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UPDATE: Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament on Sunday citing inflammation in her shoulder, leading to a reshuffling of the draw that caused the following shifts:

– Halep has been drawn into the bottom half of the draw, along with No.2 Angelique Kerber, and No.8 Roberta Vinci, and No.10 Svetlana Kuznetsova. Before Serena’s withdrawal she had a tricky road to the final, but with No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza now moving up to replace Serena in the top half of the draw, Halep’s path is slightly easier. She opens up against either Daria Gavrilova or Annika Beck, with a potential third round match against Karolina Pliskova. Her projected quarterfinal opponent could be either Kuznetsova or Petra Kvitova.

– Muguruza replaced Serena on the top line of the draw and will open against either Monica Puig or a qualifier. She could play Stanford finalist Johanna Konta in the third round with either Dominika Cibulkova or Carla Suárez Navarro looming in the quarterfinals. If the draw holds to form, she could see Venus Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, or Madison Keys in the semifinals.

Can Simona Halep match her 2015 summer season?

This time last year Simona Halep was down in the dumps. She was still smarting from two bad early losses at the French Open and Wimbledon, and in her mind her season was over. That mentality freed her up to play some of her best tennis of the season, making the final in Toronto, final in Cincinnati, and her first-ever semifinal at the US Open.

Now she has to defend it.

So can Halep, currently ranked No.5, replicate or better that run? One thing is for sure: her decision to skip the Olympics can only help. The Romanian star announced last week that she would opt out of Rio due to concerns over the Zika virus. While missing the Olympics will be disappointing, the decision does free Halep up to focus on a real shot at winning the US Open. In fact with the bulk of the players interrupting their season by heading down to the Olympics, she could be the who takes advantage of an unfocused, fatigued, depleted field this summer.

Can Garbiñe Muguruza get back on track?

It took a month and a half before Angelique Kerber came down from the high of winning her first major title at the Australian Open. But by the end of March she was back to playing high-quality tennis and imposing herself in the draws. Since winning the French Open, Muguruza has gone 1-2, losing to Kirsten Flipkens in Mallorca and Jana Cepelova at Wimbledon. Again, a dip is expected earning your first major title, but when will it turn around for Muguruza?

The summer offers a big opportunity for the young Spaniard. She floundered here last year – again, after making her first Slam final at Wimbledon – winning just one match through the entire Emirates Airlines US Open Series (including the US Open). That opens up a big point grab for her this year, where she can gain some ground on Kerber and Serena in the rankings.

Can Angelique Kerber play healthy?

The World No.2 withdrew from Bastad last week due to an elbow injury and is now in a tough situation of balancing her need to play with her need to rest, especially with the upcoming Olympics.

Can Venus Williams ride that momentum?

Could we see Venus in Singapore for the BNP WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global? She’s currently 18th in the Road to Singapore rankings but she could make a big move if she continues her current form. After making the fourth round of the French Open and the Wimbledon semifinals, she’s into the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic this weekend. She looks relaxed and calm on court, and when she’s needed it she’s been able to elevate her game to get some tough wins. Another deep run in Montréal could really boost her chances not only to qualify for Singapore but also get her back in the Top 5.

First Round Matches to Watch: Lucie Safarova vs. Eugenie Bouchard, Monica Niculescu vs. Jelena Ostapenko, Yulia Putintseva vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Madison Keys vs. Elena Vesnina, Caroline Garcia vs. Barbora Strycova, Alizé Cornet vs. Andrea Petkovic, Misaki Doi vs. Daria Kasatkina.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Asia Muhammad was born into a family of athletes. Her parents played basketball; her brother Shabazz plays for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. Muhammad chose tennis, and almost instantly became a star on the junior circuit.

“I started having really good results, beating the top college players,” she told WTA Insider after beating Donna Vekic for just her second career WTA main draw win at the Brisbane International. “When I was younger, they had the rankings, and I started to beat them pretty badly. I started to think, “Why not? School is always going to be here.” My dad went to USC, and so that’s where I was going to go; it was always a dream, but if I want to do this, I need to start now.

