Tennis News

Having seen in action all the clothes bound to bring a new twist to Paris’ reputation as the fashion capital of the world, Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog made a selection of the best styles and now it’s your turn to tell us your thoughts – vote for your favorite outfit right here!

The most striking collection of the tournament has definitely been adidas’ Y-3 Roland Garros collection, better known as the zebra collection, even though the designer Yohji Yamamoto’s inspiration were not the elegant African animals, but dazzle painting used for ship camouflage in World War I and World War II.

The distinctive black and white stripes bring movement and fluidity to the attire and the 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic is the most graceful and elegant zebra on the loose in the adidas Roland Garros Y-3 On Court Dress which features faux red braces at back.

“I actually really like it. The cut is beautiful in the dress, and I think it looks very feminine,” the Serb said about her eye-catching outfit. “The design also supports my favourite club, Partizan Belgrade. I really like it. It was very comfortable to play in.”

Another dominant member of the zebra family is Simona Halep, rocking the printed Y-3 tank and a solid black skirt with layered jacquard mesh overlay.

Players rocking adidas have been equipped with limited-edition adizero Y-3 shoes, which blend style and performance to make players feel confident, ensuring quick, safe and comfortable movement for hours of court wear.

Eugenie Bouchard’s sleeveless polo dress is reinventing a traditional polo look and the fresh approach to the classic style is nothing short of stunning. This NikeCourt Premier Advantage Dress features a lovely mock collar with two-button placket for a personalized fit, while split hem and racerback provide ease of movement. The soft performance pique fabric brings a flowy feel, keeping players dry and comfortable.

The Canadian’s footwear of choice are these unisex Nike Air Zoom Ultrafly shoes, nicely matching the complete hyper cobalt look.

Serena Williams opted to remove the mid-back mesh panel of her NikeCourt Premier Dress, making the outfit extra edgy and no other player could pull off those side cutouts better than the World No.1.

To complete the stunning effect, Nike created these NikeCourt Flare shoes, offering supreme ankle support during explosive, agile and quick movements. The rose details adorning the swoosh are inspired by the tennis icon’s ever-blossoming career.

Venus Williams’ EleVen Geo Swirl Dress has an exceptionally flattering shape featuring a high neckline with an edgy narrow cut, contrast binding at waist and a flowing fit at the skirt. The abstract print features light orange elements, to nicely match the French Open clay.

Agnieszka Radwanska merged her ninja game with the soft feminine energy of Lotto’s limited-edition Lacy line. Technical perforated fabric with a lace effect makes this item fashionable without putting performance in the backdrop, while ruffled skirt brings the extra touch of flirtiness.

The Pole’s vigorous on-court movement is supported by new SS16 Stratosphere shoe model, the latest innovation in Lotto tennis. The speed-oriented shoe studied for high-level players ensures optimal level of cushioning, improved adaptability to different weight of athletes and maximum transpiration.

Double trouble ? time for doubles with @Gibbsyyyy pic.twitter.com/6uMDVyqzyW

— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) May 26, 2016

The New Balance Tournament Dress made my April’s best dressed list, but it’s not too much to include it in the French Open fashion favorites as well, since the item, worn by Heather Watson and Nicole Gibbs in their first-round clash and then when they joined forces in doubles, is truly outstanding.

The classic navy is revived with white stripes, as well as with a subtle functional detail in the form of an “N” houndstooth burnout mesh at back. Modern thin racerback straps, clean finish neckline with mesh and NB DRY technology which efficiently wicks sweat away make this a genuinely refreshing design that stays true to sports fashion while adding just the right amount of stylish touches that rule contemporary tennis clothing trends.

A little bit of color provided by the 996v2 shoes and accessories is propelling this look to the very top of tennis fashion scene this clay-court season.

With Fila’s Jelena Jankovic out in the first round, when the weather was so cold that players wore long sleeves over their dresses, we saw pretty much nothing of Marion Bartoli’s Love Fila Tennis Dress inspired by Paris, but the brand’s Fila Spring Gingham Racerback Dress, as seen here on Irina-Camelia Begu, brought a ton of style with a classic racerback dress in gingham pattern, enhanced by the perfect peacoat navy contrast piping and pleats at bottom hem. Brigitte Bardot famously wore a pink gingham dress at her wedding, making the pattern so popular that France ran out of it. Will Fila manage to emulate the actress’ success?

