Tennis News

ZHUHAI, China – Petra Kvitova concluded a stellar Asian Swing with yet another title, taking home the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai crown after a 6-4, 6-2. The former World No.2 and Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open winner moved up to No.11 on the WTA rankings, and is eager to make up for lost ground at the start of next season.

WTA Insider caught up with Kvitova after her emphatic win over Svitolina to talk about the Wuhan-Zhuhai double, what it means to find herself on the tennis court, and why she’ll key in on improving her serve and return during the off-season.

WTA Insider: On a scale from 1-10, how tired are you feeling right now?
Kvitova: I don’t think I’m that tired. I just feel my entire body is sore, so I’ll need to take a few days off to get ready for the Fed Cup tie. I’m really looking forward, but it’s a little bit difficult. I’m a little bit tired, but winning always helps me recover faster.

WTA Insider: You managed to win Wuhan and Zhuhai this year, much like Venus Williams in 2015. What is it about these courts that go hand-in-hand for players?
Kvitova: I’m not really sure, but it’s kind of funny that both of us won the same tournaments at the end of the season. I’m not sure, but maybe the courts are a little bit faster for our games. We both play aggressive, and have good serves. I think that pays off for us.

WTA Insider: You talked a lot about finding yourself in our last interview; I’m curious what that means to you. Is it about finding yourself personally, or professionally? You mentioned in press that you felt you’d rediscovered your game.
Kvitova: I think it’s both, personal and tennis things. I’ve always loved to play tennis, but it can get tough when I’m not feeling confident, and not playing as well as I should. These couple of matches that I’ve won in the last couple of weeks have really helped my confidence. I did find myself, and that means I’ve found my game again. I’m not afraid to go for my shots, even if I miss them sometimes. I’m still trying to go for it, serve better, and put pressure on my opponent. That’s something I don’t think I was really doing at the start of the season. Of course, there were other small things also happening in my life, as well. But sometimes it’s just important to go through all of these things to find yourself.

WTA Insider: You’ve also mentioned that potentially not having a coach helped you find yourself. What you’re trying to find yourself – be it your game, or personally – did it help to not have too many extra voices around, and just to focus on you and what you’re thinking and feeling?
Kvitova: Personally, I’m always trying to look at things more positively than negatively. I do have David, who is my fitness coach. He’s traveling a lot with me right now, and he’s helping a lot. He’s not a tennis coach, so I’m doing tactics and practicing by myself. It’s a little bit funny and it’s all a learning process for me. It’s nice to have this experience, and I’m just glad that I’ve had it. It’ll be good for the future for me to have had these sorts of things happen. Everything new can be good for you if you take it positively. Not having a tennis coach is a little bit tricky; I’m glad I played more matches so I didn’t really have to practice that much. That was helpful!

WTA Insider: What does a Petra Kvitova practice session look like? If and when you do add a coach to your team, will you then expect to collaborate with him? Now that you’ve had this independence, how tough will it be to give it up?
Kvitova: I think everything is about compromise and communication. I hope that when I find a good coach, we’ll be able to sit and talk about how everything looks with my game and schedule. I’m not sure that I’ll tell him about this experience, for sure. I’m not really a person that needs to practice five hours a day. Of course, preparation is a different story, but at tournaments, I really need to focus on the game and have good energy for the matches. That’s one thing I’ve learned, and I hope it’ll work.

WTA Insider: Briefly going back to the final today, and having five straight wins over Svitolina coming into the match. What is it about her ball that makes you comfortable on the court, especially with all the improvements she’s made?
Kvitova: Those wins helped me with my confidence. In the last match, I was also a break down in the beginning of the match, and I was still able to turn it around. That helped me today when I was on the court, having that in mind. I can’t say she plays a comfortable game, but I just know I need to play aggressively. She likes to play aggressively too, so I just need to be the first one who is putting pressure on her and play what I can. Sometimes, it ends up being a longer rally than I’d like, but that’s the game. She’s doing what she has to do to beat me. She’s thinking as well, so fair enough. I think my serve helped me a lot and I need to return well, which I was doing pretty good today. In the rallies, she’s really going for it, so it’s just about the few points, and what turned the match on my side.

WTA Insider: You’ve talked about the serve a lot this week. When people think of you and your game, they think of the forehand, the power and precision behind that shot. How important do you feel focusing on the serve will be heading into 2017?
Kvitova: I think that’s the key point, for sure. The serve and return are the beginning of the rallies, and those are very important for putting pressure on your opponent right away. I need to improve my second serve next season. Of course, my forehand is a big one, but I need to work on that, as well. I still miss too many shots over there, but I think overall, it’s pretty good. The power is still the key for me to play well. I just need to keep it there.

WTA Insider: Finally, you’re heading home tonight. Will you be flying home or straight to France ahead of the Fed Cup final?
Kvitova: I’ll be flying to Prague, and then taking a car to go to Strasbourg, so that’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the team. We have a great team, so I can’t wait to be with them over there. It’ll be the last week of the season, so it’s great to have it then, as well.

WTA Insider: One last ride with the Czech Fed Cup team?
Kvitova: Exactly!

All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.

PARIS, France – A brief delay truncated the order of play again on Day 2 of Roland Garros, but the first round got underway in earnest by afternoon; catch up with the biggest storylines as Tuesday’s matches came to a close. 

