Tennis News

Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka got in touch with her cinematic side over the off-season, working with friends to produce an epic training montage in her home town of Minsk.

“I wanted to show a different side of me that is not out there in the world,” she told WTA Insider. “So I wanted to show my fans, the media, the people, who I am.

“I wanted it to show the behind the scenes of my preparation, and a little bit of my interests, as well. So there’s music, there’s art, and even motorcycles.

“It made my dream come true.”

With narrative quotes from rival Serena Williams and Azarenka herself audible under an original beat, the two-time Australian Open champion gets intense on a motorcycle and in front of a graffiti wall as she works out ahead of what she hopes will be her best season yet.

“I was running at home and I saw a whole movie in front of me,” she said, explaining her inspiration behind the 90-second clip. “I actually ran through the red light and I almost got hit by a car because I was so in the moment.

“I saw this and I wanted to do this video. My friends were like, ‘we can do it. We have equipment. How do you want to do it?'”

Involved throughout the creative process, the Brisbane International champion worked with friends on the project, and enjoyed giving her input through every aspect of the film.

“My friend and I worked on the music; he did most of it, but I kept giving him crap because he didn’t do it the right way.

“I may not play any instruments but I hear music in a very special way. So once he got the music it was easier to write the treatment.”

Starting the season ranked outside the Top 10 for only the second time in seven years, Azarenka is aiming for a complete renaissance in 2016, one that unveils a more finely tuned athlete and even more dynamic personality.

“I’ve done my research about what’s been said about me in the media world. They came up with a lot of different keywords and they were just about sports. I liked it but it was limited. I’m so much more than that.

“So when I have the opportunity I want to be in the world that I live in and I just want to be open and I just want to be me because I enjoy it.”

The end of a WTA season means something different for every player; some are relieved to return home to family and friends, while others can hardly sit still, and fly to the nearest exhibition event.

Alla Kudryavtseva needed a vacation.

A Top 20 doubles player who has been ranked as high as No.56 in singles – with wins over Maria Sharapova and Karolina Pliskova – the Russian had spent the summer playing a debut season of Mylan World TeamTennis – where she won Rookie of the Year playing for the Austin Aces – and the fall chasing one of the few remaining spots at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with partner, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“I was exhausted at the end of the year, and I didn’t even realize it until I had a chance to stop playing,” Kudryavtseva told WTA Insider after a practice session in Melbourne.

Narrowly missing out on a second straight Singapore appearance, she nonetheless enjoyed a week on site as a first alternate.

“I actually got to watch a lot of matches this time; I felt like a little bit like a fan! The first time I was there in 2014, I was trying to preserve energy and not watch too much, but this time I got to watch a lot of Maria Sharapova. She played so good, so powerful. Aga, of course, showed her magic and that was great as well. Just to be there in Singapore meant a lot.”

Hey @NastiaPav and @AllaK11! pic.twitter.com/GMPx6Ngf6E

— Becky! (@_strongiscaro) October 25, 2015

But the season wasn’t over yet.

“I wanted to avoid what happened this past week, which was that my singles ranking dropped to No.235. In trying to catch up on singles, I flew over to the United States, but then I got sick and it all kind of fell apart.”

Rock bottom came in Carlsbad, a WTA 125K Series event right before Thanksgiving. Playing a first round against former Aces teammate Nicole Gibbs, Kudryavtseva was fighting illness and fatigue when a mid-match court reassignment put her on emotional overload, leading to a rare default and leaving the Russian to reassess how she approached the game, mentally and physically.

“It was a wake up call. I love tennis, and especially from my experience playing in Austin, I learned that some people in tennis really love me. I have loyal fans that have stuck with me, who help me out on Twitter, sending me love and support.

“It was a moment for me to think, ‘what am I doing? Is this really who I want to be on the court? Is that the kind of person I want people to think that I am?’ My friends would tell you I’m a fairly positive girl who likes to crack jokes. I don’t want to be remembered as some grouchy, negative, complaining, or whining person who is never happy.

