Road To Roland Garros: The Newcomers
Shelby Rogers and Yulia Putintseva have both enjoyed reputation-enhancing fortnights in Paris. Along with the fame and prize money came another perk: the Road To Roland Garros treatment…
Shelby Rogers and Yulia Putintseva have both enjoyed reputation-enhancing fortnights in Paris. Along with the fame and prize money came another perk: the Road To Roland Garros treatment…
Eugenie Bouchard got a cold welcome in The Netherlands, where she is set to play the Ricoh Open next week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Maybe they were basking in the glow of having their first Roland Garros semifinalist since 1971 in Kiki Bertens. Maybe they were unaware the festivities in Paris are winding down, as the tournament enters its final stage. Or maybe, just maybe, the Dutch are incredibly adept at constructing the perfect burn.
Whatever the reason, this exchange between Bouchard and a Dutch border control agent escalated quickly:
Immigration entering Holland:
Him: Purpose of trip?
Me: Tennis tournament
Him: Oh, shouldn't you still be in Paris then?
Me: …— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) June 3, 2016
Bouchard lost in the second round of the French Open last week to Timea Bacsinszky. The Dutch immigration officers must not follow Genie on Twitter. She’s been training and relaxing in London since leaving Paris.
A bit windy London pic.twitter.com/W4rwioiDIz
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) May 31, 2016
The Ricoh Open begins on June 6th. Jelena Jankovic, CoCo Vandweghe, and Jelena Ostapenko are in the draw, along with Belinda Bencic, who is scheduled to make her return after a lower back injury.
A Wimbledon finalist in 2014, Bouchard is scheduled to play a full grass court schedule over the upcoming weeks. After the Ricoh Open she will head to the WTA’s new grass court event at the Mallorca Open, then to the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England before heading to Wimbledon.
THE WINNERS
Garbiñe Muguruza played the best tennis of her career to stun defending champion Serena Williams and claim her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
With the win Muguruza also adds her name to Spain’s storied history at Roland Garros: she’s the first Spanish woman to win the title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario accomplished the feat in 1998.
Muguruza also climbs two spots in the rankings to World No.2, matching another one of Sanchez-Vicario’s feats by becoming the first Spaniard to hold that ranking since 1996. She sits behind Williams, who retains her No.1 ranking.
Read the full match recap here. | WTA Insider: Game-By-Game Analysis
But Muguruza isn’t the only one who took home some silverware in Paris: No.5 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic earned the biggest win of their young careers to win the French Open over former champions and No.7 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, becomng the first all-French pair to capture their home Slam since 1971.
“It’s never logical to win a Grand Slam,” Mladenovic said in their post-match press conference. “It’s never obvious. You know, you don’t win a Grand Slam every single day. Two young French women players who win Roland Garros. So there are the big tournaments that we have already won, which is a good success in itself, but, you know, winning a Grand Slam, and here in Roland Garros, it’s ten steps above what is logical or normal.”
Read the full match recap here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Garbiñe Muguruza makes her mark in Paris.
Spaniards and Roland Garros go together like crepes and Nutella. At 22 years old, Muguruza became the youngest Slam champion since two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka won the 2012 Australian Open, and the second woman born in the 1990s to win a major, joining another two-time champion, Petra Kvitova. By every metric, Muguruza dominated her two weeks in Paris. She dropped just one set and defeated three Slam champions en route to her maiden title, defeating No.1 Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final.
Despite her youth, Muguruza played throughout the fortnight like a veteran. Less than a year ago, she looked the nervous ingénue in her first Slam final, losing to Serena 6-4, 6-4 at Wimbledon. This time there was a methodical, steely resolve to how Muguruza plowed through the field. In Saturday’s final, she fended off Serena’s repeated attempts to mount one of her famous comebacks, snuffing out any hope a well-timed ace, gutsy backhand winner, or, as it was on match point, an impossibly good lob to secure the win.
On Monday, Muguruza became the first Spaniard since 1996 to hold the No.2 ranking and she vaulted up to No.4 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard. And her story does not end here. She’ll be one of the favorites at Wimbledon in a few weeks time and look to add her name to the list of seven women in the Open Era to complete the Channel Slam.
Read more about Muguruza’s evolution from young upstart to Slam champion here.
Set: Serena Williams’ quest for No.22 continues.
