The Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai gets underway on Tuesday, Elina Svitolina and Timea Bacsinzsky among those hoping to make a winning start to their final event of 2016.
SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova was riding high off the biggest title of her career on Monday, going through the media rounds to discuss her stunning run to the title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Less than 24 hours after the win, the new World No.5 was still on Cloud 9 after beating No.1 Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to win the WTA Finals and finish off an incredible comeback season.
WTA Insider caught up with Cibulkova to reflect on her Singapore win and her evolution as a gritty on-court battler:
WTA Insider: What are you most proud of that you accomplished here?
Cibulkova: That after the two losses I had, I didn’t get down on myself. They talk about me as a fighter and I proved that I am really a big fighter, because it wasn’t easy to go out there after two losses and to play against Halep in the situation it was. So this is [what] I’m really proud about. And, of course, the way I played in the final – it was really high-level tennis.
WTA Insider: Was the final your best match all week?
Cibulkova: I think I also played really well against Halep, but I think against Angie was the best match I played the whole week.
WTA Insider: You told reporters after your match that you believe in yourself now. Why? Why didn’t you believe in yourself before?
Cibulkova: Because I was never that kind of player that came on tour and was winning tournaments. I always needed, you know, proof. I needed to beat a Top 20 player, a Top 10 player – I was taking small steps to get where I am now. And I always thought that winning a Grand Slam was something unreal, it’s impossible. But by winning this, I want to achieve another dream, and that’s winning a Grand Slam.
WTA Insider: Did it mean more to win yesterday than to reach the Australian Open final a couple of years ago?
Cibulkova: Oh yes. To play finals is an amazing feeling. But to win the whole thing, you cannot compare these two things.
WTA Insider: You’ve had good results everywhere. Which major do you think you have the best chance of making a charge?
Cibulkova: We’ll see. I dunno, we’ll see. As you said, I can play on all the surfaces. [I’m most comfortable at] Roland Garros, or maybe Australian Open, too. But hard court and clay court for me is the top. The grass it’s like for one tournament I made the quarterfinals, and that’s amazing. This year is the breaking year in my career, if you know what I mean. Before every tournament you feel your form, how you feel the court and everything has to come together to win such a big event.
WTA Insider: Typically, a player of your size would rely on speed and defense to win matches. Obviously you’re an offensive-minded player. Has anyone ever tried to convince you to play with more feel, rather than your power game?
Cibulkova: No, it was actually it was the other way around. When I was little, or younger, it was always I was just a defensive player; I was just running to the fence and putting the balls back. I think I had a lot of coaches in my career and every single coach taught me something different that now I use now. I remember it was maybe five or six years ago, I had a coach who pushed me to play really aggressive. And since then I’ve known this is the way I’m going to play. This coach I’m with right now, we’ve been together more than three years and I’d say he’s the best coach I ever had in my career.
WTA Insider: How hard was it to buy into this aggressive strategy?
Cibulkova: It was a really hard, but it was a long process. You know, it was maybe 10 years or longer, and inside of me I’m was never a killer on the court, I was never the one that was winning. Now I’m the one that’s going to kill you on the court. This is something I had to learn and this is something that put me in the Top 5. I learned this killer instinct and I just went for it, because in the important moments before I was always afraid to go for my shots, or I wanted the opponent to make a mistake. And this is not how champions play.
WTA Insider: Do you believe that the big titles nowadays go to the big-hitters?
Cibulkova: Yes, of course I believe that. I mean Aga Radwanska she’s a defensive player and she also won WTA Finals, but I see it this way: if a big-hitting girl is playing her best tennis, no one can do anything. You see me playing great yesterday and I didn’t let Angie into the match.
WTA Insider: What prompted you to hire a mental coach?
Cibulkova: My coach. He convince me. He said, ‘You know, Dominika, it’s not only about how many hours you spend on the court but for you the most important thing is how many hours you spend thinking about tennis off the court,’ Because I always thought that I was working more than 100% on the court, and then it’s over for me. But he told me that I needed my head to be there and to be strong. It wasn’t easy convincing me, because sometimes I can be stubborn, but after a while I really started to believe in it and now it’s a part of me and I can’t imagine to play tennis without this thing.
WTA Insider: Do you talk to you mental coach just about what’s going through your mind during those tight moments?
Cibulkova: Yes, exactly, and for me the most important thing is to hold my emotions together, because I’m really emotional on the court. So when I get angry or miss something, I cannot live in the past. This is the biggest change. I handle these situations now. Even this week, you could see against Halep, I survived so many tight moments. I think in the past I couldn’t handle a match like this, even yesterday after the two match points I missed…
WTA Insider: You smiled after you missed those first three match points…
Cibulkova: This is something we also tried to work on. I was so frustrated; this was like my worst moment on the court, I couldn’t describe how bad I felt on the court in that moment when I missed the forehand. This isn’t happening! I didn’t miss a forehand like that in the whole match. But I knew I had to hold it together, I had to forget, leave it in the past and think about what I had to do next.
