Tennis News

Serena and Venus Williams will bid to set up a fifth Williams sisters Wimbledon final on Thursday at SW19. Can Angelique Kerber and Elena Vesnina stop them? We preview both semifinals here at WTATennis.com, courtesy of contributor Chris Oddo.

Thursday

Semifinals

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Elena Vesnina (RUS #50)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 4-0
Key Stat: Williams is 27-4 in Grand Slam semifinals.

Serena Williams’ march to 22 majors is running at full throttle at the All England Club. The American legend is now just two matches from matching Steffi Graf’s record for Open Era Grand Slam titles after knocking off Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last two rounds. On Thursday the 34-year-old American will aim to make it a Russian trifecta when she takes on Elena Vesnina, the lowest-ranked and only unseeded player remaining in the draw. Surprised to see Vesnina make it this far at a major? So is she. “I am. I am very surprised,” she said after defeating Dominika Cibulkova to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday. “It was like a dream came true.” To avoid having her dream morph into a nightmare against the game’s premier power player, Vesnina says she’ll have to use any and every opportunity she gets. “You have to use your chances against Serena,” she said. “If she’s giving you chances, you need to be there.”

Williams has given her opponents a few too many chances in the latter stages of the last three majors, losing in the semifinals at the US Open last year, and in the finals of this year’s Australian and French Opens. But there is a different air about her on the Wimbledon grass. She leads all active players in wins and titles at SW19 and something about Centre Court just seems to bring out the spice in her legendary serve. Williams knows that Vesnina, a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, is an accomplished player with an all-court game, but the American says she’ll take confidence from having won all four of their previous meetings. “I know her game really, really well,” Williams told reporters on Tuesday after reaching the semifinals “It’s good to play someone’s game that you know. I’ll be ready for it.”

Pick: Williams in two

[4] Angelique Kerber (GER #4) vs. [8] Venus Williams (USA #8)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 3-2
Key Stat: Venus Williams owns a 14-5 record in Grand Slam semifinals but has not played one since 2010.

Venus Williams has turned back the clock in a big way this Wimbledon fortnight. The five-time champion has been tested often, both by her opponents and the rain, and has come through with flying colors to reach the last four at a major for the first time since the 2010 US Open. Williams says the key to her success has been belief. “The good part is I always felt like I had the game,” she told the press after defeating Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarterfinals on Day 8. “This is always a plus, when you know you have the game. So you just have to keep working until things fall into place.”

The 36-year-old hopes that the dominoes of fate continue to fall in her favor on Thursday when she faces Angelique Kerber for the sixth time. The German endured a lull after winning this year’s Australian Open, but she has rediscovered the magic that brought her a maiden major title here at Wimbledon, reaching the semifinals without the loss of a set. “I’m feeling really good,” an enthusiastic Kerber said after pushing past Simona Halep in a wildly entertaining quarterfinal on Centre Court. “I’m playing really good tennis right now. I think I’m playing like in Australia, like really high‑class tennis.” Is Kerber playing well enough to end the magical run of a Wimbledon legend, or will Venus Williams reach a Grand Slam final for the first time in seven years?

Pick: Kerber in three

By the Numbers:

11 – Number of times that Venus and Serena have advanced to the semifinals of the same Grand Slam.

5 – Venus Williams can move to No.5 in the world if she wins the Wimbledon title.

18 – Elena Vesnina will crack the Top 20 for the first time if she reaches the final, coming in at a projected ranking of 18. She was ranked as low as 122 this February.

3 – Number of players to have reached a Grand Slam semifinal aged 36 or older (Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams).

LONDON, England – Serena Williams has resumed her relentless march towards tennis history this fortnight at Wimbledon. As she closes in on a 22nd Grand Slam crown, here are some noteworthy numbers on the WTA’s indomitable World No.1.

(updated after her semifinal win at Wimbledon)

Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam singles titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 303 (Navratilova 306)
~ Serena is trying to win her seventh Wimbledon title (won it in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015); a seventh title would tie her with Steffi Graf and Dorothea Lambert Chambers on the all-time leaderboard
~ This is Serena’s 22nd time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 21)
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam final matches (her six defeats came against Venus Williams (2001 US Open, 2008 Wimbledon), Maria Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon), Samantha Stosur (2011 US Open), Angelique Kerber (2016 Australian Open) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2016 Roland Garros))

Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam singles finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (l. Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (l. Kerber)
~ Serena has won 31 of her last 36 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha, 2013 Cincinnati, 2016 Indian Wells, Kerber at 2016 Australian Open and Muguruza at 2016 Roland Garros)

Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 285d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)

Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 176th & 177th straight weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186)
~ Serena is spending her 299th & 300th career weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($77.6M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.8M)
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 70 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)

Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:

Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)

Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 244-20 (.924)
WTA titles: 29
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 16 (.500)
vs Top 10: 56-7 (.889)

Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 201-17
WTA titles: 23 of 33
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 13
vs Top 10: 41-5 (.891)

GSTAAD, Switzerland – Two weeks on from facing Serena Williams at the home of tennis, Amra Sadikovic continued her career renaissance with victory on a slightly more low-key, but no less important, stage.

