Muguruza Survives Early Scare
Last year’s runner-up Garbiñe Muguruza was made to work harder than expected in the opening round of this year’s championships, eventually subduing the fiery Camila Giorgi in three sets.
Last year’s runner-up Garbiñe Muguruza was made to work harder than expected in the opening round of this year’s championships, eventually subduing the fiery Camila Giorgi in three sets.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Former World No.9 Andrea Petkovic had a whirlwind start to her week at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, but is thoroughly enjoying her first visit to Russia’s cultural capital, into the second round as a qualifier.
“I just came back from Australia on Wednesday, and I had to get a Russian visa from Germany,” she explained before making the main draw. “I got it Friday at 1PM, and didn’t arrive to St. Petersburg before 11PM last night. I couldn’t practice here, so everything was a little fast.”
The German hasn’t dropped a set through four matches, all without new coach Sasha Nensel, who was held up due to visa issues. Traveling with her mother, Petkovic is instead drawing inspiration from seeing Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reach the semifinals of the Australian Open; the pair played doubles in Melbourne, reaching the semifinals.
“I feel like I still have so much more in me, and I think it was important for me to make a new commitment with a new coach to show I still want it. He’s really hard on me, and I haven’t had this before, so it’s a new thing for me. I like it so far, and we’ll see where it takes me.”
The 29-year-old has used the surge of veteran success as primary motivation of late, crediting another doubles partner, good friend and former World No.1 Angelique Kerber as the first to reignite her passion for the game.
“I didn’t know where my place was, but I kept going half-heartedly,” she said of an emotional end to her 2015 season. “When Angie won the Australian Open and started playing so well, I saw what an achievement it was and how happy it made her.
“It’s a different story from when you see Serena winning Slams, because she’s so far away from me. But Angie and I are good friends; we played doubles so many times, and it made me think about how if she can do it, I can do it.”
There would be no better place for Petkovic to start doing it than St. Petersburg, a city that played a prominent part of her childhood.
“One of my favorite authors is Dostoyevsky. I feel like I know the city very well; I’ve just never been here before. When we arrived, my mother saw the river and said, ‘Look at the water, what kind of river is it?’ I answered, ‘That’s the Neva,’ and she was like, ‘How do you know that?’ I said, ‘I read it, I know it!’
“It’s difficult because I came so late and I have to play, but I really hope that I can catch a day or afternoon to see the Hermitage. One day, when I’m done with tennis, I want to come back here as a tourist because this is one of the cities I’ve always wanted to visit. I have a picture of it in my mind, because I’ve never actually seen it!”
Her love for Dostoyevsky runs deep, citing Rodion Raskolnikov – the protagonist to Crime and Punishment – as her “first crush.”
“I always struggle because I really like The Brothers Karamazov but the first book I read of his was Crime and Punishment; I read it several times. I think I like Brothers Karamazov more.”
Her comfort on court in St. Petersburg was particular evident when she brought back some familiar dance moves after beating Begu – perhaps inspired by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
“Their dancing was so professional. I used to do a few dance moves but they had a choreographer! They were so in sync that I’d be a little afraid to be in competition with them.”
Regardless of choreography, Petkovic undoubtedly appears in rhythm ahead of her next match against No.6 seed, defending champion Roberta Vinci.
.@AndreaPetkovic dancing her way into the second round! ? pic.twitter.com/2ePW8Rrsak
— WTA (@WTA) January 31, 2017
All photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2017
Venus Williams kept alive hopes of a sixth Wimbledon title by coming through a dramatic third-round encounter with Daria Kasatkina.
Mandy Minella capped off a day of upsets at the Taiwan Open with a straight sets win over No.3 Caroline Garcia to book her spot in the quarterfinals.
As a result of the first week rain delays the All England Club is putting on sale 22,000 tickets for the Middle Sunday. Find out how to buy them here…
TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan – Samantha Stosur overcame a stern second round test against Slovenian qualifier Dalila Jakupovic, needing to come back from a set down to reach the quarterfinals of the Taiwan Open.
The No.146-ranked Jakupovic was two games away from sealing the upset in the second set, but Stosur stormed back to close out the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing too bad, because I had lots of chances to win many of the games,” the Australian explained in her post-match press conference. “I earned many break points but wasn’t able to convert them, and every time she had one chance she took it.
