Tennis News

LONDON, Great Britain – For the first time since 2009, Serena Williams and Venus Williams have made the semifinals of the same Slam. Serena booked her spot on Tuesday with a clean 6-4, 6-4 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Venus followed suit with her own straight set win, 7-6(5), 6-2 over Yaroslava Shvedova.

So is an All-Williams final in the cards? Not if Angelique Kerber or Elena Vesnina have something to say about it.

The Australian Open champion beat No.5 seed Simona Halep, 7-5, 7-6(2) in her toughest test of the tournament, while Vesnina played her best match of the fortnight to beat Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2, 6-2 to make her first major semifinal.

Serena Williams has her swagger back: Serena has been taking care of business on court. With her win over Pavlyuchenkova to advance to her eighth straight Slam semifinal, she has lost just one set at Wimbledon. Since her second round three-set win over Christina McHale – where she hit 40 unforced errors – she has cleaned things up dramatically, hitting no more than 19 unforced in any single match since. In her five matches she’s also dished out two bagel sets. It’s all shaping up perfectly for the World No.1 on court.

But off-court, her swagger has been even more apparent. Through much of last year, as she marched toward a possible Calendar Grand Slam, there was an intentional, purposeful humility about Serena. When asked to talk about herself the frequent phrases were some iteration of, “I’m just trying the best I can can.” She worked overtime to diffuse any pressure, talking up the qualities of the field and the task at hand. There was an air of uncertainty about her, despite the results she was racking up.

That has not been the case at Wimbledon. From the get-go Serena has been on edge. In a good way. In a very refreshing way. In a way that should worry the remaining semifinalists.

Serena is backing herself here. She is not shying away from her accomplishments or her qualities. Serena is reminding everyone, not just with her play but now with her own words, that’s the World No.1, the best player on the planet, and one of the greatest of all time.

Here’s a sample of some of what we’re hearing in the interview room:

Q. In the interview when you came off court after your win, you said, I know mentally no one can break me. What did you mean by that?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think it says it in itself. I’ve been through a lot in my career, on the court and off the court. I’ve been in every position you can be in. So I know mentally I’m, hands down, one of the toughest players out here. It’s very difficult to break me down mentally.

Q. This is your eighth straight Grand Slam semifinal. How happy are you with the sort of consistency you’ve had getting through these first five rounds?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think it’s great. You know, like I said, it just shows another mental toughness of mine, just being able to come through and consistently get to this stage of the tournament. I think it’s something that is really noteworthy.

Q. Your serve is described as the single greatest stroke in the history of women’s tennis. We know about your mental toughness. Can you compare those two elements in your game?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, my serve is usually really good. I don’t know how it came about, though. Like, I’m not as tall as all the other players. So it’s strange that I have such a strong, hard serve.

But I have to say what I think really is my game is my mental toughness because just not only to be able to play, to win, but to be able to come back when I’m down. Both on the court and after tough losses, just to continue to come back and continue to fight, it’s something that takes a lot of tenacity.

Q. Her mobility is outstanding, she’s a great retriever. Your ground game looked really sharp. What are the keys for you on grass and how are you able to get to so many balls, crack those unbelievable backhands.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I move very well, as well especially when I want to (smiling). Yeah, I guess I’ve been wanting to lately just kind of get out there and pretty much get every ball back.

That’s one thing I’ve been working on, is my defensive game. I feel like I’ve got an extremely strong defensive game, and always have throughout my career. I wanted to bring it up to par again the way it was, so… I’m glad you noticed.

Q. Could you talk about your intensity. Do you feel it’s just you? Is it something you embrace and love? Do you step away and say, Whoa, a bit too much?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, it’s no secret, I’m a very intense player. I’m so passionate at my job, just like you guys are with writing. I hope you are just as passionate. This is what I do, and I love what I do.

