The Best Moments Of The WTA Frame Challenge
From Alizé Cornet’s record-shattering performance to Naomi Osaka’s record low, take a look back at all the best WTA Frame Challenge moments, and watch them all again right here!
From Alizé Cornet’s record-shattering performance to Naomi Osaka’s record low, take a look back at all the best WTA Frame Challenge moments, and watch them all again right here!
The Australian Open draw is out – where’s your favorite? And who’s got the toughest quarter – Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza or Agnieszka Radwanska?
Elena Vesnina
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.115
Year-End Ranking: No.16 (Career-High No.16, 11/6/2016)
Season Highlights: Charleston RU, Doha, Eastbourne QF, Zhuhai RR
Best Major Result: SF (Wimbledon)
16 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! ? pic.twitter.com/LsjqFdzKWR
— WTA (@WTA) 16 de diciembre de 2016
2017 Outlook
Things were certainly at their darkest before Elena Vesnina enjoyed a new dawn in 2016. Outside the Top 100 for the first time in over a decade, the Russian was forced to play qualifying at the Australian Open and dropped to a low of World No.122 just before February.
“I thought it’d be very difficult to get my ranking back, and I felt that I had to win a lot of matches,” the 30-year-old told WTA Insider at the US Open. “I think I did well mentally, not putting much pressure on myself, and I was saying to myself: ‘If you’re good, you’re going to be back. If you’re not that good, then that’s it.’ You have to prove yourself, that you deserve to be there. It was a very hard moment at the beginning of the year.”
From that tough moment, Vesnina earned her first Top 10 win since 2013 – defeating then-World No.3 Simona Halep in Doha – and reached the Volvo Car Open final as a qualifier. Those early results foreshadowed a fairytale run into the semifinals of Wimbledon, where she upset doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova and future WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova at the All England Club.
“It’s just amazing how tennis can give you these possibilities, because you can try, and try, and if you’re brave enough, you can achieve it. It doesn’t matter how old you are, but I definitely appreciate it more now, than if I’d gotten it when I was 20. I made the fourth round of the Australian Open when I was 19, and for me, it was like, ‘Wow, it’s like a miracle!’ But I didn’t realize how it happened.
“Now I’ve been working through so many tough moments, working on my game, and my mentality. What I achieved now, I understand more why big results happen.”
Even bigger results came to Vesnina in doubles – pairing with Makarova to take home Olympic gold and WTA Finals glory – but the veteran heads into 2017 at a career-high ranking, with a Top 10 debut firmly in her sights.
MELBOURNE, Australia – On the eve of the Australian Open – where they’ll be going for their third straight Grand Slam title together – Martina Hingis has joined Sania Mirza as co-World No.1.
With Hingis and Mirza now having their best 11 results over the last 12 months as a team – they just won their 11th WTA doubles title together in Sydney – they are finally No.1 in the world together.
Hingis’ first 35 weeks at No.1 in doubles came in six stints, from June 8 to August 2, 1998 (8 weeks), August 17 to October 25, 1998 (10 weeks), November 2 to 22, 1998 (3 weeks), June 7 to July 4, 1999 (4 weeks), August 2 to 22, 1999 (3 weeks) and January 31 to March 19, 2000 (7 weeks).
She will now begin her 36th career week at the top, while Mirza earns her 41st.
“It’s a really nice feeling having that No.1 ahead of your name,” Hingis said after the final in Sydney on Friday. “It’s definitely something I was aiming for, and with Sania I felt like I had the opportunity to get there. When she became No.1 in Charleston I was just as happy as when I did it myself.
“Being the No.1 team for the last 10 months – we’ve proven it with two Slams and the WTA Finals in Singapore – we definitely belong there. It was just a question of time to get that No.1 ranking.”
“I’m so happy for her that 16 years later she’s become No.1 again!” Mirza, who first rose to No.1 last April, commented. “But regardless of what the ranking was, we were the No.1 team in the world.
“I’m so happy that we’re together now not just as the No.1 team, but as individuals as well.”
The Swiss-Indian duo is on a 30-match winning streak that has brought them seven straight titles at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and WTA Finals in 2015, and Brisbane and Sydney this year.
They’ll take that streak – the longest since 1990 – into the Australian Open this fortnight.
