Strycova Survives Bouzkova Blitz In Biel/Bienne
Top seed Barbora Strycova edged past former junior prodigy Marie Bouzkova in three sets to reach the second round of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
Top seed Barbora Strycova edged past former junior prodigy Marie Bouzkova in three sets to reach the second round of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
Barbora Strycova takes on Julia Goerges in the quarterfinals of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
How did Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard feel about glamming up for the Shenzhen Open player party? See highlights from the big night here.
BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Marketa Vondrousova’s fairytale week continued at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne; the qualifier roared back from a first set deficit to surprise countrywoman and top seed Barbora Strycova, 7-6(3), 6-2 and book her first WTA final appearance alongside Estonian youngster Anett Kontaveit. Kontaveit triumphed in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 thriller against Aliaksandra Sasnovich earlier in the day.
A week after teenagers Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko fought for the Volvo Car Open title, the WTA field continued to serve youth in Biel/Bienne, with 23 as the average age of the semifinalists – and that’s including 31-year-old Strycova.
Defense to offense from Vondrousova!
Back on serve #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/Iq1uDQk3R7
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
Vondrousova, who reached two Slam semifinals and won two major doubles titles as a junior, was playing her first tour-level semifinal, and that experience showed early as the World No.18 raced out to a 5-2 lead, later holding a set point in the 12th game of the opener.
The teenager gamely saved it behind a booming lefty serve and saved her best tennis for the ensuing tie-break, striking a screaming winner to clinch it.
First set ? Marketa Vondrousova
Saves a set point to surprise Strycova 7-6(3)! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/7wJHPy2X8i
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
Strycova struggled to counter her fellow Czech’s aggressive game on the indoor hardcourts as Vondrousova took a 5-2 lead of her own in the second, breaking serve for the fourth and final time to advance into the biggest final of her career.
17 year old qualifier Marketa Vondrousova reaches FIRST #WTA Final!
Stuns Strycova 7-6(3), 6-2 @WTABielBienne! pic.twitter.com/YKFgxhkRIC
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
In all, the qualifier played a clean match, striking 22 winners to 13 unforced errors; Strycova’s own 13 winners were undone by 20 unforced errors.
Anett Kontaveit and Aliaksandra Sasnovich open @WTABielBienne Semifinals! pic.twitter.com/PAfhqglB2r
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
Awaiting Vondrousova in the final is another former junior prodigy in Kontaveit, who reached the US Open girl’s singles final back in 2012 and outlasted Sasnovich to start Semifinal Saturday.
“I feel really good, and really happy to be in my first final,” she said after the match.
Back in the Top 100 after reaching the third round of the Miami Open, the unseeded Estonian battled through a high-quality encounter with Sasnovich, who was playing her first WTA semifinal since 2015.
Anett Kontaveit takes a close opening set vs Sasnovich 6-4! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/KuezLGrvmB
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
“I was down a break twice in the third set, but I tried to stay in there even though she was playing really well. I was just trying to stay with her do what I always do: fight and not give up.
“Mentally, I toughed it out.”
Hitting 26 winners to the Belarusian’s 29, Kontaveit’s consistency won the day, hitting 17 unforced errors against Sasnovich’s 29, and won four more points (114 to 110) by match’s end, converting her WTA final on her fourth match point after two hours and 24 minutes on court.
Drop shot Anett Kontaveit! ? #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/XzM7w5UjLP
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
It will be Kontaveit’s first meeting with Vondrousova, and knows to expect another tough match if she hopes to hoist her first WTA trophy.
“She’s had really good wins, and it looks like she’s playing well this week.”
First #WTA Final!
Anett Kontaveit battles past Sasnovich 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 at @WTABielBienne! pic.twitter.com/WkGZC8LdNr
— WTA (@WTA) April 15, 2017
More to come…
BRISBANE, Australia – Just days into the new season and they’ve already hit another milestone – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 25th match in a row at the Brisbane International on Friday.
Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Hingis and Mirza, the No.1-ranked team in the world and top seeds at the Premier-level tournament, faced some resistance – Andreja Klepac and Alla Kudryavtseva, the No.4 seeds, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and, after dropping the first set, were a game away from winning the second set up 5-4.
But Hingis and Mirza did all the right things at all the right times and closed it out, 6-3, 7-5.
“I think we’re off to a great start in the new season,” Hingis said. “We never really felt like we finished in 2015 – I played the Indian league and Sania played IPTL, so we still kind of kept our routine.
“We’re really happy to have the possibility to be in another final, and win another title.”
Hingis and Mirza’s 25-match winning streak, which has brought them five titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and the WTA Finals, is the longest winning streak since Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci’s 25 in a row in 2012 – the Italians also won five titles in a row, at Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, the French Open and ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the winning streak was snapped at Wimbledon).
“It’s been a long time since we’ve lost, but it’s never easy to start a new season, especially when you’re coming off such a great season. Everyone’s gunning for us – we’re the hunted,” Mirza commented.
“We’re just taking it one match at a time, staying positive, and picking up from where we left off.”
To find the last doubles team to win more than 25 matches in a row you have to go all the way back to the 1994 season, when Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva rattled off 28 victories in a row.
