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The Serena Williams Stats You Need

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Next week at Roland Garros, Serena Williams resumes her relentless march towards tennis history. But before she embarks on her bid for a 22nd Grand Slam crown, here are some noteworthy numbers on the WTA’s indomitable World No.1.

Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam singles titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 291 (Navratilova 306, Evert 299)
~ Serena is trying to win her fourth Roland Garros title (won it in 2002, 2013 and 2015); a fourth title would tie her with Justine Henin and Helen Wills-Moody on the all-time leaderboard
~ This is Serena’s 21st time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 20)
~ Serena is 61-1 in Grand Slam first round matches (only loss: Razzano at 2012 Roland Garros)

Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-5 in Grand Slam singles finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (l. Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (l. Kerber)
~ Serena has won 31 of her last 35 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha, 2013 Cincinnati, 2016 Indian Wells & Kerber at 2016 Australian Open)

Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 285d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)

Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 171st & 172nd straight weeks at No.1 during the Roland Garros fortnight (second-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186)
~ Serena is spending her 294th & 295th career weeks at No.1 during the Roland Garros fortnight (second-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($76.5M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.8M) 
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 70 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)

Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:

Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)

Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 232-19 (.924)
WTA titles: 29
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 15 (.533)
vs Top 10: 56-6 (.903)

Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 189-16
WTA titles: 23 of 33
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 12
vs Top 10: 41-4 (.911)

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Safarova Beats The Rain In Paris

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – No.10 seed Lucie Safarova made the most of an interrupted schedule on Sunday to defeat the recently returning Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-0, 6-2, to reach the second round of the French Open. Not long after the 2015 finalist’s win, play was canceled due to rain.

Safarova was one of only five women to complete their first round matches, joining Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Viktorija Golubic and Hsieh Su-Wei before stormy weather held serve and kept top seeds like Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza from making their 2015 French Open debuts.

“It’s nice to have the match finished,” said Safarova, who won the first seven games of the match before the first wave of inclement weather covered the clay courts. “Obviously now I have two days off, which I can train, hopefully, and get back to my routine.

“But I don’t think it does a huge impact in the draw results. I mean, obviously today it’s tough conditions because of the rain and delays and the balls are quite heavy, but it’s same for everyone.”

Diatchenko was playing her first major tournament since having to retire in the first round of the US Open due to an Achilles injury; the Russian returned last week to win a Challenger doubles title with Galina Voskoboeva, but was still struggling with her rhythm on Sunday, hitting 27 unforced errors and nine double faults.

“It’s really nice to be back,” the defending doubles champion with Bethanie Mattek-Sands remarked in her post-match press conference. “I’m excited. Obviously a lot of great memories from last year. To be back here on-site, playing on the same courts, brings a lot of nice feelings.”

Playing a clean match with 11 winners and 12 unforced errors, Safarova enjoyed her second win since food poisoning forced her to pull out of the Mutua Madrid Open; her season had already gotten off to a late start due to injuries and a bacterial infection causing a bout with reactive arthritis.

“I had a lot of health issues last half year, so I’m just really happy to be playing and to be here. Each match I face, I will try to win and we will see.”

Safarova advanced under the wire on Court Suzanne Lenglen, as a drizzle threatened to send her off court a second time, but the former World No.5 duly served out the match and booked a second round meeting with Golubic, who needed three sets to take out Alison Riske, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

Play is set to resume on Monday and will feature No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska as she takes on Bojana Jovanovski, Muguruza and Halep, and the completion of three matches which were rained out, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nicole Gibbs, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who lead Yaroslava Shvedova, Heather Watson, and Cagla Buyukakcay, respectively.

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Rogers Bolts Into Second Round

Rogers Bolts Into Second Round

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Shelby Rogers woke up on Monday morning full of excitement and adrenaline. Sure, the 23-year-old South Carolina native was looking forward to taking on No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the French Open, but that wasn’t what she was amped about.

Rogers is a huge Tampa Bay Lightning fan and she woke up to the news her boys were a game away from the Stanley Cup Final.

“My Bolts are doing so well right now!” Rogers said, as she lit up at the mere mention of the NHL playoffs. “They’re going home with a 3-2 lead [over the Pittsburgh Penguins]. I’m so pumped.”

Rogers’ Monday would only get better. Ranked No.108, she pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day at Roland Garros, beating Pliskova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round in Paris for the second time in her career. Rogers falls into the growing category of young Americans who are loving European red clay, and she was happy to avenge a tough loss to the Czech earlier this year in Indian Wells.

“I definitely like my chances better on clay, that’s for sure,” Rogers said.

Shelby Rogers

“I think it helps my kick serve for sure. Moving is really fun on it. The points are always a little more versatile, you do a lot of different things. It’s a little bit slower so I do think I can hit through the court but I have a little bit more time to pick my shots.

“It’s a lot of fun, for sure.”

So how closely has Rogers been keeping tabs on the Lightning while she’s been in Europe? She’s doing as much as she can.

“I can’t watch the games because they’re so late,” she said. “They’re like at 3AM and that’s not very good match prep.

“But I woke up this morning and I was all fired up because they got the win in overtime. I was retweeting all the goals. I’m such a nerd. They’re probably like, ‘This girl needs to stop stalking us.'”