I wake up since I was three years old to do this. These are the moments that I live for. The passion and the intensity that I have is what makes me Serena. I can’t change, nor would I ever want to be different.

Q. Those sort of bright spots, how much can that give you confidence, you’re moving in the right direction or where you want to be?
SERENA WILLIAMS: It gives me a lot of confidence. I know what it takes to win these tournaments. It’s just about now just doing it.

Q. If you’re going to struggle and fight, is this the best venue for you to do it at where you have the grass underfoot, big serve going?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don’t think that’s a fair statement. I think I’ve struggled and fought on every surface and I’ve come out on top. It really doesn’t matter what surface it is for me.

Q. There seems to be a notion out there that trying to get your 22nd major singles title to equal Graf’s mark wears on you. I want to ask you how much you think about that. What do you think of the idea that some people think it’s a difficult mental thing for you? How much do you think about that number 22?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think more or less about winning Australia, I think about winning the French Open. Didn’t happen. I think about winning Wimbledon. I don’t necessarily think about winning 22.

Mentally I’ve been further down than anyone can be. Well, maybe not anyone, but I’ve been pretty low. There’s nothing that’s not mentally too hard for me.

Through it all she’s been as gracious as she has in the past in complementing her opponents and celebrating in the success of her fellow Americans at Wimbledon. But the tone has been different here in London compared to Roland Garros or the Australian Open. Serena is sending a clear message both on and off the court: She’s done feeling sorry for herself or being scared of failure. She’s here to win Wimbledon.

Venus Williams turns back the clock: The feel good story of the fortnight is, without a doubt, Venus Williams. At 36 years old she’s back in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 2009. She’s brushed aside three young upstarts in Donna Vekic, Maria Sakkari, and Daria Kasatkina in the first three rounds, before rolling past two veteran opponents in Carla Suárez Navarro and Yaroslava Shvedova. And she’s not done yet. Put aside those patronizing questions about everything now being a bonus for Venus, that she should just be happy to have made the semifinals.

The five-time Wimbledon champion wants more, and she’s one win away from a possible final showdown against her sister. “Semifinals feels good,” a smiling Venus said. “But it doesn’t feel foreign at all, let’s put it that way.”

Venus’s journey back to this stage at a major tournament has been five years in the making. Diagnosed with an auto-immune disease in 2011, she has played on, showing flashes of brilliance but struggling to string it together at the Slams. The whispering voices wondered why she continued to play when it appeared her glory days were behind her.

“Retiring is the easy way out,” Venus said. “I don’t have time for easy.

“The most difficult part of the journey is just not being in control because when you’re an athlete, you’re used to being in control, being able to work for anything,” Venus said, when asked about how she’s learned to manage being a high-level athlete and Sjogren’s Syndrome. “Not being able to do that is a challenge. Also it was a relief for me to know what was wrong with me because I hadn’t felt well in a while. That was, Okay, I’m not crazy. So that was a good moment.

“This has been my life. What can I say? I wouldn’t wish it any other way. It’s been my life. It’s been a beautiful life. It’s been a great experience. It’s been everything.”

As for what the last five years have taught her, Venus pointed to the two qualities that have always defined her career: fearlessness and self-belief in the face of the odds.

“It’s easy to be afraid. You have to let fear go. Another lesson is you just have to believe in yourself. You just have to. There’s no way around it. You’ve got to believe in yourself. No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to every time.”

Angelique Kerber on a roll: Under the radar suits Angelique Kerber’s personality. She’s a quiet champion. The spotlight can be blinding. Sometimes it can burn. Kerber felt that when she arrived in Paris in May as the Australian Open champion. People were talking about her. That wasn’t the case here in London.

“When I arrived in Paris, I was feeling much more pressure,” Kerber said. “I did it actually by myself, to put a lot of pressure on me. Also, I was not handling it so well to do everything also off court. It was everything too much, I think.

