Indian Wells Friday Buzz: Aunt Elena, Cali Snowseeker Kerber
As the BNP Paribas Open draws to a conclusion, some players are looking ahead to the weekend whilst others are already busy acclimatising for Miami.
As the BNP Paribas Open draws to a conclusion, some players are looking ahead to the weekend whilst others are already busy acclimatising for Miami.
An interview with Elena Vesnina after her quarterfinal win at the Volvo Car Open.
Sania Mirza celebrates her 80th consecutive week as the doubles World No.1 this week. Mirza became the first Indian woman to hold the No.1 ranking last season after winning the Volvo Car Open in Charleston with her former partner Martina Hingis.
Today I complete 80 consecutive weeks as the number 1 player in d world?its been an amazing journey and just inspires me to work harder @WTA pic.twitter.com/BsHoeU0YAT
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) October 18, 2016
Mirza’s charge towards No.1 began in 2014. Pairing with Cara Black the duo made the semifinals or better at 10 of their 22 events and closed out their season by winning 14 of the their final 16 matches. Mirza and Black capped off their fantastic season by winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The successful team parted ways after that win due to Black’s desire to focus on her young family, and Mirza would win the Brisbane International title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands before finding immediate success with Martina Hingis. Team “SanTina” won their first 14 matches together, including titles at the BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open, and Volvo Car Open. With that 14th win, a 6-0, 6-4 win over Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak in the Charleston final, Mirza made history and fulfilled a lifelong dream.
The Indian star was finally the World No.1. The milestone was a big statement for Indian women in sports, where women athletes have yet to stand on equal ground.
“You have to believe that as a woman and as a girl you are not a weakness; you’re a strength,” Mirza said after winning in Charleston last year. “Anything is possible. If you put your mind to it, you put sacrifices to it, you put hard work to it, anything is possible, no matter where you’re from. Even if that means you’ve grown up playing on courts made of cow dung. And I think for me that’s women empowerment, and I hope that we get there one day where women believe that anything is possible.”
“I’m used to people rolling their eyes,” Mirza said after winning Charleston. “Tennis at that point when I was six years old, there was no clay courts; there was no hard courts. We used to play and practice on courts made out of cow s***. No jokes. I mean that was the only court that was available.”
“So to come from there and pick up a tennis racquet and have the guts to say, okay, I am going to go and play at the highest level in the world is against all odds. Whether I got to No. 1 or not, it would have always been worth it, but now, today, to me and myself, I’m so happy to give this back to my country, to be the first ever No. 1 from India.”
“We all have a story. Every tennis player out there has an amazing story. And it all just seems worth it today. And no one can take it away from me.”
Since taking over the top spot, Mirza has had to fend off a charge from her former doubles partner for the No.1 ranking. After Mirza and Hingis split ways this summer, the two faced off with their new partners in their very next tournament, in the final of the Western & Southern Open. If Mirza and her partner, Barbora Strycova won, Mirza would hold on to No.1. If Hingis and her partner CoCo Vandeweghe won, Hingis would hold on to No.1. Mirza and Strycova rallied from behind to win their first title together, giving Mirza sole ownership of the No.1 ranking.
“I think as tennis players it means a lot to us,” Mirza said in Cincinnati. “Imagine being No. 1 at what you do in the whole planet. I’ve had that privilege for the last year and a half.
“We all want to be No. 1. That’s why we play tennis. Very few people get to be No. 1 in the world. It’s the thing as an athlete you dream as a child. To be No.1 in the world is the most amazing thing.”
Photos courtesy of Getty Images
No.14 seed Elena Vesnina has booked a spot into her first ever Premier Mandatory final at the BNP Paribas Open after a dominating performance over Kristina Mladenovic.
Elena Vesnina takes on Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open.
SINGAPORE – Last year’s semifinalist Garbiñe Muguruza returns to Singapore looking to end and an up and down season on a high note.
1. Twice is Nice.
Garbiñe Muguruza makes her second consecutive appearance in the Singapore singles competition following her debut last year, where she reached the semifinals after finishing 3-0 in round robin play.
2. Double Threat.
It will be her third consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals, having qualified first in doubles with compatriot Carla Suárez Navarro in 2014 and 2015 when they reached the final.
