Nanchang: Changing Of The Guard
A mixture of fresh and familiar faces assembled for third edition of the Jiangxi Open. Find out what the players have been up to on and off the court…
A mixture of fresh and familiar faces assembled for third edition of the Jiangxi Open. Find out what the players have been up to on and off the court…
The penultimate stop-off on wtatennis.com’s trip down Olympics memory lane is the 2008 Games in Beijing, which saw a clean sweep of the medals from tennis’ new world order…
Beijing, China, 2008
Olympic Green Tennis Center
Hardcourt
For a Russian athlete there is no greater prize in sport than an Olympic gold medal. It is fitting therefore that for Elena Dementieva, so often the bridesmaid at tennis’ biggest events, the site of her greatest triumph was the Beijing Games.
Eight years after announcing herself to the tennis world with an unexpected silver medal in Sydney, Dementieva went one better in Beijing – a surprise winner in a tournament full of surprises.
A regular figure at the business end of majors, Dementieva enjoyed a smooth passage through the opening rounds and into a quarterfinal with Serena Williams.
Five previous encounters with Williams had brought just one win, but in Beijing Dementieva was a woman on a mission, producing a stirring comeback to triumph in three.
Meeting her in the semifinals was compatriot Vera Zvonareva, who had taken advantage of No.1 seed Ana Ivanovic’s 11th hour withdrawal to advance from the top section.
She was no match for an inspired Dementieva however, who, with the draw now shorn of many of her tormentors in chief, was not about to take her eye off the ball.
And so to the final where another Russian, Dinara Safina, was lying in wait.
Coming into the Games, Safina was in the form of her life and looking to add a golden finish to a summer that had already seen her pick up silverware in Berlin, Los Angeles and Montréal.
A round earlier Safina had dashed China’s dreams of a home gold medalist by knocking out Li Na and when she took the opening set in the final it looked like she would be putting paid to her teammate’s too.
Then midway through the second set, Safina began to lose her way. Whether it was magnitude of the situation playing on the mind or just an arduous summer schedule finally catching up with her is uncertain. What was certain is that it left the door ajar for a Dementieva comeback.
From then on, it was less about forehands and backhands and all about who wanted it more. There was only ever going to be one winner.
After nicking an error-strewn second set, the momentum was now with Dementieva and she was not about to hand it back. As the match edged towards the two and a half hour mark, Dementieva arrived at match point.
One crisp forehand down-the-line winner later and she sunk to her knees an Olympic champion.
“It’s a huge moment for Russia,” Dementieva said. “I know we were expecting and planning some medals from our team. But I don’t think anyone could expect three medals.”
“This is a dream for every athlete, just to be here. But to be an Olympic champion, this is the top of the career.”
——
Olympic Memories: Athens
Olympic Memories: Sydney
Olympic Memories: Atlanta
Olympic Memories: Barcelona
Olympic Memories: Seoul
NANCHANG, China – Duan Ying-Ying fought back to knock out No.8 seed Han Xinyun and book a spot in the quarterfinals of the Jiangxi Open on Thursday.
Watch live action from Nanchang this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Long-time rivals on the ITF Circuit, this was the first time the players had met at a WTA event, and it was Han that reacquainted herself the quicker. However, after dropping the first set Duan slowly came back into contention in the second, pinching it after getting the better of a flurry of late service breaks.
She rode this momentum into the decider, opening up an early lead before reeling off the final three games to close out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
“It’s been a while since I last played her so it took me some time to get used to her game, especially because she’s a lefty,” Duan said. “I lost the first set but changed strategy in the second and third and it worked.
“I’m happy with my performance today. And felt quite lucky that I won in the end. She moves very well on court. It’s quite difficult to play her.”
Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for the Chinese contingent; Liu Fangzhou provided further home cheer with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jang Su Jeong, while Misa Eguchi ended the run of qualifier Zhu Lin, 6-4, 6-2.
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – No.2 seed Irina-Camelia Begu battled past a spirited challenge from Monica Puig to earn her spot in the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup, where she’s set to face the No.6 seed Timea Babos for the title.
Watch live action from Florianopolis this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“It was a tough one because she is playing really aggressive and hit the ball very hard,” Begu said of her Puerto Rican opponent. “I served well in the important games. It was difficult but I think I managed it well.”
Begu is the second Romanian player to reach the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup after Monica Niculescu won the title at the tournament’s inaugural staging in 2013. Standing in Begu’s way as she tries to emulate her countrywoman is Babos, who spoiled what would have been an all-Romanian final when she edged past Ana Bodgan in a tight straights sets rollercoaster, 7-6(10), 6-3.
