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WTA Player Of The Month: Kerber

WTA Player Of The Month: Kerber

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Undaunted by home pressure, Angelique Kerber could find no better place to win her first title since clinching her maiden major title in Melbourne than the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Kerber was coming off an abrupt semifinal finish at the Volvo Car Open, where she came within four sets of defending that title before a viral illness halted her progress. Emerging victorious in three sets over countrywoman Annika Beck in her opening round, the German never looked back, capturing a second straight title in Stuttgart.

“It’s really important for me because it is always a special week, a special tournament for me and to defend a title is like much more special for me,” Kerber told press after defending a title for the first time in her career.

Taking part in the first all-German final in Stuttgart’s history, Kerber dismissed Laura Siegemund in straight sets for her ninth career title and third on clay.

“I think for me it’s really the best season I have played so far. I mean to win my first Grand Slam and then winning here in front of my home crowd that is the best start ever.

“It’s so special to win after a Grand Slam also the tournament here at home because everybody is here, I know all the faces and playing in front of this crowd is always amazing.

“That’s why it’s much more special this year to win this tournament.”

With a second title of 2016 already under her belt, Kerber will certainly be one to watch through the clay court season as April’s WTA Player Of The Month!

Final Results for April’s WTA Player Of The Month

1. Angelique Kerber (54%)
2. Laura Siegemund (27%)
3. Sloane Stephens (19%)

 Angelique Kerber

2016 WTA Player of the Month Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com 

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Garcia & Mladenovic Into Madrid Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic extended their perfect start to the clay court season with victory over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.

Arriving in the Spanish capital brimming with confidence after back-to-back titles in Charleston and Stuttgart, Garcia and Mladenovic have looked untouchable. After cruising through the rounds, the No.5 seeds put down a marker with their showing against former French Open champions Makarova and Vesnina, wrapping up a 6-2, 6-3 victory in little over an hour.

“It was a tough match and we fought really well,” Mladenovic said. “We’re on a great run but whoever we face in the final won’t be easy, so we’ll play our own game regardless. Clay is being great to us this season and me and Caroline are really playing great as a pair.”

A shot at Olympic glory prompted the union between Garcia and Mladenovic, who had previously been in successful partnerships with Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos, respectively. And while the Frenchwomen took a few tournaments to fully gel, they have now well and truly found their feet on the terre battue.

Victory over Makarova and Vesnina extends their unbeaten streak to 12 matches and sets up a rematch against the world’s leading pair: Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.

The teams met a fortnight ago in the Stuttgart final, Garcia and Mladenovic overcoming a disastrous start to pinch it on a match tie-break. Hingis and Mirza secured their final berth thanks to an even more impressive showing, dismantling Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2, 6-0, in 51 minutes.

“It’s obviously awesome – our second consecutive final of the clay court season. I don’t think either of us had ever made it to the final in Madrid before, so it’s a good feeling to already be doing better than last year and we’re looking forward to playing Garcia and Mladenovic again,” Hingis said.

Despite their dominance atop the rankings, Hingis insists they are the underdogs going into the final: “They are definitely the team to beat on clay, so if we want to be competitive at the French Open we know we’ll have to test ourselves against them.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – 2003 finalist Venus Williams is back into the Australian Open final for the first time in 14 years after coming back from a set down to dispatch fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion celebrated Australia Day in the best way possible, notching a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory to reach her second final in Melbourne Park.

“It means so much to me, mostly because she played so well,” an emotional Venus addressed the crowd at Rod Laver Arena. “She played so unbelievable and I had to play defense the whole time, it feels like.

“There was never a moment of relaxation ever, so to be able to get to the final through a match like this… I’m excited about American tennis!”

Vandeweghe, whose power game suited perfectly to the faster court speeds of this year’s event, was enjoying her maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearance after a commanding run, which included a straight-sets stunner against World No.1 Angelique Kerber.

But she was out of her depth against the 36-year-old Venus, who relied on her veteran experience to allow Vandeweghe to take advantage of just one of her 13 break point chances.

“I don’t think I was totally freaking out or anything close to that when I came out there,” Vandeweghe reflected later in press. “I was pretty set on competing and working hard. I think it showed in kind of the tougher points and tougher moments.

“As far as not playing as well as I could have, it goes along with tennis. You’re going to have good days and bad days. You just have to adjust as best you can.”

The younger American’s lone break of serve came in the very first game of the match, where she had Venus under pressure from the start. But the lead didn’t last very long, with Venus jumping on some second serves and a double fault – the first of 11 for Vandeweghe – to wrench back the advantage.

The pair stayed on par to take the set into the tiebreak, where Vandeweghe found her dictating form once again and Venus, while not making too many missteps, was left to react. Vandeweghe crushed a Venus second serve with a backhand down the line and took the tiebreak, the first set Venus had dropped in the entire tournament.

Venus was right back on track in the second set, though, switching gears to target the vulnerable Vandeweghe backhand and reel off five straight games for a 5-1 lead. The younger American didn’t cede an inch, bringing up four break points in the marathon, seven-minute seventh game, but Venus stayed in front.

The 36-year-old stayed the course in the third, breaking twice and, after two hours and thirty minutes on court, advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2009 Wimbledon.

With the win Venus becomes the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova at 1994 Wimbledon, and the 14 years between this and her last Australian Open final appearance sets a new Open Era record.

Awaiting in the final is younger sister Serena Williams, who blew past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in straight sets to book the first all-Williams final Down Under since their 2003 meeting.

“When I’m playing on the court with her, I think I’m playing the best competitor in the game,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I don’t think I’m chump change either, you know. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete.