WTA Insider: I assume the thing you want to do next is to relax. You’re going on vacation next. So you’re going to just chill out?
Cibulkova: You can ask my husband. I’m the laziest person in the world. Really, I just can do nothing. I have my book and I’m just lying there in the shade saying, ‘This is good, this is good!’ I think because I spend so much time working that when I’m off, it’s nothing.
ZHUHAI, China – No.12 seed and wildcard Zhang Shuai rang in the start of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai in impressive style, defeating No.6 seed Timea Bacsinszky, 6-1, 6-1, to take the early lead in the Camellia Group.
“I am very happy to win, actually just to play in my home country and win the first game here,” she said after the match through translation. “I cannot say how happy I am about this.
“It’s been three weeks since the China Open, and during that time it was a bit tough for me. Without game I kind of don’t know what to do with my life! Even though continuous game and competition makes me tired. I like playing even more.”
Zhang is in the midst of a career-best season, one that has seen her rise from outside the Top 100 to a high of No.27 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and China Open just three weeks ago. Playing Bacsinszky, a former Top 10 player whom she narrowly beat at the Olympic tennis event, Zhang blistered past her Swiss opposition in 57 minutes, dropping just three points behind her first serve.
.@zhangshuai121 delivering her post-win press conference @WTAEliteTrophy pic.twitter.com/CYedNrwyrE
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) November 1, 2016
“It’s been three months since the Olympics by now, and I did see my progress in the performance. I have to say this is not a coincidence. I am pretty confident in myself now.
“I just watched some of the video parts of me playing Bacsinszky during the Olympics and I can see that after that and after all the games in Beijing and Japan and Wuhan and Korea I really improved a lot. I believe that if I can make the best out of my training I can play even better game. I also do enjoy my home court advantage here. It was great game for me.”
Hoping to reach the semifinals in her Zhuhai debut, Zhang will have to get past first alternate Timea Babos, who entered the Camellia Group after No.2 seed Carla Suárez Navarro withdrew due to a right wrist injury.
“I am physically doing very well. After Beijing I took three weeks off and I well adjusted myself. I’m fully recovered now.
“I can say that I’m at my best at this moment. “That is one of the reasons why I played well.”
In the second match of the day, Elina Svitolina overcame a slow start to defeat Kiki Bertena, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
“I think she started playing really well and I was bit in and out with my attitude and with my game,” Svitolina said after the match.
“But then I was just waiting for my chances, and I think in the second set I took my chances. In the end I think just playing solid was the key for me today.”
.@CarlaSuarezNava has withdrawn from @WTAEliteTrophy due to the right wrist injury sustained in Moscow. Babos next in. Statement from CSN: pic.twitter.com/btQA3S4tgI
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) November 1, 2016
Petra Kvitova continued her terrific end of season form with a dominant victory over Roberta Vinci in her opening round-robin match at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Serena Williams features on Centre Court, while a host of other second and third-round matchups will take place on Friday. We preview the must-see Day 5 matchups at Wimbledon here, courtesy of wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo.
Friday
Second Round and Third Round
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Christina McHale (USA #65)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Williams has compiled an 80-10 record in her 17 Wimbledon appearances.
After a three-day rain-induced rest, Serena Williams will get back to the business of defending her Wimbledon title against fellow American Christina McHale in second-round action. Williams has already faced the Teaneck, New Jersey native twice this year, and though she’s come away with two victories the contests have been far from simple. After her three-set victory over McHale in Miami this March, Williams was quick to offer up some kind words about her vanquished foe. “She’s an unbelievably sweet girl,” she said of McHale. “I’ve had the opportunity to play with her on Fed Cup, and we always have such a good time. I think she did a really good job. She can, should, and will be very proud of herself in this match.” The pair would meet again in Rome with Williams winning in straights, but needing a first-set tiebreaker to get through. Naturally Williams will come in as the heavy favorite, but if McHale comes out swinging this could turn into another good battle between compatriots.
Pick: Williams in two
[10] Petra Kvitova (CZE #10) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #35)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads, 4-3
Key Stat: Kvitova won 25 of 27 of her first-serve points in her first match at Wimbledon.