MELBOURNE, Australia – The bottom half of the draw is back in action led by Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Thursday, Second Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA #2) vs Lucie Safarova (CZE #61)
Head-to-head: Serena leads 9-0
Key Stat: Serena is contesting the Australian Open for the 17^th time – the joint-most along with sister Venus Williams

Lucie Safarova saved an astonishing nine match points in her opening match against Yanina Wickmayer, a two-hour three-set marathon. But unfortunately for the Czech, it doesn’t get any easier in the second round, where she’ll need all that grit against six-time champion Serena Williams.

The last time these two met was at the final of the French Open back in 2015, with this early encounter a testament to the pair’s diverging career paths. Serena is now seeking her record breaking 23^rd Grand Slam title in Melbourne and Safarova, a former World No.5, plummeting out of the Top 50 after struggling with injury and illness.

“I didn’t come here to lose in the first round, or the second round, or at all,” Serena told press earlier in the tournament. “I’m just here to play and to win obviously, but just to play.”

 [3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #79)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 2-0
Key Stat: Lucic-Baroni is 3-14 against Top 5 players

The last time Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a match in Melbourne it was 1998 – Martina Hingis was the WTA World No.1 and Serena Williams hadn’t yet won her first career title.

But there’s not much time for the former Wimbledon semifinal to revel in the three-set comeback win over Wang Qiang, because up next is World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska.

A two-time semifinalist here, Radwanska faced a battle in her opener against Tsvetana Pironkova but saved her best for last to move into the second round for the ninth time in her career. The Pole is hoping to continue that run and bring her signature mix of skill and creativity to the second week of this Slam.

“I really feel good on this center court,” Radwanska said in press. “I like to play here, I like Australia. I’ve been always playing good tennis here, two semis.

“Of course, that’s always very close till the end. Hopefully I can do one step forward and play seven matches here.”

[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs [Q] Anna Blinkova (RUS #189)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: This is Blinkova’s first ever match against a Top 10 opponent

No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova barely broke a sweat in her Melbourne opener, making quick work of Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and needing just one hour and dropping two games en route to the second round.

But she still wasn’t completely satisfied after the 6-2, 6-0 victory:

“I think there are more things which I want to improve. First round, it’s always tricky, and I didn’t feel that good in the first set there.

“I was a little bit nervous in the beginning, made a lot of mistakes on my forehand, especially no first serves. So this I want to improve high percentage of the first serve, definitely.”

It’s a scary prospect that the WTA’s undisputed ace leader still wants to improve her serve. But that’s what Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova will be up against in her first ever match against a Top 10 opponent.

Blinkova might be slightly out of her depths against big-hitting Pliskova, but don’t count her out just yet: she started her Australian Open main draw campaign with a statement win over the No.32-ranked Monica Niculescu.  

Around the grounds…

No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova continues her quest for a maiden Slam in her second round clash against Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei. Cibulkova leads their head-to-head 1-0, but they haven’t played in almost three years. Also in action, Naomi Osaka will look for Grand Slam revenge against No.9 seed Johanna Konta. The Brit won the pair’s only previous encounter, which came in the second round of qualifying at the 2015 US Open. No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki is hoping for another comfortable win in her rematch against Donna Vekic, who’s into the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2015 French Open. Meanwhile, No.22 seed Daria Gavrilova carries home hopes in her second round clash against 19-year-old Ana Konjuh. Gavrilova is one of two Aussies remaining in the draw.

BOL, Croatia – This week wtatennis.com is offering free live streaming from the inaugural Bol Open, staged on the picturesque Adriatic island of Brac.

Watch free live streaming from Bol all week right here!

Bol is the second of six WTA 125K Series events scheduled for 2016, and, despite coinciding with the second week of Roland Garros, has a few familiar faces in the draw. Heading the list of seeds are Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Varvara Lepchenko, both of whom will be looking to get their campaign back on track after a difficult few months.

