Brilliant Pironkova Upsets Radwanska
Tsvetana Pironkova produced a spectacular comeback to knock out No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and book a place in the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Tsvetana Pironkova produced a spectacular comeback to knock out No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and book a place in the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Serena Williams takes on Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of Roland Garros.
Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic battled past Svetlana Kuznetsova and Margarita Gasparyan in three sets on Friday to reach the women’s doubles final in Paris.
‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – No.6 seeded American CoCo Vandeweghe scored another win in her happiest of hunting grounds, having little trouble against Indy de Vroome in her 6-2, 6-4 opening round win at the Ricoh Open.
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There’s something about playing on grass that causes Vandeweghe’s powerful game to click together. Right here in the Netherlands, Vandeweghe brought home her first WTA title back in 2014, and last year she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Vandeweghe hardly needed more than an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the second round against Dutch wildcard de Vroome. The 20-year-old showed a lot of promise against the American; perhaps surprisingly, de Vroome out-aced the big serving Vandeweghe with eight aces to one. But Vandeweghe played more consistently in the important points, grabbing three of the four break chances she created.
Another American notched a victory today, with Madison Brengle scoring a big win against No.5 seed Laura Siegemund. Playing at the Ricoh Open for the first time, Brengle completed a three set upset against Stuttgart finalist Siegemund, coming back from a mid-match deficit to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in just over two hours.
Siegemund wasn’t the only seed that took a tumble today with No.7 Eugenie Bouchard bowing out in straight sets at the hands of Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens. Mertens allowed the Canadian only one break point chance in the whole match and ran roughshod over Bouchard on her way to her 52-minute, 6-2, 6-0 victory, her first WTA main draw win of her career.
The grass is always greener! On to the second round ricohopen ?? https://t.co/36RVMvv4U6
— CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) June 6, 2016
The ITF has issued a ruling in the case of Maria Sharapova. An independent tribunal has found that Sharapova has committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation, and has therefore been imposed a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on January 26, 2016.
“It is important at all times for players to be aware of the rules and to follow them,” says WTA CEO Steve Simon. “In this case, Maria has taken responsibility for her mistake from the outset. The WTA supports the process that the ITF and Maria have followed. The ITF has made its ruling and, under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program, the decision may be appealed to the Court Arbitration for Sport. The WTA will continue to follow this closely and we hope it will be resolved as soon as possible.”
Sharapova released the following statement on her official Facebook page:
For more information, click here.
The tennis season may have just switched to grass, but there’s already another big competition taking kicking off on the turf: Euro 2016. The competition, which starts today in France, pits the best national teams in Europe against one other. Along with the Copa America – which is already underway in the United States – there’s a lot of football going on!
So we got to thinking: if WTA players were a national team, who would be in our starting lineup?
Here’s our official WTA starting lineup:
The WTA plays in a classic 4-4-2 formation, which means that along with a goalkeeper, we’re fielding four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers.
Think you could pick a better team? Who would you chose to be in your starting lineup?
FORWARDS:
We’re playing with two strikers in our WTA XI, so of course we’re starting two of the most powerful attack-minded players in the game:
We certainly think our choices are solid, but these two definitely aren’t the only ones who know how to take their scoring opportunities. Maybe
some of the players listed on the right would make a better choice?
Cast your vote here!
MIDFIELDERS:
Players in this position are known to be skillful and patient, turning defense into offence on a dime.
For the midfielders in our WTA XI, we’re going with some of the most creative players known for their variety:
Who would you put in your midfield? Would you stick with these or chose some of the players on the right?
Choose your players here!
DEFENDERS:
Defenders have to be rock-solid in order to diffuse all attacks.
Our WTA XI is full of the most consistent, defense-minded returners and counter punchers:
These four seem solid to us, but would a player listed at right do a better job in defense?
Take your pick now!
GOALKEEPERS:
The last line of defense, goalkeepers are known for their quick reflexes, being good on the stretch but most importantly: they’re tall.
