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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Johanna Konta made a successful comeback from the left foot injury that kept her out of the Middle East Swing with a 6-4, 6-4 win over fellow Brit Heather Watson at the BNP Paribas Open.

“I think it’s definitely challenging to adapt to these conditions,” she said  the air is a bit drier and the ball travels a bit quicker. When the wind picks up, that can also complicate things. But it’s a beautiful center court to play on, so I hope to extend my stay here as long as possible!”

Konta had been forced to sit out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships due to what she described as an “irritated nerve” after a strong start to the season – winning her second career title at the Apia International Sydney and reaching a second straight Australian Open quarterfinal – and had to shake off the rust early on against Watson, who earned a hard-fought win over Nicole Gibbs earlier in the week.

“I think there is definitely an adjustment period,” she added in her post-match press conference. “I hadn’t played a tour match since the Australian Open and Fed Cup was about three weeks ago. It’s not that long of a time, but in terms of the tour, it’s a bit of time.

“I think there were definitely some moments there I will definitely try to get better and better at as the tournament goes on, and hopefully I will get more opportunities to get more and more match fit.”

The countrywoman recently paired up to lead Great Britain into Fed Cup’s World Group II Play-Offs in February, but were all business in the California desert on Friday, trading blows from the back of the court throughout the 94 minute affair.

“We get along great off court. We actually recently spent quite a bit of time together because of Fed Cup. We had a great Fed Cup in Estonia. We had a little bit great experiences quite recently together.

“I think both of us went with the intention of giving our best and trying to do what we can to come through in the end. I was fortunate enough to come out on top today.”

The typically aggressive Konta maintained a fairly clean stat sheet – 20 winners to 21 unforced errors – and held on for a tense ending after Watson threatened to come back from 5-1 in the second set.

Up next for the British No.1 is No.21 seed Caroline Garcia, who ende the run of lucky loser Evgeniya Rodina, 6-3, 6-3.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza came through a tense finish against Kirsten Flipkens, 6-2, 6-3, in her opening round match at the BNP Paribas Open. Up next for the No.7 seed is 17-year-old Kayla Day, who stunned Australian Open semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets.

“I think it was a difficult match,” she said during her post-match press conference. “I think she’s very talented and she can hit some critical shots and she can be tricky. I’m happy because it was not a first, easy match, like a first round. I don’t know. It was a big win for me, actually.”

Muguruza had split her first four meetings with the 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist, losing both of their meetings on grass. But hardcourts have proved more fertile ground for the Spaniard, who won her third straight match against her rival on concrete after 90 minutes on court.

“I think grass is a very tricky surface; you never know what’s gonna happen,” the 2015 Wimbledon runner-up said during her on-court interview. “I just played my game; sometimes she plays better, sometimes I do – that’s what tennis is! – but I played better today.”

Racing out to a set and 5-0 lead, things got more complicated from there as Flipkens forced her way into the second set. Ultimately, Muguruza broke through for the sixth and final time in the match, striking 24 winners to 28 unforced errors, and came to the net an impressive 33 times – winning 21 of those points.

“It’s always difficult to close out your first match. She’s a very talented player, unbelievable, with a very different game. I got nervous!”

Muguruza is making her fifth appearance in Indian Wells, and hopes to make the quarterfinals; her previous result came on her 2013 debut, when she reached the fourth round as a qualifier.

“I never know my expectations for the tournament. I believe every time I play the tournament I see myself holding a trophy, for sure. I want to believe I’m one of these women that can win the tournament.

“After that, I could lose in third round. I just want to go out there, my next match, and try to play well, try to do my game.”

Standing between her and a second round of 16 run is Day, the American teenager who survived No.32 seed Lucic-Baroni, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

“This means a lot to me,” Day told press. “I was really grateful to get offered this wildcard into the tournament, and it really means a lot that I can be able to see that I can play with some of the best players in the world.”

Lucic-Baroni retired from her last tournament due to a GI illness, but nonetheless served for the match in the final set.