“I also have to plan my schedule better, and listen to my body more because I guess I’m not as young as I thought! It’s time to start pacing myself, to choose the tournaments I want to play more wisely this year. I want to be able to be in touch with myself more and to not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Red sand beach………. Surreal beauty…. My heart is stolen ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/8JjXZlnfb6

— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) December 8, 2015

As she spoke, Alizé Lim passed by and exclaimed, “She’s so positive!” Indeed, the first people to rally around Kudryavtseva after the incident were the friends she had on tour.

“For me, the support of the players was very important. It was nice to know that they didn’t judge me by that one episode and know I’m a better person than that.”

“I’d really let down my doubles partner, Vania King; we couldn’t play doubles as a result of what had happened, and I felt terrible. But through it all, she was so nice and was a really good friend.

“The same goes for my opponent; we saw each other maybe an hour after the match, and I came over and I apologized for my behavior. Nicole was so nice; she said, ‘don’t worry about it, mate! Take a break, it’s all going to work itself out.'”

Just a few more sunsets here in Hawaii before I go back to training…. ? Tennis, I'll be back soon ? pic.twitter.com/8hAFAdnQ9q

— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) December 6, 2015

There’s taking a break, and then there’s Kudryavtseva’s trip to Maui.

“It was all fantastic: the snorkeling, the hiking, the beaches. I even tried body surfing, which did not go so well! But still it was just wonderful. All of the people I met over there were so positive, so loving and so connected with the nature and the history of the island. I learned a lot, as well, and it was a really well-timed rest, probably the best vacation I’ve ever had, considering the place I was in.”

Two weeks on the Valley Isle thoroughly rejuvenated the Russian, who returned to the court having rediscovered her passion for the game.

“I was able to come back and find that I missed tennis. I actually played twice over there, but when the trip ended I was like, ‘oh my god, a racquet, this is so awesome!’ I made a couple of changes; for example, I started playing with a new racquet, I have a new sponsor. Everything felt new and fresh, and my head was free from the negativity and stress of last year.”

Another strong session today! 
????? @AllaK11 @athletic1080 pic.twitter.com/7IEsHKymin

— Claudio Pistolesi (@cpistolesi) December 11, 2015

One familiar element came in the form of Claudio Pistolesi, a former ATP player who has worked with Monica Seles and Daniela Hantuchova through his esteemed coaching career.

“He worked with me in 2014 when I made a singles comeback into the Top 100; hopefully we can turn things around, play some aggressive tactics and get to places we haven’t been before. That’s our goal; we don’t want to put a number on it, just get to new places and go far.”

Though she plans to play through the start of year with King, a two-time major champion who spent nearly a year rehabbing a back injury, Kudryavtseva began her season with doubles specialist Andreja Klepac; together they played Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza tough over two sets in the semifinals of the the Brisbane International.

“Andreja and I played really well; we had a really good time, and she’s another example of a very positive person who sees the best of things. But I’m looking forward to playing with Vania; we actually shared an apartment when we were training at the same academy. We get along great and I was very happy to see her when she arrived in Melbourne.

Off to Oz! #yesplease #travel #tennis. Полетели! 26 часов ? #путешествия pic.twitter.com/QBvEEpxciP

— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) December 26, 2015

“We’re going to try and make it work; I think it can be a promising partnership and I’m ready to give Miss King the title of Comeback Queen!”

The last few months read like a screenplay for Kudryavtseva, How Alla Got Her Groove Back, the working title. But the Russian is still looking for her fairytale ending, in singles as much as in doubles.

“Life works in mysterious ways. In Russia, we have this saying: ‘you make plans, but God laughs.’ I’m just trying to focus on the good atmosphere with my coach and working hard to equally focus on singles and doubles. We’ll see where things go from here.”

Follow along with Alla on her journey through the 2016 season each month on WTA Insider, and on Twitter @AllaK11!

SYDNEY, Australia – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza extended their winning streak to 30 matches in a row by edging Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the Apia International Sydney final.

