Tennis News

World No.8 Agnieszka Radwanska knows what it’s like to be a teenage queen.

The Pole won her first WTA title at the age of 18 in 2007, and reached both her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and the world’s top 10 the next season. A decade later, WTA teenagers were in the spotlight on Sunday as Daria Kasatkina defeated Jelena Ostapenko to win the first all-teenaged final at a WTA event since 2009 at the Volvo Car Open.

For Radwanska, who turned professional at the age of 16, game recognizes game.

“Now I know what my opponents must have felt like back then. I have to say, the younger players on tour right now are dangerous,” Radwanska wrote in a Straits Times column this week. “We talk about it among ourselves. ‘The kids are coming!’ I think the new generation of players are just better than earlier in my career. They really play smart. From a young age, they’re already pushing to play tournaments and matches. They’re sacrificing a lot but that means they’re very good when they’re 16 or 17.”

Recognizing that she is now closer to the end of her career than the beginning, the 28-year-old reflected on playing a full schedule over the course of her years on the circuit, and how growing up in tennis has evolved.  

“When I was a junior, I played tournaments and went to school at the same time, and I went step by step. I had a pretty normal life, only unlike my friends I didn’t have much time for myself….I’ve been on tour for so long. I haven’t had any breaks. I’ve had a couple of surgeries but I always had those during the off-season and I’m always ready for the majors. I’ve played 43 Grand Slams in a row.”

She added: “My goal now is to maximize the time I have left on tour, and that means being as efficient as possible in my schedule by making the most of my opportunities.”

In the lead-up to the Oct 22-29 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, the eight singles players from last year will pen a monthly exclusive column for The Straits Times. The second installment features 2015 champion Agnieszka Radwanska — read it in full here.

BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Kristyna Pliskova continued her steady climb up the rankings as she scored the first big upset of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne, knocking out No.4 seed Roberta Vinci, 6-4, 6-4 to advance into the second round.

“I’m happy I’m back indoors, because my serve works even better here than outside,” she said after the match. “I think this match was pretty solid from my side; I faced just one break point, which is kind of good. She’s not in her best form, so that helped me get it done in two sets.”

Pliskova recovered from a set down to defeat Vinci at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships just two months ago, but was far more decisive on Monday, striking 10 aces and getting a crucial break in each set to seal the win in one hour and 13 minutes.

What. A. Shot.@KrisPliskova gets the early break in the second set! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/zhMPSGtdTS

— WTA (@WTA) April 10, 2017

“I learned a lot from our match in Dubai, and even more from the time before I’d played her and I’d lost like 6-1, 6-1 five years ago. I knew her slice is brilliant. She proved that again, but I learned a lot from both matches.”

Up next for Pliskova is either Donna Vekic or Sorana Cirstea; with her quick serve and fearsome groundstrokes, the unseeded Czech youngster will certainly be one to watch in the indoor courts of Biel/Bienne this week.

Delicate touch from @KrisPliskova! ? #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/J2IoOloHya

— WTA (@WTA) April 10, 2017

“The court is kind of different from others, but so far I like it.”

Earlier in the day, Elise Mertens caused another upset by defeating No.8 seed Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-2. The first winner in the tournament’s history was Germany’s Mona Barthel, who ousted Jana Cepelova, 6-3, 6-4.

CHARLESTON, SC, USA – In the first all-teen WTA final since 2009, Daria Kasatkina knocked out former junior colleague Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-1, to win her first WTA title at the Volvo Car Open.

“It’s very difficult to describe my feeling now,” she said in her post-victory press conference. “I feel I’m just sleeping and everything is not real. I’m so happy. Really.”

Kasatkina and Ostapenko took back-to-back Grand Slam titles back in 2014, the Russian winning the girls’ French Open while the Latvian swept the junior Wimbledon Championships, and the two have been on a collision course since making their WTA debuts the following year.

Ostapenko was in her third career final after finishing runner-up at the Tournoi de Québec in 2015 and the Qatar Total Open in 2016, and won their only previous tour-level meeting last year at the Aegon International in Eastbourne.

But Kasatkina proved far more at home on clay after earning wins over Olympic champion Monica Puig, good friend Daria Gavrilova, No.10 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, and clay court specialist Laura Siegemund en route to her first final.

“Yesterday evening and all night I couldn’t sleep. I woke up during the whole night like two or three times. I was so nervous, you cannot imagine. I was feeling like, I want to just go on the court and everything, let’s finish, play. I cannot feeling this anymore. But now it was worth it.”

.@DKasatkina turns defense into attack! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/f1CRBWoXoG

— WTA (@WTA) April 9, 2017

The pair exchanged early breaks to start the match; Ostapenko won a long sixth game to level the opening set only to see Kasatkina run away with the contest from there, losing just one more game in the 66-minute match.

“I was ready to be on the court five, six hours. Because it’s a final, I have to be ready for everything, but I’m happy that I finished it in, let’s say, an easy way. So I am very happy and proud of myself.

“When I won the last ball, everything like closed and I just feel like I’m dreaming.” 

Playing clean, consistent tennis, Kasatkina struck just six winners to the Latvian’s 25, but also only seven unforced errors to Ostapenko’s 38, and converted five of seven break point chances over two sets.

“Today, the tactic was to be a little bit more defensive, go back, spin, slice the ball because it’s clay, and she’s playing really aggressive. Usually she beats aggressive players because she likes this type of game, everything. So we decided that I have to go back and make her tired. It was a good tactic, I think.”

“I was playing good all the days this week,” Ostapenko said after the match. “I beat some great players, but today was really not my day, and I just didn’t feel the ball that well. I was missing too much, and because she was defending during the whole match. It was just probably not my day.

“I think I got a bit more consistent on clay, and I think I improved my serve and I’m moving better, but I still have a lot of things to work on. I think it’s pretty good because now I can climb in the ranking.”

First #WTA Title!@DKasatkina races past Ostapenko 6-3, 6-1 to win @VolvoCarOpen! pic.twitter.com/yYmKy299Qp

— WTA (@WTA) April 9, 2017

The Russian will move back into the Top 30 after the win as she aims to return to Roland Garros as a seed for the second straight year, while Ostapenko returns to the Top 50 following her impressive week and wins over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and Australian Open semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Kasatkina joins an illustrious list of former champions, including Stefanie Graf, Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, and Venus Williams. None of that had quite sunk in with the 19-year-old so soon after the match.

“I need to prepare for these things. It never happened to me before. So little bit makeup for the pictures!” she said when asked about a post-victory portrait.

“I don’t realize it yet, so I’m just enjoying it every moment, every second. And really, when I was on the court after the last point, I just wanted the moment to stop because it was one of the best moments in my life.”

.@DKasatkina fights back the tears during champion's speech #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/g5SW68mjMD

— WTA (@WTA) April 9, 2017

Earlier in the day, World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands took her third title of the year, and second with partner Lucie Safarova, overcoming a tough test from BNP Paribas Open finalists Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova, 6-1, 4-6, 10-7.

All photos courtesy of the Volvo Car Open.