Tennis News

ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA has announced a newly established WTA Coach Program which will launch January 2017 as the new season begins.

WTA coaches will be recognized as a WTA Registered Coach under a formalized WTA Coach Program. The WTA Coach Program is designed to professionalize, standardize, and recognize the important role of coaching on the WTA, signifying that coaches are a key element of the WTA business.

This newly formed program will allow world class coaches, whether working with top players or emerging talent, access to benefits at WTA tournaments, professional development programs, and will provide more opportunities to broaden the product and the WTA audience, becoming a marketable asset for women’s professional tennis. It will also allow fans the ability to get closer to the game and the on court action through coaches.

Steve Simon, WTA CEO, stated, “I am pleased to introduce this new program which will professionalize and raise the standards associated with being a coach on the WTA. Coaches are an integral part of the players’ achievements and performance on the court. We recognize the value of coaches and their overall contribution to the game and to the WTA.”

Coaches who wish to participate in the program must be currently working with a WTA Tour level player and meet defined criteria (including professional certification or licensure from a coaching governing body), uphold professional obligations and be recommended by a WTA player.

A Coach Program Advisory Committee has been formed of six coaches representing each global region and this group will advise WTA staff on the administration and governance of the program, acceptance of applicants, and will provide continual feedback from the coaching body.

Former WTA player and current coach of Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, Nicole Pratt, is one such member of the Coach Program Advisory Committee. Pratt commented, “The establishment of the WTA Coaches Program is a leap forward for validating the expertise of many of the coaches on the WTA. We are looking forward to working together and feel confident there will be tremendous benefits for all stakeholders.”

Additionally, Craig Kardon, a member of the Coach Program Advisory Committee who is a longtime WTA coach and current coach of CoCo Vandeweghe stated, “I am very excited about the new WTA Coach Program. This program will give professional tennis coaches a platform for promotion and professionalism while coaching on the pro tour.”

As part of their registration, coaches will participate in weekly activities to help promote WTA tournaments, the WTA and women’s tennis, including media opportunities, clinics, and coach symposiums. Additionally, coaches will be made available immediately following matches for international media opportunities, allowing coach insight and perspective on the match.

Andrea Petkovic readies for Jelena Ostapenko: No one would have slated this semifinal when the draw came out. 18-year-old Ostapenko had won just on main draw match all year and came to the Qatar Total Open thinking she would have to play through qualifying. But she paved her own way, knocking out No.5 seed Petra Kvitova and then Zheng Saisai on Thursday to become the third 18-year-old to advance to a semifinal this year.

Watch live action from Doha & Acapulco this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Can Ostapenko go one further? She’s already into the Top 60 by virtue of her career-best run at a Premier tournament and could move into the Top 50 if she makes the final. She’ll face Andrea Petkovic, who played a top-notch match to beat No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 for her first Top 5 win since 2013. It will be the first meeting between Petkovic and Ostapenko, but the German admitted to taking notice of Ostapenko late last year.

“I saw her playing qualifying in Linz last year, and I said to myself, Wow, this girl’s really talented,” Petkovic told reporters. “I think she’s going to do some damage on tour. It’s really nice to see I have a great [prediction skills].”

Agnieszka Radwanska and Roberta Vinci put on a clinic: Remember this match at the end of the year when you’re asked for the best WTA matches of the season. This will be on the short list.

Any fan thirsty for the days of all-court tennis need look no further than the shot-making extravaganza put on between Radwanska and Vinci. Radwanska came back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to her third straight semifinal this season — she still has just one loss to her name, to Serena Williams at the Australian Open – but as stadium announcer Andy Taylor said, she broke the internet with her highlights. Catch up on all the happenings here.

Hope you enjoyed that one as much as me ?

— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) February 25, 2016

One of the most notable trends of the day in Doha: Net play. Zheng Saisai started off the morning with some net-rushing – how great was it to see a Sneak Attack By Saisai? – Muguruza continued the trend with over 30 forays into the forecourt, and Radwanska and Vinci combined for over 100 net points between them.

Radwanska-Vinci final stats.