Hingis and Mirza are the 11th co-World No.1s in WTA Doubles Rankings history. The full list:
127 weeks – Cara Black & Liezel Huber
82 weeks – Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci
39 weeks – Lisa Raymond & Sam Stosur
20 weeks – Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond
10 weeks – Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik
8 weeks – Serena Williams & Venus Williams
7 weeks – Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta
5 weeks – Hsieh Su-Wei & Peng Shuai
3 weeks – Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs
3 weeks – Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suárez
1 week – Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The first round of the Olympic tennis event wraps up on Sunday with all of the top seeded women headlining the action, including Serena Williams and Garbiñe Muguruza.
Sunday, First Round
Centre Court
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs Daria Gavrilova (AUS #46)
Head-to-head: Williams leads 1-0
It’s been a somewhat quiet season for Australia’s Daria Gavrilova. Since last year’s breakthrough, she’s succumbed to a string of first and second losses, results at odds with the 22-year-old’s big game and even bigger promise. But despite the early exits, Gavrilova’s reputation as a giant-killer remains intact – she owns four wins over Top 20 players so far, including victories over Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep.
She’ll have to bring every ounce of her dogged belief and determination against what would be the biggest opponent of all: World No.1 Serena Williams. The American is in killer form this year, having played six events and reaching the final in all but one. She’s also fresh off a monumental Wimbledon win, where she won her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title, and comes to Rio once again chasing history and vying to become the first tennis player – male or female – to win five Olympic medals.
Court 1
Mariana Duque-Mariño (COL #82) vs [2] Angelique Kerber (GER #3)
Head-to-head: Duque-Mariño leads 1-0
Mariana Duque-Mariño got her first taste of gold at last year’s Pan Am Games in Toronto when she became Colombia’s first women’s tennis player to bring home the medal. Since then, Duque-Mariño has toiled through qualifying rounds and posted her career second appearance at a WTA final in Nurnberg earlier this year.
The Colombian has fond memories of the last time she played against her first-round opponent; Duque-Mariño defeated Angelique Kerber to win the title in Bogota, her hometown, back in 2010.
Kerber’s season skidded a bit after the high of winning her first Grand Slam title in Australia, but rumors of her downfall were greatly exaggerated. The German has reached the semifinals or better at seven events this year, including an appearance at the Wimbledon final and her run to the semifinal of the Rogers Cup just last week. Despite facing travel difficulties, the German arrived to her second Olympic Games in good form and primed for another deep run.
Around the grounds…
No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza kick starts her Olympics campaign against former No.1 Jelena Jankovic on Centre Court. Meanwhile No.11 seed Petra Kvitova and No.13 seed Samantha Stosur take to Court 2 to face off against Timea Babos and Jelena Ostapenko, respectively.
Make no mistake: Monica Puig was already a big deal in Puerto Rico before that Olympic medal was draped around her neck. But that Gold medal has shot her into the stratosphere of recognition back home. Now it’s time to bring tennis to Puerto Rico.
Puig staged her first exhibition last week in San Juan and by every metric, the Monica Puig Invitational was a blazing success.
The 24 year old became the first athlete to ever bring a Gold medal back to Puerto Rico, after beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final of the Olympic tennis event. Her remarkable run, which saw her lose just one set and beat two reigning Grand Slam champions in Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza – not to mention two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova – was as inspiring as it was improbable.
The idea for the exhibition event came during Puig’s flight home. With no WTA tournaments currently staged in Puerto Rico, Puig told her agent Marijn Bal that she wanted a way to not only grow the sport back home but also give her family and fans an opportunity to see her play, not just this year but every year.
She wanted it to be an accessible event, affordable for a family of five to come and enjoy the atmosphere and the tennis. But most of all, she wanted it to be fun. Because if tennis is fun, there’s more of a chance the next Monica Puig might be sitting in the stands.
.@MariaSharapova & @MonicaAce93 show off their dance moves at the #MonicaPuigInvitational ??
Watch the match here: https://t.co/HsbVtAFjKw pic.twitter.com/rMuOWULDIu
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 16, 2016
A lively party atmosphere dominated the Coliseu de Puerto Rico, as a packed crowd of more than 12,0000 fans created a Fed Cup atmosphere as their hometown hero took on Maria Sharapova last Thursday. There was dancing, there was laughter, and there was shot-making throughout the match, which Puig won 6-3, 1-6, 10-6.
.@MonicaAce93 def. @MariaSharapova at the #MonicaPuigInvitational
Watch some of the best moments from the match: https://t.co/HShrYCSSTY pic.twitter.com/0ni6eRi4tv
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 16, 2016
“It’s been a really long time since I competed in front of fans, in front of spectators, to come out after so many months and compete in front of some of the most enthusiastic fans tonight….” an emotional Sharapova said to the crowd before being drowned out by cheers.
