Tennis News

It all came together for Petra Kvitova at the end of a long and grueling season.

Struggling with consistency and splitting with longtime coach David Kotyza, Kvitova caught fire after winning an emotional Bronze medal at the Olympic tennis event, roaring to her first title of 2016 at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and finishing the season on a high with the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai crown. She was later part of the Fed Cup team that took home its fifth victory in the last six years, in a nail-biter against France.

Kvitova took home one last honor before 2017 in the form of the the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award, her fourth in a row.

The Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award is awarded to the player who conducts herself in a manner fitting of a professional sports figure and observes the rules of fair play, shows respect for others and is gracious on and off the court. This award has been voted on by players since 1978 and has recognized athletes including Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Ana Ivanovic, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong-Cawley.

As she has done in Fed Cup, Kvitova has also earned this honor five of the last six years.

Last summer in Washington DC, Sloane Stephens finally delivered on her boundless potential, lifting her maiden WTA title – and the monkey from her back. Intent on making up for lost time, the young American’s mantelpiece is starting to get rather crowded.

After beating Elena Vesnina in the final of the Volvo Car Open, Stephens now has three titles to her name in 2013 alone. The silverware collected in Auckland, Acapulco and Charleston has taken Stephens to the brink of a return to the Top 20.

The 23-year-old’s success in Charleston led to a jump from No.25 to No.21 in the rankings – her highest position since the summer of 2014. And with relatively few points to defend in the build-up to the French Open she has a good opportunity to improve upon her previous best raking of No.11. 

If she is rise further still, the next challenge is replicating this Charleston form at the majors. During Stephens’ initial breakthrough on tour, she suffered from the opposite problem – in 2014 she reached the fourth round or better at all four Grand Slams, only to flatter to deceive away from the big stage. 

Stephens’ victim in the final, Vesnina, is no stranger to major success, lifting the French and US Opens in doubles. Despite turning 30 later this year, the Russian has no intention of becoming a doubles specialist, something she proved with wins over Belinda Bencic and Sara Errani this past week.

This run resulted in a rankings jump from No.85 to No.51. Throw in her impressive showings in Doha and Miami, and Vesnina’s ranking has improved over 60 places this year.

Vesnina, though, is not the only player on the charge:

Dominika Cibulkova (+15, No.53 to No.38): Dominika Cibulkova has had a number of false dawns since returning from a serious Achilles injury last year. In Katowice, she finally made her big statement. After a first-round scare against Carina Witthoeft, the Slovak improved with each match, outplaying Camila Giorgi in the final to lift her first title since 2014.

Yulia Putintseva (+8 No.61 to No.53): Yulia Putintseva learnt her trade at Moscow’s legendary Spartak club, and she now looks ready to follow in the footsteps of her fellow alumni, such as Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina. Wins over Venus Williams and Sabine Lisicki helped the Kazakhstani to the quarterfinals, the 100 points picked up in Charleston also takes her to a career-high No.53 in the rankings.

Francesca Schiavone (+11, No.101 to No.90): One of Cibulkova’s victims, Francesca Schiavone, played some typically imaginative tennis to win a couple of rounds and continue the momentum heading into the clay court season.

Pauline Parmentier (+12, No.113 to No.101): While Parmentier was unable to maintain her electric start to defeat Cibulkova in the Katowice semifinals, victories over Magda Linette, Naomi Broady and defending champion Anna Karolina Schmiedlova ensured the tournament remained a highly encouraging one. She is now within touching distance of the Top 100 for the first time since last May.

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.12
Year-End Ranking: No.15 (Career-High No.9, 5/16/2016)
Season Highlights: Title at Rabat, SF at Miami
Best Major Result: QF (French Open)

15 Days until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/OBNhWd6KB3

— WTA (@WTA) 17 de diciembre de 2016

2017 Outlook

Is it still called second season syndrome when you’ve been on tour for 12 years?

After a meteoric rise in 2015 – which saw her start the year ranked around the Top 50 and end with two titles, two finals, a Grand Slam semifinal, and a Top 10 ranking – Timea Bacsinszky’s season this year looked to have hit a plateau.

After a lingering knee injury led to a frustratingly slow two months, the Swiss player still put together a run to the Miami Open semifinals – knocking out big names like Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep along the way – then backed it up with a title in Rabat, quarterfinal in Rome and a return to the French Open quarterfinals.

