2013 Champ Cibulkova Debuts In Stanford
WTA Insider | In the latest Live Blog, newlywed Dominika Cibulkova plays her first match since Wimbledon while CoCo Vandeweghe & Nicole Gibbs headline an all-American evening.
WTA Insider | In the latest Live Blog, newlywed Dominika Cibulkova plays her first match since Wimbledon while CoCo Vandeweghe & Nicole Gibbs headline an all-American evening.
Dominika Cibulkova played her best tennis when the pressure was on; SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches shows how the Slovak got it done at the Bank of the West Classic.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her win in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
An interview with Alison Riske after her quarterfinal win at the Bank of the West Classic.
Highlights from quarterfinal action at the Bank of the West Classic.
BRISBANE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka wasted little time getting her 2016 season up and running with a brisk win over Elena Vesnina in the first round of the Brisbane International.
Watch live action from Brisbane & Auckland this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
In a merciless display, former champion Azarenka broke six times to wrap up a 6-2, 6-0 win and set up an intriguing second round meeting with top seed Simona Halep.
The previous meeting between the two came at last year’s US Open. On that occasion Halep came out on top in three thrilling sets and she is expecting another stern examination from the former World No.1
“Very tough. Yeah, I’m looking forward to start this year. I’m excited. I know that that’s not easy, because every time the first match of the year is difficult mentally as well and physically,” Halep said.
“It will be a nice match I think. Will be very hard and a big challenge for me. Again, I played against her in US Open, so I’m looking forward to play against her and to see how good I can play in the first match of the year.”
Vesnina, who had to come through three rounds of qualifying to secure her first round berth, started brightly enough, a couple of smart winners helping her break to love in the second game. This, however, would be the last time she troubled the scoreboard.
She was not able to hang onto this lead for long, Azarenka flicking an angled backhand to hit back immediately. From this point she moved through the gears effortlessly, barely putting a foot wrong over the next hour, threading one final backhand past Vesnina to add the final flourish to a near immaculate display.
The statistics as well as the scoreline made pleasant reading, the Belarusian complementing an impressive serving display – she struck four aces and a healthy 74% first serve percentage – with a typically polished display from the baseline, producing 22 winners and just seven unforced errors.
“I was happy to be on the court. It’s been a while since I’ve been out there playing an actual match. It’s been a lot of practice, so I was just happy to go out there and play and be in front of the crowd and just compete,” Azarenka said. “So I was happy to be able to do that and play well.”
Venus Williams takes on Alison Riske in the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
The 2017 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued at the Volvo Car Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world.
For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.
USANA Brand Ambassadors Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Monica Puig and Zheng Saisai hit 10 of the 224 aces in Charleston – raising a grand total of $2,560 throughout the week. Wozniacki hit the most with six aces.
Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!
#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway
It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Last year there was a total of 147 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.
How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Beijing deadline is April 25 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced May 1st
Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.
For full rules on how to enter, click here.
Highlights from first round action at the Brisbane International.
An interview with Johanna Konta after her win in the final of the Bank of the West Classic.