Aga and Simona roll, Muguruza survives: No one is talking about No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanksa here in Paris, but she rolled through her opener against Bojana Jovanovski, losing just two games. She’ll have a much trickier task in the second round against Caroline Garcia, who played a sharp match to beat Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets.

Not be outdone on the day, Simona Halep matched Radwanska’s feat, losing two games to Nao Hibino. She plays Zarina Diyas next.

It was a different story for No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who needed three sets to get past a slumping Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was Schmiedlova’s 12th consecutive tour-level loss this year. Muguruza chalked up her slow start to, well, her headphones. The Spaniard didn’t hear her match announced over the loudpseaker and had just 10 minutes to warm up.

“I think I had the music on or something,” she said. “I didn’t really listen when someone talks with the speaker. The supervisor came, and they’re like, We’re waiting for you. I’m like, No way. I start to do running and jumping fast. So I didn’t have the time to really warm up.”

Cagla Buyukackay makes history: Buyukackay became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to win a match at a Slam, as she rallied to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2. You’ll hear more from Cagla on Tuesday.

Heather Watson streaks to a big win: Watson’s first round match against her doubles partner Nicole Gibbs was suspended on Sunday due to rain, with Gibbs serving up a break and a point away from consolidating at 2-1 in the third. On Monday’s resumption, Watson would save that game point and go on to win five straight games to win, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

“My first goal was to win that first point, because I knew it was very important. I could have been 3-1 down and just one point,” Watson said. “I actually had a talk with my coach and we talked for five minutes about how we’re going to play that first point. Once I got that, I think I just kind of settled. Especially once that game was done, I started swinging through.”

Currently ranked No.56, the win was a big one for Watson’s Olympic qualifying chances. She’ll play No.13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.

Roberta Vinci’s early exit: The highest seed to fall after the first two days in Paris: No.7 seed Roberta Vinci. The Italian has struggled with her form since the tour turned to clay, her most uncomfortable surface. She left Paris winning just four games against Kateryna Bondarenko.

Tsvetana Pironkova gets a win on clay: When you think of clay, you don’t usually think of Pironkova, a 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist. The Bulgarian, now ranked No.102, thrives on fast, low-bouncing surfaces such as grass and very particular hard courts – remember that Sydney title? – but clay has been a challenge.

On Monday she faced off against one of the best clay courters on tour in former Roland Garros finalist and No.16 seed Sara Errani. The Italian came into Paris struggling, having gone 0-3 on European clay this season, and the lack of form showed. Pironkova rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 upset and will face Johanna Larsson in the second round.

Naomi Osaka continues to impress: The 18-year-old made the third round in her Grand Slam debut in January at the Australian Open. Now she’s into the second round at her French Open debut, beating No.32 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-5. She’ll play Mirjana Lucic-Baroni next.

Osaka admits she’s not adept on the red clay yet, but her game may be perfectly suited for the surface. Like many who grew up playing on green clay, the European red stuff has been a shock. “I was like, Oh, my God,” Osaka said when asked about her first reaction to red clay. “Because last year I didn’t really play red clay. I didn’t play any clay, I think, so technically this year is my first time on red clay.

“Oh, God,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know what I was thinking because it’s completely different…. It’s kind of slow, and then I’m just like, Oh, hardcourt, please. But, I mean, I have to adjust, so I can’t complain about it all the time.”

“I don’t have like a hateful relationship with clay. I used to think I was the queen of grinding and then I was like, Oh, now I have to hit. People that hit powerful do well on clay. They do well on any surface.”

Class of 1997: The young class of 1997 on tour has been a promising one. Belinda Bencic has obviously set the standard of the 18-year-olds, but Jelena Ostapenko, Daria Kasatkina, and Ana Konjuh have also been eying a surge forward. Osaka says there’s no rivalry between the young women. Just sources of motivation.

“They’re kind of doing better than me right now, but I don’t know,” Osaka said. “I am trying to do my own thing and I’m sure they’re trying to do their own thing. We’re all going for different goals that are kind of the same because everyone wants to be No.1 and stuff. I mean, I don’t have any like [ill will] – nothing but love. Like no negative feelings or anything towards anybody.”

Shelby Rogers ‘bolts’ into the second round: Read more about Rogers’ big upset over No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova here.

Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, and Victoria Azarenka ready for Tuesday: After two rain-addled days in Paris, the forecast looks positive for Tuesday, which means in an ideal world, the first round will conclude as scheduled. World No.1 Serena Williams gets underway against Magdalena Rybarikova, Kerber is on upset watch against Nuremberg champion Kiki Bertens, and Azarenka plays Karin Knapp.

Full order of play here.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

The French word for perfect is parfait, and while we’re in Paris it’s only fitting that USANA Ambassador Eugenie Bouchard shared with us her recipe for the perfect pre-match snack.

Yogurt is naturally loaded with nutrients like protein, calcium, and probiotics, while Genie adds fruits and grains for extra sweetness and crunch.

Here’s everything you need to make her delicious parfait:

USANA is the Official Vitamin & Supplement Supplier of the WTA, and over 170 Athletes – including 8 out of the Top 10 and 15 out of the Top 20 use USANA products. Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur, Eugenie Bouchard, and Madison Keys are among several USANA ambassadors, and 2016 marks the 10th Anniversary of the USANA-WTA partnership.