“People sometimes ask me if I regret not going to school, and I honestly say no. My best friend went to USC, so I’ve still gone there to hang out, but I don’t regret it at all.”

At her last two junior tournaments, Muhammad earned wins over the likes of Heather Watson and Kristina Mladenovic, but the American admitted her all-court game took time to develop as she transitioned onto the senior level.

“In the beginning, I was always tall, so I was more of a power player. When I was 10, my coach Tim Blinkiron – who’s in Vegas and is Australian – right from the beginning, he had me volleying. Now, I’m so thankful for that, because the older you get, the tougher it is to try and do that. He’s always had me volleying, playing mini-tennis against boys, just for my hands.

“He’s always known what he wanted my game to be; I’ve trailed behind, not really trusting in it. But now, I’m getting to that stage where I know what I need to do and working on it. It’s there, but I just need to trust in it and do that.”

At 25 years old, Muhammad sees herself as a late bloomer in the vein of Samantha Stosur, one whose early investments could pay off big in the next few years.

“I think a lot of players who play like me had their successes later too, and it came with doubles first. I think doubles is a huge part of helping my singles with all the volleying.”

Muhammad is already a Top 50 doubles player, winning two titles in the last two years, and ended the 2016 season partnering Nicole Gibbs to reach the final of a WTA 125K in Hawaii. The pair joined up with other rising Americans like Shelby Rogers and Kayla Day for a pre-season bootcamp in Carson, California – courtesy of the United States Tennis Association.

“This was definitely my best pre-season of my career so far. Nicole and I would do fitness every day together and really push each other. That was very crucial to my pre-season training. I wasn’t in Vegas – that’s where I live – and I just knew I wanted something with a lot of structure, and that’s what you’re going to get there. We played a lot of tennis, had fitness every day, had amazing fitness trainers and physios helping us. It had everything there, and that helped a lot.

“That was the biggest difference, knowing myself and that I need to have structure, and then finding that and staying and sticking with that.”

Getting to know herself as a player and athlete has already paid dividends in Australia, where Muhammad enjoys ordering the local lattes.

“It’s definitely been up and down,” she said looking back on her career thus far. “I was one of the up and coming juniors, doing really well. I got stuck a little, trying to figure things out with my game. I try to move forward, and do a lot of different things. I think that takes a little bit longer to put all of that together because there’s a lot of moving parts.

“How I try to play takes a lot of guts, so I would get stuck not doing it, and then trying. That would make me feel all over the place. But this year, I just want to have consistent plays, doing the right things on the court no matter what.

“Maybe it’s taken me until 25 to really figure that out, but there’s nothing wrong with that; I’m only competing against myself. I’m really happy, healthy, and in a really good spot now. Everything that’s happened so far, I feel like that’s helped me get to where I need to get.”

Muhammad takes on World No.6 Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday morning.

More quick hits from Muhammad…

On growing up in a family of athletes…
It’s good because my mom and dad played basketball, my brothers played basketball. My brother Shabazz, who plays in the NBA, is so supportive. He’s literally my biggest fan; when he comes to watch me play, he gets so into it and wants me to do so well. But it’s also good because when I’m away from tennis, I can watch him play, and it’s a break. My whole family play sports, and so they understand the life and are really supportive.

From a young age, we were all so competitive. I used to play basketball against my brothers, and back when I was taller than them, I could beat them and push them around. But we went from being really competitive at a young age to just being so supportive of one another. We want each other to do well, like if I have a good win and Shabazz has a good game, it’s such a great day for us to be able to do it as a team even if we’re not playing the same sport.

On debating individual vs. team sports with her family…
We’ve definitely had disagreements with that, because, just for example, when you’re playing the first set of a match and get nervous or struggling, you can’t time out, sub, or do anything like that. I tell them how lucky they are to be able to do things like that, and that I’m out there by myself. Luckily, you have a partner to help you in doubles, but we’ve disagreed about things like that. I tell them, ‘You can go sit on the bench for a little; I can’t!’

