Tennis News

From around the world

Flipkens Downs Venus In Late Thriller

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Kirsten Flipkens saved her best tennis for the end of the day, taking out four-time Olympic gold medalist Venus Williams in a three hour marathon, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) to close out the opening day of the Olympic tennis event in Rio.

“My dream was to come to Rio, but to beat one of the greatest champions, that’s a second dream coming true,” Flipkens said after the match.

The unseeded Belgian, a first-time Olympian, split sets with Williams as the American took the opening set by imposing her powerful baseline game, but Flipkens battled back aggressive on the return and broke Williams’ serve four times to take the second.

In the deciding set, Flipkens surrendered the first break in the fourth game as Williams built up a 4-2 lead. But just as Williams was serving for the match at 5-3, weariness began to take its toll as the match neared the three-hour mark. Flipkens fought back and the match went to a tiebreak, where Williams’ errors at the net ended up costing her the match.

“I was already thinking in the third set that it was one of the most epic matches I’ve ever played,” Flipkens said. “I said to myself before the match that I would just enjoy the match and give 200% on each point.”

“I felt like I could win the match but at the same time I was enjoying it so much it was hard to keep focused. You’re playing Venus Williams, not some junior.”

Earlier in the day, another American was knocked out of the competition as Eugenie Bouchard defeated Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-3.

“I felt good out there, I was just trying to be very solid and I think I did that well,” Bouchard said. “I don’t think I gave her too many chances. I was there on every one of the return games. I was pushing her and I was close to breaking her a couple of times, so I am happy mentally. I was very focused.”

Bouchard grabbed the decisive break early on in both sets, and backed them up with aggressive play to book her spot in round two after an hour and fifteen minutes.

Source link

Australian Open Outfits Unveiled

Australian Open Outfits Unveiled

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog will show us the collections that major tennis clothing companies created for the Australian Open to ensure that the WTA stars look stylish, embody the uplifting spirit of the sunny sky above the courts and the glamorous Grand Slam status of the tournament, while at the same time cooling the players down with cutting-edge fabrics in scorching temperatures Down Under.

NikeCourt_Serena_Williams_4_native_600

With Nike creating a crop top for Serena Williams’ Australian Open campaign, we can say that this shirt style is entering the world of women’s tennis fashion in a big way. The 21-time Grand Slam winner, defending champion in Melbourne, will wear this bold yellow NikeCourt Premier Crop Top, equipped with mesh sections for increased breathability, and the mesh NikeCourt Victory Premier Skirt with all-around pleats.

 Nike-Court-Premier-Top-and-Skirt-Serena-Williams-Australian-Open-2016

The queen will be clad in yellow from head to toe, completing the bold look with these Nike Flare Shoes, which keep the feet locked in, ensuring that aggressive movers feel comfortable during intense matches.

Sharapova-AO-dress

Maria Sharapova is launching 2016 in a very sporty look, a fresh silhouette for the super glamorous Russian. The orange NikeCourt Maria Premier Dress features a higher cut neckline, mesh racerback with contrast zipper and skirt with inverted pleats for better movement. Tennis fans are excited to see how Masha will pull off this classic athletic design and, judging by the promotional image, all sports fashion enthusiasts will be more than pleased.

PREMIER-SLAM-DRESS-744954_100_A

Eugenie Bouchard will wear this ultra lightweight NikeCourt Premier Slam Dress, made of perforated Dri-Fit mesh fabric focused on keeping players cool during grueling matches. The gradient stripes add to the dress’ summery and youthful feel, while dropped skirt back ensures that players do not have to worry about their behinds being exposed in demanding rallies.

411883

Ana Ivanovic’s adidas Spring adizero Dress is part of a collection inspired by German Bauhaus art style, displaying unique stacked graphic, with letters subliminally spelling ‘TENNIS’. The 3-in-1 dress comes together with sports bra and shorts.

Simona-Halep-Australian-Open-2016-fashion-Adidas

Simona Halep will debut the alternative pleated skirt and tank outfit.

