Tennis News

MADRID, Spain – Daria Gavrilova caused the latest upset at the Mutua Madrid Open draw, knocking out defending champion Petra Kvitova in the third round.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

Kvitova is the 12th seed to bite the Madrid dust in just five days, leaving Simona Halep as the only Top 10 player left standing. Gavrilova, who faces Louisa Chirico in the last eight, impressed throughout, breaking three times en route to a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

While Gavrilova’s game never wavered, Kvitova’s failure to find her range was the source of increasing frustration. In the penultimate game of the opening set, a backhand into the net capped off a string of unforced errors that gift wrapped the decisive break.

It prompted the Czech to fling her hands skywards, and another break at the start of the second did little to lift her mood. Meanwhile, Gavrilova’s neat and tidy approach – she made 18 unforced errors to Kvitova’s 30 – continued to pay dividends, helping her out of couple of close games and safely across the finishing line.

Kvitova went into the tournament with an abdomen strain, an injury that affected not only her serve during the match but also her preparation beforehand.

“I think Daria really played a solid match. I couldn’t put everything together out there – I was still dealing with the pain from Stuttgart” Kvitova said. “I couldn’t really practice for a week. I’m glad that I won two matches and I’m glad that it feels like it’s getting better, so hopefully I can start to do more fitness and tennis practice.”

A run to the semifinals in Rome 12 months ago announced Gavrilova to the tennis world. Standing between her and a repeat performance at one of the spring’s other big events is qualifier Chirico, the beneficiary of Victoria Azarenka’s last-minute injury withdrawal.

#famous ? pic.twitter.com/rHtvoLHskp

— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) 4 May 2016

MADRID, Spain – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza continued their serene progress at the Mutua Madrid Open, dispatching quarterfinal foes Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in little over an hour.

Since seeing their 41-match winning streak ended in Doha, Hingis and Mirza have endured a relative barren patch, going four tournaments without silverware. However, inside the Caja Mágica they are casting a spell over their opponents once again, bewitching No.6 seeds Hlavackova and Hradecka, 6-3, 6-2.

This masterclass set up a semifinal clash with a resurgent Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, winners of a far closer encounter in the preceding match on court. Taking on No.4 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, King and Kudryavtseva recovered from a slow start to prevail, 2-6, 6-4, 11-9.

On the other side of the draw, Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic continued their fine clay court campaign with victory over No.3 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova.

Garcia and Mladenovic arrived in the Spanish capital having won their opening two clay court events, Charleston and Stuttgart, and a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Babos and Shvedova extends their unbeaten streak on the surface to 11 matches.

Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina are the next team tasked with ending this run. French Open champions in 2013, Makarova and Vesnina advanced without striking a ball after Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withdrew when the latter failed to recover sufficiently from a thigh strain.

MADRID, Spain – 2014 Madrid runner up Simona Halep held off an inspired performance from Romanian qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu and secured her spot in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals, 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

No.6 seed Halep – the only seed still standing in Madrid – leads the pack of four Romanians who’ve reached the quarterfinal stage here. It’s a historic showing for the small Latin country in Eastern Europe.

“I think it’s a big thing for our country,” Halep said. “It’s a small country, and four girls to be in the quarterfinals of such a big tournament, it means a lot.

“I am in the semifinals. Maybe the other two is going to be going in the semis. It’s going to be a good thing.”

Plenty of chances went Begu’s way in the first set: she built up 30-0 leads twice in Halep’s service games, and despite creating three break chances in the set she couldn’t convert any of them. On paper they were drawn very evenly in the first set – seven winners apiece and 12 unforced errors from Halep to Begu’s 15, but in the key moments Begu’s usually reliable forehand misfired leaving Halep in command.

Begu learned from her first set mistakes, though, and went into the second looking like she couldn’t miss – only making one error all set long. She drew Halep out of her comfort zone and left her feeling rushed, striking nine errors and suffering her first bagel set of 2016. Halep righted the ship right away though, breaking Begu early on allowing her just one game in the final set.

As good as having four Romanians in the quarterfinals was for her country, it was at times a source of distraction for Halep, who admitted afterwards that she could overhear Begu’s coaching breaks.

“Yeah, affected me a little bit, but I was stronger in the third set and I didn’t care anymore,” Halep said. “It wasn’t my best day. Anyway, if I won means that I played good tennis. I’m confident it was a good match for me.

“I take it like a positive one, even if I gave that second set easy. I was there until the end, and I’m glad that I could control myself until the end.”

