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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Serena Williams is expecting her first child with fiancé Alexis Ohanian, her representatives confirmed.

After a since-deleted photo was posted early this morning on her Snapchat captioned “20 weeks”, Serena’s representatives have now confirmed the news that the 23-time Grand Slam champion is pregnant.

“I’m happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this Fall,” her publicist confirmed to the WTA, adding that Serena will not play again in 2017 but aims to be back in action in 2018.

Last December, Serena announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Ohanian last year in a poem posted to the platform.

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MIrza, Strycova Claim Tokyo Doubles Crown

MIrza, Strycova Claim Tokyo Doubles Crown

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

TOKYO, Japan – No.2 seeded Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova took home their second doubles title of the year, handily defeating the unseeded Chinese duo of Liang Chen and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-1, 6-1, in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Watch live action from Tokyo this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“We were playing great from the beginning to the end,” Strycova said in their post-match press conference. “We actually didn’t make any errors in the first set and we felt great on the court. I think it was one of the best matches we played together.”

Mirza and Strycova, who first teamed up in Cincinnati and won their first title at the Western & Southern Open, overcame a tough draw which saw them face off against home favorites Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara in the first round. After edging past the Japanese duo 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-8, Mirza and Strycova cruised against Kato Miyu and Xu Yifan before battling past Gabriela Dabrowski and María José Martínez Sánchez to reach the final.

Liang and Yang faced a tougher road to the Tokyo final, needing to battle past two seeded teams – the No.1 seeded Chan Hao-Ching and Chan-Yung-Jan in the first round, then the No.3 seeds Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears before booking a clash against the No.2 seeded Mirza and Strycova.

“It’s great to play your best tennis in the final, we were happy to do that,” Mirza said. “We played very solid, and we kept our concentration the whole match. Like [Barbora] said, it was one of the best matches that we played.”

The victory puts Mirza and Strycova one step closer to a potential spot in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Entering Tokyo the duo sat at No.19 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard, trailing the Top 8 by about 500 points. With 470 points now in the bag, the team received a major boost in their standings.

WTA Finals: Get Your Tickets!

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

STUTTGART, Germany — Defending champion Angelique Kerber is the top seed this week as the WTA’s elite slide into the red clay at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. A two-time winner in her home country, Kerber is joined in the top 8 seeds by fellow former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, as eight of the WTA top 10 are competing in Stuttgart.

Check out the Stuttgart stories of the top 8 seeds and others who’ll be unseeded and looming in the German city this week:

1. Angelique Kerber (GER)

6th appearance (13-3)

Best result: CHAMPION (2015, 2016)

2. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

2nd appearance (2-1)

Best result: QF (2016)

3. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)

5th appearance (0-4)

Best result: R32 (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012)

4. Simona Halep (ROU)

4th appearance (2-3)

Best result: SF (2015)

5. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)

3rd appearance (2-2)

Best result: QF (2016)

6/WC. Johanna Konta (GBR)

3rd appearance (0-2)

Best result: R32 (2014, 2016)

7. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)

10th appearance (13-9)

Best result: SF (2011, 2012, 2016)

8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

8th appearance (14-6)

Best result: CHAMPION (2009)

More…

Samantha Stosur (AUS)

6th appearance (9-5)

Best result: F (2010)

Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)

6th appearance (7-5)

Best result: QF (2014, 2015, 2016)

Maria Sharapova (RUS)

5th appearance (13-1)

Best result: CHAMPION (2012, 2013, 2014)

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