Tennis News

The 2016 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued in Rome at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world. For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.

USANA Brand Ambassadors Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur, Kristina Mladenovic, Madison Keys, Monica Puig, and Alizé Cornet (Sloane Stephens, Zheng Saisai and Caroline Wozniacki did not play in Rome’s main draw) hit 55 of the 282 aces in the Foro Italico – raising a grand total of $1,685 throughout the week. Keys hit the most with 32 aces.

Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!

#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway

It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is Aegon Classic Birmingham in Birmingham. Last year there was a total of 427 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.

How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Birmingham deadline is June 14th at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced June 20th
Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.

For full rules on how to enter, click here.

As an athlete, top 25 doubles star Alla Kudryavtseva has long been in pursuit of physical excellence, but holds intellectual acument in equal standing, earning an online Bachelor’s of Science in Communications, her second degree and first at Indiana University East.

“I’ve always loved to learn,” she told WTA Insider from LaGuardia Airport on Monday. “I’m always trying to read and learn something, so I thought, ‘I’m doing all these things. Why don’t I try to get a degree?’

Kudryavtseva previously earned a degree in physical education back in Moscow, but was inspired to return to school by then-doubles partner Anastasia Rodionova, who is also at IU East studying business administration.

“Communications is a diverse degree, one that you can use in many different areas. I’m not quite sure what I want to do when I stop playing, so it just seemed like a good fit. Everything you do these days is with communications. Physical education was interesting at the time and very applicable to what I do as an athlete. I found this degree very applicable as well when it came to things like negotiations and persuasion, or even things like dissecting the news and what we see in media.

“It has been a really interesting journey and I learned a lot.”

“Alla was one of our finest students in the Communication Studies program and within the entirety of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences,” noted Ross Alexander, IU East’s Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Her professors consistently lauded her stellar work, professionalism, and the global perspective she brought to all her courses. She is among the very best we have at IU East.”

The former World No.56 had more than her share of setbacks in her final two semesters – inucrring an ACL injury just before finals – but perservered to receive her diploma on Tuesday at the Richmond campus’ Student Events and Activites Center. Through her various academic endeavors, this will be the first to have any proverbial pomp and circumstance.

“It has been a pleasure to host Alla on her first trip to the Richmond campus,” said IU East Chancellor Kathryn Cruz-Uribe. “We are honored to present her with her diploma. As an alumna, she will join a network of over 9,000 IU East graduates,” Cruz-Uribe said.

“I just turned 29, and from middle school to university, I’ve never been to an actual graduation ceremony,” Kudryavtseva admitted. “I always came to the office, picked up the diploma, and thank you very much!

“It’s difficult to be a student athlete; it takes a lot of discipline and commitment. No one is there to push you, so you’ve got to push yourself, and make sure you’re leaving appropriate time for assignments and reading. When grades start rolling in, that also adds stress, but luckily I’ve been a straight-A student, so I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

Kudryavtseva joins a growing cohort that includes former World No.1 Venus Williams, who became the first WTA player to graduate under the tour’s agreement with IU East. Current students include Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig, Sloane Stephens, and Arina Rodionova. Also earning her diploma later this month is Irina Falconi; the former Georgia Tech standout won her first WTA title earlier this year in Bogota, and credited Lisa Grattan of the Women’s Tennis Benefits Association (WTBA) as one who encouraged her to return to the online classroom.

“Once I heard about how good of an opportunity it was, I realized I had to jump on it,” she explained in an email. “I was motivated to go the moment I heard about it! I know that having a degree is something important to me, so I knew I wanted to get it done.”

Like Rodionova, Falconi is also studying business administration, a field the American saw as a natural selection for one already balancing the business of athletics.

“I like to think that I am already a running business. I wanted to really learn everything there is to know about running a sound business, making budgets, and marketing myself.”

A second set of deadlines can prove daunting to the already-overloaded athletes, but Falconi found a way to make the grade through her tenure at IU East. 

“When I started the program four years ago, WiFi wasn’t everywhere and wasn’t reliable, so there were a few late nights where I had to drive or walk to a coffee shop to make sure I submitted something before the deadline.”

Both Falconi and Kudryavtseva stressed the importance of education, arguing it helped give them a better sense not only of their future, but also their present.

“My capstone project was a 40 page paper on athletic retirements, and that was a very interesting topic to choose,” Kudryavtseva said. “I learned about all the difficulties athletes face: loss of identity, and how unprepared many are for what comes next. An athlete’s network can affects them a lot, because it gets to a point where everyone they know is somehow involved in their sport.

“That made me evaluate my own circle of friends and I realized just how many people I know have played or do play or are somehow connected to the WTA or even ATP tour or college tennis. When I was younger, I thought I’d want to disconnect from the tennis world when I retired, but getting older, I don’t think I want to. You learn so much over a 15 year career that I couldn’t have this level of expertise in any other field; it’d be a waste if I completely disconnected.”

