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It’s time to vote for June’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, July 15.

June 2016 WTA Player Of The Month Finalists

Serena Williams: An athlete who needs no introduction, the World No.1 captured a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title – matching Stefanie Graf’s record – at Wimbledon. She dropped just one set en route to the title – her seventh at the All England Club – and held onto her spot atop the WTA rankings for a 301st consecutive week. 

Angelique Kerber: Kerber eased into her grass court season with a run to the quarterfinals of the Aegon Classic, but caught fire at Wimbledon, racing into the final without losing a set and knocking out five-time champion Venus Williams in the semifinals. The German played a hard-fought final before losing to Serena in straight sets.

Madison Keys: The young American became the first to make her Top 10 debut since Serena in 1999 by reaching the final of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham (eventually winning the title over Barbora Strycova), and reached the second week of Wimbledon for the second year in a row.

Dominika Cibulkova: Cibulkova cemented her comeback with a title at the Aegon International in Eastborne, defeating Agnieszka Radwanska from a set and a break deficit en route to the trophy, and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon by defeating Radwanska again in what may already be the best match of 2016.

2016 Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza

How it works:

Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

The first half of the 2016 season is in the books and as the tour turns back to hardcourts, the possible field for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is beginning to take shape. The Road to Singapore leaderboard saw some subtle but important movement through the clay and grass seasons, with Serena Williams taking over the top spot in the RTS for the first time, French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza soar into contention, while question marks over Victoria Azarenka’s season continue to mount.

Breaking down the RTS Top 10:

1. Serena Williams – 6,270 points.

It speaks volumes of the impossible expectations for the World No.1 that a season that included two Slam finals, a title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Rome, and a final of the BNP Paribas Open, were all signals of a “slump.” As Serena said at Wimbledon, any other player on tour would dream of those results.

But: Serena isn’t any other player.

After making her second major final of the season at the French Open, Serena took over the No.1 spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard for the first time in 2016; she consolidated that move last week after winning her seventh Wimbledon title and tying Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles.

Listen to the newest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast, which looks into Serena’s season so far and her place in tennis history.

2. Angelique Kerber – 4,837 points.

Kerber’s best season of her career continued on grass. She relinquished the top spot on the RTS to Serena after the French Open, but after making her second major final of the season at Wimbledon, she extended her lead over No.3 Victoria Azarenka and the rest of the field by nearly 1,800 points. In fact, with Kerber less than 1,500 points behind Serena, the German has a larger lead over the rest of the field than Serena has on her.

3. Victoria Azarenka – 3,061 points.

After a blistering start that saw her win three titles – including the Sunshine Double (BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open) – Azarenka left the spring hardcourts as the woman to beat. Since then, the former No.1 has played just six matches, with various injuries leaving her sidelined. Her last match ended in a retirement to Karin Knapp in the first round of the French Open; she withdrew from the entire grass court swing, including Wimbledon.

It all begs the question: When will we see a healthy Azarenka back on court?

4. Garbiñe Muguruza – 3,038 points.

The Spaniard went into Roland Garros sitting at No.17 in the RTS. Two weeks later the 22-year-old became the third consecutive maiden Slam winner, beating Serena in straight sets in the final, and surged up to No.4. A semifinalist in Singapore last fall, Muguruza’s strong run on clay – she also made the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and the semifinals in Rome – has taken her from well outside the qualifying range to right in the thick of things.

Given her prowess on hardcourts, Muguruza’s move up the RTS charts should continue over the summer.

5. Agnieszka Radwanska – 2,696 points.

The reigning WTA Finals champion started her season among the most consistent women on tour, making the semifinals or better at her first four tournaments. Since then she has made just one semifinal (Stuttgart) and has been undone by a series of tough draws and unexpected circumstances.

