Tennis News

STRASBOURG, France – Monica Puig recovered from a one-set deficit to upend top seed Sara Errani, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the second round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Puig had never lost to the 2012 French Open finalist in their two previous encounters, and though their first match-up on clay looked to give the Italian an advantage, the ultimate result wasn’t any different as the Puerto Rican star and 2014 champion hit six aces en route to a one hour and 45 minute victory.

“I’m really pleased to get the win here in Strasbourg, and it’s nice coming back as a former Champion,” she said after the match. “Errani is a really tough competitor, and after the first set, my head could have gone down, but I kept fighting and was really pleased with the victory, especially the third set score.”

For Errani, it marks the end of a difficult red clay swing; after a promising start and a run to the semifinals of the Volvo Car Open, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship winner went 0-3 in Madrid, Rome, and Strasbourg.

“I tried my best today but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way,” Errani said. “I felt strong after the first set but my game was a little off and I found the conditions tough.

“There was a time in the second set when it went 4-2 and I knew I was struggling. Then the third set happened. It’s never nice to go out in the first round but that’s tennis.”

Undaunted, the No.1 seed tried to find a silver lining in her early defeat.

“I haven’t had time to see the city yet but maybe before I go to Paris.”

Puig will next play lucky loser and former World No.16 Virginie Razzano, who defeated 2010 French Open quarterfinalist Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3, 6-3.

Earlier in the day, No.3 seed Samantha Stosur continued her successful clay court season with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over American qualifier Lauren Davis, while No.8 seed Timea Babos went through Olga Govortsova 6-4, 6-1. No.10 seed Caroline Garcia was imperious in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens, while qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a see-sawing 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 match against Qiang Wang.

No.2 seed Sloane Stephens had just leveled her first round match with Donna Vekic at one set apiece before the match was suspended, first due to rain, then darkness at 7-5, 2-6.

BRISBANE/AUCKLAND/SHENZHEN – The new year has barely begun, but the 2017 WTA season has begun in earnest, with a trio of tournaments taking place across the globe. World No.1 Angelique Kerber is one of four Top 10 players at the Brisbane International, while 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and sister Venus Williams take to the ASB Classic in Auckland. Farther north in China, defending champion and World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska is the top seed at the Shenzhen Open, drawn opposite to Simona Halep.

Check out the biggest storylines in the first week of the 2017 season:

1) Angelique Kerber begins her defense of top ranking.
The two-time Grand Slam champion ended her breakthrough season as No.1 in the world, and heads back to Brisbane to begin taking on challengers to her throne atop the sport. Kerber could open against wildcard and comeback kid Ashleigh Barty after a first round bye, with the likes of Eugenie Bouchard, No.6 seed Elina Svitolina, and No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova all looming in the top half of the draw.

Excited to finally return to Australia ?? with @ThaiAirways. See you Down Under ? #TeamAngie #IflyThai pic.twitter.com/O7jM0tlUZn

— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) December 30, 2016

2) Kerber could book a Singapore rematch with No.2 seed Cibulkova.
The 2016 season ended with Dominika Cibulkova stunning Kerber to win the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Up to a career-high ranking of No.5, the Slovak is seeded No.2 in Brisbane, and will open against either Laura Siegemund or Zhang Shuai after a first round bye. No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, and No.7 seed Elena Vesnina are all in her half.

3) Kuznetsova aims to keep up late-season momentum.
Speaking of Kuznetsova, the Russian bookended her 2016 with titles in Sydney and Moscow, the latter helping her book the final ticket to Singapore. Kuznetsova begins her first season in the Top 10 since 2010, and opens against young American Louisa Chirico.

4) Serena returns in Auckland.
Over in New Zealand, World No.2 Serena Williams plays her first tour-level match since the US Open at the ASB Classic. As the top seed, Serena takes on Pauline Parmentier in the first round, and could play No.4 seed Barbora Strycova in the semifinals.

5) The Williams sisters doubles feature.
On the other half of the draw is Serena’s sister Venus, a champion in Auckland back in 2015, who opens against local wildcard Jade Lewis. Along with the hopes of an all-Williams final, Venus and Serena are set to play doubles together for the first time since the Olympic tennis event.

6) Wozniacki opens against good friend Nicole Gibbs.
Caroline Wozniacki narrowly lost to Venus in Auckland’s championship match two years ago, and the former World No.1 aims to build on the late season surge that took her from World No.74 all the way back into the Top 20. Wozniacki drew Nicole Gibbs in her first round; the two spent a week together over the off-season to play an exhibition event:

Beautiful island ✅
(Nearly lethal) drone ✅
Amazing people ✅ pic.twitter.com/V2DBmz8PJO

— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) November 18, 2016

7) Radwanska kicks off title defense against hometown favorite.
Agnieszka Radwanska kicked off 2016 on an impressive winning streaking, winning the Shenzhen Open and roaring into the Australian Open semifinals. Hoping to begin 2017 in similar style, the Pole needs to get past wildcard Duan Ying-Ying, with last year’s runner-up No.8 seed Alison Riske looming in the quarterfinals.

8) Halep takes on Jankovic to kick off her season.
On the other half of the draw is 2015 champion Simona Halep, who has the unenviable task of taking on a former No.1 in Jelena Jankovic to start her season. Jankovic suffered through an injury-addled 2016 season, but showed off some solid tennis last fall, reaching a final in Guangzhou.

