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RTS Update: Grass Court Gains

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Traditionally the start of the grass court season is the time for surprises, the well-manicured lawns paying scant regard to the reputation of tennis’ great and good.

This year’s opening two events, the Aegon Open Nottingham and the Richo Open, proved no different, throwing up a number of eye-catching results. Coming through the wreckage to lift the silverware were two a the game’s biggest servers: Karolina Pliskova and CoCo Vandeweghe.

Their success has resulted significant moves on the Road To Singapore leaderboard. Nottingham champion Pliskova, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for last year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, is up to No.18, while ‘s-Hertogenbosch winner Vandeweghe leapt from No.84 to No.43.

With many of the leading contenders for Singapore waiting until Birmingham and Mallorca to begin their grass court preparations, much of the movement was restricted to lower down the leaderboard. Belinda Bencic made a successful return from the back injury that forced her out of the French Open, reaching the semifinals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, a result that took her from No.34 to No.27.

Bencic’s conqueror Kristina Mladenovic was rewarded for her eventual runner-up finish with a jump from No.70 to No.49 on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Alison Riske, the runner-up in Nottingham’s rain delayed final is up to No.55 from her previous position of No.72.

Wimbledon preparations continue apace this week in Birmingham and Mallorca, where Garbiñe Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber are all competing.

RTS Ranking Movers

Karolina Pliskova: No.26 to No.18 (+8)
Monica Puig: No.21 to No.19 (+2)
Belinda Bencic: No.34 to No.27 (+7)
CoCo Vandeweghe: No.84 to No.43 (+41)
Kristina Mladenovic: No.70 to No.49 (+21)
Madison Brengle: No.64 to No.54 (+10)
Alison Riske: No.72 to No.55 (+17)

Click here to see the full Road To Singapore leaderboard standings following Nottingham and ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

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Watson Wins In Birmingham Opener

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – Britain’s Heather Watson notched her first win in Birmingham in two years, downing Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the second round at the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Watson played a neat and tidy game against the tricky Giorgi, striking 23 winners and seven unforced errors to the Italian’s 24 winners and 29 unforced errors.

The Brit found herself break points down in the second and fifth games of the second set, but rallied each time to come up with a way to stay in it.

“Today, the opponent I played is a real tricky one,” Watson said. “She doesn’t give you any rhythm. She’ll hit a lot of winners, but she’ll make some mistakes as well. So it’s tough.

“I was just really pleased with how positive I was, especially in the second set when I was breakpoints down. I thought those games in the end turned out to be very crucial.”

Her first-round win here overturns a spell of disappointing results at the Aegon Classic Birmingham – she’s bowed out in the first round in her last two appearances.

“I just love it here in Birmingham,” the Brit told the crowd after her match. “I haven’t had the results I’ve wanted here in the past, but I was really motivated this year to do well here because I really do enjoy it.

“I have family who live close by in Coventry, so I really feel like it’s a second home.”

Joining her in the second round is Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. The 18-year-old defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(2) 6-1 earlier in the day.

Watson and Giorgi’s match just barely missed the rain that had been threatening to come down all afternoon, leaving the clashes between Daria Gavrilova versus Naomi Broady and Carla Suárez Navarro versus Elina Svitolina postponed until tomorrow.

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Garcia Mounts Mallorca Comeback

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

No.6 seed Caroline Garcia overcame a slow start and mounted a major comeback to beat Carina Witthoeft for a spot in the second round of the inaugural Mallorca Open.

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Muguruza, Ivanovic Shine In Mallorca Sun

Muguruza, Ivanovic Shine In Mallorca Sun

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MALLORCA, Spain – Right before they’re set to shine at the inaugural Mallorca Open – an brand new International-level grass event that kicked off this week in beautiful Santa Ponsa, Mallorca – some of the WTA’s biggest stars shined at the official player party held earlier this week.

Garbiñe Muguruza, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchard, Jelena Jankovic and more all stepped out for the sun-soaked celebration.

