Sydney: Stosur Interview
An interview with Samantha Stosur after her win in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Samantha Stosur after her win in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – While many of their WTA peers are already en route to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic tennis event kicking off later this week, Jelena Jankovic and Monica Puig have already scored their first wins on Brazilian soil at the Brasil Tennis Cup in Florianopolis.
Watch live action from Florianopolis this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Located over a thousand kilometers southwest of Rio, Florianopolis is the last stop for many players ahead of the Olympics. In fact, 12 players out of the 32 in the tournament’s main draw are also Olympians looking to squeeze in a few more matches before the big event.
Among them was No.1 seed Jelena Jankovic, who made her Florianopolis debut against Russian qualifier Valeriya Solovyeva. The 23-year-old wasted no time in trading breaks with the former No.1. Solovyeva brought up five more break point chances, but the Serbian dodged them all before grabbing the late break to take the first set 7-5.
Jankovic broke twice more to start off the second set with a 4-0 lead, but Solovyeva showed her grit once more by digging in her heels and reeling off three games in a row to cut into the Serbian’s advantage. It wasn’t enough to take back the momentum, as Jankovic powered on to close out the match 7-5, 6-4 after an hour and forty minutes.
“The conditions changed a lot after the first set to the end of the match,” Jankovic said. “I was really just trying my best to play smart and focus to just finish the match. I’m happy with how I played.”
Fellow Olympian Monica Puig had a smoother road to the second round of the Brasil Tennis Cup, storming past Anastasia Pivovarova 6-2, 6-3. Puig, the No.3 seed, only dropped serve once during the 70 minute encounter.
The Puerto Rican opened the match by breaking twice and racing ahead to a 4-0. Pivovarova broke back and consolidated to get her name on the scoreboard and stop the bleeding, but Puig went on to rattle off the next five games to grab the set and a break. She held on to that lead and closed out her comfortable passage into the second round.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian crowd, defending champion Teliana Pereira was denied her shot at a Florianopolis double after being knocked out of the tournament by lucky loser Lyudmyla Kichenok.
“Today it wasn’t my best day,” she said. “I love playing here in Florianopolis, last year I had such a big experience winning the tournament here.”
Despite the disappointing 6-3, 6-2 scoreline, Pereira was able to find the positive side of defeat.
“The good thing is now I’m going early to Rio de Janeiro to play my first Olympics – I’m very happy and just want to enjoy Rio and play my best tennis.”
ATLANTA, GA, USA – Venus Williams and Eugenie Bouchard will play an exhibition match at the BB&T Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 event, which takes place on hard court in Atlantic Station on July 22-30. The two players will take to the court in the women’s exhibition evening session on Stadium Court on Sunday, July 23.
“Atlanta has such a rich sports and tennis tradition and it’s been over 10 years since I’ve had a chance to play a match there,” said Williams. “I’m looking forward to hopefully playing in front of a big crowd that is also an enthusiastic tennis audience.”
Williams and Bouchard have played twice before with the head-to-head currently tied at 1-1. The American won their first meeting on hard court at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in 2013 while the Canadian took victory in their most recent encounter, at the Volvo Car Open on clay at Charleston in 2014. Both matches were extended to three sets.
“It’s exciting having the great American champion Venus Williams make her first trip to Atlanta in almost 15 years. She’s an inspiration to tennis fans and players around the world,” said Tournament Director Eddie Gonzalez. “Genie Bouchard is the perfect opponent for Venus, and Atlanta tennis fans will enjoy the professional brand of women’s tennis.”
Tennis legend @Venuseswilliams to play @geniebouchard in exo at #BBTAtlantaOpen!
More: https://t.co/RgRLcMIjNT
?️ https://t.co/nf1e7dae07 pic.twitter.com/XB9DwwjPhh— BB&T Atlanta Open (@BBTatlantaopen) March 6, 2017
An interview with Sara Errani after her win in the second round of the Apia International Sydney.
Simona Halep takes on Madison Keys in the final of the Rogers Cup.
It’s time to vote for February’s WTA Player of the Month!
Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, March 10.
February 2017 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists
Kristina Mladenovic: The Frenchwoman’s star reached its highest peaks yet in February, kicking off the month with her maiden WTA title at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Mladenovic ended February in another final, finishining runner-up at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. In between, she scored her first Top 5 win of the season against Karolina Pliskova at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Karolina Pliskova: Speaking of Pliskova, the Czech powerhouse continued her winning ways, becoming the first woman to win multiple titles in 2017 at the Qatar Total Open, where she battled past Dominika Cibulkova and Carolina Pliskova and won four matches in three days.
Elina Svitolina: Svitolina built up an impressive, unbeaten, 13-match winning streak in February, winning her fifth and sixth WTA titles at the Taiwan Open and in Dubai to take home the biggest trophy of her career. The Ukrainian, 22, scored back-to-back wins over former WTA World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to break into the Top 10.
