Madrid: Halep vs. Stosur
Simona Halep takes on Samantha Stosur in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Simona Halep takes on Samantha Stosur in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep – Adidas brand ambassadors and top seeds at the Australian Open – chatted with media ahead of the year’s first Grand Slam.
Joined by Japanese rising star Naomi Osaka, the players took part in an Adidas event where they were put through their paces in a series of workouts at the National Tennis Centre.
After working up a sweat, Kerber, Muguruza and Halep discussed their chances at the Australian Open.
“Obviously I’m nervous, I mean it’s the first Grand Slam of the year,” Muguruza said. “I wanna do it so well, so I have to be calm sometimes. So hopefully I won’t get crazy.”
Watch the video above to hear from all the players, and check out the best photos of the event right here – courtesy of Fiona Hamilton and Tennis Australia:
The draw for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is out and it’s highlighted by a loaded top half of the draw, led by Serena Williams, and what should be an unpredictable bottom half of the draw, led by No.2 Angelique Kerber.
Here are the storylines we’re watching as the last major tune up to the French Open is set to begin.
1. Serena makes her return.
The clay season officially begins for Serena Williams this week, as the American is in Rome and has already been spotted practicing. The World No.1 has not played since losing in the round of 16 at the Miami Open and has just three tournaments under her belt this season. She’s looking to break her title drought, which goes all the way back to the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last summer.
Serena has a bye into the second round and will open against one of two Anna’s: Anna-Lena Friedsam or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Schmiedlova has lost her last 10 tour matches. It’s a draw that should give Serena a few good matches to play herself into form but the business end of the tournament could be tough. Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, and Svetlana Kuznetsova are all looming in her half of the draw. To win the title Serena could have to go through Ana Ivanovic, Halep or Kuznetsova in the quarterfinal, and Azarenka (if she’s healthy) in the semifinal.
Rome also offers an opportunity for Serena to pick up points. With her limited play since the US Open, her point lead has began to shrink. Last year she withdrew from the tournament after her opening round match, meaning any progress past that stage this year will help her repad her lead.
2. Azarenka health watch.
Azarenka takes her 26-1 record into Rome, but she arrives under a cloud of questions. Azarenka was forced to withdraw from the Mutua Madrid Open last week due to a back injury, which she says she picked up in her opening match. It’s always difficult to gauge how serious Azarenka’s injuries may be given her cautious nature, so it was good to see her still in the tournament when the draw was released on Friday.
The book on Azarenka is that she’s less of a threat on clay. While she’s committed to proving people wrong this year, a deep run in Rome would certainly put her on the short list of favorites at the French Open, where she has never made it past the semifinals.
Azarenka was a finalist in 2013 and played well last year before losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. She opens against either Magarita Gasparyan or Madrid quarterfinalist Irina-Camelia Begu, and could play either Daria Kasatkina or Karolina Pliskova in the third round. If healthy, this is a good draw for Azarenka until the semifinals, where she could face off against Serena for the second time this year.
3. Vinci returns home.
Roberta Vinci makes no qualms about it: she does not play well in Rome. The 33-year-old Palermo native has won just six matches in the last 11 years in Rome. The attention and the expectation has been debilitating in the past but she hopes this year is different.
This year the US Open finalist returns to the Foro Italico to much fanfare. It could be her final appearance at the tournament if she holds firm to her previously announced plan to hang up her racquet at the end of the year. She will open her tournament against either Johanna Konta or a qualifier. Vinci told WTA Insider this week that she’s asked tournament organizers to schedule her first match on the famed Court Pietrangeli. The sight of that court overflowing with her vocal Italian fans should be something to see.
Another thing to keep an eye for: If Vinci can get some wins in Rome, she could play Serena in the semifinals in what would be a rematch of their US Open semifinal.
4. Muguruza and Suárez Navarro lead the Spanish Quarter.
Both women were disappointed to bow out of Madrid early, none more so than Carla Suárez Navarro, who was playing well but caught an upper respiratory illness during the week that left her unable to battle through a three-set match against Samantha Stosur. As for Muguruza, she lost in the third round to Begu, and it seemed the pressure of being Spain’s No.1 followed her everywhere she went in Madrid.
Which means Rome should be a refreshing change of pace for both women, who should be factors at the French Open. Suárez Navarro was a finalist here a year ago and so long as she’s put her illness behind her, she should be one to watch this week. She could face Timea Bacsinszky in the third round and Muguruza in the quarterfinals. Muguruza opens against either Danka Kovinic or Ekaterina Makarova.
