Birmingham: Shot Of The Day (Monday)
Madison Keys has Monday’s shot of the day at the Aegon International Birmingham.
Madison Keys has Monday’s shot of the day at the Aegon International Birmingham.
An interview with Garbiñe Muguruza ahead of her participation at the Mallorca Open.
CoCo Vandeweghe takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the first round of the Aegon Classic.
NEWPORT, RI, USA – Former World No.1 and six-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters has been elected to receive induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
“I feel very, very honored to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame,” the Belgian said in a video statement that will play during a special ceremony at the Australian Open on Tuesday. “It is a huge honor to be amongst a list of so many great tennis players who I admired when I was growing up, and some great players who I played with in my tennis career as well.”
Joining Clijsters in the Hall of Fame Class of 2017 will be 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick, Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch, a 4-time Paralympic medalist in wheelchair tennis, being honored for her remarkable career.
Additionally, two individuals will be inducted in the Contributor Category. Steve Flink, a distinguished tennis historian and journalist has been elected for induction. Vic Braden, a groundbreaking tennis instructor who was among the first to apply sports science to his instructional tactics will be inducted posthumously.
“It’s a real pleasure to welcome these five remarkable individuals into the Hall of Fame. Kim, Andy, and Monique compiled outstanding careers, winning the game’s biggest titles and ascending to the world No. 1 ranking,” remarked International Tennis Hall of Fame President and 1987 Hall of Famer Stan Smith.
The Class of 2017 will be officially inducted on July 22, during Rolex Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Tickets for the Induction Ceremony will go on sale in early February. In addition, the class will be celebrated in a tribute exhibit opening in June in the Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which will be displayed for one year.
One of six women in tennis history to simultaneously top the world rankings in singles and doubles, Clijsters was the world No. 1 player for 19 weeks and was ranked within the World’s Top 5 for 250 weeks during her career. She is a three-time US Open champion (2005, 2009, 2010) and she was also the 2011 Australian Open champion. Clijsters won two major doubles titles, capturing both the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003.
Clijsters is a three-time champion at the WTA Finals (2002, 2003, 2010). She won 41 singles titles, and was a dedicated Belgian Fed Cup team member, leading the team to their first Fed Cup title in 2001 and into the finals again in 2006.
Clijsters retired from tennis in 2007, and then embarked on a second career in tennis with a comeback in 2009. That year, she went on to win the US Open, in what was just her third tournament back on the tour. She was unranked, unseeded, and a wild card entry to the event. Two years later, in 2011, she once again reached the world No. 1 ranking, five years after she had last been there.
Since retirement, Clijsters, now a mother of three, has been focused on her family. She remains engaged in tennis through Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium, where many juniors train and through competing in Legends events at the Grand Slams.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Nineteen-year-old Jelena Ostapenko showed great resolve in holding off Petra Kvitova for a 6-4 4-6 6-3 Thursday as the 2014 Wimbledon junior champion defeated the 2014 Wimbledon champion in Birmingham at the Aegon Classic. The SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches shows one of the keys to her victory was forcing Kvitova to rely heavily on her backhand during the final set.
Kvitova hit 61% of shots during third set rallies from her backhand Thursday. While she only had one unforced error from that side, she did not hit any backhand winners during that final set.
That high percentage of backhand shots for the left-handed Kvitova really stands out when compared to the 36% of rally shots from the backhand side in the second set, which she won. During her straight sets opening round win, Kvitova hit just 40% of her rally shots from the backhand side.
Ostapenko kept Kvitova under pressure the entire third set. In addition to dictating play to the backhand, she had break points in all five of Kvitova’s service games, converting three, while also winning eight of nine second serve points.
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.
“Rally hit from” tracking shows where each ball is struck during a rally. The display differentiates between forehands and backhands. This data can be filtered by a particular score or to only show winners, unforced errors, the last shot of a rally or the third shot (first rally ball hit by the server).
For Ostapenko on Thursday, forcing Kvitova to hit from her backhand side was a winning strategy.
Serena Williams talks about the length of her career – and how she feels when her contemporaries retire from the sport…
BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – No.9 seed Johanna Konta made quick work of Japan’s Misaki Doi, needing just two sets to move past her and into the second round of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Konta stayed toe to toe with Doi for in the first set before going on to dominate in the tiebreak, winning the first six points and converting on her fourth set point. She allowed Doi just one game in the second set, firing off nine aces during the match to advance 7-6(3), 6-1.
