Miami: Johanna Konta vs Caroline Wozniacki
Johanna Konta takes on Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Miami Open.
Johanna Konta takes on Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Miami Open.
World Group I
Romania vs. Czech Republic (2-3)
Just as the Romanian team looked like it would pull off the biggest upset of its history, the defending Fed Cup champions came back from a 1-2 deficit to continue their historic run.
Karolina Pliskova rose to the occasion and contributed to all three points of the team’s win. She came out swinging and scored the first point against Simona Halep, who had postponed nose surgery to support Romania in the tie. Romania’s Halep and Monica Niculescu grabbed the next two points, each scoring a win over Petra Kvitova making it. Pliskova got the Czechs on even footing with a win against Niculescu, before the fight was clinched in the deciding doubles rubber.
This team???thanks to everyone in this team amazing week again and also to all fans for supporting us♥️ pic.twitter.com/C6upqVLLUe
— Karolina Pliskova (@KaPliskova) February 7, 2016
Germany vs. Switzerland (2-3)
Belinda Bencic and Martina Hingis won the deciding point in the doubles rubber to beat Germany and send Switzerland into the Fed Cup semifinal for the first time in 18 years.
Playing as visitors in Leipzig Germany, Bencic held her nerve against two German heavyweights – No.23 Andrea Petkovic and Australian Open Champion Angelique Kerber – to win her two singles matches, putting Switzerland ahead 2-1 after Kerber defeated Timea Bacsinszky. Germany’s Annika Beck leveled the score at 2-2 with a victory over Bacsinszky, leaving the doubles match to decide the tie.
“It feels awesome next to Belinda to play with her now and [win] the deciding point,” Hingis told FedCup.com.
“It was tough at the beginning for me to be on the side bench for the first four matches, you are cheering them on and then you’ve got to go out. It took me a little while to get used to it but I feel I had great support from her.”
Switzerland will play the Czech Republic in the next round.
No matter what,together we are stronger! #SwissTeam ?? #TeamSpirit #WeHaveEachOthersBack ❤️ #united ?-U in April ?? pic.twitter.com/STFWFYqIMI
— Timea Bacsinszky (@TimeaOfficial) February 7, 2016
France vs. Italy (4-1)
Caroline Garcia dominated all her matches in singles and doubles, booking France’s spot in the final four for the second straight year.
Kristina Mladenovic put the home side in a tough spot, dropping the opening match against Italy’s Camila Giorgi, but Garcia leveled the tie with a win over Sara Errani. Mladenovic found redemption the next day by closing out Errani to put France ahead 2-1, before Garcia won the decisive point against Giorgi and sent France into the semifinals.
“I feel very happy, and it’s been a great week,” Garcia told FedCup.com after the victory. “It’s not every day you beat Italy 4-1. We are pretty proud.”
.@CaroGarcia's TWO WINS lead France back into #FedCup Semifinals!
Sets Semifinal vs the Netherlands! pic.twitter.com/sxxQ8ZpQpf
— WTA (@WTA) February 7, 2016
Russia vs. Netherlands (1-3)
Kiki Bertens pulled off two stunning upsets in Moscow to send last year’s finalists crashing out and put the Netherlands into their first Fed Cup semifinal since 1997.
She opened the tie with a straight sets win over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, before her countrywoman Richel Hogenkamp emerged victorious in a four-hour marathon match against Svetlana Kuznetsova to put the Netherlands ahead 2-0. Kuznetsova came back the next day but fell short against Bertens, giving the Dutch team an unassailable 3-0 lead and the group’s first semifinal berth. Makarova and Daria Katatkina claimed Russia’s only point in the doubles rubber.
“This is unbelievable,” Bertens told FedCup.com after the tie. “I don’t think anyone expected that we could win this tie, perhaps we even didn’t. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Netherlands is set to play France in the semifinals.
