Tennis News

ZHUHAI, China – Huanjin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Ambassador and 22-time Grand Slam champion Stefanie Graf had a front row seat to the rise of World No.1 Angelique Kerber.

“She would take little breaks in the year and come to Las Vegas to train and prepare herself,” she told WTA Insider during a media Q&A on Sunday. “I had a chance to watch and help a little but, but she’s the one doing the hard work. She’s the one showing that determination and commitment.

“I felt she always had the talent and the strengths; she’s been working hard. She just needed that one win to get her mindset changed to where she could start believing in herself. She was really able to do that in the last year or two, where she started realizing that she can beat top players. That belief really changed her game around; she’s been playing with a lot more confidence, and you can see that she’s a different player on the court. With each victory, it seemed like she got stronger and more comfortable with herself on the court.”

With Kerber leading a strong German contingent – one that already includes Julia Goerges, Andrea Petkovic, Sabine Lisicki, and Laura Siegemund – Graf is hopeful for a surge in national interest in the sport she once dominated.

“I think we’ve had such strong talent in Germany over the past few years; we had a lot of great players pushing each other. For her to push through has been really important for German tennis because where we’ve seen a lot of growth here, we’ve seen fewer tournaments in Germany where we used to be really strong.

“For her to have that success, and a lot of the other players being strong behind her, that should hopefully strengthen tennis in Germany and Europe again.”

Graf wouldn’t count out former No.1 Serena Williams, who matched her Grand Slam total this year at Wimbledon, as Kerber’s biggest challenge in 2017.

“With Serena, she’s definitely had a little bit of a harder year; she wasn’t able to play as many tournaments as she might have wished to be ready for the Grand Slams. But she’s too incredible of a player to be underestimated in the coming year.

“Consistency is what we’re all striving for on the court; it’s difficult with different surfaces, different time zones and different climates. It’s a long year in tennis.”

Serving as WTA Elite Trophy Ambassador at the end of the season proved to be an easy decision for Graf; the German had never before traveled to China and has thoroughly enjoyed taking in the sights throughout the region. She arrived late Friday night and was greeted by a throng of fans at her hotel, and has since participated in several clinics with junior players, a trip to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge with Caroline Garcia, and the coin toss for the final between Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina.

“The desire has always been there to come visit China. I can say I’ve traveled the world, but there’s a few places I haven’t been but have the wish to go. I love to travel and experience different cultures. Tennis is such a great and growing sport in China; to be part of it, and hopefully help just a little bit bring the sport to our young talents, it’s a great opportunity.

“I do enjoy a coastline, and even having the possibility to drive around and get the chance yesterday to be playing a little bit of tennis on the longest bridge in the world. That was an incredible sight. The city has a lot of beautiful parts I’ve seen just by driving along, but also looking at little mountains and hills. We’ve enjoyed taking walks in the morning, jogging along the water and seeing people on early strolls of their own.

“You have so many possibilities here, so it seems like a vibrant city everyone can enjoy.”

Check out more quick hits from Graf on what she makes of the tournament, how tennis can continue growing in China, and even what she makes of new ATP World No.1 Andy Murray.

What an honor to meet & play with the Legend, Steffi Graff! And why not do it on the longest cross sea bridge in the World! #WTAEliteTrophy pic.twitter.com/LzFOGlqGtN

— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) November 6, 2016

On the Zhuhai venue…

I’m looking at an incredible facility right now. The center court couldn’t be nicer; I got a chance to play a little bit on the outside courts yesterday, and they play beautifully. In terms of the environment – from locker rooms, to physiotherapy to massages – I thought the organization has been exceptional. I feel there’s a strong passion for tennis here, and you can feel a high level excitement from everyone on the grounds. Everyone has been so accommodating and able to help whenever you have questions. There’s a really cute conversation card in the tournament transportation vehicle, where if a driver doesn’t completely understand you, there’s a list of different questions you could have in different languages. It’s all extremely well thought through. I’m sure all the other players will agree that the organization has been top notch.

On the city’s plan to further integrate tennis into the Zhuhai landscape…

I just learned quite a bit last night and this afternoon, sitting down with some of the CTA members, as well as the mayor and vice-mayor. Just from those discussions, it seems that there’s a lot of vision already in hand, where they’re already in the second and third stages of development. They’re talking about developing a tennis academy as well as increasing the amount of tennis played in schools. It seems that there’s a lot of planning going on. With the interest and passion that I’ve seen around this tournament, I believe that there’s going to be fast growth.

It seems that everyone is very enthusiastic about it. I think from what I hear, it’s still a very new sport, because for long periods, China couldn’t watch a lot of tennis on TV. The enthusiasm is there, and just seeing the growing tournaments over the last few years has been great. During my career, we didn’t have a big women’s tournament here, so the growth in this sector is clearly immense. So the industry and fans are here; I believe that from what has already been done that we all need to be on the lookout for even more growth.