The Hungarian looked to be firmly in the driver’s seat from the start after she built up a 5-2 lead, but a mental lapse gave Bodgan a way back. Bogdan rattled off four games straight and even held three sets points at 6-5, 40-0.
Babos reigned in her mounting frustration to send the set to a tiebreak, and Bodgan raced ahead to a 5-0 lead, only to see it dashed away again as the No.6 seed clawed back to take the opening set.
“It was definitely a silly, silly match,” she said afterwards. “I mean, I was really controlling the match in the beginning of the first set and then I lost control – especially of my emotions.”
“It was ridiculous, very unbelievable that first set.”
The second set would prove to be just as difficult as the first, featuring eight breaks of serve total. Babos, who had been very defensive in her service games thus far, finally changed her strategy at the end and raised her level of aggressiveness to take the decisive seventh break at 4-3, then once again to close out the two hour long battle and make her way to the Florianopolis final.
Her day wasn’t over yet, though, as later Babos was back on court after suitable rest to join her partner Reka-Luka Jani for the doubles final against Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok.
It was one way traffic for the Kichenoks as they routed the all-Hungarian duo 6-3, 6-1.
Both teams were fine tuning their Olympic preparations and are scheduled to be back on the courts after the Olympic tennis event kicks off this weekend in nearby Rio de Janeiro.
“For sure this tournament was great preparation for the Olympics,” Lyudmyla said. “We are really looking forward to it now after winning here in Florianopolis.”
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Last April, Teliana Pereira became the first Brazilian in 27 years to lift a WTA title when she won the Claro Open Colsanitas, in Bogotá. A second, and more emotional, triumph followed a few months later, Periera departing Florianopolis for her home up the coast in Curitiba with the trophy – and a Top 50 ranking – safely secured.
In sports mad Brazil, her fairytale journey from humble beginnings to a place at the upcoming Rio Olympics has captured the public’s imagination. In the build-up to the Games, CNN Open Court tracked down Brazil’s leading player to hear her incredible story first-hand.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – With the latest WTA rankings comes the news of the official seeding list for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Three of the World’s Top 4 are set to compete, including defending champion and four-time Olympic Gold medalist Serena Williams, reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and French Open winner Garbiñe Muguruza. Sydney Gold medalist and fellow four-time Gold medalist Venus Williams rounds out the Top 5.
Check out the full list of seeds below:
Singles
(1) Serena Williams (USA #1)
(2) Angelique Kerber (GER #2)
(3) Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4)
(4) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #5)
(5) Venus Williams (USA #6)
(6) Roberta Vinci (ITA #8)
(7) Madison Keys (USA #9)
(8) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10)
(9) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP #12)
(10) Johanna Konta (GBR #13)
(11) Petra Kvitova (CZE #14)
(12) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #15)
(13) Samantha Stosur (AUS #18)
(14) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS #19)
(15) Elina Svitolina (UKR #20)
(16) Barbora Strycova (CZE #21)
Doubles
(1) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (USA)
(2) Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
(3) Chan Hao-Ching / Chan Yung-Jan (TPE)
(4) Garbiñe Muguruza / Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)
(5) Timea Bacsinszky / Martina Hingis (SUI)
(6) Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
(7) Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina (RUS)
(8) Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (ITA)
NANCHANG, China – Francesca Schiavone moved one step closer to an eighth career title with a three-set win over Lu Jia-Jing at the Jiangxi Open on Wednesday.
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Following Magda Linette’s 11th-hour Olympic acceptance, Schiavone was elevated to the highest-ranked player in the top half of the draw, although for the first set it was her not Lu that resembled the underdog.
“I think I was playing too short and too much counter-attacking and I told myself that I can’t keep playing like this at 36 years old and I have to go to the ball, hit the ball and make life much, much easier,” Schiavone said.
The conclusion to the first set was a war of attrition, Schiavone coming off second best in two arduous games. Eager not to continue in this vein, the Italian came out firing on the restart, racing into a 3-0 lead and wrapping up the set soon after. The decider followed a similar pattern, the No.3 seed assuming control with two early breaks before surviving a slight wobble to close out a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Nanchang has been a fixture on the WTA calendar since 2014, household names Peng Shuai and Jelena Jankovic triumphing at the first two editions. Schiavone’s bid to follow in their footsteps and lift the tournament’s striking new trophy will face a stern examination in the quarterfinals when she takes on No.7 seed Risa Ozaki.
As Schiavone stepped out on Centre Court, Ozaki was putting the finishing touches to a clinical 6-0, 6-3 win over qualifier Nicha Lertpitaksinchai. Also advancing were Zhang Kai-Lin, who defeated Miyu Kato, 6-4, 7-5, and Vania King, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Zhang Ying.
