Brisbane: Kerber vs Giorgi
Angelique Kerber takes on Camila Giorgi in the first round of the Brisbane International.
Angelique Kerber takes on Camila Giorgi in the first round of the Brisbane International.
World No.1 Serena Williams was forced to cut short her first match of the season, retiring down a set at the US Hopman Cup match against Australia.
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round of the Brisbane International.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – While playing some exhibition tennis for the ASB crowd, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were joined by four members of the All-Blacks, New Zealand’s national rubgy union team, who acted as ballboys and on-court attendants.
Nehe Milner-Skudder, Sam Cane, Joe Moody and Julian Savea did most of the gruntwork during the match, picking up balls and handing off towels, but there was still time for a selfie or two as play unfolded in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
“There’s definitely an art to it,” Milner-Skudder said of ball-boying. “We had a run-through for about half an hour before the girls came out, but we probably needed a lot longer than that.”
Check out some of the best photos from the day, courtesy of www.photosport.nz:
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her first round win at the Brisbane International.
It’s the first podcast of the brand new season!
On Episode 12 we ring in the 2016 season at the first Premier tournament of the season at the Brisbane International, and take a quick look at what’s on tap at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, and the Shenzhen Open. I also sit down for a catch up with a very relaxed Simona Halep before she begins her 2016 season with a new coach in Darren Cahill and new outlook on life. Finally, the last time I spoke with Andrea Petkovic she was in tears in Zhuhai, genuinely questioning whether it was time to walk away from tennis. Now we sit down in Brisbane to get an update on how she rekindled her passion during the off-season.
“I still love tennis, the raw essence of the sport,” Petkovic said. “I may not always be in love with the world around it, but I love the essence, and that’s why I picked it up. It was me who made the choice; nobody pushed me into becoming a professional tennis player. So, I sort of made my peace with that.”
Hear more about Petkovic’s reconciliation and Halep’s new attitude:
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app of your choice and reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.
An interview with Victoria Azarenka after her first round win at the Brisbane International.
An interview with Carla Suárez Navarro after her first round win at the Brisbane International.
The three biggest names at the Shenzhen Open – Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard – shone at the player party. See all the best pics right here.
An interview with Belinda Bencic after her first round win at the Brisbane International.