“I think tonight is a combination of a few things. First and most importantly it’s because of Monica. Without her career and without her path of what she achieved this summer at the Olympics none of us would be here tonight so a huge thank you. A huge thank you for the welcome.”
Thank you for the nice words. We did it and YOU killed it! Congrats on an amazing event, Puerto Rico is a special place. ?? https://t.co/YqNygOwpRJ
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) December 16, 2016
“Maria, before you go I just wanted again to thank you so much for coming to the first Monica Puig Invitational,” Puig said before addressing the arena in Spanish.
“Like I was telling you before and what I want all of Puerto Rico to know is the reason I invited Maria is because she is not only a great champion but a great ambassador to our sport. She has the values that represent a champion. She’s an amazing person, extremely funny, really really humble, and we’re going to work on the Spanish and the dancing, don’t worry!”
Puig hopes to make the event an annual exhibition, expanded over multiple days. This year, in addition to the exhibition itself, Puig and Sharapova also held a kids clinic, visited local dignitaries and VIPs. The event was organized in four months with Puig’s heavy involvement, as she and her agency IMG partnered with Ventana LLC, a local event promoter to implement Puig’s vision.
Puig’s personal sponsors, Universal Insurance, AT&T, Chrysler, and the Puerto Rico Tourism Company immediately answered the call to sponsor the event as well. In all, the exhibition served as a celebration of Puig’s journey to Olympic glory as well as a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped get her there.
Puig is currently doing her off-season training in Boca Raton and will start her season at the Brisbane International, which begins on January 1st.
All photos courtesy of Jimmie48 Tennis Photography.
MELBOURNE, Australia – When the top half of the 2016 Australian Open women’s singles draw gets rolling on Monday in Melbourne, fans won’t be left wanting for star power. Four Top 6 seeds will take the court, led by six-time champion Serena Williams and 2008 champion Maria Sharapova. Here’s a rundown of key matches to see.
Monday, Day 1
First Round
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA # 36)
Head-to-head: Williams leads 2-0
Key Stat: Williams has won 8 of 14 major titles since Patrick Mouratoglou became her coach.
Four words can neatly summarize Serena Williams’ mood as she prepares her Australian Open title defense. “I don’t look back,” says Williams, who is ready, willing and able to kick off her 2016 with a continuation of a march to history that was temporarily halted in New York last season. But her first challenge, against the highest-ranked unseeded player in the draw, promises to be a tricky one.
Italy’s Camila Giorgi pushed Williams to a tie-break during Fed Cup action last season, and she’ll hope to take advantage of the 34-year-old’s lack of match play- Williams pulled out of Hopman Cup with knee inflammation but says she’s injury-free in Melbourne – to gain an early upper hand. But Williams knows a thing or two about overcoming challenges early in Slams. She holds a 60-1 lifetime record in first rounds at majors, and has never lost one in Australia.
Pick: Williams in three
[25] Samantha Stosur (AUS #27) vs. [Q] Kristyna Pliskova (CZE # 114)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Stosur has never been past the round of 16 at Melbourne.
One of the most beloved Aussie athletes in recent history has yet to find her mojo at the Happy Slam, but hope springs eternal as former US Open champion Sam Stosur prepares to make her 14th career appearance in Melbourne. Though she’s only made the second week twice (and not since 2010), the experienced Stosur knows that if she plays her tennis she’ll have an opportunity to rack up a win over the talented yet unheralded Pliskova. “I want to handle myself well, play well, do the things that I need to be doing, put myself in good positions hopefully to win many matches,” Stosur said. “If I can do all that and play to my ability, then I’ll be happy.” Pliskova, the identical twin of No.9 seed Karolina Pliskova, has mustered a 5-9 lifetime record at majors, and has not appeared in the main draw of the Australian Open since 2013.
Pick: Stosur in three
[4] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #4) vs. Christina McHale (USA # 65)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 3-0
Key Stat: Radwanska has dropped only seven games in three matches versus McHale.
Many pundits are predicting a big year for Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, and the 26-year-old has already started on the right foot by taking the Shenzhen title without the loss of a set. Radwanska, a semifinalist at Melbourne (2014) and a five-time quarterfinalist here, will face a player that has given her very little trouble in the past. The youthful, talented McHale has been troubled by the Radwanska match-up, and with red-hot Radwanska having won 22 of 26 matches dating back to last year, the challenge of coping with the unorthodox stylings of the crafty Pole promises to be even more difficult for the American.
Pick: Radwanska in two.
[5] Maria Sharapova (RUS #5) vs. Nao Hibino (JPN # 56)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Sharapova has played just seven tour-level matches since Wimbledon 2015.
