Flawless Halep Hurries To Bucharest Win
Top seed Simona Halep put on a clay court masterclass against Anastasija Sevastova at the BRD Bucharest to win her second hometown title in three years.
Top seed Simona Halep put on a clay court masterclass against Anastasija Sevastova at the BRD Bucharest to win her second hometown title in three years.
It’s time to vote for March’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, April 7.
March 2017 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Elena Vesnina: The 30-year-old Russian capped her career renaissance with a maiden Premier Mandatory title at the BNP Paribas Open. Vesnina bulldozed an impressive field that included soon-to-be World No.1 Angelique Kerber, former World No.1 Venus Williams, and an on-fire Kristina Mladenovic before dispatching countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova in what will go down as one of the best matches of the season. The win brought her up to a career-high ranking of No.13.
Johanna Konta: The British No.1 made a breakthrough of her own; reaching her second Premier Mandatory final out of the last three, she struck gold at the Miami Open, defeating Williams and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to take home her biggest title yet, moving up to a career-high of No.7.
Caroline Wozniacki: Speaking of Wozniacki, the Dane did herself proud during the Sunshine Swing, reaching the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, and rolling into her first final in Miami – her third of the season – to complete a box set of Premier Mandatory final appearances.
Karolina Pliskova: The Czech powerhouse continued her blistering start to 2017 by reaching back-to-back semifinals in Indian Wells and Miami, avenging her Australian Open loss to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the quarterfinals of the latter.
Venus Williams: The five-time Wimbledon winner backed up her run to the Melbourne final in style, losing only to the eventual champion in each of Indian Wells and Miami, knocking out World No.1 Kerber in Crandon Park.
2017 Winners
January: Serena Williams
February: Elina Svitolina
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Laura Siegemund outlasted an in-form Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5, to win her second three-setter in three days and sail into the third round of the Volvo Car Open.
“I have no idea!” she said during her on-court interview when asked how she pulled off the win over the 2004 champion. “It was a really good match; it was going up and down. I just tried to believe in my game, and if I was down, I told myself I was going to get more chances.”
Siegemund reached the quarterfinals last year in Charleston, kicking off an impressive clay court campaign that led her into the finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at home in Stuttgart.
Against Venus, the German veteran was hardly overawed by the five-time Wimbledon winner, who was coming off strong results at the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open, where she reached the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.
.@LauraSiegemund levels the final set in style!
Four all! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/WTOsyT8Bm8
— WTA (@WTA) April 5, 2017
Down match point in the second set, Venus fought back and broke Siegemund as she served for the match, eventually powering through the ensuing tiebreak to level the match.
“I had a hard time finding an aggressive game at the beginning of the third set, playing really short, and she plays really well when she can put pressure on you. It was an amazing performance from her as well,” said Siegemund.
What a rally from @LauraSiegemund to save a second match point! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/Lzy5XPmfgr
— WTA (@WTA) April 5, 2017
Siegemund twice pulled back from a break in the third, and saved two match points of her own as Venus served for the match at 5-4, reeling off the final three games to reach the round of 16.
“I tried my best to think this could be the best match she’ll ever play in her life, honestly,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I basically won the match but still lost.
“I really played the best game I could. I pretty much hit winners, but she hit winners back on me, and I just didn’t have any answers for that. I don’t know much more that I could do. I mean, there were some errors I made in the beginning, but when push came to shove, I feel like I did the right things, but somehow inexplicably came up empty.”
In all, the two played phenomenal offense throughout, each hitting more winners than errors, with Siegemund leading Venus 52 to 45, and hitting 41 unforced errors to Venus’ 39.
Unreal tennis from @LauraSiegemund! ? #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/IiKImzXwcy
— WTA (@WTA) April 5, 2017
“It gives me a lot of confidence, because I was pretty unlucky this year,” Siegemund said. “I’ve had a lot of these kinds of matches, but I was losing them, and you start to doubt.
“Now, I feel very confident on clay, and I think I showed I still have some good tennis in my hands.”
Up next for Siegemund will be the winner of the match between doubles partners Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
First Top 10 win of 2017!@LauraSiegemund saves TWO MATCH POINTS to beat Venus Williams 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5 at @VolvoCarOpen! pic.twitter.com/PjMR97mdW7
— WTA (@WTA) April 5, 2017
Carla Suárez Navarro reached her first quarterfinal of 2017 with a comprehensive win over countrywoman Sara Sorribes Tormo at the Abierto GNP Seguros.
