Angelique Kerber Climbs To New Heights In Brisbane
Angelique Kerber has had a busy week in Brisbane, from getting down at the Brisbane International’s Kids Day to reaching the top of the Wheel of Brisbane!
Angelique Kerber has had a busy week in Brisbane, from getting down at the Brisbane International’s Kids Day to reaching the top of the Wheel of Brisbane!
SINGAPORE – There may have been no final set haircut, but Svetlana Kuznetsova underlined her box office status at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global on Wednesday evening with a thrilling victory over Karolina Pliskova.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
Kuznetsova withstood a spirited late comeback from No.4 seed Pliskova to eventually prevail, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(6), and confirm her place in the semifinals.
“After my journey here, and all the support of the fans and my team, I couldn’t let everybody down,” Kuznetsova said to Andrew Krasny in her on-court interview. “It’s from my heart. I have not been at my best these past years, but something just changed this year.
“I enjoy my game, I enjoy the crowd, I’m playing against the best players in the world and I really appreciate and am blessed to be here today.”
This rediscovered joie de vivre has been evident for all to see in recent weeks as Kuznetsova embarked on an improbable late push for a Finals place. The Russian went from Asia to Russia in a desperate scramble for points, and so far her body is standing up to the arduous schedule.
Against Pliskova she started slowly, struggling to keep up with a blistering baseline assault. A couple of double faults gift-wrapped the decisive break in the first set, and when she fell behind in the second her prospects looked bleak.
This setback merely roused her into life, a more subtle approach starving the Czech of pace and sparking a run of four straight games. Skipping around second serves and buzzing to all corners of the court, the World No.9 levelled the match with another break before surging ahead in the decider.
The outcome, though, remained in the balance until the last. From 5-3 down, Pliskova went for broke, dragging herself back into contention only to fluff her lines when serving for the match at 6-5. In the tie-break, it was Kuznetsova’s turn to get jittery, watching three match points come and go. At 6-6 she carved out another, following a swinging a serve out wide with a forehand into the open court. This time there was no mistake, as she dragged Pliskova out of position just enough to send the next backhand beyond her reach.
For much of her 20s, Kuznetsova was a fixture at the year-end Finals but never made it beyond the round-robin stage. Now, on her sixth visit, the 31-year-old has finally broken her duck after defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska’s victory over Garbiñe Muguruza confirmed she would top the White Group.
On Thursday, Radwanska and Pliskova will battle it out to determine who joins her in the last four.
Daria Kasatkina has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her round-robin defeat at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
As the top seed at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Timea Bacsinszky was treated to a special tour.
Bacsinszky got to visit Rabat’s medina and walk through the historic maze-like streets.
There’s much to see in Old Rabat: the entire quarter is listed as a World Heritage site.
Bacsinszky also saw “La Rue Des Consuls,” a part of the old town with local traditional shops.
There she was able to check out Rabat’s well known craftsmanship and jewelry.
After shopping, the Swiss player was treated to another Morocco tradition…
…she learned the art of bartering!
Check out Bacsinszky’s new necklace!
Rabat is the WTA’s lone stop in Africa, and has been staged in several cities in Morocco including Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech and finally the Moroccan capital.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Lucie Safarova’s clay court revival at the J&T Banka Prague Open gathered further momentum on Thursday with a straight set win over Hsieh Su-Wei.
Watch live action from Prague & Rabat this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Going into her home tournament, Safarova had not registered a win all season, but after unraveling Hsieh’s unorthodox game in two tight sets she now has three in as many days.
In a topsy-turvy encounter, Safarova failed to serve out the opening set at 5-4, before coming within a few points of losing it two games later. In the tie-break, it was the Czech that held her nerve, taking it when Hsieh miscued a backhand into the tramlines.
Hsieh continued to pose problems in the second set, but once again it was Safarova that came out on top at the crucial moments, returning from a late rain delay to reach the semifinals
Safarova’s 7-6(3), 7-5 victory followed on from an even more impressive performance from her compatriot and next opponent, Karolina Pliskova. Eager to minimize her time exposed to the elements on another chilly day in the Czech capital, defending champion Pliskova blew away Camila Giorgi, 6-2, 6-1, in just 51 minutes.
Pliskova and Safarova met only last week in Stuttgart, the former coming through a third set shootout, to add to victories over her Fed Cup teammate the previous year in Antwerp and Dubai.
Following her showing in Stuttgart and her run this week Safarova is feeling positive heading into the rematch. “I was on the way back already in Stuttgart, where I had a great match, and I was hoping the results would come. I’m happy and excited that it’s going this well.
“It was a tough match today; she’s always a very tricky player, defending the court very well and I’m very excited to be through to the semis.”
Barbora Strycova takes on Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Johanna Konta after her semifinal win at the Apia International Sydney.
In today’s SAP stat of the day, Agnieszka Radwanska opened her Top 20 wins count for 2017 in a big way.
It’s time to crown April’s WTA Shot Of The Month. There were some incredible shots to choose from this month, and we narrowed it down to the five best – have a look at the nominees in the above video and cast your vote for your favorite shot before voting ends Thursday at 11:59pm ET!
The winner will be announced Friday, May 6.
How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.