 Caroline-Wozniacki-Stella-McCartney-Adidas-dress-for-Australian-Open-2016

Caroline Wozniacki’s adidas Spring Stella McCartney Tour Dress combines coral pink and power rose pink in figure-flattering colorblocks celebrating female curves. At closer look you would see mesh at the neckline, racerback and sides, which are not only functional in terms of breathability, but they also give a nice visual touch as textural elements.

Garbine Muguruza's Australian Open 2016 outfit

Garbiñe Muguruza’s Australian Open separates remind of a sunset with their orange, red and pink tones, especially because of the quarter-circle colorblock at the adidas Spring Stella McCartney Tour Tank. The ventilated climacool® design and its open mesh inserts in crucial heat zones help wick sweat away and channel cool air in.

Ellesse SS16 outfit -A2

Ellesse also introduced touches of orange in their design, nicely matching the company’s logo and flirting with sunny colors just enough to add a vibrant pop of color on the light background perfect for summer days. Monica Puig will have the pleasure of rocking this look at Melbourne Park.

Brushstroke_Print_NYC_Inspire_Dress_grande

Venus Williams will wear the printed EleVen Brushstrokes NYC Inspire Dress, featuring a V-neck, raglan sleeves, thin vertical keyhole cutout at upper back and contrast double criss-crossed stripes at bodice for a slimming effect.

Agnieszka-Radwanska-Lotto-tennis-dress-for-Australian-Open-2016

Agnieszka Radwanska will be a lady in pink. The Lotto Spring Nixia Dress looks cute with its dropped waist and pleated skirt, while the back gives the edge, with dominant mesh that makes the back bold and attractive, whilst providing increased ventilation.

Jelena Jankovic's Fila Australian Open 2016 dress

Jelena Jankovic will wear the Fila Platinum Dress, from the brand’s luxe Platinum collection that includes black, white and safety yellow hues, bold colorblocking and a print that echoes the energy of a tennis ball in motion. The item is made of body-temperature-regulating THERMOCOOL™ fabric, so that players can stay comfortable and focused on the game.

Tennis fashion enthusiasts have many reasons to look forward to the upcoming fortnight in Melbourne!

Source link

Ask The Olympians: Rio Anticipation

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

“It’s a tournament everyone wants to play, but it’s all about the medal,” says two-time Wimbledon winner and 2012 Olympian Petra Kvitova.

What are her fellow players looking forward to most ahead of the Olympic tennis event in Rio de Janeiro? Watch the video above to find out!

Source link

Notes & Netcords – January 18, 2016

Notes & Netcords – January 18, 2016

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

The Winners:

Svetlana Kuznetsova had to pull double duty to win the Premier-level Apia International Sydney. She scored her biggest win in six and a half years against Simona Halep in a rain-delayed semifinal, then turned right around to play a near-flawless final against Puerto Rican qualifier Monica Puig. Kuznetsova needed just 55 minutes to win 6-0, 6-2 and pick up her 16th WTA title.

“It’s great. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect this, but I’ve also never gone into a tournament thinking about winning, never even once,” Kuznetsova said after the match. “I just went out there and performed, and everything went my way. Now I just want to keep focused for the Australian Open.”

The full story – here.

Alizé Cornet dropped only three games in the final of the Hobart International against a resurgent Eugenie Bouchard to win her first title in nearly two years, 6-1, 6-2.

“I was very focused for the whole tournament and the whole match today, and now I can let go!” Cornet told press after the match. “To start the year this way, it’s the best.”

The full story – here.

Game, Set Match: WTA Insider

Game: Svetlana Kuznetsova roars into the Australian Open.

The Russian has been vocal about the current depth of the women’s game. Earlier in her career she could count on easy early rounds at tournaments, which suited her style. “I’m not scared of anybody,” she said at the Sydney International. “I just need matches under my belt.” But with the depth of the current game, Kuznetsova says it’s far more difficult to play yourself into form.

So it bodes well for the two-time major champion that she got better and better during her title run in Sydney, which culminated in a 6-0, 6-2 win over Monica Puig. Mercurial and unpredictable, it’s hard to know if Kuznetsova will be able to carry her momentum into the Australian Open. But having been drawn into the Serena Williams/Maria Sharapova quarter, Kuznetsova has the quality to play the spoiler.