STANFORD, CA, USA – 17-year-old Catherine Bellis thrilled the Northern California crowd in her first round against No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko; the American ousted the Latvian youngster, 6-4, 6-4 at the Bank of the West Classic.
Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“In the end, I was just a little bit more consistent than she was,” she said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to make as many balls as I could – especially in that last game. It was a little tight; I had a couple of heart attacks, but it’s all good!”
Bellis burst onto the scene back in 2014, when at 15 years of age, she stunned Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the US Open to become the youngest woman to win a main draw match there in nearly a decade. Two years on, the potential still burned bright from the young American, who twice recovered from early deficits to survive the surging Ostapenko, who struggled on serve with nine double faults in the 72 minute match.
Injured in doubles on Monday, Bellis admitted to Andrew Krasny she considered pulling out of the tournament before the match took place.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to play tonight because yesterday I got hit with an overhead in the eye. I was crying so hard and wasn’t even able to see. So to even come out today meant so much to me.”
Improving to 3-2 against Top 50 opposition, Bellis will play the winner of the second night match in Stanford between qualifiers Sachia Vickery and Elitsa Kostova.
Her win over Ostapenko was the first Stadium Court match to last only two sets as Julia Boserup, Magda Linette, and Alison Riske each needed a decider to capture their first round wins. Another American wildcard who reached the third round of Wimbledon in her Grand Slam debut, Boserup dispatched rising star Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Linette recovered from a one-set deficit to defeat Kristyna Pliskova, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Riske pulled off the most dramatic win of all against Varvara Lepchenko, clinching victory in a third set tie-break, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
More to come…
Daria Kasatkina takes on Irina-Camelia Begu in the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open.
STANFORD, CA, USA – Former World No.1 Venus Williams treated the Bank of the West Classic to a topsy-turvy three-setter against Magda Linette, but the top seed found her way against the Pole when it counted, emerging victorious, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals.
Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Playing at the very tournament where she made her WTA debut back in 1994 – and playing as the No.1 seed at a WTA Premier level event for the first time since 2004 (Toray Pan Pacific Open) – Venus assumed the role of the favorite to emphatic effect to start the match, racing through the opening set without dropping serve and edging ahead an ostensibly decisive break to start the second.
Two games from elimination, Linette was coming off just her first WTA main draw win since reaching the quarterfinals of the Katowice Open, but nonetheless turned the tides against the illustrious American, breaking back to force a tie-break.
Venus had lost just one tie-break all year, and though she fell behind 6-2 two in Wednesday night’s sudden death, the five-time Wimbledon winner appeared poised to close out the match fairly quickly as she saved four set points in a row. But Linette held firm to level the match after a second set that lasted just over an hour.
The Pole had one last comeback in her late in the final set; after losing the first four games on the bounce, she nabbed one of the breaks back to put pressure on the Venus serve in the seventh game, one that had proven crucial in the second set. But with sister Serena in the stands, Venus made no mistake the second time around, and eased into the quarterfinals in two hours and 17 minutes.
Up next for the top seed is either qualifier Sachia Vickery or wildcard Catherine Bellis, who caused the upset of the tournament by taking out No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.
More to come…
After a thrilling three set match on Charleston’s Stadium court, good friends Daria Kasatkina and Daria Gavrilova met at the net for an amusing attempt at a fake-out handshake.
Three-time champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looked on course for a fourth Abierto GNP Seguros title after taking down No.3 seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets and booking a place into the final.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Kicking off finals Sunday at the Volvo Car Open, World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands treated the Charleston crowd to a rousing doubles match alongside partner and Australian Open co-champion Lucie Safarova.
Up against a newly formed Czech duo in Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova, Mattek-Sands and Safarova recovered from a tough second set to rebound in the match tie-break, winning, 6-4, 1-6, 10-7, to take home their second title of the season – and Mattek-Sands’ third overall.
The win triggered a lengthy celebration from two of the tour’s biggest personalities, and even a revival of the Shaun T-choereographed dance the two debuted after winning in Melbourne.
Check out some the best photos from after the match right here, courtesy of the Volvo Car Open:
