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Arruabarrena: Best Trick Serve Ever?

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Spanish player Lara Arruabarrena is well known for her skills and touch on clay courts, but earlier this week she may have hit her best shot ever.

While trying out some trick shots and skills with the tennis ball at the Mutua Madrid Open, Arruabarrena’s coach captured a soccer-inspired trick serve that’s lighting up social media.

We’ll let you see it here for yourself:

We caught up with Arruabarrena when she arrived in Madrid this morning.

“I just did it for fun,” she told wtatennis.com. “I had never done such a thing, you know, first touching the ball with my foot to hit a serve.”

A friend of Arruabarrena’s saw the trick on Instagram and dared her try it out on the practice court.

“Can you imagine I did this in a match? I don´t think I can,” she laughed. “Maybe during the warm up.”

“Just another new way of practicing some serves.”

Arruabarrena’s trick serve might be impressive, but is it the best you’ve ever seen?

After all, earlier this year Yulia Putintseva hit a serve at the BNP Paribas Open that could rival Arruabarrena’s. Check it out:

 And let’s not forget Elina Svitolina’s serve of the year at the 2014 China Open:

 

So what’s the verdict? Who hit the best trick serve? Vote here to have your say!

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100 Days to Rio: The Race Heats Up

100 Days to Rio: The Race Heats Up

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The countdown to the Rio Olympics is officially underway, with the Games set to begin in 100 days. You can expect more Olympic chatter over the next five weeks as the players look to shore up their rankings to complete their qualification campaigns.

Here are the stories we’re keeping an eye on.

The Chase Is On.

Generally speaking, Olympic singles qualifying has two major components: Fed Cup participation and a player’s ranking on June 6th, the Monday after the French Open. We detailed the Fed Cup requirements earlier this year here.

With no more Fed Cup ties being played between now and the Olympics, there’s nothing a player can do at this point to satisfy any Fed Cup deficiencies other than requesting her National Olympic Committee to file an appeal to the ITF.

But a player does have control over her ranking. With nearly 4,000 points up for grabs at the tour’s biggest clay tournaments over the next five weeks — the Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia and French Open — the race is on for the players to get their rankings inside the Top 56, and in some cases even higher.

The Top 56 players — as determined the Monday after the French Open (June 6th) — will qualify for the Olympics, assuming they satisfy their Fed Cup requirements and are in good standing with their national federation. However, since no country may send more than four singles players, the rankings cut-off line will likely be closer to No.60-65, as players who come from a nation with a rich Top 60 talent pool won’t be sent to Rio.

Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic

As of this week, here are the players who are on the rankings bubble and the points they need to defend through the French Open. The higher the number, the more difficult it will be to move up the rankings.

49. Alizé Cornet (FRA): 365 pts
50. Camila Giorgi (ITA): 80 pts
51. Caroline Garcia (FRA): 130 pts
52. Sabine Lisicki (GER)*: 230 pts
53. Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)*: 101 pts
54. Elena Vesnina (RUS)*: 250 pts
55. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ): 186 pts
56. Heather Watson (GBR): 140 pts
57. Julia Goerges (GER)*: 335 pts
58. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL): 10 pts
59. Christina McHale (USA)*: 345 pts
60. Denisa Allertova (CZE)*: 180 pts
61. Nao Hibino (JPN): 146 pts
62. Zhang Shuai (CHN): 70 pts
63. Monica Puig (PUR): 50 pts
64. Zheng Saisai (CHN): 270 pts
65. Varvara Lepchenko (USA)*: 93 pts
66. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR): 90 pts
67. Irina Falconi (USA)*: 143 pts
68. Mona Barthel (GER)*: 20 pts
69. Johanna Larsson (SWE): 10 pts
70. Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL): 479 pts

* Asterisk denotes player is ranked outside the Top 4 from her nation. Only the Top 4 players from each nation will be Olympic eligible.

Intranational qualifying campaigns to watch.

In any other situation, a country’s depth, particularly in the Top 60, would be considered a bragging right. For Olympic qualifying purposes it’s a curse. A maximum of four eligible players may play the singles event from a single country, meaning a player who has satisfied her Fed Cup requirements and is within the Top 56 cut-off may still be watching the Olympics from home.

This rule will impact four countries – United States, Russia, Czech Republic, and Germany – as each country currently has more than four players ranked inside the Top 60. The battle here is to be one of the Top 4 players from your country on June 6th.

