Tennis News

Madison Keys single-handedly ended two surprising droughts during a water-logged week in Birmingham, England. By winning the Aegon Classic on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova, the 21-year-old became the first American woman in 17 years to make her Top 10 debut, and ended her own two-year title drought dating back to 2014 (Eastbourne).

The last American woman to make her Top 10 debut? Serena Williams in 1999.

WTA Insider caught up with Keys after her milestone week in Birmingham.

WTA Insider: Congratulations on the title at the Aegon Classic. How do you feel?
Keys: I feel great. I think it’s definitely the best outcome I could have had and really happy I was able to get this many matches on grass leading into Wimbledon.

WTA Insider: It wasn’t an easy week in Birmingham with the weather. You seemed to handle all of it well. You didn’t get distracted or anything. Do you agree?
Keys: Yeah, I do. I was pretty lucky with how my matches seemed to go. I don’t think I had any rain delays once the match started and never had to play two matches in one day so I  was pretty lucky. But there were definitely was times I didn’t think the tournament would get to the final.

WTA Insider: You played incredibly well in the first set. The second set Barbora came back and started throwing more variety at you. You had to save break points. In the past, that’s a set you lose. That wasn’t the case today.
Keys: Yeah, I was definitely expecting her level to raise. I think as well as I played in the first set, I don’t think she played her best, so definitely was expecting it. There were a couple of break points that I had where she just came up with a serve or a shot that was too good. That was a little bit frustrating. But I was really happy that I was able to figure my way out of some really tough service games where I was down a break point and things weren’t going as easily as they were in the first set.

But I agree, I think it was was a set that in the past I definitely could have lost and it could have changed the match. So really happy with the personal growth I feel that I’ve had.

Such a great week in Birmingham. Thanks for all the support!! ??? pic.twitter.com/DmPSPBZznQ

— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) June 19, 2016

WTA Insider: Talk about dealing with adversity in matches. Do you feel like you’re not panicking as much in those moments?
Keys: I think not panicking is a huge aspect of it. A sense of calm that no matter what happens you’re always in a match, even you can be down 5-0 in the second set and you can come back and win. Knowing that has really kind of helped me calm down and really help me take each game point-by-point, and not thinking oh I’m down 0-40 I have to win three points.

I feel like sometimes I would have the tendency to try and win three points in one. So I’d try and hit harder, hit an ace, just to get back to even as quick as possible. So I think that sense of calm has really helped me and really helped my game.

WTA Insider: You’ve talked about wanting to improve your consistency. You’ve now made the final in Rome, a good run at the French Open, and now the title. Is it just all coming together, or that you’re healthy? Talk about the last month, month and a half or so.
Keys: I just feel really good. I feel like my team has come together and I’ve had a lot of great support.

But I also feel like it’s just all slowly coming into my game. I feel like for me I almost have too many options sometimes where I know I can get away with hitting a winner 10 feet behind the baseline and it might go in three out of 10 times, but having that option makes me think about it. So I think just sticking to basics has really helped me. It’s been a lot of hard work but I think the practices that I had with a really solid team has really helped me in matches.

WTA Insider: You’re into the Top 10. Has it sunk in yet that you’re one of the 10 best players in the world right now?
Keys: That’s crazy! No, it hasn’t sunken in. A lot of my family members will keep calling me and saying “Hi, Top 10 player!” It’s definitely not something that’s sunken in yet. It’s something I’m going to get used to and I’m really looking forward to it.

WTA Insider: You’re the first in this century from America to make her Top 10 debut.
Keys: That’s craziness. I feel like there’s been so many great American tennis players in the last 10-15 years that have been probably been really really close to that. But it’s definitely a huge honor that I was the first one.

WTA Insider: How did you find out you had a shot to break into the Top 10 last week?
Keys: The WTA tagged me in a tweet about it the morning of the semifinals match. It showed up on my phone. I quickly x-ed out and was like ‘You didn’t read that. No. Don’t think about it.’ So that’s kind of how I find out but once I was on the court it wasn’t even on my mind.

WTA Insider: You must be pretty pleased about being able to stay focused and not let that distract you.
Keys: It was more of a thought in the morning when I saw it. I was like ‘Oh my gosh, that’s huge.’ Then when I was on the court I obviously had a slow start and once that happened it wasn’t even in my brain anymore. You should try to win some points.

