Tennis News

Lucie Safarova had much to overcome off the court this season, recovering from an illness that derailed her soaring start to last season and fighting off injuries that delayed her 2016 debut. But once she got going, she showed what made her such a dangerous opponent, particularly in doubles, where she won another major title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the US Open, and rode an 18-match winning streak into the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Through all of her trials and tribulations,the Czech always finds time to give back to the player community.

As a result of her work in the WTA Player Council, Safarova was awarded the 2016 Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the third year in a row.

Selected by player vote, the Player Service Award is awarded each year to the player who has done the most for her fellow players. The player can be acknowledged for their efforts made through the Player Council or any other initiative on behalf of the general player population. This award has been voted on by players since 1977. Previous winners include Kim Clijsters, Liezel Huber, Francesca Schiavone, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams.

The Players’ Council consists of eight selected players on the tour that advocate player interests and handle grievances, changes in the tennis schedule and other concerns. Safarova is a part of the council in the 1-20 Ranking Category, alongside Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She’s served on the Council since 2009, earning the respect of her peers through her willingness to help.

Garbiñe Muguruza’s best results have come on hardcourts. She won the China Open last fall and proceeded to storm her way into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global a few weeks later. But before all that hardcourt success, Paris is where she made her name.

The 22-year-old Spaniard earned her breakout win at the French Open in 2014, when she blasted past Serena Williams in a 6-2, 6-2 romp that lead to her first major quarterfinal. And to dispel any notion that the run was a fluke, she followed it up last year with yet another run to the quarterfinals, beating Angelique Kerber and Flavia Pennetta en route.

While guile, athleticism, and craft governed the terre battue in years past, today’s game requires power. Muguruza has that in spades. Though her 2016 season has yet to live up to the promise of how she finished 2015, Muguruza has played far better than her results would indicate. She’s been on the losing end of two of the best sets of tennis played this year, tallying a tough straight set loss to Victoria Azarenka at the Miami Open and then, in to Madison Keys last week in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

That semifinal was her first of the season and her run up to that match was a dominant one. She lost just six games on her way to the quarterfinals, where she dispatched an in-form Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets.

Bonjour à tous ?? ??? pic.twitter.com/wcyvAK7RQU

— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) May 18, 2016

“It was a great week for me,” Muguruza said in Rome. “I would like, for sure, to be in the final and win, but I felt really good playing these matches here, so it’s perfect for French Open.”

Throughout this season, Muguruza has played like a woman who felt the pressure of expectations. After finishing 2015 at No.3, many expected Muguruza to come flying out of the gates on hard courts. But under the bright spotlight she struggled, partly due to injury. It all seemed to come to a head a few weeks ago at the Mutua Madrid Open. The focus of local attention from the start, Muguruza took a tough loss to a streaking Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round.

A week later in Rome, she seemed far more relaxed. She played freely and with a clear sense of purpose. It was as if the pressure of the season dissipated after Madrid and she could just get back to work. If she plays the same way in Paris a deep second week run should be in the cards.

Muguruza will be seeded fourth in Paris, meaning she will avoid a quarterfinal showdown with Serena. Her game is perfectly suited for the clay in Paris, with enough power to finish points and hold serve, with enough court craft to work herself out of defensive positions. Under coach Sam Sumyk, Muguruza has been quick to try and finish points at the net. It’s yet another important development to her game and again, one that will pay dividends in Paris.

Entreno matinal en el Club de Campo antes de poner rumbo a Roma. Last practice before heading to Rome. pic.twitter.com/2HkjUjJas0

— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) May 6, 2016

Click here to keep up with WTA Insider’s pre-French Open coverage!

STRASBOURG, France – No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic reached her first semifinal of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier and fellow doubles star Alla Kudryavtseva at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Watch live action from Strasbourg this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Mladenovic took to court 24 hours after clinching an epic third set tie-break over Alison Riske, and exchanged four straight service breaks to start against Kudryavtseva, a former World No.56 who was playing her first WTA quarterfinal in nearly 18 months.

“It was a quick match and it’s the ideal scenario before a semifinal, to be able to get some rest and not walk out on the court tomorrow tired,” Mladenovic told wtatennis.com after the match.

“I changed up my shots a lot today which i think was the key.”

Settling quicker, the French youngster survived losing serve in the penultimate games of each set to ease past the hard-hitting veteran, who is poised to move up over 30 spots following a run through qualifying that saw her take out No.9 seed Alizé Cornet in the first round.

Mladenovic became the third from her country to advance into the Strasbourg semifinals on Thursday, after Caroline Garcia and Virginie Razzano both reached the final four; the last time three French women made it this far at a WTA tournament was in 2006, when Tatiana Golovin, Mary Pierce and Amélie Mauresmo all contested for the Paris Indoor title – ultimately won by Mauresmo.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni ended the hopes of a first French shutout for the first time since the 1999 Generali Ladies Linz (Mauresmo, Pierce, Sarah Pitkowski, Sandrine Testud), defeating Pauline Parmentier, 6-0, 6-1, to complete the semifinal line-up.

