BNP Paribas Open: Top 16 Seeds’ Histories
How have Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and the rest of the Indian Wells contenders fared in the past?
How have Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and the rest of the Indian Wells contenders fared in the past?
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | With Serena Williams’ announced withdrawal, what can we expect from a reshuffled draw at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells?
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – CiCi Bellis will be looking to continue her meteoric rise to tennis superstardom as the American teenager enters a star-studded field at this week’s BNP Paribas Open.
Following on from some impressive victories of late, including a win over Agnieszka Radwanska to become the youngest quarterfinalist at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships since 2001, Bellis has climbed to No.55 in the WTA rankings and a certain Chris Evert thinks it won’t be long before the precocious talent rises even higher.
“There are a handful of players who are going to overpower her right now, but by the end of the year I wouldn’t be surprised if she was Top 20,” Evert said in a recent interview with the NY Times.
“Her legs are rock hard. I think the off-court training has helped her a lot. Two years ago, she would counterpunch and would sort of absorb power from her opponent, and now she’s giving it.”
.@cicibellis99 doing her thing at the Tennis Channel shoot today ? pic.twitter.com/zZ5onxHUQX
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 7, 2017
It’s hard to believe that Bellis will only turn 18 on April 8. But Evert, who has been mentoring Bellis through a USTA program, has been impressed with a maturity and willingness to learn that could take her to the very top of the game.
“I’ve been so impressed by her maturity and self-reliance and just the hunger she has to learn. Her eyes are wide open to any information that you can give her. Bottom line is no drama. Some of these other girls, when they are practicing, it’s yelling and up and down and emotions and body language, and with her, it’s steadfast.”
Bellis is set to play Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens in the opening round of her first Indian Wells and, if successful, will face French Open Champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.
It’s time to vote for February’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, March 10.
February 2017 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Kristina Mladenovic: The Frenchwoman’s star reached its highest peaks yet in February, kicking off the month with her maiden WTA title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Mladenovic ended February in another final, finishining runner-up at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. In between, she scored her first Top 5 win of the season against Karolina Pliskova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Karolina Pliskova: Speaking of Pliskova, the Czech powerhouse continued her winning ways, becoming the first woman to win multiple titles in 2017 at the Qatar Total Open, where she battled past Dominika Cibulkova and Carolina Pliskova and won four matches in three days.
Elina Svitolina: Svitolina built up an impressive, unbeaten, 13-match winning streak in February, winning her fifth and sixth WTA titles at the Taiwan Open and in Dubai to take home the biggest trophy of her career. The Ukrainian, 22, scored back-to-back wins over former WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to break into the Top 10.
2017 Winners
January: Serena Williams
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
February was defined by four breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?
Have a look at the nominees for February’s Breakthrough of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, March 10.
February 2017 WTA Breakthrough of the Month Finalists:
Elina Svitolina: Svitolina surged up the rankings and into the upper echelons of the women’s game in February, debuting in the Top 10 and winning the biggest title of her career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Along the way, she also won the Taiwan Open and amassed a 13-match winning streak, one that’s yet to be broken heading into the BNP Paribas Open.
Kristina Mladenovic: The Frenchwoman took home her first career title on one of the game’s biggest stages, surviving Yulia Putintseva to win a Premier title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Mladenovic capped off the month with a win over Karolina Pliskova and another run to a WTA final at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
CiCi Bellis: The young American made waves in Dubai, stunning former World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska to become the youngest quarterfinalist at the Premier 5 event since Lina Krasnoroutskaya in 2001.
Ashleigh Barty: Barty continued her impressive comeback by winning the singles and doubles titles at the Ayla WTA Malaysian Open; the former was her first career singles title and helped her make her Top 100 debut on Monday’s rankings.
2017 Winners:
January: CoCo Vandeweghe
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Top 20 players’ schedules, upcoming tournaments, birthdays and more – check out what’s on tap for this week as the WTA’s top players descend on Indian Wells.
