My Performance: Karolina Pliskova
Karolina Pliskova reflects on her performance against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Miami Open.
Karolina Pliskova reflects on her performance against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Miami Open.
Elina Svitolina takes on Garbine Muguruza in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Nearly two decades after her first Indian Wells/Miami “Sunshine Double,” former World No.1 Martina Hingis is on the precipice of a third with new partner and fellow top doubles star, Chan Yung-Jan.
Hingis’ first double came with two different partners back in 1999, winning the BNP Paribas Open with Anna Kournikova and the Miami Open with Jana Novotna; the Swiss Miss followed that up at long last with Sania Mirza in 2015, kickstarting what became the most dominant partnership of the last decade, foreshadowing a 41-match winning streak and a run through three straight major titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open.
The idea to partner with Chan first came about Down Under, when Hingis was still playing with CoCo Vandeweghe and the Taiwanese No.1 was one half of a sister act with Chan Hao-Ching.
on to the semis! @YungJan_Chan pic.twitter.com/NBuIhmUKJm
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 29, 2017
“It started at a practice in Melbourne, when we were sharing a court,” Chan, who also goes by Latisha, told WTA Insider after their straight-set win over Andreja Klepac and María José Martínez Sánchez. “I was hitting with Angel, my sister. Martina and I stayed on the same side of court and played some points together.
“At one point, she said that if Angel can’t play with me because of injuries or some other reason, to give her a call, and she’d be happy to play with me. I was so flattered! But I didn’t tell her that.”
The sisters split after defending their home title in Chinese Taipei, and she found herself back on the same side as Hingis by the start of the Middle East Swing.
“My sister and I didn’t do well at the Australian Open and we started to talk about splitting up, and I think it was great timing.
“We still practice together and watch her matches. It’s kind of like three against two because we have Angel behind us against the other teams.”
great 2 weeks in Indian Wells! thanks to everyone for their support! see you in Miami next! #firsttitletogether pic.twitter.com/fU2qzt3Wcc
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 19, 2017
The pair stuck through tough losses at the Qatar Total Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the former for which Hingis takes full responsibility.
“When we started in Doha, I wasn’t quite up to it in the super tie-break, and wasn’t much of a help,” Hingis said. “Otherwise, I think we could have done better there. But Doha and Dubai helped us get a feel for each other and to trust each other, so we know what to do on the court.”
On an eight-match winning streak since winning in Indian Wells, it was clear the duo were already in sync.
“It’s not fair for her to say she wasn’t playing well at the beginning,” Chan immediately disagrees. “I had a similar partner like her, a net player. For me it was easier to adapt, but for her, I might be a little bit different than her previous partners, so she needed more time to understand and get a rhythm.”
“It was good to know that there was actually some consistency from somebody,” Hingis banters back. “I could trust with her, that she was going to put the ball in!”
celebrating our win with a cheesecake! @YungJan_Chan pic.twitter.com/UlOuzL4DPP
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 19, 2017
Both agreed that the fortnight in the California desert was key for their confidence, winning the title without dropping a set against tough teams like Mirza and Barbora Strycova, and World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
“In Indian Wells, we got two weeks to practice and be together, having cheesecake and going shopping!” Hingis laughed. “That helped a lot with our communication, and that brought us closer together. That’s why we won and that’s why we’re in the semifinals here.”
Standing between them and a second straight final is Mirza and Strycova in a rematch of last week’s quarterfinal.
“Playing them, it’s one of the best teams out there. We have to take it seriously, and I know they’ll probably want to get back at us from Indian Wells…” Hingis started.
“Everyone around here is going to give you a tough match, and they’re very strong,” Chan finished.
“We’ll just try to play our best tennis and we’ll see how it goes.”
The winning wiggle ????????? pic.twitter.com/db1AYkhLfL
— 詹詠然～YungJan Chan (@YungJan_Chan) March 19, 2017
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Highlights from the second round action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
If Johanna Konta is to keep up her meteoric rise and pull off what would be a hugely popular home victory at Wimbledon this year, she would be following in some distinguished footsteps, emulating Wimbledon’s last female British champion, Virginia Wade.
This summer marks the 40th anniversary of that famous day on which Wade defeated Betty Stove to lift the most coveted of titles back in 1977 on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee.
Now a resident of New York, Wade reflects in an interview with the Daily Mail on the day that elevated her to tennis superstardom.
Having battled past Chris Evert in a tough three-set semifinal, Wade found herself matched against a seemingly easier opponent in the final and yet many people forget that she lost the opening set to Stove after a nervy start.
