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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Following her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam triumph at the Australian Open, newly re-crowned World No.1 Serena Williams sat down with a small pool of reporters after her non-stop media duties, reflecting on her fortnight and look ahead at what’s to come:

Q: Setting aside Slam No.23, World No.1, how do you assess your two weeks here in Melbourne? How do you feel it sets you up for 2017?
Serena: I feel like my game is good. I was thinking yesterday on the practice court, ‘Gosh, I’m playing better than I have, maybe ever.’ I’m moving better – I’ve always been a fast mover, but I kind of stopped moving in the middle [of my career] thinking, ‘I don’t really have to move.’ But I was like, man, I’m hitting pretty well. So it felt pretty good to know that I’m playing better. I’m here to take this game pretty seriously.

Q: What’s the key difference? Is it a physical thing or a mental thing?
Serena: I don’t know. Every year I sit down with Patrick, and look at the things I want to improve. I want to do something better, and so we sat down this year to do the same thing. We said we wanted to do better, and we did better; we don’t want to stop, we want to continue to do better.

Q: Did being No.2 motivate you at all to want to get back here and play your best? Did it piss you off?
Serena: It didn’t piss me off. I didn’t deserve to be No.1; I think Kerber played unbelievable. She was the most consistent, and she definitely deserved to have that position. That’s one thing about me, that when credit’s due, you have to give a person credit. She absolutely deserved it; it looked weird, because I never felt like No.2, but I think she definitely deserved to be No.1, she played well.

Q: We saw the genius of your father expressed this week. What was so special about him? What did he bring to your family, and as a dad?
Serena: Well, he’s brought everything. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him; this was his vision. It’s literally his vision, and he wrote this. He knew this would happen, us playing each other for yet another Grand Slam. He gave us the best games possible, that we could always build on; he gave us the best techniques possible. It’s crazy, really crazy. Another thing that’s so great is how our family is so important, and realizing that above all, we have to put each other first, way in front of a tennis ball. I think that’s something that I’ve always been able to appreciate. The older you get, the more you appreciate this.

Q: This is still very fresh, but after a performance, like that, how many more Slams do you think you can win?
Serena: I don’t think about that any more. At the next Grand Slam, I’m going to request you guys not to ask me about it again, because I just have to take it a day at a time [laughing].

I’ve been saying this since this tournament began: this is a bonus for me. I don’t have anything to prove; I don’t have to win another match. I can just relax, and that’s what I’m doing now. I’m going out there, relaxing and playing hard. I’m just enjoying my time, like this little fly over here [Note: A fly was buzzing around the small interview room].

Q: Talking about the last couple of years, you’ve been saying you have nothing to prove, and playing with house money. It seems like this tournament has been the one where you really lived that, as opposed to the last few tournaments where you’ve felt the tension.
Serena: I’ve been trying to live it for quite some time, but I definitely agree. I was really able to do it at this tournament. I’ve been trying to do it, and trying and trying. I don’t know why it worked now. I think having to play those matches in the first two rounds, I was like, ‘I have no choice but to be better.’

I was really just ok with, not losing, but I knew that I didn’t have to win here to make my career. For whatever reason, that settled with me this time. I don’t know why; I wish I could tell you, but I want to know because I definitely want to do it again next time. I need to figure that one out.

Q: By regaining the No.1 spot, do you think trying to stay No.1 will be more of a priority, and will you play extra tournaments outside of the regular schedule?
Serena: I don’t know. I honestly was thinking, ‘I should go to Dubai and try to get my No.1 ranking back.’ I had no idea I was going to be No.1 after this. I was thinking about it, but I’m enjoying my time on the court, my game, the style I’m playing. It’s been kind of refreshing, and I definitely want to keep the momentum going. I don’t know; I’m going to go home, take a deep breath, and then start from there.

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Kucova Ends Bouchard’s Montréal Hopes

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MONTRÉAL, Canada – Kristina Kucova’s fairytale run continued in Montréal, where she fought back from a set down against home favorite Eugenie Bouchard to reach her first Premier-level quarterfinal at the Rogers Cup, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Watch live action from Montréal this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“It’s unbelievable, I’m very happy,” said Kucova, currently ranked No.121. “Also I’m very tired. But it’s a very good feeling.This is my best moment so far in my tennis career.”

Starting out the match, though, it didn’t look as bright for the Slovakian qualifier as she went down a double break against a Bouchard bolstered by her home crowd. Although she would go on to lose the set 6-3, Kucova showed her grit in the final two games of the set as she fought off five break points before bringing up three of her own.

Dropping the first set has turned out to be a good omen for Kucova as both of her previous main draw matches in Montréal have gone to three sets – against Yanina Wickmayer and then against Carla Suárez Navarro.

