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Kontaveit Conquers Wozniacki

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NOTTINGHAM, Great Britain – 20-year-old Anett Kontaveit clinched one of the biggest wins of her young career, recovering from a set down to defeat No.3 seed Caroline Wozniacki, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5, to reach her second WTA quarterfinal of 2016.

“She’s a really tough player, and I’m so happy to be through,” she said after the match. “I managed to play my game, and do that every point.”

Wozniacki was playing just her second match since skipping the clay court season due to a right ankle injury, but appeared on course for a decisive, if tense, victory over Kontaveit, edging out a tie-break and trading 12 straight service holds deep into the second set.

“It was tough losing the first set, but I guess that’s how tennis goes. Sometimes you win those close points, sometimes you lose them. But you just have to keep fighting. The tactic was to try to put her under pressure, be aggressive. That’s how I play.”

But the World No.97, who made her major breakthrough last summer by reaching the fourth round of the US Open, came out on the winning end of a trio of service breaks, leveling the match to force a decider.

“The match was up and down, but she played well, so hats off to her,” Wozniacki said. “At the end of the day, I’m just happy that I’m able to play again. One step in the right direction, and from here I’ll just move forward, know what I can work on and hopefully get better. The main thing is that my ankle is holding up, so I’m pleased with that.

“Before I came here, I was a little worried; I didn’t know if it would hold up or not. But after my first match it felt good, and this morning I felt surprisingly well, compared to how I thought I was going to feel. So today, I just played, and didn’t have to think about it.

“I’m disappointed to have lost today, especially when you’re so close. But it is what it is, and all in all, I got a couple of matches, and hopefully it’s onwards and upwards from here.”

Kontaveit raced out to a 4-1, double-break lead in the final set before the Dane showed the sort of mettle that helped her reach the No.1 ranking, pushing the Estonian youngster back to win four straight games to get within four points of victory.

“I was a little nervous, but then I loosened up, and swung more freely once I was down 5-4,” Kontaveit said. “4-1 is still far away from victory, but I could definitely feel the pressure. She played a couple of good games and was returning well. It was a little unlucky, but I managed to stay loose.”

With one last momentum swing, Kontaveit held her nerve and served out the upset victory in two hours and 12 minutes.

Up next for the Estonian is American Alison Riske, who dispatched Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday.

“She’s had good wins, and likes playing on grass, and it’s going to be a tough match-up, but I’m going to try to do my best, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Earlier in the day, top seed Karolina Pliskova got revenge on Anna Tatishvili, who beat her in the first round of the US Open, with a 6-1, 6-3 win in under an hour. Tatishvili defeated Pliskova’s doubles partner and twin sister Kristyna on Monday; the former World No.7 cited their doubles win on Monday with helping her better transition onto grass courts.

“I just came from clay, so every match is important,” she said after the match. “It’s better than practicing, so I just enjoyed playing with her. It’s something different. With Kristyna, we didn’t play for a long time. In the end I think it helped me because my serves and returns were better today.”

Better would be an understatement from Pliskova, who maintained an 83% first serve percentage in the first set, missing just three first serves and winning 14 of 15 points when getting the first serve in to set up a quarterfinal match with either Andrea Hlavackova or Ashleigh Barty, a former junior standout in the midst of a full-scale comeback after an extended hiatus.

“I think she was frustrated by my serve in the first set and half of the second set. I didn’t hit that many aces in the second set, and that was probably the biggest difference between the two sets. But I got nearly every first serve in in the first set, and that’s so important on grass.”

Monica Puig put down an emphatic 6-3, 6-0 win over Michelle Larcher de Brito, who has enjoyed some of her best results on grass courts.

“I’m just feeling really solid in every part of my game,” Puig said in her post-match press conference. I’m just trying to continue this good form, and play as smart as I can.

“I’ve made the fourth round at Wimbledon once, so I know what it’s like to play well on grass, and how good I have to feel out there. It’s about transitioning from a slow game to a much faster one. I’m happy with how I’ve started so far.

“She obviously likes to get the first strike of the ball, so getting a good amount of decent first serves in was very nice. She had some incredible shots that I had to chase down, but I was able to turn defense into offense quite a few times, and that was very nice.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova began her title defense at the Apia International Sydney with a decisive 6-1, 6-4 win over Irina-Camelia Begu.

“I started the year quite good with the feeling on court,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Sometimes the results don’t go with how you’re feeling, but I feel very good at the start of the year.”

It was a year ago that Kuznetsova came to Sydney to begin what would become her best season in nearly six years, but shrugged off the pressure of going for a second straight victory.

“I’m not thinking about defending my title. The trophy is at home and nobody can take it away from me. This is another year and another opportunity to play. I always feel like I need a lot of matches at the start of the year. I remember going to Auckland and not winning a single match. Then I came here and it gave me matches, confidence.

“If I played five weeks in a row at the end of last year, I can do three or four weeks here.”

The Russian veteran showed off similar form for much of the match against Begu, who struggled through the 31 minute opening set.

Winning 10 of the first 12 games, the former World No.2 was on course for a seamless victory before the Romanian mounted a mini-comeback, drawing even at 4-4 in the second.

“What happened? What typically happens in a tennis match. I think I started to play more defensively, and she felt like she had nothing to lose. I got too passive.

“We practiced in December because she was also in Dubai; we played a practice match and that was good because I was able to remember her game.

“It’s a different style; she stays farther behind the baseline, not so much inside. She serves good, and it was hard to read.

Kuznetsova closed the door from there, and served out her spot in the second round, where she’ll meet either 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur or compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“Overall, I think I did good, except for those four games when I didn’t play so good.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – No.10 seed Caroline Wozniacki survived a titanic tussle against Olympic tennis event winner Monica Puig, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to advance into the second round of the Apia International Sydney.

