WTA Stars Make Their Oscar Picks
Check out the top seeds making their Oscar picks at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Check out the top seeds making their Oscar picks at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Eugenie Bouchard before the start of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
Top 20 players’ schedules, upcoming tournaments, birthdays and more – check out what’s on tap for this week on the WTA as the tour stops in Acapulco and Kuala Lumpur.
Duan Ying-Ying had Thursday’s shot of the day at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open.
ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic needed three sets and over three and a half hours but she’s through to the quarterfinals at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel after a marathon battle against Heather Watson, 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 7-5.
The epic, three-hour-and-thirty-two minute encounter clocks in as the longest WTA match of the season so far; only Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic’s Australian Open battle was longer at three hours and thirty-six minutes.
“Oh my god, what can I even say,” an exhausted Mladenovic told wtatennis.com after the match. “The conditions here were very difficult – the humidity is ridiculous and I think we both struggled physically.”
Monster forehand from @KiKiMladenovic! ? #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/kfRQX5NZhw
— WTA (@WTA) March 2, 2017
The blistering conditions in southern Mexico were heating up even more on Grandstand Caliente, with Mladenovic employing her doubles prowess to attack at the net and Heather staying solid from the baseline. The Frenchwoman struggled with her throughout the match, racking up nine double faults in the first set alone – she would hit 20 in total.
There were several twists and turns as both players struggled to establish momentum; Watson started off with a strong trio of breaks to give herself a 4-1 lead, before Mladenovic reeled off four games in a row to rip it away. Mladenovic edged through in the tiebreak, winning four points on the bounce from 4-4 to take the opening set.
The pair traded breaks twice in the second set, with Watson holding her nerve to break back each time as Mladenovic continued to apply all-court pressure, but the Brit relied on her down-the-line backhands to see her through in the second tiebreak.
Watson showed her grit to bat away two of Mladenovic’ match points at 5-3 in the third with a stinging, crosscourt backhand, before another double fault from the Frenchwomen gave her the break back. After managing to level the score at 5-5, Watson seemed to run out of steam, winning just three points in the next two games as Mladenovic closed out the match.
3 hours and 31 minutes!@KiKiMladenovic battles past Watson 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 7-5 for a spot in @AbiertoTelcel Quarterfinals! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/uSgCvrlr0j
— WTA (@WTA) March 2, 2017
Despite Watson’s 59 winners to 29 unforced errors against Mladenovic’s 22 and 23, it was Mladenovic who proved more solid in the big moments, creating and converting more break opportunities.
“These kind of matches, I’m not really satisfied with the way I played – I’m not sure it was really the best quality tennis – but I’m actually very satisfied with the fighting,” Mladenovic explained.
“We both of us, we never gave up. It was up and down; I was down big time in the first set and I came back and won it. I also had match points in the end and she saved them, actually beautifully, and she came back.
“That was just grit. A mental battle. I’m just satisfied and proud to pull this one through.”
Mladenovic will be right back on Grandstand Caliente tomorrow to take on Kirsten Flipkens for a spot in the Acapulco semifinals. The Belgian advanced after Ajla Tomljanovic was forced to retire from their match due to a right shoulder injury.
Tired @KiKiMladenovic? ? #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/Mc7tcHs6G2
— WTA (@WTA) March 2, 2017
Ready? Set? Go! The third major of 2016 is about to get underway, and we’ve got your Wimbledon Day One preview right here at WTATennis.com, courtesy of contributor Chris Oddo.
Monday
First Round
[2] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #2) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA #68)
Head-to-head: Giorgi leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Giorgi owns a 6-7 record against the Top 10, but has gone 1-6 against the Top 5.
How will Garbiñe Muguruza handle the pressure of playing the first women’s match on Wimbledon’s fabled Centre Court on Monday? All indications are that she’ll be fine. “Nothing has changed for me to look at Wimbledon different,” Muguruza confidently told a roomful of reporters on Saturday in London when she was asked about coming to Wimbledon as a Grand Slam champion for the first time. “I’m going for the first match, like everyone else, from zero.” Muguruza will have to find a way to block out all external expectations so that she may focus on getting past a very dangerous first-round opponent in Camila Giorgi. The Italian has successfully passed the first round in her last four appearances at Wimbledon and she owns a 17-11 record on grass despite losses in her last three tilts on the surface. Giorgi will certainly take her shots at using her explosive serve and flat ground strokes to expose Muguruza’s movement on the grass, but can the 24-year-old do it well enough to knock off one of the game’s rising forces on Day One?
Pick: Muguruza in three.
[8] Venus Williams (USA #9) vs. Donna Vekic (CRO #112)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Williams is 4th on the Open Era win list at Wimbledon with 76.
