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News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CHARLESTON, SC, USA — It was a whirlwind week for Daria Kasatkina in Charleston, as the teenager claimed her first career WTA title at the Volvo Car Open on Sunday – but the weekend of firsts wasn’t over for the Russian until she participated in the annual champion’s photo shoot.

Telling WTA Insider that clay has given her “all the best emotions [she] ever had,” the 2014 junior French Open champion set out on the town with her new trophy and coach Vlado Platenik for some celebratory photos in downtown Charleston after claiming the green clay crown.

Check out all of Kasatkina’s off-court trophy shots, courtesy of the Volvo Car Open:

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970
16-year-old Destanee Aiava joins the Australian Fed Cup team for their upcoming clash with Serbia.

Captain Alicia Molik has called up the teenager for the World Group II playoff in the absence of Samantha Stosur.

Aiava lines up alongside Daria Gavrilova, Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua for next week’s tie.

The Czech squad for their semifinal tie against the USA is not quite so youthful but very inexperienced – Katerina Siniakova and Denisa Allertova have played Fed Cup doubles before, while Kristyna Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova will be making their debuts.

Johanna Konta leads the lineup for Great Britain as captain Anne Keothavong names an unchanged side after their win against Estonia in February.

Heather Watson, Jocelyn Rae and Laura Robson make up the rest of the quartet as they face Romania in what will be a very difficult World Group II playoff.

They will face Ilie Nastase’s team of Simona Halep, Irina-Camelia Begu, Monica Niculescu and Sorana Cirstea. World No.1 Angelique Kerber joins Julia Goerges, Laura Siegemund and Carina Witthoeft in the Germany squad to take on Elina Svitolina, Lesia Tsurenko, Olga Savchuk and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine in the World Group playoff.

Yannick Noah has selected Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic, Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier to face Spain’s Sara Sorribes, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Olga Saez Larra and María José Martínez Sánchez.

Elise Mertens, Maryna Zanevska, Alison van Uytvanck and An-Sophie Mestach are the Belgium team for the World Group playoff against Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina and Anna Blinkova of Russia.

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Quotable Quotes: Serena's Raw Diet

Quotable Quotes: Serena's Raw Diet

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Serena Williams

On how living with Venus led her to attempt a raw vegan diet…
My sister went through a lot of illnesses, and in living with her – I finally moved, but across the street! Got my freedom across the street – but she was really able to introduce me to a really kind of vegan and raw and really vegetable-heavy diet. It was just kind of a whole raw world that I really enjoyed. I was able to see a lot of benefits in my game and my body in general from that.

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On playing a tournament with a raw vegan diet…
I did it when I was at the French Open 2013. I wasn’t tired, it was good, really good. I don’t know why I don’t do that more often. Maybe this year, I need to get back on that!

On whether she’s kept up with veganism…
Unfortunately no. I really want to get there, I really do. For a minute I was, but I couldn’t quite give up the chicken and the tacos! It kind of crept back into my life. But there’s a lot of things, like I don’t eat red meat, and I don’t eat a lot of other stuff. I was educating myself through Venus on a lot of things to remain healthy. It’s very interesting.

Simona Halep

On a hypothetical match-up between Serena and Steffi Graf in their prime…
It would be interesting. They are very different in my opinion. Serena is very strong, a lot of power in her serve. Steffi has a good, flat forehand and a very good slice. I never saw this on the women’s tour. Serena has her game, a strong game with lots of power. I don’t want to say who would win, but it’d be very interesting and very nice to watch. I would go to watch if they played!

On whether practicing with Graf has inspired her to incorporate more slice…
I didn’t play much slices when I was younger, when I was a kid, and now to put it in the matches is tough. You have no confidence and it’s like you don’t remember that you have to play slice. It’s tough to put them in practical during the matches. I will try; I do more in the practices than before. I hope to improve this way of playing as well.

On meeting Ilie Nastase…
I met him. We didn’t speak on many thing about tennis, but I liked him a lot, how he was on court. I watched some videos on Youtube. I can say I admired him a lot, but it’s a bit too much for me to do some crazy things on court, but I can appreciate him a lot for what he did on court and he remains the best player in Romania.

