Tennis News

EASTBOURNE, England – No.11 seed Johanna Konta is back into the quarterfinals at the Aegon International Eastbourne after coming back from a set down to oust two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

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Konta, an Eastbourne resident, has enjoyed vocal support from the home crowd at the event that last year saw her reach her career-first Premier-level quarterfinal. But the levelheaded Brit, as always, keeps even the support at arms’ length.

“Quite honestly, it makes a difference in the sense that it’s nice to be at home,” she said ahead of the match. “But in terms of how I mentally prepare or how much I let in, it does not make a difference.I really do try to keep myself in my own head space.”

The Brit has faced off against the No.5 seed Kvitova once before, when Kvitova halted Konta’s big breakthrough at last year’s US Open in the round of 16. Konta learned her lessons and, despite facing the Czech on her best surface, was able to put her nerves aside and defeat her, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.

“She plays incredibly well on the grass,” Konta acknowledged. “She’s a two-time Wimbledon champion, so I think her results speak for themselves.

“I just need to stay in points when I need to but also look to take my opportunities whenever they arise.”

That’s easier said than done against the two-time Grand Slam champion – something that Konta discovered early on in the first set when she saw her 5-2 lead erased by Kvitova. Konta was serving for the set – she even held a set point – when Kvitova broke serve and rattled off the next four games to turn the match around on the Brit.

“I told myself to just really keep going,” Konta said. “Really keep in mind the things that I did well and take as much from that as I can. I just tried to have a very short memory and keep moving forward, keep moving on.”

Konta switched up her strategy against Kvitova in the second and third sets, becoming more aggressive on the return to neutralize Kvitova’s powerful serve and keep her back on her heels. She won over 70% of the points behind her first serve in the last two sets, whereas Kvitova struggled to put pressure on Konta, and couldn’t bring up a break point in the final sets.

Konta grabbed a decisive break in the fifth game of the second set, then dealt Kvitova a surprising bagel set to close out the match after two hours and fourteen minutes.

“I’m not sure there are words that are big enough to describe that win!” Konta grinned after the match.

“It’s definitely one of my biggest wins, even though I don’t think she’s in the Top 10 this week. She has been a Top 10 player or Top 5 player for years and years and years now.

“She really is a champion, and so I am very happy with the level I was able to produce, you know, even if it didn’t go my way and just kept plugging away throughout that whole match.”

Konta will face the winner of the round of 16 match between Andrea Petkovic and Ekaterina Makarova which has been postponed for tomorrow due to rain.

“I'm not sure there are words big enough to describe it!”

-@JoKonta91 reaction after defeating Kvitova https://t.co/T20is8UVla

— WTA (@WTA) June 22, 2016

EASTBOURNE, Great Britain – Monica Puig enjoyed another stellar win in the quarterfinals of the Aegon International, outlasting Kristina Mladenovic, 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3, to reach the semifinals in Eastbourne.

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The Puerto Rican starlet needed to qualify just to reach the main draw in Eastbourne, but has played incredible tennis this week, Mladenovic in an over two hour epic.

“I don’t think today was the same quality match as yesterday,” Puig said, referring to her thrilling win over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday. “I missed a little bit more, there were more double faults, felt like a million to me, but, you know, the most important thing is I was able to put those behind me and just keep focusing on what I had to do next, which is very important.

“I always try to stay as positive as possible, but it definitely does feel good to get this win under my belt and move into the semis.”

Puig was the only one to finish her quarterfinal on a rainy Thursday in Eastbourne. Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska edged ahead by a set and a break over rival Dominika Cibulkova before their match was ultimately washed out, and Karolina Pliskova was on fire to start her quarterfinal against 2013 champion Elena Vesnina – losing three points in the first four and a half games – before their match was also halted.

In another jam-packed order of play, the quarterfinals and semifinals are set to conclude on Friday, leading of with Radwanska and Cibulkova on Centre Court, followed by the quarterfinal encounter between No.11 seed Johanna Konta and Ekaterina Makarova, who finished off Andrea Petkovic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Thursday.

Can World No.1 Serena Williams find that Wimbledon magic and complete her quest to match Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles? Will No.2 Garbiñe Muguruza set aside any French Open hangover to complete the Channel Slam? Or is there another champion lying in wait?

WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen is joined by Reem Abulleil, tennis reporter for Sport360.com, to dissect the draw and preview the third major of the year.

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA — Ajla Tomljanovic is just happy to be back. The 23-year-old was speaking to reporters less than an hour after a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Julia Goerges in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. Indian Wells was just her second tournament back after undergoing shoulder surgery in March of last year, with her first tournament coming last week in Acapulco, where she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in her first match.

Currently ranked No.664, Tomljanovic could finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that after nearly a year away she could still hang with the best.

“A loss has never felt so good,” Tomljanovic said. “I’ve never been this upbeat after a loss, so that’s a good sign.

“I’d be so unfair to myself to be disappointed in myself at this point. Of course you’re disappointed at a loss. You’re a competitive athlete. But it lasted for 30 seconds.”

That was more than fun ??? pic.twitter.com/VL8JkoezcH

— Ajla Tomljanovic (@Ajlatom) March 2, 2017

With her return to the tour, Tomljanovic brings a new perspective and appreciation for life on tour. Prior to her surgery, the Croatian reached a career-high of No.47 in 2015, making her first final in Pattaya City that year and notching her first top-five scalp, beating Agnieszka Radwanska at the 2014 French Open to make the Round of 16.

