Fed Cup Semifinals All Square After Day 1
Both Fed Cup semifinals are locked at 1-1 after the first day of singles play on Saturday – find out how it happened.
Both Fed Cup semifinals are locked at 1-1 after the first day of singles play on Saturday – find out how it happened.
The final day of April’s Fed Cup weekend is underway, and Australia and Italy were among the first teams to clinch victories over Serbia and Chinese Taipei, respectively, keeping their spots in World Group II.
Check out more highlights from Sunday’s action after a topsy turvy opener.
Romania d. Great Britain, 3-2 – World Group II Play-Offs, Constanta, Romania
Simona Halep restored order after a chaotic opening day in her hometown, avenging a Miami Open loss to Johanna Konta, 6-1, 6-3. Halep’s win put Romania on course for Irina-Camelia Begu to clinch the tie over Heather Watson, 6-4, 7-5, and remain in World Group II in 2018.
Halep was a mere points from victory over Konta in Crandon Park – the Brit went on to claim her maiden Premier Mandatory title two rounds later – and picked up where she left off yesterday at the Tenis Club IDU, hitting 17 winners and breaking serve five times to earn the win in one hour and 11 minutes.
“I expected on clay [for the match] to be like this,” Halep said after the match. “I did everything: I stayed focused and I was very motivated after yesterday. I’m really motivated to win this tie. I feel we’re dominating now.”
Begu was similarly solid in the finals singles rubber, and though Great Britain nabbed an entertaining doubles win over Halep and Monica Niculescu, Romania edged through in the end.
ROMANIA WINS!!! ?? @irina_begu defeats ?? Watson 64 75 and Romania defeats Great Britain 3-1 to maintain its place in World Group II pic.twitter.com/I3foTDmxMt
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) April 23, 2017
Germany d. Ukraine, 3-2 – World Group I Play-Offs, Stuttgart, Germany
Elina Svitolina kept up her flawless form against World No.1 Angelique Kerber, but it wasn’t enough for Team Ukraine, who fell in the face of an unstoppable Julia Goerges at the Porsche Arena.
After Goerges recovered from a set down to oust the reigning Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner on Saturday, the former Stuttgart champion edged past Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets to help clinch their place in World Group I next year.
GERMANY WINS!!! ?? @juliagoerges defeats ?? Lesia Tsurenko 64 64 to give Germany a 3-1 win over Ukraine! pic.twitter.com/Ok9yHJBrN7
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) April 23, 2017
Still, it was a solid week for Svitolina, who has now won her last four matches against the US Open champion.
“Kerber struggled to find any rhythm against an opponent who took her chances with greater success, particularly from the baseline,” noted FedCup.com’s Jeff Kavanagh. “Svitolina also committed less than half of the unforced errors of her opponent in the second set – 6-16 – and will feel mightily satisfied at a job well done against a player ranked 12 places above her in the world.”
More to come…
Belinda Bencic has Friday’s shot of the day at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Venus Williams takes on Yulia Putintseva in the semifinals of the Taiwan Open.
Vera Zvonareva broke her social media silence to make a big announcement – a couple of big announcements, actually. The former WTA World No.2 has been busy in her year away from the tennis courts.
Zvonareva announced via her Instagram that she’d recently tied the knot and became a mother.
But that’s not all: Zvonareva had a few more announcements in store for her fans, including a return to tennis (of sorts). She’s set to join the Eurosport team and take on a commentating role during this year’s US Open.
Congratulations Vera!
An interview with Belinda Bencic after her finals loss at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Bank Of The West Classic champ Johanna Konta sits atop the Emirates Airline US Open Series, but Agnieszka Radwanska could sneak away with the jackpot in New Haven.
Ana Ivanovic, a Dubai Duty Free brand ambassador, glammed up for the event.
No.4 seed Petra Kvitova, who took a wildcard into the event, was also in attendance.
She joined Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, on the red carpet. DDF has been an ambassador for women’s tennis in the Middle East since 2004.
Doubles players Nichole Melichar and Darja Jurak donned some Emirati dresses for the party…
…and they made a new friend, too!
Defending champion Simona Halep also befriended the falcon.
Ivanovic finds time to snap a quick selfie…
…as Kvitova enjoys the best of Emirati hospitality.
This year the US Open is looking to make rain delays a thing of the past, having finally unveiled a retractable roof over the world’s largest tennis venue, Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was a massive undertaking requiring two years under construction, and it was inaugurated a few weeks ago just in time for this year’s final Grand Slam.
CNN Open Court gives you some fast facts on everything you need to know about Arthur Ashe Stadium’s new retractable roof.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Brazilian qualifier Paula Goncalves is through to her first WTA quarterfinals after upsetting the No.2 seed Johanna Larsson 6-4, 6-4.
Playing on the smaller Court 1 of the Jockey Club Brasileiro, Gonçalves channeled the Brazilian fans’ energy to fuel her to the biggest win of her career.
“This stadium is small so the crowd feels very near to you,” she told RioOpen.com after the match. “This is great because I can feel the energy of the fans – this helps me even more.”
Galvanized by the support of the enthusiastic home crowd, Gonçalves didn’t lose her nerve when the Swede broke her serve to start the set 3-1. Instead she broke back twice, sending Larsson on the run with her powerful groundstrokes and taking the first 6-4.
Larsson opened the second set with another break but Gonçalves broke her right back, leveling the score. A net cord on match point sealed the result and kept Brazilian hopes for a home champion alive – the world No.285 is the last Brazilian player left in the Rio Open draw.
“All of the pressure was against her,” Gonçalves said of playing Larsson. “I came here very calm, like I did from the first game of qualifying. It has been a week where my tennis came together, so I just gonna take advantage of this moment and keep going.
“Beating players at her level, inside the Top 50, shows that it’s possible for me to dream bigger.”
No.3 seed Danka Kovinic advanced comfortably against Sílvia Soler-Espinosa, winning 6-2, 6-3 against the Spaniard.
“I expected a longer and tougher match, but I played really good so I’m glad that I finished after maybe a bit more than an hour,” Kovinic said after the match. The Montenegran player struggled in her previous match against the intense heat and humidity of Rio de Janeiro.
“I really feel better today. I played good because I had two days off. I think that helped for me a lot to adjust to this weather.”
Also into the quarterfinals are No.6 seed Lara Arruabarrena and Petra Martic.