Cincinnati: Halep Interview
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – With the toils and warmth of the Australian summer drifting into the distance, and after a frenetic Fed Cup weekend, the manic month of February on the WTA calendar has begun, with many of the top female stars heading to Russia for the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Four of the WTA’s Top 20 took their place in the singles draw this week – Grand Slam winner Ana Ivanovic, Slam finalists Caroline Wozniacki and Roberta Vinci, and top-seeded Belinda Bencic – and three have successfully negotiated their way into the last eight. Let’s analyze the four Friday match-ups which will attempt to wow the home Russian crowd…
[1] Belinda Bencic (SUI #11) vs. [5] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS #26)
In her first tournament as the No.1 seed, Belinda Bencic certainly struggled early-doors in her opener against Annika Beck. But, as top players do even on an off day, the Swiss battled through in straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-3.
At just 18, Bencic already has 11 victories over Top-10 opponents – most recently over Angelique Kerber in last weekend’s Fed Cup – and now sits on the verge of making that breakthrough into the Top 10 herself. Two more wins this week would propel the Swiss past Carla Suárez Navarro and into the No.10 spot for the first time in her young career.
First though, she’ll have to get past home favorite Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Friday’s quarterfinals, after the Russian defeated Carina Witthoeft, 6-1, 7-5, in the second round.
Bencic and Pavlyuchenkova have clashed twice before, with the meetings split one apiece. The latter won most recently in Washington in 2015, while Bencic triumphed on the Rome clay in three sets the year before.
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #66) vs. Daria Kasatkina (RUS #63)
Eighteen-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina is certainly raising some eyebrows in the tennis world right now, with many billing her as a potential elite player for the next decade.
She’s leaping up the rankings: at the end of 2014, she sat at No.370; by 2015’s close, she had sprung up to No.72. As a lucky loser at the US Open last year, she won through to the third round. Then, in Moscow she came through qualifying to reach the semis.
After scoring her first Top-10 win in Auckland (over Venus Williams), Kasatkina is at it again at home in Russia, storming through to the last eight to face former World No.10 Dominika Cibulkova.
Cibulkova, the 2014 Australian Open finalist, has been the dangerous, unseeded landmine in tournament draws for a year or so now, after her ranking dropped through injury. The Slovakian inflicted another blow on Caroline Wozniacki’s stuttering start to 2016, with a 6-4, 7-5 win on Thursday.
This should be a fascinating match-up between two players of similar ranking but with hugely different experiences on a tennis court to date. Both bring controlled aggression on their groundstrokes so it’ll be intriguing to see who can rein in the errors to gain the upper hand from the baseline.
[Q] Kateryna Kozlova (UKR #177) vs. [3] Ana Ivanovic (SRB #20)
Moving to the draw’s bottom half, 21-year-old World No.177 Kateryna Kozlova is undoubtedly the week’s surprise package thus far. The Ukrainian qualified for the main draw and now finds herself in the quarterfinals after impressive wins over Barbora Strycova and Elena Vesnina.
After loitering around on the ITF circuit for the past few years, she now finds herself up against one of the game’s iconic names. After storming back up the rankings in 2014, Ana Ivanovic had a disappointing year at the showpiece events in 2015; excluding a run to the semis at Roland Garros, she only won one more match at the other three majors combined.
She started well at the Australian Open but endured a difficult third-round contest with Madison Keys, as British coach Nigel Sears collapsed during play and had to be taken to hospital. The Serb was subsequently beaten in three sets by the young American.
But Sears is back in business now and so is his charge, as Ivanovic dealt well with talented Russian Margarita Gasparyan in the second round in St. Petersburg. Ivanovic will likely have too much experience and firepower for the young Ukrainian, as they match-up for the first time on Friday.
Timea Babos (HUN #51) vs. [2] Roberta Vinci (ITA #16)
After that captivating run to the US Open final last year, Roberta Vinci wouldn’t have been thrilled to exit Melbourne in the third round to Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam. So the Italian will be looking to have a strong couple of months now to build on the back end of 2015, starting in St. Petersburg.