“When I arrived here, I was telling myself, just like in Australia, Just be relaxed, playing round by round, not making things actually too much complicated, not putting pressure on myself. So that was actually what I changed, what I learn also from Paris. Just also focusing on the tennis thing, on my practice, being more relaxed.”

Kerber’s career about the work. When she can block out the distractions and just focus on the work, her best results have come. Last year she won four titles but never progressed past the third round at any major. This year she start the season with her first major win and she she’s a win away from contesting another major final.

“I know that I have the game to win the big tournament,” she said. “I know that I know how to do it right now. But the pressure is there, of course. I mean, I’m just looking forward to it. I know that I have a lot of confidence right now. I’m feeling good on grass court. This is what counts.”

Kerber is the only semifinalist who has yet to lose a set, and though her first four matches were against unseeded opponents, she played a confident match to dispatch of No.5 seed Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. Kerber has not been broken in three of her five matches, and she’s put more than 90% of her returns in in her last three matches.

Elena Vesnina’s Grand Slam breakthrough: With a 6-2, 6-2 decimation of the streaking No.19 seed Dominika Cibulkova, Elena Vesnina betters her already career-best run by reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal in singles. With a winking nod towards her apparent Lendl Effect boost, stay tuned for a full Insider take on the Russian veteran.

Rankings Watch: Kerber is set to move back to No.2 after Wimbledon. She can overtake Serena for No.1 if she wins the title and Serena loses in the semifinals.

Venus will move to No.7 by reaching the semifinals and can climb to No.6 by reaching the final, which would be her highest ranking since week of Feb. 14, 2011. She could move to No.5 by winning the title.

Vesnina was ranked No.122 in mid-February this year. By reaching the semifinals she will move into the Top 25. She would move to a career-high No.18 by reaching the final and would make her Top 10 debut (at No.9) if she wins the title.

Emotional rescue: Players and pundits focus on the importance of physical recovery. It’s no surprise that a team of physios, trainers, and a regular regimen of ice baths are standard in today’s game. But what about emotional recovery? There are no massage tables or tape jobs for that.

That was the dilemma for Dominika Cibulkova, who came out flat and just couldn’t get things going against Vesnina.

“I think it was the biggest issue today for me,” Cibulkova said. “When you see me play, I get really, really emotional. Some players, they don’t get so many emotions, but I just play with it. That’s how I am. Maybe if I would get the day off, it would help me. But it was just so close playing today’s match after yesterday. So I think that was the toughest for me, I would say. It was more tough for me than maybe physically.”

“I have to say Vesnina played really, really well,” Cibulkova said. “It was just all together. She was playing really well.”

And for those who are on Domi Wedding Watch: It will go forward as planned on Saturday.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looks to build: The 25-year-old was into her first Slam quarterfinal in five years, a good reward for the hard works she’s been putting in with her coach Dieter Kindlmann. Could this be the spark that Pavlyuchenkova needed to get her prodigious career back on track? She was a three-time junior Slam champion but her transition to the pro tour has been spotty for someone of her pure talent.

This was quite the chunk of junior talent. Junior Slam winners start with AO left to right. pic.twitter.com/bbBxEPsZvu

— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) July 5, 2016

The best news to come out of the week for Pavlyuchenkova was her expressed ambition. She told reporters that after Miami she realized she had to take a more disciplined approach to her tennis and hiring Kindlmann was a big part of that. Against Serena, she played with purpose and her performance was one to be proud of.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, so it’s very special right now playing against Serena on Centre Court here,” she said after the match. “I was very nervous today before the match because I didn’t want to go out there and just enjoy, I really wanted to win.” That was very good to hear.

The foolishness of youth: Let’s end it on this.

Q. A few years ago you said that you would never expect to be playing tennis being 35 years old, still in the pro career. If someone would tell you you’d be still playing being 40 in the pro tennis, do you think it’s feasible or not?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, you have to understand that 21 year olds are foolish. I didn’t think I was going to be here at 36. Now, if I’m here at 46, I will say that 46 year olds are foolish. I don’t think I’ll be here, but we’ll see.

