April 03, 2017
Kirsten Flipkens, Elena Vesnina, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki – who will win March’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments? Vote now!
The Brit’s victory over Venus Williams at the Miami Open was applauded by the one of the game’s greatest players.
It’s time to vote for July’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, August 5.
July 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Simona Halep: One year after reaching her first Rogers Cup final in Toronto, Halep went one better in Montréal, growing though a tough field that included Karolina Pliskova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Angelique Kerber, and Madison Keys to win her first title in Canada, and her third of the season. Halep is currently riding a 10-match winning streak after winning at home in Bucharest on clay.
Madison Keys: Finishing a close second to Halep in Montréal, Keys returned to the Top 10 – and the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard – by reaching her first-ever hardcourt final on the WTA tour. A three-set win over former World No.1 Venus Williams set the tone for the week, as she knocked out an in-form Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and qualifier Kristina Kucova to make the championship match.
Johanna Konta The British No.1 won her first WTA title in style at the Bank of the West Classic, defeating Venus Williams for the second time this season to reach another career-high ranking – falling just short of a Top 10 debut after making the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.
Venus Williams: Venus earned her eighth career Stanford final in July, and played Konta tough in a three-set defeat. Her solid run of form continued in Montréal, where she reached the round of 16.
2016 Winners
January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Tennis was no longer an Olympic sport when Maria Bueno was in her heyday, but should it have been then she would surely have walked away with gold.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Bueno lifted 19 Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles to establish herself as the greatest Brazilian to ever wield a racquet. Fittingly, the venue where the modern day greats will vie for medals at the upcoming Rio Games has been named after Sao Paulo’s favorite sporting daughter.
Now in her 70s, Bueno still plays regularly at her hometown club. One of these slots was set aside for Pat Cash and CNN Open Court to discuss her instinctive game, Grand Slam memories and, of course, the recently inaugurated Olympic Tennis Centre.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova took to the heart of historic Charleston for the Volvo Car Open’s annual Iconic Photoshoot.
The pair played a mini-tennis match in front of Randolph Hall at the College of Charleston.
Built between 1828 and 1829, Randolph Hall is a National Historic Landmark and one of the oldest college buildings still in use in the United States.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Angelique Kerber cut the ribbon as the Abierto GNP Seguros officially unveiled its brand-new stadium court: Estadio GNP Seguros.
The World No.1 was one of the guests of honour as the crowds were treated to a real show in Monterrey – culminating in a stunning fireworks display.
Kerber opened her campaign on court by beating Francesca Schiavone in three sets, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.
– All photos courtesy of Abierto GNP Seguros
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis kept her hopes of a first Olympic medal alive as she and countrywoman Timea Bacsinszky blasted past No.3 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the Olympic tennis event in women’s doubles.
Bacsinszky bounced back from a disappointing first round defeat in singles to play just her second doubles tournament of 2016 alongside Hingis, the reigning US Open, WTA Finals and Australian Open champion.
Together, the pair have dropped just one set through their first three matches, and were particularly dominant against the Chans – a formidable pair who were the last team to defeat Hingis and then-partner Sania Mirza before the duo went on a 41-match winning streak – winning the second set in just 35 minutes.
After going down an early break to start, the No.5 seeds broke serve six straight times to book a semifinal encounter No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. Hlavackova and Hradecka captured the silver medal at the London Olympics, falling to three-time Olympic champions Venus and Serena Williams, and saved three match points to defeat Russians Daria Kasatkina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Hingis is playing her first Olympic tennis event since 1996, when she was 15 years old.
On the top half of the draw, Czechs Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova kept up their giant-killing run with a three-set win over former World No.1s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The Italians reunited for the Olympics, but fell in a tough 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Safarova and Strycova, who began their tournament with a win over the Williams sisters.
Rogers Cup champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina had a rough itinerary down to Rio for the Olympics, but the Russians have made up for lost prep time in impressive fashion, easing past No.4 seeds Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-3, 6-4.
Anett Kontaveit crushed a nervy Heather Watson in their first-round encounter at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Angelique Kerber dodged the upset bug going around the Australian Open, grinding past Alexandra Dulgheru as the second round wrapped up at the Happy Slam Thursday.
The No.7-seeded Kerber had beaten Dulgheru in straight sets in both of their previous meetings and this one went much the same way as she beat the Romanian in an hour and 13 minutes, 6-2, 6-4.
Kerber, who was ranked No.7 in the world when the seeds were made but moved up to No.6 earlier this week, is now just two wins away from completing a Grand Slam quarterfinal set – she’s been to the quarterfinals or better at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, but never the Australian Open.
Other high-profile winners included No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who out-hit Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-2 (read more here), No.14 seed Victoria Azarenka, who continued her perfect start to the year with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Danka Kovinic (read more here), No.15 seed Madison Keys, who outlasted Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3, No.20 seed Ana Ivanovic, who beat Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-3 (read more here), and No.21 seed Ekaterina Makarova, who beat Tatjana Maria, 6-4, 6-2.
Azarenka has now lost just 20 games in seven matches this year – an average of one game a set.
“I’m just really trying to stay in the moment,” Azarenka told reporters after the match. “I do want to keep improving from match to match, but from now on it’s only going to get tougher, so I really want to keep that focus and that intensity and that determination. Really that’s what I’m looking for right now, to keep applying the same effort, and paying attention to the details in preparation before the match.”
It wasn’t a perfect day for the seeds by any means, though, with No.11 seed Timea Bacsinszky going down to Annika Beck, 6-2, 6-3, No.18 seed Elina Svitolina falling to Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-4, No.19 seed Jelena Jankovic losing a heartbreaker to Laura Siegemund, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, and No.30 seed Sabine Lisicki succumbing to big-serving Czech upstart Denisa Allertova, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Karolina Pliskova, the No.9 seed, downed Julia Goerges in the feature night match, 7-6(5), 6-1.
With 18 seeds out already, the 2016 Australian Open has set the record for most seeds to go out before the third round of a Grand Slam since the majors switched to 32 seeds at 2001 Wimbledon.
The third round will kick off on Friday, with Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova among those in action – check back on wtatennis.com for all the latest from Melbourne!
.@KaPliskova clinches the last spot in @AustralianOpen third round! Defeats Goerges 7-6(5), 6-1! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/8uAaAj6ZWZ
— WTA (@WTA) January 21, 2016