In our WTA XI, we trust our goal in the hands of:
· Petra Kvitova
We believe in our goalkeeper Kvitova, but maybe you’d have a different choice in mind?
Cast your vote right here!
You’ve got one week to cast your votes and chose your WTA Starting Lineup. You can vote as many times as you want right here on wtatennis.com. Votes will be tallied up on Friday, June 17 and we’ll find out who you chose for your WTA XI.
No.6 seed Caroline Garcia overcame a slow start and mounted a major comeback to beat Carina Witthoeft for a spot in the second round of the inaugural Mallorca Open.
MALLORCA, Spain – Kirsten Flipkens played some of her most solid, complete tennis to complete the biggest upset of the Mallorca Open, knocking out top seed Garbiñe Muguruza in straights sets for a spot in the second round.
Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
In her first match since winning the French Open and ascending to World No.2, Muguruza just couldn’t get comfortable on the new, faster surface and was struggling with her serve.
“I think it was very tough,” Muguruza said after the match. “I barely had time to actually practice and enjoy the tournament.
“I wanted to play Mallorca so much and I tried, but then I went to the court and obviously I couldn’t find my rhythm. Also, [Flipken’s] game matches grass very well. My performance today was just not what I wanted.”
The Spaniard looked poised to roll through early on in the first set, breaking in the first game and consolidating for a 2-0 lead. But No.61 ranked Flipkens would have none of it, rallying to break back and erase Muguruza’s lead.
Despite Muguruza holding five other break points during the course of the first set, it was the Belgian who broke once again, closing the first set 6-3 against the World No.2. Flipkens marched through the second, getting the decisive break at 3-3.
Muguruza never recovered, and her Spanish homecoming was cut short, 6-3, 6-4.
“I had so many opportunities coming to me that I couldn’t take, and she played really well during those big moments,” Muguruza said. “So the match started slipping away from me little by little.”
“It was great to be back here and playing in Spain, and especially in my first tournament [since the French Open] it was even more special. Hopefully next year it will be better.”
Flipkens’ game loves the faster surfaces: with today’s win over Mugurza, Flipkens notched her fourth career win over a Top 10 player, and her first since 2013, when she shocked the then No.8-ranked Petra Kvitova in Wimbledon. In fact, three of those four Top 10 wins have come on grass courts.
Up next for Flipkens is Monica Puig, who defeated Julia Goerges, 6-4, 7-5.
? ? pic.twitter.com/4oDApw8yb0
— WTA (@WTA) June 14, 2016
BIRMINGHAM, England – Carla Suárez Navarro snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on another rain-interrupted afternoon at the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Trailing 5-3 in the final set, Suárez Navarro’s three-day wait to complete her first-round match looked like it would end in disappointment. However, with the rainclouds gathering overhead once more she produced a rousing finale to triumph, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
Originally scheduled for Monday, the players did not make it on court until Tuesday, splitting the opening two sets before the last of the day’s showers brought play to a halt with the Spaniard leading 2-1 in the decider.
A sluggish start on Wednesday, though, saw Svitolina take the first three games to build a seemingly insurmountable lead. As Suárez Navarro struggled to find her rhythm – and footing – Svitolina stretched this advantage, coming within two points of victory when serving for the match only to be denied by her opponent’s late show.
In two of the other matches carried over from the previous day, British wildcards Naomi Broady and Tara Moore suffered close losses. Tamira Paszek broke in the penultimate game to end Moore’s spirited effort, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Daria Gavrilova eventually defused Broady, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Over on Centre Court, No.4 seed Belinda Bencic’s tournament came to an unfortunate end as a thigh injury forced her to retire from her match with Irina-Camelia Begu. Bencic required treatment after a tumble in the first set and despite bravely battling on eventually admitted defeat trailing 6-4, 4-3.
“I slipped during the first set and injured my thigh. I tried to play on but unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish the match,” Bencic said. “It’s not ideal but being healthy in the long term is the top priority so I had to do the sensible thing.”
An interview with Madison Keys after her win in the quarterfinals of the Aegon Classic.