Can you say brutal draw? Fans of Petra Kvitova and Ekaterina Makarova surely can, as these two hard-hitting bona fide talents are set to square off in round two. That’s way too early for talents of this level, but as the cliché reads, it is what it is. Makarova certainly does not have the grass pedigree that two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has, but the Russian is a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist who missed being seeded at Wimbledon by a whisker this year. She also owns five Top 10 wins on grass, including one against Kvitova at Eastbourne in 2012. But when they met at Wimbledon in 2013, it was Kvitova who came through with a three-set triumph. Kvitova was in devilish form in her opening-round victory over Sorana Cirstea, but she’ll have to keep it up to get past Makarova, who is consistently formidable on grass and at the majors.
Pick: Kvitova in three
[8] Venus Williams (USA #8) vs. [29] Daria Kasatkina (RUS #33)
Head-to-head: Kasatkina Leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Five-time Wimbledon champion Williams leads all active players with 90 main draw matches played at Wimbledon.
One of the more eye-opening victories of the 2016 WTA season came in January, when Daria Kasatkina stunned defending champion Venus Williams in Auckland for her first Top 10 win. Kasatkina, ranked in the 70’s at the time, battled from 3-1 down in set three to win that match and afterwards paid Venus some big-time respect. “She’s an amazing tennis player and I respect her so much,” she said. “It was an unbelievable match for me.” Given that Kasatkina is making her Wimbledon debut, she’s proved to be quite a quick study on grass by reaching round three. But how will she fare against one of the most legendary grass-courters that the game has ever known? An upset at an Australian Open tune-up is certainly notable, but Friday’s task will surely be more daunting for the 19-year-old Russian. And Williams may be the oldest woman in the draw, but she’s making her intentions very clear at SW19. “I want to win,” she said on Thursday after winning her singles and doubles rounds. “I’m not here to not win. What’s the point of being here?”
Pick: Williams in two
Around the Grounds: Many of Thursday’s second-round winners on the lower half will be back in action on Friday. No.9 seed Madison Keys will take on France’s Alizé Cornet. Keys leads the head-to-head 2-0 but the pair have not met since 2014. Will Sabine Lisicki produce another memorable Wimbledon run? The German squares off with former Golden Set winner Yaroslava Shvedova on Court 16. No. 5 seed Simona Halep will meet No.26 seed Kiki Bertens in the last match on No.2 court. Bertens, who produced a career-best semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, is playing the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.
By the Numbers:
21 – Sabine Lisicki’s ace count in her first two rounds. The German is four aces behind Karolina Pliskova for the tournament lead.
6-0, 6-0 – Carina Witthoeft’s double-bagel loss to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon last year marks the only time she has lost a tour-level match without winning a game. She’ll get a chance for revenge on Friday as she meets Kerber for the second straight year at SW19.
2 – Simona Halep has only won back-to-back matches two times at the All-England Club. The other time was 2014, when she reached the semifinals.
ZHUHAI, China – The fairytale continues for Zhang Shuai in Zhuhai.
The wildcard won a second straight match at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, guaranteeing her a place in the semifinals and a first career finish inside the Top 25.
“It’s amazing because I never thought I could play this tournament, and now I’m in the semifinals,” she told WTA Insider on Thursday. “I prepared a lot for this week, so I’m really happy.”
Her storybook season began in Australia by way of Tokyo. Zhang was ranked just inside the Top 200 when she won an inaugural ITF 100K Challenger there last fall – foreshadowing what was to come Down Under. The Chinese No.1 plans to return to the Tokyo tournament next week, where she will be top seed.
“I have a lot of good memories there and want to go back. I also have a lot of friends in Japan and Tokyo; they’re waiting for me already, so it’s very exciting!
“The tournament has good food, good hotel, and good courts. I always look forward to going to Tokyo.”
Zhang’s season won’t end there. Her final stop of 2016 brings her to Hawaii, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“I’ve never had the chance to go. I’m already ranked in the Top 50, so I couldn’t enter a WTA 125K event, so I have to thank the tournament for giving me a wildcard.”
She found out about the wildcard into Zhuhai three weeks ago in Beijing; she had just defeated Simona Halep for the second time in nine months, the first coming in that fateful first round in Melbourne.
“She’s a really great player. My coach always says I have to learn from her, because she plays really beautiful tennis. I like her as a person too; she’s a very nice girl.
“It was amazing, even after the Australian Open, I didn’t think I could beat her again. But I’ve since been able to not only beat her, but also other Top 20 players like Timea Bacsinszky and Samantha Stosur.
“Now I believe I can do anything.”
That limitless mentality has helped her achieve a career-best season after a year in the tennis wilderness. It was just two years ago that Zhang was ranked in the Top 30 and seeded at Grand Slams, but until beating Halep, she had never won a major main draw match in 14 previous attempts.
“Now I’m more focused on the court, focused on myself. I don’t think…anything, really! I’m not thinking about ranking or points; I just try my best, trying to play my tennis and my style. I don’t really care about whom I’m playing, or how they play. I just go!”
