Zhuhai: Sunday Highlights
Highlights from on and off court on the finals day of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Highlights from on and off court on the finals day of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
ZHUHAI, China – Petra Kvitova concluded a stellar Asian Swing with yet another title, taking home the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai crown after a 6-4, 6-2. The former World No.2 and Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open winner moved up to No.11 on the WTA rankings, and is eager to make up for lost ground at the start of next season.
WTA Insider caught up with Kvitova after her emphatic win over Svitolina to talk about the Wuhan-Zhuhai double, what it means to find herself on the tennis court, and why she’ll key in on improving her serve and return during the off-season.
WTA Insider: On a scale from 1-10, how tired are you feeling right now?
Kvitova: I don’t think I’m that tired. 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.
WTA Insider: You managed to win Wuhan and Zhuhai this year, much like Venus Williams in 2015. What is it about these courts that go hand-in-hand for players?
Kvitova: I’m not really sure, but it’s kind of funny that both of us won the same tournaments at the end of the season. I’m not sure, but maybe the courts are a little bit faster for our games. We both play aggressive, and have good serves. I think that pays off for us.
WTA Insider: You talked a lot about finding yourself in our last interview; I’m curious what that means to you. Is it about finding yourself personally, or professionally? You mentioned in press that you felt you’d rediscovered your game.
Kvitova: I think it’s both, personal and tennis things. I’ve always loved to play tennis, but it can get tough when I’m not feeling confident, and not playing as well as I should. These couple of matches that I’ve won in the last couple of weeks have really helped my confidence. I did find myself, and that means I’ve found my game again. I’m not afraid to go for my shots, even if I miss them sometimes. I’m still trying to go for it, serve better, and put pressure on my opponent. That’s something I don’t think I was really doing at the start of the season. Of course, there were other small things also happening in my life, as well. But sometimes it’s just important to go through all of these things to find yourself.
WTA Insider: You’ve also mentioned that potentially not having a coach helped you find yourself. What you’re trying to find yourself – be it your game, or personally – did it help to not have too many extra voices around, and just to focus on you and what you’re thinking and feeling?
Kvitova: Personally, I’m always trying to look at things more positively than negatively. I do have David, who is my fitness coach. He’s traveling a lot with me right now, and he’s helping a lot. He’s not a tennis coach, so I’m doing tactics and practicing by myself. It’s a little bit funny and it’s all a learning process for me. It’s nice to have this experience, and I’m just glad that I’ve had it. It’ll be good for the future for me to have had these sorts of things happen. Everything new can be good for you if you take it positively. Not having a tennis coach is a little bit tricky; I’m glad I played more matches so I didn’t really have to practice that much. That was helpful!
WTA Insider: What does a Petra Kvitova practice session look like? If and when you do add a coach to your team, will you then expect to collaborate with him? Now that you’ve had this independence, how tough will it be to give it up?
Kvitova: I think everything is about compromise and communication. I hope that when I find a good coach, we’ll be able to sit and talk about how everything looks with my game and schedule. I’m not sure that I’ll tell him about this experience, for sure. I’m not really a person that needs to practice five hours a day. Of course, preparation is a different story, but at tournaments, I really need to focus on the game and have good energy for the matches. That’s one thing I’ve learned, and I hope it’ll work.
WTA Insider: Briefly going back to the final today, and having five straight wins over Svitolina coming into the match. What is it about her ball that makes you comfortable on the court, especially with all the improvements she’s made?
Kvitova: Those wins helped me with my confidence. In the last match, I was also a break down in the beginning of the match, and I was still able to turn it around. That helped me today when I was on the court, having that in mind. I can’t say she plays a comfortable game, but I just know I need to play aggressively. She likes to play aggressively too, so I just need to be the first one who is putting pressure on her and play what I can. Sometimes, it ends up being a longer rally than I’d like, but that’s the game. She’s doing what she has to do to beat me. She’s thinking as well, so fair enough. I think my serve helped me a lot and I need to return well, which I was doing pretty good today. In the rallies, she’s really going for it, so it’s just about the few points, and what turned the match on my side.
