Tennis News

A long-awaited off-season is on hold for an elite squad from the Czech Republic, who fly to France in the hopes of winning a fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years. Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova lead the team through what will be one last ride following a full fall schedule in Asia.

“It’s the last two matches of the year. There is no other choice,” Pliskova said after playing her last round robin match at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. “I’ll just get ready. There is one week between, so I’ll just rest a little bit and forget about tennis for few days.

“Then back to the work for that last week of tennis this season.”

It was even less of a break for Kvitova, who captured her second title of the season at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

“I don’t think I’m that tired,” she told WTA Insider in the latest edition of Champions Corner. “I just feel my entire body is sore, so I’ll need to take a few days off to get ready for the Fed Cup tie. I’m really looking forward, but it’s a little bit difficult. I’m a little bit tired, but winning always helps me recover faster.

“I’ll be flying to Prague, and then taking a car to go to Strasbourg, so that’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the team. We have a great team, so I can’t wait to be with them over there. It’ll be the last week of the season, so it’s great to have it then, as well.”

Kvitova was in Zhuhai alongside countrywoman Barbora Strycova, and both discussed that special bond the team has forged throughout the week.

“All the Czech players, we know how to be teammates in the week where there is Fed Cup,” Strycova said. “Three weeks a year we are so close together. I can’t describe it because it’s like a routine for us that we do everything together in those weeks.”

Coached by Petr Pala, the Czechs have won 15 of 16 ties dating back to 2011, when the team won their country’s first Fed Cup trophy since 1988.

“I’m looking forward to the final,” Kvitova said. “I love playing Fed Cup and playing for my country. The final is always special; we’re playing away, which isn’t great for us, since France will have the home crowd advantage. We know how to play, and that the fans will support them. It’ll be about us, and whichever team is better prepared will win.

“I think we’re only small favorites to win the tie; they have a great doubles team, and even the singles players, Kiki and Caro, are playing well. It’ll be a difficult tie, but we do have a more experienced team, from all the finals we’ve played. The motivation is always there.”

The teams have faced off just twice in the last ten years, with the Czechs winning the most recent encounter in 2015. Caroline Garcia leads a French contingent captained by former World No.1 Amélie Mauresmo, and is well-aware of just how formidable the Czechs can be in this format, joking that the country could easily field two teams based on its strong roster.

“Caro is funny! I never really thought like that,” Kvitova said with a smile, before breaking down their secret to success.

“I think we’re not only good players, but also good people. We’re never fighting with each other; we act as a team, and I think that’s very important. None of us make trouble, and we all work well together. If one of us needs to schedule a massage, we talk all talk and decide who gets to go first; it’s the same with practice schedules.

“Communication is very important for a team. We also have great people around us; they’re all boys, so there’s always a lot of fun throughout the week. Our stringer is DJ, and they’re all doing what they can to keep things relaex. The practices are very easy and never too stressful.

“Everything is working when you’re playing well, and everything is easier than when you’re not. We’re on a good way right now and I hope we continue like that.”

When that off-season finally does come, Kvitova plans to spend a vacation with none other than teammate Lucie Hradecka, who will likely be on hand for a potentially decisive doubles rubber against France.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

COMPTON, CA, USA – Former World No.1s Venus Williams and Serena Williams returned to their hometown of Compton, California last weekend to strengthen childhood ties to the city where they first played tennis.

“You always remember those places, like where we went to elementary school, the courts we practiced at, even our old home,” Venus told the LA Times. “And just places you used to go. And of course things change over time. Places move. Shops close. Streets change. But it’s still the same place.”

The Williams sisters made use of their eponymous charity fund to bestow a five-year endowment on what will be the Yetunde Price Resource Center, which will help those affected by violence and trauma. The center was named for their eldest sister, who was killed in 2003.

“We definitely wanted to honor our sister’s memory because she was a great sister, she was our oldest sister and obviously she meant a lot to us,” Serena said. “And it meant a lot to us, to myself and to Venus and my other sisters as well, Isha and Lyndrea, that we’ve been wanting to do something for years in memory of her, especially the way it happened, a violent crime.”

Saturday was dedicated to the refurbishing of Lueders Park tennis courts henceforth known as the Venus & Serena Williams Court of Champions.

Check out a full interview with the Williams sisters here, along with some of the best photos from the weekend below:

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

BRISBANE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka continued her relentless march towards a second Brisbane International title with a quick-fire quarterfinal win over Roberta Vinci on Thursday night.

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Having dropped just seven games across the opening two rounds, Azarenka put No.8 seed Vinci to the sword in similarly ruthless fashion, running out a 6-1, 6-2 winner.

Azarenka set her stall out on the opening point, arrowing a backhand return into the corner. The break swiftly followed and while she was unable to hold onto this for long, she was soon ahead once more thanks to a fizzing double-handed winner.

Twenty minutes later she swatted another backhand away to take the set. In the second, it was the forehand that came to the fore, a brilliant stretching passing shot and a crisp down-the-line winner creating the vital breakthrough in the sixth game.

“I’m pretty pleased with tonight,” Azarenka said. “Thank you for the full crowd – you guys make me play much better, that’s for sure!

“I feel like I was really focused from the beginning and I knew she wasn’t going to give anything away so I had to take control and really dictate the play. I’m glad I stayed strong and focused in the difficult situations and really fought for every point.”

Meeting Azarenka in the last four will be the tournament’s surprise package, Samantha Crawford, who earlier in the day defeated Andrea Petkovic, 6-3, 6-0.

“Nobody gets into the semifinals without playing well so I’ll need to rise to this challenge – it’s a new experience – but I’m just happy to be back in the semifinals and doing something I love,” Azarenka, the 2009 champion, added when asked about meeting Crawford for the first time.

On the other side of the draw, No.4 seed Angelique Kerber continued to play herself into form ahead of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. While Carla Suárez Navarro came through a topsy-turvy encounter with Varvara Lepchenko, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Simona Halep was able to win the longer rallies in her 7-6(2) 6-3 victory over Madison Keys to win the title at the Rogers Cup in Montréal.

SAP Tennis Analytics tracks how successful players are on varying rally lengths. During Sunday’s final, Halep won 62% of the rallies that were longer than six shots.

After a tight first set, Halep took control of the second by winning more of the medium-length rallies. After winning just 46% of the 3-6 shot rallies in the first set, Halep won 65% of those points in the second set.

Overall, Halep won 56% of the rallies that were greater than three shots throughout the match.

Rally length is included in the “Rally hit to” tracking on the SAP Coaches View. That particular data shows where each shot during a rally lands on the opponent’s side of the court. The display differentiates between forehands and backhands, and can be filtered by a particular score or to only show winners, unforced errors, service returns, the last shot of a rally or the third shot (first rally ball hit by the server).

For the Rogers Cup final, this data set also shows that Halep not only was winning the longer points, but she was also looking to keep the ball away from the Keys forehand. Halep directed 57% of her shots toward the Keys backhand, and for good reason. During the match, 13 of the 17 winners Keys hit came from her forehand.

The SAP Coaches View combines scoring information direct from the chair umpire with tracking data from HawkEye to allow for an in depth look at five different aspects of a match. Each tracking option can be filtered to narrow the focus to specific situations within a match, such as break points. This information is available directly to coaches in real-time during a match on their SAP tablet and also available to them online after matches.

On Sunday, Halep’s success on the longer points in the match allowed her to win her third trophy in 2016.

It’s time to vote for July’s WTA Player of the Month!

Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, August 5.

July 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists

Simona Halep: One year after reaching her first Rogers Cup final in Toronto, Halep went one better in Montréal, growing though a tough field that included Karolina Pliskova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Angelique Kerber, and Madison Keys to win her first title in Canada, and her third of the season. Halep is currently riding a 10-match winning streak after winning at home in Bucharest on clay.

Madison Keys: Finishing a close second to Halep in Montréal, Keys returned to the Top 10 – and the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard – by reaching her first-ever hardcourt final on the WTA tour. A three-set win over former World No.1 Venus Williams set the tone for the week, as she knocked out an in-form Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and qualifier Kristina Kucova to make the championship match.

Johanna Konta The British No.1 won her first WTA title in style at the Bank of the West Classic, defeating Venus Williams for the second time this season to reach another career-high ranking – falling just short of a Top 10 debut after making the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.

Venus Williams: Venus earned her eighth career Stanford final in July, and played Konta tough in a three-set defeat. Her solid run of form continued in Montréal, where she reached the round of 16. 

2016 Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com