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Mirza's Reign At No.1 Extends To 90 Weeks

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Sania Mirza completed her 90th week atop the WTA doubles rankings on Monday.

Just 10 weeks ago, the World No.1 celebrated 80 weeks ahead of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, where her ranking came under threat from the likes of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Mattek-Sands came within a match of unseating the Indian star by reaching the final in Singapore, only to fall to Olympic champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

In an ironic twist, Mirza will reunite with former partner Mattek-Sands to start the 2017 season at the Brisbane International, where they will be top seeds ahead of Makarova and Vesnina.

Mirza began 2016 with longtime partner Martina Hingis, with whom she won a third straight major title at the Australian Open, and came up just short in their hunt for the Non-Calendar Year “Santina” Slam. The pair split by summer, and Mirza formed a new partnership with Barbora Strycova, cementing their union with titles at the Western & Southern Open and Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

For all she has already accomplished, Mirza still has big goals for next year, including a maiden French Open title to complete her Career Grand Slam.

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Can Kerber Overtake Serena At US Open?

Can Kerber Overtake Serena At US Open?

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The WTA World No.1 Ranking will be on the line at this year’s US Open. Can Serena Williams extend her stay atop the WTA Rankings and make history?

Only 21 players have occupied the No.1 ranking since the computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. Will we see a new player take hold of the No.1 spot for the first time in three years?

wtatennis.com breaks down the No.1 scenarios ahead of the US Open:

Serena Eyes Another Record: Williams enters the US Open as the WTA World No.1-ranked player, a distinction she has held since February 18, 2013. Through the two weeks at the US Open, Williams will extend her streak to 186 consecutive weeks, tying the WTA record for most consecutive weeks at No.1 held by Stefanie Graf (186 weeks, August 17, 1987 through March 10, 1991).

Williams currently holds a 190-point advantage over Kerber in the rankings. However, to break the record, Williams will need to at least reach the semifinals and possibly advance further. Williams is defending 780 points at the US Open as she advanced to the semifinals last year before Roberta Vinci stopped her run.

Serena Williams

As Kerber progresses, though, Williams will need to advance further:

–   If Kerber reaches the quarterfinals at the US Open, then Williams will need to reach the final to have a chance at keeping the No.1 ranking.
–   If Williams wins the US Open, she will secure the No.1 ranking, regardless of any other results.
–   A championship match showdown between Williams and Kerber, the Top 2 seeds, would see the winner walk away not only with the trophy, but the No.1 ranking.

Williams’ ranking points have come from seven tournaments in the last 52 weeks – 2015 US Open (780), Australian Open (1300), Indian Wells (650), Miami (120), Rome (900), Roland Garros (1300) and Wimbledon (2000).

What Will It Take For Kerber To Become World No.1?: Angelique Kerber is bidding to become the 22nd player to hold the WTA World No.1 Ranking since the computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. The German came within one win of unseating Williams at No.1 in Cincinnati, but fell short in the final against Karolina Pliskova.

Last year, Kerber lost to Victoria Azarenka in the third round at the US Open and as a result is only defending 130 points in Flushing Meadows.

Kerber will have a 460-point advantage from the start of the tournament. An early exit would not necessarily prevent her from moving to No.1.

Angelique Kerber

Kerber consistently has reached the final four at the tour’s biggest events with six finals appearances this year, winning the title at Australian Open and Stuttgart, finishing as runner-up at Brisbane, Wimbledon and Cincinnati. (She also reached the final at the Olympic Games, although that does not count towards ranking points). As a result, Kerber’s ranking has been on a steady incline after finishing 2015 at No.10.

Muguruza Also Has A Chance: One of three Grand Slam champions this year, Muguruza will need to reach the final at the US Open to have a chance of overtaking the No.1 ranking. Should she win her second Grand Slam title of the year, the Spaniard would take claim to the No.1 spot unless Kerber also reaches the final.

First Grand Slam Title Could Vault Radwanska To The Top: To have a chance at moving to No.1, Agnieszka Radwanska would need to win the US Open, although if she is able to win the title in New Haven this week, a run to the finals could potentially be enough.

WTA World No.1 Ranking Scenarios 

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#ThankYouAna: WTA Fans Share Favorite Ivanovic Memories

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Few have engaged tennis fans quite like Ana Ivanovic; the former No.1 and 2008 French Open champion has a combined 4.5 million followers on Facebook and Twitter.

Those fans took to social media to express their gratitude for their favorite player with the hashtag #ThankYouAna. Check out some of the best fan tweets below:

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Kvitova Back Into New Haven Quarterfinal

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW HAVEN, CT, USA – Defending champion Petra Kvitova kept her bid for a fourth Connecticut Open title firmly on track as she powered past Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 to book a spot in the quarterfinals.

Watch live action from New Haven this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Much like in her previous match, it took a few games for Kvitova to get going and find her rhythm against Bouchard. The Czech surrendered the first break to give Bouchard a 3-1 lead in the first set. But losing serve first just served to galvanize the No.6 seed, who broke back immediately and reeled off 10 straight games to put herself up a set and 5-0.

Kvitova closed out the match after just over an hour and advanced to her fifth consecutive New Haven quarterfinal. It was also Kvitova’s tenth win in a row in New Haven, improving her record at the tournament to an impressive 17-2.

With the win Kvitova sets up a quarterfinal clash with Ekaterina Makarova, an opponent she’s all too familiar with. This will be the fourth time they’ll have met this year, with Makarova owning wins at Miami and Wimbledon and Kvitova getting her revenge at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

“I feel like I meet Ekaterina every week, it’s really funny,” Kvitova said of the matchup. “I remember one year we played here as well and I beat her. So I hope that I can take some of the good memories from here and try to play my best again.”

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