Having A Blast At Acapulco Kids Day
Mexico’s Giuliana Olmos joined forces with WTA Charities and a handful of ATP players at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel to give underprivileged kids in Acapulco the experience of a lifetime at the 24th edition of AMT Kids Day by Nickelodeon.
AMT Kids Day hosted hundreds of children from the Teleton Center of Childhood Rehabilitation as well as Guerrero’s DIF, an organization that works with family developments in the area.
Olmos and the players were recognized by the tournament as “Agents of Change” for making a difference by being a positive example for the youth.
Click here for more photos from AMT Kids Day!
Autism Awareness In Kuala Lumpur
In the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, players took a break from their preparations for the Alya WTA Malaysian Open to visit Pusat Permata Kurnia, a learning centre for autistic children aged 4-7 and where the motto reads: ‘Autism Is Not A Tragedy, Ignorance Is.’
Australian buddies Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty, who teamed up in the doubles draw, were joined by wildcard Zheng Saisai and Malaysian player Theiviya Selvarajoo at the learning centre.
Click here to see more of the Permata Kurnia visit!
WTA Charities is the WTA’s global philanthropic organization dedicated to making a positive impact across the globe. Our mission is to be a social responsibility vehicle built on the WTA’s values to empower and provide for a better future. We’re dedicated to combining, strengthening and enhancing the community and charitable efforts of the WTA through its members (players, alumnae and tournaments), along with our partners.
Click here to see more WTA Charities activities!
Before heading to the desert for Indian Wells, Garbiñe Muguruza and Venus Williams stopped at New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the BNP Paribas Showdown.
Played in honor of World Tennis Day, the 10th anniversary of the BNP Paribas showdown was a night of exhibition matches that pitted the world’s best players against each other.
Venus and Garbiñe were joined by some of the ATP’s past and present stars like: Jack Sock, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios, Kei Nishikori and Lleyton Hewitt.
Before the Showdown, the players took to the JW Marriott Essex House for a meet and greet, where they signed lots of autographs.
This year’s Showdown pitted Team America against Team World. Garbiñe and Kei represented Team World, alongside Nick Kyrgios and Lleyton Hewitt…
…with Venus and Andy representing Team America, alongside Jack Sock and Juan Martin del Potro.
Madison Square Garden was packed on Monday night as the BNP Paribas Showdown kicked off.
Players take the court for a night of fun and world-class tennis.
Venus teamed up with Juan Martin for mixed doubles.
They took on Team World’s Garbiñe and Kei.
It was Team World who emerged victorious, winning 5-3 against America.
In fact, it wasn’t a good day at the office for Team America, as Team World won almost every match.
Venus rescued Team America from a total shutout, though.
She beat Garbiñe 5-4 for Team America’s lone win.
Ashleigh Barty has rocketed herself into the Top 100 after her win at the Alya Malaysian Open but she was not the only one who had a good week.
Venus Williams might be 36 years old – but she’s already got her eyes focused on playing an event in three years’ time.
That’s when she will get the chance to reclaim her Olympic doubles gold in Tokyo with sister Serena.
“That’s my absolute dream,” she told Reuters. “I have a dream partner. I would love that.”
The pair are three-time champions but could not defend their title in Rio last year, where they were eliminated in the first round by Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
Venus attributed her long career partially to a sheer love of the game.
“You have to love it, it’s a lot of work,” she told the Associated Press. “If you feel like you have more to give, the heart is in it, that makes it pretty easy to get out there and pay the price.”
She has plenty of other interests off the court, though – not least her fashion line, EleVen by Venus, which will be worn by ballgirls and ushers at the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden on Monday evening, where she will also be playing a singles exhibition match against Garbiñe Muguruza.
She is also studying for a Masters degree in interior design, but her millions of fans will be relieved to know she won’t be putting down her racquet permanently for a long time yet.
“I’m planning on playing tennis for a very long time yet,” Williams said. “That dream is still going strong.”