Can Jankovic Go Farther At The French?
Former No.1 Jelena Jankovic has played some of her best tennis on the terre battue; can she overcome a first round loss in 2015 to earn a career-best finish?
Former No.1 Jelena Jankovic has played some of her best tennis on the terre battue; can she overcome a first round loss in 2015 to earn a career-best finish?
CNN came to Singapore during the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, reporting on the on-court coaching innovation unique to the WTA tour.
“I think it’s great for the players and the fans. When you losing, that’s the moment where, ‘what should I change? What should I do better?’ That’s when you call him in,” French Open finalist Lucie Safarova said of coach Rob Steckley.
“Usually he says something funny, and then he tells me the facts and just motivates me.”
New to the on-court coaching dynamic is the SAP tablet, which provides added insight for coaches hoping to give players the edge during their time-outs.
“It backs up the information you’ve already accumulated visually, but it’s hard facts on the tablet that’s explaining exactly what’s going on,” Steckley said of the innovation.
Check out the full CNN Open Court feature below:
Leading the OBI UAE Royals, Kristina Mladenovic thrilled the home crowd at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium en route to a 26-22 victory over the Legendari Japan Warriors.
Up against former Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens, Mladenovic played an impressive trick shot at the net, eventually winning the women’s singles set 6-2, in 21 minutes. Though Flipkens got her revenge in mixed doubles – pairing with Pierre-Hugues Herbert, she Belgian eked out the win against Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor, 6-5(3) – it wasn’t enough to make up the deficit for the Warriors, who won just two sets to the Royals’ three.
Earlier in the day, Agnieszka Radwanska continued to impress on behalf of the Micromax Indian Aces; the Pole defeated Belinda Bencic 6-3 in women’s singles. It was Bencic’s teammate, Karolina Pliskova, who pulled off the biggest upset of the night in mixed doubles. Partnering the always entertaining Dustin Brown, Pliskova defeated top ranked doubles player Sania Mirza. Playing with Rohan Bopanna, Pliskova and Brown won 6-5(5), and won the final two sets to lead the OUE Singpaore Slammers to a 27-16 victory over the Aces, who lost just their second match of the season.
Check out some of the best tweets of the night:
How can you not love @KikiMladenovic? #showgirl #IPTL2 pic.twitter.com/elwHQfxpv2
— Noémie. (@Saschatard) December 16, 2015
HAHAHA finallyy @KaPliskova https://t.co/BHMJPPUgLI
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) December 16, 2015
What a rally and a happy @DreddyTennis? #Slammers Vs #Aces #IPTL2 in Dubai pic.twitter.com/tLhEyQxWz7
— Dreddy Updates (@DreddyTennisUpd) December 16, 2015
Could not choose better partner???@DreddyTennis https://t.co/2yxSdhiRtx
— Karolina Pliskova (@KaPliskova) December 16, 2015
@MirzaSania @serenawilliams @Ajlatom you need to ask?!!!?? lucky girl
— Jarmila Gajdosova (@tennis_jarkag) December 16, 2015
Singapore #Slammers 27-16 Indian Aces. ? #MakingOf pic.twitter.com/ywiCjDJslu
— #TeamBelinda (@FanOfBencic) December 16, 2015
The Singapore Saint? #Tenfie @andy_murray @NickKyrgios @marcelomelo83 @DreddyTennis @KaPliskova @BelindaBencic pic.twitter.com/84diruVthw
— IPTL (@iptl) December 16, 2015
Doodles, songs, stop-motion: see how these creative fans got our attention as we round up the best video submissions of 2015!
St Petersburg, Florida – The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) today announced key media metrics from the 2015 end-of-season global audience report, by SMG Insight, which indicate that interest in women’s tennis is at an all-time high.
Excitement around the competitive 2015 WTA season stimulated interest in broadcast coverage worldwide, boosting overall viewership* by 25% year-on-year, with 395 million cumulative viewers in 2015 versus 316 million in 2014. This is the second consecutive year that the WTA has seen a substantial increase in audience; broadcast viewership rose by 23% in 2014.
Digital viewership** for the 2015 season was up 44% year-on-year, with 44.6 million viewers watching women’s tennis through online broadcast platforms in 2015, compared to 31 million in 2014.
The two most-viewed tournaments of the 2015 season were held in Asia, with tournaments in the US and Canada completing the top five. The China Open in Beijing, won by 22-year-old Spanish sensation Garbiñe Muguruza, drew a global viewership of 34.64 million, while the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global – where Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska won her biggest career title to date – drew 32.49 million.
Top five tournaments according to global broadcast viewership in 2015:
1) China Open, Beijing (34.64 million)
2) BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore (32.49 million)
3) Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, Toronto (29.70 million)
4) Miami Open presented by Itau (29.37 million)
5) BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells (26.81 million)
The 2015 broadcast viewership growth was matched by increases across the WTA’s own media platforms, with the number of unique users and number of overall visits to the official WTA website up 14% year-on-year and 15% year-on-year respectively. The number of fans following official WTA and player social media pages, meanwhile, was up 16% year-on-year in 2015 and reached 120 million cumulatively, while the number of views of video content across the official WTA website and WTA social media pages hit 48 million in 2015.