Radwanska has lost to Dominika Cibulkova in three of her last five tournaments, all in three sets and capped off by the three-hour epic between the two that Cibulkova won 9-7 in the third in the fourth round of Wimbledon. She drew a red-hot CoCo Vandeweghe in her first match on grass, losing in three sets, and held a seemingly insurmountable lead over Tsvetana Pironkova at the French Open before getting distracted by the wet conditions at the French Open.

All that is to say, Radwanska is playing good tennis. If she continues this level through the summer there’s no reason to think the pendulum of luck won’t swing back her way.

6. Carla Suárez Navarro – 2,518 points.

Suárez Navarro has yet to ever qualify for the WTA Finals in singles, narrowly missing out a post last fall (she and doubles partner Muguruza made the doubles final). This year, the Qatar Total Open champion continues to keep pace, performing consistently without posting any breakthrough results to surge forward. The Spaniard went into the French Open at No.5 on the RTS and heads to the summer hardcourt season ranked at No.6, making the Round of 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon, as well as the semifinals at the Aegon Classic.

7. Dominika Cibulkova – 2,487 points.

Twelve months ago, Cibulkova was ranked No.56 after missing four-and-a-half months due to foot surgery. Now she’s one of the best players on tour, as evidenced by her RTS ranking at No.7. Cibulkova had a strong clay season, making the Mutua Madrid Open final, but her grass court season took everyone by surprise. The 27-year-old had so little faith in her grass court abilities that she scheduled her wedding on the day of the Wimbledon final.

Cibulkova won nine consecutive matches on grass, including her first grass title at the Aegon International, before making her first Wimbledon quarterfinal since 2011.

8. Simona Halep – 2,299 points.

After a slow start to the season due to illness and injury, Halep seems to have found a consistent base. It started with her title run on the clay courts of Madrid and it continued at Wimbledon, where she made the quarterfinals before losing to Kerber. The most important news for Halep: She’s healthy. An Achilles injury that knocked her out most of the grass court season never flared up at Wimbledon.

Last year Halep went on a tear through the North American hardcourt season, making back-to-back finals at the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open before making her first US Open semifinal. Can she do it again?

Hear from Halep’s coach Darren Cahill here:

9. Madison Keys – 2,121 points.

If the season were to end today, the 21-year-old American would be the first alternate in Singapore. Keys has soared up the rankings thanks to her sustained run of play across the clay and grass season. She marched her way to the finals of Rome, beating Muguruza en route, won the Aegon Classic, and made the Round of 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon.

Hear from Keys, who made her Top 10 debut during the grass season here:

10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – 2,082 points.

The Russian veteran is sitting in the second alternate position, backing up her fairytale run to the final of the Miami Open with solid results at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Hear from the resurgent Russian on how she resolved to improve on grass, leading her into the second week of the All England Club for the first time since 2008:

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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.

The WTA Future Stars Clinic made its third stop of the 2016 season on Saturday in Jakarta following successful weekends in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. Assisting the platform – which aims to promote the game all over the Asia-Pacific region – in its latest clinic was a woman who has been, in her own words, “opening the door for professional tennis in Indonesia” for the better part of three decades.

“I’ve always followed all the WTA’s plans for growing the game in Indonesia, and hopefully this works,” former World No.19 Yayuk Basuki told WTA Insider.

Working with national representatives and players from her eponymous academy, Basuki spent the day working with the Future Stars on the court, and shared some of her memories of being a professional athlete.

“It’s always great to be able to give back to the next generation,” she said at the clinic led by Melissa Pine, Vice President of WTA Asia-Pacific and Tournament Director of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. “I hope to be able to inspire the children, and show them that anything is possible so long as you put your heart and mind to it.”

Basuki is Jakarta’s hometown hero with an impressive on-court resumé, one that features a run to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1997 in singles and a box set of Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances in doubles – including a semifinal finish at the 1993 US Open. In the 20 years since reaching those heights, she remains the only Indonesian player to crack the Top 50.

“Maybe these clinics can encourage players – especially the young ones – so they can get motivated to be able to be up there in the WTA rankings,” she explained on Friday. “Because we really need some new stars from our country.