3. Rocking Round Robin.
Last year, she went 3-0 in the round-robin stage of the singles competition, losing to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals.
4. Fabulous in France.
Muguruza is the reigning Roland Garros champion, picking up her first-ever Grand Slam title by beating then-World No.1 Serena Williams in the final.
5. First Slam.
The Spaniard became the youngest first-time Grand Slam champion (22 years, 7 months) since Victoria Azarenka, who won the 2012 Australian Open aged 22 years, 6 months.
6. Breakthrough season.
Muguruza’s French Open win followed her brilliant 2015 season, when she finished the year as World No.3.
Esta es la foto que quería. This is the photo I really like. @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/5mAZjyXn1e
— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) 4 June 2016
7. Early exits.
Her Slam record in the second half of 2016 has seen her signature peaks and valleys, losing to Jana Cepelova, 6-3, 6-2, at Wimbledon, and to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, 7-5, 6-4, at the US Open – both in the second round.
8. Terrific on tour.
Muguruza nonetheless made semifinal appearances at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the Western & Southern Open, plus quarterfinals at the Qatar Total Open , Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
9. Limping in Linz.
She has not had the ideal preparation for Singapore; she was forced to withdraw from a quarterfinal encounter with Viktorija Golubic in Linz after rolling her ankle.
10. Rankings rise.
She hit a career-high of World No.2 after the French Open – and will be ready to push on from her current slot of World No.6 as she looks ahead to 2017.
Elena Vesnina talks through her performance in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open.
THE WINNERS
Sloane Stephens was a point from a one-set deficit against 2011 Volvo Car Open finalist Elena Vesnina, but the young American turned the tide in emphatic style, capturing her third title of the season, 7-6(4), 6-2.
“I just said to myself, ‘You have to fight for every point and compete.’ She’s a great player, so I knew I had to stay in every point,” Stephens said after the match.
“Obviously coming into here I have a lot of anxiety coming into this tournament because I’ve never done well here. I just thought, you know, I’m just going to go have fun. “I don’t have anything to lose. My life is great. It’s tennis. And this is what I do every week. So I kind of just changed my mindset, and that worked. So I should just do that every week.”
Read the full story and watch highlights here.
Meanwhile, Dominika Cibulkova captured her first WTA final since 2014 at the Katowice Open, taking out three-time finalist Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 6-0. Cibulkova was in her second final of 2016 – having narrowly missed out on the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title to Sloane Stephens.
“You have to go by small steps, and this is just a small step for me to get to where I want to be,” said Cibulkova, who missed much of 2015 recovering from an Achilles injury. “I proved that through the last matches – how I finished them – that I’m a really good player and this is how I want to play.”
Read the full story here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Sloane Stephens’ Premier Milestone.
From being match point down to Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinals to tournament champion on Sunday, Stephens’ run to her biggest career title at the Volvo Car Open was as much of a rollercoaster as her 2016 season, which has been all about the boom or bust. Stephens has played six tournaments this year. In three she lost in her opening match (Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami), in the other three she went on to win the title (ASB Classic, Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, and Volvo Car Open). When Sloane Stephens wins, she wins in bunches.
Prior to this year, Stephens carried a dismal 1-5 record in Charleston, a frustrating clip given how much she loved the tournament, the city, and playing on clay. This year, Stephens knocked off three quality Top 40 players in Daria Gavrilova, Daria Kasatkina, and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber (Kerber retired due to a viral illness) en route to the final, where she was pushed to the limit in the first set before defeating Elena Vesnina 7-6(4), 6-2.
Set: Dominika Cibulkova’s Slow Climb.
Cibulkova has been playing well above her ranking this year. More often than not she’s been the most dangerous unseeded player at the tour’s biggest events so far. Her romp to her first title since 2014 was no big surprise at the Katowice Open. Cibulkova dropped just one set all week and capped off her semifinal and final wins with second set bagels. This was a dominant and deserved week for Cibulkova, who is up to No.38 in the rankings.
Match: Angelique Kerber and Lara Arruabarrena put on a show.