“I must give credit to my fitness coach because I feel very good on the condition preparation,” Kucova explained after the match. “I changed fitness coach in the beginning of the year. We worked very hard.

“I feel now on the court that when it’s coming to the third set, I still have energy for that.”

Kucova brought all that energy into the latter stages of the match, where she was able to pounce as Bouchard’s trusty forehand began to repeatedly sail out. The Slovak’s signature two-handed forehands and backhands kept her shots well-disguised, often leaving the Canadian wrong-footed. Now able to read Bouchard’s game and having adjusted to the conditions – a balmy night match on the stadium court, in front of a roaring Canadian crowd – Kucova quickly turned the tables to take the second set.

“I just felt I maybe panicked a little bit, tried to finish the points too soon,” Bouchard said of her dip after the first set. “She was getting a lot of balls back.

“I think it would have been better if  I was just a bit calmer mentally. But it happens and I have to learn how to deal with this.”

Kucova kept her momentum going in the third set, where she picked up the crucial break in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead before closing out the match after more than two hours. She struck 16 winners to 28 unforced errors, while Bouchard hit 45 winners and 68 unforced errors.

Up next for Kucova – who is on track to break the Top 100 after reaching her career best result – is British No.1 Johanna Konta. The Brit dispatched lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 6-2 to reach her sixth quarterfinal of 2016.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Unseeded and looming Daria Gavrilova enjoyed a strong start at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, dispatching Russian wildcard Anna Kalinskaya, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the second round.

“It was a tough match,” the Aussie said after the match. “I felt like I didn’t play my best tennis but I’m happy with the way I fought. I got the win but I think that I need to up my level.”

Gavrilova burst onto the scene as a junior prodigy, winning the 2010 girl’s singles title at the US Open and the Youth Olympic Gold medal; it was a full circle moment then for the now-22-year-old to face Kalinskaya, a runner-up at 2015’s junior Wimbledon.

“She’s four years younger than me. I didn’t actually know before that the gap was that big – I asked her and was surprised.

“I asked around because didn’t know how she played, which isn’t very easy. I asked a few girls but they didn’t give me much! My coach watched some videos and gave me some notes.”

Coming off another run to the second week of the Australian Open, Gavrilova battled through several long games to seal a 52-minute opening set, and recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the second to win the final four games and book a meeting against No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

“It’s not easy but I felt that I should be confident with my game. I had some long matches in Australia so I was feeling pretty confident.”

Gavrilova last played Kuznetsova last fall in Russia, where she made the final of the Kremlin Cup in singles and doubles; this is her first time the Moscow native is playing in St. Peterburg, which celebrated its inaugural event last year.

“I actually don’t remember when I was last in St. Petersburg. But I’m really enjoying being here and the organizers and sponsors did well with the hotel – it’s one of the best I’ve stayed in.”

Earlier in the day, Andrea Petkovic booked her spot in the main draw with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasiya Komardina, while Kirsten Flipkens needed three sets to dispatch Donna Vekic, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

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Sloane Stephens Wins Auckland

Sloane Stephens Wins Auckland

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Sloane Stephens did double duty at the ASB Classic on Saturday, completing a semifinal victory over Caroline Wozniacki and then defeating Julia Goerges for the title.

Stephens was leading Wozniacki 5-2 in the first set when rain stopped play on Friday, and when they resumed play on Saturday morning the American held on, edging the No.3-seeded Dane, 6-2, 7-6(3).

And she continued her winning ways later in the day in the final – Stephens, the No.5 seed, reeled off nine of 11 games from 4-5 in the opening set to run away with it against Goerges, 7-5, 6-2.

She held all 10 of her service games in the match, fighting off the only two break points she faced.

“You can never prepare for playing a set and then rain, then finishing the match the next morning and coming back again in the afternoon. You just have to keep going and do your best,” Stephens said.

“Julia had been playing some really great tennis all week, but I knew if I just kept playing solid I could do it. I was pleased the way I was able to pull myself together and come back and play well.

“Just kind of going with the flow – that was pretty much it. Pretty basic.”

Stephens, who has played some of the best tennis of her career during the Australian season in the past – she was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2013, after all, famously upsetting Serena Williams along the way – now has two WTA titles, her first coming in Washington DC last summer.

“We have a really long season – I have to play all the way until October – so to win a tournament in the first week of the year is amazing,” Stephens said. “But I’m going to have many more opportunities throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to all of them. It’s easier to look at it that way.”

The American was asked if she was surprised how well she did for the first week of the season.

“I wouldn’t say surprised – I wouldn’t use that word. But the first week of the year you don’t really know what to expect. I felt good coming into the tournament. I was excited – I think that really helped.”