Several reasons contribute to the all-time peak of interest in women’s tennis. WTA coverage is being seen by more TV viewers, with the number of households reached by WTA programming*** hitting 954.4 million in 2015, a 38% increase on 2014. The greater number of ways fans can consume WTA content, meanwhile, is adding viewers who consume sport online, or looking to supplement TV coverage with extra content online.
The WTA also remains hugely competitive on the court and is therefore a strong and attractive sporting spectacle for both tennis fans and sports fans more generally. The 21 Premier Tournaments and WTA Finals in Singapore were won by 12 different women in 2015, the same number as in 2014. So too is there a captivating new generation of players: six of the players in the current WTA top 20 are aged 25 or under, and of the 12 women who won tournaments in 2015, four are aged 25 or under.
Additionally, the WTA has invested in a number of youth-orientated social media platforms to reach the fans of tomorrow, including Instagram, WeChat, IQIYI, Snapchat and Spotify. They provide unique content for younger fans hungry to follow WTA players on platforms native to them.
From 2017, when the extended partnership with Perform Group comes into full force, WTA Media will produce over 2,000 singles matches a year and increase news content by 40 per cent. By increasing the amount of content available to fans, the WTA can expect the strong rise in media engagement reported in 2015 to continue to rise in the future.
Steve Simon, WTA CEO, commented, “The continued rise in audiences show the WTA strategy to grow the product and reach more fans is working, and the number of stars coming up through the sport will continue to excite interest. The depth of the playing field in our sport is unprecedented right now, and the competition is outstanding. We have the platform to continue growth in the future.”
* Cumulative audience for live, delayed and highlights coverage on WTA broadcast partner platforms across 2015’s 21 WTA Premier events and the WTA Finals
** Cumulative audience for live, delayed and highlights coverage on WTA broadcast partners’ online platforms across 2015’s 21 WTA Premier events and the WTA Finals
*** Realistic WTA TV household reach, based on existing broadcast takers
Source: SMG Insight
It’s been a big two weeks for Serena Williams – last week she was voted WTA Player Of The Year for the seventh time, and earlier this week she was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson Of The Year.
And now, the World No.1 has achieved another milestone – a more social kind of milestone.
She’s become the first women’s tennis player ever to surpass 6 million followers on Twitter.
Here are the Top 5 most-followed WTA players on Twitter as of the time of publishing:
1. Serena Williams (6.00M)
2. Sania Mirza (3.24M)
3. Maria Sharapova (1.91M)
4. Venus Williams (1.35M)
5. Caroline Wozniacki (0.98M)
Additionally, Williams is the second-most-followed professional tennis player on Twitter, male or female, with only one ATP World Tour player passing 5 million (Rafael Nadal has 8.80M followers).
And here’s another look at her big SI cover story from Monday – she crossed 6 million that night:
The 2015 #SISportsperson of the year is… @serenawilliams! https://t.co/Zt4QEIl1MY pic.twitter.com/MBVZpWgQiV
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 14, 2015
Andy Murray will continue to work with coach Amelie Mauresmo in 2016, but Jonas Bjorkman will no longer be part of the Scot’s team.
Mauresmo gave birth to her first child in August, but is planning to work 22 to 24 weeks with Murray, 28, next year.
The world number two hopes to have a new assistant coach in place for the first Masters event of the year in Indian Wells in March.
“For me there were a lot of positives last year,” said Murray.
“But the last step is the most important thing and we need to work hard together to get back to winning the Slams. I’ve just got to find the way to get the wins against the top players in the biggest matches again.”
Murray, who was speaking in Dubai, where he is playing for the Singapore Slammers in the International Tennis Premier League, added: “Amelie did come in at a difficult time, when I had just come back from back surgery, which was tough.
“When I started working with her officially I was ranked 11 in the world – I had just dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in eight years – and I’m now back up to number 2, which is my highest ranking.”
Murray has also revealed he will withdraw from the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, which takes place in Melbourne on January 18-31, if his wife, Kim, goes into labour.
The couple’s first child is due in mid-February and Murray told the Daily Mail: “I want to make sure at the beginning I am there as much as I can be to try and help out, just be there for whatever is really required of me.”
“Murray had been very keen to retain the services of Mauresmo but was adamant she would need to commit to at least 20 weeks of the year – so it is a huge boost she has signed up just four months after becoming a mother.
“Murray still has a huge amount of time for Bjorkman but the relationship was not an unqualified success.
“Murray won the Masters event in Montreal after Mauresmo went on maternity leave, but was beaten in the fourth round of the US Open and his on-court demeanour has at times been unduly negative.
“The new assistant coaching role may end up as a full-time position – in the way Dani Vallverdu complemented Murray’s former coach Ivan Lendl so well.”