“It was a really close match throughout the entire match. I think I started to really believe I could win at 6-5 in the third. It was still a really tough game, because I was a little bit tight to close it out. But my serve had been giving her a lot of problems, so I knew if I stuck to my game it might work out.”

Day turned heads last summer when she took home her first Grand Slam title at the US Open girl’s singles event, and withstood the Croat’s firepower to win the final four games of the match and book a meeting with Muguruza.

“She’s such a great player. I’m really excited to go out there and play her, one of the greatest in the game right now, so it should be really fun and a great experience for me.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The BNP Paribas Open draw featured a full slate of intriguing second round possibilities, few more than No.5 seed Dominika Cibulkova’s against Jelena Ostapenko. The reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion carved out a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over the rising Latvian to book a third round meeting with Kristyna Pliskova.

“It was a really big fight,” she told WTA Insider after the match. :I feel like I had to fight for every single ball because I wasn’t feeling great on the court. It’s hard to feel great against a player who doesn’t give you rhythm. I won’t say I was struggling but I had some hard times today; I tried to stay really strong and positive, fight for every single ball. I appreciate this win a lot becuase it was a tough one.”

A former Wimbledon junior winner, Ostapenko came perilously close to handing a then-unbeaten Karolina Pliskova her first loss of the season at the Australian Open, and has been ranked as high as No.33 since reaching her first Premier 5 final at last year’s Qatar Total Open.

The teenager showed her full arsenel of power shots as day turned to night on Stadium 3, hitting 33 winners to 30 unforced errors through three sets, but was undone by her serve – hitting 10 double faults to just two aces in a match that was dominated by return.

“This match wasn’t how I wanted it to be; I can play much better, but it also depends on the opponent. I knew it was going to be a hard one, so it didn’t surprise me. I just had to fight for every single ball. I was glad with how I finished the match; I felt like myself in a few moments like those.”

Cibulkova, by contrast, had something to prove after losing her last two matches in three sets, one in the semifinals of Doha to Pliskova, and another to Ekaterina Makarova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Dealing with the pressure of defending her breakout 2016 season, the Slovak was forced to dig deep during the two hour, 11 minute epic, shurgging off a shaky serving day of her own to hit six winners to just two unforced errors in the final set to ease into the round of 32.

“It doesn’t matter how you play in practice, but I’d been practicing well. I had a few days off after Dubai and had a great week of practice. We changed a few things and I was feeling really great.

“I was going for my shots more in practice, playing more aggressively. Even if I made a mistake, my coach would remind me to be even more aggressive with my footwork and keep pressing.”

Standing between her and a spot in the second week is the left-handed Pliskova, who is starting to come out from the shadow of sister Karolina, who kicks off her Indian Wells campaign against Olympic champion Monica Puig later tonight.

“It takes time for me to adjust to lefties,” Cibulkova said of her next match. “I have a strategy when I play them, and I try not to flip my patterns and think too much about it. I just have to return the same way, but mind the bounce. I’ve never played her before, and so it’ll be a different one. This match should give me a good feeling, and the confidence to handle a match like this and to win it.”

Pliskova roared past No.33 seed and 2016 quarterfinalist Daria Kasatkina, 6-0, 6-3, hiting five aces to advance in 64 minutes.

“I know how I can play and this wasn’t even my best,” Pliskova told WTA Insider. “I’m not that surprised to win, but I’m still happy because it was an easy score.

“I felt, especially in the second set after she called her coach, that she was trying to put every ball in. The second set was dangerous because if I missed a few shots she wasn’t. But still, I play fast, and it’s tough to put everything in – especially on the serve!”

Asked about playing Cibulkova, Pliskova debated whether to ask her sister for advice.

“I never played her, but I will maybe ask Karolina. Maybe she will tell me something, but she has a bad record against her too. Maybe I’ll just stick to my plan. Last time she won, but last three times she lost, so maybe I won’t even ask her!” she laughed.

Still, it’s been a banner day for the top players despite the underdog heavy draw; all but two of the 16 seeds in action advanced. No.8 seed and Singapore semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova knocked out Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, 7-6(3), 6-4; she’ll next play No.26 seed Roberta Vinci, who earned a win over unseeded American Madison Brengle.