The doubles final took place later in the day, with Belgian duo Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach taking out the Montenegrin-Czech pairing of Danka Kovinic and Barbora Strycova, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5.

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WTA Stars Prep For Aussie Open

WTA Stars Prep For Aussie Open

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SYDNEY/HOBART, Australia – With the Brisbane International and ASB Classic in the books, one week stands between the WTA stars and the Australian Open, giving fans the chance to see how their favorites are shaping up ahead of the first major tournament of the year at the Apia International Sydney and the Hobart International.

Sydney’s top seed is Simona Halep; the World No.2 led the field at the Brisbane International, but was forced to withdraw before her heavily-anticipated second round match with Victoria Azarenka due to a recurring Achilles injury. Looking strong in practice with coach Darren Cahill at the helm, Halep will have to hit the ground running in Sydney, with her first match of the year against Caroline Garcia. Garcia has yet to lose a match in 2016, winning her opening round on Sunday against compatriot Kristina Mladenovic to go with three wins at the invitational Hopman Cup.

Halep’s hopes of coming into the Australian Open with a title under her belt went up significantly when news of Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska’s withdrawals hit. Kvitova is still struggling with the GI illness that took her out of Shenzhen while Radwanska, who went on to win the tournament in China, is opting not to push a lower leg injury sustained in practice.

Looming for the Romanian in the quarterfinals, however, is the big hitting Karolina Pliskova. The Czech boomed 14 aces in her first round against wildcard and former No.1 Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-2, and played Halep tough in the final of last year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Experienced veterans in Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic are also in Halep’s half of the draw, as well.

The bottom half of the draw features the young and talented Belinda Bencic, who outlasted Halep in the final of last year’s Rogers Cup after defeating World No.1 Serena Williams in the semifinals. A potential quarterfinal opponent for Bencic is Angelique Kerber, who comes to Sydney after a successful week in Brisbane that saw her reach the final. Look out for another youngster in Daria Gavrilova; the hometown favorite just won Australia’s first Hopman Cup title since 1999 with the help of Nick Kyrgios, beating Elina Svitolina in the final.

Over in Hobart, the women’s draw lost top seed Sloane Stephens, who came down with a viral illness after winning her second career title at the ASB Classic, but nonetheless sports several names to know. No.2 seed Camila Giorgi is a threat on any given day with her booming ground game; the Italian is already in the second round after surviving Zarina Diyas in three sets.

In her half of the draw is Dominika Cibulkova; the 2014 Australian Open finalist is still getting her rhythm back after leg surgery took her off the tour for much of last year. She’ll be in for a tough battle against Johanna Konta in the first round; Konta was one of the biggest stories of the second half of the season, rising from relative obscurity to make the second week of the US Open and take out Halep at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

Though unseeded, Eugenie Bouchard played some of her best tennis in months to reach the quarterfinals of last week’s Shenzhen Open. Feeling no pressure, the Canadian is just happy to be back on the court after missing much of the fall due to a concussion.

Which WTA star will gain precious momentum heading into Melbourne?

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Impressive Kerber Into Final Four

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MONTRÉAL, Canada – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber’s Rogers Cup challenge continued to gain momentum after a dominant quarterfinal victory over Daria Kasatkina.

Watch live action from Montréal this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

In an intergenerational battle it was Kerber’s experience that held sway, sweeping aside her teenage opponent, 6-2, 6-2 in exactly an hour.

Kerber arrived Canada with fitness concerns – an elbow injury forced her to pull out of last week’s Ericsson Open – and has used the rounds to play herself into form and fitness. Against Kasatkina, she got off to an inauspicious start, erring on a couple of forehands to drop serve in the opening game.

She did not trail for long, though, the young Russian ballooning a wild forehand long to immediately hand back the initiative.

The swirling wind and her opponent’s precise returning intensified Kasatkina’s service struggles. Kerber meanwhile was into her groove, rattling off the final three games of the first set before forging ahead in the second.

When the World No.33 thumped away a frustrated drive volley to finally hold serve at 4-1 it elicited sympathetic applause from the crowd. Unfortunately for the young Russian, there was little compassion from down the other end, Kerber taking the final two games to quash any hope of a comeback.

“She played a great tournament and she’s really dangerous,” Kerber said. “I think I played really well today and it’s really nice to be in the semis for the first time in Montréal. I was trying to focus on my game because it was the first time I met her and it worked!”

Next up is No.5 seed Simona Halep in a rematch of the Wimbledon quarterfinals. “It’s going to be tough. We’ve played a lot of good matches in the past. I’m sure the crowd will support both of us so I’m really looking forward to playing her tomorrow.”

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