Hingis and Mirza, who already went into the match with the longest winning streak since Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova in 1990 – they won 44 in a row – were down and out against No.3 seeds Garcia and Mladenovic, falling behind 6-1, 5-2 to one of the craftiest, hardest-hitting pairings out there.

But the No.1-seeded Hingis and Mirza fought back like they’ve done so many times, reeling off five games in a row to push it to a match tie-break, where they would finally end it, 1-6, 7-5, 10-5.

“It was definitely a great test, and against a great new team,” Hingis said afterwards. “They were playing together for the first time this week, and I think we’re going to see a lot more of them.

“We had to take our chances. You don’t see much light in a dark tunnel, but then we had one or two opportunities here and there, and with one little chance we were able to turn the match around.”

“At 6-1, 5-2 the only thing we could say to each other was that it was only one break,” Mirza added. “That’s the only positive you can find from a situation like that. We tried to hold our serve for 5-3 to give ourselves another chance, then we had a huge game at 5-3 and the momentum went in our favor.

“We’re really happy to win another tournament. We’re really happy with the way we fought.”

They now have 11 WTA doubles titles together: Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and WTA Finals last year, now Brisbane and Sydney this year.

The Swiss-Indian partnership is also an incredible 11-1 together in WTA doubles finals.

And the icing on the cake? On Monday, Hingis is projected to join Mirza as co-World No.1 on the WTA Doubles Rankings. It will be Hingis’ first time at No.1 since the Indian Wells fortnight in 2000.

“I think it’s another chapter in my career, definitely,” Hingis said. “When Sania became No.1 in Charleston that was a huge stepping stone for her, and now for me, 16 years later, who would have thought I would have another opportunity to become No.1 again? It was a dream and now it’s reality.

“But I’ve felt we’re the No.1 team for a while now. It was just a question of time.”

“Ditto!” Mirza added with a laugh.

– A subdued Serena Williams downplays injury concerns: The six-time Australian Open champion met with the press on Saturday hours after photos emerged of her under some possible physical distress during practice earlier in the morning. Serena dismissed any concerns.

“I’m at 120, 130 percent right now,” she said. “This week, the weeks leading up, [there] has been a lot of work.”

“I don’t have any inflammation anymore,” she said, when asked about the knee inflammation that disrupted her Hopman Cup participation. “It’s just that I needed some time to get over that little hump. Like I said, I’ve been doing a lot of, lot of, lot of training leading up to this.”

This year, four of the Top 6 seeds will go into the Australian Open without a completed match under their belt: Serena, Garbiñe Muguruza, Maria Sharapova, and Petra Kvitova. Serena insisted her preparation has been good. “I didn’t have the match play that I’ve wanted to have,” she said. “But after playing for so many years on tour, I should be able to focus on that and the fact that I have played a lot of matches. So that’s what I’m trying to focus on now.”

Serena opens her tournament against Camila Giorgi on Monday.

– Managing the pressure for Grand Slam No.22: Serena has not played a completed match since her US Open loss to Roberta Vinci in September. Asked whether that added any pressure or nerves as the tournament is set to begin, Serena said no.

“I feel fine,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t have anything to prove. I have nothing to lose. I can only gain. That’s kind of how I look at it right now.”

That’s true. But then there was this:

Q. What do you think would make a good tournament for you here?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I mean, we all know the answer to that, so… No need to even say it.

And you know what? That’s also true.

– Podcast Preview: Listen to a full tournament preview on the new episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

– Players not thrown by injury woes at the top: It’s an easy story and one that, on the surface, makes sense: With the top players starting their seasons under a cloud of injuries, shouldn’t the rest of the field see Melbourne as a big opportunity?

Not really.

The players have told me they don’t take much stock in the withdrawals and retirements that have wracked the first two weeks of the season. The common refrain: The top players know what they’re doing. No one wants to risk anything ahead of the Australian Open. They’ll all be ready to go when the first ball is struck.

– Victoria Azarenka ignoring the hype: Even before the draw came out, the chatter surrounding Azarenka’s prospects of winning her third Australian Open title this year were in full swing. Once the draw revealed her in the bottom half of the draw, the chatter has become more of roar. It’s a roar that Azarenka brushes off.