You have to scroll back to 2004 to find the last time Serena Williams lost three finals in a single season. This year she has played five tournaments, made the final at four, and lost in three, upended by Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open, Victoria Azarenka at the BNP Paribas Open, and now Muguruza. Her quest to match Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles now shifts to Wimbledon, the site of her last major title. To add even more intrigue to the upcoming grass season, Serena’s No.1 ranking, which she has held since February 2013, will be in play at the All England Club.
Read more about the shrinking the gap between Serena and the field, here.
Match: On to the grass.
There’s no time to kick the clay from our shoes. The five-week grass court season gets underway this week at the Aegon Open Nottingham and Ricoh Open in the Netherlands. Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta are the top seeds in Nottingham, which also sees the return of Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane, who fell out of the Top 30 for the first time since 2008, is back in action after an ankle injury force her out of the clay season.
Over in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, No.8 Belinda Bencic is also back in competition after a lower back injury kept her on the sidelines during the clay season. She’s the top seed along with Jelena Jankovic, Roland Garros doubles champion Kristina Mladenovic, and Jelena Ostapenko.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of June 6, 2016.
Shelby Rogers (USA), +48 (No.108 to 60): The biggest ranking mover of the week is Rogers, the 23-year-old American whose dream run to the French Open quarterfinals turned heads in a major way. She breaks the Top 100 and now sits at No.60, her career highest ranking.
Kiki Bertens (NED), +31 (No.58 to 27): Shelby had some completion in the French Open Cinderella story department, though, in the form of Bertens’ surprise run to the French Open semifinals. It was the culmination of a season of great results: Bertens’ impressive clay win-loss record is 19-3, a figure dating back to Fed Cup in April. No.27 is the Dutch phenom’s highest ranking ever.
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), +25 (No.60 to 35): Putintseva has also reached her own career highest ranking this week, following her appearance in the French Open quarterfinals.
Sam Stosur (AUS), +10 (No.24 to 14): Stosur’s run to the French Open semifinals boosts her ranking up 10 spots to No.14, making her now the highest ranked Australian, male or female.
Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP), +2 (No.4 to 2): Last but certainly not least, Muguruza claimed her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros this past week and along with the trophy she also claims the World No.2 ranking, her career highest. She is the first Spaniard to hold the ranking since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1996.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Aegon Open Nottingham
Nottingham, Great Britain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 6 – Sunday, June 12
Ricoh Open
‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 6 – Sunday, June 12
Aegon Classic Birmingham
Birmingham, Great Britain
Premier | $780,900 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19
Mallorca Open
Mallorca, Spain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams
2. Garbiñe Muguruza
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Birmingham
4. Angelique Kerber -Birmingham
5. Simona Halep – Birmingham
6. Victoria Azarenka
7. Roberta Vinci
8. Belinda Bencic – ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Birmingham
9. Venus Williams
10. Timea Bacsinszky
11. Petra Kvitova – Birmingham
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova
13. Flavia Pennetta
14. Samantha Stosur
15. Carla Suárez Navarro – Birmingham
16. Madison Keys – Birmingham
17. Karolina Pliskova – Nottingham, Birmingham
18. Johanna Konta – Nottingham, Birmingham
19. Elina Svitolina – Birmingham
20. Sloane Stephens
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) – June 7, 1988
Olivia Rogowska (AUS) – June 7, 1991
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) – June 8, 1989
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) – June 8, 1997
Kaia Kanepi (EST) – June 10, 1985
‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – Last year’s finalist Belinda Bencic was made to work in her first match back from a two month injury layoff, but the No.1 seed edged into the second round of the Ricoh Open in a thriller over Alison Van Uytvanck, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3).
Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Bencic, the 19-year-old World No.8, was playing in her first match since April in Charleston when a back injury kept her off the court for over two months. Her opponent, Van Uytvanck, knows that feeling all too well: the Belgian was also on the comeback trail and competing for the first time since she sustained a foot injury in Miami.
“I’m just very happy to be back on the court again, without pain,” Bencic said after the match. “I missed the competition and playing matches like this. I was very happy today: nothing hurt, and even if I lose this match, I’m just really happy to be back on the court and fight for every point.
“I think it was a very tough way to come back, but I just want to go like this match by match.”