Look at the net numbers. pic.twitter.com/hVk4EmU1Gr

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 25, 2016

Carla Suárez Navarro returns to the Top 10: The Spaniard beat Elena Vesnina 6-3, 7-6(3) to advance to her second semifinal of the season (Brisbane). She’ll play Radwanska next, but Thursday’s win means Suárez Navarro will knock Flavia Pennetta out of the Top 10 on Monday, and she could move as high as No.6 if she wins on Friday.

Love means nothing: Few players give as thoughtful post-match interviews as Petkovic and she didn’t disappoint after her quarterfinal win. Here she is reflecting on her career so far:

“Tennis has always been a great love and hate story for me,” Petkovic said. “I love it so much that I hate it at the same time. I guess love and hate are very close together. It’s torn me apart, but it has also given me the most beautiful moments of my life. I wouldn’t want to miss anything of it.”

Garbiñe Muguruza makes progress: It was undoubtedly a disappointing and frustrating result for Muguruza, who looked to have the match back on her terms early in the third set before getting broken and letting her frustration get the best of her. But Muguruza played her best tennis of the year this week in Doha and there was a lot to like about how committed she was on her returns and getting herself at the net. The negatives? She picked up a left thigh injury during the match and Petkovic exposed her weak low volley.

Just win, baby: Petkovic is sharing her coach Jan de Witt with ATP veteran Gilles Simon. The two trained together during the off-season at de Witt’s academy in Halle and she says she’s trying to get over her penchant for perfectionism and just focus on winning.

“I actually learned quite a few things with Jan and Gilles, both of them, because men approach the game much differently than women,” she explained. “They are just less emotional and much more rational.

“I think girls — I don’t know, maybe I’m leaving myself out the window right now — but I think girls, they always want to play the perfect match. For example, I think especially Gilles Simon, because he’s also this type of player, he’s totally fine winning a match where the other guy has 65 unforced errors. He still sees his positives, what he did to the other guy that he did unforced errors.

“I think the girls, they win 6-2, 6-3, and the one missed a lot of balls, and they’re like, Yeah, I didn’t play so well. The other girl was bad. Putting so much pressure on this perfectionism that women I think a lot of time have.

“It’s really nice to get this other side, Yeah, I won, good for me. I think it’s good to have this attitude about just pushing through and winning matches no matter how ugly or how good they are.”

Called it: Earlier in the week, I highlighted the team of Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina as a potential darkhorse Olympic doubles team. The two have already won a title in Moscow and made the quarterfinals two weeks ago in St. Petersburg. On Thursday they snapped Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s 41-match win streak, knocking out the Co-No.1s 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 to advance to the Doha semifinals.

Highlights from @EVesnina001/@DKasatkina post-match interview. DK over the moon, to say the least: pic.twitter.com/POjOr2vH06

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 25, 2016

Yanina Wickmayer? Yanina Wickmayer!: The Belgian announced on Facebook that she has a memoir coming out soon.

Yanina Wickmayer has a book coming out. https://t.co/Tsi1ORjz1J

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 25, 2016

She’s also into the Acapulco semifinals after beating No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 7-6(3). Wickmayer will play No.2 seed Sloane Stephens, who held off a solid challenge from Naomi Osaka, winning 6-3, 7-5.

Petko jokes: Here’s exchange between Petkovic and the stadium announcer:

Petko: U look young, what did u do?

Me: Grew a beard.

Petko: Really?

Me: Yep.

Petko: I would totally do that if it made me look younger

— Andy Taylor (@StadiumAndy) February 25, 2016

DOHA, Qatar – Carla Suárez Navarro returned to the main stage of the Qatar Total Open to play the doubles final with Sara Errani, having just won the singles title over Jelena Ostapenko a mere hours before. Pushing No.4 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching tough over two sets, the sisters ultimately defeated the Spaniard and Italian, 6-3, 6-3, to win their second tournament of 2016.

“Today’s match wasn’t easy, despite the score,” elder sister Yung-Jan said during the on-court interview. “They’re for sure very tough opponents who’ve been playing really well. I was sick and having a fever, coughing, but we’re happy to make it until the last match!”