See all of the best player party pictures right here on wtatennis.com, courtesy of the Mallorca Open:

Ana Ivanovic

Garbine Muguruza, Ana Ivanovic

Garbine Muguruza

Garbine Muguruza

Eugenie Bouchard

Eugenie Bouchard

Daniela Hantuchova

Jelena Jankovic

Sabine Lisicki

Germans

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WTA Players #PrayForOrlando

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

 

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Notes & Netcords: June 13, 2016

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

THE WINNERS

CoCo Vandeweghe overcame Kristina Mladenovic and the worst of the Dutch weather to recapture the Ricoh Open on Sunday afternoon. Vandeweghe, who also won the title in 2014, follows in the footsteps of Justine Henin and Tamarine Tanasugarn as only the third player in the tournament’s 21-year history to win it on two occasions.

“It was actually really difficult – we had three rain delay stops – so it was really difficult to get yourself back into the match and make sure you’re fresh and light and ready to go. Especially the last rain delay in the first set. I was really trying to get myself moving,” Vandeweghe said.

“I got myself in a bit of a pickle in the second set, but I battled my way out of it, and sometimes the name of the game is just battling through adversity and problems you cause for yourself.”

Read the full story here. | WTA Insider Champion’s Corner

Top seed Karolina Pliskova overcame Alison Riske in a rain-affected Aegon Open Nottingham final on Sunday to capture her fifth WTA title.

Afternoon showers pushed the start of play back a couple of hours, at one point even raising the possibility of a Monday final. When the clouds did eventually clear, Pliskova held her nerve to triumph 7-6(8), 7-5, in a fraction under two hours.

“It’s been a great week for me, I really didn’t count on having such early success on the grass so I am feeling good ahead of Wimbledon,” Pliskova said.

Read the full story here.

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of June 13, 2016.

CoCo Vandeweghe (USA), +11 (No.43 to 32): Vandeweghe’s run to her second Ricoh Open title in three years earns her the biggest ranking jump of the week. She’s now back at her career-high ranking of No.32 after jumping up 11 spots.

Madison Brengle (USA), +8 (No.68 to 60): Brengle reached her first WTA semifinal at ‘s-Hertogenbosch of 2016 to jump up eight spots to No.60.

Alison Riske (USA), +8 (No.89 to 81): Riske’s run to the final of Nottingham, her second WTA final this year, inches her up to No.81.

Monica Puig (PUR), +6 (No.49 to 43): Puerto Rico’s Puig has been steadily climbing up the rankings all year long: she started off 2016 at No.92 and with her run to the Nottingham semifinals she’s up to No.43, just shy of her career-high ranking of No.41.

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), +3 (No.32 to 29): Mladenovic backed up her French Open doubles title with a run to the Ricoh Open final and as a result she gained a spot in the Top 30, ever-closer to matching her career-high ranking of No.27.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Aegon Classic Birmingham
Birmingham, Great Britain
Premier | $780,900 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19

Mallorca Open
Mallorca, Spain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19

Aegon International Eastbourne
Eastbourne, Great Britain
Premier | $711,778 | Grass
Sunday, June 19 – Saturday, June 25

The Championships, Wimbledon
London, Great Britain
Grand Slams | – | Grass
Monday, June 27 – Sunday, July 10

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Wimbledon
2. Garbiñe Muguruza – Mallorca, Wimbledon
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon
4. Angelique Kerber -Birmingham, Wimbledon
5. Simona Halep -Wimbledon
6. Victoria Azarenka – Wimbledon
7. Roberta Vinci – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
8. Belinda Bencic – Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon
9. Venus Williams – Wimbledon
10. Timea Bacsinszky – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
11. Petra Kvitova – Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
13. Flavia Pennetta
14. Samantha Stosur – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
15. Carla Suárez Navarro – Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon
16. Madison Keys – Birmingham, Eastbourne Wimbledon
17. Karolina Pliskova – Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon
18. Elina Svitolina – Birmingham, Wimbledon
19. Johanna Konta – Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon
20. Sloane Stephens – Eastbourne, Wimbledon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Venus Williams (USA) – June 17, 1980

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