Doha: Shot Of The Day (Tuesday)
Elena Vesnina has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Qatar Total Open.
Elena Vesnina has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Qatar Total Open.
Watch Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Shelby Rogers get expert lessons on how to make authentic guacamole at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco!
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Monica Niculescu in the third round of the Qatar Total Open.
Kiki Bertens, Paula Goncalves and Lara Arruabarrena participated in a very special activity in Acapulco – they helped release sea turtle hatchlings into the ocean.
An interview with Andrea Petkovic after her win in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
Andrea Petkovic takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open.
It’s time to crown February’s WTA Shot Of The Month. There were some incredible shots to choose from this month, and we narrowed it down to the five best – have a look at the nominees in the above video and cast your vote for your favorite shot before voting ends Thursday at 11:59pm ET!
The winner will be announced Friday, March 4.
How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.
The WTA World No.5, Dominika Cibulkova, has spoken in depth about the positive and negative effects of pressure on her game.
The Slovak finished last season on a high after winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. However, after being knocked out in the third round at the Australian Open in January – the 25-year-old lost to Russian Ekaterina Makarova – she now feels heightened pressure.
“I didn’t feel good on the court. It was a little hard with all the pressure and all the media attention. I think that was why there were negative thoughts in my head. I wasn’t really enjoying my time on the court,” she wrote in a Straits Times column this week.
For the past two years, Cibulkova has been working closely with a mental coach in order to overcome match-day nerves – and the move is paying off.
Reflecting on the first two months of 2017, she said that she has been concentrating on turning negative thoughts into positive ones and enjoying the game.
“Dealing with pressure and nerves has always been a challenge for me throughout my career. Sometimes I want something so badly and the nerves come, especially in the tight moments.”
But it is a fine balance to strike and she is still working on balancing the increased expectations that accompany success.
“People think you just have to learn how to deal with pressure and expectations on court but that’s wrong. I make the goals smaller and then they become more manageable.”
In the lead-up to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, the eight singles players from last year’s edition will pen columns exclusively for The Straits Times. The monthly series begins with reigning champion Dominika Cibulkova – click here to read it in full.
Carla Suárez Navarro had the shot of the match in the final of the Qatar Total Open.
February was defined by four breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?
Have a look at the nominees for February’s Breakthrough of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, March 10.
February 2017 WTA Breakthrough of the Month Finalists:
Elina Svitolina: Svitolina surged up the rankings and into the upper echelons of the women’s game in February, debuting in the Top 10 and winning the biggest title of her career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Along the way, she also won the Taiwan Open and amassed a 13-match winning streak, one that’s yet to be broken heading into the BNP Paribas Open.
Kristina Mladenovic: The Frenchwoman took home her first career title on one of the game’s biggest stages, surviving Yulia Putintseva to win a Premier title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Mladenovic capped off the month with a win over Karolina Pliskova and another run to a WTA final at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
CiCi Bellis: The young American made waves in Dubai, stunning former World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska to become the youngest quarterfinalist at the Premier 5 event since Lina Krasnoroutskaya in 2001.
Ashleigh Barty: Barty continued her impressive comeback by winning the singles and doubles titles at the Ayla WTA Malaysian Open; the former was her first career singles title and helped her make her Top 100 debut on Monday’s rankings.
2017 Winners:
January: CoCo Vandeweghe
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com