As It Happened: Kerber Vs Azarenka
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Look back at game-by-game coverage of the Brisbane International final between Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka right here on wtatennis.com!
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Look back at game-by-game coverage of the Brisbane International final between Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka right here on wtatennis.com!
It has been nearly 16 years since the Olympics first welcomed a still-teenaged Serena Williams, who turned 20 years old during her debut in Sydney. Fresh off her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title, the World No.1 aims to to truly experience the Games for the first time in her storied career.
“I actually was just talking to Venus about the Olympics a few seconds ago, and how excited we are to get there,” she said at the French Open. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to do the opening ceremonies this year.’ Usually the tennis is the same day. So we’ll see. Hopefully I’ll be able to make something. It’s just going to be a really cool experience and I’m really excited about it.”
She may have missed out on some of the pomp and circumstance each Olympics provides, but Serena has nonetheless been a integral part of her sport’s presence at the Summer Games. She has taken home at least one gold medal in each of her previous three appearances – including her first in 2000, when she helped sister Venus secure a sweep of singles and doubles.
Her most recent outing was her most successful yet, winning her first gold medal in singles and pairing once more with Venus to win in doubles.
“My experience has been really amazing at the Olympics,” she said at Wimbledon. “I really loved going out there and competing, really just, you know, standing out there and being an Olympic athlete.
“It is really one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had.”
That pride is evident in an ad spot she did with Mini USA, where she reflected on her Olympic journey as part of a campaign emphasizing the importance of defying labels.
“No one can say, ‘This is what you’re supposed to do,'” she says in the video. “When you think of all the Olympic athletes, they are really doing something that is beyond everything that they should have done – having the chance to win a gold medal and compete against the best of the best across the globe.”
Her gold medals may be among her most prized possessions, but as the American aims to break Stefanie Graf’s record of total Grand Slam titles, how firm will her focus be in Rio?
“I’ve won gold. I love gold. I mean, for me, if I kept one trophy, I would probably grab my gold medals. But right now I am probably focused a little more on the Slams, or at least I was with getting to 22.
“Now I feel like, you know, everything else will be pretty good.”
A fourth trip to the Olympics would be a bonus for any athlete; it may be an even bigger bonus for the fans who’ve so rarely seen one of the greatest of all time play in their part of the world. But as Serena herself has often said, everything is a bonus for one who has achieved so much.
Don’t expect her to give up the gold so easily.
All photos cortesy of Getty Images.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber ended Johanna Konta’s debut run at the Olympic tennis event after an emphatic straight sets win, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals.
Kerber, who is bidding to become the first German woman to medal at the Olympics since Steffi Graf in 1992, was in fine form against Konta, dropping just three games in the hour-long match.
Coming off a marathon encounter against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Konta was likely thankful for yesterday’s washout giving her an extra day to recover. But despite the additional rest, Britain’s No.1 never really seemed in the match, striking 43 unforced errors to Kerber’s 11 and hitting just 18 winners against Kerber’s 7.
Kerber broke Konta’s serve in a marathon opening game that set the tone for the rest of the match; Konta struck two double faults to gift the German an early lead and despite putting up a battle she couldn’t match Kerber’s dogged defense stroke for stroke.
The World No.2 settled into the match quickly and broke twice more to win the last four straight games of the opening set. Though Konta showed her grit by getting her first break in Kerber’s opening service game, the German didn’t allow her to relish in the lead for long and immediately broke back. The Australian Open champion broke twice more and eased into the semifinals after just over an hour.
Watching in the stands was Madison Keys, Kerber’s opponent in the next round. The German owns a 4-1 lead in the pair’s head to head, including a win in their last encounter earlier this year in Miami.
More to come…
MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No.1 Ana Ivanovic had to deal with a half hour break when a spectator took a spill on Rod Laver Arena, but the Serb maintained her focus to close out Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-3.
Sevastova first made waves in 2011 when she reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open, but a brief retirement took her out of the game for nearly two years before she came back last January. Coming through three rounds of main draw qualifying, the 25-year-old played Ivanovic tough over two sets, but was ultimately undone by unforced errors – 27 to Ivanovic’s 17.
Ivanovic, by contrast, played a much cleaner match, breaking serve four times and winning 83% of her first serves.
“I enjoy playing here so much; this is one of my favorite courts in the world,” Ivanovic said during her on-court interview. “It’s always good to be back.”
