Google Play App Download

Tennis News

From around the world

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Are you ready for prime time? It’s semifinal Friday at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open and we’re previewing both matchups right here at WTATennis.com

Friday

Semifinals

[14] Elena Vesnina (RUS #15) vs. [28] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #26)
Head-to-head: Vesnina leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Two Russians have reached the semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open for the first time since 2013.

Two former Grand Slam doubles champions will battle it out on the singles court on Friday for the right to reach their first ever Premier Mandatory final when Kristina Mladenovic and Elena Vesnina lock horns for the third time. Mladenovic edged Caroline Wozniacki in three sets in the quarters on Thursday, ending a three-match losing streak against the Dane and assuring herself of a spot in the Top 20 next week, but the Frenchwoman would like to prolong her stay in Southern California a few days longer. “Every day I go out there on the court, in the gym practicing, it’s for moment like that,” she said after defeating Wozniacki for the first time. “So I’m not getting too excited. I’m just super satisfied that I am on these kind of stages right now and trying to use my chances.”

Vesnina fought past Venus Williams on Thursday to secure her spot in the semifinals. The Russian is a three-time major champion on the doubles court but is just now starting to blossom in singles. She reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year and could climb to a career-high ranking of No.13 in the world with a title at Indian Wells. But the veteran knows that she’ll have her hands full with Mladenovic. “Definitely she’s having a great season,” Vesnina said of the Frenchwoman. “It’s going to be tough match. She’s an upcoming player. We played couple of times, but two, three years ago, and totally different story now.”

Will it be the Russian who flies into the final, or can Mladenovic upend her and keep her hopes of becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the BNP Paribas Open title alive?

Pick: Vesnina in three

[3] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #8)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Both of the pair’s previous meetings have gone three sets.

Never mind the shy demeanor. Karolina Pliskova is very much a tennis player en vogue right now. She’s a rising star that possesses an electrifying game and has been tabbed by pundits as likely to become one of the game’s dominant forces for many years to come. On Friday the menacing Czech will square off against a player who has been there, done that and is now experiencing an inspiring renaissance. Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova is back at the top of the game after six years outside of the Top 10, and she is relishing the experience of reaching the BNP Paribas Open semifinals for the first time since 2008. “If I look back, for sure, it was very long time ago,” she said of her last deep run at Indian Wells on Wednesday after taking out compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. “So it’s great. I’m enjoying it much more now, because now I know the value of this.”

This intriguing match-up of resurgent veteran and blossoming star will be a bit of a chess match between two stylistically opposite players. Kuznetsova will hope to use variety and get her opponent the move while Pliskova knows she’ll need to dictate, shorten points, and be decisive from the baseline. “We had two matches, two times, three-setters, and two times was really tough,” Pliskova said of her previous encounters with the Russian. “I have to play well. I just keep the same game plan and have to be aggressive… And don’t let her play, otherwise she’s going to let me run. That’s what she probably wants me to do.”

Pick: Pliskova in three

By the Numbers:

1 – Mladenovic is the only semifinalist that has yet to win multiple WTA titles.

20 – By reaching the semifinals Mladenovic has assured herself a spot inside the Top 20 when next week’s rankings are released.

19-2 – Karolina Pliskova’s record in 2017. The Czech is bidding to become the WTA’s first 20-match winner today.

27 – Number of career wins Svetlana Kuznetsova has achieved at Indian Wells. The Russian is now tied for sixth all-time with Martin Hingis.

2011 – The only year a Frenchwoman has reached the final at Indian Wells. Marion Bartoli lost to Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.

Source link

Muguruza Loving The Pressure

Muguruza Loving The Pressure

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Her relentless pursuit of the highest echelons of tennis now comes with the reality of having to deliver week-in and week-out. Ranked World No.3, Garbiñe Muguruza has gone from underdog to favorite, and along with that comes the inevitable – pressure.

“Before, I was Garbiñe who had chances to win; now I’m Garbiñe who is supposed to win,” Muguruza told Spanish reporters during the off-season.

“Until now I had never found myself in a situation with so many expectations and so much pressure. It’s something I have to take in, because you can’t learn that off of the court. You’re out there and you have to manage it.”

But the 22-year-old Spaniard remains undaunted by the big task of meeting high expectations – in fact, she’s learned to relish the pressure.

“It’s about dealing with it on your own,” she said, “because there’s no one who can teach you how to handle it all. It’s a part of my job – all this pressure. And I love it.”

And another thing Muguruza is loving are her chances at the Australian Open despite having to bow out of the Brisbane International early, her first tournament of 2016 cut short by the flare up of a long-standing foot injury. She’s optimistic that it won’t be a problem in Melbourne.

Muguruza hasn’t made it past the fourth round at Melbourne yet, but she also has never been seeded so high – her ranking guarantees a Top 4 seed. The only people to knock her out of the Happy Slam – Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska – are both in the Top 4 as well, so she won’t have to face them until at least the semifinals.

Can the youngest member of the WTA Top 10 seize this opportunity and win the biggest title of her career in Melbourne?

Source link

Petra Kvitova: At The Crossroads

Petra Kvitova: At The Crossroads

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Petra Kvitova finds herself caught at the crossroads of two tennis eras – but she quite likes it that way.

The big hitting lefty is not quite in the generation of WTA veterans like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. But in turn, she’s not in the crowd of new stars likes Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova who are fast on the rise. Kvitova remains the first and only Grand Slam winner – male or female – born in the 90s.

How does the two-time Wimbledon champion feel about being the most accomplished member of this ‘in between’ group?

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Kvitova told China’s CCTV in Shenzhen. “I know that Serena has been there for a long time – she’s still the biggest champion that we have. And the younger generation is coming up and they are pushing us a lot. I think it’s good that we can see many [new] faces playing so well.

“There’s room in tennis right now – it’s very open. It’s nice to compete and not really be expecting who can win. It’s more difficult and less predictable this way.”

Kvitova experienced first-hand the unpredictability of the emerging younger generation: at last year’s Australian Open, she was stunned by a then 19-year-old Madison Keys in the third round.

The Australian Open is Kvitova’s toughest major: her best results in Melbourne have been an appearance in the quarterfinal in 2011 and in the semifinal in 2012. But if she could choose which of the four slams she’d like to win, the Czech is up for the challenge.

“If I could have another Grand Slam, I would pick either the Australian Open or the French Open,” she said. “At the Australian Open, the hard courts, I just love that Grand Slam a lot. I feel so relaxed in Australia.”

To make that wish come true, Kvitova is facing an uphill climb. She was forced to withdraw from Shenzhen in her first round match and later from Sydney – where she was the defending champion – due to a stomach virus. The last time she played a complete match was at the Fed Cup final, when she helped propel the Czech Republic to victory more than two months ago.

If Kvitova can shake off the off-season rust and beat her lingering illness, the Czech is poised for a deep run in Melbourne – as long as she can make it past the initial hurdles and build up the confidence she needs.

“I don’t really like the beginning of the tournaments, for sure,” Kvitova said. “But that’s how it is – it’s probably normal that I’m improving my game with each match in a tournament.

“And then when the finish line comes, I’m feeling better about my game.”

Source link