Kvitova Ends Vinci's Hopes After Zhuhai Masterclass
Petra Kvitova continued her terrific end of season form with a dominant victory over Roberta Vinci in her opening round-robin match at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Petra Kvitova continued her terrific end of season form with a dominant victory over Roberta Vinci in her opening round-robin match at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
ZHUHAI, China – The fairytale continues for Zhang Shuai in Zhuhai.
The wildcard won a second straight match at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, guaranteeing her a place in the semifinals and a first career finish inside the Top 25.
“It’s amazing because I never thought I could play this tournament, and now I’m in the semifinals,” she told WTA Insider on Thursday. “I prepared a lot for this week, so I’m really happy.”
Her storybook season began in Australia by way of Tokyo. Zhang was ranked just inside the Top 200 when she won an inaugural ITF 100K Challenger there last fall – foreshadowing what was to come Down Under. The Chinese No.1 plans to return to the Tokyo tournament next week, where she will be top seed.
“I have a lot of good memories there and want to go back. I also have a lot of friends in Japan and Tokyo; they’re waiting for me already, so it’s very exciting!
“The tournament has good food, good hotel, and good courts. I always look forward to going to Tokyo.”
Zhang’s season won’t end there. Her final stop of 2016 brings her to Hawaii, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“I’ve never had the chance to go. I’m already ranked in the Top 50, so I couldn’t enter a WTA 125K event, so I have to thank the tournament for giving me a wildcard.”
She found out about the wildcard into Zhuhai three weeks ago in Beijing; she had just defeated Simona Halep for the second time in nine months, the first coming in that fateful first round in Melbourne.
“She’s a really great player. My coach always says I have to learn from her, because she plays really beautiful tennis. I like her as a person too; she’s a very nice girl.
“It was amazing, even after the Australian Open, I didn’t think I could beat her again. But I’ve since been able to not only beat her, but also other Top 20 players like Timea Bacsinszky and Samantha Stosur.
“Now I believe I can do anything.”
That limitless mentality has helped her achieve a career-best season after a year in the tennis wilderness. It was just two years ago that Zhang was ranked in the Top 30 and seeded at Grand Slams, but until beating Halep, she had never won a major main draw match in 14 previous attempts.
“Now I’m more focused on the court, focused on myself. I don’t think…anything, really! I’m not thinking about ranking or points; I just try my best, trying to play my tennis and my style. I don’t really care about whom I’m playing, or how they play. I just go!”
Zhang plans to roll into the off-season with similar gusto, hoping to maintain the momentum gained from her Asian Swing surge and bring it back to Australia for an encore performance.
“I don’t think I’ll change much about my pre-season. I’ll just try to train hard, give 100% of my heart and focus on tennis. We’re always trying to make improvements, so we’ll try to do that, too.
“But this year, I played really well, so I think I’m doing things the right way. I just want to keep going.”
Forward motion is a recurring motif from Zhang, which certainly makes sense; if you were living her dream, would you want to wake up?
“This whole year has been filled with so many amazing memories. I can’t pick just one, but of course, I can’t forget the Australian Open. I’ll remember that week forever. I also made the quarterfinal at the China Open, now the semifinals here in Zhuhai.
“This year has been a dream come true.”
All photos courtesy of WTA Elite Trophy.
Elena Vesnina pulled out all the stops in her final performance of the season, playing her part in a point of the tournament contender against Kiki Bertens in Zhuhai to ensure a fine season finished on a high.
ZHUHAI, China – After visiting one of the city’s most impressive landmarks, tennis legend and WTA Elite Trophy ambassador Steffi Graf continued her whirlwind tour of Zhuhai at the Huafa Tennis Center for a charity clinic.
Click here for a photo gallery of all of Steffi’s activities in Zhuhai!
Graf was joined by over thirty talented youngsters from primary and junior high schools in the area, including 19 from Macao as well as from Huajin Securities, tournament ball kids, selected staff and one lucky iQYI SuperFan.
Yang Yanling, who was selected from the iQIYI iSuperFan campaign, got an extra treat; he enjoyed a special one-on-one conversation up close with the former World No.1. Yang was thrilled by Graf’s encouragement to continue playing tennis, and more importantly, to enjoy what tennis will bring to his life and future.
Check out all the best photos from the event right here, courtesy of the WTA Elite Trophy!
ZHUHAI, China – Since her retirement 17 years ago, WTA legend Stefanie Graf has largely shied away from the limelight. However on Sunday she took center stage once more, gracing the final of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai between Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina.
Tournament ambassador Graf continued her busy weekend in Zhuhai, conducting the coin toss before taking in Kvitova’s masterclass.
