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Notes & Netcords: July 11, 2016

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

THE WINNERS

It was a tightly drawn match from start to finish, but Serena Williams outgunned Angelique Kerber in straight sets to win her seventh Wimbledon title – a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.

Playing in their second Grand Slam final of 2016, the No.4 seed Kerber came out on fire against the World No.1, and neither player gave an inch. But when it was all said and done it was Serena, again, who clinched the match and The Championships, 7-5, 6-3.

With 22 major titles under her belt, Serena is now tied with Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era. She now sits just two behind Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.

“It’s been incredibly difficult not to think about it. I had a couple of tries this year and I lost to two incredible opponents – one of them being Angelique!

“But it makes the victory even sweeter, to know how hard I’ve worked for it.”

Read the full story and watch highlights here | As It Happened: Game by game analysis from WTA Insider

Not content to with just one Wimbledon crown, hours after her win in singles Serena was back out on Centre Court to join Venus Williams in the final of Ladies Doubles.

The sisters extended their doubles dominance and improved their record to 14-0 in Grand Slam finals by taking the title, powering past Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4.

“It was really special to be out there again, to win Wimbledon in doubles. We love it, we love playing doubles, we love being together,” Serena said after the match.

“I had just enough time to change and get the ankles re-taped. It was fine. I didn’t want to warm down.”

Read the full story here.

Finally, Britain enjoyed a local champion as Heather Watson’s Wimbledon ended on the best possible note, triumphing on the final day of the fortnight in mixed doubles. She partnered with Finland’s Henri Kontinen to defeat doubles specialists Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Watson became the first British woman to win a Wimbledon Championship of any kind since Jo Durie, who also captured a mixed doubles crown in 1987. Virginia Wade remains the last women’s singles winner back in 1977.

Read the full story here.


RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of July 11, 2016.

Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) +47 (No.96 to 49): The week’s biggest ranking jump belongs to Shvedova, who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal.

Elena Vesnina (RUS) +26 (No.50 to 24): Vesnina had to wait a long time to reach her first ever Grand Slam semifinal – it took her 42 tries – but the feat earned her a spot back inside the Top 25. Even more impressive: she started the year ranked No.122 in mid-February.

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) +4 (No.14 to 10): Kuznetsova’s run to the fourth round of Wimbledon earns her four very important ranking points, putting her back in the Top 10 for the first time since 2010.

Angelique Kerber (GER) +2 (No.4 to 2): Although she didn’t walk away the Wimbledon champion, Kerber grabbed a sweet consolation prize. The German returns to World No.2, her career-highest ranking.

Find out how the Road To Singapore shapes up here.


UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

BRD Bucharest Open
Bucharest, Romania
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, July 11 – Sunday, July 17, 2016

Ladies Championship Gstaad
Gstaad, Switzerland
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, July 11 – Sunday, July 17, 2016

Bank Of The West Classic
Standford, USA
Premier | $687,900 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24

Citi Open
Washington DC, USA
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24

Ericsson Open
Bastad, Sweden
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams
2. Angelique Kerber – Bastad
3. Garbiñe Muguruza
4. Agnieszka Radwanska
5. Simona Halep – Bucharest
6. Victoria Azarenka
7. Venus Williams – Stanford
8. Roberta Vinci
9. Carla Suárez Navarro
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova
11. Madison Keys
12. Dominika Cibulkova – Stanford
13. Petra Kvitova
14. Samantha Stosur – Washington DC
15. Belinda Bencic
16. Karolina Pliskova
17. Timea Bacsinszky – Gstaad
18. Johanna Konta – Stanford
19. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Stanford
20. Elina Svitolina


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Mona Barthel (GER) – July 11, 1990
Abigail Spears (USA) – July 12, 1981
Olivia Rich (AUS) – July 14, 1992
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) – July 15, 1989

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Vote: June's Player Of The Month

Vote: June's Player Of The Month

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

June POTM

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

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DOHA, Qatar – The WTA’s biggest stars took a break from their hectic Doha preparations to glam up and step out for the Qatar Total Open’s official player gala earlier this week.

Angelique Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska and more WTA stars were among the stars of the big night – see all of the best photos and video right here on wtatennis.com!

Doha Player Party

Doha Player Party

Doha Player Party

Doha Player Party

Doha Player Party

Doha Player Party

Photos courtesy of Qatar Tennis Federation

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Insider RTS Update: Final Stretch

Insider RTS Update: Final Stretch

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

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?

Garbine Muguruza

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.

Agnieszka Radwanska

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.

Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep

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.

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