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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams is two victories away from a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title and a return to WTA World No.1 after moving into the Australian Open semifinals with a commanding win over Britain’s Johanna Konta, 6-2, 6-3.

With the victory Serena is through to her tenth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, a run stretching back to the 2014 US Open.

An even better omen for the American? She’s never been defeated at this stage of the Australian Open, having advanced to the final in the six previous times she’s reached the semifinals. This time, the promise of a return to the WTA No.1 ranking awaits should she claim her seventh Melbourne crown.

Serena snapped up the last remaining semifinal spot after her much-awaited first-time clash against Britain’s No.1 Konta, who’s been in torrid form throughout the Australian summer.

Konta’s serve had been broken only twice in the entire tournament, but she quickly found herself on the back foot against Serena’s powerful returns, dropping serve twice in the opening set.

“I think it was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” the Brit described playing Serena for the first time. “I think there’s so many things I can learn from that, so many things I can look to improve on, also acknowledge some things that I did well.

“I think, credit to her, she played an almost perfect first set. I felt she really did incredibly well. She just showed and shows why she is who she is.”

Serena Williams

Serena struggled with her own serve throughout the match as her normally powerful first serves – one of the hallmarks of her game – seemed to abandon her, giving Konta the first look at a break point in the third game of the first set. But when the serve failed Serena found other weapons to rely on, outpacing Konta from the baseline with some heavy ground strokes. A timely ace – Serena’s first of 10 in the match – bailed her out of trouble.

“My first serve wasn’t really great, but I’ve really been working on my second serve,” Serena explained later in press. “Hasn’t been great all tournament, so I’ve been kind of relying on my second serve. I’ve been relying on my groundstrokes, forehand, backhand. My returns have really picked up.

“All around, I feel like she’s a great all-around player. So I feel like I had to be on it all around today.”

With that early wobble behind her, Serena was all business as she steamrolled through the opening set, her forehand firing on all cylinders.

The American’s service woes put her in another early deficit in the final set, as Konta roared back from down 15-40 to break and open up a 3-1 lead. But the pressure from the 22-time Grand Slam champion never let up, who quickly broke back to establish parity, rattling off five games in a row to move into her 34th career Grand Slam semifinal.

Standing between Serena and the final is Mirjana Lucic-Baroni after the 34-year-old stunned No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The pair’s last match came almost two decades ago.

“It was in ’98, I remember,” Serena said of their Wimbledon match. “It was on Centre Court. That’s all I remember. I remember winning. I was so excited because I was so young. She obviously was super young, too.

“Honestly, we have totally different games now, the both of us. We both have gone through a lot. We both have survived, and here we are, which I think is a really remarkable story.”

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Clinical Kerber Defeats Halep, Closes In On Singapore Semifinals

Clinical Kerber Defeats Halep, Closes In On Singapore Semifinals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – World No.1 Angelique Kerber laid down a marker at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with an impressive straight-sets win over Simona Halep on Tuesday.

Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!

After edging a closely contested opening set, Kerber raced through the second, wrapping up a 6-4, 6-2 victory in an hour and 22 minutes.

“I’m feeling very good here. I’m really enjoying being back here on the center court and playing my best tennis,” Kerber told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “I think we played a great match today.

“I try every time I step on court to give my best. Of course every match here is tough – it’s the best eight players in the world – and I’m just trying to focus on my game.”

Kerber’s concentration wavered only briefly in a high-quality opening set, surrendering an early lead to allow Halep to edge 4-3 ahead. The following game she found herself in further bother, Halep threatening another break only to be denied by a pin-point forehand pass.

This proved to be the turning point, the German breaking the next game before calmly serving out the set. She rammed home her dominance in the second set, breaking twice more and committing just three unforced errors to wrap up victory.

Kerber, who also won her first match, will next face Madison Keys. Should she take at least a set from the American on Thursday, she will be guaranteed a place in the semifinals. Even if Kerber fails to do so, she would still advance unless Halep defeats Cibulkova in straight sets. 

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Kuznetsova Holds Off Pliskova Fightback, Into Singapore Semifinals

Kuznetsova Holds Off Pliskova Fightback, Into Singapore Semifinals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – There may have been no final set haircut, but Svetlana Kuznetsova underlined her box office status at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global on Wednesday evening with a thrilling victory over Karolina Pliskova.

Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!

Kuznetsova withstood a spirited late comeback from No.4 seed Pliskova to eventually prevail, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(6), and confirm her place in the semifinals.

“After my journey here, and all the support of the fans and my team, I couldn’t let everybody down,” Kuznetsova said to Andrew Krasny in her on-court interview. “It’s from my heart. I have not been at my best these past years, but something just changed this year.

“I enjoy my game, I enjoy the crowd, I’m playing against the best players in the world and I really appreciate and am blessed to be here today.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova

This rediscovered joie de vivre has been evident for all to see in recent weeks as Kuznetsova embarked on an improbable late push for a Finals place. The Russian went from Asia to Russia in a desperate scramble for points, and so far her body is standing up to the arduous schedule.

Against Pliskova she started slowly, struggling to keep up with a blistering baseline assault. A couple of double faults gift-wrapped the decisive break in the first set, and when she fell behind in the second her prospects looked bleak.

This setback merely roused her into life, a more subtle approach starving the Czech of pace and sparking a run of four straight games. Skipping around second serves and buzzing to all corners of the court, the World No.9 levelled the match with another break before surging ahead in the decider.