And while she did reach her career-highest ranking of No.9 back in May, Bacsinszky admits that 2016 didn’t end up being all it could be.

“This year was kind of particular because started it with a bit of delay,” she told WTA Insider at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “And I was trying so hard to come back, because it’s tough to be Top 10 and ending up losing quite easily in the first few tournaments of the year.

“The will to do well was there, but really I didn’t have enough in my hands and enough in my legs. Mentally, I was prepared, so I just looked forward and told myself, ‘It’s going to come. Sooner or later, it’s going to come.'”

Looking ahead to 2017, Bacsinszky will be looking to translate all of that desire into results and bring her trademark creative style onto the big stage. With a second consecutive Top 20 finish under her belt, the Swiss will be eager to keep rising and prove she belongs among the big names.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – After a rainy day in Bogota, defending champion and No.2 seed Teliana Pereira fell to Argentine qualifier Catalina Pella 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in the first round of the Claro Open Colsanitas.

Pereira, who became the first Brazilian to win a WTA title in 27 years when she won her first singles title here in 2015, seemed primed to make another deep run when she quickly took the first set off her 23-year-old opponent. But a three-hour rain delay halted the match just as Pella won the second set, breaking up Pereira’s rhythm and allowing Pella the time to find her nerve.

“I was so, so, nervous,” Pella said after the match. “It was really tough also because she has a lot of experience – I don’t.”

After coming back from the delay at 2-1, 40-40 in the final set, Pella’s inexperience showed as she hit a double fault to give Pereira a break opportunity, which the Brazilian took handily. Pella later squandered another lead – this time at 5-3.

“I felt totally paralyzed,” Pella said. “My mind was telling me that I should do the same, stay the same, but my legs and my body were empty. I was just too nervous.”

Despite her lack of experience on the big stage, No.274-ranked Pella kept her cool when it mattered most, dominating Pereira in the tiebreak and ousting the defending champion in two hours and twenty minutes.

The rest of the seeds in action advanced to the next round: No.5 Irina Falconi, No.6 Tatjana Maria and No.8 Anna Tatishvilli eased past their first round opponents in straight sets.

However, the extended rain delay left several matches rescheduled, including the struggle between No.1 seed Elina Svitolina and Alexandra Panova. After dropping the first set to the Russian 7-5, Svitolina came roaring back in the second. She looked set to stage her comeback, rolling to a 5-1 lead, when the rain halted play.

Dominika Cibulkova

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.38
Year-End Ranking: No.5 (Career high, Oct 31)
Season Highlights: Titles at Katowice, Eastbourne, Linz and WTA Finals, Final at Acapulco, Madrid and Wuhan
Best Major Result: Quarterfinals (Wimbledon)

5 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/S2j5gG7chp

— WTA (@WTA) December 27, 2016

There are few players who’ve had a busier season than Dominika Cibulkova had in 2016.

Whereas some players peak at the right times – an Asian Swing renaissance, a red-hot US hardcourt summer – Cibulkova did it all season long and on every surface.

She reached the final in Acapulco (outdoor hardcourts), won at Katowice (indoor hardcourts), final in Madrid (clay), title in Eastbourne (grass), final in Wuhan (outdoor hardcourts), and titles at Linz and the WTA Finals (indoor hard).

But despite her continuously stellar results, which earned her a spot in Singapore’s Greatest Eight, Cibulkova admitted that she’s always struggled with self-belief.

“I was never that kind of player that came on tour and was winning tournaments,” Cibulkova told WTA Insider in Singapore. “I always needed, you know, proof. I needed to beat a Top 20 player, a Top 10 player – I was taking small steps to get where I am now.”

It all came together at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, where her qualification came down to the wire, where beat the odds to advance in the group stage, and where she defeated the World No.1 Angelique Kerber to claim the biggest title of her career.

“I always thought that winning a Grand Slam was something unreal, it’s impossible,” Cibulkova said afterwards. “But by winning [the WTA Finals], I want to achieve another dream, and that’s winning a Grand Slam.”

With her self-belief through the roof, surely Cibulkova now has all the proof she needs to know that she belongs at the top among the game’s biggest names.