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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Months that follow Grand Slams typically don’t feature new tennis fashion releases, but that doesn’t prevent the WTA courts from being stylish.

This February we’ve enjoyed a range of outstanding outfits that had been launched at the Australian Open, but got the true attention they deserve at the tournaments following it.

Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog gives us an overview of the best outfits in February (photos courtesy of Getty Images):

Kristina Mladenovic

Kristina Mladenovic enjoyed the comfort of the extra light and breathable adidas Melbourne Dress en route to her maiden singles title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. The slit on the side of the magnificent blue design helped the Frenchwoman move freely during her astonishing 62 winners in the final.

Kristina Mladenovic

The dress comes paired with coordinating print compression shorts, which match the sun-bleached print insets at the sides of the top, while pops of color are provided by sleek orange spaghetti straps and accessories.

Kristina Mladenovic

The adidas Adizero Ubersonic 2 shoes supported Mladenovic’s feet as she eliminated Australian Open finalist Venus Williams and defending champion Roberta Vinci from the Premier-level tournament in Russia.

Elina Svitolina

Elina Svitolina rocked both her tennis and her fashion game in the month of February! Wearing this striking black and white Nike outfit, the 22-year-old won two WTA titles and became the first Ukrainian to crack the Top 10.

The performance-packed Nike Spring Print Power Spin Skirt beats the competition with its graphic inspired by the shadows cast on a court. Elastic in Nike Power fabric stretched as Svitolina covered the court and then got back to its original shape to keep the new World No.10 supported, Dri-FIT Technology helped keep her dry and comfortable by wicking sweat away, while inner shorts confidently provided coverage.

Ellina Svitolina

A classic white Nike Spring Premier Slam Tank perfectly balanced out the look. Although the design is very simple, the top is made from a well-thought-out engineered mesh with a more open knit pattern in high heat areas.

Caroline Wozniacki

With designer Stella McCartney keeping her style strong, Caroline Wozniacki could focus on her tennis, playing eleven matches in eleven days and making two WTA Premier finals in a row. The Dane’s adidas Spring Stella McCartney Tank in bold blue offers moisture-wicking performance and super soft feel. The form-fitting top nicely goes with an A-line adidas Spring Stella McCartney Skirt, equipped with Climalite technology, built-in compression shorts and laser-cut hem for increased breathability.

Caroline Wozniacki

With top-level matches day in and day out, Wozniacki’s feet were helped by the revolutionary foam of the adidas by Stella McCartney Barricade Boost shoes that stored and unleashed energy every time the Dane’s foot hit the ground. With the weather in the desert being anything but favorable this year, Wozniacki also made good use of her aviator-style adidas Spring Stella McCartney Jacket.

Timea Babos

Timea Babos came to the inaugural Hungarian Ladies Open without even one singles match win in 2017, but that all changed at her home tournament as the 23-year-old went all the way to the title, sporting Fila’s Sleek Streak collection designed for the urban-chic player.

Timea Babos

The Hungarian made her way to the champion’s trophy in style, wearing the Fila Sleek Racerback Tank and the Fila Sleek Insert Skirt, unique for their black/white/ruby rose tie-dye print and color-blocking.

Mona Barthel

Even though Mona Barthel didn’t go far at February’s tournaments, her Bidi Badu Avril Tech Dress managed to steal my attention with its wonderfully refreshing yellow and pink hues. The ombre effect is executed beautifully, just as the feminine silhouette of the dress.

Vote for your favorite outfit in the poll below!

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Eugenie Bouchard just turned 23 this weekend, and the folks at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel made sure the Canadian celebrated the date in grand Mexican style.

Things didn’t look very festive earlier in the day, when Genie tweeted a photo after spending her birthday at the airport.

But the Abierto Mexicano Telcel was ready to save the day, and as soon as Genie touched down in Acapulco she greeted with a full Mexican fiesta.

The tournament arranged a huge welcome party – complete with cake, balloons and an entire mariachi band who serenaded her with birthday songs in English and Spanish.

Check out the video above to see Genie ring in her birthday in Acapulco!

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WTA Stars Shine At Opening Ceremony

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANIERO, Brazil – Friday saw the curtain raised on the XXXI Olympiad with a colorful opening ceremony at the magnificent Maracana stadium.