This is a tussle between two high-quality doubles players, who have actually met in a Grand Slam final, back in 2014 at Wimbledon (where Vinci and Sara Errani defeated Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets). Both are comfortable playing all over the court, which should produce a match full of variety. Vinci will look to unsettle Babos’ power game though with her slice, as she famously did to Serena Williams in New York.
World No.51 Babos will be at a new career-high ranking whatever happens next week, after a good win over No.9 seed Monica Niculescu in the second round. She had a decent run in Shenzhen before the Australian Open too, reaching the semis.
Vinci leads the head-to-head between them 3-1, winning their last encounter on the Bucharest clay in 2015.
Who’re your picks to make the semifinals?
Join us in St. Petersburg on Friday and watch all four quarterfinals from the inaugural St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on WTA Live powered by TennisTV.
Karolina Pliskova takes on Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
Belinda Bencic takes on Annika Beck in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her win in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Former champion Vitalia Diatchenko sprung an upset on the opening day of the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger, holding her nerve to knock out No.2 seed Naomi Broady.
In a tense final set, World No.533 Diatchenko twice served to stay in the match before ultimately prevailing, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3).
Making a mockery of her lowly ranking, the Russian withstood a final set fightback – and 15 aces – from Broady to register only her sixth win of the season.
Diatchenko, who received a wildcard into the WTA title at a 125K Series event, is currently on the comeback trail following an injury-ravaged couple of seasons. Two years ago, she reached a career-high No.71 following victory in Taipei, but since then major operations on her anterior cruciate ligament and Achilles have halted this charge.
Next up will be Miyu Kato, who overcame doubles partner Eri Hozumi, 6-4, 7-6(7). Also advancing were Olga Govortsova, who knocked out No.5 seed Risa Ozaki, 6-1, 6-3, and Dalila Jakupovic, a 7-6(4), 6-1, winner over wildcard Lee Ya-Hsuan.
The first round continues on Tuesday, with Maria Sakkari, Marina Erakovic and 2013 winner Alison Van Uytvanck among those in action.
We challenged Andrea Petkovic to the WTA Frame Challenge and, well, she tried her best.
Angelique Kerber has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber are the first two women to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The World No.1 and No.2 respectively, this marks the fourth consecutive year Serena has qualified for the Finals and the second straight year for Kerber. While their paths have crossed twice in their quest for Singapore, their roads have looked markedly different.
Though they’ve only faced off twice this season, the Williams-Kerber rivalry has defined the 2016 season. Their two meetings came on tennis’ biggest stages, in the final of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, with Kerber winning in Melbourne and Serena in London. Kerber’s consistent success at tour events has also allowed her to close the gap on Serena’s lead in the rankings, which seemed all but insurmountable a year ago. Serena currently has seven zero-pointers on her ranking, having missed the Asian Swing and WTA Finals last fall.
Serena’s season has been the more surgical of the two. She is 34-5 on the year, having made the final or better at five of the six tournaments she has played (not including the Olympics). She won two of them, Rome and Wimbledon. By winning at the All England Club in July, Serena matched Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major singles title. At the upcoming US Open, where she will attempt to break the record, Serena will also match Graf for the most consecutive weeks at No.1, having spent 186 straight weeks in the top spot. After a near-historic season in 2015, the records just keep on coming for one of the game’s greatest of all time.
Kerber has been the workhorse this year, which comes to no one’s surprise given her reputation as one of the hardest workers in the game. After making the final of the Western & Southern Open this weekend, she now leads the tour with 47 wins in 2016. She has played 16 tournaments this season, making the final of five them, and won two titles at the Australian Open and Stuttgart. But it hasn’t just been about finals for Kerber. She’s consistently putting herself into the final four of the tour’s biggest events, all while also playing two rounds of Fed Cup for Germany:
Brisbane – Finalist
Australian Open – Champion
Miami – Semifinalist
Charleston – Semifinalist
Stuttgart – Champion
Wimbledon – Finalist
Montréal – Semifinalist
Olympic – Finalist (does not count towards qualification)
Cincinnati – Finalist
In all, Kerber is 7-3 against Top 10 opposition this season. No other Top 10 player has even had that many matches, let along equaled Kerber’s wins.
