Tennis News

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – Britain’s Heather Watson notched her first win in Birmingham in two years, downing Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the second round at the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Watson played a neat and tidy game against the tricky Giorgi, striking 23 winners and seven unforced errors to the Italian’s 24 winners and 29 unforced errors.

The Brit found herself break points down in the second and fifth games of the second set, but rallied each time to come up with a way to stay in it.

“Today, the opponent I played is a real tricky one,” Watson said. “She doesn’t give you any rhythm. She’ll hit a lot of winners, but she’ll make some mistakes as well. So it’s tough.

“I was just really pleased with how positive I was, especially in the second set when I was breakpoints down. I thought those games in the end turned out to be very crucial.”

Her first-round win here overturns a spell of disappointing results at the Aegon Classic Birmingham – she’s bowed out in the first round in her last two appearances.

“I just love it here in Birmingham,” the Brit told the crowd after her match. “I haven’t had the results I’ve wanted here in the past, but I was really motivated this year to do well here because I really do enjoy it.

“I have family who live close by in Coventry, so I really feel like it’s a second home.”

Joining her in the second round is Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. The 18-year-old defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(2) 6-1 earlier in the day.

Watson and Giorgi’s match just barely missed the rain that had been threatening to come down all afternoon, leaving the clashes between Daria Gavrilova versus Naomi Broady and Carla Suárez Navarro versus Elina Svitolina postponed until tomorrow.

Clay court tennis is commonly associated with drawn-out baseline battles, but at Roland Garros the WTA’s big servers were doing their best to keep these to a minimum.

Unsurprisingly, Serena Williams led the way in terms of both aces and service speed. Her fastest of the fortnight was clocked at 121.8mph – a figure matched by one of the game’s stars in waiting, Naomi Osaka. They were not the only ones notching noteworthy numbers, either; Océane Dodin, Madison Keys and Danka Kovinic all threatening the 120mph mark.

Roland Garros
1. Serena Williams – 121.8mph / 196.0kph
1T. Naomi Osaka – 121.8mph / 196.2kph
3. Océane Dodin – 119.9mph / 193.0kph
4T. Madison Keys – 119.3mph / 192.0kph
4T. Danka Kovinic – 119.3mph / 192.0kph

2016
1. Serena Williams – 127.0mph / 204.4kph (Indian Wells)
2T. Lucie Hradecka – 123.0mph / 197.9kph (Indian Wells)
2T. Venus Williams – 123.0mph / 197.9kph (Miami)
4. Timea Babos – 122.0mph / 196.3kph (Indian Wells)
5. Naomi Osaka – 121.8mph / 196.2kph (Roland Garros)
6. CoCo Vandeweghe – 121.mph / 194.7kph (Indian Wells)
7T. Madison Keys – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Australian Open)
7T. Océane Dodin – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Roland Garros)
7T. Polona Hercog – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Australian Open)
10. Danka Kovinic – 119.3mph / 192.0kph (Roland Garros)

All-Time
1. Sabine Lisicki – 131.0mph / 210.8kph (2014 Stanford)
2. Venus Williams – 129.0mph / 207.6kph (2007 US Open)
3. Serena Williams – 128.6mph / 207.0kph (2013 Australian Open)
4. Julia Goerges – 126.1mph / 203.0kph (2012 French Open)
5. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy – 126.0mph / 202.7kph (2007 Indian Wells)
6. Nadiia Kichenok – 125.5mph / 202.0kph (2014 Australian Open)
7. Lucie Hradecka – 125.0mph / 201.2kph (2015 Wimbledon)
8. Anna-Lena Groenefeld – 125.0mph / 201.1kph (2009 Indian Wells)
9T. Ana Ivanovic – 124.9mph / 201.0kph (2007 French Open)
9T. Denisa Allertova – 124.9mph / 201.0kph (2015 Australian Open)

Victoria Azarenka was the story of 2016’s first quarter. The two-time major champion and former World No.1 rocketed back up the rankings after several seasons of injuries and inconsistencies, winning three titles and becoming the first woman in over a decade to capture the elusive Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double.

By spring, however, the Belarusian was gone from the game, announcing that she would end her season due to a pregnancy. Azarenka has since been busy preparing for the birth of her first child, but nonetheless granted an interview with Tennis Channel to update fans on her life today.

“My pregnancy’s been a completely different experience from anything I’ve done before,” she says. “In theory, you know the process, but to actually go through it, you truly start to deeply understand the magic of it. It’s been quite a ride, I have to say.

“Tennis is my career, but there’s a different part of life. This was a blessing, a gift from God. I believe I still have a great opportunity to do what I love, as long as I love playing tennis. I do, and this is an opportunity to realize how much I love what I do.”

Azarenka has dedicated her time off to her studies, but has still found time to exercise, playing tennis up to the last six weeks of her pregnancy.

