Singapore: Pliskova Interview
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her round-robin defeat at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Karolina Pliskova after her round-robin defeat at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
SINGAPORE – Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska returned to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global by continuing her mastery of Karolina Pliskova.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
Following a slow start, Radwanska found her range to prevail, 7-5, 6-3, in a topsy-turvy encounter and set up a semifinal against World No.1 Angelique Kerber.
“She definitely served brutal today. All I could do was just wait for the break point,” Radwanska told on-court interviewer Andrew Krasny afterwards. “A very tight match and I’m just happy I could do my best at the important moments.
“You’re just waiting and praying that the first serve is not going to be in. She’s definitely one of the best or even the best server on tour and every break matters.”
Radwanska went into the contest having never lost a set to Pliskova in six previous meetings. However, it was the Czech that made the early running, surging into a 4-2 lead and holding a point for an insurance break, only to fire fractionally wide.
The next game, demons of past encounters came back to haunt her, an errant forehand presenting the Pole with the chance to draw level. She gratefully accepted, springing up to punch an inviting second serve down the line. Soon afterwards her comeback was complete, the No.2 seed producing another pin-point return to wrap up the set.
A glorious forehand return gives @ARadwanska set 1, 7-5 #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/AUdcHpDSRx
— WTA (@WTA) October 28, 2016
These momentum shifts continued into the second, Pliskova pegging back an early Radwanska surge. At 3-3, she had the opportunity to consolidate her dominance only for the Pole to stave off the threat of a break with some cat-like reflexes at the net.
This proved to be Pliskova’s last stand, an errant smash the following game giving Radwanska the opportunity to serve for the match. It was a gift she gratefully accepted, setting up a Saturday showdown with Kerber.
“It’s the semis so I really have nothing to lose, especially as I’m going to play the best player of this season,” Radwanska added. “She’s been playing amazing tennis all year, on every surface. Hopefully I can play even better than today.”
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her semifinal win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova after their semifinal win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
At this year’s Wimbledon, some of the most famous names in women’s tennis are once again lending their support to the StarCards charity auction, raising money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London.
The WTA has been helping the charity since 2002, raising thousands of pounds. Among the lots at this year’s auction are items from Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki and StarCards’ official celebrity supporter Ana Ivanovic, who has signed and donated her 2016 French Open player accreditation.
“With the tremendous support of the WTA we have raised over £100,000 for the charity, tennis fans around the world each year contact us in advance of to make sure they don’t miss out on the new collection. We are extremely grateful to the WTA and our official supporter Ana Ivanovic who help us every year to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity,” StarCards founder Paul Bretta said
The auction, held on the StarCards website, started on June 30 and will finish on July 10.
@serenawilliams thanks for supporting #wta #Wimbledon charity auction for @GreatOrmondSt at https://t.co/9day5Ddgf4 pic.twitter.com/XumMa8kAlE
— StarCards (@STARCARDS4GOSH) 27 June 2016
World No.1 Angelique Kerber admitted she was disappointed to miss out on the WTA Finals title – but she is already looking ahead to more exciting opportunities next year.
“I am a little bit disappointed after the loss, but for sure I gave everything,” she said in her post-match press conference at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“It was a tough year with a lot of matches. When I’m looking back it was one of my best years. When I go home now I will think about the best moments and the positive emotions.”
Kerber admitted that she had not played her best tennis, and praised the aggression of Dominika Cibulkova, who beat her 6-3, 6-4.
She agreed that 2016 had been physically and mentally grueling, with a packed schedule, but, as she pointed out, she also had plenty of highlights.
“I had a lot of matches, a lot of tough matches – but also a lot of great finals, a lot of great memories [that] I received this year,” she said, before adding with a smile: “Of course, now I’m ready for the vacation.”
After a short break, she will be ready to begin her 2017 campaign – when she will be defending her top-ranking status against a returning Serena Williams.
“I am looking forward to next year, for sure,” she said. “I’m also looking forward to playing again against Serena – and against all the other tough opponents.”
SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova stunned World No.1 Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to win the biggest title of her career at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The win vaults the 27-year-old to a career-high No.5 in the rankings and snapped a five-match losing streak to the German.
Three thoughts on a dramatic end to the WTA Finals:
– In a season defined by small margins, Dominika Cibulkova proved the poster-child.
The 2016 season kicked off in earnest when Kerber, then-ranked No.6, survived match point down to Misaki Doi in the first round of the Australian Open, only to go on and stun No.1 Serena Williams to win the biggest title of her career.
Then comes Cibulkova, who survived the group stage in the rarest of circumstances, needing to beat Simona Halep in straight sets in her final match while also needing Kerber to beat Madison Keys in straight sets to put her through. It was the only scenario out of 16 on that day that would move the Slovak into the knockout phase and she pulled it off.
From there Cibulkova battled her way through the title, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in three tough sets and then play her best match of the tournament to outplay Kerber, winning both matches on let-cord winners.
In a dramatic final game, Cibulkova nervously squandered two Championship Points from 40-15 up only to engage in jaw-dropping rally after jaw-dropping rally.
Just remarkable drama and stuff from both players. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/Mfmo3L0aJg
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
Jaw dropping stuff! @Cibulkova saves break point. #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/OPnFEZDmmo
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
In the face of Kerber’s relentless defense, Cibulkova did what she had done all week. She gripped and ripped and hit through her nerves. Her bravery was finally rewarded on her fourth Championship Point, when she fired a desperate forehand that ticked the top of the net. The ball was suspended in air for what felt like seconds as both women waited to see which side of the net it would favor.
