No.3 seed Julia Goerges overcame a shaky start to put away Anett Kontaveit at the Hungarian Ladies Open while local wildcard Fanny Stollar thrilled her home crowd with a huge upset.
Eugenie Bouchard got a cold welcome in The Netherlands, where she is set to play the Ricoh Open next week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Maybe they were basking in the glow of having their first Roland Garros semifinalist since 1971 in Kiki Bertens. Maybe they were unaware the festivities in Paris are winding down, as the tournament enters its final stage. Or maybe, just maybe, the Dutch are incredibly adept at constructing the perfect burn.
Whatever the reason, this exchange between Bouchard and a Dutch border control agent escalated quickly:
Immigration entering Holland:
Him: Purpose of trip?
Me: Tennis tournament
Him: Oh, shouldn't you still be in Paris then?
Me: …— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) June 3, 2016
Bouchard lost in the second round of the French Open last week to Timea Bacsinszky. The Dutch immigration officers must not follow Genie on Twitter. She’s been training and relaxing in London since leaving Paris.
A bit windy London pic.twitter.com/W4rwioiDIz
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) May 31, 2016
The Ricoh Open begins on June 6th. Jelena Jankovic, CoCo Vandweghe, and Jelena Ostapenko are in the draw, along with Belinda Bencic, who is scheduled to make her return after a lower back injury.
A Wimbledon finalist in 2014, Bouchard is scheduled to play a full grass court schedule over the upcoming weeks. After the Ricoh Open she will head to the WTA’s new grass court event at the Mallorca Open, then to the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England before heading to Wimbledon.
DUBAI, UAE – Caroline Wozniacki has won six of her last seven matches in the Middle East, dispatching Swiss youngster Viktorija Golubic, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Fresh off her Monday night win over Daria Kasatkina, Wozniacki began even more emphatically against the reigning Gstaad champion, racing out to a 5-2 lead to start the match. Though the Dane was broken serving for the opening set, she broke to love to reclaim the momentum.
The final stages of the match proved the most dramatic, as Golubic saved four match points on her own serve before the 2011 champion converted on her fifth and book her spot in the round of 16 after nearly two hours.
Up next for the the former No.1 is either No.9 seed Barbora Strycova or resurgent Chinese veteran Peng Shuai.
Earlier in the day, Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh scored another big win in her young career, ousting No.12 seed and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-3, breaking the Aussie’s serve four times in the 83 minute match.
No.8 seed Elena Vesnina earned a decisive win over Japan’s Misaki Doi, 6-2, 7-5, and will play Konjuh for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig continued her winning ways in the Middle East, upsetting No.15 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to book a potential Rio rematch against top seed Angelique Kerber, who plays later today.
It was a great day for the Americans, as Lauren Davis, Christina McHale, and Catherine Bellis all won on Tuesday, defeating Kristyna Pliskova, Naomi Osaka, and Laura Siegemund, respectively.
CiCi Bellis takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Angelique Kerber has Wednesday’s shot of the day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Top seed Timea Babos is through to the quarterfinals at the Hungarian Ladies Open after a hard-fought victory over Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova.
THE WINNERS
Garbiñe Muguruza played the best tennis of her career to stun defending champion Serena Williams and claim her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
With the win Muguruza also adds her name to Spain’s storied history at Roland Garros: she’s the first Spanish woman to win the title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario accomplished the feat in 1998.
Muguruza also climbs two spots in the rankings to World No.2, matching another one of Sanchez-Vicario’s feats by becoming the first Spaniard to hold that ranking since 1996. She sits behind Williams, who retains her No.1 ranking.
Read the full match recap here. | WTA Insider: Game-By-Game Analysis
But Muguruza isn’t the only one who took home some silverware in Paris: No.5 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic earned the biggest win of their young careers to win the French Open over former champions and No.7 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, becomng the first all-French pair to capture their home Slam since 1971.
“It’s never logical to win a Grand Slam,” Mladenovic said in their post-match press conference. “It’s never obvious. You know, you don’t win a Grand Slam every single day. Two young French women players who win Roland Garros. So there are the big tournaments that we have already won, which is a good success in itself, but, you know, winning a Grand Slam, and here in Roland Garros, it’s ten steps above what is logical or normal.”
Read the full match recap here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Garbiñe Muguruza makes her mark in Paris.
