Insider Draw Analysis: Olympics
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | What are the biggest stories worth following at what promises to be an exciting Olympic Games? Check out a full draw analysis right her at wtatennis.com!
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | What are the biggest stories worth following at what promises to be an exciting Olympic Games? Check out a full draw analysis right her at wtatennis.com!
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her win in the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – How many people will cram into The Maria Esther Bueno Tennis Stadium to watch next Saturday’s singles final? Which nations are best represented in the draw? And whose record is Venus Williams set to match? These are just a few of the questions answered in an Olympic special of wtatennis.com’s By The Numbers.
10,000 – The Olympic Tennis Center’s main court seats 10,000 spectators and was named after Brazilian legend, Maria Bueno, who won 19 Grand Slam titles in the 1950s and 1960s
63 – Since its reintroduction in 1988, 63 different countries have been represented in the tennis competition
42 – The number of games it took the Soviet Union’s Larisa Savchenko to defeat Sara Gomer in Seoul in 1988. In terms of games played, Savchenko’s 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 9-7 victory remains the longest in the Games’ history
24 – World No.24 Alicia Molik, who won bronze at Athens in 2004, is the only unseeded player to collect a medal at the Olympics
18 – At 18 years old Ana Konjuh is the youngest player competing in the singles draw. In 1992, Jennifer Capriati, then 16 years and 132 days old, beat Steffi Graf to win gold
13 – Venus owns a 13-3 record in singles competition at the Olympic Games, the most match wins since tennis returned in 1988
12 – Serena (9) and Venus (13) boast by far the most singles match wins at this summer’s Games. Caroline Wozniacki (5) is next on the list, while the 14 seeds not named Williams have a combined total of just 12
10 – Atlanta gold medalist Lindsay Davenport was No.10 at the time of the Games. She is the lowest-ranked player to win the singles competition
5 -This will be Venus’ fifth Olympics equaling Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario’s record for most appearances
4 – China, Germany, Russia, and the United States all have the maximum of four representatives in the singles draw
3 – Serena and Venus have picked up doubles gold on each occasion they have competed together (2000, 2008 and 2012)
2 – The top seed has won gold at only two of the seven Games since 1988 – Graf (1988) and Justine Henin (2004)
1 – Serena’s solitary defeat in her two previous bids for singles gold came at the hands of eventual winner Elena Dementieva in the Beijing quarterfinals
0 – Prior to Rio, no Turkish tennis player had competed in the Olympic tennis competition. Cagla Buyukakcay will be the first
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
An interview with Monica Puig after her loss in the final of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska before her first round at the Olympic tennis event.
Highlights from the finals round action at the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Eugenie Bouchard before her first round at the Olympic tennis event.
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.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Greece’s Maria Sakkari scored her first main draw win at a Slam on Monday, defeating Wang Yafan 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in her Australian Open debut. Current ranked No.170, the 20-year-old worked her way through qualifying and will now play No.10 seed Carla Suárez Navarro – one of her favorite players – on Wednesday.
Get to know the affable young woman, who has Spartan blood from her father and tennis in her veins from her mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulo, who was once a Top 50 player on the WTA tour.
WTA Insider: How does it feel to get your first main draw win at a Slam?
Sakkari: I’m so excited; I cannot believe it. It’s really tough to get through the qualifying with three tough matches and then a match that you have chances to win and you make it through to the second round and then you have to play against a top player. It’s so exciting.
WTA Insider: You qualified and drew another qualifier. Were you excited about that?
Sakkari: On one side, it’s good. But on the other side, it’s pressure, because you know that you’ll have many chances to win the match, but it’s the same for her. If you control it good and you do what you have to do, I think it’s gonna work.
WTA Insider: Last year, as you looked towards this season, what were your goals?
Sakkari: It’s always tough for everyone at the beginning of the year, because we’re coming from our off-season and it’s tough to get back to the matches and into the mentality. I lost first round in my tournament this year, second round qualies in the second tournament. I was a bit tense, afraid for this tournament, but you know, with your heart and a good mind you can always do well. At the end of the season, I played good, so I was positive for the beginning.
WTA Insider: You spent your off-season in Spain?
Sakkari: I’m in Spain, Barcelona. I didn’t have so much time; I only had two weeks because I finished my tournament in Carlsbad. Then I took a week off to relax a bit and then I went two weeks and a half in Spain for my pre-season, and then I went home for Christmas, and then I came here.
WTA Insider: Your mother is a former WTA player. What is that like, growing up with a mother who was on tour?
Sakkari: When you are like 5, 6, 7, 8, you can’t realize it. I realized my mom was a tennis player when I played my first tournament, because everyone was saying, ‘it’s the daughter of Angeliki,’ and then everyone started talking about me, that I’m her daughter. So then I started realizing who my mom is, because for Greece, it was a pretty big, that time. She made the quarterfinals at the Olympics and then third round of Roland Garros, 43 in the world. We didn’t have anyone until that time, and after her was Daniilidou. I didn’t start playing tennis because of her; this is what everyone thinks.
WTA Insider: How did you start playing tennis?
It was next to my house; the courts were, like, three minutes from my house. I was doing all kinds of sports because I was a sporty kid, and then I liked tennis. I started playing with my grandfather because he was a coach, and it started from there.
WTA Insider: Do you talk to your mom about your career? What’s the best advice she’s given you?
Sakkari: She totally understands every single situation. She never asked me, ‘Why did you lose?’ Many parents say that to their kids. When I win or lose, she’s proud of me, if I’m doing the right thing. She’s always next to me and always supports me. She always says, ‘Enjoy; this is the thing you like to do, so enjoy.’
She’s coming for a few weeks because my coach has family as well, and he cannot always leave his family. I enjoy going around with her.
WTA Insider: What other sports did you play and how did you choose to focus on tennis?
Sakkari: I was doing ballet – that’s not really a sport – but they kicked me out because I wasn’t that good. Then they kicked me out from karate as well, because I was laughing all the time. And then I said I have no choice I have to play tennis because they are kicking me out of everywhere.
WTA Insider: You play Carla Suárez Navarro next. Have you ever practiced with her? How well do you know her?
Sakkari: I admire her because I really like her game; she’s one of my favorite players. I will enjoy the match; you don’t get this chance on the ITF Tour. I will enjoy and do my best.
WTA Insider: Since you train in Spain, is it safe to say your favorite surface is clay?
Sakkari: Everyone thinks it’s clay because I train in Spain, but it’s not clay! I like hard courts.
WTA Insider: What’s your favorite shot?
I think serve because you can hit it as hard as you want, and you have more possibilities to put it in.
WTA Insider: How would you describe your personality?
Sakkari: On court, I think I’m a player, because I’m from Sparta – my dad is from Sparta – so I have the Spartan inside me, and I give my heart and everything until the last point. I’m good fighter, and I run for every single ball. Outside of the court, everyone says I’m smiling all the time, a happy person. That’s the thing: I’m a happy person, and I’m always positive.
Follow Sakkari on Twitter @mariasakkari!
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.