The Chans won their home tournament just two weeks ago at the Taiwan Open, donating their prize money to their country’s hurricane relief effort, and played a near-perfect final against Errani and Suárez Navarro, hitting 21 winners to only 10 errors – a far cleaner match than their opponents, who hit 19 winners and 22 unforced.

“It’s the first time we’ve played together at the Qatar Open, but we’re the champions!” Hao-Ching said. “So we’re very happy and would like to come back next year.”

For the runners-up, it’s still a stellar Middle East Swing, as Errani already walked away with the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships while Suárez Navarro won Doha, and the pair reached the semifinals in Dubai’s doubles event, as well.

“It was two very nice weeks for us,” Errani said. “I’m very happy to play doubles with Carla; it’s amazing. She did an unbelievably great job playing singles and doubles.”

“I cannot wait to play our next tournament together. We had fun here and played well,” Suárez added.

As for the Chans, the win in Doha propels them to No.2 on the Road to Singapore standings, one behind Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza; until this week’s loss to Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the No.4 seeds were the last team to beat Santina before they went on a 41-match winning streak.

“Already No.2? I think that’s a pretty good start to the year!” Yung-Jan said.

“We’re very happy, but we didn’t check before the match, so it’s a surprise for us!” Hao-Ching said as the sisters shared a laugh during the trophy ceremony.

The WTA’s finest battled it out at 61 tournaments, 33 countries and six continents this year, culminating in the 2016 Year-End WTA Rankings, which are official today, Monday, November 7.

Here are 10 Things To Know about this year’s year-end list…

1) Kerber is year-end No.1 for the first time.
After a season that saw her lift two Grand Slams, Angelique Kerber finishes with the much-deserved year-end No.1 ranking. Read more about her feat here.

2) Serena’s reign ended.
Her loss to Karolina Pliskova in the US Open semifinals ended Serena Williams’ 186-week stay at the top of the rankings. However, despite playing only eight events, the American enjoyed plenty of highlights in 2016, defeating Kerber at Wimbledon to lift her 22nd major and reaching the final at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. 

3) Radwanska holds steady at No.3.
Another season of remarkable consistency brought Agnieszka Radwanska three titles and a sixth consecutive finish inside the Top 10.

4) Strong second half gives hope for Halep.
Following a slow start, Simona Halep’s season really caught alight in the summer, a string of deep runs on the cement paving her path to another year-end Top 5 ranking.

5) Singapore success fuels Cibulkova’s rise.
Dominika Cibulkova’s 2016 resurgence featured many memorable moments. None, though, could come close to topping her brilliant victory over Kerber at BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The performance was rewarded with the biggest title and highest ranking (No.5) of her career.

6) Pliskova finally makes her breakthrough.
Karolina Pliskova ended her Grand Slam hoodoo in stunning fashion at the US Open, upsetting Serena before losing out to Kerber in an entertaining final. The result saw her rise to No.6, where she also finished the year. 

7) Muguruza slips despite maiden major.
While there were signs of a revival in Singapore, Garbiñe Muguruza failed to build on June’s Roland Garros breakthrough, a second half of the season slump seeing her slip to No.7.

8) Fresh and familiar faces join Top 10 party.
Madison Keys continued to make good on her boundless potential, ending a season of steady progress at No.8. Also joining her was Johanna Konta, who became the first Briton since 1983 to end the year inside the Top 10. Sandwiched between the newcomers was a familiar face, as Svetlana Kuznetsova ended the campaign inside the Top 10 for the sixth time.

9) And there could be more next year.
Petra Kvitova finished the year like a steam train, rising to No.11 following titles in Wuhan and Zhuhai. A Top 10 return will surely soon follow, while the next generation is also well represented in the upper echelons, Elina Svitolina (No.14), Caroline Garcia (No.23), Daria Gavrilova (No.25), Timea Babos (No.26), Daria Kasatkina (No.27) and Monica Puig (No.32) all achieved the best year-end ranking of their fledgling careers.

10) A little more about the year-end Top 100…
The oldest and youngest players in the year-end Top 100 are Venus Williams (36) and Catherine Bellis (17), and there are 32 countries represented in there (the United States has the most players with 16).