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WTA Breakthrough Of The Month: Pliskova

WTA Breakthrough Of The Month: Pliskova

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Karolina Pliskova

Karolina Pliskova had a thrilling finale to her summer hardcourt swing, backing up her biggest-career title at the Western & Southern Open with a run to a first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

“I’m so proud of myself,” she said after a narrow loss to Angelique Kerber in the championship match. “If someone would tell me I’m going to play finals in this tournament before two weeks I would take it.”

Pliskova ends her head-to-head series with the new World No.1 at 1-1 after winning their Cincinnati meeting and keeping Kerber from taking the top spot until her triumph in Flushing. She also became the fourth player ever to defeat both Williams sisters at the same major tournament. Saving a match point against No.6 seed Venus Williams, the Czech powerhouse stunned top seed Serena Williams in straight sets in her first semifinal.

“I’m just gonna take it tournament by tournament and try to play the game what I was playing last three weeks. I think I really did a good job. I improved in a lot of things, especially the game what I have been playing, not only against the players which are under me, but with the top players which are in front of me.

“I think that’s the key how I can, you know, be even better than I am.”

Hear more from Pliskova on her breakthrough run on the WTA Insider Podcast:

Up to a career-high of No.6 and in pole position to make her debut appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, Pliskova is your Breakthrough Player of the Month!

Final Results for August’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month

1. Karolina Pliskova (64%)
2. Anastasija Sevastova (18%)
3. Ana Konjuh (18%)

2016 Breakthrough Performance Of The Month Winners

January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay
May: Kiki Bertens
June: Elena Vesnina
July: Kristina Kucova

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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Kudryavtseva Quells Bouchard In Québec

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

QUÉBEC CITY, Canada – Alla Kudryavtseva took out top seed and hometown favorite Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 6-3, to advance into her second WTA quarterfinal of 2016 at the Coupe Banque Nationale.

“The crowd was amazing; it was a sold out match today, and it was very nice to play singles in a full stadium,” she told WTA Insider after the match. “We started with some good points. I was in trouble in the second game, but I was able to come up with good shots on break points.

“From then on, I kind of rolled – talk about being in the zone! – I was hitting my shots very well, and it was just working. It was just electric and I love how engaged the crowd was – though sadly, they were engaged against me! But it was still nice to have the full house atmosphere, and by the end I really felt like they appreciated the level of tennis I was playing.”

Kudryavtseva has been ranked as high as No.56 in singles, and the doubles star has shown signs of possibly improving upon that career with a run to the quarterfinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg and a quality week of wins at the Rogers Cup. But it all came together for the Russian as she headlined the night session in Québec City as she saved three early break points to roar out to a set and double break lead, clinching the match two games later – setting up match point with a screaming forehand winner – in just over an hour.

“I don’t get to play indoors as much anymore now that I don’t train as much in Russia. But I put some good hours in, playing two doubles matches, and I think that helped me get used to the surface, the Center Court, and being in the groove of the tournament – not having too much of a break between my first and second round singles matches.

“Things kind of worked, and isn’t it nice when things just work out?”

Up next for the Russian is American nemesis Lauren Davis, a qualifier who has won each of their previous three meetings – a stat about which Kudryavtseva is keenly aware.

“Horrible match-up for me! Horrible! She beats me every time! But every week is different, and every match is different, different surface – although, we have actually played indoors before.

“But I’m just enjoying my time on the singles court right now, coming off a big win. I just hope to bring a good level tomorrow, and I’m sure things will work out if I do that.”

Earlier in the day, France’s Oceane Dodin reached her first WTA quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sachia Vickery, while Alison Van Uytvanck ended lucky loser Barbora Stefkova’s run in the second round, 6-4, 6-3. Finally, Jessica Pegula completed the quarterfinal line-up by defeating young Canadian hope Francoise Abanda, 7-6(2), 7-5.

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WTA Stars Hoping To Shine In Zhuhai

WTA Stars Hoping To Shine In Zhuhai

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ZHUHAI, China – With the dust settled after an action-packed fortnight at the US Open, there were major shifts on the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai leaderboard. Some of the WTA’s biggest stars – including defending champion Venus Williams, Roberta Vinci, Madison Keys and Johanna Konta – moving up in contention.

The year’s final tournament will run from November 1 to 6, and like last year the singles draw will feature 11 of the top ranked players and one wildcard, with the winner collecting 700 rankings points.

Here’s the latest leaderboard update for the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai as of September 12, 2016:

Shine In Zhuhai Leaderboard Update

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Behind The Tour: Tournament Directors

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

In this episode of WTA Behind The Tour, take a glimpse into what daily life is like in charge of a big WTA event.

Tournament director Anne Worchester makes sure all the players feel at home at the Connecticut Open. Prior to her current role, Anne was CEO of the WTA, and is the youngest person to hold that role to date.

“A tournament director oversees the show,” Anne said. “So I also oversee marketing and public relations. I do all the player recordings and player relations for the tournament, which is a part of my job that I love.”