Venus Williams and Wimbledon’s grass have been a perfect fit for 19 years running, and on Monday the five-time Wimbledon champion will look to cash in on her experience and grass-court karma when she takes on Croatia’s Donna Vekic for the first time. Vekic was predicted to have a bright future on the grass when she reached the Birmingham final in 2013, but the former World No.62 has struggled of late, losing five of six on the grass since then, and producing a disappointing 4-12 record on all surfaces in 2016. Williams, meanwhile, is hoping to put up back-to-back beauties at the majors. The 36-year-old reached the second week at Roland Garros for the first time since 2010 in Paris this spring and will look to begin what could potentially be a run for the ages here at Wimbledon.
Pick: Williams in two.
[4] Angelique Kerber (GER #4) vs. Laura Robson (GBR #294)Many thought that Great Britain’s Laura Robson would be a fixture in Wimbledon’s second week for years to come when she produced a rousing run to the round of 16 in 2013 as a 19-year-old. But injuries have since sabotaged the progress of the promising Brit. Still working her way back to becoming a steady participant at the tour-level, world No.294 Robson will be in for a stern test on Monday as she faces Germany’s Angelique Kerber. Grass may not be Kerber’s greatest love, but she has racked up some very notable Wimbledon wins. She knocked off Kim Clijsters and Sabine Lisicki en route to the semifinals in 2012, and stunned Maria Sharapova during a quarterfinal run in 2014. Sounds like even years work well for Kerber at Wimbledon; does this year’s Australian Open champion have another deep run up her sleeve in 2016?
Pick: Kerber in two.
Sabine Lisicki (GER #81) vs. Shelby Rogers (USA #61)
Head-to-head: Lisicki leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Lisicki owns a 25-7 lifetime record at Wimbledon. She’s 28-24 lifetime in the other three majors, combined.
Welcome to another edition of Sabine Lisicki, Wimbledon fairy tale. Lisicki is a top pro on all surfaces and at all majors, but on the grass of Wimbledon the German takes her game – and emotions – to a higher level. “The first time that I was here, I don’t remember when it was, but when I was here I fell in love with Wimbledon,” Lisicki said in 2013 during her magical run to the final. The love affair has been mutual. Fans in London have warmed to Lisicki, who reached the quarterfinals or better at Wimbledon for five consecutive years until finally having that streak stopped by Timea Bacsinszky in the third round last year. In order to begin another streak, the German will have to find her way past rising American Shelby Rogers. The Charleston, S.C. native will look to notch her first career win at Wimbledon on Monday, but she’ll have to create her own fairy tale at SW19 to do so.
Pick: Lisicki in three.
Around the Grounds: They’ve always been great friends, even on the court where they’ve won two major doubles titles together, but on Monday Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will meet on the singles court for the first time since 2010 on Court 8. Simona Halep will open Wimbledon accounts on Monday with a first-round tussle with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Court 2. Schmiedlova has gone 3-16 this season after breaking out in 2015 with a career-best 37 wins.
By the Numbers:
51 – Number of consecutive Grand Slams played by Jelena Jankovic, who now holds the active record in that category. Ai Sugiyama holds the all-time record with 62.
3 – Three Americans (Keys, Serena Williams, Venus Williams) are seeded at a major for the first time since the 2005 U.S. Open (Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams).
120 – The all-time record for Wimbledon wins, held by Martina Navratilova. Serena Williams leads all active players with 79.
Nicole Gibbs took some extra special friends along – including NFL pros Cameron Fleming and Shayne Skov – for some cliff diving and boat riding during her week in Acapulco.
Santina On Defense: Reigning Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza captured their first major title together nearly 52 weeks ago at this very tournament, cementing their status as the sport’s top team and foreshadowing an impressive 41-match winning streak that took them to two more majors and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global title.
The pair has since seen their period of uninterrupted dominance come to a close – at least for the time being – with back-to-back final defeats to French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who went on to win their home Slam at Roland Garros. Looking to complete the Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, Hingis and Mirza were stunned by Czech youngsters Barbora Krejcikova and Katarina Siniakova in straight sets in the third round.
Still, it has been another amazing year for Santina, who became the first players to qualify for Singapore in singles or doubles, having already won five titles in the first six months of the season. Top seeds at the All England Club, they play their first match against a pair of Germans, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund, but face threatening opposition in their half of the draw, including No.13 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, who knocked them out early at the Miami Open. King won the Wimbledon doubles crown back in 2010 with Yaroslava Shvedova – who is seeded No.5 with Timea Babos in the Santina quarter – and together with Kudryavtseva reached their first final of 2016 at the Aegon Classic.
Their semifinal opponents could be No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yun-Jan – the last team to defeat Santina before their winning streak began last summer – or No.7 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, who were the team to beat early last year with a pair of major victories at the Australian Open and French Open. The grass court certainly favors Mirza’s power and Hingis’ quick hands, and the team should be feeling a boost at the Grand Slam that started their meteoric rise.