On playing tennis with Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf in Las Vegas…
I think the thing that really helped was that my cousin and I were both living in Vegas, and we both started playing at the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club. Andre and Steffi would come out and were so nice; they would hit with us and everything. I just like the environment and the people around. It was a really good vibe.

On who she calls for dinner at tournaments…
Lately it’s been the American girls; I’ve been hanging out with Christina McHale a lot because we’re playing doubles. I also hang out with Samantha Crawford, Nicole Gibbs. We’ll do dinners and it’s just easy. We want each other to do well, and so it’s easy to hang out and talk about things. They understand; not only did I spend the pre-season with most of them, I grew up with them as well. Christina and I grew up traveling together in juniors. It’s crazy.

On the last song she listened to…
Can I look? Let’s see. It was Starboy by The Weeknd.

All photos courtesy of Tennis Photo Network and Getty Images.

BRISBANE, Australia – Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova have unfortunately had to withdraw from the Brisbane International due to injury. Sharapova was the defending champion at the Premier event.

Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Sharapova’s announcement came just hours before she was to take the court for her opening match.

“I hurt my forearm in practice a couple of days ago and need to precautionarily withdraw, with the Australian Open starting in just a matter of time,” Sharapova said. “This is such a special event for me, especially being the defending champion. I look forward to seeing all my fans in Brisbane next year.”

Shortly after the No.3-seeded Sharapova withdrew, the tournament’s No.1 seed, Simona Halep, was also forced to pull out, due to a left leg injury. She was going to play her opening match on Wednesday.

“I had problems with my Achilles in August and September, and then I didn’t feel it anymore, but now I’ve already had a couple of weeks again with the pain,” Halep told reporters. “I thought I would be ready to play here, to start the year here in Brisbane, but I don’t think that I can play a full match.

“I think it’s more important to be ready and take a little bit of a break.”

Halep is scheduled to play the Apia International Sydney next week – and she’s hopeful she will.

“Yeah, I’m planning to go to Sydney. Actually tomorrow I’m going there,” the World No.2 said. “It’s nothing dangerous – I did an MRI and it’s nothing dangerous. But it’s still an inflammation.

“I just have to take a few days’ rest.”

Sharapova and Halep were replaced by lucky losers Margarita Gasparyan and Ysaline Bonaventure.

Despite Tuesday’s withdrawals, the Premier event still has a dynamite field, led by 2015 Wimbledon finalist Garbiñe Muguruza. The No.2-seeded Spaniard will kick her campaign off on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in second round play, No.8 seed Roberta Vinci cruised past Dominika Cibulkova in a battle of Grand Slam finalists, 6-1, 6-1, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won a see-saw against Alizé Cornet, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, and No.6 seed Carla Suárez Navarro took on Samantha Stosur in the feature night match.

Ekaterina Makarova beat Gasparyan in the last first round match of the week, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Drama. The 2016 WTA season already has plenty of it.

A day after notching the biggest win of her career, Britain’s Naomi Broady saved two match points and rallied from 5-2 down in the second set and 5-1 down in the final set to beat Jelena Ostapenko, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Powering down 21 aces, No.122 Broady saved a match point in both the second and third sets to make her second WTA quarterfinal (2015 Québec City). The win came less than 24 hours after she scored her first Top 20 win, beating No.2 seed Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-4 behind another top-notch serving performance, hitting 14 aces in the match and serving at 68%.

Beyond Broady’s gutsy comeback, which was aided by a nervous attempt to close the match by the 18-year-old Latvian wildcard – she served for the match three times – controversy nearly derailed the match late in the second set.