Van Uytvanck didn’t give Bencic any favors in their ‘s-Hertogenbosch opener, despite Bencic’s clinical start to the match breaking twice to run away with the first set 6-2. The Belgian’s slice and topspin gave Bencic trouble throughout the second half of the match, building up a 5-1 lead in the second set. Van Uytvanck was serving for the set – she even held a set point – when Bencic broke to start mounting her comeback. She rattled off the next three games and was just two points away from leveling the score before the Belgian could finally close the set 6-4.
The pair stayed toe-to-toe in the deciding set, sending their long standoff into a tiebreaker. They were even at 2-2 before Van Uytvanck blinked and Bencic ran away to a 6-2 lead.
A timely ace from Bencic on her second match point ended their two hour and two minute battle.
“We always have tough battles,” Bencic said of her No.132-ranked opponent. “She plays very different. It’s hard for me to play her, and I think it’s hard for her to play me. Of course, she likes grass, her game suits grass and she played very good today as well.
“But the important thing is I am very healthy, and no pain on the court. Just happy to win first round.”
HOW much did i miss fights like this… ? ?#callmecrazybutineedstressfulmatches aaaand most important.. No pain?
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) June 7, 2016
Joining Bencic in the second round is No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic, who overcame a slow start to put away Katerina Siniakova, 6-4, 6-2.
Jankovic found herself down a 0-3 deficit in the opening set before she was able to find her footing on the new surface, rattling off three straight games to get back on par and breaking Siniakova for the set.
“I’m very happy to be through in my first match on grass,” Jankovic said. “It’s my first tournament on this surface so I did not start very well.
“I tried to fight a little more and tried to stay low and hit every point as much as I could because it’s completely different. I’m happy that I was able to stay strong and win in straight sets.”
No.3 seed Kristina Mladenovic, half of the French Open doubles title-winning duo, had no problem transitioning from clay to grass against Yaroslava Shvedova, advancing 6-4, 6-3. No.4 seed Jelena Ostapenko similarly cruised into the second round, easing past Serbian qualifier Jovana Jaksic 6-1, 6-0.
Also through are Viktorija Golubic, who downed No.8 seed Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-3, 7-5; Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki, who beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2; Aleksandra Krunic, who beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 7-6(0), 6-1; and Dutch wildcard Richel Hogenkamp, who defeated Japanese qualifier Eri Hozumi 6-2, 6-2.
Ready? Set? Go! The third major of 2016 is about to get underway, and we’ve got your Wimbledon Day One preview right here at WTATennis.com, courtesy of contributor Chris Oddo.
Monday
First Round
[2] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #2) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA #68)
Head-to-head: Giorgi leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Giorgi owns a 6-7 record against the Top 10, but has gone 1-6 against the Top 5.
How will Garbiñe Muguruza handle the pressure of playing the first women’s match on Wimbledon’s fabled Centre Court on Monday? All indications are that she’ll be fine. “Nothing has changed for me to look at Wimbledon different,” Muguruza confidently told a roomful of reporters on Saturday in London when she was asked about coming to Wimbledon as a Grand Slam champion for the first time. “I’m going for the first match, like everyone else, from zero.” Muguruza will have to find a way to block out all external expectations so that she may focus on getting past a very dangerous first-round opponent in Camila Giorgi. The Italian has successfully passed the first round in her last four appearances at Wimbledon and she owns a 17-11 record on grass despite losses in her last three tilts on the surface. Giorgi will certainly take her shots at using her explosive serve and flat ground strokes to expose Muguruza’s movement on the grass, but can the 24-year-old do it well enough to knock off one of the game’s rising forces on Day One?
Pick: Muguruza in three.
[8] Venus Williams (USA #9) vs. Donna Vekic (CRO #112)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Williams is 4th on the Open Era win list at Wimbledon with 76.
Venus Williams and Wimbledon’s grass have been a perfect fit for 19 years running, and on Monday the five-time Wimbledon champion will look to cash in on her experience and grass-court karma when she takes on Croatia’s Donna Vekic for the first time. Vekic was predicted to have a bright future on the grass when she reached the Birmingham final in 2013, but the former World No.62 has struggled of late, losing five of six on the grass since then, and producing a disappointing 4-12 record on all surfaces in 2016. Williams, meanwhile, is hoping to put up back-to-back beauties at the majors. The 36-year-old reached the second week at Roland Garros for the first time since 2010 in Paris this spring and will look to begin what could potentially be a run for the ages here at Wimbledon.
Pick: Williams in two.