The WTA 125K Series has provided the platform that helped launch the careers of some of the brightest young talents on the tour, as Kristina Mladenovic and Elina Svitolina – the winners of the inaugural events, in Taipei and Pune – proved by establishing themselves in the Top 30.

Vying with Schmiedlova and Lepchenko this week will be a couple of gifted prospects, including Nao Hibino and Ana Konjuh, as well as more established names such as Australian Open quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai.

Watch them attempt to follow in Mladenovic’s and Svitolina’s footsteps all week here on wtatennis.com!

MELBOURNE, Australia – No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki had little trouble in her straight-sets win against Donna Vekic, playing solid tennis to ease through 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open.

But Wozniacki will be happy with wrapping up the comfortable victory in just under an hour and twenty minutes, because awaiting in Round Three is the very in-form Johanna Konta.

The former No.1 got off to a strong start against Vekic, ruthlessly punishing any weak serve that came her way to rocket up to a double break lead. The Croat did her best to hang in there, occasionally foraying to the net and peppering her game with drop shots.

“I feel really good body-wise and mentally, which is huge for me,” Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference. “Patches of my matches have been really good. I thought I started off pretty well today. In the end, maybe a little bit too passive. But generally, I think it was steady and played pretty decent.”

Wozniacki struggled with her ball toss throughout the match under the bright midday sun on Rod Laver Arena, and a pair of double faults in the same game gave Vekic a chance to break back at 4-1, wrong-footing Wozniacki with her inside-out forehand winners. The momentary lapse did nothing to halt the Dane’s momentum and she got right back on track in the next game, breaking back and serving out the set comfortably.

She broke three more times in the final set, absorbing Vekic’s pace and rhythm to force the errors, which came fast and thick towards the end of the match. After just an hour and 18 minutes she made her way to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2014.

The former No.1 was just too solid, hitting 21 winners to 9 unforced errors against Vekic’s 23 winners and 32 unforced errors. The Dane was also a force at the net, winning 80% of her 15 forays to the net.

She’ll look to continue that form against Konta, her opponent in the third round.

“She plays really well, you know, big forehand, big serve,” Wozniacki said. “But I’m ready. I’m playing well. I’m excited for the challenge.

“She’s obviously won last week in Sydney. She had a good last year. I’m here to fight. I’m here to do my best, and try and win the match.”

Caroline #Wozniacki is through to 3R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/kJ0BoDLFFo

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 19 de enero de 2017

BOL, Croatia – A quartet of Americans shined in the Croatian sun at the Bol Open, a WTA 125K Series event staged in the coastal town of Bol, Croatia. No.2 seed Varvara Lepchenko, Anna Tatishvili, Sachia Vickery and Jennifer Brady took advantage of the famously mild Adriatic climate and all notched wins at the inaugural event.

Watch free live streaming from Bol, Croatia all week right here on wtatennis.com!

The No.2 seeded Lepchenko tamped down a late surge from Croatian wildcard Ana Vrljic on her way to a 6-1, 7-5 victory. Despite Vrljic keeping the score line more competitive in the second set, the American showed more consistency during the key points throughout the match – Lepchenko converted on all five of the break chances she created, compared to Vrljic’s two of seven.

Earlier in the day, Anna Tatishvili survived a two-hour-and-forty-minute battle against Paula Kania to advance 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-5. Her countrywomen Sachia Vickery and Jennifer Brady had a more straightforward road to the second round, advancing past both of their opponents in straight sets. Vickery posted a 6-2, 7-5 win against Croatian wildcard Tena Lukas while Brady scored the upset of the day over No.8 seed Patricia Maria Tig.

Ipek Soylu – who made Turkish tennis history at the French Open when she became one of two players to compete in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time – was back to her winning ways in Bol against Israel’s Julia Glushko. Soylu weathered a second-set shutout to come back with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-1 win.

Also through to the second round are Stefanie Voegele, who defeated Andreaa Mitu 6-3, 6-2; Ivana Jorovic, who defeated qualifier Isabella Shiniakova 7-5, 6-2; and Bulgarian qualifier Elitza Kostova, who defeated qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 7-6(4).

Tomorrow the No.1 seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Croatian favorite Ana Konjuh highlight Day 3 action as they take the court in their Bol openers.