WTA Insider: You’ve talked about the serve a lot this week. When people think of you and your game, they think of the forehand, the power and precision behind that shot. How important do you feel focusing on the serve will be heading into 2017?
Kvitova: I think that’s the key point, for sure. The serve and return are the beginning of the rallies, and those are very important for putting pressure on your opponent right away. I need to improve my second serve next season. Of course, my forehand is a big one, but I need to work on that, as well. I still miss too many shots over there, but I think overall, it’s pretty good. The power is still the key for me to play well. I just need to keep it there.
WTA Insider: Finally, you’re heading home tonight. Will you be flying home or straight to France ahead of the Fed Cup final?
Kvitova: 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.
WTA Insider: One last ride with the Czech Fed Cup team?
Kvitova: Exactly!
All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.
At this year’s Wimbledon, some of the most famous names in women’s tennis are once again lending their support to the StarCards charity auction, raising money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London.
The WTA has been helping the charity since 2002, raising thousands of pounds. Among the lots at this year’s auction are items from Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki and StarCards’ official celebrity supporter Ana Ivanovic, who has signed and donated her 2016 French Open player accreditation.
“With the tremendous support of the WTA we have raised over £100,000 for the charity, tennis fans around the world each year contact us in advance of to make sure they don’t miss out on the new collection. We are extremely grateful to the WTA and our official supporter Ana Ivanovic who help us every year to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity,” StarCards founder Paul Bretta said
The auction, held on the StarCards website, started on June 30 and will finish on July 10.
@serenawilliams thanks for supporting #wta #Wimbledon charity auction for @GreatOrmondSt at https://t.co/9day5Ddgf4 pic.twitter.com/XumMa8kAlE
— StarCards (@STARCARDS4GOSH) 27 June 2016
LONDON, Great Britain – No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska dug deep from her bag of tricks to see off Katerina Siniakova in a straight sets tour de force, needing just 63 minutes to advance to the fourth round 6-3, 6-1.
Radwanska put on a clinic on the No.3 Court against Siniakova, who at 20 years old was the youngest woman left in the draw. Against the big hitting Czech, Radwanska employed her famous ability of drawing out her opponent’s errors with her signature mix variety and anticipation, running Siniakova ragged all along the court.
The first set unfolded as a tightly-contested affair with Radwanska bringing up and converting the only break point for a lead at 4-2. She struck early on in the second set, frustrating Siniakova with a drop shot after pushing her out far behind the baseline.
Radwanska grabbed the second break of the second set at 4-1 when she fetched a wide-angled return with a vicious forehand loaded with sidespin, then calmly put away the next shot at the net. Siniakova was forced to hit one more ball as her would-be winners were returned time and time again.
Siniakova clawed to her first break point of the match at 5-1, but it was calmly brushed aside as the Pole looked locked in, breaking Siniakova once more and crushing a swinging crosscourt forehand pass to move on to the second week of Wimbledon for the eighth time in her career.
Cibulkova awaits Radwanska in the fourth round after the Slovak put away former finalist Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets earlier in the day.
Agnieszka Radwanska produces some wonderful tennis to see off Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-1. The Pole is into the 4R. pic.twitter.com/QTDjatxfeE
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2016
Caroline Garcia downed Petra Kvitova in straight sets to rescue a vital point for France in the second rubber of the Fed Cup final.
LONDON, Great Britain – Elena Vesnina bested her good friend and doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova in a 5-7, 6-1, 9-7 thriller to make her way to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The pair of unseeded Russians battled it out on Court No.3, weathering a mid-match rain delay during their two-hour-and-forty-seven-minute contest. Vesnina kept her margins cleaner, firing 52 winners to 30 unforced errors against Makarova’s 31 winners and 24 unforced errors. Vesnina was also ruthless at the net, winning 85 percent of her 26 net points.
With the victory, Vesnina also notched her first ever WTA-level win over Makarova, having lost in straight sets in each of their previous six encounters.
Next up for the Russian is Dominika Cibulkova, who edged past No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in an epic three sets earlier in the day.
