Garbiñe Muguruza's Practice Session In Dubai
Watch Garbiñe Muguruza hit the practice court ahead of the start of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Watch Garbiñe Muguruza hit the practice court ahead of the start of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Highlights from all the second round action on Day 3 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
LONDON, Great Britain – Before the remaining eight battled it out this week at the All-England Club, the eleventh reunion of the WTA Alumnae & Friends Program was held at the San Lorenzo restaurant in SW19, drawing legends from around the world.
The reunion took place at San Lorenzo restaurant in SW19 with WTA Board Member Lisa Grattan serving as emcee. Notable former players in attendance included Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Betty Stove, Ilana Kloss, Frankie Durr, Mima Jausovec, Pam Shriver, Katrina Adams, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Rennae Stubbs and Mercedes Paz, who was celebrating her 50th birthday.
The highlight of the afternoon, which was overseen by Hall of Famer Peachy Kellmeyer and co-hosted by the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association, was the presentation of the Georgina Clark WTA Mother Award to the beloved Bulgarian former player and coach, Youlia Berberian-Maleeva.
Youlia coached three of her daughters into the Top 10 on the WTA Rankings: Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (No.3), Katerina Maleeva (No.6) and Magdalena Maleeva (No.4). The Maleeva sisters made Grand Slam history in 1993 when all three were seeded at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Combined, the trio won 39 WTA singles titles throughout a playing career spanning more than two decades (1982-2005) and Youlia was right beside them the whole time, attending more than 1000 tournaments.
Youlia herself was a decorated tennis player, although her career was restricted mostly to Bulgaria and other Communist countries due to travel restrictions imposed on Communist Bloc citizens by the Soviets. However, Youlia still took home 31 national titles across singles, doubles, and mixed, including winning the Bulgarian National Title nine times (1962-1976). She also won the Lebanon Open in 1965 and the Yugoslav Open in 1973, as well as led her country to two Fed Cup semifinals as the Bulgarian National Women’s Coach, a position she held for 13 years (1982-1995).
In 2004, Youlia opened the Maleeva Tennis Club to the public in Sofia. Owned by the Maleeva family, it is the largest sports complex in Bulgaria and offers year-round tennis and squash with Youlia as head coach.
Away from the tennis courts, Youlia has remained politically active and has served as the president of the Bulgarian Women’s Association since 1995. She holds an ongoing role as board member for the American University in Bulgaria, and from 1997 to 2001 she was a member of the Bulgarian parliament representing the anti-Communist bloc.
Youlia shared the story of the family’s struggle against the Communist regime, travel restrictions in early days and eventual successes in a book titled, “I Want, I Believe, I Can.”
The Maleeva sisters were in attendance for Youlia’s presentation of the award, along with Youlia’s husband, Georgi Maleev, her brother Edward and his partner Lynda, and three grandchildren – Lora, Timo and ‘Little Youlia’.
The Georgina Clark Mother WTA Award is named in memory of the WTA’s former vice president for European Operations and Worldwide Tour Director, who passed away in 2010. Clark was also the first woman to umpire a Wimbledon final – Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert, in 1984.
The award given in her honor recognizes women who’ve raised their own children and also contributed in a significant way to the life of the extended ‘WTA Family’. Previous recipients Ann Haydon-Jones, women’s tennis pioneer Gladys Heldman, Original 9 member Judy Dalton, Francoise Durr and former Swedish No.1 Ingrid Lofdahl Bentzer.
Here are a few more photos from the WTA Alumnae & Friends Reunion, courtesy of Art Seitz:
DUBAI, UAE – Lauren Davis secured a quarterfinal spot in her debut appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, staging an impressive comeback to beat Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
“I love playing here – it’s my first time here in an amazing city…just the atmosphere here is so great,” the delighted American said in her on-court interview.
“I’m really happy with my persistence, resilience and how I handled myself despite losing a few games in a row.”
Comeback queen! ?@LaurenDavis93 comes from a set behind to beat Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and reach @DDFTennis Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/EpCGOYoSFb
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
It was an inconsistent display from both players. Makarova made the initial breakthrough in a seesaw first set, but Davis was resurgent in the second, combining exquisite use of the forehand with grit to get herself back on level terms, as her opponent’s game utterly collapsed.