“I’m doing a lot of activities I didn’t have time to do before; being at home and sleeping in my own bed is really a luxury for a traveling athlete.

“I miss the fans. I miss that moment when you go on the court and it’s a go time. As a competitor, I have to find that edge in life. I’ve been able to translate that into my studies for now, but that competitive edge is definitely something I’m missing.”

Addressing the question of a comeback, she gave fans reason to be optimistic that she’ll be back on the court sooner, rather than later.

“I don’t feel I’m missing out on someting I won’t be able to do again. For me, it’s about getting to where I want to be and be back there again. That’s my ultimate goal.

“I don’t put any time frame on myself. I would love to make it as soon as possible, but give myself a reasonable time to fully recover and be ready. I’m not going to rush anything, and it’s hard to tell before the birth actually happens. So, we’ll see, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to play tennis again pretty soon.”

Check out the whole video courtesy of Tennis Channel below:

MALLORCA, Spain – Eugenie Bouchard and Jelena Jankovic both overcame sluggish starts to get their Mallorca Open campaigns off to a winning start and advancing to the second round.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The inaugural International event, staged right on the Mediterranean coast in Santa Ponsa, looks just as much like a relaxing getaway as it does a WTA event, and quite the opposite of a typical grass court tournament.

“It’s different, to have a tour spot in a vacation spot here like this,” No.8 seed Bouchard said.

“It’s hot over here, we’re not used to that when we play on grass, it’s usually cold rainy countries so this is a refreshing change.”

Bouchard raced through the opening set against Danka Kovinic, but had trouble keeping up the intensity in the second as the Montenegrin player climbed to a 5-2 lead. Bouchard reeled off the next five straight games to defeat her 6-3, 7-5 and book a spot in the second round.

“I think I played pretty solid,” Bouchard assessed after the match. “On my part I thought I had some big weapons. She had a big serve and can hit big shots so I felt like I stayed with her when I needed to, but I kept fighting even though I was down in that second set.”

No.2 seed Jankovic had a similar struggle against Ana Konjuh, but in reverse: after a tense, lengthy struggle in the first set against the Croatian, Jankovic found her range and snapped up the second set, 7-5, 6-3.

“I had a slow start and my opponent was playing very well,” Jankovic said. “She was hitting strong and I was reacting very slow.

“I wasn’t really able to play my game but slowly, little by little, I started to get in my rhythm. I felt more comfortable on the court and I think she just couldn’t follow.”

While these two seeds advanced, another two went tumbling out as Sabine Lisicki dealt an upset to the No.4 seeded Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4, 6-4, and qualifier Sorana Cirstea knocked out No.5 seed Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2.

What post match cool down looks like in Mallorca ?? pic.twitter.com/CSqKiIYwJI

— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) June 14, 2016

Lucie Safarova had much to overcome off the court this season, recovering from an illness that derailed her soaring start to last season and fighting off injuries that delayed her 2016 debut. But once she got going, she showed what made her such a dangerous opponent, particularly in doubles, where she won another major title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the US Open, and rode an 18-match winning streak into the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Through all of her trials and tribulations,the Czech always finds time to give back to the player community.

As a result of her work in the WTA Player Council, Safarova was awarded the 2016 Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the third year in a row.

Selected by player vote, the Player Service Award is awarded each year to the player who has done the most for her fellow players. The player can be acknowledged for their efforts made through the Player Council or any other initiative on behalf of the general player population. This award has been voted on by players since 1977. Previous winners include Kim Clijsters, Liezel Huber, Francesca Schiavone, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams.

The Players’ Council consists of eight selected players on the tour that advocate player interests and handle grievances, changes in the tennis schedule and other concerns. Safarova is a part of the council in the 1-20 Ranking Category, alongside Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She’s served on the Council since 2009, earning the respect of her peers through her willingness to help.

Last month, SportsPro unveiled it annual list of the world’s 50 most marketable athletes. Once again, the WTA was well represented with three players making the cut.

French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza led the way, entering the list at No.14 on the back of her recent exploits. Joining her is fellow new entrant Sania Mirza and last year’s No.1 Eugenie Bouchard.

Muguruza first burst onto the scene two years ago when she inflicted a humbling second-round defeat on defending champion Serena Williams at Roland Garros. Since then her star has grown, a Wimbledon final appearance laying the foundations for a brilliant second half of 2015. The 22-year-old hit her first bump in the road at the start of the current season, before a spectacular return culminating in her Paris triumph.

Viewed by many as the sports next big crossover star, Muguruza has seen sponsors come flocking – BBVA Bank, Maui Jim, adidas and Babolat are among her current portfolio – capitalizing on the decade-long quest to find a female icon to join Rafael Nadal atop the pedestal of Spanish tennis.

Life has not been quite so rosy for the new generation’s other great young hope, Eugenie Bouchard. However, following a turbulent 2015 campaign, the green shoots of recovery have begun to sprout.

