Hobart: Friday Highlights
Highlights from the semifinals action at the Hobart International.
Highlights from the semifinals action at the Hobart International.
THE WINNERS
Top seed Simona Halep was nearly flawless in the final of the BRD Bucharest Open, putting on a clay court masterclass in her 6-0, 6-0 win against Anastasija Sevastova to claim her second hometown title in three years.
“I am very happy, especially because I won like this,” Halep said. “I was very strong, I was confident and I can also say I was determined from the very beginning.
“It was a beautiful final and it’s also my 13th title. I will never forget this day.”
Read the match recap here.
Over in the Swiss Alps, local favorite Viktorija Golubic capped off a dream week by winning her first WTA title at the inaugural Ladies Championship Gstaad. Golubic defeated Kiki Bertens 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after a two-hour battle to claim the title in her home country.
Earlier in the year, Golubic’s performance at the Ricoh Open turned heads when she reached her first ever WTA-level quarterfinals. Now just over a month later, the 23-year-old has claimed her first WTA title.
“Yeah, it’s really amazing,” Golubic reflected on her meteoric rise. “In March, I qualified for Katowice and won one round – that was the first time in more than a year that I qualify for a WTA event. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, I played quarterfinals. That was such a new experience too.
“From that point on I improved even more, and to be here now as a winner is really incredible and amazing feeling.”
Read the match recap here.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of July 18, 2016.
Viktorija Golubic (SUI) +33 (No.105 to 72): Golubic’s performance at the Ladies Championship Gstaad earned her a maiden WTA title in front of her home crowd, as well as this week’s biggest ranking jump. The 23-year-old now sits at a career-high of No.72.
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) +17 (No.66 to 49): Despite the lopsided score line in the Bucharest final,
Kiki Bertens (NED) +5 (No.26 to 21): Golubic’s opponent in the Gstaad final also notched a big ranking jump this week. Bertens continues her steady climb with a new career-high of No.21, a hair away from breaking into the Top 20 for the first time.
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), +2 (No.17 to 15): Another deep run – this time to the semifinals at her home tournament in Gstaad – bumps up Bacsinszky two spots to No.15.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Bank Of The West Classic
Standford, USA
Premier | $687,900 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24
Citi Open
Washington DC, USA
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24
Ericsson Open
Bastad, Sweden
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24
Rogers Cup
Montreal, Canada
Premier | $2,413,663 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 25 – Sunday, July 31
Brasil Tennis Cup
Florianopolis, Brazil
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Sunday, July 31 – Friday, August 5
Jiangxi Women’s Tennis Open
Nanchang, China
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 1 – August 7
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Montreal
2. Angelique Kerber – Bastad, Montreal
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Montreal
4. Agnieszka Radwanska – Montreal
5. Simona Halep – Montreal
6. Victoria Azarenka
7. Venus Williams – Stanford, Montreal
8. Roberta Vinci – Montreal
9. Carla Suárez Navarro – Montreal
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Montreal
11. Madison Keys – Montreal
12. Dominika Cibulkova – Stanford, Montreal
13. Petra Kvitova – Montreal
14. Samantha Stosur – Washington DC, Montreal
15. Timea Bacsinszky –
16. Belinda Bencic – Montreal
17. Karolina Pliskova – Montreal
18. Johanna Konta – Stanford – Montreal
19. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Stanford, Montreal
20. Elina Svitolina – Montreal
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Teliana Pereira (BRA) – July 20, 1988
Luksika Kumkhum (THA) – July 21, 1993
What happens when a serve is too powerful for the net to handle? Check out what happened at the Hobart International!
MELBOURNE, Australia – The first Grand Slam of the year is almost here as the Australian Open kicks off in Melbourne on Monday. The doubles draw is out, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands reunites with Lucie Safarova in hopes of defending her No.1 ranking against a trio of challengers.
But Serena Williams and Venus Williams threaten to blow the draw right open as they will take the court together to compete in doubles for the first time since the Olympic Games.
Click here to see the full singles and doubles draws.
POTENTIAL QUARTERFINALS:
[1] Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic vs [5] Martina Hingis / CoCo Vandeweghe
[3] Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina vs [7] Julia Goerges / Karolina Pliskova
[8] Vania King / Yaroslava Shvedova vs [4] Sania Mirza / Barbora Strycova
[6] Chan Yung-Jan / Chan Hao-Ching vs [2] Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Safarova
STORYLINES TO WATCH:
Garcia & Mladenovic are making their 2017 debut: The No.1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic are set to play together for the first time in 2017 at the Australian Open. The reigning French Open champions have always been adamant that their focus was on the singles competition, and at times seemed almost baffled by their continued doubles success. But the pair are back together for the first major of the year, and even have a shot at becoming co-No.1s.
“As we repeated well enough, we are singles players, our priority is singles,” Mladenovic told WTA Insider at the WTA Finals, where they reached the semifinals. “[But] even if we are singles players, just to be able to say that you’ve been No.1 in the world in doubles, is such a pride.”
The French team will play Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh in the first round.