The No.20 seed has looked solid through her first two matches, a major improvement over her last appearance in Melbourne, when a broken toe hampered her through an opening round loss.
“I tried to work on my fitness during the off-season; that needed improvements after last season. I hired a new fitness coach, so it’s been really great. We did a lot of prevention work for injuries, and fitness and on-court work.
“It’s a work in progress.”
Up next for Ivanovic is the winner of the second round match between No.15 seed Madison Keys and Yaroslava Shvedova, the latter of whom pushed her to three sets at last year’s French Open.
“Every match is tough and we’ve seen that throughout the week. Every opponent is tough and there have been a lot of tricky first round matches.
“But I’m really thrilled be to be through and you guys are amazing, so excited about your tennis, so keep it up!
Monica Puig continued her fairytale Olympic run with an emotional three-set win over Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.
Last year’s WTA Can Challenge champion Carla Suárez Navarro is taking on a new challenge. How well did she do in the WTA Frame Challenge?
Serena Williams must advance to the quarterfinals to secure the No.1 ranking.
With the top spot on the WTA rankings in play this week, World No.1 Serena took a late wildcard into the tournament. The scenarios are simple. If Serena makes the quarterfinal she will hold onto the No.1 ranking heading into the US Open. If she loses before the quarterfinal stage, No.2 Angelique Kerber can overtake her by winning the title.
A two-time defending champion here, Serena leads the top half and she could open her tournament against the woman how knocked her out of the Olympic tennis event last week: Elina Svitolina. Svitolina would have to get past Christina McHale in the first round to book a rematch with the 22-time Grand Slam champion. Serena could then play either Karolina Pliskova or Jelena Ostapenko, with Svetlana Kuznetsova or Timea Bacsinszky looming in the quarterfinals.
Click here to check out the full draw.
As for Kerber, anything less than the title means she will remain at No.2 heading into New York. She is into the Gold Medal match at the Olympics, which will be played on Saturday, but as a Top 16 seed she’ll have a bye into the second round. The question is how much will she have left in the tank?
Kerber will play either Kristina Mladenovic or a qualifier in the second round and could play either Sam Stosur or Barbora Strycova in the Round of 16.
Rio Redux.
Serena and Kvitova will both have an opportunity to avenge their Olympic losses. For Serena that could come in her first match against Svitolina, while Kvitova could play Monica Puig in her first match of the tournament. Puig, who is also into the Gold Medal match against Kerber, opens her tournament against American wildcard Louisa Chirico.
Simona Halep gets back to work.
After skipping Rio, Halep spent the week training with coach Darren Cahill and famed fitness trainer Gil Reyes. The Rogers Cup champion will look to continue her winning ways in Cincinnati. With a significant number of points on the line over the next four weeks – Halep made the final here last year and the semifinals of the US Open – defending those points would set up a significant rankings push in Asia this fall.
Halep has won 23 of her last 26 matches dating back to her title run at the Mutua Madrid Open, and she’s currently riding a 10-match win streak. The No.3 seed here, she got the toughest draw of any of the top four seeds, landing in a quarter with No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. She will open her tournament against either Yulia Putintseva or a qualifier and could then face Belinda Bencic, who is returning from injury, or Caroline Garcia.
Agnieszka Radwanska has work to do.
The No.5 has not made a semifinal since April (Porsche Tennis Grand Prix) and has struggled to put together a confidence boosting run over the last few months. It won’t be easy this week in Cincinnati, where she has never made it past the quarterfinals. She will play either Andrea Petkovic or Lucie Safarova in the second round, with Johanna Konta potentially looming in the third round. All that to get to a possible quarterfinal against Halep.
The qualifying draw is stacked.
The Cincinnati qualifying draw, which begins on Saturday, would be a strong International-level event in and of itself. The main draw cut-off was at No.41, meaning a host of top notch players will have to play their way into the main draw.
Eugenie Bouchard took a wildcard into qualifying, and she’s alongside a list of exciting players like Alizé Cornet, Daria Gavrilova, Misaki Doi, Sabine Lisicki, Camila Giorgi, Sorana Cirstea and more. It will be a tough weekend of qualifying matches and the complexion of the draw could change dramatically depending on who makes it through and where they end up being placed.
Follow the qualifying draw here.
Top seeds in the top half: Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Dominika Cibulkova.