[4] Angelique Kerber (GER #4) vs. Laura Robson (GBR #294)Many thought that Great Britain’s Laura Robson would be a fixture in Wimbledon’s second week for years to come when she produced a rousing run to the round of 16 in 2013 as a 19-year-old. But injuries have since sabotaged the progress of the promising Brit. Still working her way back to becoming a steady participant at the tour-level, world No.294 Robson will be in for a stern test on Monday as she faces Germany’s Angelique Kerber. Grass may not be Kerber’s greatest love, but she has racked up some very notable Wimbledon wins. She knocked off Kim Clijsters and Sabine Lisicki en route to the semifinals in 2012, and stunned Maria Sharapova during a quarterfinal run in 2014. Sounds like even years work well for Kerber at Wimbledon; does this year’s Australian Open champion have another deep run up her sleeve in 2016?
Pick: Kerber in two.
Sabine Lisicki (GER #81) vs. Shelby Rogers (USA #61)
Head-to-head: Lisicki leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Lisicki owns a 25-7 lifetime record at Wimbledon. She’s 28-24 lifetime in the other three majors, combined.
Welcome to another edition of Sabine Lisicki, Wimbledon fairy tale. Lisicki is a top pro on all surfaces and at all majors, but on the grass of Wimbledon the German takes her game – and emotions – to a higher level. “The first time that I was here, I don’t remember when it was, but when I was here I fell in love with Wimbledon,” Lisicki said in 2013 during her magical run to the final. The love affair has been mutual. Fans in London have warmed to Lisicki, who reached the quarterfinals or better at Wimbledon for five consecutive years until finally having that streak stopped by Timea Bacsinszky in the third round last year. In order to begin another streak, the German will have to find her way past rising American Shelby Rogers. The Charleston, S.C. native will look to notch her first career win at Wimbledon on Monday, but she’ll have to create her own fairy tale at SW19 to do so.
Pick: Lisicki in three.
Around the Grounds: They’ve always been great friends, even on the court where they’ve won two major doubles titles together, but on Monday Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will meet on the singles court for the first time since 2010 on Court 8. Simona Halep will open Wimbledon accounts on Monday with a first-round tussle with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Court 2. Schmiedlova has gone 3-16 this season after breaking out in 2015 with a career-best 37 wins.
By the Numbers:
51 – Number of consecutive Grand Slams played by Jelena Jankovic, who now holds the active record in that category. Ai Sugiyama holds the all-time record with 62.
3 – Three Americans (Keys, Serena Williams, Venus Williams) are seeded at a major for the first time since the 2005 U.S. Open (Davenport, Serena Williams, Venus Williams).
120 – The all-time record for Wimbledon wins, held by Martina Navratilova. Serena Williams leads all active players with 79.
Santina On Defense: Reigning Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza captured their first major title together nearly 52 weeks ago at this very tournament, cementing their status as the sport’s top team and foreshadowing an impressive 41-match winning streak that took them to two more majors and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global title.
The pair has since seen their period of uninterrupted dominance come to a close – at least for the time being – with back-to-back final defeats to French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who went on to win their home Slam at Roland Garros. Looking to complete the Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, Hingis and Mirza were stunned by Czech youngsters Barbora Krejcikova and Katarina Siniakova in straight sets in the third round.
Still, it has been another amazing year for Santina, who became the first players to qualify for Singapore in singles or doubles, having already won five titles in the first six months of the season. Top seeds at the All England Club, they play their first match against a pair of Germans, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund, but face threatening opposition in their half of the draw, including No.13 seeds Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, who knocked them out early at the Miami Open. King won the Wimbledon doubles crown back in 2010 with Yaroslava Shvedova – who is seeded No.5 with Timea Babos in the Santina quarter – and together with Kudryavtseva reached their first final of 2016 at the Aegon Classic.
Their semifinal opponents could be No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yun-Jan – the last team to defeat Santina before their winning streak began last summer – or No.7 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, who were the team to beat early last year with a pair of major victories at the Australian Open and French Open. The grass court certainly favors Mirza’s power and Hingis’ quick hands, and the team should be feeling a boost at the Grand Slam that started their meteoric rise.
French Across The Channel: Taking a winning streak through much of the clay court swing, Garcia and Mladenovic won three straight titles at the Volvo Car Open, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and Mutua Madrid Open – defeating Hingis and Mirza at the latter two finals.