Spaniards and Roland Garros go together like crepes and Nutella. At 22 years old, Muguruza became the youngest Slam champion since two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka won the 2012 Australian Open, and the second woman born in the 1990s to win a major, joining another two-time champion, Petra Kvitova. By every metric, Muguruza dominated her two weeks in Paris. She dropped just one set and defeated three Slam champions en route to her maiden title, defeating No.1 Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final.
Despite her youth, Muguruza played throughout the fortnight like a veteran. Less than a year ago, she looked the nervous ingénue in her first Slam final, losing to Serena 6-4, 6-4 at Wimbledon. This time there was a methodical, steely resolve to how Muguruza plowed through the field. In Saturday’s final, she fended off Serena’s repeated attempts to mount one of her famous comebacks, snuffing out any hope a well-timed ace, gutsy backhand winner, or, as it was on match point, an impossibly good lob to secure the win.
On Monday, Muguruza became the first Spaniard since 1996 to hold the No.2 ranking and she vaulted up to No.4 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard. And her story does not end here. She’ll be one of the favorites at Wimbledon in a few weeks time and look to add her name to the list of seven women in the Open Era to complete the Channel Slam.
Read more about Muguruza’s evolution from young upstart to Slam champion here.
Set: Serena Williams’ quest for No.22 continues.
You have to scroll back to 2004 to find the last time Serena Williams lost three finals in a single season. This year she has played five tournaments, made the final at four, and lost in three, upended by Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open, Victoria Azarenka at the BNP Paribas Open, and now Muguruza. Her quest to match Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles now shifts to Wimbledon, the site of her last major title. To add even more intrigue to the upcoming grass season, Serena’s No.1 ranking, which she has held since February 2013, will be in play at the All England Club.
Read more about the shrinking the gap between Serena and the field, here.
Match: On to the grass.
There’s no time to kick the clay from our shoes. The five-week grass court season gets underway this week at the Aegon Open Nottingham and Ricoh Open in the Netherlands. Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta are the top seeds in Nottingham, which also sees the return of Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane, who fell out of the Top 30 for the first time since 2008, is back in action after an ankle injury force her out of the clay season.
Over in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, No.8 Belinda Bencic is also back in competition after a lower back injury kept her on the sidelines during the clay season. She’s the top seed along with Jelena Jankovic, Roland Garros doubles champion Kristina Mladenovic, and Jelena Ostapenko.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of June 6, 2016.
Shelby Rogers (USA), +48 (No.108 to 60): The biggest ranking mover of the week is Rogers, the 23-year-old American whose dream run to the French Open quarterfinals turned heads in a major way. She breaks the Top 100 and now sits at No.60, her career highest ranking.
Kiki Bertens (NED), +31 (No.58 to 27): Shelby had some completion in the French Open Cinderella story department, though, in the form of Bertens’ surprise run to the French Open semifinals. It was the culmination of a season of great results: Bertens’ impressive clay win-loss record is 19-3, a figure dating back to Fed Cup in April. No.27 is the Dutch phenom’s highest ranking ever.
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), +25 (No.60 to 35): Putintseva has also reached her own career highest ranking this week, following her appearance in the French Open quarterfinals.
Sam Stosur (AUS), +10 (No.24 to 14): Stosur’s run to the French Open semifinals boosts her ranking up 10 spots to No.14, making her now the highest ranked Australian, male or female.
Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP), +2 (No.4 to 2): Last but certainly not least, Muguruza claimed her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros this past week and along with the trophy she also claims the World No.2 ranking, her career highest. She is the first Spaniard to hold the ranking since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1996.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Aegon Open Nottingham
Nottingham, Great Britain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 6 – Sunday, June 12
Ricoh Open
‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 6 – Sunday, June 12
Aegon Classic Birmingham
Birmingham, Great Britain
Premier | $780,900 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19
Mallorca Open
Mallorca, Spain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams
2. Garbiñe Muguruza
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Birmingham
4. Angelique Kerber -Birmingham
5. Simona Halep – Birmingham
6. Victoria Azarenka
7. Roberta Vinci
8. Belinda Bencic – ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Birmingham
9. Venus Williams
10. Timea Bacsinszky
11. Petra Kvitova – Birmingham
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova
13. Flavia Pennetta
14. Samantha Stosur
15. Carla Suárez Navarro – Birmingham
16. Madison Keys – Birmingham
17. Karolina Pliskova – Nottingham, Birmingham
18. Johanna Konta – Nottingham, Birmingham
19. Elina Svitolina – Birmingham
20. Sloane Stephens
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) – June 7, 1988
Olivia Rogowska (AUS) – June 7, 1991
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) – June 8, 1989
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) – June 8, 1997
Kaia Kanepi (EST) – June 10, 1985
DUBAI, UAE – Last week, historic rainfall wreaked havoc on the Qatar Total Open schedule, where former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki reached the final.