The other semifinal, which took place later in the day, saw German wildcards Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic take out Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 2-6, 6-3, 10-2.
Hingis and Mirza will face the all-German team for the first time in the final Saturday night.
.@MHingis & @MirzaSania extend winning streak to 25 matches–> https://t.co/gW3guYjfnJ #WTA pic.twitter.com/SkIb8MUNVr
— WTA (@WTA) January 8, 2016
Before winning the inaugural Ladies Open Biel Bienne, Hsieh Su-Wei and Monica Niculescu went head-to-head on an egg hunt. Check out who won right here on wtatennis.com!
Daria Gavrilova’s Australia Green brought home the Hopman Cup title, sweeping Ukraine and ending the country’s 17-year wait for the trophy.
The newly-minted Australian – who last year was voted WTA Newcomer Of The Year – won the hearts of the exuberant home crowd with her gutsy performance against Elina Svitolina in the final. After winning the first set 6-4, Gavrilova found herself trailing behind 6-1 in the second-set tiebreak.
She went on to win seven straight points to secure the victory.
“I just literally told myself to settle down, just stop thinking of everything,” Gavrilova said after the win. “Just think about how to win every point.
“I just played free.”
Gavrilova’s Australia Green partner Nick Kyrgios went on to secure the title in the mixed-team event, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s singles rubber.
Though the Hopman Cup is Gavrilova’s first trophy for Australia, she’s earned herself another accolade, a rite of passage for every Australian athlete: an Aussie nickname. The crowd calls her “Dash” – a play on “Dasha,” the Russian nickname for “Daria,” and also a nod to the 21-year-old’s aggressive and unrelenting style of play.
“It means so much,” Gavrilova said of playing in the Hopman Cup.
“It’s just amazing that I got to represent Australia here.”
Thank you everyone for supporting us once again! Big thanks to @TennisAustralia ? @NickKyrgios you were amazing, thank you!
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) January 9, 2016
The first quarter of 2017 is in the books, and before the WTA tour turns to the European red clay, it’s time to take one last look back at the Top 5 moments that have shaped the season thus far.
The No.1 moment on our countdown is a record-breaking achievement that went down in tennis history…
Serena Cements Her Place In Tennis History: There was one word that dominated the tennis headlines in January: “history.” It’s what was on the line at the Australian Open final when Serena Williams and Venus Williams took to the court for the first all-Williams final in Melbourne in 14 years.
And 81 minutes later, Serena took home the title – without dropping a set or even facing a tiebreaker during the entire tournament – and rewrote the history books with an Open Era record 23rd Grand Slam title.
SHE’S DONE IT! No. 23@serenawilliams is your #AusOpen 2017 women’s singles champion. ? pic.twitter.com/LC6fpWi3Ik
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2017
“It’s such a great feeling to have 23,” Serena said after the match. “I’ve been chasing it for a really long time. When it got on my radar, I knew I had an opportunity to get there, and I’m here. I’m here.
“It’s a great feeling, and no better place to do it than Melbourne. My first Grand Slam started here, and getting to 23 here, but playing Venus, it’s stuff that legends are made of. I couldn’t have written a better story.”
Not only was the win Serena’s 216th at Grand Slam tournaments, improving on her already-record total, but it also restored her place at the top of the WTA rankings, returning to World No.1 for the first time since the 2016 US Open.
Her season would come to a halt after the Australian Open, though. Serena withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami before announcing earlier this week that she was expecting her first child in the fall.
But Serena stands alone on our countdown – much like she does in tennis history – and her record-breaking feat at the Australian Open is the No.1 moment of the 2017 season to date.
The Top 5 Moments That Marked 2017 So Far:
5) The Future Is Now: Teen Titans Crash WTA Party: Kasatkina, Vondrousova Take Titles To Start 2017
4) Slow & Steady Wins The Race: Wozniacki & Svitolina’s Hot Streaks Lighting Up 2017
3) Veterans Victorious: Venus & Lucic-Baroni Loom Large To Start 2017
2) Sunshine Sweeps: Vesnina & Konta Capture Career-Best Titles To Start 2017
1) Serena, Unparalleled: Serena Makes History With 23rd Grand Slam Title To Start 2017
STUTTGART, Germany – The European clay season begins in earnest this week as hometown favorite Angelique Kerber leads the WTA into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The two-time champion tops a draw that houses a host of elite players and threats on the dirt, as players look to get off on the right foot on the road to Roland Garros.
Check out 10 things to know ahead of Germany’s Premier red-clay event.
1) Star-studded sightings in Stuttgart.
Eight of the WTA’s top 10 are competing this week. Defending champion Angelique Kerber is the event’s top seed, as one of three former champions in the main draw.
2) Top seed, but not No.1 (for now).
Though Kerber will drop to World No.2 in the rankings on Monday, the German has a chance to reclaim the top spot in the WTA rankings should she reach the semifinals this week.
3) Good things come in threes.
Kerber could be the fourth player to three-peat in the history of the tournament, dating back to when Tracy Austin and Martina Navratilova did it at the event’s beginnings in Filderstadt. Maria Sharapova also won three straight tiles from 2012-14.
