Kaohsiung: Monday Highlights
Highlights from first round action at the Taiwan Open.
Barbora Strycova has Tuesday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”
“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”
Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:
On whether she ever felt misunderstood:
“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”
“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.
“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”
On being taught to believe in herself:
“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.
“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”
On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:
“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”
In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016
On body image:
“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”
On her legacy:
“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”
Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.
With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016
Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Elizaveta Kulichkova showed why she was one to watch at the Taiwan Open, fighting her way out of a dangerous deficit to advance past Taiwanese wildcard Ya-Hsuan Lee, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Named by WTA Insider as part of Russia’s “Generation Next,” Kulichkova entered the tournament following some of the best results of her young career: at the Australian Open, she reached the 3rd round of a Grand Slam for the first time, dealing No.25 Andrea Petkovic an upset along the way.
In Kaohsiung, Kulichkova found herself in big trouble against Lee – the Russian dropped the first set and was actually down 0-3 in the second – before she found a way to play herself into the match.
“I didn’t play my best today so I didn’t feel so comfortable on court,” Kulichkova told wtatennis.com after her win.
“I just try to concentrate on my game, keep bringing back all the balls, and then I could come back eventually.”
Also coming back to advance into the second round is Donna Vekic, who notched her first WTA-level win of the year against Alison Riske in a seesaw match, 4-6, 7-5(5), 6-3.
The Croatian found herself four points away from defeat in the second set; Riske was serving for the match at 6-4, 6-5, before Vekic broke her serve at love to force a tiebreak before grabbing the set. Vekic hit nine aces to Riske’s 12 double faults in the two hour and forty minute-encounter.
The win was a boon for Vekic, who is now working with new coach David Felgate. The pair reunited before last month’s Australian Open after splitting in 2014.
Local favorite Su-Wei Hsieh survived a mid-match surge from Japan’s Ayama Okuno but advanced 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva, Zarina Diyas, Saisai Zheng and Kurumi Nara are all through to the second round while Naomi Osaka – who was looking to follow up her incredible Australian Open run – fell to Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella in straight sets.
No.1 seed Venus Williams will wrap up the Taiwan Open’s first round action when she takes the court against Taiwanese wildcard Pei-Chi Lee tomorrow.
Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Earlier this week, Vania King and Lauren Davis took a break from the Western & Southern Open to pay a visit to two Cincinnati-area hospitals.
Yanina Wickmayer had Tuesday’s shot of the day at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
PHOENIX, AZ, USA – A whirlwind homecoming for Olympic Gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands took her out to the ball game and out to the crowd on Wednesday, throwing the first pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Treated to a night of peanuts and crackerjacks, there’s no telling whether the American Olympian cares if she’ll ever get back as she spent the game rooting for the home team, who beat the New York Mets, 13-5.
Check out Mattek-Sands at the old ball game on the Diamondbacks’ official Facebook page and right here on wtatennis.com!
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Saint Petersburg is a city known for its arts and culture, so it’s no surprise that doubles co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis made a stop to take it all in at the State Russian Museum.
WTA Insider | In the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, keep up with the action as Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, and Agnieszka Radwanska all fight for quarterfinal spots in Cincinnati.