Set: How Patrick Mouratoglou helped Alizé Cornet get back on track.

Cornet dropped just one set en route to the Hobart International title. In this week’s Champion’s Corner, Cornet talked about the elusive nature of confidence, and how a post-US Open chat with Mouratoglou turned things around.

The full story – here.

Match: The many faces of Victoria Azarenka

Expect to see a lot of Azarenka this year. She’s already shown signs of a strong uptick in her level of play, but Azarenka is already writing a regular column for Sports Illustrated and directed a video. As Azarenka told me in Brisbane: “You’ll be learning a lot more about me this year.”

The full story – here.

Ranking Movers:

Notable singles ranking movers for the week of January 18, 2015..

Monica Puig (PUR), +42 (No.94 to 52): Puig reached the first Premier final of her career in Sydney and made the biggest ranking jump of anyone in the Top 100, improving 42 spots to reach No.52.

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN), +10, (No.47 to 37): Bouchard’s consistent results continued at the Hobart International, where she reached her first final since 2014.

Alizé Cornet (FRA), +9 (No.42 to 33): Cornet won her first title since 2014 at the Hobart International, an International-level event, and improved her ranking to No.33.

Kiki Bertens (NED), +8 (No.103 to 95): Bertens went from the qualifiers all the way to the Hobart International quarterfinals and broke into the Top 100 this week.

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), +5 (No.25 to 20): The two-time Grand Slam champion captured the Premier-level title at the Apia International Sydney and as a result she is back into the Top 20.


Upcoming Tournaments:

Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam | $14,835,728 | Hard, Outdoors
Monday, January 18 – Sunday, January 31, 2016

Top 20 Player Schedules:

1. Serena Williams – Australian Open
2. Simona Halep – Australian Open
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Australian Open
4. Agnieszka Radwanska – Australian Open
5. Maria Sharapova – Australian Open
6. Angelique Kerber – Australian Open
7. Petra Kvitova – Australian Open
8. Flavia Pennetta – (retired)
9. Lucie Safarova – (not competing – viral illness)
10. Venus Williams – Australian Open, Kaohsiung
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Australian Open
12. Karolina Pliskova – Australian Open
13. Belinda Bencic – Australian Open, St Petersburg
14. Timea Bacsinszky – Australian Open
15. Roberta Vinci – Australian Open, St Petersburg
16. Victoria Azarenka – Australian Open
17. Madison Keys – Australian Open
18. Caroline Wozniacki – Australian Open
19. Sara Errani – Australian Open
20. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Australian Open

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

Angelique Kerber (GER) – January 18, 1988
Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR) – January 18, 1992
Petra Martic (CRO) – January 19, 1991
Petra Rampre (SLO) – January 20, 1980
Polona Hercog (SLO) – January 20, 1991
Monique Adamczak (AUS) – January 21, 1983
Shuai Zhang (CHN) – January 21, 1989
Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) – January 21, 1992
Laura Robson (GBR) – January 21, 1994
Alizé Cornet (FRA) – January 22, 1990

Source link

Ask The Olympian: Spectator Sports

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Which sports are the WTA stars most eager to watch at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro? Johanna Konta, Petra Kvitova, Eugenie Bouchard, and Angelique Kerber weigh in.

Source link

Zhang Blasts Past Halep

Zhang Blasts Past Halep

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – World No.133 Zhang Shuai played the best tennis of her career to dismantle No.2 seed Simona Halep on Margaret Court Arena, 6-4, 6-3, in 78 minutes.

The Chinese veteran first came to prominence in 2009 when she became the lowest ranked player to defeat a reigning World No.1 – Dinara Safina at the China Open – but the 26-year-old had never won a Grand Slam match in 14 previous attempts.

Against Halep, Zhang displayed stunning form from the outset, hitting 31 winners and racing out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before breaking serve in the 10th game to take the early lead.

Though the Romanian appeared to right the ship early in the second, Zhang weathered the storm and remained aggressive to win the last five games of the match to reach the second round.

“Thank you to everyone for supporting me,” a speechless Zhang said in her on-court interview.