Look at how players fared by surface using the FedEx ATP Win/Loss Index
The ability to quickly adjust to different surfaces and conditions is a neccessity on the 62-tournament circuit. Here’s a look at some of the best performers in 2015 by surface this year:
Clay Courts (minimum 10 tie-breaks)
With victory at Munich in May, Andy Murray became the first British player to capture a clay-court title since Buster Mottram at 1976 Palma. He went on to beat Rafael Nadal for the first time on red dirt to clinch his 10th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at Madrid. Novak Djokovic’s only loss came to Stan Wawrinka in a four-set Roland Garros final.
|
Player
|
W-L Record
|
Winning %
|
|
Andy Murray
|
17-1
|
.944
|
|
Novak Djokovic
|
16-1
|
.941
|
|
Kei Nishikori
|
15-3
|
.833
|
|
Rafael Nadal
|
26-6
|
.813
|
|
David Ferrer
|
19-5
|
.792
|
Hard Courts (minimum 10 matches)
Djokovic put together 11 and 16-match winning streaks on hard courts in 2015, contesting 11 finals on the surface (8-3). He lost three times to Roger Federer at Dubai, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati and in the round robin stage at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Federer went 4-3 in hard-court title matches.
|
Player
|
W-L Record
|
Winning %
|
|
Novak Djokovic
|
59-5
|
.922
|
|
Roger Federer
|
39-6
|
.867
|
|
David Ferrer
|
36-10
|
.783
|
|
Andy Murray
|
42-12
|
.778
|
|
Stan Wawrinka
|
37-12
|
.755
|
Grass Courts (minimum 5 matches)
Djokovic dropped three sets – two to Kevin Anderson in the fourth round and one to Federer in the final – en route to his third Wimbledon title, which equalled the record of his coach, Boris Becker (1985-86, ’89). He is now 14 matches unbeaten on grass courts. Rajeev Ram was also unbeaten on lawns, picking up the Newport crown (d. Karlovic).
|
Player
|
W-L Record
|
Winning %
|
|
Novak Djokovic
|
7-0
|
1.000
|
|
Rajeev Ram
|
5-0
|
1.000
|
|
Andy Murray
|
12-1
|
.923
|
|
Roger Federer
|
11-1
|
.917
|
|
Nicolas Mahut
|
6-1
|
.857
|
Outdoors (minimum 10 matches)
Nine of Djokovic’s 11 titles in 2015 came outdoors, with a 28-match winning streak from early March to his Roland Garros final loss to Stan Wawrinka. Murray improved on his 2014 hard-court tally (45-16, .738) to finish year-end No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time.
|
Player
|
W-L Record
|
Winning %
|
|
Novak Djokovic
|
72-5
|
.935
|
|
Andy Murray
|
58-10
|
.853
|
|
Roger Federer
|
51-9
|
.850
|
|
Kei Nishikori
|
46-13
|
.780
|
|
David Ferrer
|
41-12
|
.774
|
Indoors (minimum 10 matches)
Djokovic captured his 26th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy – one behind all-time leader Rafael Nadal – at Paris, before going on to lift his fifth title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Federer added a seventh Basel crown in his 12th hometown final.
|
Player
|
W-L Record
|
Winning %
|
|
Novak Djokovic
|
10-1
|
.909
|
|
Roger Federer
|
12-2
|
.857
|
|
Richard Gasquet
|
11-3
|
.786
|
|
David Ferrer
|
14-4
|
.778
|
|
Rafael Nadal
|
10-3
|
.769
|
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Serena Williams accepted her Sports Illustrated Sportsperson Of The Year award at Chelsea Piers on Tuesday night, and as you’ll see it was definitely a night to remember.
First of all, there was an emotional introduction speech from her sister and fellow WTA legend, Venus Williams – here are some highlights from the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s time at the podium:
.@Venuseswilliams had a number of touching moments congratulating @serenawilliams on winning #SISportsperson: https://t.co/xXS4vMuQyk
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 16, 2015
Then it was Serena Williams’ turn to take the microphone. From her inspirational words about what the award means to letting her part-time comedian out and some deep words courtesy of her favorite poet, Maya Angelou, it was a speech to remember. Watch the World No.1’s speech in its entirety here:
And of course, their dresses – check out Serena and Venus’ stunning red carpet looks right here:
The WTA Finals’ two visits to Singapore have been nothing if not eventful.
While the identity of the first winner, Serena Williams, was unsurprising, the same could not be said of her path to the title – recovering from a chastening round robin defeat at the hands of Simona Halep to exact revenge in an equally one-sided final. And this year’s tournament was no less absorbing, with women’s tennis’ eternal bridesmaid, Agnieszka Radwanska, upsetting the apple cart to finally get her hands on one of the game’s major prizes.
The event is the jewel in crown of the Asian leg of the tennis calendar, and there is no doubting that the city itself has played its part in creating such memorable spectacles. In the latest editions of CNN’s Open Court series Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Li Na and several other famous names give their take on the outstanding performers this time around, as well as Singapore’s special place in the hearts of the tennis public.