Favourite #Christmas song? @JoKonta91 tackles our Christmas quiz! pic.twitter.com/M6OJxve1mb

— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) December 24, 2016

9) Can Jo Konta make new milestones?
Johanna Konta is the third Top 10 player in Shenzhen, and the Brit plays her first tournament since hiring new coach Wim Fisette. Konta scribbled her name throughout the record books in 2016, and aims to continue at that high level in her first match against Cagla Buyukakcay.

10) Mirza pairs with No.1 rival Mattek-Sands in Brisbane.
The top doubles stars converge on Brisbane, with World No.1 Sania Mirza playing with former partner Bethanie-Mattek Sands. Mattek-Sands fell one match shy of unseating Mirza for No.1 in Singapore, losing in the final to Brisbane’s No.2 seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. In an ironic twist, the American has a shot to take No.1 again this week, but will need Mirza’s help to do it – by winning the title. 

BRISBANE, Australia – No.6 seed Elina Svitolina opened her 2017 season with a comfortable straight sets win over Monica Puig, easing into the second round at the Brisbane International.

Svitolina is enjoying a career-high ranking of No.14 and, with a new coaching team behind her, has already seen the benefits in the New Year. She needed an hour and 17 minutes to complete her 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Olympic champion.

Perfect passing shot from @ElinaSvitolina! ? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/6qHlQKCV2G

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

Puig showed flashes of her world-beating form throughout the encounter, but played overly aggressive, trying to end the points too quickly and was waylaid by her own unforced errors. She hit 36 errors to Svitolina’s 17 over the course of two sets, compared to 13 winners against Svitolina’s 15.

Svitolina rode out the assault and replied with her brand of pace and defensive skills, breaking twice in each set and never looking to be in too much trouble.

.@ElinaSvitolina slides past Puig 6-3, 6-3 in @BrisbaneTennis first round! pic.twitter.com/1mtZSewJWD

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

Awaiting Svitolina in the second round is Shelby Rogers, who opened her Brisbane account yesterday with a win over Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

More to follow…

PARIS, France – Defending champion Serena Williams outlasted an inspired Kristina Mladenovic and weathered a two and a half hour rain delay to advance to the second week of Roland Garros, 6-4, 7-6(10).

After breezing through her first two matches here in less than one hour each, Williams faced her first big test of the tournament against French No.1 Mladenovic, who relishes playing on big stages in her country. In fact, of Mladenovic’s five career Top 10 wins, four have come here in Paris with two of those taking place right here in Roland Garros.

Mladenovic seemed comfortable as ever on Philippe Chatrier, the biggest stage of all, though ahead of the match she admitted to feeling the mixed emotions many players experience when playing against the World No.1.

“I have to take it very positively,” she said in her press conference. “This is an experience, something to do, it’s a dream. I grew up watching Serena play. Then I’m going to play against her.

“I’m extremely happy because this is a challenge. Well, this being said, it’s going to be very difficult.”

Mladenovic and Williams kept pace during a tense first set, which saw Williams brush away all four of Mladenovic’s break point chances while letting slip away two of her own. Mladenovic’s sneaky drop shots caught Williams wrong-footed on more than one occasion, and made for some spectacular rallies during the course of the contest.

(Very Very) Hot Shot de Kristina Mladenovic contre Serena Williams ! ??? #RG16 https://t.co/r8ZLJJ1IFd

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2016

But Williams turned up the heat when it counted. A drawn out battle at 4-4 saw Mladenovic bring up three break points, but the American blasted back to back aces to deny her. A lone break in the final game gave Williams the first set after almost an hour.

In the second set, Williams continued to keep the pressure on the Frenchwoman’s serve: Williams made her have to come back from 0-40 down to hold serve at 2-2, and then again in her next service game.

A Mladenovic ace sent the match into a tiebreak right as the rain, which had been threatening all match long, finally broke into a downpour.

Two and a half hours of rain delay later, the players were back on the court for the decisive battle. Mladenovic quickly built up a 3-0 lead, but it was short-lived as Williams broke back and rattled off four straight points to bring up her first of five match points.

Mladenovic rallied valiantly, saving match point after match point – including one with a gutsy drop shot, her go-to weapon in this match – but the World No.1 wouldn’t be denied a fifth time, and Williams took the match after a two-hour and thirteen minute thriller.

“I just made it a point to play my game,” Williams said of the tiebreak. “Up until that point I had not been playing my game. I was playing really defensive. It’s not me.

“So I just wanted to be Serena out there.”

Huge celebration from @serenawilliams. How much do you think that win meant to her? #RG16 #InsideRG pic.twitter.com/cIl9hKxiLm

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2016

The stats reveal just how evenly matched Mladenovic and Williams were throughout the match: both players hit three aces and struck 27 winners, though Williams hit 31 unforced errors to Mladenovic’s 35. The difference makers proved to be Mladenovic’s vulnerable serve – she hit seven double faults in total – and Williams’ dominance at the net, winning 15 of 25 net points.

“I think she played well,” Williams said afterwards. “I feel like I made a tremendous amount of errors. But, you know, I feel like she kind of forced me to. She forced me to go for it.”

With the win, Williams brings up a fourth round match against Elina Svitolina, who earlier in the day defeated former champion Ana Ivanovic.