5. Kvitova’s tough draw.
She couldn’t defend her title in Madrid but Kvitova has been playing good ball on clay. She made the quarterfinals in Stuttgart, losing to eventual champion Angelique Kerber, and earned two good wins in Madrid before losing to Daria Gavrilova. She’s never made it past the quarterfinals in Rome.
Her draw doesn’t inspire much confidence but if she can get through the first few rounds Kvitova could settle down. Her path to the semifinal starts with either Andrea Petkovic or Madison Keys, then possibly Venus Williams, with Angelique Kerber potentially in the quarterfinal.
@andreapetkovic yassssss ? #ihavenoideawhatimdoing pic.twitter.com/ZGPnwdN9Ra
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) April 4, 2016
6. Andrea Petkovic and Madison Keys earn the first round popcorn.
Main draw play begins on Sunday. Here are the first round matches to watch:
– Andrea Petkovic vs. Madison Keys
– Daria Kasatkina vs. Karolina Pliskova
– Venus Williams vs. CoCo Vandeweghe
– Jelena Jankovic vs. Eugenie Bouchard
– Daria Gavrilova vs. Sabine Lisicki
– Kristina Mladenovic vs. Jelena Ostapenko
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Qualifier Elise Mertens pulls off the first big surprise of 2017, conquering No.3 seed Monica Niculescu to win her first WTA title at the Hobart International.
MADRID, Spain – No.6 seed Simona Halep capped off a dominating week in the Spanish capital, conquering Dominika Cibukova 6-2, 6-4 to claim the Mutua Madrid Open crown and her first title of 2016.
Hear from Madrid champion Halep on WTA Insider: Champions’ Corner.
Madrid holds a special place in the Romanian’s career: it was here in 2013 that she received a wildcard that kick started her ascent into the WTA’s elite. In 2014 Halep returned as a finalist, and this year she led a strong Romanian contingent that made tournament history before she captured her second career Premier Mandatory title.
“I saw always that it’s a special tournament because of Mr. [Ion] Tiriac, because of many Romanians that are coming here. I feel like home,” Halep said.
“You know, it’s a special feeling that many Romanians are coming to support me.I see many flags in the crowd. It means a lot.”
Despite coming into the tournament surrounded by questions about her health and fitness, Halep’s performance in Madrid was nothing short of dominating. She dropped just one set all tournament long, and in the last round she overpowered Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final against Cibulkova.
Into her third final of the year, No.38-ranked Cibulkova is the lowest ranked player to reach a Premier Mandatory final since 2009, when the WTA Roadmap was introduced. In fact, even though she famously reached the Australian Open final in 2014, Madrid marks the Slovak’s first ever appearance at a Premier Mandatory final.
Halep kept Cibulkova’s fast-paced game contained throughout the match, breaking her in the very first game to start out with an early lead. Despite Cibulkova’s trademark dogged resistance, Halep broke once more at 4-1. Halep weathered three of the Slovak’s break opportunities and went on to close the set at 6-2.
The same pattern unfolded in the second set, with Halep again breaking in the first game. Though Cibulkova raised her level of aggression, she couldn’t keep up with Halep and the Romanian’s deadly forehand, which did the bulk of the damage: Halep hit 11 of her 20 total winners and conceded just two unforced errors out of 10 from that wing.
“I expected a tough match today,” Halep said. “I thought that I would struggle a little bit with her shots, but I was very strong on my legs and could block. I could make my game, I can say.”
With the win Halep will make her return to the WTA Top 5, at No.5, and both Cibulkova and Halep will enter the Road To Singapore Leaderboard’s Top 8.
Cibulkova’s appearance in the final bumps up her ranking to No.26, putting her in perfect position to receive a seed at the French Open.
“I just want to get some rest and prepare for Roland Garros,” Cibulkova reflected after the match. “Because my game on clay really came together. I know what to do.
“I would play bit more aggressive from the beginning. But she was playing really well, so wasn’t like I played bad feels and I have to feel bad.”
That winning feeling. ? #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/NKyQIKPNVj
— WTA (@WTA) May 7, 2016
For Johanna Konta, the opening weeks of the new season could hardly have gone any better. Picking up from where she left off at the end of 2016, Konta has continued to rack up the wins and on Friday evening collected her second career title thanks to a dominant victory over World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska at the Apia International Sydney.
Success in Sydney will have tasted particularly sweet for Konta, who was born in Sydney and learnt the game in the nearby suburb of Collaroy before moving to Britain as a teenager.
Her return to Australia’s cultural capital has afforded plenty of time to catch up with old friends and family, including elder sister Eva, who is married to AFL player Shane Mumford.