Can Maria Sharapova shake the rust off in time to get past rapidly-rising Nao Hibino on Monday in Melbourne? The Russian has not played since the Fed Cup final last November, but she is confident that her short, sweet off-season training block and her experience will help get her through the early rounds in Melbourne. “Yes I might be more rusty,” Sharapova told reporters on Saturday, “but I’ve always been someone who treats practice as meaningful and I can take that into matches. I’m ready to go.” In Hibino, Sharapova will face one of the breakout performers of 2015. The 21-year-old won her first WTA title at Tashkent and finished a season inside the Top 100 for the first time.
Pick: Sharapova in two.
More must-see tennis: Eugenie Bouchard will look to continue her fine run of form against the always-dangerous Aleksandra Krunic in the pair’s first-ever meeting. Bouchard reached her first WTA final in well over a year over the weekend in Hobart… Italy’s Roberta Vinci begins her final Grand Slam season with a battle against Austria’s Tamira Paszek. Though Paszek is ranked more than 100 places lower than Vinci, she owns a 2-0 record versus the Italian and has never dropped a set against Vinci… Luksika Kumkhum pulled one of the biggest upsets of the 2014 Australian Open when she upset sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova in the first round. Will lightning strike twice for the Thai qualifier, or will Kvitova get her revenge… France’s Kristina Mladenovic got an exceptionally tough draw this year at Melbourne. Seeded for the first time at the Aussie Open, she drew former finalist Dominika Cibulkova, whom she has lost all five previous encounters against.
Action is hot and heavy in Rio on Monday as all 16 second-round clashes will take place. Wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo previews the action.
Not long after checking in with fans and friends on Tennis Channel, Victoria Azarenka announced the birth of her first child late on Monday night.
The former No.1 began the season winning three titles in Brisbane and the elusive Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, but left the tour back in July after announcing her pregnancy. Azarenka took to social media to share her first picture as a mother on Twitter:
Today I had my hardest fight and my very best victory! Our son was born healthy and happy! So thankful and blessed! Thank you ??❤ pic.twitter.com/zsoFRivnvQ
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) December 20, 2016
Her colleagues and fellow players extended their hearty congratulations to the two-time Australian Open champion on Twitter, as well:
@vika7 Congratulations on your new little family Vika! ?
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) December 20, 2016
@vika7 ahhhh! So glad everybody's good!!! Congrats !!????????
— Irina Falconi (@IrinaFalconi) December 20, 2016
@vika7 congratulations, amazing News? wish you all the best xx
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) December 20, 2016
@vika7 поздравляю вас!! ❤?
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) December 20, 2016
@vika7 congrats Vika!!
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) December 20, 2016
MELBOURNE, Australia – The last time Yulia Putintseva played on Hisense Arena, she pushed Agnieszka Radwanska to the brink in a topsy-turvy three-setter back in 2014; on Monday afternoon she went one better against former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, recovering from a set and break deficit to defeat the Dane, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.
The Kazakh, a former junior finalist at the 2012 Australian Open, recently turned 21, but hadn’t won a WTA main draw match since last summer, and appeared close to another defeat when she fell behind a set and 4-2 to her more experienced opponent.
Yet, Putintseva displayed impressive resolve to turn the tables in a second set tie-break and weathered a final set surge from Wozniacki to serve out the win in just over three hours.
In her on-court interview, the smiling youngster admitted she was dealing with cramps from early in the third set, and played some impressive mind games to keep calm when it came time to complete the upset.
“I tried to keep my emotions inside, and actually imagine I was losing. It’s easier that way.”
Ending the match with a whopping 42 winners, Putintseva also out-aced Wozniacki, hitting two back-to-back in the middle of the second set tie-break while maintaining an impressive 74% first serve percentage.
For Wozniacki, the loss completes a string of progressively disappointing losses in Melbourne; since reaching the semifinals in 2011 – when she had a match point against Li Na – she has ended her tournament one round worse in each successive year, a pattern that was on her mind as early as last year, when she fell in the second round to Victoria Azarenka.
“I think it’s a curse I’ve gotten here,” she said in 2015. “Hopefully, I’m going to break that next year and start going the other way.”
In the same section of the draw as World No.1 Serena Williams, Putintseva not only takes out one of the American’s closest rivals, but she next plays China’s Han Xinyun, who benefitted from the 6-2, 2-1 retirement of Mariana Duque-Mariño.
Putintseva pulls off upset win on Hisense Arena #ausopen https://t.co/Rq8mh1PKlz
— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2016