.@Simona_Halep is moving onto the @MutuaMadridOpen Semifinals! #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/ZYvuxYoH0o

— WTA (@WTA) May 5, 2016

MADRID, Spain – Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic extended their perfect start to the clay court season with victory over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.

Arriving in the Spanish capital brimming with confidence after back-to-back titles in Charleston and Stuttgart, Garcia and Mladenovic have looked untouchable. After cruising through the rounds, the No.5 seeds put down a marker with their showing against former French Open champions Makarova and Vesnina, wrapping up a 6-2, 6-3 victory in little over an hour.

“It was a tough match and we fought really well,” Mladenovic said. “We’re on a great run but whoever we face in the final won’t be easy, so we’ll play our own game regardless. Clay is being great to us this season and me and Caroline are really playing great as a pair.”

A shot at Olympic glory prompted the union between Garcia and Mladenovic, who had previously been in successful partnerships with Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos, respectively. And while the Frenchwomen took a few tournaments to fully gel, they have now well and truly found their feet on the terre battue.

Victory over Makarova and Vesnina extends their unbeaten streak to 12 matches and sets up a rematch against the world’s leading pair: Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.

The teams met a fortnight ago in the Stuttgart final, Garcia and Mladenovic overcoming a disastrous start to pinch it on a match tie-break. Hingis and Mirza secured their final berth thanks to an even more impressive showing, dismantling Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2, 6-0, in 51 minutes.

“It’s obviously awesome – our second consecutive final of the clay court season. I don’t think either of us had ever made it to the final in Madrid before, so it’s a good feeling to already be doing better than last year and we’re looking forward to playing Garcia and Mladenovic again,” Hingis said.

Despite their dominance atop the rankings, Hingis insists they are the underdogs going into the final: “They are definitely the team to beat on clay, so if we want to be competitive at the French Open we know we’ll have to test ourselves against them.”

.@NickKyrgios and @keinishikori on their way to the court bump into @mhingis and @MirzaSania!!!! ? ? #MMOPEN https://t.co/IiAIpR2HvC

— Mutua Madrid Open (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 6, 2016

You’ve probably heard their voices during a match, but how much do you know about the WTA commentators that call all the action?

In this episode of WTA’s Behind The Tour, go inside the booth with Mikey Perera and Pete Odgers, the men behind the mic at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“It’s a pretty special and privileged position to be in, to be watching sport for a living,” Odgers said. “But not only watching sport, but to be watching it with legends and people you’ve looked up to as a child.”

Perera added, “I just like to have fun, because after all, it’s sport. It’s entertainment; it’s supposed to be fun and that’s what I try to get into my commentaries.”

Want to hear more from WTA World Feed commentator Mikey Perera?

The WTA season is over but the Mannequin Challenge is here to stay – at least for now. Simona Halep, Nicole Gibbs, Daria Kasatkina and more stars gave the social media craze a try – whose do you like best?

Nicole Gibbs, CiCi Bellis and squad:

Before her run to the Hawaii Open title, CiCi Bellis joined up with Nicole Gibbs and a whole cast of American rising stars – including Sachia Vickery, Samantha Crawford, Jamie Loeb and Asia Muhammad – for their video.

Squad uppp ?? #mannequinchallenge @SachiaVick @Gibbsyyyy @samcrawford18 @jloeb308 @asiamuhammad @AnibalAranda pic.twitter.com/rJqPxQpfKt

— CiCi Bellis (@cicibellis99) November 21, 2016

The Chan Sisters and the whole Taipei 125K Challenger:

Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan enlisted everyone at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger – from ball kids to photographers to umpires – in their epic Mannequin Challenge.

Simona Halep… and half of Romania’s athletes

Maybe not half, but there’s a lot: Simona Halep joined over 20 of Romania’s top athletes and trainers for a cameo in the Stejarii Country Club’s Mannequin Challenge. Check it out below – they saved the best for last!

Daria Kasatkina & Ons Jabeur:

Daria Kasatkina and Ons Jabeur and more took a break from practice to freeze for their Mannequin Challenge. Kasatkina was caught mid-racquet smash, much to the dismay of her coach.

What's going on @EMPIRETennis?@DKasatkina, @Ons_Jabeur & @platno76 are doing #MannequinChallenge! #tennis #girls #MannequinChallenges @WTA pic.twitter.com/aeyEuThzYm

— TopFive (@TopFiveMgmt) November 18, 2016