The No.1 ranking could change hands again: Newly-crowned World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands has barely had time to savor her rise to the top before her ranking is back into play. Garcia, Mladenovic and Elena Vesnina all have a shot at becoming World No.1 by the end of the fortnight.
Of course, should Mattek-Sands and Safarova take home the Australian Open title, the ranking will stay with the American. But that’s easier said than done….
Serena Williams and Venus Williams join forces: Looming in Mattek-Sands and Safarova’s side of the draw are Serena Williams and Venus Williams. The veteran doubles team is joining forces for the first time since the Olympic tennis event, where they lost in the first round to Czech duo Safarova & Strycova. Between the two of them they’ve amassed 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles, making them a veritable threat in any major tournament.
Seeded No.15, they could potentially book a third-round clash with Mattek-Sands/Safarova, throwing a wrench in the works for Mattek-Sands’ defense of her newly-gained top ranking.
– Photos courtesy of Getty Images
Shelby Rogers handed No.4 seed Simona Halep her second straight first-round loss at the Australian Open, rolling through in straight sets.
Elina Svitolina takes on Julia Boserup in the second round of the Australian Open.
Wading through the sea of champions set to be featured at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony and watching from the sidelines was a quietly tall figure, but a former No.1 all the same.
Dinara Safina came to Newport in support of brother Marat Safin, the other half of the sport’s only sibling tandem to reach the top of the ATP and WTA rankings.
“There’s lots of history here, and it’s a really beautiful museum,” she told WTA Insider. “I’ve never seen anything close to it, really. What impressed most me was this wall here, with the ball cans. I really liked those.”
Asked whether he or his sister was the better tennis player, Safin didn’t mince words.
“What a stupid question,” he blurted out at the press conference alongside Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo. “Of course, sister!”
Beaming from her seat was Safina, who once called big brother “her God” in a 2004 interview they conducted with one another for L’Équipe.
“When you play, I love watching you,” she said at the time. “When you lose, I’m even sadder than when I lose. When you’re hurt, I suffer. When you talk to me, I drink your words. When you come to see me play, I’m beside myself with joy. I hate hearing or reading something bad about you. I know you are hard-working and that you do everything you can to be No.1.”
The two-time French Open finalist expressed a similar sentiment on Saturday when she recalled playing Hopman Cup with him shortly before his 2009 retirement.
“It wasn’t easy because, for me, I have so much respect for him and I tried to do as well as I could. I had a close match in the final that I lost, but I still had a lot of fun and it was a great experience.”
The two might have spent nearly a decade together on tour, but both look back and admit that they couldn’t have been further apart.
“We never really saw each other. First, he was living in Spain, and when I moved to Spain, he was on the tour. We’d only see each other a few weeks out of the year, at Grand Slams and a few of the Masters events.”
“It’s really a pity that we didn’t spend enough time together and couldn’t understand each other,” Safin added in press. “We didn’t know each other, and at some point we didn’t even feel like brother and sister because we were separated for quite some time. Now we’re having a great time; finally I’m getting to know her.
“She understands tennis much more than me – a hundred times more than me – and she’s a better person.”
Safina has put that knowledge to good use since her own retirement in 2014. From an administrative position at the Kremlin Cup, the Russian worked with young compatriot Anna Blinkova last summer, and has been a mentor figure to recent junior Wimbledon champion Anastasia Potapova.
“We’re in contact and I’m always talking with her; I’m really proud that she won a Grand Slam. I think she’s going to be good.”
Our pride: Lena, @Dinarik27 & @verazvonareva @ITF_Tennis pic.twitter.com/NJOJYGVrni
— Vladas Lasitskas (@VladasLasitskas) July 6, 2016
Safina led a Golden Era for Russia, on top of the world at a time when she and her countrywomen held a near-monopoly on the Top 10. Looking to the future, she has high hopes for the new wave that features Daria Kasatkina, Margarita Gasparyan, and Elizaveta Kulichkova.
“Kasatkina, for me, I’m really impressed with her. I really love the way she plays. She’s very smart, very intelligent, with a very good feeling for the court and the ball.
“Gasparyan is struggling this year, but I really like her one-handed backhand and she has a different game. It’s a new generation; they still have to work hard to get higher in the rankings. But I like Kasatkina; she’s on the right track and I like the team she has.”
Part of the all-Russian podium from the 2008 Olympic Games, the 30-year-old recently reunited with fellow medalists Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva for an ITF photoshoot, and has fond memories of their wild week in Beijing.
“After eight years, you realize what you achieved and what it was really like, but I would say, I don’t know if we’ll ever see what we were able to do again, sweeping the podium. We set a high bar for the next generation.
“With Elena and Vera, we’re always in contact. They’re beautiful girls. I’ve known Elena since I was a year old; she’s an amazing person.”
I just ran 17,0 km @ a 6'07''/km pace with Nike+. https://t.co/FEs2w5exzA #nikeplus pic.twitter.com/WLzep2w2MJ
— Dinara Safina (@Dinarik27) July 13, 2016
By summer’s end, Safina hopes to make a new life in New York; the Olympic silver medalist was seen jogging through Central Park before heading north to Newport. But there’s a sense she’d trade a crowded city for a crowded stadium in a heartbeat.