LONDON, England – History is on the line at Wimbledon on Saturday as Serena Williams chases her 22nd Grand Slam title when she faces the in-form Angelique Kerber.

Before the two face off on Centre Court, here are 10 points to ponder…

(1) Serena Williams (USA #1) vs (4) Angelique Kerber (GER #4)
Head-To-Head: Williams leads Kerber, 5-2

1) Williams is attempting to equal the Open Era record of major titles.
If Williams wins, she will equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, and move to within touching distance of Margaret Court’s all-time leading tally of 24.

2) And she has a magnificent record in Grand Slam finals.
Serena has only lost six of her 27 Grand Slam finals: the 2001 US Open (to Venus Williams), 2004 Wimbledon (to Maria Sharapova), 2008 Wimbledon (to Venus Williams), 2011 US Open (to Sam Stosur), 2016 Australian Open (to Kerber) and 2016 Roland Garros (to Garbiñe Muguruza). This is the second-best winning percentage in the Open Era after Court (11-1)

3) Kerber was eight years old the last time a German won Wimbledon.
If Kerber wins, she will be the first German woman to win the Wimbledon title since Steffi Graf in 1996.

4) History repeating itself?
If Kerber is looking for good omens, then she will find several by studying the 1996 Championships: Kerber and Graf overcame opponents from five different countries en route to the final; both beat their opponent in a major final earlier in the season – Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario at Roland Garros.

The 1996 final also pitted the No.1 and No.4 seeds against one another. Although, unfortunately for Kerber, on that occasion the No.4 seed came out second best. 

5) Serena is trying to become the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era. Again.
If Serena wins, she will break her own record as the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. Serena was 33 years and 285 days when she won her 21st major, at last year’s Wimbledon; she will be 34 years and 283 days on Saturday.

6) Kerber displaying her bouncebackability…
Less than seven weeks ago, Kerber was crashing out in the first round of Roland Garros to Kiki Bertens. Victory over Williams in Saturday’s final will see her become just the third player in the Open Era to bounce back from an opening round defeat in Paris by lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish. The other two? Serena (2012) and Venus (2001), of course.

7) Achieving the Serena-Venus double.
Kerber is bidding to become just the eighth woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same tournament. Click here to find out the identity of the magnificent seven to have achieved the feat.

8) Kerber will be back up to No.2 after Wimbledon.
Serena’s semifinal victory over Elena Vesnina ended Kerber’s slim hopes of overhauling her atop the rankings. However, should the German lift the title, she will trail Williams by less than 500 points.

Meanwhile, the results in south-west London have maintained the status quo atop the Road To Singapore leaderboard; Williams and Kerber will stay in the top two spots, although both are yet to secure qualification for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. 

9) Kerber’s unblemished record.
Kerber has not dropped a set on her way to the final. The last player to win a major without losing a set was Serena at the 2014 US Open. Marion Bartoli was the last to achieve the feat at Wimbledon, in 2013.

10) The exclusive leftie club.
Kerber is attempting to become just the fourth left-hander to be crowned Wimbledon champion in the Open Era. The other three are Ann Jones (1969) Martina Navratilova (1978, 1979, 1982-87, 1990) and Petra Kvitova (2011, 2014). The only other leftie to reach the final was 1992 runner-up Monica Seles.

LONDON, England – Serena Williams has resumed her relentless march towards tennis history this fortnight at Wimbledon. As she closes in on a 22nd Grand Slam crown, here are some noteworthy numbers on the WTA’s indomitable World No.1.