“I’m just really happy I get to stay here a little bit longer,” Konta said after her quarterfinal win over Daria Kasatkina.
“I think it’s more just about prolonging my stay here, more than anything, because I get to spend a bit more time with my sister.”
#SAPStatOfTheDay: @JoKonta91 did not drop a set ALL week en-route to @SydneyTennis Title! pic.twitter.com/AFZXwPPLua
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
However, with one piece of silverware in the bag the 25-year-old’s focus is now firmly set on the Australian Open, where she reached the semifinals 12 months ago. Friday’s draw handed her a first-round date against Kirsten Flipkens, with Caroline Wozniacki and Dominika Cibulkova also lurking in her quarter.
The last British player to win the tournament was Virginia Wade in 1972, and on current form, the Briton will fancy her chances against all-comers. Ever the consummate professional, though, she is taking nothing for granted: “I’m really pleased with just the amount of matches I have been able to play. Obviously how I have done here, I take it as a really positive thing, as a nice reward along the way for the hard work that myself and my team have put in every day.
“But it’s not a reflection of how next week will go, how the rest of the year will go. It’s back to everyday hard work, because that’s what dictates how I do.”
Perfect backhand down the line from @JoKonta91! ?
Wins @SydneyTennis Final Shot of the Day! pic.twitter.com/G6k8xrlTwx
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
A meticulous approach to each and every aspect of her game has characterized Konta’s rapid ascent of the tennis ladder. As impressive as her shotmaking is at times, her mental fortitude is arguably the cornerstone of her game.
During the off-season Konta parted ways with Esteban Carril, the coach who helped chart her passage from the outer extremities of the Top 100 to the game’s elite. Impressively, the changes behind the scenes – which also included the death of sports psychologist Juan Coto – do not seem to have jolted Konta from her unerring path to the game’s summit.
She is now working with the much-respected Wim Fissette, who looks to have successfully harnessed the career momentum that has helped her win 22 of her past 27 matches.
Fissette, who has worked with Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka and most famously Kim Clijsters, has a fine track record. In Konta he has another potential success story on his hands.
Very happy with winning the title @SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/9RLwNPun4h
— Wim fissette (@wimfissette) January 13, 2017
The next step for his charge is Grand Slam glory. She has tasted it briefly, reaching the US Open fourth round twice, as well as last year’s run at Melbourne Park, and her consistency bodes well for another good showing over the coming fortnight.
“I do feel with myself that I am playing a good level. And the way it’s coming through, so far, is it’s been consistent over the last two weeks,” Konta said after beating Radwanska.
“But like I said, it’s no reflection of how the Australian Open will go… There are so many things that are a factor, and most importantly, I will continue to look at my health, happiness. And again, that will give me the best shot at trying to be consistent, like Aga. That’s pretty hard.”
She will begin her campaign on Tuesday, offering sufficient time to recover from her Sydney exploits. The conditions in Melbourne are likely to be every bit as brutal as they were in Sydney, where the WTA’s heat rule came into play on several occasions.
Konta began refueling for the battles ahead in the moments following the trophy ceremony, a British favorite getting her ready for the Antipodean press pack. “Because it’s quite late, I’m not too sure [what to eat]. I had a ham-and-cheese toasty, which was amazing!”
THE WINNERS
No.6 seed Simona Halep capped off a dominating week in the Spanish capital, conquering Dominika Cibukova 6-2, 6-4 to claim the Mutua Madrid Open crown and her first title of 2016.
Madrid holds a special place in the Romanian’s career: it was here in 2013 that she received a wildcard that kick started her ascent into the WTA’s elite. In 2014 Halep returned as a finalist, and this year she led a strong Romanian contingent that made tournament history before she captured her second career Premier Mandatory title.
With the win Halep will make her return to the WTA Top 5, at No.5, and both Cibulkova and Halep will enter the Road To Singapore Leaderboard’s Top 8.
Read the full story and watch highlights here | WTA Insider: As It Happened
Meanwhile in doubles, the No.5 seeded team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic struck once again in their burgeoning rivalry with World No.1 team Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis. The Frenchwomen defeated Hingis and Mirza 6-4, 6-4 to claim the doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open.
“It’s definitely great period for us,” Garcia said in the post-match press conference. “Three finals, three titles, and two times against No.1 in the world, Martina and Sania, and once against Bethanie and Lucie. So it’s only great matches every single time.
“Very, very happy with what we produced on the court today.”
Read the full story here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Simona Halep gets back in the game.