Netherlands is FIRST through to the #FedCup Semifinals! @KikiBertens def Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-4 & knocks out Russia! pic.twitter.com/kj7n3XPOKy
— WTA (@WTA) February 7, 2016
World Group II
The victories were more one-sided in World Group II for the USA and Spain, who both advanced with shutout victories.
Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens rattled off three straight-sets singles wins for the United States to seal the tie and give their country a place in the World Group play-offs. Spain booked their spot in a similar manner, with Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro sweeping their opponents in straight sets for a 3-0 victory over Serbia.
Sam Stosur powered Australia to a close 3-2 victory over Slovakia, winning her two singles matches over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Jana Cepelova before teaming up with Casey Dellacqua to claim the decisive point in doubles.
Belarus came back from a 1-2 deficit to win over Canada, booking their spot in the World Group II play-offs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich contributed to all three of Belarus’ points, winning two singles matches and the doubles decider with Olga Govortsova.
See how Johanna Konta made the most significant rankings climb of her career.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Klara Koukalova in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Hundreds of Monterrey locals got a chance to be up close with the WTA’s biggest stars as the Abierto GNP Seguros put on a colorful display at one of the city’s most popular avenues, San Pedro de Pinta.
World No.1 and Monterrey top seed Angelique Kerber joined Donna Vekic in a mini-tennis exhibition match, before covering each other – and the crowd – in colorful powdered paint.
The pair even took to the stage afterwards, joining a local band to sing some tunes at Monterrey’s weekly festival.
Check out the best photos below, courtesy of the Abierto GNP Seguros!
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Already one of the most-followed WTA players on Twitter, Caroline Wozniacki reached a big milestone on Wednesday when she became one of the few tennis players to cross the one million followers mark.
There are only five active WTA players to reach 1 million Twitter followers:
1. Serena Williams – 6.07 million
2. Sania Mirza – 3.4 million
3. Maria Sharapova – 1.98 million
4. Venus Williams – 1.37 million
5. Caroline Wozniacki – 1 million
Wow!! 1 million followers!! Thank you for all the support! ❤️❤️❤️?? pic.twitter.com/y7jxbW2scX
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) February 10, 2016
On Twitter, Wozniacki does a great job of showing fans a glimpse into her life behind the scenes through photos, videos and of course, selfies. Check it out!
Playin' tennis, takin' names, breakin' rules. #heretocreate @adidas pic.twitter.com/NcY65eBgXK
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 31, 2016
Caption this..?? @DjokerNole @milosraonic @AustralianOpen #kidsday #behindthescenes pic.twitter.com/eHqIHd2xuN
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 16, 2016
It's cooold out! #mood pic.twitter.com/f8cGnpaQDQ
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 25, 2016
From the best cook to the selfie queen, how well do the stars of the Volvo Car Open know each other off the court?
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Carina Witthoeft in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Injury kept Risa Ozaki from making her Miami Open debut in 2016, but the Japanese youngster made it count this spring, earning her career-best result at a Premier Mandatory tournament.
Qualifying for the main draw with a win over Julia Boserup, her tournament began with a win over Mutua Madrid Open semifinalist Louisa Chirico, and took a dramatic turn in a second round thriller against No.16 seed Kiki Bertens.
Playing well into the night thanks to rain delays, Ozaki outlasted Bertens in three tough sets to reach the third round. Keeping up that momentum, she pulled off one last upset against Julia Goerges, this time in straight sets.
Those wins earned her the right to battle World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the round of 16, where she ultimately fell in two.
Still, it was a banner week for the the 23-year-old, and looking to build on her new career-high ranking of No.72, Ozaki is your Breakthrough Player of the Month!
Final Results for March’s WTA Breakthrough Performance Of The Month
1. Risa Ozaki (55%)
2. Kayla Day (45%)
2017 Breakthrough Performance Of The Month Winners
January: CoCo Vandeweghe
February: Kristina Mladenovic
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
An interview with Belinda Bencic after her quarterfinal win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.