The Best Moments Of WTA Behind The Tour
Ball kids, chair umpires, physios and more: take a look back at the best of WTA Behind the Tour!
Ball kids, chair umpires, physios and more: take a look back at the best of WTA Behind the Tour!
NÜRNBERG, Germany – No.3 seed Annika Beck concluded a wild day at the NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP, taking out countrywoman and No.7 seed Anna-Lena Friedsam, 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-2, to reach her first WTA semifinal of 2016.
A long rain delay interrupted quarterfinals day in Nürnberg, and a left thigh injury forced No.4 seed Lesia Tsurenko to withdraw from her hotly anticipated rematch with Julia Goerges, who advanced to her second semifinal of the season following her run to the ASB Classic final in January.
Qualifier Kiki Bertens continued her solid clay court season by taking the first set 6-1 over Bogota champion Irina Falconi before the American had to end her match prematurely due to a right ankle sprain.
With the Nürnberg crowd looking for a classic encounter, they got one between the two hometown favorites, as Beck battled Friedsam for over two hours on Center Court.
Narrowly taking the opening set in a tense tie-break, Friedsam fought back to level the match at a set apiece, only for Beck to right the ship in the decider, setting up a semifinal against either Varvara Lepchenko or Mariana Duque-Mariño, whose match was postponed due to darkness.
STRASBOURG, France – Caroline Garcia advanced to the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg after coming through an epic encounter with fellow Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
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Leading 5-3 in the final set Garcia looked on course to close out the match in relative comfort. However, lucky loser Razzano ensured a dramatic finish by breaking back in the next game before eventually succumbing, 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5.
“It feels great. I’ve watched Virginie for as long as I can remember,” Garcia said. “She’s a great player and a bit of an idol, so to not only play her but beat her was an amazing experience.
“It’s important for my confidence to get wins like this and in finals, especially ahead of Roland Garros next week. It was a fighting performance. Losing that first set was tough but I came back and got through.”
Later on, hopes of an all-French final were dashed in spectacular fashion as qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni dismantled No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 6-1, in exactly an hour.
In 1997, a teenage Lucic-Baroni lost to Steffi Graf in the final, and despite her long week she is quietly confident of making it second time lucky.
“Nineteen years in between the finals. It’s amazing. It’s like coming home now for me in Strasbourg,” she said. “Will I become French after this? No! If I would change it would be to Italian. My husband is Italian.”
Garcia has won all three of her previous meetings with Lucic-Baroni, including earlier this year in Miami. “Against Garcia, I’ve always posted negative results,” she added. “But hopefully that will change tomorrow! I’m playing some great tennis and haven’t been on court very long, despite coming through qualies.
“I’ve just got to keep this going, keep on playing strong, and hopefully I can get the title.”
Madison Keys has confirmed she is once again working with former No.1 Lindsay Davenport as her coach.
Under Davenport’s tutelage, the 21-year-old American made her first major semifinal in 2015, beating Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams to make the Australian Open semifinals. Their partnership ended after that season due to scheduling problems, but Keys confirmed on Friday that Davenport will be her coach in 2017.
“I am very excited to be working with Lindsay again as she’s helped me reach great results in the past and we make an excellent team,” Keys wrote on Twitter.
Unfortunately the partnership won’t debut on court for at least another month. Keys also announced she would be unable to compete at the Australian Open next month as she is still recovering from off-season arthoscopic wrist surgery. When entry lists were released earlier this month, Keys’ name was notably absent from any Australian Open lead-up tournaments.
“While I’ve been training with Lindsay and at USTA in Orlando for a few weeks, I don’t want to rush back and need to take my time to be fully able to perform at my best on court,” Keys said.
pic.twitter.com/MoWzWDoq80
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) December 23, 2016
Keys is coming off her most consistent season to date, finishing the season at No.8 after qualifying for her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in October. After the season she announced a surprise split with veteran coach Thomas Hogstedt due to personality conflicts.
With Davenport she has reunited with a close friend and mentor who has keen insight into Keys’ familiar, powerful game.
Serena Williams’ march towards history turns to Paris, as the World No. 1 and defending champion looks to win her fourth French Open title and 22nd overall major title to tie Steffi Graf’s Open Era record.
With the tournament set to begin on Sunday, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and Web Editor David Kane analyze the top-heavy draw, which sees Serena surrounded by some big names in the top half of the draw, but contrary to popular opinion, her path to the title may not be as rough as people think. Out of the bottom half of the draw, can Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep make good on their favorable draws? Or is this the year World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska finally solves the terre battue?
You’ll also hear from the top seeds themselves as we take you inside the Roland Garros press room, as the likes of Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Angelique Kerber give you some insight into their mindset as they head into the second major of the season. Who sounds confident? Who sounds unsure of themselves? We’ll let you be the judge.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app of your choice and reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.
Born on November 6, 1987, Ivanovic made her WTA debut in 2003, and played her first main draw in 2004. By the start of 2005, Ivanovic won her first of 15 career titles in Canberra, where, as a qualifier, she earned the rare distinction of beating the same player twice at the same event. She ousted Melinda Czink in the final round of qualifying, and later in the final.
A few months after winning her first title, Ivanovic burst out onto the global stage with a big win over Amélie Mauresmo en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros.