Broadcast to an audience of over three billion, it celebrated Brazil’s culture, history and nature, before former marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima lit the Olympic cauldron. The WTA was well represented on the night, with Caroline Wozniacki carrying in the flag for Denmark.

But what were Wozniacki and company up to before, during and after the show?

However, with many in the singles and doubles draws beginning their tournament the following morning, not everyone could enjoy the festivities…

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Alya WTA Malaysian Open top seed Elina Svitolina claimed her 250th WTA win with a 6-2, 6-3 first-round win over qualifier Su Jeong Jang on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old also extended her winning run to 13 matches despite spirited resistance from Jang, who lies 138 places lower in the WTA rankings. The Korean stole a break back in the second set at 3-1, but the reigning champion showed the class that has seen her win back-to-back titles at the Taiwan Open and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to come through.

In the biggest shock of the tournament so far, the promising Russian 18-year-old Anna Kalinskaya defeated No.5 seed Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-2. The WTA World No.23 became the third seeded player to be dispatched in the first two days in Kuala Lumpur, while Kalinskaya was able to celebrate her first ever main draw victory.

“Of course I feel a little bit more confident now,” said Kalinskaya afterwards. “I understand that I can play with the players in the top 50, top 100 and it means a lot to me. For the next match I will prepare and hope I play better than today.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Ashleigh Barty says the world is seeing her best performances on a tennis court so far as she celebrated a day of double delight at the Alya Malaysian Open.

First she secured a spot in the singles quarterfinals by beating fellow qualifier Miyu Kato, 6-0, 6-3 – and then she went one better in the doubles alongside Casey Dellacqua, progressing to the semifinals as they defeated Nao Hibino and Varatchaya Wongteanchai 6-4, 6-0.

“We have to say this is my best start, best career performances to date,” the 20-year-old told the press afterwards. “We’re happy to be playing well and enjoying our tennis.” 

The Australian returned to tennis a year ago following a break during which she turned her sporting skills to cricket, playing in the first-ever Women’s Big Bash League for Brisbane Heat. She thinks that the time off has served her well.

“My tennis game this time is a continuation from my last career – I’m a little bit older, a little bit more wise, more mature, so I think that’s helped my game immensely,” she revealed.

That isn’t to say that putting her racquet down was an easy thing to do.

“I certainly missed playing tennis,” she admitted. “It’s what I’ve done since I was five years old. It’s been a part of my life for so long. It’s what I am born to do.”

Barty is proving that with her recent form, and she has an extra incentive to win – her best friend and doubles partner Dellacqua.

“I really am loving being out here, getting to play singles and enjoy some success, and then of course to be on the court with my best friend for doubles is a bonus as well – it’s nice to be back out here with Case and to see her happy as well,” she added.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.7 seed Lesia Tsurenko will take on Kristina Mladenovic in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel after top seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni was forced to retire after trailing 0-5 in the first set.

“I was really shocked on court when she decided to retire,” Tsurenko said after the match. “I wish that she feels better. I’m pretty happy to be in the final, but shame that she’s not feeling well.”

Lucic-Baroni had been in imperious form this week in Acapulco – her first event since her dream run to the Australian Open semifinals – and she hadn’t dropped a set all tournament long. 

But on Friday night against Tsurenko, the Croat was noticeably subdued from the start, moving sluggishly and her usually booming strokes lacking bite. Tsurenko broke three times and, after a visit from the trainer and tournament doctor, Lucic-Baroni was forced to retire citing gastrointestinal illness.

“I was really unlucky; I picked up a virus, I vomited just before I went on the court,” Lucic-Baroni explained. “I tried. Because I’m not the type to retire, ever. I’ll just put on more tapes and play, and I can play through anything really.

“But I just felt extremely dizzy and like I was going to vomit all the time, and I just couldn’t continue. I’m really upset, because this is such a great tournament and I’m playing so well.

“It’s just a crappy way to end a really good tournament.”

For Tsurenko, this puts her through to her first final of the year; earlier in the season she made a run to the semifinals at the Hobart International. In fact, it’s her first final since September 2016 when she won the title at Guangzhou.