It wasn’t a match many people saw, but Kerber’s 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) win over Arruabarrena was some inspired stuff from both women, particularly the Spaniard. Ranked No.80, Arruabarrena looked to be primed for a quick exit after the first set, which was no surprise given her road to Charleston:
Sunday (Osprey's ITF)
Semis 2 sets???
Final 3 sets???
??–8 hours–> Charleston 3am
Monday (Charleston WTA)
1R 3 sets???Tomorrow 2R… ?
— Lara Arruabarrena (@laraarrua) April 5, 2016
Arruabarrena found a way to raise her level and gave Kerber everything she had for the next two hours, as the two slugged it out on a cool night on the green clay. In the end it was Kerber’s resilience and experience that brought her over the finish line, but this was a performance to remember for Arruabarrena. It was one of the best matches of the year.
For matches like this i play tennis
A shame i lost but i had such a figther at the other site of the net. Best of luck for @AngeliqueKerber— Lara Arruabarrena (@laraarrua) April 6, 2016
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of April 11, 2016.
Elena Vesnina (RUS), +34 (No.85 to 51): Vesnina’s run to the final of the Volvo Car Open gives her the biggest ranking jump of the week and puts her within reach of the Top 50. Vesnina, a finalist in Charleston in 2011, had to play through qualifying just to reach the main draw.
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), +15 (No.53 to 38): Cibulkova claimed her first title of the year – and her first since 2014 – at the Katowice Open this week and earned a 15-point ranking jump, putting her back into the Top 40.
Sloane Stephens (USA), +4 (No.25 to 21): Stephens grabbed her third title of the year at the Volvo Car Open and keeps inching higher and higher up the rankings – this week she’s up to No.21.
Daria Kasatkina (RUS), +3 (No.35 to 32): 18-year-old Kasatkina reached her first Premier-level quarterfinal on clay this week in Charleston, sending her up three spots to No.32. Even more significantly, the jump gives her a greater chance of being seeded at the French Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), +1 (No.3 to 2): Radwanska and Angelique Kerber continue their tug-of-war with the No.2 spot – they’ve traded it off four times in the last four ranking runs.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Claro Open Colsanitas
Bogotá, Colombia
International | $226,750 | Clay
Monday, April 11 – Sunday, April 17, 2016
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Stuttgart, Germany
Premier | $693,900 | Clay, Indoor
Monday, April 18 – Sunday, April 24, 2016
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams
2. Agnieszka Radwanska – Stuttgart
3. Angelique Kerber – Stuttgart
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Stuttgart
5. Victoria Azarenka
6. Simona Halep – Stuttgart
7. Petra Kvitova – Stuttgart
8. Roberta Vinci – Stuttgart
9. Maria Sharapova
10. Belinda Bencic – Stuttgart
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Stuttgart
12. Flavia Pennetta
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Stuttgart
14. Venus Williams
15. Lucie Safarova – Stuttgart
16. Elina Svitolina – Bogotá
17. Timea Bacsinszky
18. Karolina Pliskova – Stuttgart
19. Ana Ivanovic – Stuttgart
20. Sara Errani
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) – April 12, 1996
Richel Hogenkamp (NED) – April 16, 1992
Taylor Townsend (USA) – April 16, 1996
See how Elena Vesnina progressed to the final of the BNP Paribas Open.
If Elaine Brady is on the court during a match, it usually means a player has called for a medical timeout. As one of the WTA’s primary healthcare providers since 2007, she is often a last resort between play continuing or ending in a retirement.
But her most important work is done away from the floodlights of a stadum court, as injury prevention takes much more time than the six minutes a medical timeout allows.
“Most work each day is aimed towards preventative strategies,” says Brady, who earned a degree in physiotherapy and a masters in orthopedic medicine. “That may be preparing an athlete effectively for her match and assessing injuries she’s already got.
“All the work behind the scenes in the training room, but we’re most visible when an athlete injures themselves on the court during the match and we’re called to court to treat them.”
Fans might not always be happy to see Brady on court, but the players are certainly grateful.
“They have to deal with me and my bad moods sometimes,” jokes Garbiñe Muguruza. “They take care of all my tapes every day, and I think they’re very important and I’m very thankful to have them at every tournament.”
Learn more about Brady’s line of work in the latest episode of On The Tour.