The outcome, though, remained in the balance until the last. From 5-3 down, Pliskova went for broke, dragging herself back into contention only to fluff her lines when serving for the match at 6-5. In the tie-break, it was Kuznetsova’s turn to get jittery, watching three match points come and go. At 6-6 she carved out another, following a swinging a serve out wide with a forehand into the open court. This time there was no mistake, as she dragged Pliskova out of position just enough to send the next backhand beyond her reach.

For much of her 20s, Kuznetsova was a fixture at the year-end Finals but never made it beyond the round-robin stage. Now, on her sixth visit, the 31-year-old has finally broken her duck after defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska’s victory over Garbiñe Muguruza confirmed she would top the White Group.

On Thursday, Radwanska and Pliskova will battle it out to determine who joins her in the last four.

Official WTA Finals Mobile App, Created by SAP

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams broke the Open Era record for Grand Slam titles on Saturday night, beating her older sister Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 to win her record-setting seventh Australian Open title. Her 23rd major title moved her past Stefanie Graf’s record of 22 and puts her just one shy of the all-time record of 24 majors, set by Australia’s Margaret Court.

But in a career that has spanned three separate decades, having won her first major in the 90s (1999 US Open), 10 more in the 2000s, and 12 in the aughts, Serena stands alone as the greatest tennis player the game has ever seen.

Saturday night’s blockbuster final at Melbourne Park was a celebration of greatness, revolution, and longevity. There was nothing more poetic than for Serena to finally capture No.23 – she fell short in her last attempt at the US Open last fall – with Venus by her side. The Williams sisters took the sport by storm when they turned pro as teenagers in the late 90s. Venus got the ball rolling, but it was Serena who carried it.

“There’s no way I would be at 23 without her, there is no way I would be at 1 without her, there’s now way I would have anything without her. She’s my inspiration. She’s the only reason I’m standing here today, the only reason the Williams sisters exist. So thank you, Venus, for inspiring me to be the best player I could be.”

As Venus joked in her speech on court, she had a front row seat for Serena’s 23 major titles, whether because she was on the court – she is now 7-8 in Slam finals with seven of those losses coming to her sister – or playing the role of cheerleader in the players’ box. Together they now hold 30 major singles titles.

“I don’t think we’re going for the greatest story in sports,” Venus said, when asked how she reacts whenever the reference is made. “We’re just going for some dreams. In the case that we are, what an honor.

“What an honor.”

Melbourne belongs to Serena, who in addition to breaking the Open Era record for major titles, also reclaimed her position atop the rankings, overtaking last year’s champion Angelique Kerber at No.1. But 23 was the number of the day. Before taking to the podium to accept her trophy, Serena switched out her match shoes for a pair of Nike Air 23s, an homage to another great sporting champion, Michael Jordan.

“His Airness” wrote her a letter, delivered on the set of ESPN, congratulating on her record-breaking feat.

Aside from sending every record book back to the printer, Slam No.23 puts Serena firmly ahead of the woman to whom her domination is often compared in Stefanie Graf. Both women showed incredible dominance – Graf remains the last palyer to complete the Calendar Slam – and the German still holds the record for weeks at No.1, at 377 (Serena trails at 309 weeks). But this is where Serena’s longevity reigns supreme.

“My first Grand Slam started here, and getting to 23 here, but playing Venus, it’s stuff that legends are made of,” Serena said. “I couldn’t have written a better story. I just feel like it was the right moment. Everything kind of happened. It hasn’t quite set in yet, but it’s really good.”

Graf’s glorious career ended in 1999 at the age of 30. By contrast, Serena has won 10 major titles after the age of 30. At 35 years old she continues to be the standard against whom all others are measured, and given her performance over the fortnight in Melbourne, that window is not closing anytime soon.

En route to the title, Serena faced down four current or former Top 10 players and did not lose a set, never once even going to a tie-break. In five of her matches she finished with more winners than unforced errors.

This was a relaxed and focused Serena. And a stress-free Serena is a dangerous one.

“I feel like my game is good,” Serena said. “I was thinking yesterday on the practice court that gosh, I’m playing better than I have ever. I thought, man, I’m hitting pretty well. It felt really good to know that I’m playing better and I’m here to take this game pretty seriously.”

Numbers won’t matter much for Serena going forward. But they also don’t lie. As she repeatedly insists, she is playing with house money and everything from here on out is a bonus. From the outside, the focus will shift to the prospect of eclipsing Court’s record of 24 major titles. It’s a nice goal, but whether she beats it or not will have zero impact on her legacy.

“I’ve been trying to live it (play stress-free) for quite some time now, but definitely I agree that this tournament I was really able to do it even though I was trying to do it and trying and trying. I think having to play those two matches in the first two rounds, I had no choice but to be better.

“I really was OK with, not losing, but I knew that I didn’t have to win here to have to make my career. For whatever reason that settled with me this time. I don’t know why. I wish I could tell you. I want to know because I definitely want to do that next time,” she said with a laugh.

Outside of Billie Jean King, no woman – or women, if you rightfully include Venus – has had more impact on the women’s game. They introduced and perfected the power game. They forced the rest of the field to match their intensity and physicality. In elevating their status as pop culture icons they elevated the game, bringing what was traditionally considered a country-club sport to the masses.

And they did it by marching to the beat of their drummer, faltering and flying on their own specific terms. 

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