Garbine Muguruza

Garbiñe Muguruza

On locker room dynamic and her earlier comments about friendships on tour…
I heard a lot of things about that comment, which I think were a little bit wrong. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. This is a sport, and at the end of the day, we’re playing the same girls the whole year, which is difficult sometimes. A lot of people misunderstood my saying that we kind of hate each other, and that’s not true because I also have friends on tour and I get along good with people. It’s just this competitive environment, and when you’re young sometimes it’s difficult because you’re playing against older people, but with time you kind of know where you have to be.

Angelique Kerber

On adjusting to becoming the hunted instead of the hunter…
It’s a new situation for me and I know every player who will play against me will give everything to beat me. But this is also the situation you’re dreaming for, you’re working your whole life to be like, for me, No.2 at the moment. This is something you’re working for.

Agniezka Radwanska

On changes she’s made over the course of her career…
I think of anything I can think of, it’s the schedule, not playing every week. When I was 18, I could do that and it was no problem: singles, doubles, every week, no problem. I was ok, but not any more! Time changes, but 10 years makes a huge difference on the tour. You really have to think a lot about the schedule to be on the same shape in February as in Asia at the end of the year. Sometimes even when you feel good, and you want to play more and more, it’s not going to be good later, in a couple of months. Then you’ll feel you did too much at the beginning of the year.

Belinda Bencic

On the secret to Swiss success…
Chocolate, maybe, in the water! I don’t know what it is; we’re doing well.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BOGOTA, Colombia – Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone has booked a spot into the Claro Open Colsanitas final without dropping a set, continuing her run to oust No.3 seed Johanna Larsson, 7-5, 6-4.

After taking a wildcard into the tournament Schiavone – who is playing in her last season of professional tennis after announcing her plans to retire earlier in the year – has shown the best of her vintage form to see off the competition and return to her first final in 14 months.

The former French Open champion stayed consistent to weather Larsson’s highs and lows as the No.3 seed showed flashes of dominance but couldn’t keep Schiavone out of contention for too long. After trading breaks towards the start of the match, the pair stayed toe-to-toe until Larsson was broken to give Schiavone the opening set.

It was a much closer affair in the second as Larsson broke to earn a 4-2 lead, looking ready to take the match into a decider. But Schiavone raised her level considerably, covering every inch of the court and attacking with renewed aggression to finally break to love as Larsson double faulted under the pressure.

Schiavone powered through to make her way into the final, her first final of the year and the first she’s reached since taking home the title at the Rio Open in February of 2016.

More to follow…

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Indian Wells Friday: Tough Start

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Friday at the BNP Paribas Open sees the seeds enter the fold, with Simona Halep commencing her title defense against the in-form Vania King.

Friday, Second Round

Stadium 1
[5] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. Vania King (USA #202)
Head-to-head:
King leads 1-0
One hundred ninety-seven spots separate Simona Halep and Vania King in the rankings, but if recent form is anything to go by their second-round encounter could be a closely contested affair. While Halep has been struggling for form and fitness in the opening months of 2016, King has been quietly racking up the wins.

After missing much of last year with back problems, King arrives in Indian Wells fresh from a couple of deep runs on the ITF Circuit. Halep on the other hand, has won just three of her eight matches this campaign, most recently losing to another player on the comeback trail, Elena Vesnina, in Doha. Despite her recent travails, Halep cut a relaxed figure during Wednesday’s All Access Hour, and with a clean bill of health is relishing the start of her title defense.

Stadium 3
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #57)
Head-to-head:
 Radwanska leads 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska may have the edge in her rivalry with Dominika Cibulkova, but tasted a chastening defeat in their most high-profile encounter. Two years ago, the mercurial Cibulkova triumphed in the most one-sided of Australian Open semifinals to leave Radwanska’s major dreams in tatters once more.

Since then both players have had their ups and downs; Cibulkova spending lengthy periods on the treatment table, while Radwanska recovered from a slide down the rankings to record her greatest triumph. The Pole has carried this form into 2016, reaching the semifinals or better on all three of her outings thus far. Cibulkova, meanwhile, has blown hot and cold since her return from a serious Achilles injury, but in arguably the most open section of the draw will relish the opportunity to showcase her abilities on the big stage. 

Around the grounds…
Serena Williams begins her attempt to win a third Indian Wells title when she takes on Laura Sigemund. Preceding Serena on court is Venus Williams, who in her first match at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 15 years faces Kurumi Nara. Petra Kvitova, Madison Keys and 2010 champion Jelena Jankovic also get their challenges underway.

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