Pavlyuchenkova Dashes Vandeweghe Hopes
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova knocked out last year’s quarterfinalist CoCo Vandeweghe in a commanding 6-3, 6-3 win. Pavlyuchenkova kept the American’s powerful serve in check throughout the match, allowing her just three aces and 49 percent of first serve points. She struck 13 winners to seven unforced errors against Vandeweghe’s 18 and 22.
The Russian, who’d previously never made it past the third round at the All-England Club, is now into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time.
Her reward? A matchup against defending champion and top seed Serena Williams.
“I just find out from my coach that I’m going to play the winner of Serena or Svetlana,” Pavlyuchenkova said afterward. “I have no clue actually what part of the draw I’m in and stuff like that.
“I’m still sort of like happy with the match I just won. It’s tough to talk about Serena or anyone.”
Shvedova Books Venus Showdown
Yaroslava Shvedova, No.96 in the world, dealt a round of 16 upset to the No.28 seed Lucie Safarova, dispatching the Czech in a comfortable straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. With the win she moves into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time.
The Kazakh’s strong serving proved to be the difference; she fired off seven aces and won 81 percent of points behind her first serve. Shvedova also didn’t face a single break point all match long and converted on three of the thirteen chances she brought up against Safarova.
Up next, she’ll face the five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams for the first time.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty survived a mid-match wobble to knock out the No.3 seed Maria Sakkari 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger.
LONDON, Great Britain – WTA CEO Steve Simon joins the WTA Insider podcast after a busy week of meetings in London to discuss the future of the tour and the changes coming down the pipeline. In particular, Simon breaks down the current discussion surrounding a possible change in the tour’s current circuit structure, the future state of the WTA’s broadcast and content business, and his vision for a tour that continues to push forward and grow to become a worldwide sporting power.
On his vision for the circuit structure:
“What I would like to see is a tour that provides clarity, which I’m not sure we have today. I’m not sure a lot of our fans know the difference between an International series event and a Premier series event. I would like to have a system where every event has a purpose and a meaning. Then we can begin to storytell from it and take our fans on tour for a year and understand why this event is happening and the relevance of it, and the relevance of the athletes, as opposed to being a faceless event, which I’m afraid happens too often.”
On the current state of the WTA broadcast business:
“I think it’s an exciting time because in 2017 we are embarking on a new broadcast agreement. The basis for this agreement is that we will now be producing every main draw singles match played, and every semifinal and doubles final played. So we’re going to go from producing approximately 800 matches a year to over 2,000, which is a significant jump. Through our partnership with Perform we will now have a global audience going into 2017 at record levels that we have never seen before. We’ll be entering the market at nearly 400 million people in our audience universe right away.”
On his desire to expand the tour’s competitive landscape:
“We’re very proud that we’re the No.1 professional women’s league and I think it’s well deserved. You don’t become No.1 because you didn’t produce and you should take a lot of pride in that. The next step from that from my perspective is we want to not just be the No.1 women’s professional tour, we want to compete with professional sports. What that means is that we’re now drawing the audience levels that are similar to other professional sports, and we need to grow our audience levels. They’re not at the levels that I want them to be at.”
On the state of play:
“We are in a transition now. We have Serena in the argument as one of the best players to ever play this game and other great champions that are with us. But when I look at what’s coming I’m just very excited about it. We can see the transition happening. We can see it in the results. Every week this year we’ve seen a lot of upsets. Well those upsets are consistently this new era coming through and challenging the existing stars and that’s very healthy.”
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LONDON, England – Moments after completing another regal performance at Wimbledon, the queen of tennis Serena Williams was rubbing shoulder with a very different type of royalty.
Making her annual homage to the home of tennis, future Queen Kate Middleton was alongside All England Club Chairman Philip Brook to witness Williams’ semifinal masterclass against Elena Vesnina.
And with the applause still rippling around Centre Court, the Dutchess was hot-footing it out of the royal box to get an introduction – and a selfie – with the World No.1.
Serena and Kate ? pic.twitter.com/wzsmKkJJyh
— Shanice Bajin (@SWilliamsFans) 7 July 2016
Angelique Kerber racked up the most prize money of any WTA player during 2016, and she did so in historic fashion. Find out who else made the prize money leaders list, right here!