Battling through a quartet of talented Russians in the semis and finals, the French women won an emotional three-setter over former champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to earn their first major title in women’s doubles.
The pair haven’t played since Paris, but both have proven capable of translating their games to the grass, with Garcia winning her first title on the surface in Mallorca two weeks ago, and Mladenovic having previously reached a pair of Wimbledon finals, winning mixed doubles with Daniel Nestor in 2013 and finishing runner-up in women’s doubles with Timea Babos in 2014.
Seeded second, Garcia and Mladenovic open against qualifiers Demi Schuurs and Renata Voracova, and could face the power of No.8 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova or the guile of No.12 seeds Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu in the quarterfinals.
Russians, Reunited: Looming for the Frenchwomen in the semifinals could be No.4 seeds Makarova and Vesnina, who spent nearly a year apart due to injuries to the former, but have hardly skipped a beat since coming back together in Madrid. Celebrating the four-year anniversary of their first tournament together, Makarova and Vesnina roared into the semifinals, and nearly toppled Hingis and Mirza in the finals of Rome a week later.
Narrowly losing to Garcia and Mladenovic at Roland Garros, the Russians have to like their chances of replicating their run to last year’s Wimbledon final, where they led Santina 5-2 in the final set. Their first round will be against British wildcards Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith, with Australian Open finalists and No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka their projected quarterfinal opponents.
Venus Williams and Serena Williams are unseeded in the Russian’s quarter; a meeting in the last eight would mark a rematch of their US Open encounter back in 2014, which Makarova and Vesnina won in straight sets en route to the title. The Americans played their first major tournament since that loss at this year’s French Open, where they fell in the third round to Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.
Unseeded & Looming: Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova may be the most dangerous floaters in the Wimbledon draw. The veterans and Mylan World TeamTennis stalwarts won the Aegon International last week in Eastbourne, defeating not only Hingis and Mirza, but also the Chan sisters to take the title in a match tie-break.
“It was a great performance, all the way from the first round,” Rodionova said after the final. “I think we gelled as a team from the beginning, and that’s what got us to the title.
“I’m very happy with the way we’re playing right now; it’s a great way to go into a Slam.”
Jurak and Rodionova will have to keep up their giant-killing game from the first round at Wimbledon, taking on No.9 seeds and Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, with No.5 seeds Babos and Shvedova also looming in their section before they could earn a rematch with Hingis and Mirza in the quarters.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
No.6 seed Roberta Vinci moved into the second round of Wimbledon for the first time in two years after a hard-fought win over Alison Riske.
Ekaterina Makarova caused the latest upset at this year’s Wimbledon by knocking out two-time champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets.
LONDON, Great Britain – No.8 seed Venus Williams recovered from a slow start to knock out Spanish rival Carla Suárez Navarro, 7-6(3), 6-4, to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal since 2010.
The former No.1 has had a busy fortnight thus far at the All England Club, surviving tense matches with Donna Vekic, Maria Sakkari, and Daria Kasatkina just to reach the second week. All that play – plus doubles with sister Serena – appeared to leave the American reeling to start against Suárez Navarro, who raced ahead by a double break.
Williams eventually got her footing, breaking the No.12 seed as she served for the opening set and, despite another ill-timed rain delay, managed to escape with the first set tie-break, eventually clinching victory in one hour and 35 minutes.
Playing consistent tennis from all areas of the court, the five-time Wimbledon winner struck 24 winners to 20 unforced errors and ventured to net 21 times – winning 14 of those points, and five of six in the second set.
“It was so tough for me,” said Suárez Navarro after the match. “On the grass today, I didn’t feel really good. I mean, it was difficult in another courts. But, yes, I have the opportunities or the chance to win more points with her second serve, but I didn’t take it. That was the big problem for me.:
Standing between Venus and her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2010 is World No.96 but former No.25 Yaroslava Shvedova, winner of the infamous Golden Set at the 2012 Championships over Sara Errani. Shvedova took out her second seed of the fortnight by ousting No.28 seed Lucie Safarova, 6-2, 6-4.
Venus becomes the oldest player to reach the #Wimbledon QF since Navratilova in 1994, beating Suarez Navarro 7-6 6-4 pic.twitter.com/RWaU7FV2WN
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2016
More to come…
How many minutes has Venus Williams spent on court? What does Angelique Kerber need to do to top the rankings? And just how impressive has Serena Williams’ serving been?