Can we get Netflix to greenlight a Keys family reality show? #AegonClassic pic.twitter.com/5qGgZpPpNr

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) June 19, 2016

WTA Insider: You’ve had a steady rise through the rankings. Your year-end ranking has improved year over year. But when we spoke at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai last year you seemed pretty down about yourself and your season.
Keys: I definitely was feeling a bit down at the end of the season. Part of it was it was a really long season for me. It was the longest season I had ever had. But I think now I’ve just got so much better at not even listening to the outside opinions that it doesn’t affect me anymore. I think I used to be really concerned with what other people were thinking or how things were coming across, and people don’t always have all the information. So listening to anyone who was outside my small support group was harming me. I think I got a lot better at that.

Having a really tough off-season and start of the year has really made me appreciate playing tennis and being healthy and being able to just go out and compete at the highest level just knowing that I had all of the practice and all of the work put in.

WTA Insider: Let’s talk about the work you have put in. There’s a lot that goes on outside of the limelight that we don’t get to see. Can you key in on a moment during those closed door training sessions that helped you unlocked things this year?
Keys: I think a big thing working with [trainer] Scott Byrnes is he’s helped me get so much stronger and that’s been such a huge factor for me. Being stronger means I’m able to last a little bit longer and makes me feel like I put all this work in off of the court, so I know when I’m on the court I know that I’m physically ready to be out there for as long as it needs to take.

Obviously we work on different things for different seasons. Before the red clay season we worked a lot on the aerobics. Before grass season stated we were working more on power and strength because it’s a much bigger first strike game. So all those little things have helped me so much. I’ve been really lucky to have an amazing trainer.

Read more about Keys’ trainer Scott Byrnes in our Coach’s Corner, and listen to more from Keys in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

EASTBOURNE, England – Petra Kvitova got her Wimbledon preparations back on track with a hard-fought win over Timea Babos at the Aegon International Eastbourne on Tuesday.

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

Following a frustrating week in Birmingham, Kvitova got some much-needed time on the grass, prevailing in a high-quality encounter, 6-4, 7-6(5). In the third round she will face either Lesia Tsurenko or Johanna Konta.

Kvitova was forced to play second fiddle for much of the opening set, struggling to hang onto her own serve and making little inroad on her opponents’. However, having barely coughed up an error in the opening half hour, at 4-4 Babos suddenly found herself two break points down after a couple of loose groundstrokes.

Sensing her moment, Kvitova ghosted into the net to scythe away the volley. The No.5 seed’s willingness to move forward proved decisive in the following game, too, fending off a couple of break points on the way to serving out the set.

The second set was just as evenly contested, but once again it was Kvitova – who finished the match with 30 winners – playing the more positive tennis at the decisive moments, guiding a backhand down into the corner to close out victory.

“I’m kind of feeling that I am playing well, even though I lost some of the matches in a couple of months,” she said after the match. “It wasn’t easy today, she was serving really well and it was very difficult to break her – I had to wait for my chances.”

After a brilliant first-round display against Lucie Safarova in Birmingham last week, Kvitova spent the next couple of days waiting for the rain to subside before losing a stop-start match with Jelena Ostapenko. And despite more difficult conditions on the south coast, Kvitova is relishing the time on court ahead of her favorite major. 

“It’s always good to get more matches under your belt going into Grand Slams, especially Wimbledon when we don’t have that many events on grass. I’m glad to win today and still be in the draw!”

Tight match today, Timea made life very difficult for me. Happy to survive! ?? #AegonInternational pic.twitter.com/0dS1ms66I7

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) June 21, 2016

EASTBOURNE, England – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska booked her place in the quarterfinals of the Aegon International Eastbourne after swatting aside Eugenie Bouchard on Wednesday.

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

In an impressive display, Radwanska broke five times to complete a 6-3, 6-3 victory in little over an hour. Next up will be the familiar face of Dominika Cibulkova, whom she has already met twice this season. Cibulkova overcame a slow start to see off Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-6(3), 6-3.

Radwanska is appearing at Devonshire Park for the 10th straight year, and against Bouchard she looked at home from first point until last. It did not take her long to hit the front, taking advantage of a couple of loose strokes from the Canadian to break in the third game.

