Tennis News

MALLORCA, Spain – Caroline Garcia capped a near-perfect transition from clay courts to grass with her second title of 2016, easing past Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-4, to win the inaugural Mallorca Open.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“I’m glad to win any tournament; it doesn’t matter what surface!” a giggling Garcia told press after the match.

“When I arrived here, it was my first tournament on grass this year, so I wasn’t expecting to go this far or win the trophy. It’s a great achievement after a long and diffcult week, so I’m happy to be the winner.”

The Frenchwoman had always proven quite adept on clay, following up her title run at the Internationaux de Strasbourg with a maiden Grand Slam crown in women’s doubles with countrywoman Kristina Mladenovic. But success on grass had hitherto proven far more elusive, with the youngster pointing to a lack of comfort on the often slippery surface.

“For now, this is my best season; when you win your first title, you never know if you’ll win another. It was a dream to win my first, and now I have three, plus the French Open in doubles. The work I’m doing with my team is definitely paying off.”

That all changed this week in sunny Mallorca, where the No.6 moved effortlessly about the court to defeat a pair of former Wimbledon semifinalists in Ana Ivanovic and Kirsten Flipkens to capture her first grass court title on Sunday. Across the net was Sevastova, who was once ranked No.36 in the world before injuries and illnesses forced her to briefly retire. Back on court since early 2015, the Latvian has rocketed back up the rankings, returning to the Top 100 earlier this year.

But it wasn’t enough to overcome Garcia, who won 74% of ponts behind her first serve and broke serve four times in the 85-minute final.

“After so many emotions, it’s hard to remember the match. I remember match point because it was very long! There were a lot of rallies and it was a very intense match; I had to return very well because she used the serve to start aggressively. It was probably the best I played all week, trying to be aggressive and taking the opportunities when they came, so I’m happy with the way I played today.”

With her second title of the season under her belt, the French star moves back into the Top 32, helping her to become the new French No.1 and earn a seed at the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.

“It’s good, but I don’t play tennis to be No.1 in my country. It’s a good achievement but I want to go higher and higher. It’s work from every day and every week, and I’m happier that I’ve won a title to help bring up my ranking. My goal is to be better and better each week, so it gives me a lot of motivation to continue with the hard work.

“It’s always very difficult as you’re starting at a Grand Slam, and it gives me a lot of confidence to head to Wimbledon with a title. I’d never played on grass with a lot of pleasure, but I think this week it changed a lot. Grass is a very difficult surface for everyone, but now that I’ve won one, maybe I’m a favorite [at Wimbledon], but a far-away favorite! I’ll try my best to play as I played here, and I’ll need to be at 100%, and very efficient.”

THE WINNERS

Madison Keys capped of her debut into the WTA’s Top 10 in style: defeating tour veteran Barbora Strycova, 6-3, 6-4, to win the title at the Aegon Classic Birmingham. 

A quarterfinalist at last year’s Wimbledon Championships, Keys played near-perfect grass court tennis during the 79-minute affair to claim her first WTA title since 2014 – also on grass in Eastbourne.

“I’m feeling pretty good. I think getting this many matches in a row was a huge opportunity that I think that can definitely help me at Wimbledon,” Keys said.

“I obviously really love the surface, so the more I get to play on it, the happier I am.”

Read the full story and watch match highlights here.

Meanwhile, in sunny Spain, Caroline Garcia capped a near-perfect transition from clay courts to grass with her second title of 2016, easing past Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-4, to win the inaugural Mallorca Open.

“I’m glad to win any tournament; it doesn’t matter what surface!” a giggling Garcia told press after the match.

“When I arrived here, it was my first tournament on grass this year, so I wasn’t expecting to go this far or win the trophy. It’s a great achievement after a long and diffcult week, so I’m happy to be the winner.”

With her second title of the season under her belt, the French star moves back into the Top 32, helping her to become the new French No.1 and earn a seed at the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.

Read the full story here.

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of June 20, 2016.

Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL), +13 (No.72 to 59): Pironkova backed up her run to the French Open quarterfinals with a quarterfinal appearance at the Aegon Classic Birmingham. This time, the Bulgarian made it out of qualifying rounds and jumps up 13 spots in the WTA rankings.

Kirsten Flipkens (BEL), +9 (No.61 to 52): Flipkens pulled of the upset of the tournament when she knocked out World No.2 Garbiñe Muguruza out of the Mallorca Open, but she didn’t stop there. Her run to the semifinals of the inaugural grass event earned her a jump to World No.52.

Caroline Garcia (FRA), +7 (No.39 to 32): Garcia earned her second WTA title of the year at the Mallorca Open, and her ensuing leap to No.32 makes her the French No.1 and guarantees her a seed at Wimbledon. She leapfrogged her countrywoman and doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic, who has now dropped to No.33.

Madison Keys (USA), +6 (No.16 to 10): The most newsworthy ranking move of the week belongs to Keys, who captured the title at the Aegon Classic Birmingham and broke the WTA Top 10 for the first time. Read here to find out why the move is so historic.

Barbora Strycova (CZE), +4 (No.30 to 26): Strycova reached her second WTA singles final of the year in Birmingham and now rises to No.26, inching closer to her career-high ranking of No.20.

CoCo Vandeweghe (USA), +3 (No.32 to 29): Vandeweghe backed up her title win at last week’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch with a semifinal appearance at Birmingham, earning her a career-high ranking of No.29 and guaranteeing her a seed at a Grand Slam for the first time.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Aegon International Eastbourne
Eastbourne, Great Britain
Premier | $711,778 | Grass
Sunday, June 19 – Saturday, June 25

The Championships, Wimbledon
London, Great Britain
Grand Slams | $19,174,575 | Grass
Monday, June 27 – Sunday, July 10

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Wimbledon
2. Garbiñe Muguruza – Wimbledon
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
4. Angelique Kerber – Wimbledon
5. Simona Halep -Wimbledon
6. Victoria Azarenka – Wimbledon
7. Roberta Vinci – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
8. Belinda Bencic – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
9. Venus Williams – Wimbledon
10. Madison Keys – Wimbledon
11. Petra Kvitova – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
12. Timea Bacsinszky – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
13. Carla Suárez Navarro – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
14. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
15. Flavia Pennetta
16. Samantha Stosur – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
17. Karolina Pliskova – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
18. Johanna Konta – Eastbourne, Wimbledon
19. Elina Svitolina – Wimbledon
20. Sloane Stephens – Wimbledon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Francesca Schiavone (ITA) – June 23, 1980