sonoma.
During her stay, the 24-year-old did have time to sit down and discuss her unlikely journey from bashing balls on the banks of the Volga to the top of the women’s game.
Elena Vesnina takes on Alizé Cornet in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.