“You always want people from your county to do well and it’s great for French Tennis in general, and nice for the fans here – this is our home,” Mladenovic said of the high level of French success in Strasbourg.

Lucic-Baroni is not only in her first WTA semifinal of the season, but this is the farthest she has been in Strasbourg since 1997 when, within weeks of turning pro at 15 years old, she reached the final – falling to former No.1 and WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Tournament Ambassador Stefanie Graf.

“It was pretty perfect,” the veteran said after the match. “You can’t ask for much more. I’ve been playing really well. And she’s a great player. It’s just I played really well today and didn’t let her in.”

Forced into qualifying after failing to enter the tournament in time ended up being an auspicious opportunity to the Croat to play her way into form, upsetting No.8 seed Timea Babos earlier in the week.

“I missed the deadline by one day – one day!” She laughed. “So I entered qualies. I got two extra matches and it was a really good decision, clearly.

“I’ve been here a few times, but many years ago. It a beautiful tournament, a beautiful city and right before Roland Garros, so it’s good for confidence.”

A former World No.16, Razzano continues to play her best tennis in Strasbourg, reaching her second straight semifinal at the WTA International, again beating Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

“It’s great to be in the semifinal – my first for a long time!” the veteran exclaimed after the match. “It was a quick turn around from last night’s win. Right now I’m playing well.

“Today against Vesnina it wasn’t easy despite the scores in the first and third set. I’ve found my rhythm and it’s been building from my wins against Shvedova, Puig and playing in qualies.

“I’m working hard. Today it’s paid off.”

Garcia was the second Frenchwoman to advance with Samantha Stosur was forced to withdraw from the event citing a left wrist injury.

 “I have had some pain in my left wrist for the last few days,” the Aussie said. “I tried to practice yesterday and felt a lot of discomfort and unfortunately I can’t take to the court today.

“It’s difficult as I’ve rarely had to withdraw from a match in my career.

“I’ve played some good tennis here this week and I’m disappointed I won’t be able to properly defend my title here in Strasbourg .”

In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”

“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”

Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:

On whether she ever felt misunderstood:

“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”

“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.

“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”

On being taught to believe in herself:

“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.

“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”

On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:

“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”

In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016

On body image:

“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”

On her legacy:

“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”

Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.

With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016

Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.

PARIS, France – Friday’s French Open draw has placed defending champion Serena Williams on a quarterfinal collision course with rival Victoria Azarenka.

Williams, the top seed in the French capital, heads up a strong top half of the draw which features fellow Grand Slam champions Azarenka, Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Ana Ivanovic and Francesca Schiavone.

Four years ago Williams was victim of one of the great upsets in French Open history, succumbing to World No.111 Virginie Razzano in the first round. Meeting her at that stage this time around is Magdalena Rybarikova.

Should she clear this hurdle, the American will face either Teliana Pereira or Kristyna Pliskova in the second round, before potential dates with French No.1 Kristina Mladenovic and 2008 champion Ivanovic in the third and fourth rounds, respectively.

However, most intriguing is the prospective showdown between Williams and Azarenka in the last eight. While Williams has won the vast majority of their 21 encounters, it has rarely been straightforward, the Belarusian running her close several times last year – including in Paris – and coming out on top this March in Indian Wells.

Since following up her Indian Wells triumph with victory in Miami, Azarenka’s progress has stalled slightly, a back injury hampering her clay court campaign. And if she is to make her appointment with Williams she will need a clean bill of health, after landing in a section of the draw that also includes Andrea Petkovic, Carla Suárez Navarro and Dominika Cibulkova.

No.3 seed Angelique Kerber finds herself in slightly less threatening company, although she will be wary of prospective third-round opponent Daria Kasatkina. Recent Rome runner-up Madsion Keys is seeded to meet the German in the fourth round.

In the bottom half, No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska will get underway against Bojana Jovanovski. Traditionally Radwanska has struggled to make an impression on the terre battue, reaching one quarterfinal from her nine visits, and her hopes of adding to this tally have not been helped by the draw.

Like Williams, the Pole finds herself in a tricky quarter. Awaiting her in the second round could be the mercurial Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, before a likely third-round meeting with Rome quarterfinalist Barbora Strycova.

Should she negotiate the treacherous path to the last 16, former finalist Sara Errani or Sloane Stephens could lie in wait. The last two finalists, Lucie Safarova and Simona Halep, are the next highest seeds in Radwanska’s section.

No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza opens up against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, while 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ekaterina Makarova are likely to pose the biggest threat to her making it beyond the first week. Also in this quarter are Roberta Vinci, Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova.

Click here to see the full draw.

Petra Kvitova survives: When Sunday’s schedule first came out, my eyes immediately zoomed in on the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier: Petra Kvitova vs. Danka Kovinic. The first thought that came to mind was whether it could possibly be that the two-time Wimbledon champion might bow out of the French Open before the tournament actually felt like it was underway. The threat seemed real given Kvitova’s struggles with an abdominal injury before the tournament and the very heavy conditions that would be in play on Sunday.