What a way to end! @Cibulkova is the @WTAFinalsSG champion for 2016 #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/vCsPM8D0qy
— WTA (@WTA) October 30, 2016
It fell on Kerber’s side of the court. Cibulkova fell to the ground in disbelief. As the old cliché goes, fortune favors the brave. And there was none braver in Singapore than the smallest woman in the field.
– Cibulkova turns the page on a nervous past.
Cibulkova is a veteran of the tour, part of the generation of players that includes Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Agnieszka Radwanska. Watching her over the years the tension would be a constant during her matches and the nerves would kick in at the most inopportune time.
That was old Domi. Welcome the new Domi.
“On the court I put a lot of emotions, and emotions just affect me,” Cibulkova explained. “This is something I started to learn how to deal with emotions and not let down myself; just to keep focused, and this is all about. I really work hard on it.
“Now I see this mental part for me, it’s like going to practice and actually practice on the court. As I practice on the court I practice on these things. As you can see, it’s working.
Cibulkova’s 2016 has been all about conquering the mental side of the game. She’s always been, pound for pound, the biggest hitter in the game. But her emotions could get the best of her and the rest of the locker room knew. She often wanted it too much and would strangle the life out of potentially career-defining wins.
Cibulkova tried to address the issue by hiring a mental coach a year and a half ago. The question was simple: how can she balance her ambition without being blinded by it? Over the last 16 months she has proven her mettle, whether it was getting the best of Radwanska in an epic three-set battle at Wimbledon, or coming through in her Singapore qualifying campaign by making the Dongfeng Wuhan Open final, winning the Generali Ladies Linz in a must-win campaign, or scrapping through to advance to the semifinals in Singapore.
The nerves looked like they might get the better of her in her first two Championship Points in the final. Instead of panicking after her shock misses, she shot a smile both to her box and to herself. That moment of relaxation allowed her gutsiest tennis to come through in the end.
“I don’t blame myself that I got a little bit nervous on the first two match points, because I think only very, very few people wouldn’t get when you have a match point for the biggest tournament of your career.
“But the way I handle it after, it shows that I really change. I belong there and I’m really, really strong.”
– Kerber comes up short but Singapore was still a breakthrough.
Before this year, Kerber had never made it out of the group stage at the WTA Finals. She conquered that milestone by going undefeated in the Red Group this year. In a high-pressure match against No.2 seed and defending champion Radwanska, she lost just three games. But on a day when she did not have her best, she finally ran into an inspired opponent.
This is not the first time this has happened to Kerber this season. In two big finals this season, at the Rio Olympics and Western & Southern Open, she looked to be cruising towards victory before the nothing-to-lose swinging of her opponent felled her.
“She has the best defensive game for now in the world,” Cibulkova said. “But I knew I have my shots that I can beat her with; that was my forehand today. My serve today, I was serving really, really well. Few games I played with my serve and I then was going for my forehand.
“I just knew what I have to do. I think I didn’t let her into the match really today with my aggressive game. I had just one goal. I was going after it. I think it was tough for her to do something on the court today.”
But despite the loss, Kerber finishes her 2016 season with another message to the field. She won more majors and more matches than any other woman this season. She was the tour’s most consistent winner and her balance of counter-punching and defense made her the toughest out in tennis.
To beat her in a big match you have to seize the match from her vice-like grip, hope she’s off her game, and play one of the best matches of your career. That’s precisely what Cibulkova did on Sunday night in Singapore. And there was nothing more for Kerber to do than tip her cap.
“I gave everything,” Kerber said. “I mean, it was a tough year with a lot of matches, so I give everything on court today, the rest energy I had left.
“Of course when I’m looking back it’s one of my best years. I think when I will go home now I will just think about the best moments and the positive emotions.”
LONDON, Great Britain – No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska dug deep from her bag of tricks to see off Katerina Siniakova in a straight sets tour de force, needing just 63 minutes to advance to the fourth round 6-3, 6-1.
Radwanska put on a clinic on the No.3 Court against Siniakova, who at 20 years old was the youngest woman left in the draw. Against the big hitting Czech, Radwanska employed her famous ability of drawing out her opponent’s errors with her signature mix variety and anticipation, running Siniakova ragged all along the court.
The first set unfolded as a tightly-contested affair with Radwanska bringing up and converting the only break point for a lead at 4-2. She struck early on in the second set, frustrating Siniakova with a drop shot after pushing her out far behind the baseline.
Radwanska grabbed the second break of the second set at 4-1 when she fetched a wide-angled return with a vicious forehand loaded with sidespin, then calmly put away the next shot at the net. Siniakova was forced to hit one more ball as her would-be winners were returned time and time again.
Siniakova clawed to her first break point of the match at 5-1, but it was calmly brushed aside as the Pole looked locked in, breaking Siniakova once more and crushing a swinging crosscourt forehand pass to move on to the second week of Wimbledon for the eighth time in her career.
Cibulkova awaits Radwanska in the fourth round after the Slovak put away former finalist Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets earlier in the day.
Agnieszka Radwanska produces some wonderful tennis to see off Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-1. The Pole is into the 4R. pic.twitter.com/QTDjatxfeE
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2016
Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep, Madison Keys, Karolina Pliskova or Svetlana Kuznetsova – who hit the Shot Of The Tournament at the WTA Finals?
In this episode of Dubai Duty Free: Always Full Of Surprises, check out what Svetlana Kuznetsova’s Singapore Fan Club had in store for her last week at the WTA Finals!