This cushion proved more than enough to hand her the opening set, then tightening her grip on proceedings by jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the second. Bouchard continued to battle away, but even when drawing level at 3-3 never looked likely to solve Radwanska’s riddle.

Radwanska reestablished her advantage with another moment of brilliance, this time in the form of a shoveled forehand lob, closing out the match moments later with a swinging serve down the T.

The numbers were just as pleasing on the eye as the shotmaking, Radwanska offsetting her 16 winners with only nine unforced errors. “I think it was a really great match from the beginning to the end. I was playing such good tennis the whole match and I’m very happy with my game and hoping I can play better and better,” Radwanska told Annabel Croft after the match.

“I was serving much better today. And I think the key to today’s match was the serve at the end which helped me close out the match in two sets.”

Going by recent evidence, the Pole will do well to win her next match inside the distance. Radwanska and Cibulkova met twice this spring, the spoils shared from high-quality encounters in Indian Wells and Madrid.

“We’ve played so many great matches. Playing against her is never easy – she’s a great fighter from the baseline,” Radwanska added. “I think now the tournament reaches another level, so every match is going to be difficult.”

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – ESPN revealed today the nominees for The 2016 ESPYS presented by Capital One, and Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Flavia Pennetta, Angelique Kerber and Roberta Vinci all received award nods across two categories.

The ESPYS recognize outstanding athletic achievements in the calendar year preceding the awards ceremony, and are awarded via an online fan vote.

Four WTA players are nominated for Best Female Tennis Player including World No.1 Serena Williams, who is chasing her eighth ESPY in the category (2003-2004, 2009-2011, 2013, 2015). Last year, Williams took home three of the four Grand Slam titles and was voted as 2015 WTA Player of the Year. Her 175 consecutive weeks at No.1 make up the second-longest streak in WTA history.

Williams faces a field of first-time nominees for the award, including reigning Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza, who avenged her 2015 Wimbledon final loss to Williams by upsetting her in the 2016 French Open final to win her career-first major and rise to World No.2.

Also vying for the Best Female Tennis Player award are Angelique Kerber, 2016 Australian Open champion and Flavia Pennetta, 2015 US Open champion.

In addition, Roberta Vinci’s upset of Williams at the US Open is up for Best Upset, a category that also includes Holly Holm knocking out Ronda Rousey and No.15 Middle Tennessee State defeating No.2 seed Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.

The unseeded Vinci pulled off the upset of the year when she famously halted Williams’ quest for a Calendar-Year Grand Slam, shocking everyone – including herself. Afterwards she addressed the crowd, saying: “Today is my day. Sorry guys!”

Click here to vote for Best Upset!

Fans will determine the winners in most ESPYS categories by voting online up to the start of The 2016 ESPYS. View all the categories and nominees, and cast your vote now at www.espys.com – voting ends on Wednesday, July 13th 8 p.m. (ET)!

EASTBOURNE, England – Dominika Cibulkova produced a stirring comeback to defeat top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in their rain-delayed quarterfinals at the Aegon International Eastbourne.

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

When the match was halted on Thursday afternoon, Radwanska had been in complete control, by a set and a break. However, on the resumption it was a different story, Cibulkova breaking back immediately as she went on to force a deciding set.

The Pole had her chances in the decider, holding points for a 3-1 lead, only for Cibulkova to come roaring back to win, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, and set up a meeting with Monica Puig.

“It was a very difficult match against Agnieszka and with all the different conditions,” Cibulkova said. “I was able to manage and play better every game with every stop we had I felt stronger.”

Also advancing to the semifinals were Karolina Pliskova, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over former champion Elena Vesnina, and Johanna Konta, who delighted the home crowd with a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory against Ekaterina Makarova.

Konta is bidding to become just the second British player to reach the final in the tournament’s 42-year history. However, the prospect of following in the footsteps of the great Virginia Wade – who won the title in 1975 and finished runner-up in 1974 and 1976 – did not appear to faze Konta against Makarova.

After falling behind early on, Konta drew herself level before overpowering Makarova in the first set tie-break. The second set was just as evenly contested, but once again it was Konta’s greater composure at the pivotal moments that determined the outcome.

At 4-4, Konta found the baseline with another pin-point return to bring up three points. She only needed the one, Makarova obligingly sending a forehand into the tramlines, before calmly serving out for a place in the last four.

