Tennis News

PARIS, France – Look at the current WTA Top 30. Scan the list. Then pick the player with whom you’re the least familiar. Chances are, it’s No.28 Irina-Camelia Begu.

That could change over the course of this Paris fortnight. Begu is floating in Garbiñe Muguruza’s quarter of the draw and plays CoCo Vandeweghe in the second round at Roland Garros on Wednesday. Two of her four wins over Top 10 players have come in this month alone; if that form holds, she’ll be into the second week in Paris for the first time in her career.

The 25-year-old Romanian may not have the results of Simona Halep, the prodigious history of Sorana Cirstea, or the unique game-style of Monica Niculescu that makes you sit up and take notice. But heading into Roland Garros this year, no player on tour has posted more consistent results than Begu. After marking the fourth round of the Miami Open, she followed it up with a quarterfinal run at the Volvo Car Open, quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, and capped it all off with her career-best result, the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams.

Having reached a career-high ranking at No.25 last year, Begu looks well on her way towards besting that number in what is shaping up to be a career year. It’s quite a turnaround considering her 2016 took a major blow right when it started. Begu injured ligaments in her knee in her first tournament of the season at the Shenzhen Open, where she was forced to retire in the second round.

“I was upset,” Begu told WTA Insider. “I was working really hard in the off-season and the first tournament I got injured. It was a really difficult moment for me.

“I didn’t practice for four weeks and I started slowly. It’s tough because in four weeks you lose your muscles and the first few days I couldn’t walk. It was tough but when you go back on court you try and enjoy every moment, because you never know when something like this is coming.”

Begu returned to the tour in March at the BNP Paribas Open; in her third tournament back she made the Round of 16 in Miami.

“In Indian Wells and San Antonio I didn’t play my best,” Begu said. “I was just trying to get confident back on court. But in Miami I was fighting for every ball. It doesn’t matter if I was feeling bad or if I had some problems. I was trying to fight for every ball. When you’re working hard everything is coming back.”

Once the tour moved to clay, her favorite surface, Begu flourished. After a bit of a sputter in Rabat, taking a 6-3, 6-4 loss to No.139 Richel Hogenkamp, Begu quickly got on track.

“After Rabat, I played so bad in that match and I was so disappointed with my attitude I had with my game,” Begu said. “One day I was only thinking about the match and what I did wrong and I was so disappointed with me. My coach was helping me a lot that day because I was so down. He was trying to help me to get through the moment and I went to Madrid and I was practicing so hard. He said to me if I work hard again and just be confident, the results will come again.”

Sure enough, the results did. She’s since scored wins over No.4 Garbiñe Muguruza and No.5 Victoria Azarenka. She admits her quick success after injury has been a surprise.

“Even if you feel good on the surface there’s so many tough players and every round is difficult,” she said. “It’s not like I feel so good on clay and I can beat everyone. No, I have to work for every match. I feel confident, but still I have to work for every match.”

Quick Hits with Irina-Camelia Begu…

WTA Insider: How did you first start playing tennis?
Begu: I was three-and-a-half years old and my aunt was a tennis coach and tennis player, Aurelia Gheorghe (playing for Germany, Gheorghe reached a career-high No.326 in 1989). I went with her to the practice and I was just [picking up] the balls. Then I started to pick up the racquet. It was funny in the beginning. The racquet was bigger than me.

When I was seven years old, when I started the real practice in Romania, my family and my aunt told me you only play if you want. You don’t need to play for us. I was so motivated. I really enjoy playing tennis. I still do. It’s a job and sometimes you want to sleep more, but still I enjoy it so much.

WTA Insider: When did you realize you might be able to make a living as a tennis player?
Begu: Maybe when I was 14. I was winning tournaments when I was 10 years old, but you never know what is happening. Tennis is an expensive sport and you have to play more tournaments, and it’s expensive.

When I was 14 I played the European Championships in Armenia and I made the semifinals and final, and then I start to think a bit that I can be a good tennis player. After, they picked eight girls and eight boys and the ITF made a one-month tour with these players. It was really nice for me. It was a really nice experience.

WTA Insider: Do you remember any of the other players who were on that ITF tour with you?
Begu: Grigor Dimitrov and Ricardas Berankis, I remember.

WTA Insider: What’s your favorite tournament?
Begu: I cannot say only one tournament. So I think Indian Wells, Rome, and Acapulco.

WTA Insider: What’s your favorite shot?
Begu: Backhand down the line.

WTA Insider: Favorite surface?
Begu: Clay.

WTA Insider: Where is your favorite place for a holiday?
Begu: I love the Maldives. It’s amazing. For me there’s nothing better than the Maldives.

WTA Insider: Do you prefer TV or movies?
I watch TV only when it’s tennis. I have a lot of movies on my laptop.

WTA Insider: Who do you like to watch when you’re watching tennis on TV?
Begu: I love Federer and I admire a lot Rafa. These are the two players I really enjoy when they are playing.

WTA Insider: What do you do to take your mind off tennis?
Begu: When I’m at home I really enjoy being in my kitchen and being in my house. I love being there. I go to the theater, I go to watch some movies at the cinema, go with some friends outside. I’m not so long at home, but when I am at home I like to do these things.

WTA Insider: Which of the four Slams would you like to win the most?
Begu: Australian Open.

WTA Insider: Really? Not Roland Garros?
Begu: It’s strange, no? I like clay court, but Australian Open is my favorite Grand Slam. The conditions and the organization is so good there. They make us feel so good there. Maybe it’s also because it’s the first tournament of the year. It’s nice.