“I know that tennis won’t last forever, so I knew that having a degree in my back pocket would benefit me in the long run,” Falconi added. “I think that some players may be a bit intimidated by the idea of online schooling, but if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish it!”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Ana Ivanovic announced her retirement from professional tennis on Wednesday. The former No.1 and 2008 Roland Garros champion cited her ongoing injuries and desire to move on and begin a new chapter in her tennis career, which will see her give back to the sport that gave her so much.

After her announcement, which was streamed on Facebook, WTA Insider caught up with Ivanovic via telephone to reflect on her unforgettable career.

WTA Insider: So first question, how are you feeling after making the announcement?

Ivanovic: It was a little bit nerve-breaking but I’m doing well, thank you.

WTA Insider: Can you talk through how you came to the decision to retire?

Ivanovic: It’s a mix of things, obviously. It hasn’t been an overnight decision. It’s been on my mind for a little bit but I tried to also follow my heart because for me, it’s proven to be the best way.

I started to play tennis because I loved the game. Now I still love the game but I feel it’s time to move on for various reasons. I’ve been a little bit unfortunate with some injuries that I had. Being back in the Top 10 two years ago, and then fighting injuries, I was going back and forth a lot with my fitness. Then last year I really did a great pre-season, invested a lot of work, my team as well, and again I just kept getting these little niggles back and forth.

So I really felt now it’s time to just give back. Coming from Serbia, everything that I’ve been through in my life and my career, so far my parents and my brother with me, they made it all possible. I feel very fortunate and so I want to give back and maybe help others be as fortunate as I was.

WTA Insider: As you spent time reflecting on your career, what do you make of it?

Ivanovic: To be honest I’ve been going over it a lot of times and it does get me emotional because I know how I hard I worked to get everything I got. From where I came from, when I look back I am just very very proud of myself and everyone around me who helped me achieve these things.

But it’s not just about achieving these things, it’s also about being the person you are. I think all those setbacks, all those good moments, bad moments, they all make you a person, and in my case, a stronger person. I feel so blessed and so lucky to have gone through all that. I learned more about myself through not only good times but also through bad times. You learn who your real friends are, you know what you need to do to fight back. These are the lessons tennis taught me from such a young age. I feel lucky to experience all that. In life it’s not always good or bad, or black or white. So that’s why I think all these ups and downs actually helped me be the person that I am today.

WTA Insider: Speaking of that evolution, how is the Ana Ivanovic I’m talking to now differ from the one with the braces that held up that trophy in Canberra in 2005?

Ivanovic: More experienced, that’s for sure (laughs).

When I looked back at what I achieved, my development was one of the things I looked at. I was just a girl playing tennis, enjoying the game, and I wasn’t thinking about consequences. I was just playing the game and not relying on past experiences or worrying about consequences. Over time you learn there is pressure, there are expectations, there are your own expectations on top of all that, that’s when you stop playing free. Now looking back, that was the case.

I don’t think you’re ever prepared for the success, but maybe I needed a more experienced team around me to help me deal with that time of new pressures. But that all helped me become the person I am and now I know I can come back from anything. I’ve been low, I’ve been high, and I know that I can survive it all. That’s what gives me strength.

WTA Insider: You won the French Open and got to No.1 in 2008. The years after that weren’t easy for you on court. Given everything you went through, how important was 2014, when you got back in the Top 10, and 2015, when you made the French Open semifinal, for you?

Ivanovic: It was very, very important for me. I know and my team knows how much I fought every day. Even when I was winning all those matches in 2014, sometimes I was struggling with injuries. But I was mentally so strong, fighting my body and getting through these matches. The French Open semifinal was amazing. It’s always so special.

WTA Insider: What will you miss the most about tour life?

Ivanovic: I will definitely miss my friends that I’ve made along the way, but I always hope I’ll meet them again, just as I hope to see you again someday.

The irony actually is that I will miss traveling. That’s the part that I’m also looking forward to the most, that I’ll get to be home more. But I will miss traveling a little bit because I enjoy going to nice places and Australia, in particular, is on top of that list.

WTA Insider: For my last question I’m going to ask you something I’ve asked you throughout your career at various times: As you embark on retired life, what book are you reading?

Ivanovic: Actually I’m reading Inferno by Dan Brown because I realized that’s the only one I haven’t read. The movie is coming out and my brother wants to see it so I told him Ok, let me read the book first and then we can go watch.

WTA Insider: That’s very kind of you, as always. So will we see you at any tournaments this year?

Ivanovic: Yes, I’m sure. I’m already making some plans. I have some people who I promised to see so I look forward to seeing everyone around soon.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.