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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BIEL/BIENNE, Switerzland – Top seed Barbora Strycova is into her second semifinal of the season after No.7 seed Julia Goerges was forced to retire one game into the third set of their quarterfinal at the Ladies Open Biel Bienne, with the Czech prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (ret.). Strycova will face fellow Czech Marketa Vondrousova in Saturday’s semifinals.

The 31-year-old rallied from a set down with some gritty defending and resilience in the second set. After holding in a 15-minute game at 2-all in the second set, Strycova slowly grabbed the momentum back her way to take the second set.

Goerges, who had seen her forehand misfire regularly throughout the latter half of the second set, called the trainer after the second set and took a medical timeout to get her right arm massaged. Strycova won the first game after the changeover and the German was forced to call it a day, citing a right wrist injury.

“We had always tough matches against each other,” Strycova said. “It’s very tough to play against Julia because we know each other very well, we used to play doubles together, and we are going to play again a little bit. It’s never easy, but we both want to win.

“I’m happy that I won, but not in this way because it’s always very hard to see someone injured and have to walk off from the match.”

It was a bad luck ending to a great week for No.46 Goerges, who dominated much of the match against Strycova before succumbing to injury. The 28-year-old fired 18 winners to just 6 unforced errors in the first set, smothering Strycova with her heavy hitting despite the retirement, finished with 33 winners to 21 unforced errors. Strycova hit 8 winners to 11 unforced errors for the match.

Despite being besieged by Goerges’ offense, Strycova found a way to problem-solve the match, throwing in a good amount of variety with dropshots, slices, and the occasional serve and volley to keep the German uncomfortable.

“It feels nice,” Strycova said. “The court is very comfortable to play on, the ball is coming to you very nice. It took me some matches to get used to it but I feel good.”

Next up for Strycova is her 17-year-old compatriot Vondrousova.

“Another young gun from Czech! I saw her play here already and she’s playing very well,” Strycova said. “She’s playing from the qualifying so she has a lot of matches under her belt. It will be a tough one because she’s young and she wants to play the best tennis she can so I have to be ready so I have to play my best tennis as well.”

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Gavrilova Stuns Halep In Rome

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Daria Gavrilova continues to save her best tennis for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia; looking to back up her run to last year’s semifinals, the Aussie outlasted Mutua Madrid Open winner Simona Halep, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the third round.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

“I played pretty well the whole match,” Gavrilova said after her win. “It was always going to be a tough battle because we’re pretty similar players.

“A few years back, I was watching her play thinking, ‘I could play like her,’ and beating her today was an unreal feeling. I was super happy. After the rain delay, I could reset and come out there playing very good!”

Halep needed three sets to defeat Gavrilova in their only previous encounter at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open, and the match was headed to another photo finish when a rain delay halted proceedings at one set apiece.

“Maybe if it wouldn’t rain, maybe I would have played better,” Halep said in her post-match press conference. “But that’s it. I cannot change anything. If it’s raining, it’s raining. If I lose, you lose. I won a lot of matches last week, so I don’t give up now that I lost one match.”

Play has been suspended due to rain ☔️ #ibi16 https://t.co/HBmfgHoqMu

Working her way through an even contest, the 2009 French Open junior finalist looked to be fading, but quickly caught fire after saving a break point in the fourth game.

Showing off the sort of boundless energy that has become her signature, the unseeded Aussie promptly broke serve in the next game and all but ran away with the match from there. Surviving a brief hiccup when serving for it, she broke once more at love to clinch the match in just under two hours, hitting 30 winners to 31 unforced errors.

The win was Gavrilova’s first over a Top 5 player this season, and second of her career – having previously defeated then-World No.2 Maria Sharapova in the second round of last year’s Miami Open ahead of her Roman run.

Though Halep didn’t display the form that took her to a second career Premier Mandatory title in Madrid, the Romanian nonetheless hit 29 winners of her own, but wasn’t able to make up for her 33 unforced errors hit over the course of three sets.

“It’s not a big drama that I lost today,” Halep said. “But it still was a loss and it’s not easy.

“I take just a positive from last week. Today was tough for me to adapt, but still I could play better, but that’s it. I’m still confident, but I have to keep working to go to French Open.”

Up next for Gavrilova is No.9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Pietrangeli Court; the Russian eased past Madrid semifinalist Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-4, just before the rain delay. Growing uo in Russia, the 2009 French Open champion is a player she knows well.

“When I was little, my first coach was telling us about her childhood. She was our hero, as well as Maria. I have so much respect for her. It’s exciting, and I’m pretty sure she likes clay!”

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Serena Steadies To Reach Last Eight

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Trailing by an early break, top seed Serena Williams saved a set point to outlast countrywoman Christina McHale and ease into the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d”Italia, 7-6(7), 6-1.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

“I feel good, because I feel like she hits a lot of balls back,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I wanted to get a match in like that where she gets a lot of balls back and see how I was able to do against that and see how I was physically after that, too.

“I think physically, you know, every day is a new day for me, and I just try to see when I wake up. I just go from there.”

A three-time champion in Rome, Williams was looking to reach her first clay court final of the season, but first had to rise to the challenge of solving McHale, who had pushed her to three sets at the Miami Open and outlasted former No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the previous round.

McHale served for the set in the ninth game – having converted her eighth break point opportunity at 2-2 – but Williams stepped up at that crucial moment, racing out to a 0-40 lead and eventually leveling the set three points later.