Success on the court and charisma off it fuelled the Canadian’s initial rise to prominence, and now unburdened by the weight of expectation that hung around her neck for much of 2015, she has begun to climb back up the rankings. The qualities that first attracted Nike, Babolat, Coca-Cola and others remain, and her reunion with childhood mentor Nick Saviano is sure to hasten her return to tennis’ top table.

Mirza, on the other hand, has had no shortage of success over the past 12 months, her all-conquering partnership with Martina Hingis – the duo have won three of the past four Grand Slams – thrusting her back into the spotlight.

A superstar in her homeland for the best part of a decade, the Indian, whose contracts include adidas, Sahara India and Tata Tea, is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and was flagbearer at the 2012 Olympics.

Since SportsPro released its inaugural list in 2010, WTA players have been near ever-presents at the top of the pile, Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens all featuring down the years.  

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – Ricoh Open champion CoCo Vandeweghe notched the biggest win of her career on Wednesday, vanquishing top seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, to advance into the second round of the Aegon Classic and win her sixth straight match.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Vandeweghe had never taken a set from the World No.3 in all four of their previous encounters – three of which took place in 2015 – but the big-hitting American edged out the only service break in a 57 minute opening set – one that had begun on Wednesday – to snap the Pole’s seven-set streak.

“She’s a tricky oponnent any way you slice it – I mean that as a pun and literally!” she joked during her on-court interview. 

Radwanska held off Vandeweghe’s charge into the second set to hold serve just as the rain came to interrupt play once again.

“You have all these rain delays, a lot of breaks. It about keeping your mind on the game, which isn’t easy. But you have to do your best; I try to keep myself quiet, away from everybody. I don’t start thinking about other things, but hopefully this rain stays away for the rest of the week so we can play a full set all the way through. That would be nice!”

Rain…

…Again ☔️ #AegonClassic pic.twitter.com/hbT5ph8wyS

— WTA (@WTA) June 15, 2016

Losing serve to level the match, Vandeweghe rebounded well in the decider, racing out to a double-break lead; though she failed to serve out her first Top 5 win, she closed things out one game later to book a second round encounter with fellow American Christina McHale, hitting 48 winners to 33 unforced errors – forcing the issue far more than Radwanska’s 20 winners to 13 unforced.

Showing the sort of grass court efficiency that already earned her a title in the Netherlands, Vandeweghe also won 17 of her 24 forays at net, moving forward in the hopes of rushing the crafty Radwanska.

“I just stuck with my gameplan; I got myself into a little bit of trouble here and there in the first second and third set, but I just managed through it. Definitely the confidence from last week and winning the title helps get you out of that tricky situation. You’ve done it so well the week before that nothing really phases you and it’s just another match.

“She takes power and moves it around the court, but I didn’t think she could sustain it if I was able to be consistent with my power and pace. I thought I would overpower her, so that was my gameplan. 

“She was going to hit some amazing shots, but I think overall if I stuck with it, I was going to beat her.”

Speaking later in her post-match press conference, Vandeweghe admitted to having to overcome a crisis of confidence in her first round in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, one that largely stemmed from failing to qualify for the US Olympic team.

“My first match on the grass, I was really extremely nervous. I was playing a local wildcard, and I never heard of her. You never know what you’re going do get with a wildcard. I mean, I’ve been a wildcard before.

“Whether it’s someone that crumbles in front of their home, can’t perform to their abilities, someone that plays out their mind because they’re rising to the occasion, like, Holy cow, I’m finally in the WTAs.

“I’ve played the part in both of those scenarios. I was kind of thinking in the wrong mind frame of, I’ve had such great results on grass, I’ve got to do it again, points and seeding for Wimbledon.

“I was also kind of dealing with a major letdown of I didn’t make the Olympic team and that was one of my biggest goals. So it was definitely a hard moment for me that I really internalized. I didn’t talk to anyone on my team. It was just kind of a disappointing moment for myself, heartbreaking moment for myself.”

Hear more from Vandeweghe in her Champion’s Corner interview on the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

Disappointed in defeat, Radwanska nonetheless spoke well of her opponent in press after the match.

“She was really consistent and solid. No free points from her,” she said in her post-loss press conference. “You can really see how she won the tournament last week.

“She was really playing good game and very consistent for all three sets. That’s surprised me a little bit as well.

“For me, was tough. First match is always tricky pretty much without the practice on the grass. I think I needed a couple more days to adjust. Hopefully Eastbourne will be better.”

? ? ? https://t.co/AdWIOXMh8I

— WTA (@WTA) June 15, 2016

In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”

“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”

Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:

On whether she ever felt misunderstood:

“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”

“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.

“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”

On being taught to believe in herself:

“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.

“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”

On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:

“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”

In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016

On body image:

“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”

On her legacy:

“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”

Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.

With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016

Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.