Miami: Kerber vs. Strycova
Angelique Kerber takes on Barbora Strycova in the second round of the Miami Open.
Angelique Kerber takes on Barbora Strycova in the second round of the Miami Open.
BRISBANE, Australia – No.6 seed Elina Svitolina opened her 2017 season with a comfortable straight sets win over Monica Puig, easing into the second round at the Brisbane International.
Svitolina is enjoying a career-high ranking of No.14 and, with a new coaching team behind her, has already seen the benefits in the New Year. She needed an hour and 17 minutes to complete her 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Olympic champion.
Perfect passing shot from @ElinaSvitolina! ? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/6qHlQKCV2G
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Puig showed flashes of her world-beating form throughout the encounter, but played overly aggressive, trying to end the points too quickly and was waylaid by her own unforced errors. She hit 36 errors to Svitolina’s 17 over the course of two sets, compared to 13 winners against Svitolina’s 15.
Svitolina rode out the assault and replied with her brand of pace and defensive skills, breaking twice in each set and never looking to be in too much trouble.
.@ElinaSvitolina slides past Puig 6-3, 6-3 in @BrisbaneTennis first round! pic.twitter.com/1mtZSewJWD
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Awaiting Svitolina in the second round is Shelby Rogers, who opened her Brisbane account yesterday with a win over Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
More to follow…
Venus and Serena Williams kicked off the 2017 season in Auckland, but their first match at the ASB Classic went a little differently than usual as they took on a pair of rugby stars, the All Blacks’ Julian & Ardie Savea.
A sellout crowd gathered at the ASB Tennis Arena to watch the two sibling duos battle it out for a good cause.
Ardie gamely swapped out the rugby ball for a tennis racquet…
…while Julian opted for a jumbo racquet to even out the competition.
“I couldn’t stop laughing!” Venus said.
The brothers admitted to being “kind of star struck” before the event, which included No.3 seed Caroline Wozniacki.
After taking on the Savea brothers, the Williams sisters took to opposite sides of the court for a doubles face off.
Serena said: “I’ve never been in Auckland and so I’ve never had an opportunity to be first in the world to welcome in this New Year, so this is a new experience for me. The fact that I’m still having new experiences this deep into my career makes me feel really good.”
The siblings plus Wozniacki commemorated the match with a selfie with the ASB Tennis Arena crowd.
All the fun and games went toward a good cause, with $65,000 being raised to help with earthquake relief efforts for the people of Kaikoura.
Serena, Caroline and Venus are set to play their first matches of the season on Tuesday.
Serena will take on Pauline Parmentier, Caroline will take on Nicole Gibbs and Venus will take on New Zealand’s Jade Lewis.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Before taking to the court at the ASB Classic, some of the WTA’s biggest names glammed up and stepped out for the official player party on Monday.
Check out the video above to go behind the scenes at the Auckland Player Party with Venus Williams, Nicole Gibbs, Caroline Wozniacki, Lucie Safarova, Mandy Minella, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and more WTA stars!
And then check out some of the best photos from the red carpet, courtesy of Tennis Auckland:
Angelique Kerber has had a busy week in Brisbane, from getting down at the Brisbane International’s Kids Day to reaching the top of the Wheel of Brisbane!
Daria Kasatkina has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
The Tianjin Open got underway in fine fashion, with the tournament’s stars, including Agnieska Radwanska, Monica Puig and Svetlana Kuznetsova attending a stylish party
Johanna Konta had Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Miami Open.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Victoria Azarenka looks to become the third woman to win the Sunshine Double against 2006 Miami champ Svetlana Kuznetsova. Follow it all live right here!