Kvitova looked to put those concerns to bed after building a quick 6-2, 3-0 lead over Kovinic, who had a solid clay season. The Montenegrin reached the final of the Instanbul Cup a few weeks before and can be a dangerous player when her game is clicking. It clicked in just in time.

The big-hitting Czech wobbled in the second set and Kovinic pounced, playing some fantastic counter-punching tennis to take the match into a third set. For much of the final frame she looked like the better player, as she combatted Kvitova’s heavy strokes with some magical defense of her own.

Kovinic served for the match at 5-4 only to get broken on a tremendous game from the Czech, who reeled off the final three games to win. The win underlined one oft-overlooked aspect of Kvitova’s game: She’s a fighter. Her game may desert her at times but she’s there until the end. She’ll play Hsieh Su-wei in the second round.

Let's just say I'm glad that one is behind me 🙂 and sorry for your blood pressure ? #petrainparis pic.twitter.com/ndkSGR7ckE

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) May 22, 2016

Rain cancels eight matches, suspends three: The rain came later than expected in Paris, leading to a three-hour rain delay and early end to the day after a short resumption.

Just hit double digits for the amount of people in the players lounge who've mentioned the British weather to me. #notfunny #RG16

— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) May 22, 2016

Five matches were able to finish before the rain came. In addition to Kvitova, No.11 seed Lucie Safarova, No.24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic, and Hsieh Su-Wei advanced to the second round.

The following matches were in progress when play was called:

Svetlana Kuznetsova leads Yaroslava Schvedova 4-6, 6-1, 3-1.
Nicole Gibbs leads Heather Watson 7-5, 2-6, 2-1.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich leads Cagla Buyukakcay 7-5, 6-7(2), 2-1.

Cancelled matches, which included Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep’s openers, as well as in-progress matches will take place on Monday.

Simo's match has been cancelled for today. See you tomorrow @rolandgarros ???? pic.twitter.com/whCMsXFaJB

— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) May 22, 2016

#RG16 almost started for me today.Will try again tomorrow?? @rolandgarros #rainyday

— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) May 22, 2016

Golubic earns her first win at a Slam: The 23-year-old from Zurich made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in January and earned her first main draw win at a major on Sunday, beating Alison Riske 6-1, 1-6 6-2. She’ll play Safarova in the round. Ranked No.130, Golubic earned wins over Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova in the Fed Cup semifinals last month. That’s a nice run of form.

Cagla Buyukackay looks to make more history: By qualifying for the main draw, the Istanbul Cup champion became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to play in the singles main draw at a Slam. In fact, there are two Turkish women in Paris, as she was later joined by 2014 US Open junior champion Ipek Soylu hours later.

With her match against Sasnovich suspended, Buyukackay will continue her quest to become the first Turkish woman to win a main draw match at a Slam on Monday.

Serena Williams and Venus Williams unseeded and looming: The doubles draw is out and all eyes were on where Serena and Venus would land. They’ve been drawn into the section of the draw led by No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova and will open against the fiery young pairing of Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva.

Radwanska, Muguruza, and Halep headline Day 2: Serena Williams was originally scheduled to play on Monday but the rain-delays on Sunday meant a reshuffling of the schedule. Radwanska starts her tournament against Bojana Jovanovski on Court Philippe Chatrier, Muguruza plays Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and Halep takes on Nao Hibino on Court 2.

Roland Garros Preview: Listen to the new episode of the WTA Insider Podcast for a full breakdown of what to expect over the fortnight in Paris and hear from the top players themselves as they discuss their expectations and preparations for the second major of the season.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.25
Year-End Ranking: No.9
Season Highlights: Sydney, Moscow Champion, Miami RU
Best Major Result: 4R (French Open, Wimbledon)

2017 Outlook

Kuznetsova played her best tennis at the beginning and end of 2016, kicking off what promised to be another rollercoaster season with a run to the Apia International Syndey final – defeating then-World No.2 Simona Halep en route.

The Russian continued her newfound consistency through the Miami Open, where she stunned World No.1 Serena Williams to reach her first final in Florida since 2006. Looking like an early favorite to play her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global since 2009, Kuznetsova’s Singapore hopes came down to the wire during the Asian Swing, where she played a thrilling match to defeat defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

Needing to win a second straight Kremlin Cup title to gaurantee the final WTA Finals berth, Kuznetsova defended a title for the first time in her storied career, and quickly became the story of the round robin stage, defeating Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova to finish first in her group.

“I play with my heart,” she said in Singapore. “I always did, but some things are just starting to work now. Maybe I’ve started to believe a little bit more than before. I’m just hanging in there more. I’m seeing other things more clearly, too; some things come together and you get confidence.

“I see opponents fear me more than before because I win matches, I fight, and I’ll be there. It doesn’t matter if I play like crap and I’m sore, I will just be there.”

Kuznetsova played her best tennis when forced to fight, winning a tour-leading 22 three-setters in 2016. She narrowly lost in the Singapore semfinals to eventual champion Dominika Cibulkova, but nonetheless finished at her highest year-end ranking in seven years, and will hope to use her renewed confidence to live an even greater “Life of a Hustler” in 2017.