Coming through the toughest match of the day was No.10 seed Elina Svitolina, who extended her winning streak to 14 matches on Friday with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) win over China’s Wang Qiang. It won’t get any easier for the Ukrainian, who next faces former doubles partner and No.24 seed Daria Gavrilova; the Aussie eased past 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2, 7-6(5).

No.17 seed Barbora Strycova won a rematch of last year’s Dubai final over Sara Errani, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; awaiting her in the third round is No.19 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who cruised past Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, 6-4, 6-4.

Indian Wells will also play host to a battle of surprise French Open semifinalists; No.15 seed Timea Bacsinszky reached the final four on the terre battue in 2015 and will play No.18 seed Kiki Bertens, who made the semifinals last year. Bacsinszky defeated Monica Niculescu, 7-5, 6-2, while Bertens handed an unhappy birthday present to newly 20-year-old Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-2.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA — Ajla Tomljanovic is just happy to be back. The 23-year-old was speaking to reporters less than an hour after a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Julia Goerges in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. Indian Wells was just her second tournament back after undergoing shoulder surgery in March of last year, with her first tournament coming last week in Acapulco, where she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in her first match.

Currently ranked No.664, Tomljanovic could finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that after nearly a year away she could still hang with the best.

“A loss has never felt so good,” Tomljanovic said. “I’ve never been this upbeat after a loss, so that’s a good sign.

“I’d be so unfair to myself to be disappointed in myself at this point. Of course you’re disappointed at a loss. You’re a competitive athlete. But it lasted for 30 seconds.”

With her return to the tour, Tomljanovic brings a new perspective and appreciation for life on tour. Prior to her surgery, the Croatian reached a career-high of No.47 in 2015, making her first final in Pattaya City that year and notching her first top-five scalp, beating Agnieszka Radwanska at the 2014 French Open to make the Round of 16.

“It just feels like I’ve been away for decades,” she said. “This time last year I was supposed to play here and I had surgery when it started. My surgeon told me, ‘You’ll be back next year at that tournament.’ I thought my level, is it ever going to be there again?

“Just to be here and be competitive with these girls, I’m not far off. It’s the little things now that are important. It’s just encouraging.”

Tomljanovic admits her time away from the game was difficult. She was unable to play tennis for six months after her surgery but could not bring herself to use the time purposefully.

“I probably wasted a good four months being depressed,” she said. “Not depressed, but not doing anything with my life. Now I probably regret it a little bit. My dad was like, ‘Take classes, go do stuff’. But at the same time I’m constantly doing rehab. I couldn’t shut off completely that part of my life. I wasn’t mentally able to start something new. I had no motivation. My parents didn’t push me because I’m not a kid anymore. Now I kind of wish they did.”

But Tomljanovic slowly came to terms with life without tennis. Paradoxically, the realization that she did not need the sport allowed her to appreciate the opportunity to play again.

“Honestly, yeah, I could totally be super happy without playing.

“I know tennis is not your whole life, I know there are so many things in your life that are more important. But at the same time, it’s so precious. The 10 years in your life you can spend like this, look at how many people can do it. I probably appreciate it way more. I’ll never say I hate tennis ever again.”

Tomljanovic’s game is built around her booming serve, and that’s the shot that will take the longest time to get back online. Her consistency off the ground and her return game in particular have exceeded her expectations so far. “Even I was like, whoa,” Tomljanovic said, when asked about how well she returned against Bouchard in Acapulco.

The road ahead will not be an easy one. Tomljanovic earned a spot in the main draw of Acapulco via a special ranking of No.75, and entered Indian Wells similarly. She has also received a wildcard into the Miami Open. Unless she racks up immediate results, she’ll be back to battling it out on the ITF circuit to build her ranking back up.

“It’s gonna be a grind,” she said. “I’m going to have to play a lot, lose a lot, win a lot hopefully, in the end. But it’s going to be a long way back. Even though I had an okay match here, I won one match last week, there will be a lot of matches where nobody is watching. It’s okay. I’m happy to play anywhere.”

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