“It just feels like I’ve been away for decades,” she said. “This time last year I was supposed to play here and I had surgery when it started. My surgeon told me, ‘You’ll be back next year at that tournament.’ I thought my level, is it ever going to be there again?

“Just to be here and be competitive with these girls, I’m not far off. It’s the little things now that are important. It’s just encouraging.”

This was the best thing that I've seen in a long long time https://t.co/PHRzvtkE9E

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) March 1, 2017

Tomljanovic admits her time away from the game was difficult. She was unable to play tennis for six months after her surgery but could not bring herself to use the time purposefully.

“I probably wasted a good four months being depressed,” she said. “Not depressed, but not doing anything with my life. Now I probably regret it a little bit. My dad was like, ‘Take classes, go do stuff’. But at the same time I’m constantly doing rehab. I couldn’t shut off completely that part of my life. I wasn’t mentally able to start something new. I had no motivation. My parents didn’t push me because I’m not a kid anymore. Now I kind of wish they did.”

But Tomljanovic slowly came to terms with life without tennis. Paradoxically, the realization that she did not need the sport allowed her to appreciate the opportunity to play again.

“Honestly, yeah, I could totally be super happy without playing.

“I know tennis is not your whole life, I know there are so many things in your life that are more important. But at the same time, it’s so precious. The 10 years in your life you can spend like this, look at how many people can do it. I probably appreciate it way more. I’ll never say I hate tennis ever again.”

Tomljanovic’s game is built around her booming serve, and that’s the shot that will take the longest time to get back online. Her consistency off the ground and her return game in particular have exceeded her expectations so far. “Even I was like, whoa,” Tomljanovic said, when asked about how well she returned against Bouchard in Acapulco.

The road ahead will not be an easy one. Tomljanovic earned a spot in the main draw of Acapulco via a special ranking of No.75, and entered Indian Wells similarly. She has also received a wildcard into the Miami Open. Unless she racks up immediate results, she’ll be back to battling it out on the ITF circuit to build her ranking back up.

“It’s gonna be a grind,” she said. “I’m going to have to play a lot, lose a lot, win a lot hopefully, in the end. But it’s going to be a long way back. Even though I had an okay match here, I won one match last week, there will be a lot of matches where nobody is watching. It’s okay. I’m happy to play anywhere.”

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova roared back from a set down to dispatch Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, to complete the top half’s third round line up at the BNP Paribas Open.

“I’m definitely happy I had my serve today; it was working with me, especially in the third set when I was 0-3 down,” she noted during her on-court interview. “I’m happy with the win. It wasn’t easy; she was playing really well, hitting the balls really fast and deep, making it tough for me to play my game. But I’m happy.

“It was far from what my plan was to play, and how my game should be,” she added to WTA Insider. “I don’t think I deserved to win tonight, but it happened.”

Beautiful backhand winner from @MonicaAce93! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/IHsKnDmWm5

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017

Puig had never taken a set from her Czech rival, but nonetheless began the night session in the sort of form that helped her win the Olympic tennis event in Rio de Janeiro, breaking Pliskova four times to sweep the opening set.

“The whole match was more about her; the one thing on my side was my serve, which is definitely better than hers. The baseline game was off for me and she was hitting so well. I couldn’t play aggressive, or play my game. When I put in a second serve she was being aggressive.

“I wasn’t feeling this bad in a long time!”

Excellent backhand return from @KaPliskova! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/a8N0O8NLDi

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017

Undaunted, the Brisbane International and Qatar Total Open champion dug in her heels from there, earning several service breaks of her own and serving out the second set to level the match.

“I was just waiting for my chances; I know she can miss some shots when things get closer, and that’s what she did. But then I started terrible in the third set; at least it was just one break there.”

The Puerto Rican No.1 took another quick lead to start the decider, racing out to 3-0 as the upset appeared inevitable. But Pliskova fought through a long sixth game to help turn the tide once and for all, winning six of the last seven games to book her spot in the third round.

“First rounds are always tough, especially for the seeds because of the pressure. She’d had a match already, so that helped her. I was also practicing during the day, so the conditions were definitely different. Hopefully I got something from this and I can learn and move on.

“It can’t get any worse than today!”

.@KaPliskova reels off FOUR straight games and takes a 4-3 lead over Puig in the deciding set! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/JVsd9Ljz2e

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017

In all, Pliskova hit 19 winners to 34 unforced errors and converted five of her seven break point opportunities. Puig proved the greater aggressor in the match, but 37 unforced errors canceled out her 32 impressive winners.

“All my practices were good, and nothing was close to this. I surprised myself with how I was playing. She was playing fast, plus the conditions, and I ended up framing so many shots.

“I’d beaten her three times before, but she can play really good tennis. She maybe gave me a few games and that’s why she lost, but otherwise she was playing great.”

Up next for the World No.3 is No.28 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, who defeated American Louisa Chirico, 6-1, 7-5.

“My sister played her in Australia. I know she can hit good shots; her backhand side is really good. I have to be more aggressive and bring more power; today was so bad!”

Comeback complete!@KaPliskova battles past Puig 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 for a spot in @BNPParibasOpen Third round! #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/SD6sVy10If

— WTA (@WTA) March 11, 2017