“Anyone can win on any day, and everyone’s going and gunning. No one is coming out and saying, Oh, I play a seed so I’m going to lose. They are saying, Oh, I play a seed so I’m going to win this match. And I think that’s what we need in tennis.”

Still, the young American wasn’t done fighting, saving two set points and holding one of her own in the ensuing tie-break before the 21-time Grand Slam champion shut the door.

Playing far more consistent tennis in the second set, Williams broke three times to end the contest on her second match point, hitting 21 winners to 35 unforced errors throughout the 101 minute encounter. For her part, McHale stayed within reach on the stats sheet, making seven fewer mistakes but also three fewer winners, but was held back by her break point conversion rate – 1/10 against the big-serving Serena.

Up next for the World No.1 is Svetlana Kuznetsova, the last woman to beat her back in the round of 16 in Miami; the Russian survived an up-and-down affair with 2015 Rome semifinalist Daria Gavrilova, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

“I think right now she’s probably one of the best clay-court players. I couldn’t ask for a better match going into Roland Garros, so this is a perfect opportunity for me, win or lose, to see where I am and get ready for what I’m ready for, which is the main event.

“In my mind I’m always No. 1, and I think I have always thought that since I have turned pro. And in everyone else’s mind, even when I was injured they are like, You’re No. 1. I’m like, Yeah, sure. So everyone else thinks it.”

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Muguruza First Into Rome Semifinals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Garbiñe Muguruza advanced to her first semifinal of the season with a straight set win over Timea Bacsinszky at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

Last year, Muguruza locked horns with Bacsinszky three times, coming out on top on all three occasions. But for well over an hour at the Foro Italico, she struggled to subdue her Swiss rival and stamp her authority on the contest.

Ultimately, Muguruza’s aggression paid off, as she broke decisively in the final game of the opening stanza courtesy of a thumping cross-court backhand. The Spaniard continued to go for her shots in the second, reeling off the last four games to triumph, 7-5, 6-2, and set up a meeting with Madison Keys.

“I am satisfied. The matches I played with Timea before were very tough matches and very hard,” Muguruza said. “Obviously she’s Top 10. She’s there for a reason. So it’s a great victory for me on clay, also, because she beat Carla yesterday so that’s a sign she’s playing well.”

Muguruza arrived in the Italian capital on the back of an indifferent start to the year, winning consecutive matches at just three of her eight tournament outings. Despite her difficulties, the World No.4’s self-belief never wavered: “Obviously I didn’t have the results I had last year, but I’m doing exactly the same: practicing hard, getting ready and fit to get those good results, and that’s why this week is happening.

“I don’t think it’s magical. I have been doing everything I can since I started the year, but sometimes you don’t find the results you want. But for sure is a great tournament, this one.”

Over on Grandstand, Irina-Camelia Begu withstood a second set wobble to defeat Misaki Doi and reach the first Premier 5 semifinal of her career. After breezing through the first set, Begu came from 3-1 down in the second to eventually prevail, 6-2, 7-6(3).

By virtue of the result, Begu, who also reached the quarterfinals in Madrid, will return to the Top 30 in time to be seeded for the French Open, which begins a week on Sunday.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

With Serena Williams’ announcement that she is expecting her first child this fall and new mom Victoria Azarenka returning to action later this summer, here’s how the WTA’s Special Ranking Rule applies to both players and in all maternity cases:

To be eligible, a player must be out for a minimum of six months, maximum of two years and be ranked inside the Top 300 (or Top 200 in doubles) at time she stopped playing. The Special Ranking application and supporting medical documentation must be submitted within six months after the last professional tournament played.

For maternity cases, players must be ready to play their first tournament within 12 months of birth.

The Special Ranking will be the ranking earned immediately after the points of the last tournament she played have been added to the WTA Rankings:
-For Serena Williams, her Special Ranking would be No.1
-For Victoria Azarenka, her Special Ranking is No.6

Upon return, a player may use her WTA Special Ranking to gain entry (not for seeding) into eight tournaments within one year of her return date. The Special Ranking can be used at a maximum of two Premier Mandatory Tournaments (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing) and two Grand Slams.

In addition, any player who is a past singles champion of a Grand Slam or WTA Finals will be allowed an unlimited number of Singles Main Draw Wild Card nominations.

The complete details can be found in the 2017 WTA Rulebook – Special Ranking Rule: pg. 218-225; Singles Main Draw Wildcards: pg.67

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Santina Survive Russians For Rome Title

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza find themselves in pole position to complete the Santina Slam at the French Open with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-3 win over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to capture the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title – their first title since February and their first ever on red clay.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

Hingis and Mirza were in their third straight final since the start of the clay court swing, falling both times to the streaking Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in both the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Mutua Madrid Open. Across the net on Sunday were familiar foes in Makarova and Vesnina, who were playing just their second tournament together since last summer, having briefly split as the former healed a leg injury.

Winners of the last three major titles – and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global – Santina exploited that ostensible rust early on, roaring through the opening set and carving out a 5-3 lead in the second.

But the Russians had nearly won their most recent encounter at last year’s Wimbledon final, and wouldn’t accept defeat so easily, quickly leveling the set and later the match in a tie-break.

Hingis and Mirza shook off the hiccup to beat back their opponents and a gloomy forecast to capture their 14th title as a pair, and their fifth of 2016.

Heading into the French Open on a four-match winning streak, Santina next look to complete a box set of Grand Slam titles – a Santina Slam – that began at Wimbledon over Makarova and Vesnina, and took them through victories at the US Open and Australian Open in January.

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