Dubai: Kateryna Bondarenko vs Garbiñe Muguruza
Kateryna Bondarenko takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Kateryna Bondarenko takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
LONDON, Great Britain – Before the remaining eight battled it out this week at the All-England Club, the eleventh reunion of the WTA Alumnae & Friends Program was held at the San Lorenzo restaurant in SW19, drawing legends from around the world.
The reunion took place at San Lorenzo restaurant in SW19 with WTA Board Member Lisa Grattan serving as emcee. Notable former players in attendance included Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Betty Stove, Ilana Kloss, Frankie Durr, Mima Jausovec, Pam Shriver, Katrina Adams, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Rennae Stubbs and Mercedes Paz, who was celebrating her 50th birthday.
The highlight of the afternoon, which was overseen by Hall of Famer Peachy Kellmeyer and co-hosted by the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association, was the presentation of the Georgina Clark WTA Mother Award to the beloved Bulgarian former player and coach, Youlia Berberian-Maleeva.
Youlia coached three of her daughters into the Top 10 on the WTA Rankings: Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (No.3), Katerina Maleeva (No.6) and Magdalena Maleeva (No.4). The Maleeva sisters made Grand Slam history in 1993 when all three were seeded at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Combined, the trio won 39 WTA singles titles throughout a playing career spanning more than two decades (1982-2005) and Youlia was right beside them the whole time, attending more than 1000 tournaments.
Youlia herself was a decorated tennis player, although her career was restricted mostly to Bulgaria and other Communist countries due to travel restrictions imposed on Communist Bloc citizens by the Soviets. However, Youlia still took home 31 national titles across singles, doubles, and mixed, including winning the Bulgarian National Title nine times (1962-1976). She also won the Lebanon Open in 1965 and the Yugoslav Open in 1973, as well as led her country to two Fed Cup semifinals as the Bulgarian National Women’s Coach, a position she held for 13 years (1982-1995).
In 2004, Youlia opened the Maleeva Tennis Club to the public in Sofia. Owned by the Maleeva family, it is the largest sports complex in Bulgaria and offers year-round tennis and squash with Youlia as head coach.
Away from the tennis courts, Youlia has remained politically active and has served as the president of the Bulgarian Women’s Association since 1995. She holds an ongoing role as board member for the American University in Bulgaria, and from 1997 to 2001 she was a member of the Bulgarian parliament representing the anti-Communist bloc.
Youlia shared the story of the family’s struggle against the Communist regime, travel restrictions in early days and eventual successes in a book titled, “I Want, I Believe, I Can.”
The Maleeva sisters were in attendance for Youlia’s presentation of the award, along with Youlia’s husband, Georgi Maleev, her brother Edward and his partner Lynda, and three grandchildren – Lora, Timo and ‘Little Youlia’.
The Georgina Clark Mother WTA Award is named in memory of the WTA’s former vice president for European Operations and Worldwide Tour Director, who passed away in 2010. Clark was also the first woman to umpire a Wimbledon final – Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert, in 1984.
The award given in her honor recognizes women who’ve raised their own children and also contributed in a significant way to the life of the extended ‘WTA Family’. Previous recipients Ann Haydon-Jones, women’s tennis pioneer Gladys Heldman, Original 9 member Judy Dalton, Francoise Durr and former Swedish No.1 Ingrid Lofdahl Bentzer.
Here are a few more photos from the WTA Alumnae & Friends Reunion, courtesy of Art Seitz:
Going up! Watch as Angelique Kerber has a dining experience like no other at Dubai’s Dinner In The Sky.
LONDON, England – Serena Williams moved one step closer to a historic 22nd major with a straight set win over Elena Vesnina in Thursday’s Wimbledon semifinals.
Displaying no trace of the nerves that have occasionally accompanied her quest to match Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, Williams ruthlessly closed out a 6-2, 6-0 victory in just 48 minutes.
A rapid start saw the top seed race into a 3-0 lead with only nine minutes on the Centre Court clock. Venina, playing at this stage of a Grand Slam for the first time, did eventually get on the board, but it was merely delaying the inevitable, Williams firing an ace down the T to close out the set in emphatic fashion.
Williams tightened her grip on the contest at the start of the second, wrong-footing her dumbfounded opponent to earn two more break points. Only one was required, Vesnina wilting following another taxing baseline exchange.
And as the finishing line approached there was no let up for Williams, who found an answer to every question posed by the Russian, completing a victory with another flawless service game.
Serena Williams is posting some absolutely absurd stats today. On fire. #Wimbledon https://t.co/12pMcCtzcf pic.twitter.com/Fm4HEyWYec
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 7 July 2016
“I’m very happy, you know, I was really focused today because we’ve had a lot of tough matches before. And especially on this surface I knew she could really bring it to me so I was ready,” Williams told the BBC afterwards. “It’s never easy out there, every point you have to fight for.
In the final she will face either sister Venus Williams or her conqueror at this year’s Australian Open, Angelique Kerber.
“It’s weird I can’t believe I’m in the final again. You know I’m 0 for 2 [in Grand Slam finals] this year so I’m determined to get at least one. It would be great [to play Venus] because then we’d be guaranteed to have a Williams on the trophy – that’s the ultimate goal for both of us and obviously I want her to do well, and if not Kerber would be another good match. I played her in Australia. Either way I look forward to it.”
More to follow.
Angelique Keber takes on Monica Puig in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Highlights from all the third round action on Day 4 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – Chan Hao-Ching and Yaroslava Shvedova shocked top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic to make it through to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The fifth-seeded pair won through in a thrilling decider to take the match 7-5, 3-6, 10-3.
“We lost in a super tiebreaker and still I think we had lots of opportunities,” said Mladenovic afterwards. “We had a big lead in the first set and I think we should have closed it out and won probably, but it’s tennis, and the girls are playing well as well and in the third set anything can happen.”
Mladenovic was not too disappointed, however, adding that she and Garcia were both working on their singles game while competing in doubles.
“It’s not easy, it’s just our second tournament of the year,” she said. “I still think we had a good run in Melbourne – lost in the semis – here we had a tough tournament. It’s our goal this year, we are going to be more focused on our singles and we are trying new things, like we are switching sides every set and like really working on our singles game.”
The 23-year-old remains hopeful that she and her partner will impress over the course of the year.
“It’s just the beginning of the season,” she pointed out. “We are looking forward, the season is very long and Indian Wells, Miami coming up soon so everything is positive.”
Second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina progressed in a topsy-turvy clash with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, winning 6-1, 3-6, 10-5.
Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai had a straightforward quarterfinal against Chan Yung-Jan and Martina Hingis, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Angelique Kerber has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
It’s time to crown June’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, July 15.
How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.
DUBAI, UAE – Sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai will move to the top of the Road to Singapore leaderboard on Monday after their brilliant run to the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
They beat Chan Hao-Ching and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 6-3, to set up a final clash with Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
“It was closer than it looked,” admitted Hlavackova afterwards. “The second set got trickier…I’m very happy to go through.”
The Russian pair were first to book their place, beating third seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova, 6-4, 6-3.
“It was really important to win this game, and I’m just so happy that we’re in the final now in Dubai,” said Vesnina afterwards.
More to follow.