(updated after her semifinal win at Wimbledon)

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 second-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 303 (Navratilova 306)
~ Serena is trying to win her seventh Wimbledon title (won it in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015); a seventh title would tie her with Steffi Graf and Dorothea Lambert Chambers on the all-time leaderboard
~ This is Serena’s 22nd time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 21)
~ Serena is 21-6 in Grand Slam final matches (her six defeats came against Venus Williams (2001 US Open, 2008 Wimbledon), Maria Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon), Samantha Stosur (2011 US Open), Angelique Kerber (2016 Australian Open) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2016 Roland Garros))

Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-6 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 36 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha, 2013 Cincinnati, 2016 Indian Wells, Kerber at 2016 Australian Open and Muguruza at 2016 Roland Garros)

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 176th & 177th straight weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186)
~ Serena is spending her 299th & 300th career weeks at No.1 during the Wimbledon fortnight (second-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($77.6M – 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: 244-20 (.924)
WTA titles: 29
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 16 (.500)
vs Top 10: 56-7 (.889)

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: 201-17
WTA titles: 23 of 33
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 13
vs Top 10: 41-5 (.891)

LONDON, Great Britain – In a rematch of the riveting Australian Open final, can Serena Williams lock up her 22nd major title over her Melbourne conqueror, Angelique Kerber?

The top seed has suffered three straight Grand Slam disappointments, but seems to have gotten her swagger back since her second round struggle against American Christina McHale, and played some of her best tennis of the fortnight to dismiss Elena Vesnina in the semifinals.

Kerber is looking for her second major of the season, and surely has fond memories of her Australian Open triumph over the six-time Wimbledon winner. The German hasn’t dropped a set through her first six matches, playing clutch tennis against No.5 seed Simona Halep and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in ehr last two matches.

Stay tuned for Saturday’s Wimbledon final Live Blog, which promises to-the-minute commentary an insight, courtesy of WTA Insider’s Courtney Nguyen:

Angelique Kerber (+2, No.4 to No.2): The German reached her second Grand Slam final of the season, knocking out five-time champion and former No.1 Venus Williams before battling through a two-set defeat to World No.1 Serena Williams. Kerber is back to the career-high ranking she first earned in February upon claiming her maiden major title at the Australian Open.

Venus Williams (+1, No.8 to No.7): Williams moves more comfortably into the Top 8 after making her first major semifinal since the 2010 US Open. Back up to her highest ranking since early 2011, Venus fought through five tough matches to finish in the final fall before falling to Kerber in straight sets.

Carla Suárez Navarro (+3, No.12 to No.9): Suárez Navarro returned to the Top 10 following her best career grass court season. Backing up a run to the semifinals of the Aegon Classic, the Spaniard reached the second week of Wimbledon for just the second time in her career, bowing out to Venus Williams despite having chances to serve out the opening set.

Svetlana Kuznetsova (+4, No.14 to No.10): The Russian veteran fulfilled her promise of returning to the Top 10 after having chances to do so earlier in the season. Kuznetsova is at her highest rank since the spring of 2010, just before her title defense of the French Open title she had won the year before. Kuznetsova played Serena Williams tough after knocking out former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki en route to the fourth round.

Dominika Cibulkova (+6, No.18 to No.12): Cibulkova’s march back toward the Top 10 continued at Wimbledon, where the Slovakian dynamo followed up her title run at the Aegon International with a run to the quarterfinals of the All England Club.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (+4, No.23 to No.19): Up to her highest ranking in over three years, Pavlyuchenkova played her best grass court tennis of her career to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal – upsetting Timea Bacsinszky and CoCo Vandeweghe along the way.

Elena Vesnina (+26, No.50 to No.24): Ranked outside the Top 100 to start the season, Vesnina cut her ranking in half following her fortnight at Wimbledon, where she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. After surviving a thrilling, rain-delayed encounter with doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova, she put on an emphatic display to dispatch Cibulkova in the quarterfinals.

The following women all reached career-high rankings; click here to see the full rankings updated as of 7/11/16!