Twenty-four hours earlier, in her first public activity ever in mainland China, Graf visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, where she played mini-tennis with Caroline Garcia.
Check out the best photos from finals day, courtesy of the WTA Elite Trophy!
Click here for a photo gallery of all of Graf’s activities in Zhuhai.
October was defined by three breakthrough players who brought some impressive performances on and off the court. Which one soared the highest?
Have a look at the nominees for October Breakthrough Performance of the Month and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59pm ET! The winner will be announced Friday, November 11.
October 2016 WTA Breakthrough Performance of the Month Finalists:
Daria Gavrilova: One of the tour’s fastest rising stars had an October to remember. The Russian-born Aussie kicked off the month with her first win over a reigning No.1, defeating Angelique Kerber in Hong Kong. Gavrilova took that momentum into Moscow to reach the final of the Kremlin Cup in both singles and doubles with partner and good friend Daria Kasatkina.
Johanna Konta: Konta made her biggest breakthrough yet on the WTA level, reaching her first Premier Mandatory final at the China Open. Seeded No.11 in Bejing, Konta upset No.5 seed and US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova and No.8 seed Madison Keys en route to the championship match, where she fell to Agnieszka Radwanska.
Peng Shuai: Impressive though her resume had been, a WTA singles title had long eluded 2014 US Open semifinalist Peng Shuai, who missed most of the 2015 season due to a back injury. Upsetting Venus Williams in Beijing, Peng rolled into the Tianjin Open high on confidence, finally winning her first WTA title.
2016 Winners:
January: Zhang Shuai
February: Jelena Ostapenko
March: Nicole Gibbs
April: Cagla Buyukakcay
May: Kiki Bertens
June: Elena Vesnina
July: Kristina Kucova
August: Karolina Pliskova
September: Naomi Osaka
How it works:
Finalists are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen checks in from the Foro Italico in Rome where the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is already underway. She recaps the the weekend in Madrid, where Simona Halep capped off a big week for Romanian tennis by winning her first title of the season. Hear from Halep as she discusses her surprising week and how it all came together in the Champion’s Corner.
You’ll also hear from 30-year-old Czech veteran Barbora Strycova. The World No.38 joins the podcast to discuss her career, which was nearly ended by a failed drug test in 2012. After serving a six-moth ban for negligently ingesting a banned substance, Strycova came one match away from ending her career. It’s a good thing she didn’t.
Strycova candidly opens up about her ban — the lowest moment of her career — as well as her redemptive run to the 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinals. Self-aware, honest, and funny, it’s a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Halep on being reluctant to handicap her chances at the start of the week: It’s amazing that I could win this tournament. I feel that I had everything in my hands, every match. I felt that I played my best tennis in every match and kind of deserving the title because I won it. I didn’t receive presents during the matches. Day by day I believed more that I had a chance to win it.
At the beginning of the tournament it’s normal to feel that you hesitate a little bit because it’s just the start and you don’t know actually what’s going to happen in the first round because the first round is always the toughest in the tournament. And after my months before coming here, it was tough to believe I could win it.
Halep on the rise of her fellow Romanians: I didn’t read anything since a long time ago and I’m not going to start to read again. I heard a tough story about my joke about “the Easter present” about the second set [bagel against Irina-Camelia Begu]. They make everything negative so I’m not going to read.
But in my opinion it’s a big thing that many Romanians are playing in the last matches here in this tournament – also men’s doubles – so it’s a good point point for our country and maybe it will help our juniors.
Strycova on picking tennis over figure skating: At age 12, I had to decide if I wanted to stick with figure skating, because I was pretty good at it, or tennis. I chose tennis because it was my choice, and nobody was pushing it. I was last on the ice a year ago; I can do some small jumps but you have to be careful because you can fall down and break a leg! I love that sport, and I still like to listen to my favorite music and be on the ice, doing what I used to do when I was young. It’s really relaxing.
Strycova on whether her on-court intensity dates back to her childhood: Oh my god, so much! You would see such a crazy Bara, you would not believel I am so emotional. I’m intense. I love to win and hate to lose. Back then, I was crabby. On one side, I was very positive, but also very negative. I’d throw racquets, screaming, crying. My whole career, I’ve been fighting to be positive and calmer. But I need that sometimes, I just need to know how to deal with it, and make sure it’s not hurting you.
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Eugenie Bouchard takes on Angelique Kerber in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Irina-Camelia Begu produced her best performance of the year to upset No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The WTA’s longtime queen of hot shots Agnieszka Radwanska was back at it again in 2016, bringing out all the magic from her bag of tricks – watch all her best shots of the year right here!