“It’s a tough match, because, you know, you kind of feel, like, oh, I’m winning pretty comfortably right now, but then she can go on a streak, starts hitting winners, has such a good serve,” the Dane explained in her post-match press conference. “That’s where it started going in in the second set, and then the third set I tried to stay closer to the baseline and maybe play a little deeper.

“It paid off. But, yeah,  win is a win. I’ll take it.”

Wozniacki had just come off a quarterfinal appearance at the ASB Classic, while Puig was looking for her first win of the season, having dropped her opening round match to Elina Svitolina at the Brisbane International. The No.10 seed broke at her first opportunity and held on for dear life to start the match, gutting out a five-deuce game to hold for 5-2 and ultimately serve out the opening set in 47 minutes.

Puig served notice last summer when she took home Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic gold medal, but was even more impressive off the return in the second set, break serve three times to level the match.

Much like the first set, Wozniacki broke early in the third and never let go, even as Puig showed all her mettle to hold in a six-deuce game at 3-1 in the decider.

“I changed up my practice quite a bit. I did a lot of other things, probably spent more time on court than I have in a long time and less time in the gym, actually.

“That was a big change for me, because I have worked so hard on my fitness and worked so hard on trying to prevent injuries.

“But at the end of the day, I think I sometimes need to ease off a little bit. I guess I’m not a spring chicken anymore. Sometimes less is more.”

Clinching victory on her first match point, Wozniacki booked a second-round encounter with Yulia Putintseva.

“I was proud of how I managed to just keep grinding today. I feel pretty good. I’m not nervous about my form. I think it’s going to be fine.”

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Choose Your WTA Starting Lineup!

Choose Your WTA Starting Lineup!

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The tennis season may have just switched to grass, but there’s already another big competition taking kicking off on the turf: Euro 2016. The competition, which starts today in France, pits the best national teams in Europe against one other. Along with the Copa America – which is already underway in the United States – there’s a lot of football going on!

So we got to thinking: if WTA players were a national team, who would be in our starting lineup?

Here’s our official WTA starting lineup:

WTA Starting Line-Up

The WTA plays in a classic 4-4-2 formation, which means that along with a goalkeeper, we’re fielding four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers.

Think you could pick a better team? Who would you chose to be in your starting lineup?

FORWARDS:

We’re playing with two strikers in our WTA XI, so of course we’re starting two of the most powerful attack-minded players in the game:

· Serena Williams

· Garbiñe Muguruza

We certainly think our choices are solid, but these two definitely aren’t the only ones who know how to take their scoring opportunities. Maybe

 some of the players listed on the right would make a better choice?

Cast your vote here!

 

 

 

 

MIDFIELDERS:

Players in this position are known to be skillful and patient, turning defense into offence on a dime.

For the midfielders in our WTA XI, we’re going with some of the most creative players known for their variety:

· Agnieszka Radwanska

· Simona Halep

· Timea Bacsinszky

· Belinda Bencic

Who would you put in your midfield? Would you stick with these or chose some of the players on the right?

Choose your players here!

 

DEFENDERS:

Defenders have to be rock-solid in order to diffuse all attacks.

Our WTA XI is full of the most consistent, defense-minded returners and counter punchers:

· Angelique Kerber

· Victoria Azarenka

· Sara Errani

· Caroline Wozniacki

These four seem solid to us, but would a player listed at right do a better job in defense? 

Take your pick now!

 

 

GOALKEEPERS:

The last line of defense, goalkeepers are known for their quick reflexes, being good on the stretch but most importantly: they’re tall.

In our WTA XI, we trust our goal in the hands of:

· Petra Kvitova

We believe in our goalkeeper Kvitova, but maybe you’d have a different choice in mind?

Cast your vote right here!

 

You’ve got one week to cast your votes and chose your WTA Starting Lineup. You can vote as many times as you want right here on wtatennis.com. Votes will be tallied up on Friday, June 17 and we’ll find out who you chose for your WTA XI.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY, Australia – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won an all-Russian battle with defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova to advance into the quarterfinals of the Apia International Sydney.

“I’m really happy, not only because she’s defending champion, but also my fellow player,” she said after the match. “She’s Top 10 and has had a really incredible year last year. I knew it’d be a really tough match and I was just trying to play good tennis, and take this as prep for Melbourne.”

Pavlyuchenkova had lost five of her last six encounters with her veteran compatriot, and things seemed to be moving in similar fashion to start Tuesday’s match.

Kuznetsova twice moved ahead by a break of serve to start, and served for the opening set at 5-4, only to see Pavlyuchenkova reel off the last three games to nab just her third set from her fellow Russian.

“I think I did everything well! I wasn’t serving as well as I did yesterday; I was a little upset with that, but I’m so happy that even with a lower first-serve percentage, that I was able to win the match in two sets.”

The pair exchanged breaks early in the second, with last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist moving ahead 5-2 after a long service game, eventually clinching the win in one hour and 38 minutes.

“It’s just very different conditions here; last week was my first match of the year, plus it was cold, windy, with fast courts. I had Goerges there and she was just serving bombs so it was difficult for me to get into any rallies.

“I had zero expectations here; I was just trying to enjoy the tennis, but it’s working good so far.”

Up next for Pavlyuchenkova is either Eugenie Bouchard or No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova.

“Cibulkova had an incredible year last year as well; she won the Masters and is in really good form. She’s a great fighter. I’ve never played Bouchard before. I don’t think we’ve even practiced together. I don’t know what to expect so I think I’ll watch some of their match today.”

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WTA Players #PrayForOrlando

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

 

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