Current Top 5 vs. Top 10 opposition.
Serena: 5-2
Kerber: 7-3
Muguruza: 3-2
Radwanska: 2-3
Halep: 2-2
As the tour heads to the final Slam of the season at the US Open, Serena and Kerber are separated by less than 500 points in the Road to Singapore. This past weekend, Kerber came within one win of becoming the second German ever to become World No.1. Kerber will challenge for the No.1 ranking in New York as well.
Given how close the rankings are with just a few months left in the season, there’s a strong possibility that the coveted year-end No.1 ranking could come down to the wire at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Not much has changed for Nicole Vaidisova. The former World No.7 is still traveling the globe, discovering new countries and cultures to explore.
But these days, the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist leaves her racquets at home.
“Ever since I decided, ‘This is it,’ I just wanted to take a breather and just really enjoy life,” she told WTA Insider. “It’s definitely different, going from the tour – where you’re on a set schedule and you know your whole year is going to be mapped out – to deciding what you want to do and feeling like doing and want to see.
“For example, I’ve always wanted to see Iceland; obviously there’s no tournament there, and it was really nice to be able to plan a trip, see something for the first time, and get my mind off tennis. It was a good time for me.”
There hadn’t been too many good times in the months leading up to her choice to conclude her second career. Close encounters with Ana Ivanovic and Simona Halep had gotten her close to the Top 200 in early 2015, but chronic injuries stunted her progress at every turn. For the 27-year-old, it began to feel as though there was little to life beyond fixing a broken body.
“It’s been a long time coming because I was dealing with so many injuries – repeat injuries – and I had to spend so much time at doctor’s offices and rehab facilities, trying new and different things that would end up not working.
“It got to the point where I was so worried about every pain and I said, ‘This is it.’ I don’t want to put my body through any more radiation or surgery, or any more poking and prodding. There’s only so much a person can take.
“It was just a vicious cycle.”
So…This has been one of the hardest words for me to write.After months and months of thinking and agonizing about this, I have decided to retire from professional tennis.It has been one of my hardest and most emotional decisions of my life.As many of you know,I have been struggling with various injuries on/off for the better part of the last 2 years and it has gotten to the point where I have spent more time in hospitals,physical therapy and doctors offices then on the court,playing the sport I love.This has been painful and exhausting,not just on my body,but on my mind as well and I have reached the point where I did not want to put my body throught it anymore.Coming to this final decision took me months,as even through all the ups and dows,it is a game I grew to love for what it is.Ever since I decided to come back 3 years ago,it has been a roller coaster ride of huge highs and lows,on and off the court.I am forever grateful and feeling so incredibly lucky to have had the unwavering support and uncoditional love of my family,friends,Daniel,as well as my medical and tennis team.Without them,it would have been imspossible to come back.My tennis career has been anything but ordinary,but above every opinion,comment and what ifs,I can proudly say it has been MINE.I do not regret any decision,good or bad,as it has made me the person I am today.As I close this chapter of my life,I look back in amazement at everything I was able to do.I am proud to have been able to compete with the best athletes in my sport and represent the Czech Republic,the country I love,in many fed cups and Olympics,it has been an honor.Finally,I can never thank all of you enough for all the support and words of encouragement that I have received over the years,it has meant the world to me and kept me going when I wanted to give up.Thank you,from the bottom of my heart,I will never be able to express enough gratitude to every single one of you,I am so honored. 20 years ago, this little girl had a dream,and today, I can say it has come true ❤️
The cycle began not long after the Miami Open, where she pushed Halep to three sets and appeared poised to rise up the rankings the way she did as a teenager, before a shoulder surgery took her off the tour in 2010. A second surgery proved necessary to kick start her comeback in 2014.