USA
1. Serena Williams
14. Venus Williams
21. Sloane Stephens
24. Madison Keys
—–
36. CoCo Vandeweghe
59. Christina McHale

Team USA’s fourth spot will likely come down to a three-way battle between Stephens, Keys, and Vandeweghe, none of whom have ever made the US Olympic team. Vandeweghe is currently the odd-woman out but she has the fewest points to defend, with just 105. Stephens has the most to defend with 415 and Keys has 250. McHale, who qualified for the London Olympics in 2012, will find it difficult move up the rankings. She is defending 345 points, built on a surprising quarterfinal run in Rome last year.

CoCo Vandeweghe

Russia
9. Maria Sharapova*
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
30. Ekaterina Makarova
—–
32. Daria Kasatkina
48. Margarita Gasparyan
54. Elena Vesnina

With Sharapova currently serving her provisional ban, her eligibility will depend on the timing of her hearing and the decision that comes down. Setting Sharapova’s situation aside, the Russian race is a fairly volatile one. Kuznetsova is currently ranked at No.13 but she has 650 points to defend through the French Open, largely due to her run to the Madrid final last year.

Looking at the players on the bubble, Kasatkina has just 55 points to defend, while the woman in front of her Ekaterina Makarova has 355 points to defend. Gasparyan has 125 points to defend. Vesnina, who could qualify as a doubles player (more on that later) has 250 points to defend as she tries to chase the fourth qualifying singles spot.

Czech Republic
6. Petra Kvitova
16. Lucie Safarova
18. Karolina Pliskova
33. Barbora Strycova
—–
60. Denisa Allertova

The Czech team looks nearly set. Barring a miracle run from Allertova, the usual Czech stalwarts should start booking their flights to Rio.

Germany
3. Angelique Kerber
29. Andrea Petkovic
41. Annika Beck
42. Laura Siegemund
—–
52. Sabine Lisicki
53. Anna-Lena Friedsam
57. Julia Goerges

The German situation is a fascinating one. Kerber and Petkovic are in good position, but the last two spots will come down to five players.

Thanks to her inspired run to the Stuttgart final last week, 28-year-old Siegemund has put herself in position to qualify, pushing Lisicki, who has 230 points to defend, out of the picture. With just 101 points to defend, Friedsam could also make a surge up the rankings. The tougher task falls to Goerges, who has the most points to defend amongst the Germans with 335.

Laura Siegemund

The Doubles Race

For the 32-team doubles draw, 24 teams will earn direct entry one of two ways, with a maximum of two teams per country. Players ranked in the Top 10 in doubles on June 6th are in and they can choose any player to team with provided that player has a recognized ranking.

For example, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who is currently ranked No.3, could take her occasional doubles partner Vandeweghe with her to Rio even if the young American fails to qualify for singles. The same goes for No.1 Sania Mirza, who can take any Indian woman as her doubles partner.

Here is the Top 10 as of this week:

1. Martina Hingis (SUI)
2. Sania Mirza (IND)
3. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
4. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
5. Lucie Safarova (CZE)
6. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
7. Chan Yung-Jan
8. Chan Hao-Ching
9. Kristina Mladenovic
10. Lucie Hradecka (CZE)

As a result, we could see Hingis pair with Belinda Bencic or Timea Bacsinszky, Shvedova team with Yulia Putintseva, or Dellacqua pair with Sam Stosur.

The rest of the field will be determined by a team’s combined ranking, using their highest rankings in either singles or doubles. That is likely how Serena and Venus, using their singles rankings, will earn direct entry to defend their title. That’s also how you could see a team of Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro for Spain. Another application of the rule could see a German team theoretically comprised of Julia Goerges (No.16 in doubles) and Angelique Kerber (No.3 in singles), though it’s unclear whether either player is contemplating the pairing.

Here are a few successful doubles teams who could be on the qualifying double:

– Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia (FRA): The duo have been the dominant team over the last three weeks, with titles in Charleston and Stuttgart. If Mladenovic maintains her Top 10 ranking they’ll qualify outright. If she drops out of the Top 10 they’ll have to rely on their combined ranking to get in.

– Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina (RUS): Vesnina is currently chasing a Top 10 finish, currently sitting at No.14. If she can get there, the team is in. If not it’s a tougher ask given Kasatkina’s singles ranking is currently outside the Top 30. The duo snapped Hingis and Mirza’s 41-match win streak in February and have proved a formidable pairing. They’re medal contenders if they can qualify.

– Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova (CZE): Silver medalists in London, their combined doubles ranking should get them direct entry to Rio. But they’ll breathe a sigh of relief if one of them snags a Top 10 spot on June 6th. Hradecka is No.10 as of now, with Hlavackova behind her at No.12.

And to keep things even more complicated for the countries with considerable singles and doubles depth, a country’s full tennis team cannot exceed six women. That can impact the composition of the doubles teams as well.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – No.2 seeds and Olympic Gold medalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina came through multiple rain delays and a thrilling match tie-break to knock out Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai – next week’s top-ranked team on the Road to Singapore leaderboard – 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 to each win their first title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“Winning the trophy like here in Dubai, it’s very prestigious,” Vesnina said after the match. “It’s the first time we played final here. We were just passing by the corridor, and we saw the trophy. We were just really pleased with the result, because winning such a big title, it’s always giving us some confidence, some positive emotions.”

The Russians reunited last spring after nearly a year apart due to Makarova’s lower leg injury, and quickly resumed being one of the game’s top teams, not only taking home gold at the Olympic tennis event but also winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Playing their second final of the season after finishing runner-up at the Brisbane International to eventual No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza, Makarova and Vesnina enjoyed a bright start to what became a stormy day in Dubai, racing through the opening set behind three breaks of serve.

“At the beginning of the match we felt really good rhythm. We felt we were kind of controlling the game, even knowing that they’re really good players.”

The first set and a half featured intermittent rain delays, but a heavier pattern set in at 3-3, sending the two teams off court for over an hour. Hlavackova and Peng emerged much stronger after the break – tapping into the form that helped them reach the Australian Open final – and twice broke serve to level the match.

“After these rain delays, it was too much of the rain delays, to be honest. I think everyone would lose their rhythm. Even Roger [Federer], I think, would lose his rhythm after this kind of on-and-off, on-and-off!

“And they came back to the game, you know. They had pretty good games on their serves. Then we were just a little bit tight. On one game after the rain delay, I think I didn’t hit one ball with the center of my racquet. I was just missing the volleys. I felt like I don’t see the ball. I need the glasses.”

A tense sudden death followed; even as the No.2 seeds forged ahead, the Czech/Chinese duo were never far behind, saving a pair of championship points before ultimately succumbing after two hours and 13 minutes.

The Russians played with imperious aggression throughout, hitting 27 winners – including a stunning lob from Vesnina to set up their slew of match points – to just 13 from the No.6 seeds, who were ultimately undone by their second serve, off which they won three of 22 points.

The title in Dubai is Makarova and Vesnina’s ninth as a pair, including two Grand Slam trophies at the French Open and US Open in 2013 and 2014.

“Well, it’s a good start, and we are playing good tennis in doubles, especially this tournament,” Makarova said. “Every match was pretty good doubles tennis, you know, and we were really enjoying how we play, and even it was a deciding tiebreak before. But we will play, of course, big tournaments and hope it will go well.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The weather may have prevented a full day’s play on Wednesday at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open but the rain would not have dampened the spirits of Netherlands’ Lesley Kerkhove, who reached her first WTA quarterfinal.

The 25-year-old overcame Sabina Sharipova, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 19 minutes on centre court. Sharipova, 22, led 4-1 in the first set but Kerkhove was unfazed. “She didn’t make any mistakes until 4-1 but it was only one break,” she said. “I held my serve to 4-2 and then broke her back. From then on I played really aggressive, good tennis.”

Dutch qualifier Kerkhove upset No.7 seed Elise Mertens in the first round in Kuala Lumpur, 6-4, 7-6 (4), on Monday and next faces Nao Hibino, who lies 89 places higher in the WTA rankings, after the Japanese received a walkover against Elina Svitolina. However, the World No.195 said she relishes being the underdog.

“I’ve played only higher-ranked players here. I’m No.195, I’m not that high. So every player is better ranked than me. I like to be the underdog, it’s nice to play like this.”

In the opening singles match on day three, China’s Zhang Kai-Lin defeated Japan’s Risa Ozaki, 6-2, 6-4. Zhang’s impressive first serve – she won 64% of points off the back of hers in contrast to 35% for her opponent – proved decisive in her first main draw win of the year.

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