But how does a South Carolina native who now trains in Los Angeles become such a rabid Tampa Bay fan?

“I trained at [the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida] for about a year when I was younger,” Rogers explained. “That was the only thing I did there that was fun. I became a huge fan. I love hockey. I think it’s one of the best sports [to watch] live. It’s so much fun and I’ve just been a fan every since.”

“I just love the aggression of it. I love the atmosphere at the games. I love that you can get rowdy and shout and the players love that. It’s just a really fast paced fun sport to watch. I grew up going to a lot of games. We have a team in South Carolina called the Sting Rays, and I grew up going to those. It’s just something different, something unique.”

Rogers plays No.49 Elena Vesnina in the second round. Vesnina beat Madison Brengle, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round.

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Radwanska Rolls Past Garcia

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska fought off Caroline Garcia and a voracious French crowd to advance into the third round of the French Open, 6-2, 6-4.

“I think I play really good two matches. Especially this one. I think this was really a tough one,” Radwanska said in her post-match press conference.

“I’m just very pleased that I could close that match in two sets, that’s for sure.”

All three of Radwanska’s previous encounters with Garcia had gone the distance, but the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion recovered from an early break to race out to a set and 4-1 lead before Garcia began sinking her teeth into the match.

Breaking serve twice to get within a game of leveling the set, Garcia threw in back-to-back double faults to throw a lifeline to Radwanska, who gladly took it to advance in 95 minutes.

“I’m very sorry,” a despondent Garcia said after the match. “I’m very sorry that I couldn’t really play the way I wish I would have played. I was able to play a few balls, but most of the match I just wasn’t there. Not enough. I wasn’t able to hit the ball. I wanted to hit it, and, well, just not the right game.

“I’m disappointed. I can play better. But it was a wonderful moment. It was very emotional. The public supporting me helped me coming back in the match when I thought it was over.

“I think they believed more in me than I believed in myself.”

Up next for the No.2 seed is No.30 seed Barbora Strycova. The Czech veteran is in the midst of a career year, having already reached the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Despite losing her last nine main draw matches at Roland Garros – dating back to 2004 – Strycova edged out clay court specialist Polona Hercog 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round on the terre battue for the first time in her career.

Radwanska has yet to drop a set against Strycova, though all four of their matches were on hardcourts, and the last was a little under two years ago at the Rogers Cup.

“I think I’m not really thinking about expectations or second week,” Radwanska said when asked about looking ahead to her next match. “I think taking match by match, and I’m just very happy to be in the third round.

“Of course now it’s not going to be easier. She’s playing great tennis, especially on clay. For sure another tough match.

“I’m healthy, in one piece, and I’m just ready for the next one.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEWPORT, RI, USA – Former World No.1 and six-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters has been elected to receive induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“I feel very, very honored to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame,” the Belgian said in a video statement that will play during a special ceremony at the Australian Open on Tuesday. “It is a huge honor to be amongst a list of so many great tennis players who I admired when I was growing up, and some great players who I played with in my tennis career as well.”

Joining Clijsters in the Hall of Fame Class of 2017 will be 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick, Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch, a 4-time Paralympic medalist in wheelchair tennis, being honored for her remarkable career.

Kim Clijsters

Additionally, two individuals will be inducted in the Contributor Category. Steve Flink, a distinguished tennis historian and journalist has been elected for induction. Vic Braden, a groundbreaking tennis instructor who was among the first to apply sports science to his instructional tactics will be inducted posthumously.

“It’s a real pleasure to welcome these five remarkable individuals into the Hall of Fame. Kim, Andy, and Monique compiled outstanding careers, winning the game’s biggest titles and ascending to the world No. 1 ranking,” remarked International Tennis Hall of Fame President and 1987 Hall of Famer Stan Smith.

The Class of 2017 will be officially inducted on July 22, during Rolex Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Tickets for the Induction Ceremony will go on sale in early February. In addition, the class will be celebrated in a tribute exhibit opening in June in the Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which will be displayed for one year.

Kim Clijsters

One of six women in tennis history to simultaneously top the world rankings in singles and doubles, Clijsters was the world No. 1 player for 19 weeks and was ranked within the World’s Top 5 for 250 weeks during her career. She is a three-time US Open champion (2005, 2009, 2010) and she was also the 2011 Australian Open champion. Clijsters won two major doubles titles, capturing both the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003.

Clijsters is a three-time champion at the WTA Finals (2002, 2003, 2010). She won 41 singles titles, and was a dedicated Belgian Fed Cup team member, leading the team to their first Fed Cup title in 2001 and into the finals again in 2006.

Clijsters retired from tennis in 2007, and then embarked on a second career in tennis with a comeback in 2009. That year, she went on to win the US Open, in what was just her third tournament back on the tour. She was unranked, unseeded, and a wild card entry to the event. Two years later, in 2011, she once again reached the world No. 1 ranking, five years after she had last been there.

Since retirement, Clijsters, now a mother of three, has been focused on her family. She remains engaged in tennis through Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium, where many juniors train and through competing in Legends events at the Grand Slams.

Kim Clijsters

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Venus Cruises Past Chirico

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Former No.1 Venus Williams faced few problems against American qualifier and Mutua Madrid Open semifinalist Louisa Chirico to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

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