Madrid: Shot Of The Day (Friday)
Simona Halep has Friday’s shot of the day at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Simona Halep has Friday’s shot of the day at the Mutua Madrid Open.
WTA Insider | The Insider team takes a long look back at the 2016 season’s ups and downs, Angelique Kerber’s rise to the top, and break down the best moments of the year.
Simona Halep takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open.
An interview with Petra Kvitova before her opening round match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
An interview with Serena Williams after her win in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Speaking to the media for the first time since facing down a knife-wielding intruder in her Prostejov flat, Petra Kvitova delivered a strong address to the tennis world, vowing to look towards a bright future where she returns to the court once again.
“While what has happened to me was very scary, I do not see myself as a victim,” she said in a statement. “I do not feel sorry for myself, and I will not look backwards.”
Kvitova was attacked in her home on Monday, suffering multiple lacerations in her left hand as she fought off the attacker, posing as a gas inspector. Following a surgery that repaired two nerves, Kvitova’s doctor recommended the two-time Wimbledon champion not resume training for at least six months, and can bear no weight in that hand at all for up to three.
“I will use all my energy to focus on my recovery, and will do everything I can to return to the sport I love as soon as possible.”
The former world No.2 finished 2016 on a high note, winning the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai without dropping a set; though she fell out of the Top 10 earlier in the season, she finished the year ranked No.11, and appeared poised to make a strong surge back up the rankings – even as a foot injury attempted to derail her pre-season.
Updating fans on her recovery, Kvitova discussed being able to move the fingers in her left hand for the first time since the attack, describing it as “the greatest Christmas present I could have wished for.”
Check out Kvitova’s full press conference below (in Czech), and click here to read the full transcript of the Czech star’s statement, in English.
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Caroline Garcia in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
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.
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.
Watch British No.1 Johanna Konta pose for a very special portrait between matches at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
A blockbuster quarterfinal between former Grand Slam and Roland Garros champions headlines an enticing slate of quarterfinals in Rome on Friday. We preview the matchups right here at wtatennis.com.
Friday, Quarterfinals
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. [9] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #19)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 8-3
Key Stat: Williams has won 72 of her last 76 matches on clay.
Less than two months ago Svetlana Kuznetsova sent Serena Williams tumbling from the Miami draw in stunning fashion, winning 12 of the final 15 games to notch her seventh career victory over a reigning World No.1. That victory snapped Williams’ 20-match winning streak at Miami and put Kuznetsova into the quarterfinals at Key Biscayne for the first time since 2009. Here in Rome, Kuznetsova will try to do the unthinkable again. But three-time champion Williams, who owns a 13-match winning streak at Rome, is looking forward to the challenge of trying to make it 14 against one of the game’s hottest players. “I think right now she’s probably one of the best clay-court players,” Williams said of Kuznetsova on Thursday. “I couldn’t ask for a better match going into Roland Garros, so this is a big opportunity for me, win or lose, to see where I am.”
Pick: Williams in three
[3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4) vs. [11] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #10)
Head-to-head: Muguruza leads, 3-0
Key Stat: Muguruza has lost just six games in two rounds in Rome.
Is Garbiñe Muguruza ready to put aside her early season frustrations and break out in a big way on the red clay of Rome? She’s been turning heads with lopsided victories in the last two days over Ekaterina Makarova and Jelena Ostapenko, and even the 22-year-old Spaniard has been impressed with her level of execution in Rome. “I’m thinking everything I tried, everything I did, was working,” Muguruza said after her second-round win on Wednesday. Things have been working pretty well for Timea Bacsinszky as well. The Swiss has won 15 of her last 17 on clay and she battled past last year’s runner-up Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals. Bacsinszky likes to dirty it up and frustrate her opponents with death-defying defense, changes of pace and a wicked backhand. To keep rolling, Muguruza will have to patiently deal with those tactics, paint the lines and look to close at net.
Pick: Muguruza in three
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #35) vs. Misaki Doi (JPN #45)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Doi is the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist in Rome.
With three quarterfinals on her last four clay events, Irina-Camelia Begu is starting to look more and more like a Roland Garros dark horse every day. The 25-year-old Romanian has secured Top 10 wins in back-to-back weeks on the European clay, taking out Garbiñe Muguruza in Madrid and Victoria Azarenka in the second round here in Rome. On Friday she’ll face the week’s biggest surprise in Japan’s Misaki Doi. Japan’s No.1 had lost seven straight tour-level matches heading into Rome, but after three consecutive wins (including the two best wins of her career on the dirt rankings-wise) she has earned the best clay-court result of her career. Can she keep the dream alive against Begu or will it be the surging Romanian who moves on to the semis?
Pick: Begu in two
Madison Keys (USA #19) vs. Barbora Strycova (CZE #36)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Both Keys and Strycova have reached their first quarterfinal at Rome.
One immensely talented youngster is questing to live up to the hype in Rome, while a cagey veteran is playing some of her best clay-court tennis to date. Madison Keys and Barbora Strycova have each managed to play some scintillating tennis at the Foro Italico, and as a result they’ll meet for the second time in as many weeks with a spot in the semifinals on the line. 21-year-old Keys, who is in the early days of her relationship with new coach Thomas Hogstedt, defeated Strycova in straight sets last week in Madrid, and the pair have split their two previous meetings to date. Strycova, not known for her clay prowess, notched her first Top 5 win on the surface last week against Angelique Kerber and has not dropped a set thus far in Rome. Opportunity knocks for both Keys and Strycova in the Eternal City – who will answer the bell?
Pick: Keys in three
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor