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Vesnina: Future Fed Cup Captain?

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – No.5 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina were all smiles after a thrilling three-set win over Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai; the Olympic Gold medalists and 2014 US Open champions saved five match points – four on the infamous Stosur serve – to advance into the third round.

Vesnina spent the fall and early spring playing with young compatriot Daria Kasatkina as Makarova healed a lower leg injury; the pair captured last year’s Kremlin Cup title and ended the 41-match winning streak of then-Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.

“She’s a very cool girl, and a very talented player,” Vesnina told WTA Insider. “She has a great future, and it was fun when we played together. I was teaching her what to do because she had no experience in doubles, and before every point she was asking me, ‘What should I do? Where can I serve? What do I do with volley?’

“I felt like a coach on the court!”

Asked whether she saw herself as a future Fed Cup Captain – a position currently held by 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina – Vesnina and Makarova debated the idea amongst themselves:

Vesnina: Me as the Fed Cup Captain? Oh, I never even thought about that! We have some time. It would be great, of course.
Makarova: But I think Elena could be a good captain.

Vesnina: You see? I didn’t know everyone thought this!
Makarova: I never thought about it either, but now I see it.

Vesnina: I’ve always loved to play for Fed Cup; Katya and I have had so many good matches, winning so many important matches in singles and doubles. It’s always a pleasure to play for your country, and for me, it’s important. So if I ever had the chance to be Fed Cup captain, I’d be happy to take on that honor, and I would try to do my best for the girls because I played and I know how important and tough it was at the same time.

Vesnina and Makarova next face No.10 seeds Vania King and Monica Niculescu for a spot in the quarterfinals.

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Venus Debuts Under The Lights

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WTA Insider | World No.1 Serena Williams trades spots with sister Venus, who headlines her first night session of the US Open; keep up with the action on the latest WTA Insider Live Blog.

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Kerber Conquers Kvitova To Reach QF

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – World No.2 Angelique Kerber maintained her imperious form with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No.14 seed Petra Kvitova to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Kvitova had held the early edge in their head-to-head, but Kerber had won their last two meetings to even the score, both this spring in Stuttgart and last fall at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Playing textbook counterpuncher tennis throughout the evening, the German kept her stats clean with eight winners and just eight unforced errors.

Kvitova, by contrast, was far more aggressive, but her 32 winners couldn’t make up for the 43 unforced errors hit over two sets – 27 coming off her forehand side alone.

After trading breaks to start the contest, the match largely went with serve, including the first 11 games of the second set. Serving to force a tie-break, Kvitova ultimately succumbed on a double fault – her seventh of the night – allowing Kerber to wrap up th ematch in one hour and 28 minutes.

Up next for the reigning Australian Open champion is No.7 seed and 2015 US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci, who fought through a tough first set to defeat Lesia Tsurenko, 7-6(5), 6-2.

By reaching the quarterfinals, Kerber has put herself in even stronger position to leave the final major tournament of the season as World No.1 – the first from Germany since Stefanie Graf in 1997 – and prevent Serena Williams from breaking Graf’s record of consecutive weeks at the top spot. Serena is set to tie Graf’s record at 186, but now needs to do no worse than reach the final to have a chance of retaining World No.1.

Should Serena and Kerber meet in the final, the winner walks away with No.1.

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Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

What fashion weeks are in haute couture, Grand Slams are in tennis fashion, and NYC’s US Open is unarguably the most stylish major, inspiring designers to create edgy and vibrant outfits that reflect the energy of the host city. Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog will show us the best tennis apparel we’ve seen on the courts this fortnight at Flushing Meadows.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Venus Williams‘ prints topped our fashion lists many times, but the EleVen Prism Chela Dress takes colors and patterns to a whole new level, just as the 2000 and 2001 US Open champion announced prior to launching the Prism collection, which includes bright and vibrant summer colors, as well as cooler and calmer fall tones.

The American’s dress at the final Grand Slam of the year stands out not only with its appealing print, but also with the stylish purple color-blocking at back, a nice wrap element and feminine flowy skirt, while performance features include EleVen Pro-Dri, managing moisture and breathability, and EleVen Ozone, fighting off harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Serena Williams‘ legendary career has been highlighted by dozens of outfits that pushed the boundaries in women’s tennis fashion and this time the world number one again made sure to stand out, accessorizing her NikeCourt Power Dress with “Wonder Woman” sleeves. Both the night and day version of the dress feature hyper pink pleat details, mock neck and ribbed shoulder panels.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

The American also has two versions of her lightweight, quick and aggressive Nike Flare shoes, the black and white option with volt and pink touches. The footwear is ideal for explosive movements, as its extended stretch collar keeps the feet locked-in.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Completing the glamorous look are long almond-shaped nails and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore watch.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Madison Keys‘and Roberta Vinci‘s eye-catching fluorescent kit consists of the highly breathable and seamless constructed NikeCourt Dry Slam Tank and the pleated NikeCourt Flex Victory Skirt with a contoured power mesh waistband.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Outfit

Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep are showcasing adidas’ spectacular fall collection, whose geometric print is inspired by New York City’s spectacular architecture.

The adidas Fall Pro Tank is equipped with ventilating Climacool material, while extra breathability is provided by keyholes at back, stylishly accompanied by a contrast mesh racerback.

While Kerber paired her flash red tank with the bold triangular print of the adidas Fall Pro Skirt, Halep went a step further and opted for the collection’s boldest piece, the adidas Fall Pro Short, whose colorful pattern is peeking through a white woven mesh layer.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Caroline Wozniacki, Garbiñe Muguruza and Andrea Petkovic picked color-blocking items that feature marble graphic elements engineered with ClimaLite® to wick sweat away from the skin.

Wozniacki’s adidas Stella Barricade New York Dress in collegiate navy/white/flash red pays tribute to the Grand Slam’s American home ground. The Dane’s neat flash red manicure accessorizes bold shades and figure-flattering lines that create a feminine hourglass illusion.

Muguruza’s and Petkovic’s ensemble includes the high-neck adidas Stella Barricade New York Tank and the adidas Stella Barricade New York Skirt, which is available in two lengths.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Fila is one of those brands that never goes far from good old retro. The Heritage collection for the 2016 US Open, as seen here on Yaroslava Shvedova and Jelena Jankovic, brings Fila’s time-honored silhouettes and colorways enhanced by modern elements.

Classic red head ties perfectly match contemporary blurred stripes, creating a wonderful balance between traditional and modern aesthetic led by the Fila Heritage Stripe Dress.

Vote Your Favorite US Open Fashion

Karolina Pliskova opted for simple separates consisting of the Fila Heritage Racerback Tank and the Fila Heritage Skirt, in which the Czech won the Western & Southern Open title ahead of the US Open.

Which WTA player’s on-court fashion aced the US Open? Tell us now!

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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Top seed Timea Babos kicks off her Hungarian Ladies Open campaign with a solid victory in front of her home crowd, knocking out Turkish wildcard Ipek Soylu in straight sets to move into the second round.

“I’m just happy to play here at home,” Babos enthused after the match. “It’s very special for me, it motivates me a lot – I’m very happy to have this first win.”

With the support of the vocal home fans, Babos powered her way to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Soylu, breaking her serve five times and needing just an hour and twenty minutes to advance.

“Already for the first round to have such a great crowd and such a big number of fans, it’s an amazing feeling. Hopefully this week I can continue that, and playing singles and doubles will bring out plenty of people.”

Besides being Babos’ first victory in Budapest since 2013, it’s also the Hungarian’s first main draw win of the year after a disappointing string of first-round losses stretching back to October 2016.

“It was not an easy season so far for me,” Babos reflected. “I started to play better at the St. Petersburg Ladies Open, but I played a lot of Top 30 players. I lost some tough three-setters.

“But then I had Fed Cup, which helped a lot. I played very, very consistent and I beat some Top 30 players and started to feel better.”

Annika Beck

Also in action, No.8 seed Annika Beck had to fight against the home crowd on her way to the quarterfinals against Hungarian wildcard Fanny Stollar.

Yesterday, Stollar thrilled the local fans by notching her first ever WTA main draw victory against Danka Kovinic, but the No.282 was unable to back it up and fell to Beck, 6-2, 6-0.

“It was a very good match and she started off pretty well,” Beck said afterwards. “I backed off a bit at the start and fought my way through the games. I got on top of her and was able to finish it off, even with the score it was still a close match since the games were close.”

“It’s my first quarterfinal of the year, I’m just happy I can keep up the good results and have more success on the court.”

Lucie Safarova

Joining Beck in the quarterfinals is No.2 seed Lucie Safarova, who needed just 56 minutes to sweep past Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-2, 6-1. The 2015 French Open finalist took an early lead in both sets, opening with a break in each to control the match and battle past the No.102 Taiwanese.

“It’s always nice to play the tournaments which are close to home so more friends and family can come,” Safarova said. “This week my coach’s family and little kids are here. Those are my friends! It’s nice and I’m enjoying it.”

Rounding out the quarterfinals are No.3 seed Julia Goerges, who defeated Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour, and Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who scored another upset to knock out No.6 seed Pauline Parmentier, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Julia Goerges

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