French Across The Channel: Taking a winning streak through much of the clay court swing, Garcia and Mladenovic won three straight titles at the Volvo Car Open, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and Mutua Madrid Open – defeating Hingis and Mirza at the latter two finals.
Battling through a quartet of talented Russians in the semis and finals, the French women won an emotional three-setter over former champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to earn their first major title in women’s doubles.
The pair haven’t played since Paris, but both have proven capable of translating their games to the grass, with Garcia winning her first title on the surface in Mallorca two weeks ago, and Mladenovic having previously reached a pair of Wimbledon finals, winning mixed doubles with Daniel Nestor in 2013 and finishing runner-up in women’s doubles with Timea Babos in 2014.
Seeded second, Garcia and Mladenovic open against qualifiers Demi Schuurs and Renata Voracova, and could face the power of No.8 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova or the guile of No.12 seeds Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu in the quarterfinals.
Russians, Reunited: Looming for the Frenchwomen in the semifinals could be No.4 seeds Makarova and Vesnina, who spent nearly a year apart due to injuries to the former, but have hardly skipped a beat since coming back together in Madrid. Celebrating the four-year anniversary of their first tournament together, Makarova and Vesnina roared into the semifinals, and nearly toppled Hingis and Mirza in the finals of Rome a week later.
Narrowly losing to Garcia and Mladenovic at Roland Garros, the Russians have to like their chances of replicating their run to last year’s Wimbledon final, where they led Santina 5-2 in the final set. Their first round will be against British wildcards Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith, with Australian Open finalists and No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka their projected quarterfinal opponents.
Venus Williams and Serena Williams are unseeded in the Russian’s quarter; a meeting in the last eight would mark a rematch of their US Open encounter back in 2014, which Makarova and Vesnina won in straight sets en route to the title. The Americans played their first major tournament since that loss at this year’s French Open, where they fell in the third round to Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.
Unseeded & Looming: Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova may be the most dangerous floaters in the Wimbledon draw. The veterans and Mylan World TeamTennis stalwarts won the Aegon International last week in Eastbourne, defeating not only Hingis and Mirza, but also the Chan sisters to take the title in a match tie-break.
“It was a great performance, all the way from the first round,” Rodionova said after the final. “I think we gelled as a team from the beginning, and that’s what got us to the title.
“I’m very happy with the way we’re playing right now; it’s a great way to go into a Slam.”
Jurak and Rodionova will have to keep up their giant-killing game from the first round at Wimbledon, taking on No.9 seeds and Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, with No.5 seeds Babos and Shvedova also looming in their section before they could earn a rematch with Hingis and Mirza in the quarters.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Ashleigh Barty cruised into the semifinals of the Alya Malaysian Open after defeating Zhang Kai-Lin in straight sets, winning 6-0, 7-6(2).
Barty, who defeated fellow qualifier Maya Kato in the previous round, flew through the opening set 6-0 but was pushed closer in the second before winning the breaker 7-2.
“It wasn’t a breeze at all,” said the Australian afterwards. “I think I started well and I served particularly well at the start. I was able to get that early jump and get some early momentum but it didn’t matter what the score was in the first set, Kai-Lin’s a quality player, she really is, and I knew that second set was going to be a battle no matter what.”
.@AshBar96 reaches first #WTA Semifinal at @alyawtamo!
Downs Zhang 6-0, 7-6 (2)! pic.twitter.com/AEF2YWfvjW
— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017
Zhang actually had the chance to serve for the second set before the match went to the breaker.
“I played a pretty poor game at 5-5,” added Barty. “But I was just happy to break straight back and move on and then play a quality tiebreak as well. Now I’m excited to be in my first semifinal and we just have to chip away throughout the year and hope the good results will come.”
Victory for Barty sets up a semifinal showdown with Han Xinyun, who came out on top of the battle of the Chinese, beating Wang Qiang 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4.
With the match evenly balanced at a set apiece, Wang recovered from a break down in the decider, winning three games on the spin to level at 4-4 before Han took the final two games to secure victory.
“The first set was really hot and the sun almost killed me!” said Han afterwards. “Into the second set I tried to stay aggressive and positive and could feel that she tired and in the third set we both tried really hard but I really played my tennis in the last two games. I made a really good winner and put a lot of pressure on her. I was 0-40 in the last game but I never gave up.”
“I like her so much because she is so talented,” said Han of her semifinal opponent. “She’s played really good tennis this week and I’m so excited to play her tomorrow so I hope it’s going to be a good match.”
Han is yet to win a WTA title and, like Barty, this run for the world no.139 represents her best to date .
No.6 seed Roberta Vinci moved into the second round of Wimbledon for the first time in two years after a hard-fought win over Alison Riske.