Ostapenko's controversial racquet throw that hit a ball boy. Broady wanted her disqualified for this. #ASBClassic pic.twitter.com/42cHofe3wM

— Max (@MGLovesTennis) January 6, 2016

At 2-2 in the tiebreaker, Ostapenko ran to chase down a backhand and flung her racket towards the backstop. The racquet bounced off the ground and hit a nearby ballboy. Broady was incensed, believing that Ostapenko should be defaulted from the match for hitting the ballboy. The chair umpire issued a code violation to Ostapenko and the Latvian then pled her case, arguing that the racket slipped out of her hand.

With tempers at a boil, Broady was able to hold onto her lead in the tie-break to force a third but quickly fell behind. Finding some of her best form, Ostapenko settled down and took control from the baseline, running the rangy Brit from side-to-side to open the court and earn errors.

But from 5-1 up, Ostapenko got tight. Her shots began to fall shorter, giving Broady plenty of chances to take big swings with her forehand. Ostapenko’s serve, already shaky for much of the match – she hit 13 double-faults to four aces – increasingly became a liability. From 5-1 down in the final frame, Broady reeled off six straight games to seal the upset.

The two continued to trade verbal volleys after the match, both during the handshake and afterwards. On-court microphones picked up Broady telling Ostapenko after the handshake, “You hit the ballboy with your racket!” before returning to the court to salute the crowd.

Don't mess with a girl from Stockport! https://t.co/LJ9F4T8aGj

— Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) January 6, 2016

Broady took to Twitter after the match to clarify her side of things:

1-Just to put the record straight,it was not me causing an argument after the match.I was told how terrible my behaviour was frm my opponent

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

2-Its hard to know when to stick up for yourself and when to keep your mouth shut. I'm human. We live and learn

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

3- thanks to everyone in the WTA community and on social media who support me. #ontothenextone

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

Needless to say, 2016 has not been short of fireworks. Broady plays Sloane Stephens in then quarterfinals after the American needed three sets to beat Carina Witthoeft, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

STANFORD, CA, USA – Johanna Konta notched her first WTA title by denying Venus Williams her 50th. On Sunday the British No.1 prevailed in a tough toe-to-toe battle with Venus, winning, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 to win the Bank of the West Classic.

The win caps off an incredible 12-month span for the 25-year-old Eastbourne resident. Last July, Konta was ranked No.126 after a first round loss at Wimbledon, and went on an absolute tear on the North American hardcourts. She won back-to-back titles on the ITF circuit and would go 16-0 during the summer, including a successful qualifying campaign at the US Open, before losing to Petra Kvitova in the fourth round in New York.

That momentum continued in the fall, where she made the quarterfinals of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, beating top seed Simona Halep en route. Then, of course, came the biggest result of her career in January, when she pounded her way to her first major semifinal at the Australian Open.

Through it all, Konta had still yet to make a WTA final, let alone win a title. She rolled into Stanford ranked No.18 and seeded No.3. But after playing two fantastic matches to beat the top two seeds in Dominika Cibulkova and Venus, Konta has now moved into the Top 15, at No.14 and she sits at No.8 in the Road to Singapore.

If the season ended today, Johanna Konta, ranked outside the Top 125 a year ago, would be heading to the WTA Finals. What a climb.

WTA Insider caught up with Konta after her big win in Stanford.

WTA Insider: So how does it feel to accomplish such a big milestone, to win your first WTA title, a Premier title no less?
Konta: It feels pretty exciting, I have to say. It’s everything to do with today. It’s not just a final. I was playing against Venus Williams, such a champion. I was playing in a Premier tournament, as well. It was quite a lot of things. I’m really happy with how I was able to deal with that and really appreciate the situation for what it was and really be grateful and humbled by it. I’m just looking forward to reinvesting this experience that I gained today into future matches in my career.

WTA Insider: You talk a lot about learning from experience. What does this week teach you?
Konta: Specifically, when I’ll be on the match court again, who knows, on Tuesday in Montréal, maybe I’ll be in the a similar situation as I experienced today or I experienced yesterday, just be able to, even if it’s just for a millisecond, reflect on that, keep myself that much calmer. You know what I’ve been there, just stay calm and keep fighting. It’s just a lot of reassurance that whatever happens I can handle it.