She’s set to take on Kristina Mladenovic, who came through in three sets against Christina McHale.

“I watched their match, it was really tough match for both of them,” Tsurenko acknowledged. “But this is not always a big advantage for me; sometimes when you play a long match you get stronger and feel the surface better.

“We’ll see tomorrow. I hope I’ll be fresher physically.”

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Serena To Play Cincinnati

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

World No.1 Serena Williams has taken a wildcard into next week’s Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, a Premier 5 event.

The two-time defending champion has a 10-match win streak in Cincinnati and will be making her eighth appearance at the tournament where she holds a 21-4 match record. Serena enters the event looking to rebound from a disappointing early exit from the Olympics in Rio, where she lost in the third round to Elina Svitolina.

Having played only three matches since winning Wimbledon in July, Serena will look to return to form as she continues to prepare for the US Open, where she has a chance to break the Open Era record for Slam singles titles by winning her 23rd major.

Also on the line for Serena next week: The No.1 ranking.

Current World No.2 Angelique Kerber has a chance to end Serena’s 183-week reign at No.1 at Cincinnati, however, it will not be an easy task. Kerber, who is still in Rio de Janiero at the Olympic tennis event, would need to win the title at the Western & Southern Open in order to do so.

With Serena accepting the wildcard, she can extend her stay at No.1 through US Open if she makes the quarterfinals, regardless what Kerber does.

Kerber is trying to become the first German to reach No.1 since her idol Stefanie Graf and would be the third left-handed player to hold the No.1 ranking (along with Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles).

Main draw play at the Western & Southern Open begins on Monday, with the top 16 seeds receiving a bye into the second round. The draw ceremony will be held on Friday, August 12, at 5:30pm local time.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – It was twice as nice for Ashleigh Barty in Kuala Lumpur as she won the doubles title with Casey Dellacqua – adding that to the singles crown she had secured earlier in the day.

The Australian pair beat Nicole Melichar and Makoto Ninomiya 7-6(5), 6-3, coming back from 5-1 down in the first-set tiebreak to lift the trophy in straight sets.

“I feel great – very tired but great,” said Barty afterwards. “It’s been a monster week for me. I don’t think I could have physically have played any more matches. I’m very happy to come away with two titles today, but even if we didn’t it would have been a fantastic tournament anyway. Now it’s just an absolute bonus.”

Her partner Dellacqua admired the way that their opponents had played, giving them a tough time in the first set. 

“They were playing really good tennis, really good doubles,” she said. “We just had to play each point as best we could. That’s all we did, we just applied ourselves really well for each of those points in that tiebreak especially.

“In tennis, you’re never out of it, I think that was pretty crucial to get that first set, and then just to get a break in the second, to space that lead out a little bit. That tiebreak, we did really well after being 5-1 down.”

Dellacqua is enjoying her time on court with her good friend Barty, and was delighted that she won the singles title – even if she was not actually able to watch it.

“It’s pretty nice to play with someone that’s just come off and won the singles, that’s always good!” laughed the 32-year-old. “I’m just stoked that I’m back. I wouldn’t be out here and enjoying it as much if it wasn’t playing with Ash, so yes, I feel good, I feel very happy that I was here to witness her, even though I didn’t get to watch, win her first title. I know that there’ll be many more to come. For us to win the doubles is an extra bonus. It’s pretty exciting.”

The pair burst into laughter when they were asked post-match whether they intended to continue playing doubles together.

“No, I don’t want to play with her again!” grinned Dellacqua.

“We’re done!” added Barty.

Once the hilarity subsided, Dellacqua gave a more serious response.

“Yes, of course. Ash has got a big load, she’s playing singles, so we’ll play whenever we can. When we do play we always enjoy it, and we go out there to do our best.”

Winning a Grand Slam title, of course, remains their ultimate goal.

“It’s a big dream to win [a Slam doubles title],” agreed Dellacqua. “We’ve made three Grand Slam finals together and we’ve never won one, but we don’t talk about it too much any more!

“If that happens, it happens. It’s about each week, each journey, just trying to get the best out of ourselves this week, and if that comes along, we’ll certainly be trying our best to win.”

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