Ana was quickly becoming a household name as she cultivated a legion of fans, who tuned in to watch her win her second career title in 2006, defeating Martina Hingis in straight sets at the Rogers Cup.
In just her third French Open appearance, Ivanovic roared into her first major final, dispatching Maria Sharapova in the semifinals with the loss of just three games.
Ana finished runner-up to Justine Henin, but it was clear a star had been born.
Proving to be a player for all surfaces, Ivanovic went on to the very next major – the 2007 Wimbledon Championships – and reached the semifinals, winning a classic encounter against Nicole Vaidisova along the way.
Ivanovic played her third major semifinal out of four at the 2008 Australian Open, where she staged an odds-defying comeback against Daniela Hantuchova to reach her second Grand Slam final.
Ana was proving more ready for primetime, losing a tense two-setter to Sharapova in Melbourne. Undaunted, Ivanovic went on to win the BNP Paribas Open, but the best was yet to come.
It all came together for Ivanovic that year in Paris, where she played her best tennis of her career to win her maiden major title.
Ana mounted another epic comeback against countrywoman Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals, which helped her become one of just 22 women in WTA history to ascend to World No.1. Ivanovic held onto the top spot for a total of 12 weeks.
Ivanovic was on top of the world, defeating Dinara Safina in straight sets to not only win her first match as No.1, but also the 2008 French Open title.
As champion, Ivanovic earned $1.55 million; throughout her career, she earned $15.5 million on the court, the 20th-highest total of all time.
Injuries and inconsistencies plagued her next two seasons, but the Serb still showed some thrilling tennis indoors, winning back-to-back titles at the WTA Tournament of Champions in Bali, along with two titles in three years in Linz.
Ana achieved the Career Last Eight Club honor at the 2012 US Open. Reaching her first quarterfinal in Flushing, Ivanovic fell to eventual champion Serena Williams.
Ivanovic avenged the loss less than two years later, where she took one of the biggest wins of her career at the 2014 Australian Open, outlasting the then-World No.1 in three sets.
Ivanovic qualified for the WTA Finals three times in her career; her stellar 2014 season helped her return to Singapore for the first time since 2008.
After winning a career-best four titles and 58 matches in 2014, Ivanovic kicked off 2015 by playing one of the best finals of the year, narrowly losing the Brisbane International final to Sharapova in a three-set thriller.
The rest of 2015 saw her struggle with more injuries, but the Serb saved some magic for the French Open, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2008 at the tournament where it all began for Ivanovic.
Ivanovic qualified for three Olympic Games, playing two in 2012 and 2016. Her last Olympic appearance came in Rio de Janeiro.
Ivanovic played her final career match at the US Open, and announced her retirement on Wednesday, December 28, 2016.
No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza overcame a slow start against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to book her place in the second round of the French Open.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Garbiñe Muguruza spoke to reporters ahead of the Brisbane International and made it clear she’s put her rollercoaster 2016 season behind her.
Daria Gavrilova, Kristina Mladenovic, and Andrea Petkovic had New Year’s “rockin” Eve in Perth with ATP legend Roger Federer at the Hopman Cup player party.
PARIS, France – Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza are just five matches away from a Non-Calendar Year “Santina” Slam, and the top seeds opened with a statement first round win at the French Open, defeating Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova, 7-6(4), 6-2.
Kasatkina was one half of the team who ended Santina’s 41-match winning streak at the Qatar Total Open, edging past the reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions alongside Elena Vesnina in a match tie-break, but fresh off of their first career red clay court title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Hingis and Mirza were all business to start, racing out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set.
The Russians clawed their way back to level and saved two set points in the 12th game to force a tie-break. On serve through the first six points, Santina broke away from there, winning four of the last five points to all but extinguish any hope of an upset.
Clinching victory in just over 90 minutes, Hingis and Mirza booked a second round meeting with either Karin Knapp and Mandy Minella, or Japanese duo Nao Hibino and Eri Hozumi.
A 35 ans Martina Hingis se fait plaisir sur le court associée en double à Samia Mirza ?? #RG16 pic.twitter.com/eTGyM1gBfI
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2016
Later in the day, unseeded but looming 13-time Grand Slam champions Venus and Serena Williams played their second doubles match of the season, turning around a disappointing defeat in Rome to dispatch Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva, 6-2, 6-2.
The last team to capture a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam at the 2010 French Open, the Williamses were down an early break to start, but came through several tense games to ease past the fiery youngsters in just under 90 minutes. Drawn into the same section of the draw as No.2 seeds and defending champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, the pair next play either No.14 seeds Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu, or Vitalia Diatchenko and Galina Voskoboeva.
American Madison Brengle and Tatjana Maria earned the biggest upset thus far when they took out Spanish pair and No.13 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-2, 6-3. No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova avoided a similar fate at the hands of sister act Anastasia and Arina Rodionova, recovering from a set down to win, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. No.9 seeds and Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yu-Fan and Zheng Saisai continued their solid season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Han Xinyun and Varvara Lepchenko, while No.10 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova overcame an experienced team in Anna-Lena Groenefeld and former doubles No.1 Kveta Peschke, 6-4, 6-1.
Les sœurs Williams, sur le court numéro 2, remportent le premier set de leur premier tour de double, 6-2. #RG16 pic.twitter.com/lgyNEZuLhX
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2016