4) Siegemund sneaks in.
Last year’s runner-up Laura Siegemund earned the final wildcard to this year’s tournament at the 11th hour – the World No.37 was tabbed as the final entrant prior to Saturday morning’s draw.
5) Sharapova says hello.
The aforementioned three-time Stuttgart champion Maria Sharapova returns to the WTA this week.
6) An epic rematch first up.
Though both are unseeded, the first round match between Kristina Mladenovic and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni promises to have fireworks. The two have met already on clay this season, as the Croat took a marathon 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(13) victory in Charleston earlier this spring.
7) Game, set, match – for the first time.
Two of the event’s top 8 seeds will be looking to break a losing spell in Stuttgart this week. The No.6 seed and a wildcard in the event, Johanna Konta is 0-2 in her career at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, while No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova has fallen in the first round in each of her four appearances.
8) Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.
Several WTA stars will be returning to Stuttgart for the first time in a while this week, as Cibulkova makes her first appearance in the tournament since 2012, while Mirjana Lucic-Baroni plays the event for the first time in three years. Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova plays just her second Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, having fallen in the first round in 2011, and her first-round foe, 2010 runner-up Samantha Stosur appears for the first time since 2013.
9) Compatriots to do battle to commence play.
Two first-round matches will see countrywomen face off, as Elena Vesnina will play Daria Kasatkina — and the winner of the all-Russian showdown will face either Garbiñe Muguruza or Carla Suárez Navarro, who face each other in an all-Spanish clash.
10) Show your colors, then head to Stuttgart.
Nine players who will feature in the main draw are also donning their country’s colors this weekend – Kerber, Vesnina, Kasatkina, Siegemund, Johanna Konta, Simona Halep and CoCo Vandeweghe.
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – Top seed Jelena Jankovic was sent crashing out of the Brasil Tennis Cup at the hands of Romania’s Ana Bogdan in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5.
Watch live action from Florianopolis this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Jankovic struggled as much with the conditions in southern Brazil as she did against her No.127 ranked opponent.
“It was a tough match overall. It’s completely different conditions here playing in the evening,” she said. “The ball moved so slow – it didn’t go anywhere. I hit as hard as I could, it wouldn’t take spin, nothing.
“The conditions didn’t really suit my game. It was better for Bogdan, and she won.”
Both players’ discomfort with the heavy conditions was evident in the 12 breaks of serve throughout the course of the hour and a half match. In fact, Bogdan was the only one to manage to hold in the opening set, doing so twice to put herself firmly ahead in the score.
Jankovic was able to impose her game more in the second set, and broke Bogdan’s serve three times to climb to a 5-4 lead and bring up three set points. The Romanian denied her the chance to even the scoreboard and broke right back.
“I just wanted to continue playing and not think about the score or anything else,” Bogdan said of the nerve-wracking moment. “Sometimes you get really nervous and you can’t control your emotions. I knew who she was and what a great champion she was, but I just tried not to think about that. I just kept going and believed in myself.”
Bodgan powered through to take the next two games and book a spot in her second WTA quarterfinal of her career.
“It’s definitely one of the greatest victories I’ve had until now,” Bodgan said. “I can’t compare it to any other match I’ve played.”
Bogdan will face Tereza Martincova in the next round. The Czech came away the winner in her match against lucky loser Lyudmyla Kichenok, the author of last round’s big upset of defending champion Teliana Pereira.
No.3 seed Monica Puig had a more straightforward road to the quarterfinals after defeating Olga Savchuk 6-0, 6-4.
After being completely shut out in the first set, Savchuk came out swinging in the second, playing more aggressively and hitting more winners. The change of tactic wasn’t enough to breakthrough against the Puerto Rican’s solid hitting, and Puig earned the decisive break in the ninth game to take the match after barely past an hour.
“It’s nice to be back here in Latin America where I have my roots,” Puig said after the match. “It feels very nice to be representing as the No.1 Latin American player. There’s always a lot of pride and responsibility on my shoulders, but I like it.”
Up next for Puig is the No.8 seed Naomi Osaka, a familiar face for her as the two have been practicing together earlier in the week.
“She definitely hits the ball very hard and has a big serve,” she said. “I’ll just focus on my game and do what I need to do put her in trouble, but I have a lot of respect for her of course.”
Also into the quarterfinals is No.4 seed Jelena Ostapenko who is set to take on No.6 seed Timea Babos. Ostapenko comfortably dispatched Argentina’s Catalina Pella 6-2, 6-3, while Babos came through after a commanding win over Alizé Lim, dropping just one game in the 6-0, 6-1 romp.
No.2 seed Irina-Camelia Begu dashed the last of the Brazilian hopes for a home champion as she defeated Paula Cristina Goncalves in straight sets. Goncalves was one of five Brazilians in the draw and the only one to advance past the first round, but she couldn’t move on against Begu, who downed her 6-1, 6-2. She’ll play No.7 seeded Nao Hibino next after the Japanese player edged Veronica Cepede Royg 6-3, 7-6(6).