EASTBOURNE, England – Karolina Pliskova is back into another English grass court final after coming back from a set down against Eastbourne resident Johanna Konta, ending the Brit’s hopes of reaching her first WTA final on home soil at the Aegon International.

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

Two weeks ago in Nottingham, Pliskova rallied through rain delays to claim her fifth WTA title at the Aegon Open Nottingham. As the same pattern emerged in the seaside town of Eastbourne — where she once again had to play two matches on the same day — the No.17 Czech knew how to prepare.

“I’m just thinking I’m happy to be in the final tomorrow,” Pliskova said. “I’m thinking today, just stay focused and take one match at a time. And rest as much as possible between.”

Pliskova faced a monumental task against home favorite Konta. Though she trains in Spain, the British No.1 calls Eastbourne home, and all week long she enjoyed vocal support from the Devonshire Park crowd who wanted to see a local lift the trophy in her hometown.

“I tried to concentrate on my game and not about the people,” Pliskova acknowledged. “Of course they’re gonna support her. She’s the only one British here in the draw left, and it’s their British No. 1, yeah?”

“I don’t feel like it had any influence on me.”

Konta was well on her way to the final after coming away the winner of a deadlocked first set. Neither player faced a break point and punctuated their strong baseline game with skillful forays to the net, sending the opening set to a tiebreak. Despite Pliskova digging herself out of a 5-2 hole, it wasn’t enough to escape the on-form Konta, who floated a dropshot just out of Pliskova’s long reach to take the set 7-6(5).

Pliskova drew blood early in the second set, grabbing the first break of serve of the match to go up 3-1. Konta looked set to break right back – she climbed to a 0-40 lead – but took a tumble in the middle of the point. Though she wasn’t injured and didn’t call a trainer, the fall seemed to leave her rattled as Pliskova erased the break points to hold her serve.

“It was quite an aggressive fall the way it happened,” Konta said afterward. “It just — yeah, it rattled me a bit. It was a bit of a shock, nothing major happened. I just tend to cry when I get shocked.”

Konta appeared more composed toward the end of the set, but she just couldn’t recover in time and Pliskova took the second set 6-3.

The Czech started the final set with a double break, quickly climbing to a 3-0 lead. Despite Konta grabbing one of the breaks back, Pliskova held her lead and downed the Brit 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 to reach her second WTA final of the year.

Pliskova is up against Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Aegon International, after the Slovak cruised against Puerto Rican qualifier Monica Puig.

#SAPStatOfTheDay: @KaPliskova has hit a #WTA-leading 310 aces in 2016! Third straight season hitting 300+ aces!! pic.twitter.com/VJbw17peS3

— WTA (@WTA) June 24, 2016

LONDON, Great Britain – Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova got her 2016 campaign off to a roaring start against Sorana Cirstea, zooming past the Romanian to claim her eighth first-round win and a spot in the second round.

Kvitova, the champion here in 2011 and 2014, is usually a regular face in the last stages of grass court tournaments and came to Wimbledon looking for a kick start to her sluggish season. The Czech has yet to reach a final and comes off a pair of Round of 16 exits at Birmingham and Eastbourne.

It all clicked together for Kvitova when she needed it to against the No.85-ranked Cirstea; she needed just 52 minutes to notch a commanding 6-0, 6-4 victory.

Cirstea got off to a dismal start as Kvitova immediately broke her to love. The Romanian’s new abbreviated service motion – an attempt to mitigate the shoulder injuries that have plagued her in the past years – seemed to have zapped her of power and left her serves vulnerable against the World No.10’s punishing returns.

Kvitova took the first set to love with a commanding ace after just 15 minutes. The numbers really emphasize how the Romanian struggled on her serve in the opening set: she won just 17% of points behind her first serve against Kvitova’s 89% and won one point in all of her service games.

Cirstea put the disappointing numbers behind her to finally hold serve and get her name on the scoreboard at the start of the second set. But when Kvitova gets on a tear, it’s hard to stop her, and despite Cirstea’s improved ball-striking she couldn’t find a way to pressure her opponent’s lefty serve. Kvitova took the lone break for a 3-2 lead and held on to it to close out the match 6-0, 6-4 and move into the second round.

Kvitova awaits the winner between Ekaterina Makarova and Johanna Larsson, whose match was delayed due to rain.

More to come…