WTA Insider: What’s your first memory of playing Roland Garros?
Begu: I was playing in qualies when I was 18 or 19 and I lost in the last round 6-4 in the third. It was tough. I was a bit disappointed but at the same time I was happy I could reach the third round of qualies.

WTA Insider: What’s the best win of your career so far?
Begu: This year, beating Azarenka in Rome.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

PARIS, France – It was another rainy day in Paris on Day 6 at Roland Garros, but the Round of 16 is set. On Saturday, the favorites continued to deliver.

Four Americans into the Round of 16: Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Madison Keys joined Shelby Rogers into the the fourth round on Saturday. Serena fought off Kristina Mladenovic, winning 6-4, 7-6(10) in two hours and 11 minutes in a rain-interrupted match. Venus moved her record against Alizé Cornet to 6-0 with a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-0 win to move into the second week for the first time since 2010. Keys held off Monica Puig to win 7-6(3), 6-3 to make her first Round of 16 in Paris.

“It was always a goal mine to make second week, and then once I made second week the first time it became achievable, and then it became something that I wanted to do all of the time just to have the consistency,” said Keys. “Where I may not have had the consistency outside of Slams, I had it in the Slams.

“I just think it’s something that I’m getting more and more comfortable with. Obviously I’ve been playing well in the Slams for the past six, seven Slams that I’ve played in. I don’t think it’ll always be, Oh, I’m so happy, but right now I’m just really happy with how I’ve been doing and hope to keep it up.”

Carla Suárez  Navarro scores a big win: No.22 seed Dominika Cibulkova looked to be building a full head of steam as the tournament turned towards the second week but No.12 seed Suárez Navarro found a way to end her resurgent run on clay, winning, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to make the fourth round for the third time in the last four years. The Spaniard appeared to injure her leg in the first set but was able to shake it off to battle for the win.

“During the first set I ran from the right side to the left side of the court, and I had the impression that I had some problems with my muscle,” she said. “But it was not a pulled muscle. And the pain vanished.”

Yulia Putintseva steamrolls through to her Round of 16 debut: Through three matches, Putintseva has lost just 10 games, posting scores of 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 with wins over Aleksandra Wozniacki, Andrea Petkovic, and Karin Knapp. The draw didn’t offer much early resistance, especially given Petkovic’s recent slump, but Putintseva has looked ruthless. She’ll play Suárez Navarro for a spot in her first Slam quarterfinal.

Kiki Bertens wins 10 straight matches: Bertens has put in some hard yards over the last few weeks and it paid off in her marathon 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 win over No.29 seed Daria Kasatkina. The young Russian picked up a left leg injury late in the third set and could only arm in her serves, and Bertens steeled her nerves to score her 10th straight win, after winning the title last week in Nürnberg. She is into the fourth round for the second time in Paris and will play Keys.

Kristina Mladenovic credits the Serena serve: The Frenchwoman fought hard to stay in it against Serena, fighting off nine break points in the second set to get it to a tie-break. Then the rain came, and after a lengthy rain-delay at 6-6 she was faced with the prospect of coming out of the locker room to win a tiebreaker to stay in the match. She led 5-2 upon resumption but couldn’t hold off her nerves or Serena. A key forehand miss that would have given her 6-2 went wide, and Serena stormed back, finally converting her fifth match point.

“I think it was a good match, a beautiful match, as well,” Mladenovic said afterwards in French. “On both sides, I think. Sometimes there are days that she’s not really into the match or she has difficulties due to what she does, but today I think it was really difficult for both of us. I think I put out good tennis, solid, from the first to the last ball. And during the rallies I thought that ‘she was beatable.’

“But then, as I said, I told you, she’s exceptional, and her biggest strength is her serves. She hit me so much with those serves. But then I’m a bit frustrated. She’s such a great champion, and she manages to escape and find a way out with this weapon.

“Sometimes her statistical results with her serve are not as good as today, and this is what I felt today. There’s not much difference in the match. There’s just one break point. First set when we were 5-4, and then I seized this opportunity on the break point when it was 4-All, and then I took a risk and to be aggressive on my forehand where she serves really long balls in the second balls.

“But today she was so impressive with her serve. There were many games when it was 30-All, and each time it was a big first serve. And yet I think I returned quite well. This is incredible. There’s no moment when she went down. No, so on both sides it was a good fight, a beautiful fight.”

Round of 16 Set: Week 1 is in the books. Here’s how Week 2 tees up: Serena vs. Svitolina, Suárez Navarro vs. Putintseva, Bertens vs. Keys, Venus vs. Bacsinszky, Begu vs. Rogers, Kuznetsova vs. Muguruza, Halep vs. Stosur, Pironkova vs. Radwanska.

Kuznetsova tries to stop Muguruza on Sunday: The forecast doesn’t look great for Sunday, but the match of the day is undoubtedly Kuznetsova vs. Muguruza. The two have played only once, last year in Madrid, which Kuznetsova won 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 en route to the final.

The key for Kuznetsova: relax. The 2009 champion said she’s struggled to keep things in perspective this week. “I was better today because first matches I was extremely tense,” Kuznetsova said after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. “Today I said to myself, Look, you got to get out of this tense. I got to just play my game, and whatever happens, my goal for this year was trying to enjoy the tennis.

“Since I got a bit better ranking and everything I start to be tense again, and I don’t want it to happen. I had a great nap in the locker room while the guys were playing five sets. I was great. I was feeling much better.

“So I said, Okay, I just go out there and I want to be happy. That’s the only thing I was concerned about.”

Since being taken to three sets in the first round by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Muguruza has been on a tear. Her last four sets: 6-2, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0. A win over Kuznetsova you would expect her to make her first semifinal in Paris.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.