After a season of stalls, Simona Halep is back in the conversation after rolling to her first title of the season at the Mutua Madrid Open. Halep lost just one set all week — a surprising bagel from her compatriot Irina Camelia Begu — posting dominant set scores all week and beating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 to win the title on Saturday. The win moves Halep back into the Top 5 and into the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard, and it was a win that felt incredibly necessary for Halep after all her 2016 setbacks, which include injury and illness to start the season and a frustrating loss in her first match in Stuttgart to start the clay season.
“No one cares about me now,” Halep said with a laugh after her second round win in Madrid. “I care about myself, so that’s ok.”
“Attention is less and it’s good for every player I think, when you get a little less attention. I always felt normal, but sometimes the people around you expect more results, better results and that’s why you get frustrated and you get nervous. Now I feel ok, I have no points to defend, so I am free.”
In Madrid, Halep played like a woman completely free of pressure and expectation, something we haven’t seen since the US Open Series last summer. Even after the seeds feel around her and she became the overwhelming favorite to win the title by the time the quarterfinals rolled around, Halep took it match-by-match and kept it simple. Her game flowed accordingly. She saved her best for her last two matches, reeling off 11 consecutive games to beat Sam Stosur in the semifinals and using her counterpunching prowess perfectly to thwart Cibulkova less than 24 hours later.
Last year Halep struggled to back up her tremendous 2014 clay and grass seasons, where she made the French Open final and Wimbledon semifinals. She took a surprising loss to Caroline Wozniacki in Stuttgart and lost early in Paris and London. This win in Madrid, her biggest title since Indian Wells last year, put her back on the radar in Europe. Now to see how she handles it.
WTA Insider: Champions’ Corner with Halep
Set: Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia get Lucky No.13.
The French pair continue their run on clay, moving their impressive win-streak to 13 matches by beating co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis in Madrid to win their third consecutive title. Perhaps even more impressive than the streak is their back-to-back wins over Mirza and Hingis in finals, a feat no team had yet to achieve. They also beat No.2s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova to win their first title in Charleston. Those are quality wins and their undefeated streak on clay has surprised event them.
“We didn’t expect to play better on clay than on hard,” Garcia said. “On hard we were already happy with what we did, two finals and one very close to get one more win. But maybe our game is even better on clay. I don’t know. But our kick serve and forehand with spin is a little bit more efficient on this surface.
“Also we needed time to [adjust to each other]. We are knowing each other better and better every week, so maybe it’s going to be better and better every week. We hope so, but sometimes it’s just on one point where you go to cover the other one, and at the beginning you didn’t do it. It’s one more point with no ad and tiebreak like this, and one point can change everything.”
Match: Sam Stosur and Dominika Cibulkova finding their clay form.
Both women should be threats in Paris in two weeks’ time. Since the tour turned to European clay, Stosur has made the final in Prague and the semifinals in Madrid, her biggest result on clay since making the 2010 French Open final. It took a fantastic effort form Halep early in their semifinal to fend off Stosur’s ruthless forehand and flip the match on its head.
As for Cibulkova, she continues to be one of the best players of 2016. She’s made the final or better at two of the last three tournaments she’s played, winning the title in Katowice. She’ll be seeded in Paris after her run to the final, a fact that will be the source of great relief for every other seeded player (just as Madrid’s top seed Agnieszka Radwanska).
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of May 9, 2016.
Louisa Chirico (USA), +54 (No.130 to 76): The biggest ranking jump of the week goes to the 19-year-old American Chirico. She breaks into the Top 100 for the first time with her run from the qualifying rounds of the Mutua Madrid Open all the way to the semifinal.
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), +12 (No.38 to 26): Cibulkova’s rivals can breathe a sigh of relief now that she’s back inside the Top 30: the dangerous Slovak is now going to be seeded at top events moving forward.
Daria Gavrilova (AUS), +7 (No.39 to 32): Australian youngster Gavrilova reaches a career high ranking of No.32 this week after her quarterfinal showing in Madrid, her biggest result of the year since the Australian Open.
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), +5 (No.15 to 10): Bacsinszky is back into the Top 10 – after winning the International-level event in Rabat and reaching the round of 16 in Madrid, the Swiss equals her best ranking.