Konta, like much of the player field in Birmingham, has struggled with the British summer weather; her first round match against Doi was originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday but a streak of rainy days pushed play to begin today.
She deals with the delays with her usual aplomb and a bit of the typical stiff upper lip her countrymen are known for.
“[I] just really kind of keep a light mind. I am lucky I have my parents around and my coach, having a laugh with them and some of the other girls,” Konta said.
“I think it’s just important to keep reminding yourself to not get stressed about things that are completely out of your control.”
In fact, the rain has thrown off the schedule so much that Konta was originally supposed to play three matches today: along with her first round against Doi, she was slated to play her second round singles match against Yanina Wickmayer and a first round doubles match with partner Elina Svitolina.
“You don’t really think about it. You just prepare like any other day, any other match day. I guess you really need to keep yourself present. You don’t think about it.”
The Brit makes a habit of keeping things in perspective and taking the changes in stride, in everything from rain delays to her meteoric rise to the top.
This time last year, Britain’s No.1 was ranked No.139 – her breakout performance at the US Open would come about a month and a half later. Since then, she’s climbed to No.18 and admits that now she gets stopped for autographs.
“I’ve always wanted to be successful at what I do and I continue to want to be so,” Konta said. “Now, I guess, success in this field comes with maybe more recognition and getting recognized more outside.
“It’s not why I play the sport. It’s not why I want to be the best I can be. It’s just very much a side product.
“But really nothing has changed. I promise you, I’m very much the same.”
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni says it’s all coming together at just this right time at this Australian Open…
BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – 21-year-old Madison Keys is one win away from reaching the Top 10 for the first time in her young career, ousting teenager Jelena Ostapenko, 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-2, to reach her first semifinal at the Aegon Classic.
Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“I think I’ve been playing pretty well this week,” Keys said during her on-court interview. “I had a bit of a slow start in the first set, but I’m happy to be coming back tomorrow.”
Keys is coming off a career-best clay court season, one that saw her reach her first red clay final at the Internazionali BNL d’italia and the second week of the French Open. Back on her beloved grass courts, the American has gone from strength to strength, weathering the storm from a streaky Ostapenko to secure victory in just under two hours.
Ostapenko defeated two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova in the previous round, and was on course to back up the upset early on, edging ahead by a break and eventually taking the first set in a tie-break.
“It’s tough being on the tour for this long and being at the old age of 21; these 19 year olds are tough!” she said with a laugh.
Jelena Ostapenko takes the opening set tiebreak vs Keys 7-6(1)! #AegonClassic https://t.co/GrCcq41gOr
— WTA (@WTA) June 17, 2016
Falling behind a break of serve to start the second, Keys rebounded in style, hitting 43 winners to 30 from the young Latvian, and only 21 unforced errors in the three-set thriller.
“I think I just took a breath and took time away from her a little bit better. At that point, it’s either change tactics or go on to the next tournament.”
The American later elaborated in her post-match press conference.
“This year, I’ve settled into my emotions a little bit more and have been able to play a lot calmer, which I think has helped me make smarter decisions, which in turn maybe makes me look a little bit more mature.”
3rd set!@Madison_Keys battles back to force a decider vs Ostapenko 6-7(1), 6-4! #AegonClassic https://t.co/QHi0Jgygjk
— WTA (@WTA) June 17, 2016
Breaking serve six times, the 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinalist raced out to a double break advantage in the decider and held her nerve to book a semifinal encounter with Carla Suárez Navarro, who pusted reigning Australian Open champion, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
Should Keys reach the final, she will be assured of a Top 10 debut, becoming the first American to do so since Serena Williams in 1999. The last time three Americans were ranked inside the Top 10 was all the way back in September of 2005, when the Williams sisters were joined by then-No.2 Lindsay Davenport.
“Both are tough. I’ve obviously played Angelique quite a few times. I don’t think I’ve played Carla as many. But no matter what it’ll be a tough match, so definitely looking forward to it.
“Right now I’m just focused on the semis, and if things go well, maybe I can add to my title count!”