Zhang plans to roll into the off-season with similar gusto, hoping to maintain the momentum gained from her Asian Swing surge and bring it back to Australia for an encore performance.
“I don’t think I’ll change much about my pre-season. I’ll just try to train hard, give 100% of my heart and focus on tennis. We’re always trying to make improvements, so we’ll try to do that, too.
“But this year, I played really well, so I think I’m doing things the right way. I just want to keep going.”
Forward motion is a recurring motif from Zhang, which certainly makes sense; if you were living her dream, would you want to wake up?
“This whole year has been filled with so many amazing memories. I can’t pick just one, but of course, I can’t forget the Australian Open. I’ll remember that week forever. I also made the quarterfinal at the China Open, now the semifinals here in Zhuhai.
“This year has been a dream come true.”
All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.
Elena Vesnina pulled out all the stops in her final performance of the season, playing her part in a point of the tournament contender against Kiki Bertens in Zhuhai to ensure a fine season finished on a high.
LONDON, Great Britain – No.19 seed Dominika Cibulkova moved on to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time since 2011 after a comprehensive win over former finalist Eugenie Bouchard.
“Today I was 100 percent sure I could win and I stayed calm, played brave in tough situations and went for my shots,” Cibulkova said afterwards. “The things I’ve been working on, especially the serve have really helped me.”
Cibulkova smelled success early on, getting the first break in the fourth game of the match. Despite facing break points in her opening service game, the Slovak’s speed around the court and powerful groundstrokes, especially off the forehand wing, were clicking together and she was able to see off the challenge.
She held three set points on her serve at 5-3 when Bouchard finally roared back to get her first break of the match. Her delight was short lived, however, as Cibulkova put away the set on her next chance.
Bouchard got broken once more in the second for a 4-1 lead to Cibulkova and her frustration was clear, receiving a point penalty for throwing her racquet after yet another of her usually-reliable groundstrokes sailed long.
“I definitely was a bit emotional out there,” Bouchard said. “It’s frustrating to feel like you’re not playing your best tennis at Wimbledon. You know, sometimes when I get it out, I can turn it around and play a bit better. It didn’t really happen this time, though.”
After an hour and twenty-six minutes, Cibulkova became the first player in the top half of the draw to punch her ticket into the fourth round, and she celebrated the occasion with a mighty roar of elation.
“That's a primeval roar!”
Dominika Cibulkova is celebrating after beating Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-3#Wimbledon https://t.co/jw2P80YI2t
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2016
Despite hitting 24 winners to Cibulkova’s 17, it was Bouchard’s unforced error count that cost her in the important moments, hitting 16 to Cibulkova’s 19. The Canadian also failed to capitalize on her break point chances, converting just one of four while Cibukova put away three of nine.
With the victory, Cibukova has now won eight matches in a row on grass courts, a streak extending back to her run to the title at the grass court tune up event in Eastbourne. Cibulkova also grabbed her first win over Bouchard, having lost to her in three sets in both of her previous matches.
This marks the first time since Cibulkova’s quarterfinal run in 2011 that she’s reached the second week at Wimbledon, and she awaits the winner between Agnieszka Radwanska and Katerina Siniakova.
“It’s all coming together,” Cibulkova said. “Here we are, I won Eastbourne and now I’m in the fourth round here and it feels great. I just want to keep going.”
ZHUHAI, China – After visiting one of the city’s most impressive landmarks, tennis legend and WTA Elite Trophy ambassador Steffi Graf continued her whirlwind tour of Zhuhai at the Huafa Tennis Center for a charity clinic.
Click here for a photo gallery of all of Steffi’s activities in Zhuhai!
Graf was joined by over thirty talented youngsters from primary and junior high schools in the area, including 19 from Macao as well as from Huajin Securities, tournament ball kids, selected staff and one lucky iQYI SuperFan.
Yang Yanling, who was selected from the iQIYI iSuperFan campaign, got an extra treat; he enjoyed a special one-on-one conversation up close with the former World No.1. Yang was thrilled by Graf’s encouragement to continue playing tennis, and more importantly, to enjoy what tennis will bring to his life and future.
Check out all the best photos from the event right here, courtesy of the WTA Elite Trophy!
ZHUHAI, China – Since her retirement 17 years ago, WTA legend Stefanie Graf has largely shied away from the limelight. However on Sunday she took center stage once more, gracing the final of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai between Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina.
Tournament ambassador Graf continued her busy weekend in Zhuhai, conducting the coin toss before taking in Kvitova’s masterclass.
Twenty-four hours earlier, in her first public activity ever in mainland China, Graf visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, where she played mini-tennis with Caroline Garcia.
Check out the best photos from finals day, courtesy of the WTA Elite Trophy!
Click here for a photo gallery of all of Graf’s activities in Zhuhai.