“It felt like I should have been leading in the first set, so it was tough to start out the second set thinking about how I was going to convert all these chances. By the third set, I feel like I was playing my best tennis.”
Perfect drop shot from @BamBamSam30!! ? #TaiwanOpen pic.twitter.com/NMeZfxLVGT
— WTA (@WTA) February 2, 2017
Stosur let four break chances go by before Jakupovic grabbed an early lead, breaking three times to take the opening set. The Australian finally converted to start the second, wrestling with the momentum as Jakupovic surged back to level the match at 5-5. Stosur grabbed the decisive break to close out the set with Jakupovic two games away from victory.
The Australian was in full flight in the final set, rattling off four straight games to make her way into the quarterfinals after two hours and sixteen minutes.
Her next opponent will be Peng Shuai, who knocked out the No.5 seed Katerina Siniakova, 6-1, 6-3.
“We’ve played each other a few times, but not for many years,” Stosur said. “She hits the ball very hard, very flat – it really comes through the court. I know it’s going to be very difficult, and I’m sure she’s feeling very confident after her quick win today.”
.@BamBamSam30 overcomes Jakupovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3!
Meets Peng in @WTA_Taiwan_Open Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/iqNO5heSoQ
— WTA (@WTA) February 2, 2017
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza became the first team into the doubles quarterfinals after another convincing victory on the second Monday of Wimbledon.
Serena and Venus Williams will bid to set up a fifth Williams sisters Wimbledon final on Thursday at SW19. Can Angelique Kerber and Elena Vesnina stop them? We preview both semifinals here at WTATennis.com, courtesy of contributor Chris Oddo.
Thursday
Semifinals
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Elena Vesnina (RUS #50)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 4-0
Key Stat: Williams is 27-4 in Grand Slam semifinals.
Serena Williams’ march to 22 majors is running at full throttle at the All England Club. The American legend is now just two matches from matching Steffi Graf’s record for Open Era Grand Slam titles after knocking off Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last two rounds. On Thursday the 34-year-old American will aim to make it a Russian trifecta when she takes on Elena Vesnina, the lowest-ranked and only unseeded player remaining in the draw. Surprised to see Vesnina make it this far at a major? So is she. “I am. I am very surprised,” she said after defeating Dominika Cibulkova to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday. “It was like a dream came true.” To avoid having her dream morph into a nightmare against the game’s premier power player, Vesnina says she’ll have to use any and every opportunity she gets. “You have to use your chances against Serena,” she said. “If she’s giving you chances, you need to be there.”
Williams has given her opponents a few too many chances in the latter stages of the last three majors, losing in the semifinals at the US Open last year, and in the finals of this year’s Australian and French Opens. But there is a different air about her on the Wimbledon grass. She leads all active players in wins and titles at SW19 and something about Centre Court just seems to bring out the spice in her legendary serve. Williams knows that Vesnina, a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, is an accomplished player with an all-court game, but the American says she’ll take confidence from having won all four of their previous meetings. “I know her game really, really well,” Williams told reporters on Tuesday after reaching the semifinals “It’s good to play someone’s game that you know. I’ll be ready for it.”
Pick: Williams in two
[4] Angelique Kerber (GER #4) vs. [8] Venus Williams (USA #8)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 3-2
Key Stat: Venus Williams owns a 14-5 record in Grand Slam semifinals but has not played one since 2010.
Venus Williams has turned back the clock in a big way this Wimbledon fortnight. The five-time champion has been tested often, both by her opponents and the rain, and has come through with flying colors to reach the last four at a major for the first time since the 2010 US Open. Williams says the key to her success has been belief. “The good part is I always felt like I had the game,” she told the press after defeating Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarterfinals on Day 8. “This is always a plus, when you know you have the game. So you just have to keep working until things fall into place.”
The 36-year-old hopes that the dominoes of fate continue to fall in her favor on Thursday when she faces Angelique Kerber for the sixth time. The German endured a lull after winning this year’s Australian Open, but she has rediscovered the magic that brought her a maiden major title here at Wimbledon, reaching the semifinals without the loss of a set. “I’m feeling really good,” an enthusiastic Kerber said after pushing past Simona Halep in a wildly entertaining quarterfinal on Centre Court. “I’m playing really good tennis right now. I think I’m playing like in Australia, like really high‑class tennis.” Is Kerber playing well enough to end the magical run of a Wimbledon legend, or will Venus Williams reach a Grand Slam final for the first time in seven years?