The Russian took an eight-minute bathroom break before the decider, but it did not help her regroup; she remained lackadaisical when it came to capitalising on break points in the final set.
The 23-year-old American took advantage, wrapping up the match in one hour and 57 minutes. Her reward will be a last-eight clash with either Christina McHale or Elina Svitolina.
LONDON, England – Serena Williams moved one step closer to a historic 22nd major with a straight set win over Elena Vesnina in Thursday’s Wimbledon semifinals.
Displaying no trace of the nerves that have occasionally accompanied her quest to match Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, Williams ruthlessly closed out a 6-2, 6-0 victory in just 48 minutes.
A rapid start saw the top seed race into a 3-0 lead with only nine minutes on the Centre Court clock. Venina, playing at this stage of a Grand Slam for the first time, did eventually get on the board, but it was merely delaying the inevitable, Williams firing an ace down the T to close out the set in emphatic fashion.
Williams tightened her grip on the contest at the start of the second, wrong-footing her dumbfounded opponent to earn two more break points. Only one was required, Vesnina wilting following another taxing baseline exchange.
And as the finishing line approached there was no let up for Williams, who found an answer to every question posed by the Russian, completing a victory with another flawless service game.
Serena Williams is posting some absolutely absurd stats today. On fire. #Wimbledon https://t.co/12pMcCtzcf pic.twitter.com/Fm4HEyWYec
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 7 July 2016
“I’m very happy, you know, I was really focused today because we’ve had a lot of tough matches before. And especially on this surface I knew she could really bring it to me so I was ready,” Williams told the BBC afterwards. “It’s never easy out there, every point you have to fight for.
In the final she will face either sister Venus Williams or her conqueror at this year’s Australian Open, Angelique Kerber.
“It’s weird I can’t believe I’m in the final again. You know I’m 0 for 2 [in Grand Slam finals] this year so I’m determined to get at least one. It would be great [to play Venus] because then we’d be guaranteed to have a Williams on the trophy – that’s the ultimate goal for both of us and obviously I want her to do well, and if not Kerber would be another good match. I played her in Australia. Either way I look forward to it.”
More to follow.
DUBAI, UAE – No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska’s Dubai campaign was cut short in the round of 16 after suffering one of the biggest upsets of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against 17-year-old CiCi Bellis.
“I didn’t feel good from the beginning. I didn’t play really great, and I was trying everything. I did what I could today,” Radwanska told press after the defeat.
She added, “For me it was really hard to control the ball and make the angles. And also, my serve didn’t work at all. In those kind of tight matches, you need those things. When you don’t have it and you’re struggling pretty much from the beginning, then you have a problem.
“I was really struggling myself. I was really focusing on myself today, but I just wasn’t good enough.”
First Top 10 Win!
17 year old @CiciBellis99 knocks out 2012 champ Radwanska 6-4, 2-6, 6-2! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/ggGOaQUEDO
— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017
Despite playing against an unseeded teenager, experience told Radwanska to be wary, especially with the way Bellis had climbed the rankings and made a name for herself toward the end of last season.
“I never really think of the seeds or unseeded players,” she explained. “In today’s tennis, we don’t have ‘easy draws’ or ‘open draws.’
“Maybe you can say this from an outside [point of view], but on the court, there’s nothing ‘open.'”
Radwanska had only words of praise for Bellis, who is the youngest member of the WTA Top 100 and the youngest player to defeat a Top 10 opponent since Belinda Bencic posted back to back wins over Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic at the 2014 US Open.
“Very solid. Very consistent. She can really play good rallies with good intensity, and I think that’s a really good thing for that kind of young player. I think she was the best today.”
Putting the loss behind her, Radwanska plans to stop by her home in Poland for a couple of days before making the trip to California for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Caroline Wozniacki talks through her win in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Anastasija Sevastova takes on Wang Qiang in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Caroline Wozniacki discovered what’s behind the WTA’s weather woes in her press conference at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
It’s time to crown June’s WTA Shot Of The Month. There were some incredible shots to choose from this month, and we narrowed it down to the five best – have a look at the nominees in the above video and cast your vote for your favorite shot before voting ends Thursday at 11:59pm ET!
The winner will be announced Friday, July 15.
How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.