On Andy Murray ascending to World No.1…

I didn’t even know until you told me just now! It happened last night, so I hadn’t caught the news. It’s the result of some incredible tennis that he’s been playing over the last few years, and so it’s well deserved. When you look at men’s tennis, the level has been so phenomenal for such a long time; it’s still a tight race with Djokovic, players like Federer and Nadal. It’s fascinating to watch men’s tennis with how close it is. How long will he be able to hold on? I don’t know, but I’ll be looking forward to seeing what next year will bring.

On the importance of consistency throughout a long season…

Consistency is what you strive for. It’s pretty difficult to achieve in the world of tennis. There are very few sports played all year long. In my career, it was an 11-11.5 month long season; now it’s gotten a little short, more like 10 months. But it’s really difficult to hold the highest level throughout the year. Ideally, you try to pace yourself through it, meaning you pick and choose your tournaments, and take time in between. With Angie, she did a fantastic job peaking at the big tournaments this year, with strong showings at the Grand Slam tournaments.

On the next generation of players…

I think it’s important for everyone to find their individual way, their presence, and their style. I think in terms of my style of play, it’s not around so much anymore with one-handed backhand slice, and keeping the ball low. That’s a very unusual thing; I think tennis has changed quite a bit through the last few generations. But the good thing is that everyone finds their own way to become who they are.

.@WTAEliteTrophy Ambassador Stefanie Graf was on hand for a fan activity and Media Q&A in Zhuhai pic.twitter.com/ndblZTBc5y

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) November 6, 2016

All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.

The stage is set in Strasbourg as the French headline their first Fed Cup final since 2005, when Amélie Mauresmo narrowly missed out on a hat trick of titles to team Russia. Mauresmo is back at the helm over a decade later, captaining a next generation squad that includes Roland Garros doubles winners Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.

“I’m lucky it brings out their best tennis,” the 2016 International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee told WTA Insider in July. “They feel so good playing on the team, and are able to express their best during this competition, I’m very fortunate with that. It’s not only Caroline and Kiki, but also Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier; I hope they can all rise to the occasion in November.”

That occasion puts them head-to-head against defending champions in the Czech Republic, who have taken home the trophy in four of the last five years and took out the French in last April’s semifinal.

“We have a very difficult team ahead of us. There’s nothing to lose, being the underdogs. We’ll give it a good fight.”

Garcia will be ready for a good fight against the likes of Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova. The French No.1 won in Strasbourg earlier in the season, taking home the first of two titles in 2016.

“I’m really looking forward to it, but I’d rather be facing a team other than the Czechs!” she joked at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “They have so many great players, that they could even make two teams from all the players they have in the Top 50.

“But we’ve done well this year; not long ago, we were almost out of World Group, and we were fighting just to stay in World Group II. Everything’s come very fast for us. We are a very young team, and have nothing to lose; we will be in France, and we will give everything we have like we always do.”

Mladenovic echoed her partner’s sentiments after winning the Mutua Madrid Open doubles crown.

“We are all aware how tough it is to give all of yourself in Fed Cup every single year. Personally, I give a lot. You try to do your best, find a balance, and just be positive, work hard and keep going.”

She and Garcia duo rode a 15-match winning streak through the start of the clay court season, ultimately becoming the first all-French duo to triumph on the terre battue since 1971. Mauresmo took over coaching duties back in 2012, and admitted a need to adapt her strategies to a new set of national stars.

“It’s another learning experience for me, how to adjust to people, how to adjust to different personalities, different structures as well. They don’t operate the same way I did at all. You have to find different words, and it’s a challenge each time. But I love it. I love to adjust, listen to people, and decide from there what is the best course of action.”

Born in the same city as the two-time Grand Slam champion, Garcia earned the Fed Cup Heart Award following a heroic effort in the semifinals, where she and Mladenovic won a decisive doubles rubber to advance into the championship tie.

“I think it’s been a great opportunity to work with her. She really likes this competition. She gives a lot of herself, a lot of energy on the court. She’s had a lot of experience from her career in Fed Cup. She was No.1, won Grand Slams.

“She knows how tennis works, obviously. She trusts us and us on the court, that we can give everything. She wants us to win this Fed Cup; it was one of our goals, and now we’re so close!”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

COMPTON, CA, USA – Former World No.1s Venus Williams and Serena Williams returned to their hometown of Compton, California last weekend to strengthen childhood ties to the city where they first played tennis.

“You always remember those places, like where we went to elementary school, the courts we practiced at, even our old home,” Venus told the LA Times. “And just places you used to go. And of course things change over time. Places move. Shops close. Streets change. But it’s still the same place.”

The Williams sisters made use of their eponymous charity fund to bestow a five-year endowment on what will be the Yetunde Price Resource Center, which will help those affected by violence and trauma. The center was named for their eldest sister, who was killed in 2003.

“We definitely wanted to honor our sister’s memory because she was a great sister, she was our oldest sister and obviously she meant a lot to us,” Serena said. “And it meant a lot to us, to myself and to Venus and my other sisters as well, Isha and Lyndrea, that we’ve been wanting to do something for years in memory of her, especially the way it happened, a violent crime.”

Saturday was dedicated to the refurbishing of Lueders Park tennis courts henceforth known as the Venus & Serena Williams Court of Champions.

Check out a full interview with the Williams sisters here, along with some of the best photos from the weekend below:

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.