Birmingham: Bencic Interview
An interview with Belinda Bencic before the start of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
An interview with Belinda Bencic before the start of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
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.
An interview with Petra Kvitova before the start of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
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.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska before the start of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
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:
We are all human. This senseless act of violence is unnecessary. So many things really need to… https://t.co/Dxu0peeaDq
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 13, 2016
Heartbroken for the devastating loss of life in Orlando. When will we change our guns laws! Praying for the victims and families.??
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) June 12, 2016
Waking up to news of last night's act of hatred & violence. Beyond angry and heartbroken. So many beautiful souls lost. #PrayForOrlando
— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) June 12, 2016
Honestly feeling defeated. When will this stop? When will steps be taken to prevent events like this in the future? #PrayingForOrlando
— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) June 12, 2016
❤️???? #stoptheviolence
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) June 12, 2016
More Love. Less Hate. #PrayForOrlando pic.twitter.com/t2QPGXfjBg
— Ana Ivanovic (@AnaIvanovic) June 12, 2016
Florida is my home. Been to Orlando countless times. Sending you my love ?
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) June 12, 2016
just devastated. thoughts are always with the victims' families & friends. ? #Orlando
— Jamie Hampton (@Jamie_Hampton) June 12, 2016
Latest count is at least 50 people dead- this just keeps getting worse…my heart goes to all affected in Orlando and all our LGBT souls…
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) June 12, 2016
Devastating news in Orlando…thoughts going out to the victims and their families. Extremism in any form is not healthy…
— Vania King (@queen_v21) June 12, 2016
#PrayForOrlando
— Christina McHale (@ChristinaMcHale) June 12, 2016
All the people donating blood in Orlando #hopeforhummanity
— Jessie Pegula (@JLPegula) June 13, 2016
My old home town of Orlando my heart is breaking 4 U #LGBT @LGBTfdn community ….#hatecrime #terror #banassaultweapons #PulseNightclub
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) June 12, 2016
How sad, how unfair, how disgusting…. ? #Orlando https://t.co/uYUt59D7Eh
— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) June 13, 2016
My heart and thoughts with the families of the victims of the horrible attack in Orlando ❤️? #StopTerrorism
— Alizé Lim (@AlizeLim) June 12, 2016
#PrayForOrlando pic.twitter.com/ewSsRw8W4D
— Carla Suarez Navarro (@CarlaSuarezNava) June 13, 2016
#PrayForOrlando #PrayForPeace #PrayForTheWorld @citybeautiful pic.twitter.com/X76yTyrSpm
— Marion bartoli (@bartoli_marion) June 13, 2016
Absolutely devastated by the tragedy in Orlando.
Take time to hug your loved ones today and every day. #prayfororlando #stoptheviolence— Irina Falconi (@IrinaFalconi) June 12, 2016
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
Women hear a lot of obnoxious things in their daily lives. World No.1 Serena Williams is ready to do something about it.
In conjunction with her fabulous cover story for Glamour Magazine, Serena starred in a video in which she hit back – literally – at some of the sexist things she and so many women have heard in their every day lives.
“Today I’m here to express some of the frustrations that I have about the obnoxious things that men sometimes say about women,” Serena says in the video. “I’m doing this for all womenkind. I’m kinda doing it a little bit for me, on the low.”
So what are some of the comments that drew Serena’s ire, compelling her to thwack a tennis ball at her padded-up co-star Alec?
– You’re really talented…for a girl.
– You should smile more!
– It’s okay that you’re upset. Girls are supposed to get emotional!
– You get really loud when you play, like really loud.
– Stop being so dramatic!
– So how much time do you spend picking out your competition outfits?
– Do you think you could ever beat a guy, just once?
– Only guy’s sports are worth watching.
Yeah. Don’t say those things. Especially to Serena.
Watch the full video here.
In keeping with her style on court, Flavia Pennetta’s wedding to long-term boyfriend Fabio Fognini was a classy affair.
The couple, who have been together since 2014, tied the knot on Saturday in Pennetta’s hometown of Ostuni, Italy.
Among the guests were many of the tennis family, including Pennetta’s former doubles partner Gisela Dulko and her teammates in the all-conquering Italy Fed Cup team, Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.