Besides keeping the New Haven tournament running smoothly, the most important part of Anne’s job involves forming relationships with the players.

“The best part of being a tournament director is getting to know the players,” she added. “I think the mentoring aspect of this job is the most rewarding.”

Learn more about Anne’s work – and hear her favorite tournament director stories – in the latest episode of WTA Behind The Tour.

Click here to watch all the episodes of WTA Behind The Tour!

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Zhang Topples Osaka In Tokyo

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

TOKYO, Japan – No.6 seed Zhang Shuai ended Naomi Osaka’s hopes at the Japan Women’s Open Tennis with a straight set victory in their second-round clash on Thursday.

Watch live action from Tokyo this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Making the most of fast starts to both sets, Zhang completed a 6-3, 6-2 win in style, firing a wonderful forehand winner into the corner.

This year Osaka has started to deliver on her boundless potential, but against Zhang was unable to find the consistency to match her shotmaking. She netted a forehand to fall an early break behind and despite reducing her arrears to 4-3 was unable to rescue the first set.

Zhang continued to play the steadier tennis in the second set, punctuating her metronomic groundstrokes with occasional moment of inspiration; with Osaka serving at break point down in the second game, Zhang soaked up a series of heavy-duty groundstrokes before arrowing a pin-point forehand onto the baseline.

Another break soon followed as she confidently set up a quarterfinal meeting against Varvara Lepchenko.

Elsewhere there were contrasting fortunes for Zhang’s fellow seeds, Yulia Putintseva and Christina McHale.

To the delight of the crowd Kurumi Nara produced one of her best performances of the year to swat aside No.3 seed Putintseva and keep live homes of a Japanese champion. McHale, the No.7 seed, was made to work considerably harder, coming within two points of defeat against qualifier Rebecca Peterson before pulling through, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).

“It was a very tough match, very physical – the points were very long – so I’m really happy to have won and be moving on to the next round,” McHale said.

Fellow American Alison Riske continued her impressive progress through the draw, easing past Misaki Doi’s conqueror, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-3, 6-1, while Viktorija Golubic defeated last year’s finalist Magda Linette, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3.

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Bouchard Begins Québec City Quest

Bouchard Begins Québec City Quest

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

QUÉBEC CITY, CANADA – No.1 seed Eugenie Bouchard closed out the first round at the Coupe Banque Nationale with a solid victory over Mandy Minella, 6-3, 6-4.

CiCi Bellis

Earlier in the day, CiCi Bellis scored her first win as a professional tennis player in a hard-fought battle against American qualifier Danielle Lao. She needed seven match points to close out her final service game, but she got the job done 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 after two hours and twenty minutes.

“I knew Danielle was playing well – I mean, she passed qualies and beat someone really good in the first round,” Bellis said after the match. “I knew it was going to be a tough one, I’m just glad I got through.”

Yesterday, Bellis announced that she was turning professional after a summer of great results, including a third-round appearance at the US Open. Now into the quarterfinals of the Coupe Banque Nationale, it looks like

“I feel really confident after my summer of WTA tournaments and then the US Open,” Bellis explained. “I think it was time. It was an easy decision to make – I’m was very excited about it.”

Bellis will face another American in the quarterfinals after Jessica Boserup knocked out No.7 seed Evgeniya Rodina 6-4, 6-3.

A pair of qualifiers also made their way to the quarterfinals after Lauren Davis defeated No.8 seed Samantha Crawford 6-4, 6-1 and Tereza Martincova defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

More to come…

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Naomi Osaka Takes Twitter By Storm

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Naomi Osaka is back home in Japan and into the second round of the Japan Women’s Open Tennis, and the 18-year-old celebrated in the best way: by joining Twitter.

 Naomi famously quoted the Pokémon theme song to a room full of confused journalists earlier in the year, and she kept to the theme on Twitter, bringing all of her dry humor to 140 characters. 

But quickly after posting her first few tweets, she ran into her first social media roadblock… herself.

Or, well, sort of.

Turns out, there’s a long-inactive Naomi Osaka account floating around on Twitter, and now it was up to the real Naomi Osaka to defeat her Shadow Clone…

Well, I think that proves it.

Welcome to Twitter, Naomi Osaka! Next step: a blue checkmark.

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Cornet Sets New Frame Challenge Record

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Alizé Cornet has been training for the WTA Frame Challenge all season long, and she certainly delivered.

Check out the video above to watch Alizé shatter the WTA Frame Challenge record of 108 bounces set by Sara Errani. Can you keep track of all the bounces?

That’s right – Alizé scored more than double the bounces that Sara did, becoming the new all-time leader in the WTA Frame Challenge. Will anyone top that?

Maybe Lara Arruabarrena, who scored one of the fanciest trick serves earlier this year, is up for the challenge? After all, she had a few words for both Sara and Alizé:

Can Alizé’s record hold? She’s shattered the previous record and now sits head and shoulders above the rest, but that could all change when the next WTA star takes on the WTA Frame Challenge.

Stay tuned…

Click here to watch all of the WTA Frame Challenge videos!

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