New #WTA Career-High Rankings@KikiBertens – No.26 @DKasatkina – No.29 @MonicaAce93 – No.33
Misaki Doi – No.36 @MariaSakkari – No.97

— WTA (@WTA) July 11, 2016

WHITE PLAINS, NY, USA – The USTA announced a major prize money increase for the 2016 US Open. A $4 million boost brings the total purse for the tournament to a record $46.3 million, a 10-percent increase over the 2015 US Open prize money totals.

In all, the US Open will provide the richest purse in tennis history at this year’s event.

Both the men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $3.5 million, the largest payout in US Open history. The average increase per round for the singles competition is 10 percent above the 2015 US Open. Both the men’s and women’s doubles champion teams will earn $625,000, the highest in US Open history, and overall doubles prize money has been increased by 10.5 percent.. The US Open Qualifying Tournament will offer more than $1.9 million in prize money, a 10 percent increase over 2015.

This year’s US Open, scheduled for August 29 through September 11 – with the US Open Qualifying Tournament beginning on August 23 – will feature a number of major enhancements, including a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, a new Grandstand Stadium, and a completely redesigned southern campus to ease accessibility and crowding throughout the site.

“We are proud that this year’s US Open will offer the richest purse in tennis history,” said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Katrina Adams. “We continue to invest in all aspects of this world-class event to provide the best services and experiences for the players, our fans, and all of the US Open partners.”

Round-by-round individual prize money for the US Open singles tournaments are as follows:

Singles:
Winner: $3,500,000
Runner-Up: $1,750,000
Semifinalist: $875,000
Quarterfinalist: $450,000
Round of 16: $235,000 
Round of 32: $140,000 
Round of 64: $77,200
Round of 128: $43,300

WTA CEO Steve Simon spoke at length about the importance of SAP’s analytic advancements on the company’s CEO Live Page.

“Running SAP HANA is definitely making it easier for fans to enjoy us,” said Simon. “It’s giving them the in-depth background information that they’re looking for. No longer is the fan just looking for pictures; they’re looking for the story behind the pictures, and SAP is helping us provide that.

“The goal of the WTA, which is currently the number one women’s professional sports league in the world, is not just to be the number one women’s sports league in the world, but to be competitive with all sports. Our partnership with SAP is going to allow us to build audience because of the stories that we’re able to tell, and thus be competitive in that marketplace.”

Click here to hear more from Simon in the full video as part of SAP’s Live Business Leaders series.

STANFORD, CA, USA – No.7 seed Alizé Cornet was taken to the brink in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic, but rallied from a set down to dispatch American Jennifer Brady, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in two hours and 44 minutes.

Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“I always wanted to come here to Stanford, but somehow I was always ending up in Washington, maybe because it was closer!” Cornet joked with Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. 

“But this time I really don’t regret it because I really love this place. It’s amazing, and a lot of champions have won the tournament, so I hope to go as far as I can.”

Playing her first match since reaching the third round of Wimbledon, Cornet fell behind 4-0 in the opening set and couldn’t quite catch up to Brady, who broke serve in a marathon game to put herself one set away from a first-ever WTA main draw win – though she reached the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in San Diego last fall.

“I just kept fighting. She was playing really well, big serve and forehand.

“I had some trouble in the beginning of the match; I was really tense and the ball was coming really fast against me. But I just kept trying to hang in there, and try to give my best every point.”

Only one break separated the two in the second set, which Cornet took in another dramatic game to level the match. Racing out to a 5-2 lead in the decider, Brady made one last surge to force the Frenchwoman to serve out her spot in the second round. Clinching the contest with a classic one-two punch, booked a second round meeting with Zheng Saisai, who was the first winner of the day over wildcard Maria Mateas, 7-5, 6-1.

“In the end it was really really close, and I went for it and it worked out, so I’m really happy to be in the second round.”

The night session features an all-Stanford battle between former All-American Nicole Gibbs and Carol Zhao, who helped the university win the 2016 NCAA Championships.

More to come…