Top seeds in the bottom half: Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Roberta Vinci.
Projected quarterfinals: Serena Williams vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep vs. Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber vs. Carla Suárez Navarro.
First round matches to watch: Andrea Petkovic vs. Lucie Safarova, Elina Svitolina vs. Christina McHale, Sara Errani vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Louisa Chirico vs. Monica Puig.
Potential second round matches to watch: Serena Williams vs. Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova vs. Jelena Ostapenko, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Petra Kvitova vs. Monica Puig, Johanna Konta vs. Ana Ivanovic, Belinda Bencic vs. Caroline Garcia, Simona Halep vs. Yulia Putintseva.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
The top WTA stars discuss overcoming adversity and becoming strong than those who didn’t believe in them.
Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina pulled off an emphatic win over World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis and partner Timea Bacsinszky to win gold in women’s doubles.
Victoria Azarenka will look to continue her torrid form down under on Day 10, but she’ll face her toughest test to date. We preview both quarterfinals from the lower half of the draw here.
Wednesday, Day 10
Quarterfinals
[7] Angelique Kerber (GER #6) vs. [14] Victoria Azarenka (BLR # 16)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads, 6-0
Key Stat: Azarenka has conceded just 11 games in four rounds.
All signs in Melbourne point to Victoria Azarenka’s first trip to a Grand Slam semifinal since the 2013 US Open. One simply can’t deny that the Belarusian, a two-time champion here, has had a stiff wind in her sails since the season began. She’s reeled off her first 18 sets of 2016 and only once dropped more than three games in a set. Azarenka’s scintillating form and burgeoning confidence adds up to a very stiff challenge on Wednesday for No.7-seeded Angelique Kerber. The German will face Azarenka for the seventh time on Wednesday, and she’s hoping to reverse her fortune in what has been a very lopsided head-to-head up until now. But hope springs eternal for Kerber, who is playing with house money after saving a match point in her first-round match against Japan’s Misaki Doi. “I was actually with one leg on the plane back home, but I won the first match with the match point down,” Kerber said on Monday after reaching her first career Australian Open quarterfinal. “So, yeah, and then after I was playing much better. I’m feeling good, and right now I will try to take my next match and play again good tennis.”
It’s been all Azarenka on the scoreboard for these two thus far, but the No.14 seed does not for one second underestimate the danger of facing a perpetually engaged fighter like Kerber. And she surely remembers that Kerber pushed her to the brink in a thrilling three-set encounter at the US Open last September. “It’s exciting,” said Azarenka of the upcoming tussle. “I always look forward to play against her. She gives me always tough matches. I prepare myself for a very tough match because she’s very solid, very consistent, and an amazing fighter. I have to play my best game to beat her, for sure.”
Pick: Azarenka in three
Zhang Shuai (CHN #133) vs. Johanna Konta (GBR # 47)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Zhang is the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open since 1990.
Tear up your predictions, crack open your WTA media guides, and get ready for some crazy emotions, because Day 10’s second quarterfinal features a pair of relatively unknown talents who have already made history in Melbourne. Johanna Konta became Great Britain’s first Grand Slam quarterfinalist in 33 years when she defeated Ekaterina Makarova in the round of 16. Nowhere near the Top 100 at this time last year, Konta has reached the second week of the last two majors and is projected to reach the Top 30 if she reaches the semifinals. But standing in her way will be China’s suddenly surging Zhang Shuai. The 27-year-old was 0-14 at majors prior to qualifying for this year’s Australian Open, but she’s racked up four wins—including a first-round upset of No.2-seeded Simona Halep—to reach the quarterfinals. Can Zhang possibly keep this dream run going? Or is Konta’s ascension set to continue?
Buoyed by her improbable run, Zhang is starting to believe that a deeper run is her destiny. “This time feeling like maybe God will bless me,” an elated Zhang told reporters of her eight-year wait for Grand Slam success. “If I can wait for long time, eight years, I can one time win a lot of matches at a Grand Slam.” Though also thrilled with her recent rise, Konta is less surprised that her time has come. “I’ve always said I do not believe in kind of a light switch moment,” she told reporters. “Everything happens for a reason. My journey has been the way it has been for a reason. That’s to accumulate the experiences that I’ve had. I cannot give you a moment where I said, Oh, yeah, that’s where it started, because it’s been ongoing ever since I started playing.”
Pick: Konta in three