“I think today is the best moment.”

For the former French Open finalist, the loss marked another abrupt end to an Australian Open campaign, having lost in back-to-back quarterfinals in straight sets. It is also her earliest exit from a hardcourt major tournament since the 2013 Australian Open, where she also lost in the first round.

Zhang will next play Hobart International champion Alizé Cornet; the Frenchwoman has dropped just six games in her last three matches – including a 6-1, 6-2 win over Eugenie Bouchard in the final of Hobart – and was equally ruthless to open her Australian Open against Bojana Jovanovski, winning, 6-1, 6-0.

Source link

Gavrilova Pulls Off Kvitova Upset

Gavrilova Pulls Off Kvitova Upset

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Playing in the Australian Open under the local flag for the first time, Daria Gavrilova pulled off the upset of the night, shocking the No.6 seeded Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4 on Margaret Court Arena.

Gavrilova – who scored wins last year over Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova and was voted WTA’s Most Impressive Newcomer – wasn’t intimidated by the two-time Wimbledon champion across the net. And with the yellow-clad Aussie crowd firmly behind her, the 21-year-old was relentless.

“It was unreal,” a smiling Gavrilova said to the crowd after the win. “I was so nervous in the end… you probably could tell!”

In the second set, Gavrilova surged to a 5-2 lead and actually had a match point at 5-3 on her serve, but her nerves got the best of her and she sent a backhand into the net.

When the match point came again at 5-4, Gavrilova used a different tactic.

“In that last game I told myself, ‘You’re actually down 5-3 and you’re trying to stay in the match,'” Gavrilova said. “And obviously that helped.”

Kvitova did her best to tamp down her surging opponent and silence the raucous Aussie crowd, but her unforced errors got the best of her. The Czech’s reliable groundstrokes and serve became vulnerable: she hit 35 errors to 17 winners and seven double faults, including one when she was serving to stay in the match.

Gavrilova, who began competing for Australia in 2015, was feeling the Aussie spirit even down to her fingernails, which were painted royal blue and featured Australian flag designs.

“You guys are crazy!” she laughed, thanking the crowd who had been cheering and chanting for her all match long. “But obviously good crazy – you helped me a lot. It was unreal, I’m just really proud.”

Gavrilova now stands alone as the single Australian woman left in the draw – Ajla Tomljanovic, Samantha Stosur, Storm Sanders, Priscilla Hon, Maddison Inglis, Kimberly Birrell, Jarmila Wolfe and Tammi Patterson were all defeated in the first round.

With the win, Gavrilova improves to a 4-10 record against Top 10 players and is into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. She’s set to play the No.28 seed Kristina Mladenovic in what will be the pair’s first meeting.

Source link

Hingis & Bacsinszky Going For Gold

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis staged a stunning comeback on Friday night to defeat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka and keep alive their dream of an Olympic gold medal.

Four years ago in London, Hlavackova and Hradecka won silver and they looked on course for a return to the final when took the first set and surged ahead in the second. However, their Swiss opponents hung doggedly onto their coattails, escaping from a dramatic second set to complete a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2 victory.

The turning point came with Hradecka serving at 5-4 in the second set. Having already saved one match point, Hingis fended off another with a ferocious volley that struck Hlavackova in the eye from point-blank range.

Despite a lengthy injury timeout, it was a blow from which Hlavackova and Hradecka were unable to recover. The Czechs lost the first two points on the resumption to drop serve and while they did manage to force a tie-break, it was one that never looked like going their way.

Bacsinszky and Hingis compounded this misery in the decider, rattling off four straight games to complete the comeback.

Heading into Rio, an Olympic medal was one of the few prizes missing from Hingis’ resume. Her hopes of winning one were dealt a double blow by the withdrawal or first Roger Federer and then Belinda Bencic. Bacsinszky, though, has deputized ably and on Saturday the first-time partnership will meet Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina for gold.

Makarova and Vesnina were quarterfinalists in London and have picked up a couple of Grand Slam titles since then. Against Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova they needed to draw on all this experience to overcome a slow start and edge through, 7-6(7), 6-4.

Source link