Pick: Kerber in three
By the Numbers:
11 – Number of times that Venus and Serena have advanced to the semifinals of the same Grand Slam.
5 – Venus Williams can move to No.5 in the world if she wins the Wimbledon title.
18 – Elena Vesnina will crack the Top 20 for the first time if she reaches the final, coming in at a projected ranking of 18. She was ranked as low as 122 this February.
3 – Number of players to have reached a Grand Slam semifinal aged 36 or older (Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams).
LONDON, Great Britain – Angelique Kerber’s win over Venus Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals presents her with an exceptionally rare opportunity – with Serena Williams awaiting her in a rematch of the Australian Open final on Saturday, she could pull off the rare feat of beating both Williams sisters at the same tournament.
Only seven players have achieved the feat before, with one of them doing it twice – full list here:
Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario
1998 Sydney
(d Serena in SFs & Venus in F)
Steffi Graf
1999 Sydney
(d Serena in 2r & Venus in QFs)
Martina Hingis
2001 Australian Open
(d Serena in QFs & Venus in SFs)
Kim Clijsters
2002 WTA Finals
(d Venus in SFs & Serena in F)
Lindsay Davenport
2004 Los Angeles
(d Venus in SFs & Serena in F)
Justine Henin
2007 US Open
(d Serena in QFs & Venus in SFs)
Kim Clijsters
2009 US Open
(d Venus in 4r & Serena in SFs)
Jelena Jankovic
2010 Rome
(d Venus in QFs & Serena in SFs)
TALLINN, Estonoia – A straightforward 6-2 6-3 win for the British No.1, Johanna Konta, over Jelena Ostapenko gave Great Britain an unassailable 2-0 lead over Latvia in the 2017 Fed Cup.
It was comfortable for the 25-year-old, with just one minor setback when Ostapenko, 19, broke back after Konta had taken two games against serve in the second set. But the Brit, who won a remarkable 100 per cent of points from her second serve in the match, recovered to close out.
Earlier, Heather Watson comfortably beat Diana Marcinkevica, 6-3 6-0, to put Great Britain 1-0 up.
“We knew coming in today that Latvia was going to be a strong team,” said Konta. “It’s never easy, whichever match you’re playing in. I’ve always said that in the Fed Cup players raise their level and play without inhibition so it can be tricky out there. I know the scoreline doesn’t suggest it was as difficult as I felt, for sure. Because it was hard.
“She is one of the young ones on the tour but she has a big game. She can go through phases in matches where you really don’t have much of a say. I knew going into it that I needed to stay patient and stay as solid as I possibly could, and also when the opportunities presented themselves to really go for them.”
The world No.10 also spoke about the enjoyment she derives from playing for her country. “Last year, the Olympics was one of the best experiences of my life. So whenever I get an opportunity to represent Great Britain in a team environment I look to take it.”
“I'm really enjoying it” @JoKonta91 chats after another strong performance in the @FedCup! #BackTheBrits ?? #GoJoKo pic.twitter.com/FgCOSIBrTV
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) February 9, 2017
Watson, ranked 72nd in the world, took just 61 minutes to see off the world No.307, Marcinkevica, continuing the fine form that has seen her lose just five games across her two Fed Cup 2017 matches. Yesterday, she cruised to a 6-1 6-1 win over Ines Murta as Anne Keothavong’s team beat Portugal 3-0.
“I’m happy with the win today,” said the British No.2. “I thought I played better than yesterday; I think I had a tougher opponent today as well. I moved better, I struck the ball cleaner. All round I thought I played well, I played positive and aggressive.”
Watson is enjoying the Fed Cup experience, adding: “Last night, we played ‘Heads up’, which is one of my favorite games. It’s a lot of fun, we’re playing a lot of games. There’s a lot of banter flying about, so I’m enjoying it.”
Great Britain will face Turkey on Friday as they bid to top their group and qualify for Saturday’s promotion play-offs.