Sydney: Puig Interview
An interview with Monica Puig after her win in the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Monica Puig after her win in the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney.
The seventh and final stop-off on wtatennis.com’s trip down Olympics memory lane is the 2012 Games in London, which saw Serena Williams add a golden sheen to a magical summer…
London, United Kingdom, 2012
All England Club
Grass
Twelve years after watching courtside as her sister won gold in Sydney, Serena Williams produced arguably the performance of her career to finally follow in her footsteps.
Injury in 2004 and a shock defeat to Elena Dementieva four years later left Serena, the outstanding player of her generation, with one gap remaining on an otherwise flawless resume: an Olympic singles gold medal.
Of all the players in the draw, perhaps only Venus could match Serena’s joy at hearing of the All England Club’s selection as an Olympic venue. With a record second to none on Wimbledon’s hallowed lawns – she lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish for a fifth time three weeks prior to the start of the Games – even as No.4 seed, Serena started as most people’s favorite for the tournament.
So often a slow starter at tennis’ flagship events, Serena hit the ground running at a curiously liveried All England Club. She fired out an early warning shot, brushing aside former No.1 Jelena Jankovic for the loss of four games in the opening round.
Ominously for her title rivals, she got better as the rounds progressed, clinically dispatching the top seed Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.
This set up a showdown with French Open champion Maria Sharapova. Serena had won the pair’s last seven meetings, and she continued this mastery of the Russian, whom she brutally overwhelmed with a combination of masterful serving and bullet-like groundstrokes.
At one point near the end of the first set, Serena had hit more aces than her opponent had won points. The American struck 10 aces and 24 winners in all and made only seven unforced errors in her 63 minutes on court.
Gold saw the 30-year-old become the first player ever to win all four Grand Slams and the Olympics in both singles and doubles, an achievement which dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s in modern tennis’ most comprehensive of careers.
“Oh, my gosh, this one is so high up there,” Williams said after the final. “Being Olympic gold champion, being Golden Slam champion in singles and doubles, that’s pretty awesome.
“I did something nobody’s done. So I’m really excited about that.”
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Olympic Memories: Beijing
Olympic Memories: Athens
Olympic Memories: Sydney
Olympic Memories: Atlanta
Olympic Memories: Barcelona
Olympic Memories: Seoul
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Simona Halep in the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Petra Kvitova before her first round at the Olympic tennis event.
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Friday’s shot of the day at the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Venus Williams before her first round at the Olympic tennis event.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza continued to play incredible tennis in her debut at the Olympic tennis event, defeating Nao Hibino, 6-1, 6-1, to reach the third round.
Playing her first tournament since Wimbledon might have put pressure on the No.3 seed, Muguruza has dropped a combined six games in her first two matches, wrapping up her win over Hibino in just under an hour.
Hibino had kicked off her Olympic campaign by knocking out Irina-Camelia Begu, but had no answers for Muguruza’s mix of pace and precision, dropping serve five times in the straight set decision.
Up next for Muguruza is Monica Puig, who upset No.14 seed and Wimbledon quarterfinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3, 6-2.
.@GarbiMuguruza needs just 56 minutes to defeat Japan's Nao Hibino 61 61 + set up a 3rd round match v Puig #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/S8Hesxb8fH
— ITF Olympic Tennis (@OlympicsTennis) August 8, 2016
More to come…
Check out all the best photos from the Australian Open final between Venus Williams and Serena Williams, where Serena took home a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Maria Sharapova shone in her first match of the 2016 season, serving up a straight set victory over Japanese up-and-comer Nao Hibino under the lights of Margaret Court Arena.
There were question marks surrounding Sharapova’s health after she withdrew from her only lead-up event in Brisbane due to a left forearm injury suffered in practice, but there were no ill effects on Monday night as the No.5-seeded Russian powered past Hibino in an hour and 13 minutes, 6-1, 6-3.
“It was just nice to get on court and face the opportunity of playing a first match,” Sharapova said afterwards. “No matter how much you train, it’s always different when you walk out onto the court.
“It’s definitely a relief to get that first one out of the way.”
Sharapova was also told she’s Hibino’s idol and that the Japanese has posters of her on her wall.
“She’s got to take those off! It’s time to put her posters up there,” Sharapova said.
“I actually hadn’t heard much about her, and I hadn’t seen too much of her game before I went on the court today. She actually likes the pace and takes the pace quite well. For a first Grand Slam performance I thought she was there till the end. That’s impressive. She never let in, never gave up.
“I mean, experience is priceless for anyone, but especially for someone that’s just starting out in their Grand Slam experience,” Sharapova added. “I’m sure she’ll have a great future ahead of her.”
Sharapova has now won 46 of her last 47 Grand Slam first round matches – her only loss in the first round of a Grand Slam since 2003 came at the hands of Maria Kirilenko at the 2010 Australian Open.
The other Top 8 seeds in action also advanced in straight sets, with No.1 seed Serena Williams edging Camila Giorgi in a tight two-setter, 6-4, 7-5 (read more here), No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska outfoxing Christina McHale, 6-2, 6-3 (read more here) and No.6 seed Petra Kvitova overpowering Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum, 6-3, 6-1, revenge for losing to her in the same round two years ago.
There were a slew of upsets among the lower seeds, though, most notably No.16 seed Caroline Wozniacki falling to Yulia Putintseva in a thriller, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 (read more about that match here).
Other upsets saw Margarita Gasparyan edge No.17 seed Sara Errani, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, Elizaveta Kulichkova take out No.22 seed Andrea Petkovic, 7-5, 6-4, Chinese qualifier Wang Qiang outdo No.24 seed Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 6-3, Lauren Davis outlast No.26 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Daria Kasatkina dispatch the No.27-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-3, 6-3.
The night match saw Czech qualifier Kristyna Pliskova send No.25 seed Sam Stosur out, 6-4, 7-6(6).
No.10 seed Carla Suárez Navarro, No.12 seed Belinda Bencic, No.13 seed Roberta Vinci, No.23 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.28 seed Kristina Mladenovic and Eugenie Bouchard all moved through.
Hello 2016!! So nice to be back at the @AustralianOpen #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/HoceAzkdm1
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) January 18, 2016
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova backed up their upset over No.1 seeded team in the last round with another victory, coming back from a set down to oust the Canadian team of Eugenie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 at the Olympic tennis event.
Strycova and Safarova are a regular pairing when playing doubles in Fed Cup, and once again their games clicked together for the Czech Republic as they took on Bouchard and Dabrowski in the second round.
Fresh off of pulling off a straight-sets stunner against three-time doubles gold medalists Serena Williams and Venus Williams, the Czech duo had more trouble getting past the Canadians. The two teams traded breaks twice in the opening set to send it to a tiebreak, where Dabrowski’s monumental effort at the net gave them the edge. But the Czechs recovered from the early deficit and broke twice to take the second set and even up the score.
After trading breaks once more to start off the final set, Safarova and Strycova earned the decisive one for a 4-3 lead and consolidated after a fierce battle. They marched into the quarterfinals after a two-hour and 11 minute encounter.
More to come…