WTA Insider: You had a set and a 4-1 lead in the final and let that second set slip away. What did you tell yourself between the second and third set?
Konta: I think it was really important to keep things in perspective. Venus Williams is a champion for reason. Champions raise their game. Champions are not going to give you a match just because they’re 4-1 down in the second. I was really going to have to win it and really have to stay out there and do my time and really simplify things. I think coming back it was really considering every single point a battle and win as many battles as possible.

WTA Insider: What is it about your match-up with Venus that produces such exciting matches? You two had played twice and split those meetings, and now you lead the head-to-head 2-1.
Konta: I think that just happens in tennis. You have certain match-ups and game-styles that create more compelling matches. I consider myself incredibly lucky if that’s how you see it, that I’m able to play such entertaining matches, share the court with Venus Williams, and entertain the people who come watch. That’s incredibly humbling. So thank you, that’s an incredible compliment. I said in my speech after that I really look forward to the many battles that I hope to have against her.

WTA Insider: Reflecting on the last 12 months. How do you put it all perspective? I know you’re a level-headed person but this has been a remarkable career-turnaround.
Konta: I guess from the outside it looks different than how I lived it because I lived every single day of it – also the previous 17 years. I think for me it felt very much like a progression and it continues to feel that way. For me I hope this is not the pinnacle of my career, I really am humbled by the experience to have this, but I’m also really motivated to reinvest this into my career and to keep helping me push forward and keep rising to the top of my sport.

WTA Insider: So what is your motivation? Do you set goals for yourself?
Konta: I don’t set myself any outcome goals. It’s very much a personal development thing. It’s about trying my best to not make the same mistake twice, or dealing better with situations. One match I didn’t do well with it, do my best in the next time in that situation, I’m going to do better. Even on the practice court, being able to deal with situations better and better.

WTA Insider: What’s the last situation you remember where you felt like you did not handle a situation on court well?
Konta: I do try to take the positive out of every experience and also, quite honestly, not beat myself up over it. If I’m too inexperienced in a situation, that’s just the way it is. That’s not something I can control, that’s only something I can learn from. I think my experience in the semifinal of the Australian Open was an unbelievable experience and something I never experienced before. I think whenever you have a first, that’s always going to have the deepest impact. It’s basically being thrown into the deep end and then, ‘Swim!’

WTA Insider: Well you’re swimming ok. So far it seems like you’re keeping your head above water pretty well.
Konta: I’m trying. I’m dog paddling [laughs].

WTA Insider: You’re up to No.8 in the Road To Singapore. I know it’s a long way off, but what would qualifying for the WTA Finals mean to you?
Konta: It’s definitely a far way off but if it’s in the cards for me, if it’s something I am able to achieve that would be unbelievable. For now it’s definitely a result of things that happened this year. Right now it’s about my health. It’s a quick turnaround between here and Montréal so it’s about getting myself prepared to play again on Tuesday and really take it from there.

WTA Insider: So are you going to actually take the time to enjoy this? Or is it just boarding a plane and heading to Canada now?
Konta: I’ve already said I’m planning to go to In n Out. So I’m going to enjoy that. But I mean the more present you keep yourself the more appreciative you are of the moment in time. So I’m just going to my best to not look too far ahead and to just take care of things as best I can in the here and now and just appreciate it for what it is.

WTA Insider: What’s your go-to order at In n Out and are you aware of the secret menu?
Konta: I heard about this secret menu and I’m disappointed in myself I didn’t figure it out earlier! Seriously! I heard about this and I was like what? But I’m a normal cheeseburger kind of person. So maybe… two of them. And fries.

WTA Insider: A strawberry milkshake to wash it down?
Konta: Oh that might be difficult for me because I don’t like strawberry flavor.

WTA Insider: Well there are other options, like chocolate and vanilla.
Konta: I’ve never had a milkshake, so maybe today’s the day!

Here more from Konta in the lastest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.