Simona Halep (ROU), +2 (No.7 to 5): She only jumped up two spaces, but it’s a big leap for Halep to put her back up to No.5 in the world after a dip this season.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Rome, Italy
Premier | $2,599,610 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, 2016
Internationaux de Strasbourg
Strasbourg, France
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 21
NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP
Nurnberg, Germany
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 21
Roland Garros
Paris, France
Grand Slam | – | Clay Outdoor
Sunday, May 22 – Sunday, June 5
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams- Rome, Roland Garros
2. Angelique Kerber – Rome, Nurnberg, Roland Garros
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Roland Garros
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Rome, Roland Garros
5. Simona Halep – Rome, Roland Garros
6. Victoria Azarenka – Rome, Roland Garros
7. Roberta Vinci – Rome, Nurnberg, Roland Garros
8. Belinda Bencic – Roland Garros
9. Petra Kvitova – Rome, Roland Garros
10. Timea Bacsinszky – Rome, Roland Garros
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Rome, Roland Garros
12. Maria Sharapova
13. Flavia Pennetta
14. Venus Williams – Rome, Roland Garros
15. Lucie Safarova – Rome, Roland Garros
16. Ana Ivanovic – Rome, Roland Garros
17. Elina Svitolina – Rome, Roland Garros
18. Sara Errani – Rome, Roland Garros
19. Karolina Pliskova – Rome, Roland Garros
20. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Rome, Roland Garros
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Timea Babos (HUN) – May 10, 1993
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) – May 10, 1993
Christina McHale (USA) – May 11, 1992
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) – May 12, 1982
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) – May 14, 1993
Watch defending champion Angelique Kerber’s practice session ahead of the start of the Australian Open.
Simona Halep captured her second career Premier Mandatory title at the Mutua Madrid Open; defeating Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets on Saturday, the win not only brought her back into the Top 5 on the WTA rankings, but also helped her rocket up 23 spots on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, entering th Top 8 for the first time in 2016 at No.6.
Runner-up at the 2014 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, Halep has qualified for the WTA Finals for the last two years, but a slow start to the season kept her out of the Top 8 despite reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami. The Romanian was ranked No.29 on the Road to Singapore heading into Madrid, but an impressive week in the Caja Magica reversed her fortunes in emphatic style – leaving her just 119 points behind Carla Suárez Navarro, who rounds out an unchanged Top 5 that also features Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, Sunshine Double winner Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, and World No.1 Serena Williams.
Cibulkova also took a big leap up the Road to Singapore leaderboard, finishing the week just behind Halep at No.7 from No.17. Moving up to No.26 on the WTA rankings, Cibulkova has all but guaranteed a seed at the upcoming French Open, where she is a former semifinalist, and aims to make her WTA Finals debut in 2016. Svetlana Kuznetsova completes the Top 8 despite an early round loss to Porsche Tennis Grand Prix finalist Laura Siegemund, who cracked the RTS Top 20 following another solid week in Spain.
Samantha Stosur made the biggest leap of the week following her run to the semifinals; the 2011 US Open champion made back-to-back semifinals at the WTA Finals in 2010 and 2011 and moved up 25 spots to No.13 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, defeating Suárez Navarro en route.
RTS Ranking Movers
Louisa Chirico: No.110 to No.33 (+77)
Samantha Stosur: No.38 to No.13 (+25)
Simona Halep: No.29 to No.6 (+23)
Dominika Cibulkova: No.17 to No.7 (+10)
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza held on to the top spot on the Road to Singapore doubles leaderboard, but the reigning WTA Finals champions find their status is under siege by a pair of streaking Frenchwomen in Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. Garcia and Mladenovic each qualified for Singapore last fall – Garcia with Katarina Srebotnik, Mladenovic with Timea Babos – and won a third straight title and a 13th straight match in Madrid, backing up their Stuttgart win over Hingis and Mirza with a two-set win in Madrid.
Undefeated on clay in 2016, the French Connection surged up to No.2 on the Road to Singapore doubles leaderboard, putting a nearly 700-point gap between themselves and the No.3 team, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan.
The Chan sisters suffered a quarterfinal loss to Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, who saved two match points to reach a second straight WTA semifinal. King and Kudryavtseva have qualified for the WTA Finals a combined three times – King in 2010 and 2011 with Yaroslava Shvedova, Kudryavtseva in 2014 with Anastasia Rodionova – and made the semifinals each time.
Bowing out to Hingis and Mirza in the final four in Madrid, the pair cracked the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore doubles leaderboard, bumping Miami Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
Another Premier 5 tournament is already underway as the Internazionali BNL d’Italia began on Monday; with nearly all of the Top 8 in both singles and doubles in contention – except Agnieszka Radwanska and Chan Hao-Ching – there is bound to be more major shifts ahead of the second major tournament of the season in Paris.
Click here to see the full Road To Singapore leaderboard standings heading into Rome.
Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic take on Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh in the first round of the Australian Open.