“I knew I had to find my courage after the first set,” said Wade. “But I was always aware that Betty was not sure how to beat me. I had fought through some tough matches against her before and won, and I knew I had left some scar tissue on her. I was fine from when I went 3-0 up in the second set.”
From then on, Wade dominated the final set and, with Stove’s spirit broken, she romped home to secure a famous 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
“I couldn’t hear what the Queen was saying because there was such a commotion and the crowd were singing ‘For she’s a jolly good fellow’, I’ve still no idea why. That night I went with a large group of family and friends to a lovely Indian restaurant opposite Harrods.
“Then there was the Champions’ Dinner at the Savoy. It was the first year that they abandoned the dance between the champions, so I never got to dance with Bjorn (Borg).”
Wade was only days short of her 32nd birthday when she won Wimbledon in 1977 so Johanna Konta knows she certainly has her best years ahead of her. Especially considering that she plays Venus Williams in the semifinal of the Miami Open, the American rediscovering some of her very best tennis at 36 years of age, 11 years Konta’s senior.
Every week wtatennis.com brings you 10 Things To Know about the week – who is playing, where and much more. This week the Road To Singapore goes through Doha and Acapulco…
1) Doha is the first Premier 5 tournament of 2016.
The Qatar Total Open is a Premier 5 event and part two of the WTA’s fortnightly tour of the Middle East – part one is the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. There’s nearly $3 million on the line, with the winner pocketing $518,500 and a whopping 900 points for the Road To Singapore leaderboard.
Click here for a full analysis of the Doha draw.
2) World No.2 Angelique Kerber plays her first tournament since winning the Australian Open.
Kerber played a solid weekend in Fed Cup – going 1-1 in her singles matches against Timea Bacsinszky and Belinda Bencic – but the German comes to Doha looking to build on her early season momentum; she remains the only player to reach more than one final in 2016. It won’t be easy for the 2014 finalist with her fellow Top 8 seeds in tow: Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Bencic, Lucie Safarova, and Carla Suárez Navarro.
3) Agnieszka Radwanska is also hoping to build on her strong start to the season.
Out since the Australian Open with a left leg injury, the reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion was undefeated through the semifinals in Melbourne, having won the title at the Shenzhen Open. Though she fell to World No.1 Serena Williams in her last match, the Pole has otherwise looked good since last year’s US Open, and is poised to rise to World No.3 on Monday.
4) Defending champion Lucie Safarova makes her 2016 debut.
Safarova’s stellar 2015 season started off last year in Doha. The Czech earned back-to-back Top 10 wins and beat former No.1 Victoria Azarenka in the final, parlaying that result into a maiden Grand Slam final at the French Open. A bacterial infection derailed her season after the US Open, and though she qualified for Singapore, Safarova hasn’t played since, but with several weeks of practice in Doha, look for the defending champ to make some noise with her big lefty game.
5) Can Halep, Muguruza or Kvitova kickstart their years in Doha?
No.2 seed Halep has been looking for matches all season, but they were hard to come by in Dubai; the Romanian had to face former No.1 Ana Ivanovic in her opening round match, losing in straight sets. Muguruza has been dealing with a foot injury that has kept her from feeling prepared to play her best tennis, while Kvitova has won just one match all season and has yet to name a replacement coach since splitting the David Kotyza. All three have the talent to win in Doha; can one or more catch fire this week?
6) Azarenka does Acapulco.
While most of the game’s biggest names are duking it out in Doha, Victoria Azarenka has opted to ease into her North American hardcourt swing by playing her first tournament since the Australian Open at this week’s International event at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Top seed in Acapulco, Azarenka is joined by tricky opposition in Sloane Stephens, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Dominika Cibulkova.
7) Can Konta go further?
Johanna Konta rocked the tennis world when she made her historic run to the semifinals in Melbourne. A likely seed in Acapulco, how will the Brit back up that result as she aims to continue her march up the rankings; she is currently at a career-high ranking of No.27.
8) How will Sloane Stephens rebound?
Stephens came to Melbourne looking like a dangerous floater having won her second career title at the ASB Classic, but took a surprising first round loss to Wang Qiang. How will the American fare in her first event since then?
9) Welcome back, Galina.
Former World No.42 and No.1 Kazakh Galina Voskoboeva was close to a career-high ranking when multiple foot injuries kept her off the court for nearly two years. Playing her first matches earlier this month at Fed Cup and an ITF Challenger, Voskoboeva makes her WTA return in doubles this week with Anastasia Rodionova. Stay tuned for more insight into Voskoboeva’s comeback on WTA Insider.
10) Find out where you can watch live action this week.
Highlights from the quarterfinal clash between Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova.
Highlights from the quarterfinal round action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Sara Errani has Friday’s shot of the day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.