“I miss my fans and the crowds, that feeling you have on the court when you have a full crowd behind you and supporting you – whether you win or lose, especially when you win, that’s nice.
“I miss the traveling and all of the girls on the tour; even though we were competitors, we were like a family and had a really nice group of people. I really enjoyed it.”
Sitting on a set of pre-modern Wimbledon benches, Safina mused on whether she might one day return to the museum with her brother as a fellow Hall of Famer, but ever the awed younger sister, she resolved not to look too far in the future.
“Of course, it would be an amazing thing if I could join him one day. But for me, today is about being his sister, and I’m really proud of him. He deserves it. I know the way he was working to get to No.1 from where he started. I’m really happy for him.”
Follow Dinara on Twitter @Dinarik27 and Instagram @dinarasafina2704!
All photos courtesy of Dinara Safina and Getty Images.
Varvara Lepchenko takes on Duan Ying-Ying in the second round of the Australian Open.
After a hard-fought second round win over Magda Linette, Bank of the West Classic top seed and former No.1 Venus Williams treated a fan to an extra special surprise.
After catching one of the autographed tennis balls Venus hit into the crowd, Emily was invited down by Andrew Krasny to take a selfie with the five-time Wimbledon winner. Within minutes, she was whisked back stage to meet Venus’ sister, World No.1 and 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, where they also took a photo.
Relive one magic night in Stanford in the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises.
Very cool. Venus hits a ball into the crowd and invites the catcher to come down for a selfie. #BOTWClassic pic.twitter.com/G1fYt4wLHF
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) July 21, 2016
MELBOURNE, Australia – The bottom half of the draw is back in action led by Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.
Thursday, Second Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs Lucie Safarova (CZE #61)
Head-to-head: Serena leads 9-0
Key Stat: Serena is contesting the Australian Open for the 17th time – the joint-most along with sister Venus Williams
Lucie Safarova saved an astonishing nine match points in her opening match against Yanina Wickmayer, a two-hour three-set marathon. But unfortunately for the Czech, it doesn’t get any easier in the second round, where she’ll need all that grit against six-time champion Serena Williams.
The last time these two met was at the final of the French Open back in 2015, with this early encounter a testament to the pair’s diverging career paths. Serena is now seeking her record breaking 23rd Grand Slam title in Melbourne and Safarova, a former World No.5, plummeting out of the Top 50 after struggling with injury and illness.
“I didn’t come here to lose in the first round, or the second round, or at all,” Serena told press earlier in the tournament. “I’m just here to play and to win obviously, but just to play.”
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #79)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 2-0
Key Stat: Lucic-Baroni is 3-14 against Top 5 players
The last time Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a match in Melbourne it was 1998 – Martina Hingis was the WTA World No.1 and Serena Williams hadn’t yet won her first career title.
But there’s not much time for the former Wimbledon semifinal to revel in the three-set comeback win over Wang Qiang, because up next is World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska.
A two-time semifinalist here, Radwanska faced a battle in her opener against Tsvetana Pironkova but saved her best for last to move into the second round for the ninth time in her career. The Pole is hoping to continue that run and bring her signature mix of skill and creativity to the second week of this Slam.
“I really feel good on this center court,” Radwanska said in press. “I like to play here, I like Australia. I’ve been always playing good tennis here, two semis.
“Of course, that’s always very close till the end. Hopefully I can do one step forward and play seven matches here.”
[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs [Q] Anna Blinkova (RUS #189)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: This is Blinkova’s first ever match against a Top 10 opponent
No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova barely broke a sweat in her Melbourne opener, making quick work of Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and needing just one hour and dropping two games en route to the second round.
But she still wasn’t completely satisfied after the 6-2, 6-0 victory:
“I think there are more things which I want to improve. First round, it’s always tricky, and I didn’t feel that good in the first set there.
“I was a little bit nervous in the beginning, made a lot of mistakes on my forehand, especially no first serves. So this I want to improve high percentage of the first serve, definitely.”
It’s a scary prospect that the WTA’s undisputed ace leader still wants to improve her serve. But that’s what Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova will be up against in her first ever match against a Top 10 opponent.
Blinkova might be slightly out of her depths against big-hitting Pliskova, but don’t count her out just yet: she started her Australian Open main draw campaign with a statement win over the No.32-ranked Monica Niculescu.
Around the grounds…
No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova continues her quest for a maiden Slam in her second round clash against Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei. Cibulkova leads their head-to-head 1-0, but they haven’t played in almost three years. Also in action, Naomi Osaka will look for Grand Slam revenge against No.9 seed Johanna Konta. The Brit won the pair’s only previous encounter, which came in the second round of qualifying at the 2015 US Open. No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki is hoping for another comfortable win in her rematch against Donna Vekic, who’s into the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2015 French Open. Meanwhile, No.22 seed Daria Gavrilova carries home hopes in her second round clash against 19-year-old Ana Konjuh. Gavrilova is one of two Aussies remaining in the draw.