“At the moment really we don’t have any, only one is ranked inside the Top 600. It’s really that we need some juniors to come up. I’m following some of them; one or two of them are doing quite well on the ITF Junior Circuit. So hopefully we have a better future for the girls in the next coming years.”

A trailblazer for Indonesian tennis, Basuki took charge of a fledgling national career and quickly burst onto the international scene.

“In my time, no one ever thought an Indonesian player could do well as a professional. I had been playing for my country, for the flag, for so many years – for Fed Cup, the Asian Games or the Olympics.

“I was thinking: I don’t want to just play for my country; I want to turn pro. Within six months of doing that, I was Top 50. I stayed up there until I reached my highest ranking of Top 20.”

Retiring from singles at the start of the new millennium – after having won six WTA titles, – Basuki was eager to offer advice to the next generation of Indonesian stars. She became a WTA mentor to Angelique Widjaja, who defeated future No.1 Dinara Safina to win the first of two junior Grand Slam titles in 2001.

“I was looking forward that more players would follow me and what I did.”

Widjaja appeared on course to match – even surpass – what Basuki had achieved in her first two years on the WTA tour, rocketing up to No.55 in singles and No.15 in doubles, where she reached four Grand Slam quarterfinals. But injuries and burnout took their toll and Widjaja was gone from the game by 2008.

“I’ve tried to encourage her to come back and to play some – even if it was just for doubles – but she says she doesn’t have the motivation anymore and that’s such a pity.”

Undaunted by the setback, Basuki sought to grow the game herself by returning to tennis at nearly 40 years old, playing doubles on the ITF Circuit.

“I know that there was no way for to completely come back at my age, but it was more about trying to motivate the younger players. I was trying to say, ‘Come on, I’m 40 and I still can do it; why can’t they?’ I wanted to encourage them.”

The comeback might not have yielded the result she wanted, but it made her realize she needed to do something even bigger to change the way her country viewed professional sport.

“It’s so hard to get children involved in sports, or even to be an athlete, because most of the parents are thinking, ‘If I put my kid into athletics, what are they doing after?’ You know, what is life after sports? They’re all worried about that.”

Returning to Indonesia after coaching in Hong Kong, Basuki was encouraged to run for political office in 2013; within a year, she was a member of parliament working to reform sports and education.

“They don’t give enough attention for the sport,” she said of the government. “What they need is to put in more effort, to give more of the budget for the Indonesian sport. I’d already tried to work for the National Olympic Association, where I was Vice President. I tried to help as an advisor in the Indonesian ministry, as well. But nothing has worked, so the only thing right now is to get into the system, which was to become a house representative.

“During the campaign, it was clear not many people knew I used to be the ex-tennis player who turned into a politician. But I got enough votes!”

Between her political endeavors and the growing initiatives spearheaded by WTA Future Stars, Basuki is optimistic about the state of the sport – not only in her country, but also throughout the region.

“So far my country is giving more attention to education. But at least in sport, as well, we’re trying to make up for that in the budget. So in the beginning, for example, the budget was let’s say only 30%, but now it’s becoming three times larger than where it started when I first became a politician.

“I’m trying to create a system, one where athletes won’t have to worry about their future by creating pension plans and ways for them to develop skills for after their careers. I can share a lot of my experience, so hopefully we’ll be able to make progress.

“I’ve dedicated 26 years to Indonesian tennis, as a player, as a Fed Cup captain, and as coach as well. So what I’m looking forward to are some new players who really have their goals and their dreams. To tell you the truth, I haven’t found it yet. Hopefully at the clinic, I can see some of the younger ones who might have a brighter future.

“I’m hoping.”

All photos courtesy of the WTA.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Former World No.1s Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki, two of the biggest draws at this year’s ASB Classic, went to Newmarket on the weekend to play street tennis, sign autographs and meet the press. Here are 10 of the best photos, courtesy of www.photosport.nz.