“The shoulder has always been in the back of my mind, because after two surgeries, it’s never going to be 100% again. I also don’t think it helped that I stopped for such a long time. Going from zero to 100, I don’t think my body reacted to it that well. I think all of the injuries after the shoulder had to do with that.
“But it was also a little bit of bad luck. I was feeling good about Miami and was practicing when I tore a tendon in my ankle, basically a week after. The same thing happened later with my wrist.
“The last two years was me playing for a couple of months, getting injured, and then trying to build back up from zero – going through rehab and getting back into shape again. It just takes so much out of a person to feel like you’re continuously starting over.”
A pattern of stops and starts gave way to more permanent pain, leading Vaidisova to reassess and, ultimately, retire.
“Bone spurs in my heels were basically the nail in the coffin, because they keep coming back – in both heels. Any athlete who’s had to deal with this knows it’s such a pain because you’re walking on them every day. I went from having therapy to having radiation on it. They weren’t really helping, and it became a cycle of getting rid of one, which would take six months, and then another would grow back on my outer heel.
“Even though I stopped playing, I still have to get laser treatments because growths on heels are so hard to get rid of. It affects you on a daily basis because you’re walking every day. I can’t really go running because that aggravates it.
“Right now, I’m not feeling so much of a time crunch where I need to fix it right this second just to compete, so I want to take a gentler approach where I can get rid of it over time and not really do anything invasive.”
Few would have predicted Vaidisova’s story would end this way, certainly not a 12 years ago, when she began her career as the sixth youngest WTA titlist in Vancouver, aged just 15.
Within a year of that initial breakthrough, the talented ballstriker was among the most consistent forces in tennis, winning three titles in three weeks, and getting within a game of the French Open final in 2006.
“I was so young,” she said of the fornight that saw her claim wins over Amélie Mauresmo and Venus Williams en route to the semifinals. “It was just so surreal. I couldn’t even believe it myself that I was there.
“I was just a young girl who couldn’t believe how far I’d come, and the players I’d beaten.”
A second semifinal appearance soon followed at the Australian Open, before injuries and inconsistencies caused a crisis of confidence.
“I think at that time, I really didn’t know myself, to be honest. I was really frustrated, not only being injured, but on the court, a lot of things in my personal and family life were not going good. I just wasn’t a happy person on the court, and it was making me miserable. I just needed to get away, and I didn’t know in that moment if I was going to come back or not.”
Three years of soul-searching led her back to the game; this time, it would be on her terms.
“When I was growing up as a child, it was just a given. This is what I did. I played tennis, and you don’t really think about what else could be out there, or if you really love it or not because this is just what you’re doing. You also get a little lost in the mentality where winning is everything, and moving on, wanting to do better from one tournament to the next, with better scores and better results.
“When I went through my surgeries and I didn’t play, I realized I missed it. I missed the game and really wanted to get back to playing. Through that, you realize if you really do love the game or not.”
Vaidisova plans to pursue new passions in the fall when she enrolls in university, but has an eye on remaining a part of the game in one way or another. Resolved not to regret, she hopes the next group of prodigies takes time to enjoy the view, even as they aspire to the tour’s more dizzying heights.
“I did what I could to really get myself healthy, fit, and ready to compete on that level, and it’s not always a fairytale. Sometimes things are just not meant to be.
“I just wish, that because it was so new, and everything was so intense, that I had more time to really enjoy it. I never really looked back and appreciated the moments where I was winning tournaments or doing well at the Grand Slams. In the moment, you’re going 100 miles an hour, and I was too young to really appreciate it for what it was in the way that I do now that I’m older.
“The field has gotten tougher overall; the girls are more athletic, and you have so many young girls charging up the rankings. It’s hard to step back and appreciate things when you’re younger and have a team, especially when a lot of them are family members. But I really wish I could say that to them – along with my younger self – to just enjoy and remember those moments.”
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.