Playing on home soil, at the Ladies Championship Gstaad, Sadikovic produced a battling display to see off Rebecca Peterson, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in just under two hours.

Struggling for motivation and money, Sadikovic walked away from the game two years ago. Inspired to return following the fairytale comeback of fellow Swiss Timea Bacsinszky, Sadikovic has been making up for lost time, already reaching a higher ranking than during the first phase of her career.

And against Peterson there was enough to suggest that her rise up the tennis pyramid may not yet be over, reeling off the final three games to emerge triumphant.

“It is a big difference, playing Wimbledon and now Gstaad, but I have to say I’m happy here – I’ve always played good anywhere back home. Even though it’s much smaller than Wimbledon it’s a nice atmosphere,” Sadikovic said.

“It was quite easy [moving back to clay], I think it took two days and I felt good. I had more problems with the altitude, so I had to fight for every point as I was not comfortable at all. I tried to mix it up, use my variety and even though I missed a few balls in the second set it made the difference in the end.”  

Also advancing in the top half of the draw were Mandy Minella, Claire Feuerstein and Irina Khromacheva.

Feuerstein recovered impressively from a slow start to defeat Sílvia Soler-Espinosa, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, while Khromacheva ably defused Lucie Hradecka, breaking six times en route to a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Minella bounced back from her heartbreaking Wimbledon exit, defeating Ons Jabeur in an equally dramatic encounter. Jabeur served for the match in the second set only to see Minella fightback and eventually triumph, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

#SADIKOVIC Amra won her 1. Round Match against #PETERSON Rebecca 6:2,3:6,3:6. #WTA Gstaad #thegirlsarebackinthealps pic.twitter.com/rmdoilcfFp

— Ladies Open Gstaad (@WTA_Gstaad) July 11, 2016

The WTA is excited to Smile With Strength™ with the help of new sponsor, Colgate® Enamel Health™ Toothpaste.

An exclusive partnership in the US and Canada, Colgate® Enamel Health™ has already joined forces with former World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard, who will serve as Brand Ambassador for the Smile With Strength™ campaign. The 2014 Wimbledon runner-up will be participating in retail promotions and the brand’s social media campaign.

Check out Bouchard’s tweet announcing this exciting new venture:

#ad Excited to announce my new “teammate” @Colgate #ColgateEnamelHealth Toothpaste! Now I #SmileWithStrength daily pic.twitter.com/QzWyQ6sPUM

— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) July 11, 2016

BUCHAREST, Romania – Simona Halep has announced she will not be competing at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Shortly after winning her quarterfinal at the BRD Bucharest Open, Halep took to social media to reveal her withdrawal from the Games, citing fears over the Zika virus outbreak across South America.

“The reason for my decision is the concern regarding the danger posed by the Zika virus,” was posted on Halep’s Facebook page. “After several talks with doctors and my family, i concluded that the risks are too high for my career and for my health, especially as a woman. Family is much too important for me and I can’t risk not being able to have one of my own after my career in tennis is over.”

STANFORD, CA, USA – Former No.1 Venus Williams put on a vintage performance to dismiss 17-year-old wildcard Catherine Bellis, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.

Watch live action from Bastad, Stanford and Washington DC this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Bellis was playing in her first-ever WTA quarterfinal, and her quest to become the sixth youngest woman to defeat the five-time Wimbledon winner (at 17 years, 105 days old) was boosted by an opening service break.

The top seed quickly took the break back, however, and remained in the driver’s seat throughout the 61 minute masterclass. Breaking serve once more with a thunderous backhand winner down the line, Williams clinched the opening set and lost just one more game to guarantee the Top 3 seeds advanced into the semifinals.

Into her eighth career Stanford semi, Venus next faces fellow American Alison Riske, who was up a set on No.4 seed CoCo Vandeweghe when her higher ranked opponent turned her ankle and was forced to retire one game into the second.

More to come…

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – Yanina Wickmayer made light of another sweltering day at the Citi Open to outplay Yulia Putintseva and reach her first final of 2016.

Watch live action from Washington DC, Bastad and Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

On an afternoon when temperatures in the US capital reached as high as 97°F, No.7 seed Wickmayer was intent on keeping her time on court to a minimum. Bristling with positive intent from the outset, the Belgian rode a fast start all the way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

“It was very hot but its been like that every day so far. I knew she was going to make me work for every single point and it would be tough out there,” Wickmayer said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to stay positive, stay implemented focused, go for my shots and stay aggressive.”

Wickmayer’s intentions were clear from the off, a couple of big forehands helping her break in the opening game. This lead was soon stretched to 4-0 and while Putintseva managed to pull back one of the breaks it was not enough to rescue the set.

The second followed a similar pattern, Wickmayer bossing the majority of exchanges to confidently advance to the 11th final of her career. There she will face Lauren Davis after she ended wildcard Jessica Pegula’s run with a 6-2, 6-3 win in the night session..

Before that, though, Wickmayer was back on court alongside Monica Niculescu, defeating Shuko Aoyama and Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-3 to book a place in the doubles final. “That’s what I work for, playing finals and holding the trophy at the end of the week,” she added. “It just feels great to be in the final here I’ve done really well in the singles and doubles so I’m really enjoying my time here.”