Now it’s looking like the bad weather has followed her across the Gulf all the way to Dubai, where it delayed the start of her quarterfinal against CiCi Bellis.
Wozniacki, whose nickname is “Sunshine,” has figured out the culprit behind all of Dubai’s weather woes:
“At this point, I was just, it’s me. I’m bringing the rain,” she laughed in her post-match press conference.
“You know, even in Doha and in Dubai, I come and it’s raining. I step on the court and it’s raining. I was, like, this is deja vu from Doha last week!”
But Wozniacki probably doesn’t mind the rain too much. After all, it’s bringing out some of her best tennis.
“I have a winning record with this rain. Just bring it on. I’m ready for it.”
Waiting for the rain to stop… ?☔️ pic.twitter.com/t04KiqURvx
— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017
‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – Last year’s finalist Belinda Bencic was made to work in her first match back from a two month injury layoff, but the No.1 seed edged into the second round of the Ricoh Open in a thriller over Alison Van Uytvanck, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3).
Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Bencic, the 19-year-old World No.8, was playing in her first match since April in Charleston when a back injury kept her off the court for over two months. Her opponent, Van Uytvanck, knows that feeling all too well: the Belgian was also on the comeback trail and competing for the first time since she sustained a foot injury in Miami.
“I’m just very happy to be back on the court again, without pain,” Bencic said after the match. “I missed the competition and playing matches like this. I was very happy today: nothing hurt, and even if I lose this match, I’m just really happy to be back on the court and fight for every point.
“I think it was a very tough way to come back, but I just want to go like this match by match.”
Van Uytvanck didn’t give Bencic any favors in their ‘s-Hertogenbosch opener, despite Bencic’s clinical start to the match breaking twice to run away with the first set 6-2. The Belgian’s slice and topspin gave Bencic trouble throughout the second half of the match, building up a 5-1 lead in the second set. Van Uytvanck was serving for the set – she even held a set point – when Bencic broke to start mounting her comeback. She rattled off the next three games and was just two points away from leveling the score before the Belgian could finally close the set 6-4.
The pair stayed toe-to-toe in the deciding set, sending their long standoff into a tiebreaker. They were even at 2-2 before Van Uytvanck blinked and Bencic ran away to a 6-2 lead.
A timely ace from Bencic on her second match point ended their two hour and two minute battle.
“We always have tough battles,” Bencic said of her No.132-ranked opponent. “She plays very different. It’s hard for me to play her, and I think it’s hard for her to play me. Of course, she likes grass, her game suits grass and she played very good today as well.
“But the important thing is I am very healthy, and no pain on the court. Just happy to win first round.”
HOW much did i miss fights like this… ? ?#callmecrazybutineedstressfulmatches aaaand most important.. No pain?
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) June 7, 2016
Joining Bencic in the second round is No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic, who overcame a slow start to put away Katerina Siniakova, 6-4, 6-2.
Jankovic found herself down a 0-3 deficit in the opening set before she was able to find her footing on the new surface, rattling off three straight games to get back on par and breaking Siniakova for the set.
“I’m very happy to be through in my first match on grass,” Jankovic said. “It’s my first tournament on this surface so I did not start very well.
“I tried to fight a little more and tried to stay low and hit every point as much as I could because it’s completely different. I’m happy that I was able to stay strong and win in straight sets.”
No.3 seed Kristina Mladenovic, half of the French Open doubles title-winning duo, had no problem transitioning from clay to grass against Yaroslava Shvedova, advancing 6-4, 6-3. No.4 seed Jelena Ostapenko similarly cruised into the second round, easing past Serbian qualifier Jovana Jaksic 6-1, 6-0.
Also through are Viktorija Golubic, who downed No.8 seed Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-3, 7-5; Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki, who beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2; Aleksandra Krunic, who beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 7-6(0), 6-1; and Dutch wildcard Richel Hogenkamp, who defeated Japanese qualifier Eri Hozumi 6-2, 6-2.
Watch Lauren Davis hit the practice court ahead of the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.