“[It] won’t be an easy match. I know that it won’t be easy. You have to control yourself, then you also have to hopefully put your opponent in a box. This opponent is your sister, and she’s super awesome.”

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Venus Williams made her debut at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy with plenty to celebrate; the American had just enjoyed her best run at a Grand Slam since 2009, falling to sister Serena at the Australian Open.

“No one plans to lose, so it’s never the outcome you work so hard for,” she said in her All-Access Hour interview. “But it was still a wonderful opportunity for me to be in the right situation to win a championship. At this point, I can’t wait to play another match.”

Venus had to make a quick turnaround from Melbourne, but still arrived in time for the Player’s Party in her first visit to Russia’s cultural capital.

“The party yesterday was beautiful, and very entertaining. I heard that the tournament does a great job with the players and now I’m seeing it for myself.”

Venus Williams

Most players opt out of returning to the court so soon after a deep Slam run, but St. Petersburg was never in doubt for the No.4 seed, who plays Kristina Mladenovic on Thursday.

“I knew I was coming here, so mentally I was prepared. This is a place I want to be, and have always wanted to visit because of the historic value, and because it’s a beautiful city.

“Of course, it was a privilege to be in the Australian Open final because you think about how close you are to the championship and having a chance to play for that. That’s everything I wanted, but I always planned to come here, regardless.”

Venus Williams

Check out more from Venus, along with some of the best photos from the start of her stay right here on wtatennis.com:

On her decision to play St. Petersburg for the first time and adjusting to the Russian winter…
I’ve always wanted to come here, so that was the first reason. The second is that, I know this tour pretty well, and no tournament can escape my glance.

I think it would been worse if it had been hot in Australia, but it really wasn’t so hot. So it wasn’t a massive change.

On her intent to never stop improving at 36 years old…
In practice, you try to train harder than you ever would in a match. Of course, you can’t practice the emotions of a match. But I’m always trying to improve things; you can’t stay in one place, because that’s when the world stops for you and the rest of the world is still going. I’m constantly trying to think about how I can do better, so that excitement and passion is always there.

Venus Williams

On plans to explore the city…
I just got here, so I’m still adjusting to the time difference, but I’m looking forward to a nice dinner this evening. I’m really interested in the local fashion and the designers here because I like to be inspired by different cultures. Those two things are on the top of my list.

On the next generation of Russian talent…
I’m not sure who’s coming. I know who I have to play, and they’re all tough. That’s a great thing for tennis. But if the same history continues for Russia, the future will be very bright.

On her rivalry with Serena Williams entering its third decade on the WTA tour…
We’re just trying to win our dreams, and our dream is to be here. When it’s not, we’ll watch on TV.

All photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2017.

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Bouchard: Stronger Than Yesterday

Bouchard: Stronger Than Yesterday

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Eugenie Bouchard earned her first Top 10 win since 2014 on Wednesday, rallying from a break down in the third set to beat No.2 seed Angelique Kerber, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The rollercoaster match saw Bouchard nearly blow a 6-1, 3-0 lead over the reigning Australian Open champion, but steeled herself to get the late break in the third set to secure the win.

A French Open semifinalist in 2014, Bouchard has steadily shown signs of a solid rebound after a disastrous 2015 season, where she went through a stretch of losing 15 of 18 matches. This year she has already made two finals in Hobart and Kuala Lumpur and this week she’s battled through back-to-back three-set wins over both Kerber and Jelena Jankovic in the first round.

The pressure of following up her 2014 season goes towards explaining some of Bouchard’s results last year. But there were also a series of injuries and overall lack of fitness. Watching Bouchard grind away against Kerber in front of packed crowd at Court Pietrangeli, it was clear that the 22-year-old’s physique is much stronger now than 12 months ago.

“I agree with that,” Bouchard told WTA Insider. “I definitely did not feel strong enough last year. I felt a lot of pressure and stress and I think that made me lose a bit of weight without me trying to. It wasn’t a conscious effort but it just happened that way.

“I think I wasn’t doing enough gym work but at the same time I was feeling so nervous before matches. I wouldn’t eat. I just in general wasn’t eating enough because I felt so nervous and things like that. So I’ve learned now that even if I do feel that way I really do have to stuff my face. I might feel like it’s going to come back up but I have to get it in me. It’s energy. It’s energy for your body.

“The moral of the story: Just stuff your face,” Bouchard said with a laugh.

Eugenie Bouchard

Caloric intake has been one side of the story. Bouchard also says she’s restructured her training regimen to put more of an emphasis on getting stronger.

“In the gym, I did a mini-off-season in December and took some in February as well. I was hitting the gym every day, spending not the same amount of time in the gym as on the court but the ratio was definitely closer than what it was in 2015. So it has been a conscious thing to try and improve.”

Bouchard is 6-5 in three-set matches this season; last year she was 4-7. She’s also back to working with Nick Saviano, her coach from her youth who was also at the helm during her breakout 2014 season. While the road back to her best is far from over, she says she’s panicking less in grueling matches.

“If I’m not feeling my strongest, first of all that gives me a lack of confidence in a match because I don’t have that confidence that I can keep this level up or still feel good in the third set, or are my legs going to be gone in the third set. Being physically strong is a physical thing but it’s also so mental.

“I don’t worry if it goes to a third set now, how I’ll be able to handle it physically. It’s one thing I don’t have to worry about. But it’s a constant thing. It’s something I have to keep up. It’s not like you can just do it for a month and then you’re set for life.”

Bouchard plays Barbora Strycova for a spot in the quarterfinals.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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