“Probably,” she said, when asked whether she has noticed a change. “I’m not that much aware about it because I try to read other articles,” she said with a smile.

“But, I mean, it’s quite normal that somebody had success going in, [you make] predictions. It’s always the same story. You guys need to write that, hype everybody up. I’m not saying it in a bad way. It’s just for me it’s a little bit irrelevant. I know I still have to go out there and prove myself.”

Here’s Serena on Vika’s early season resurgence: “I think Vika is such a great player. Not only that, she’s such a good personality. She’s really fun. She’s super cool.

“It’s so good to see someone like her who has been through a lot of ups and downs, has seen the glory, then had to go down in her ranking, to be able to come back and just do so well. Just in general, she’s the kind of person that you always just root for just because.”

– Sharapova tempers expectations: Serena asked reporters not to tell her anything about her draw, not even her first round opponent. Azarenka and Halep said they don’t look at it either.

Sharapova actually does look at the draw. She’s not concerned about being psyched out by her draw because it ultimately doesn’t matter. “You know all the players that are competing here. It’s no secret who you’re going to be playing. I mean, you’re bound to face somebody good from the first round on. There’s a reason why these players are in the draw.

“I can’t look too far ahead of myself. I haven’t played for a few weeks. I have to keep my expectations quite low and just work my way, work my game, work my mindset through this draw.”

– Muguruza still not pain free: Muguruza told reporters the plantar fasciitis that forced her to retire in her first match in Brisbane is feeling better. But she still feels pain in practice. “I felt the foot also last year a lot of times,” she said. “It’s just something I have sometimes. It’s not going to change.

“It’s just a pain that sometimes you feel it and sometimes no. So it’s kind of hard to deal with it sometimes. But for now it’s good.”

– Muguruza fighting against a sophomore slump: After her breakthrough season, making the Wimbledon final, winning Beijing, and finishing the year at No.3, Muguruza warns against expecting more this year.

“I think it’s going to be a really hard year for me because I’ve never been in a situation from everybody. Me, also, I’m like, How I’m going to deal with all these new things? I’m actually very curious about how I’m going to feel myself when I go to the court, if I’m going to be able to be there, not think about so many things.”

– The Perils of Air-Conditioning: Want to get a tennis player or coach to launch into an angry diatribe? Just mention air-conditioning. Players are very sensitive to it and immediately ask transport drivers to shut it off. I once did an interview with Julia Goerges in Miami in which she asked to do the interview in a different room because the A/C was blasting in the one we were been assigned.

It looks like the A/C curse has struck again this year at the Australian Open. Halep sounded noticeably hoarse in her pre-tournament press conference. “I’m a little bit sick, cold, yeah, with my nose,” she said. “Is nothing dangerous. Is normal. From the air-conditioning.”

– Silence, please: Who knew? Azarenka hates whistling. “I just hate when people whistling. No one can whistle in my house. I will snap at you if you do.”

– Maria’s laundry mix-up: Sharapova’s pre-tournament press conference ended on a light note. Asked if she had ever had any issues with tournament laundry, Sharapova deadpanned an underwear mix-up that had the room rolling in laughter.

“I actually just returned a pair of underwear that wasn’t mine, like 45 minutes ago,” she said. “Funny you ask that. I don’t know if you were like checking out the laundry room situation, but it really happened. It was a female pair of underwear, not male. It was leopard. I’m like, That’s not mine.”

– Tough turnaround: Eugenie Bouchard played the Hobart International final on Saturday and will play her first round match against Aleksandra Krunic on Monday.

– What are the odds?: Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum, ranked No.167, navigated her way through qualifying and will play No.6 seed Kvitova on Monday. It will be a rematch of their first round match here in 2014, which a then-No.88-ranked Kumkhum won 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

– Notable qualifiers: Tamira Paszek, Nicole Gibbs, Naomi Osaka, and Krystina Pliskova all qualified. Always be wary of talented players who make it through qualifying. They’re used the courts and conditions and full of confidence.