Brengle Stuns Serena In Auckland Upset
Madison Brengle pulled off her first Top 3 victory at the ASB Classic, clinching a thrilling three-set win over top seed Serena Williams in Auckland.
Madison Brengle pulled off her first Top 3 victory at the ASB Classic, clinching a thrilling three-set win over top seed Serena Williams in Auckland.
Dominika Cibulkova takes on Zhang Shuai in the second round at the Brisbane International.
Doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza is a great tennis player, but how are her football skills? She met up with two players from the new AFL Women’s League to test them out!
AFL’s Sharni Eva doesn’t seem too impressed with Mirza’s kicking…
… but she gets an A for effort!
Later Mirza turned the tables, giving the AFL players a couple of tennis lessons.
Not too shabby!
Mirza was asked about how her AFL skills test panned out.
After everyone agreed to stick to their respective sports, they took time to meet with fans and sign a couple of autographs.
Australia’s own Casey Dellacqua took some time off from the Brisbane International to cheer up children at the Ronald McDonald House South East Queensland.
Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska was joined by Simona Halep, Johanna Konta and many more for the glamorous Shenzhen Open player party.
BRISBANE, Australia – Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands have booked their spot into the Brisbane semifinals, but should they reach the final there could be more at stake than just the Brisbane International trophy.
Mirza has held the WTA Doubles No.1 Ranking since April 13, 2015, a total of 91-consecutive weeks (as of Jan 2, 2017), which includes 31 weeks as co-No.1 with Martina Hingis.
She faces a difficult task defending her top spot, though, as she will be defending 2,960 points during the Australian swing. Last year she teamed up with Martina Hingis to win titles at Brisbane, Sydney and the Australian Open.
This year in Brisbane, Mirza is the top seed along with her new partner Mattek-Sands, who currently sits at No.5 in the WTA Doubles Rankings. If they go on to win the title in Brisbane, Mattek-Sands will overtake Mirza for the No.1 WTA Doubles Ranking.
It’s not the first time that the American has come close to usurping her current partner’s top spot; last year at the WTA Finals, Mattek-Sands came within one win of climbing to No.1, but Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina dashed her hopes in the championship match.
Makarova and Vesnina, the No.2 seeds in Brisbane, are also through to the Brisbane semifinals and will play the winner of Irina Falconi and Shelby Rogers vs. Abigail Spears Katerina Srebotnik for a spot in the final. Mattek-Sands and Mirza await the winner of Andreja Klepac and María José Martínez Sánchez vs. Hsieh Su-Wei and Laura Siegemund.
Most Consecutive Weeks at WTA Doubles No.1 (As of Jan 2, 2017):
181 Martina Navratilova
145 Cara Black^
134 Liezel Huber^
91 Sania Mirza
73 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
^ Black & Huber held co-No.1 Doubles Rankings for 127 weeks (Nov. 12, 2007 until April 18, 2010)
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Destanee Aiava in the second round at the Brisbane International.
Katerina Siniakova sprung the first major surprise of this year’s Shenzhen Open by knocking out former champion Simona Halep.
Angelique Kerber takes on Ashleigh Barty in the second round at the Brisbane International.
BRISBANE, Australia – Dominika Cibulkova survived a scare against Zhang Shuai in her first match of 2017, but the World No.5 advanced to the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International after being pushed to three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
“I was prepared for a battle,” Cibulkova said after the match. “The first matches are always really tricky, and so was this one today. It wasn’t easy to play the first match, but I’m happy that I won.”
As the tournament’s No.2 seed, Cibulkova received a bye into the second round that allowed her an extra few days to acclimate and reflect on her incredible journey; at this time last year Cibulkova was ranked. No.38 and just made the main draw cutoff. Now, she’s the second-highest at the tournament.
“I was last in here last year and now I am the second seed!”
-@Cibulkova excited to get 2017 season underway #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/R23yvh4CdN
— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017
Cibulkova’s opponent also has a comeback story: a year ago Zhang was ranked No.139 and was considering retirement before her Grand Slam breakthrough came at the Australian Open. She finished the year at No.23 and was keen to keep her form, not breaking for off season but instead opting to play ITF events after the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Her match-fitness showed in her performance against the World No.5; despite Cibulkova’s perfect 4-0 head-to-head record against Zhang, she was pushed to the brink in their two hour and nineteen minute battle at Brisbane.
The Slovak got off to a slow start, giving Zhang plenty of room to pounce and play her clean, solid game, outpacing Cibulkova. Zhang broke twice late in the opening set; Cibulkova fought off five set points but finally blinked as she buried a backhand into the net to surrender the set 6-2.
.@ZhangShuai121 hitting all the right angles! #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/7kjFUhJEb3
— WTA (@WTA) January 4, 2017
Despite the lopsided score line, Cibulkova kept herself within touching distance and kept Zhang under pressure even as the Chinese climbed ahead 2-0 in the second. Seeing her chances slip out of reach time and time again served to galvanize the WTA Finals champion, who brought out her arsenal of punchy groundstrokes and aggressiveness, breaking back emphatically and halting Zhang’s run.
The momentum swung Cibulkova’s way as Zhang seemed to lose her rhythm, and everything went the Slovak’s way as she took the second set, playing more aggressive tennis with renewed confidence.
“[In the second set] I started to be much more aggressive,” Cibulkova explained. “It was the first match of the season and I had a bit of a slow start, but I just pumped myself up more and started playing more aggressive, going for more shots. I didn’t let her play her game.”
Comeback complete!@Cibulkova defeats Zhang 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and moves into @BrisbaneTennis Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/v77QycjXjK
— WTA (@WTA) January 4, 2017
Cibulkova stayed on course and built up a 4-0 to close in on the quarterfinals, but the match had a final twist as Zhang, who refused to fade away throughout the match, clawed her way back to level the score.
But the World No.5 was locked in, and Zhang allowed a couple of loose forehands drift wide as she dropped serve and gifted Cibulkova the chance to serve it out, booking her spot into the next round.
Awaiting Cibulkova in the quarterfinals is Alizé Cornet, who eased past Christina McHale 6-2, 6-1.