2017 Winners
January: Serena Williams
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka got in touch with her cinematic side over the off-season, working with friends to produce an epic training montage in her home town of Minsk.
“I wanted to show a different side of me that is not out there in the world,” she told WTA Insider. “So I wanted to show my fans, the media, the people, who I am.
“I wanted it to show the behind the scenes of my preparation, and a little bit of my interests, as well. So there’s music, there’s art, and even motorcycles.
“It made my dream come true.”
With narrative quotes from rival Serena Williams and Azarenka herself audible under an original beat, the two-time Australian Open champion gets intense on a motorcycle and in front of a graffiti wall as she works out ahead of what she hopes will be her best season yet.
“I was running at home and I saw a whole movie in front of me,” she said, explaining her inspiration behind the 90-second clip. “I actually ran through the red light and I almost got hit by a car because I was so in the moment.
“I saw this and I wanted to do this video. My friends were like, ‘we can do it. We have equipment. How do you want to do it?'”
Involved throughout the creative process, the Brisbane International champion worked with friends on the project, and enjoyed giving her input through every aspect of the film.
“My friend and I worked on the music; he did most of it, but I kept giving him crap because he didn’t do it the right way.
“I may not play any instruments but I hear music in a very special way. So once he got the music it was easier to write the treatment.”
Starting the season ranked outside the Top 10 for only the second time in seven years, Azarenka is aiming for a complete renaissance in 2016, one that unveils a more finely tuned athlete and even more dynamic personality.
“I’ve done my research about what’s been said about me in the media world. They came up with a lot of different keywords and they were just about sports. I liked it but it was limited. I’m so much more than that.
“So when I have the opportunity I want to be in the world that I live in and I just want to be open and I just want to be me because I enjoy it.”
CoCo Vandeweghe is in Rio with Team USA – go behind the scenes of their Opening Ceremony outfit fittings with Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and more!
There have been several classic finals over 28 editions of the BNP Paribas Open. Dan Lucas looks back at three of the very best.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – There are a lot of numbers floating around when someone’s going for this much history, so we’re putting them in one place – we’ll also update this after every one of her matches this fortnight. So here you are – all the Serena Williams stats you need for the Australian Open!
Serena & Grand Slams
~ Serena has the second-most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era with 21 (Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam titles all-time with 21 (Court 24, Graf 22)
~ Serena has the third-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 285 (Navratilova 306, Evert 299)
~ Serena is trying to win her seventh Australian Open title (won it in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2015); she already has the Open Era record for most Australian Open titles, male or female
~ This is Serena’s 20th time being the No.1 seed at a Grand Slam (she’s won 11 of the first 19)
~ Serena is 60-1 in Grand Slam first round matches (only loss: Razzano at 2012 French Open)
Serena & Finals
~ Serena is 21-4 in Grand Slam finals, the second-best winning percentage Open Era (Court was 11-1)
~ Serena has won her last eight Grand Slam finals (last loss: Stosur at 2011 US Open)
~ Serena has won her last 15 finals (last loss: Azarenka at 2013 Cincinnati)
~ Serena has won 30 of her last 32 finals (only losses: Azarenka at 2013 Doha & 2013 Cincinnati)
Serena & Age-Related Stats
~ Serena is the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era (33y & 289d at 2015 Wimbledon)
~ Serena is the oldest No.1 in WTA history (set record when returned to No.1 on February 18, 2013)
~ Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman Open Era at 15 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon (Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)
~ Serena has won eight majors since turning 30, the most after 30 by far in the Open Era (Court and Navratilova three each, King and Evert two each and Jones, Wade, Li and Pennetta one each)
Miscellaneous
~ Serena will spend her 153rd & 154th straight weeks at No.1 during the Australian Open fortnight (third-longest streak at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 186 and Navratilova’s 156)
~ Serena is spending her 276th & 277th career weeks at No.1 during the Australian Open fortnight (third-most weeks at No.1 in WTA history after Graf’s 377 and Navratilova’s 332)
~ Serena has the most career prize money in WTA history ($74.1M – next-most is Sharapova’s $36.5M)
~ Serena has the fifth-most WTA titles in Open Era with 69 (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court)
Before & After Patrick Mouratoglou
Serena joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou after falling first round at the 2012 French Open, and the dynamic duo’s numbers speak for themselves – here’s a comparison of before and after Mouratoglou:
Pre-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 523-107 (.830)
WTA titles: 41
Grand Slam titles: 13 out of 47 (.277)
vs Top 10: 111-59 (.653)
Post-Patrick Mouratoglou
win-loss: 214-16 (.930)
WTA titles: 28
Grand Slam titles: 8 out of 14 (.571)
vs Top 10: 52-5 (.912)
Since Regaining World No.1
Since returning to the top spot on the WTA Rankings on February 18, 2013, Serena’s been fantastic:
win-loss: 171-13
WTA titles: 22 of 29
Grand Slam titles: 6 of 11
vs Top 10: 37-3