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – No.3 seed Monica Puig powered into the Brasil Tennis Cup semifinals after a commanding win over 18-year-old Naomi Osaka, 6-3, 6-4.
Watch live action from Florianopolis this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Osaka came out swinging from the first point, displaying all the signs of her giant-killing form that has seen her reaching the third round at back to back Grand Slams this year.
“She started off very strong,” Puig said. “I just tried to keep myself there in the match the whole time. I served really well and played well on the long points, too.”
Osaka opened the match by breaking Puig’s serve, but the Puerto Rican has been in strong form all week long and was able to grab the break right back. Puig broke once more for a 3-1 lead, which she backed up with her strong service games to take the opening set. She earned another break in the first game of the second, and closed out the match after an hour and fifteen minutes.
After the match, the Puerto Rican had nothing but praise for her young opponent.
“Obviously, Osaka is super young, and I think she has an incredible potential,” Puig said after the match. “She’s a player who has many strong weapons and a great game. Of course, she’s only 18 years old, so you need to give her more time, because if she stays playing like this she’ll go very, very far.”
Puig is set to face the No.2 seeded Irina-Camelia Begu for a spot in the Brasil Tennis Cup final. The Romanian came through against No.7 seed Nao Hibino 6-2, 6-4.
“I played with Puig earlier this year in Charleston,” Begu said. “That was a really tough match, really close third set. I know it’s going to be a difficult match, but it’s the semifinals of a WTA event – I’m expecting that.”
Begu is one of two Romanians into the semifinals along with Ana Bogdan, who’s set to compete against the No.6 seed Timea Babos in the next round. Much like Puig expressed yesterday, Begu has her own reasons for feeling right at home in Florianopolis.
“Romanians are Latin, so we are very similar,” she said. “We feel good here in Brazil, we feel like home and that’s probably why we play so good here.”
Semis baby! ?? #UnoAUno pic.twitter.com/CiRAdEBoWZ
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) August 3, 2016
In 2004 the Olympics returned to its spiritual birthplace, Athens, and after three successive gold medals, the United States’ stranglehold on tennis at the Games was finally loosened by a brilliant Belgian…
Athens, Greece, 2004
Athens Olympic Tennis Center
Hardcourt
There is a school of thought that suggests peaking for a big tournament is all about preparation; carefully choosing how much to play and, more importantly, when, in order to maximize the chance of success.
In Athens, Justine Henin threw that theory out of the window.
Coming into the tournament on the back of a 10-week layoff due to a mystery viral infection, there were plenty of questions surrounding what sort of shape the World No.1 was in.
Answers from the early rounds were inconclusive – Henin was rarely forced out of first gear, sweeping past her first four opponents without dropping a set.
In the semifinals, though, any lingering doubts were well and truly extinguished as she battled life and limb with the mercurial Anastasia Myskina for nearly three hours, recovering from 5-1 down in the third before finally triumphing, 7-5, 5-7, 8-6.
Twenty-four hours later she had to drag her weary limbs back on court to face World No.2 Amélie Mauresmo.
Remarkably, there was not a hint of fatigue in her play, as she skipped across the baseline, her elegant groundstrokes at their fluent best. Instead, it was Mauresmo a step off the pace, chasing shadows as she was pushed one way, then another.
After just one hour and 15 minutes, Henin had arrived at match point. Fittingly, it was another textbook point that won it for her – a crisp backhand drive down the line, setting up the easiest of overheads, which the Belgian gleefully accepted to become her nation’s first female gold medalist in 20 years.
“I can tell you honestly that I was always dreaming about Grand Slams,” Henin said. “But now maybe I change my mind tonight, because it’s different.
“You feel like you’re playing for the whole country, for the colors of your country. That’s something really different. When you’re in a Grand Slam, you’re alone.”
——
Olympic Memories: Sydney
Olympic Memories: Atlanta
Olympic Memories: Barcelona
Olympic Memories: Seoul
Tennis was no longer an Olympic sport when Maria Bueno was in her heyday, but should it have been then she would surely have walked away with gold.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Bueno lifted 19 Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles to establish herself as the greatest Brazilian to ever wield a racquet. Fittingly, the venue where the modern day greats will vie for medals at the upcoming Rio Games has been named after Sao Paulo’s favorite sporting daughter.
Now in her 70s, Bueno still plays regularly at her hometown club. One of these slots was set aside for Pat Cash and CNN Open Court to discuss her instinctive game, Grand Slam memories and, of course, the recently inaugurated Olympic Tennis Centre.